#i was complaining about a current assignment and my situation is a bit worse now lol and lmao even

[thecherrygod]

i need this website to work properly i didnt mean to either rb that or post something else on my art blog smh

[iraacundus]

International Relations

arrangedmarriage!hendery

genre: fluff, angst, smut words: 21k  Warnings: sexual content; mentions of terrorism, death and injury; swearing

he was the president’s son, you were the ambassador’s daughter, forced into a marriage, the success of which, world peace quite literally hinged on

********

The news was unavoidable, every night it got worse and worse, your parents had advised you not to watch it, but you never listened. The tensions between the two countries had been rising for years and though they did their best to cover it up, those in the know, like your father, knew that you were on the brink of war.

“The proposed trade deal and boarder agreement between the two nations has fallen through,” said the newsreader who looked as calm as ever despite the potentially terrifying consequences of what she was saying.

You heard a knock at your door, so you fell leaned back on your bed, switching the TV off.

“Come in,” you called out, the door opening to reveal your father. You didn’t see him often, though you both lived in the same house, he had always been busy as ambassador to a county that your whole nation hated. So, when you saw him walk in, you knew it was important.

“I guess you have seen the news,” he said, spotting the remote that was still in your hand.

“We’re in serious danger, aren’t we?” you asked, but it wasn’t really a question, you knew the answer before you had asked.

Your father didn’t reply, he just sat down slowly on your desk chair, exhaling slightly.

“Your bodyguards will need to accompany you at all times now, even to university.” He said. It was your turn to sigh. It wasn’t that you disliked your bodyguards, or that you weren’t used to them, but university had always been a place you had a bit of freedom, without being watched all the time.

You didn’t argue though, you understood the gravity of the situation.

“I’m working on a solution, I think the issue can be resolved…” he cut himself off, looking more distressed than usual, “Just… I need you to meet me tomorrow afternoon in the Embassy Dining Room.” He said getting up again.

You wanted to ask why, but you also didn’t want to trouble him, he looked exhausted. The Dining Room was only used for official matters so the mere mention of it had inspired your curiosity, but you knew the situation wasn’t really about you, so you kept your mouth shut. A few minutes after he had left you put your slippers on and crept outside the door.

You had four bodyguards in total, two for the nightshift and two for the day, sadly your favourite mostly worked at night, so you rarely got to chat, but that night you took it upon yourself to go annoy him.

Jeno was by far your best bodyguard, all of them were the same age as you so they didn’t stand out in a crowd and so over the last few years Jeno had also become your close friend.

You found him standing just outside your door drinking milk tea, sometimes you couldn’t believe what his job was the way he acted.

“Hello bestie,” you called out to him, Jeno smiled when he saw you.

“Hello y/n,” he greeted back, “how are you this evening?”

It was always nice to talk to Jeno, not just because he was your friend but your bodyguards were the only people you knew except your family who were from your country, spoke your language, in every other aspect of your life you had to speak the language of a nation you resented.

“Stressed out, I think we are about this close to war,” you joked, putting your fingers as close together as possible while still leaving a gap. Jeno already knew this of course, while he was your bodyguard, he was also technically a member of the army, an important member at that.

He had joined at 16 and was so impressive he was almost immediately assigned to you.

“It will be fine,” he reassured, “Your Dad is a smart man, he will have a plan.”

“That’s what I’m stressed about,” you explained further, “he says I have to meet him tomorrow in the Dining Room, which has to be part of his plan,”

“Maybe you will get to meet the President,” Jeno laughed, you threw a mint at him.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I think the President hates us all enough to just shoot us on site,”

“That would really cause a war,” Jeno said, throwing the mint back at you, but you managed to catch it in your mouth, “Impressive,” he commented.

“It also means I have to have Chenle and Jaemin follow me around all day which I just don’t think I can take, are you sure you can’t switch to the day shift?”

Jeno shook his head, you stopped him before he could start his spiel of how he was the best out of all of them and you were statistically more likely to be targeted at night and so that’s when he was on duty, he told you this almost every day when you asked him to switch shifts.

“Just don’t say it,” you warned.

“But I am the best,” Jeno said proudly.

“I take it back I’m happy to have the other two,”

Jeno pouted,

“So much for bestie.”

You couldn’t help but smile, Jeno had managed to do exactly what you knew he would, make you smile, and forget about the impending doom of a war your country couldn’t win.

You talked with him a while more but when your brother came out and told you to,

“stop being annoying losers and go to bed,” - he was twelve - you went back into your room and turned the tv on again.

They were showing an interview with Hendery from earlier in the day. Hendery was the son of the President and you wondered how someone who seemed so nice could be the son of someone so evil.

He was sitting opposite the interviewer talking about how he hopes to start a project with his friends to help disadvantaged children and when they asked about the current international tensions, he said that he hoped a peaceful resolution could be reached.

You scoffed slightly at that; he should tell that to his father. 

You had spent half your life on TV wondering what Hendery was like in real life, it was a weird obsession that Jeno regularly made fun of you for.

You just couldn’t figure out how much of his persona on TV was an act, how someone in such a strict family really lived, who were his friends, what did he do for fun. You had to think that like you, he had led a relatively isolated life.

If there had been one person you could have invited to your fantasy dinner party, it would have been Hendery. Chenle always picked Stephen Curry. It would have been a weird fantasy dinner party.

You had actually seen Hendery a few times in real life, you both attended the most prestigious university in the country, and he was only a year older than you. He was always with the same two people, one was Lucas, son of an important politician, the other was his main bodyguard, well at least you assumed as much.

You had never seen him on the news, his name was never mentioned alongside Lucas and Hendery in magazines, you assumed that the state was blocking his personal information from the media, to hide that he was a bodyguard.

Hendery had real bodyguards as well, two or three always followed behind the trio, but something just didn’t add up about that third guy being a normal college student.

You switched the TV off once again when Jeno sent you a text making fun of you for watching the Hendery interview again, you must have had the volume up too loudly. You were worried and stressed but you had never been one to struggle sleeping, so when you turned the light off and pulled the duvet up to your chin you fell asleep almost immediately.

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

Chenle and Jaemin had followed you around all day at university as planned, luckily no one had tried to attack you, but the paparazzi had been there taking as many photos as they could.

“I hope they got some good pictures of me, I actually have quite the fanbase back home as the cute bodyguard,” Jaemin tried to brag as you hid in the student café as far away from any windows as possible.

“Your wrong,” Chenle objected, you were about to agree with him when Chenle continued, “I definitely have more fans.”

You banged your head against your textbook.

“I hate you both, I should have made Jeno come,” you said causing Jaemin to pout and Chenle to just laugh.

You were about to kick him when Jaemin nudged you.

“He’s here,” he said ominously,

“Who?” you asked, “Please let it be Jeno to save me from you losers.”

“No, Hendery and Co.”

You fell silent, noticing Jaemin was right. Hendery, Lucas and the guy you didn’t know had just walked in and sat down a few tables away. You forced yourself not to stare.

“Not only am I stuck with you two but I’m also being followed by the enemy.”

“I don’t think he’s following us,” Chenle said, ‘Probably he was just hungry.”

“No, he’s definitely staring at y/n,” Jaemin said,”maybe he found that she watches him on the news over and over again.”

This time you did kick Jaemin, causing him to shout slightly. All three of them were now definitely looking at you.

Luckily at that moment Hendery seemed to get a call so you whispered at the two boys to get up.

“It’s almost three o’clock, we need to go meet my dad,” you explained as you all half ran out of the dining hall, entering into a full run when the cameras spotted you. 

You didn’t think three people could have reacted anymore suspiciously than you just had.

A car was waiting with the diplomatic flags to pick you up, Jaemin shoved you and Chenle into the backseat, before shutting the door and climbing in next to the driver. The car had shaded windows so you could finally relax.

“Who do you think is going to be waiting in the Dining Room?” Chenle asked you. You hadn’t told either of them exactly where you were meeting your dad, Jeno was such a gossip.

You pulled up at the Embassy only ten minutes later. Cameras were once again outside but none of them seemed interested in you when you got out of the car and walked up to the gate. You thought it was strange, but you also weren’t complaining.

The guards saluted as the opened the gate to let you in. You walked along the drive and around to the back entrance that led into your family’s part of the house. Your dad had texted for you to wear something semi-formal, so you pulled out one of your favourite flowery dresses, found a nice pair of low heels and slid a bracelet onto your wrist.

It was your lucky bracelet. Jeno had given it to you for your 18th Birthday, it was a traditional bracelet made in your home country. Apparently by an old lady had cast a spell on you that made it lucky, while you highly doubted it was true, you still wore it every time you were nervous, believing it would help you.

You heard a small knock at your door,

“Are you dressed?” You heard Jeno call out, you quickly opened your door to let him in. His face looked grey.

“I volunteered to go with you to the meeting, I figured you had dealt with enough of the other two for one day.”

“But you were on duty last night, aren’t you tired, I’m sure Renjun could do it,” he was your fourth bodyguard.

“It’s okay, I slept all day and also I know you are nervous, so I wanted to be able to support you, even if it is silently from two meters away.”

You smiled, giving him a small hug before leaving the room and heading towards the dining room. Jeno seemed more nervous than you, you guessed your father had told him what was going on in advance. You could have asked Jeno, but you almost didn’t want to know.

You fidgeted outside the door, procrastinating your entrance. Jeno put his hand on your shoulder lightly.

“You look great y/n, and you do well at everything, it will be fine.” He said.

When you opened the door to the Dining Room you almost fell over. You had no idea what you had expected but to see the President, his wife and Hendery, sitting across the table from your own parents was a shock.

You glanced back at Jeno who gave you his best attempt at a reassuring smile.

“Y/n,” your father called out, motioning for you to come and sit in the empty chair in between him and your mother, opposite Hendery. You don’t know who you were more scared to see, the evil President or Hendery. Hendery wasn’t smiling like he always did on TV, like always seemed to be with Lucas. A frown was firmly settled on his lips and he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but there.

You sat down carefully in the chair after bowing your head in respect towards the President. Because he wasn’t a normal president, he had been elected once but that was a long time ago, he hadn’t held an election in twenty years, as long as you had been alive, so to you he wasn’t a president but a dictator.

Unlike Hendery, the President smiled at you, his smile seemed genuine unlike the slightly forced smile on both his wife and your parents’ faces.

“It’s lovely to meet you, y/n,” The President said, offering his hand out to shake, his grip firm and unwavering, “This is my wife and my son Hendery, I’m sure you’ve probably seen him around at university.”

You smiled the best you could,

“Yes, I’ve heard he’s quite popular,” you said, glancing at him out of the corner of your eye, his mouth still resting in a firm line.

The President laughed. An intern came in and poured some tea before anyone continued speaking.

“The ambassador and I are both worried about how the tensions between our two countries are developing. We have been unable to find a traditional solution, yet we seem to have found an agreement that will solve the animosity so that eventually trade deals and boarder disputes can be settled.” He began.

You noticed Hendery hadn’t drunk any of the tea but was gripping the handle tightly, as sinking feeling arose in your chest as you began to guess what was going to be suggested, you were an intelligent person.

“It would require a large sacrifice on both your and my son’s behalf and to that extent we both know we cannot force you to agree but warn you of the consequences of this agreement failing.”

You tried to drink your tea as calmly as possible.

“Neither of us would suggest this if we felt there was a better option your father added.” They were both avoiding the main point.

“Marriage,” Hendery said all of a sudden, “That’s what they are trying to suggest.”

You knew what they were suggesting but the fact Hendery said it out loud almost caused you to choke on your tea.

“Yes,” the President continued, “as my son not so eloquently put, we feel that a union between the two countries would help people from both sides understand each other better through supporting a couple. We will pose it as if you had both met at university and fell in love naturally and we hope it means people will learn to love you, it might not work straight away but we hope it can win over the hearts of those who oppose on both sides eventually.”

You swallowed. It wasn’t like you had someone else you wanted to marry, you had never had a crush, you figured you would never be able to marry for love anyway, however you hadn’t banked on Hendery, on marrying into a family you resented so greatly.

“Hendery has already agreed but of course you do have a choice, I’m not in the business of making people do things they do not wish,” He said. You had to stop yourself from snorting with laughter.

He was blackmailing you into marriage with the threat of war, so his statement was just rather ironic, especially as blackmail was how he maintained power in more aspects of his life than not.

“Anything to ensure peace,” you said graciously. The President clapped his hands together with a grin.

“I knew you were a smart woman,” He said. You father breathed out a visible sigh of relief, you were offended he ever thought you would let your country down.

“We won’t announce the engagement right away, we will give you both some time to get to know each other, sometime to back away, in a month or so, if you are still both willing, we will hold a gala to announce the engagement, by then we will need you to have come up with a water-tight backstory, I can get someone to help create it if you wish, but all this can be discussed later.”

Another intern came in seconds later to inform the President and my father of urgent business for them both, causing them to both give their apologies and leave quickly.

You were left with Hendery, your mother and your future mother in law. Your mothers began to chat, both gushing about planning a wedding. It wasn’t that they were insensitive, they just both wanted to make the best out of a bad situation, you could tell from their earlier faces that they both worried for you.

Hendery’s eyes remained fixed on the tea, glaring at the cooling liquid.

You had never wanted to ask him a question more than right now. But you were scared, it wasn’t that you were afraid of Hendery in general, but you didn’t want to upset him. He was clearly nervous, playing with his fingernails.

You didn’t know why you felt so calm in comparison, you didn’t think Hendery could have had plans to marry for love, like you he must have always known he would marry for politics.

Yet something seemed to scare him. You had more reason to be scared, you were joining his family as his family was more powerful, you would have to live in his country as part of a dictatorship, but he seemed more scared.

“Too shy to even talk to each other, how cute,” your mum cooed. You wanted to throw a pen at her, you were starting to think you were a slightly violent person.

“We will fix that soon enough, why don’t you both come over on Saturday and we can talk for longer, so they can get to know each other better.” His mother suggested.

Yes, because all best conversations between fiancés happen in front of their mothers, you wanted to say to Jeno, but you had to pretend he wasn’t there, that was his job.

A few minutes later your mothers had exchanged phone numbers and were getting up to leave. You thought Hendery would at least acknowledge you, but he seemed to not even see you when he stood up to leave. You followed him out to the entryway, you could tell the mothers had tactically waited behind a few seconds.

“My name’s y/n,” you said to him loudly enough that he had to look over at you. He nodded.

“I know my father said, and also I have seen you at Uni, you were in the café today, you kicked your bodyguard and ran out,” he said.

You blushed red, cursing your violent nature, you were going to marry the son of an evil dictator who had only ever seen you act strangely. You must have committed so many sins in your past life.

“I’m Hendery,” he said, still not smiling.

“I think we both know I know who you are.” Your statement sounded slightly more accusatory than you had meant, but I didn’t seem to make Hendery seem anymore unhappy than he already was.

Neither of you said anything further in the two awkward minutes it took for your mothers to finally emerge.

“It was lovely to meet you,” His mother said wrapping her arms around you, far more personal contact than you had hoped for, but you understood she was just trying to be nice.

“You too,” you said with a grin, hoping you didn’t come across as disingenuous. The guard at the door opened the door for them to leave. Before Hendery did, he turned to give you a small smile,

“See you soon y/n,” he said. Before walking out towards all the flashing lights of the media storm that hat gathered.

You were not sure whether he had been nice to you for the sake of his mother or if he had just felt obliged but you were grateful nonetheless as it had made the whole experience seem less dire and it also had allowed your mother to smile from relief.

“He doesn’t seem too bad,” she said.

“He’s better than a war,” you replied before excusing yourself in the name of homework but really your aim was to get some peace and quiet.

You started walking up to the roof, Jeno close behind, you were waiting for him to shout at you and tell you that it was easy for you to be shot from the roof like he usually did but the words never came.

Even as you lifted yourself off the ladder Jeno said nothing he just came up and sat beside you, having texted Jaemin, Renjun and Chenle who also appeared moments later.

“You don’t get to marry evil Hendery that you’re obsessed with that’s not fair,” Jaemin whined as he sat down next to you, “you were meant to marry me.”

You shot him a confused look,

“In what world was I marrying you, if I was going to marry any of you it would be Jeno, but I would never because we are quintuplets.” You say to him to which he just sticks his tongue out.

“Chenle’s only like three years old,” Renjun protests. You laugh sadly.

“I will miss you all,” you said.

“Absolutely not,” Jeno replied, “we are not doing sad hours tonight.”

“What are we doing then?” asked Chenle while simultaneously fighting Renjun for calling him three years old.

“We will find me an outfit to wear for Saturday so that I’m so gorgeous it knocks Hendery out and I don’t have to talk to him, and he also forgets our weird café behaviour.” You said.

“Weirdly specific but okay,” Jaemin replied. The other three sighed, all of the boys hated outfit time, not because they were against fashion, but because you were so indecisive.

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

They may have complained but it worked, by the time you turned up at the front door of the Presidential House on Saturday you looked drop dead gorgeous. Your mother and Jeno had come with you and you all stood just behind the door waiting for it to open.

You were ushered through a series of rooms and up some stairs until you reached a bright sunny sitting room on the third floor. Inside Hendery’s mother was pouring some tea there was, however, no sign of Hendery himself.

She rushed over to great you, making sure you sat down, passing out cakes.

“I am sorry,” she said, “I told him to be ready for eleven.”

Just at that moment Hendery entered, wearing a suit, something he rarely did. You hated to admit how attractive he looked; you didn’t want Jeno to be right about your obsession.

He was followed by the third guy, the one who wasn’t Lucas. You had been right; he must have been a bodyguard as he went and stood next to Jeno.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Hendery interjected, “My suit wasn’t dry,” he explained, his face flustered. At least that humanised him somewhat, you could live with Hendery, you just had to believe he was a real person deep down somewhere.

He sat down on a chair across from you just like before, yet this time his eyes stared right at you.

“So, what do you study?” Hendery’s mother asked you, trying to get the conversation started.

You pushed a smile onto your face.

“Modern Languages and International Politics” you replied. You liked to think you were an impressive person, at least in some respects. You could speak four languages fluently and were learning two more at university. You knew almost as much about world affairs as your parents and your mother had always taught you excellent manners.

“You could study with Hendery,” she suggested, “he studies International Politics and History,” she said, after he didn’t offer up the information himself. You saw her try to nudge him and had to hold back a giggle.

“We certainly could, that would be lovely,” you said, looking Hendery dead in the eyes, daring him to stay silent. You couldn’t marry someone who didn’t speak to you, “What do you do for fun?” you asked him.

“I like playing basketball and watching films,” he said. His voice was cold, it may have dissuaded anyone else, but you refused to give up.

“Ah maybe you could teach me how to play, one of my bodyguards loves basketball and has tried his best to teach me but I’m a failure at it, I prefer tennis if I’m honest.”

Hendery didn’t reply.

“That’s great, I must challenge you to a match sometime y/n,” his mother replied, “that is if you don’t give up on marrying my son here, I do apologise he isn’t usually this… shy.”

You certainly didn’t believe being shy was his issue. You also didn’t understand what his issue was. He must have had a girlfriend you decided, made the mistake you never had and fallen in love with someone he could never marry. 

But you were only guessing you had no idea.

“Don’t worry,” you replied, “Hendery isn’t bad enough to destroy international peace for.” A statement that caused both of your mothers to laugh somewhat nervously.

Hendery looked down and back up again.

“Sorry,” he said quietly, “I really just am a bit nervous.”

You were a bit sceptical of this excus, still you decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and take pity on him.

“Why?” you asked, “I don’t bite,”

Hendery laughed slightly, shaking his head.

“It’s not that, I just want to make a good impression I guess, you are my future wife and also…” he didn’t finish, “I’ll explain some other time,” he said, his eyes flicked to our mothers next to him.

He was right that it was hard to connect with four other people in the room, but the mothers particularly. Jeno you would have told later if he hadn’t been there, but the presence of parents made the meeting feel formal.

However, Hendery did seem to make more of an effort as the meeting continued. You learned that he likes cats and that his favourite colour was pink. Nothing ground-breaking, he still seemed like Hendery on TV, picture perfect and somewhat shallow. Not in the sense that he was self-obsessed but more that he was like a cartoon character 2-D. He lacked any sense of humanity or connection, he said all the right things, never saying anything particularly meaningful.

On reflection he probably thought the same about you.

You only saw Hendery once more properly in the following weeks. You were both busy with university and it was hard to find a time you could meet with your mother’s present, something they insisted on until you were both officially engaged.

Only three weeks after the marriage was first suggested Hendery asked his father if the marriage could be announced sooner rather than later, despite having a week left to decide. You guessed he partly did this to avoid any more awkward teatime chats with your mothers. The President rang you to ask if you were also okay with making a decision early, you agreed. Also, partly to avoid any more of those chats.  

It was decided that your engagement would be announced two weeks later and a ball to celebrate would be held the night after that

Your last night of normality passed quickly, you went out to play mini golf with the four boys. You were usually only allowed out a few times a month to large places such as the crazy golf one, but your parents had let it slide seeing as you were a 20-year-old woman about to get engaged.

The next morning your alarm rang at five. You sat up, questioning whether you should take up Renjun on an offer he had given to smuggle you out of the country. If only world peace hadn’t been so important.

You kicked off your duvet in a mood and dragged yourself over to your dressing table. You didn’t have to get ready particularly, you had been assured state media would take care of hair and makeup, however you had still felt it was vital to at least brush your hair.

Ten minutes later Jeno arrived at your door with a McDonalds breakfast.

“Breakfast for M’lady,” he joked, kneeling down to pass it to you. From behind him you saw a girl’s head pop out from around the corner. You almost jumped backwards from shock. Jeno laughed.

“This is Chanmi,” he introduced, “she is your state provided assistant.”

“Why do you make it sound like communism Jeno,” she complained before jumping round him and holding her hand out for you to shake. She looked at her own hand and before you had a chance to shake it, she put it down and pulled you into a hug instead.

“I may work for you, but I also hope we become life-long friends,” she said. You appreciated that at least one person was excited for today.

“I’m y/n,” you smiled back, “I also hope we get on well.” You offered her a hash brown, but she refused.

“I already ate, I’m here to run through today’s schedule,” she pulled out a very large folder from her bag and opened it to the first page, “we have hair and make up at eight, wardrobe at nine and the announcement will be at around nine-thirty, but before that we have a rehearsal with Hendery, that’s why we are here so early.” Chanmi seemed to speak with out breathing.

Jeno looked down at his watch, five twenty-five.

“We need to go,” he said, “you can eat in the car.”

You grabbed your lucky bracelet from the side and clasped it round your wrist, there was no way you would have gone on television without it.

Jaemin, Chenle and Renjun stood at the door with your mother and little brother. They had gathered to wave you off even though you would be back home by the afternoon.

“I love you guys,” you managed to say half-way through eating your meal. Jeno continued hurrying you towards the car. You wanted to laugh how seriously he was suddenly taking his job, not that he had been messing around before, but he had never cared so much about being punctual.

He sat in the front so Chanmi could climb in next to you.

“Who is that good looking boy who was closest to the door?” she asked. Jaemin would have loved to hear her say that.  But before you could tell her it was him; she had already carried on talking.

“You will meet with Hendery so you can both firm up your stories about your romance.” She explained.

“You know it’s fake?” you asked her.

“All key staff know, but not everyone who works in the Presidential House, so don’t mention it when other people are present,” she said. You nodded. You were starting to get nervous. It was not your first time on TV, you had filmed programmes for your home country about what it was like to study abroad and you had done work for the young ambassador’s programme run by Hendery’s country.

But this was… something else.

The drive was only ten minutes as usual, there was also no traffic in the morning, so you barely had time to contemplate your impending fate before arriving at the house.

Jeno and Chanmi ushered you out of the car and into the house, there was only one reporter waiting to hide you from, though you were surprised anyone had been there before six in the morning.

Hendery and his bodyguard, who Jeno had informed you was named Sicheng, were waiting for you just inside the door.

“Good morning,” you said as brightly as possible, taking another sip of your coffee, hoping it would help in some way. You were half expecting Hendery to change his mind at the sight of your tattered appearance before you remembered he wasn’t really marrying you for your beauty.

“Nice to see you again,” he replied, slightly less brightly. You all stood slightly awkwardly waiting for someone to lead the way.

“Why don’t we go somewhere to talk?” Chanmi prompted.

“Oh yes,” Hendery said, seeming to remember what was going on, “let’s go to the family dining room, I got someone to prepare some drinks and snacks.”

You felt a bit bad for standing there with your McDonalds coffee, there was worse crimes you could have committed than assuming he wouldn’t have provided food though you supposed.

You followed just behind Hendery with Chanmi as Sicheng fell back to walk with Jeno, both of them exchanging friendly glances. At least Jeno had made a friend.

The kitchen/dining room you entered looked somewhat normal compared to the rest of the house, though still elaborate and high class it was clearly somewhere a family lived, it much less resembled the home of a 16th century king.

Hendery seemed to notice your impression of the kitchen.

“A lot of the house is normal compared to the rest, it was remodelled for a modern family to live in, with proper central heating and all,” he joked, you politely gave him a small smile.

You looked over at the dining table. When he had said a few drinks and snacks he had been making a massive understatement. There was fruit, cereal, biscuits and hot food of all kinds. There was five types of juice, tea, coffee and even hot chocolate.

You really wished you hadn’t eaten the McDonalds.

“Help yourself,” Hendery said shyly, his hair falling over his eyes as he looked down. You couldn’t help but think about how cute he looked in the morning. You internally slapped yourself. This was a marriage of countries, not people.

“You guys too,” he said looking at Chanmi and the two bodyguards behind who had already began to hover by the pancakes. Sicheng high-fived Jeno and you couldn’t help but laugh.

Hendery looked over at you smiling when he saw you laugh.

“Shall we sit down?” he said. You grabbed an apple juice and a banana, as to not look impolite and sat down opposite where Hendery was. Chanmi sat down next to you, pulling out her massive folder once again.

“I assume we have to come up with, and learn a fake backstory,” he said to Chanmi, she nodded,

“Yes, you don’t have to be super detailed yet, it will be better to build in more details over time, but you do need to agree upon a basic timeline yes. It works best if you say you met at university and started dating sometime after, but you can both decide the details.”

You wished that she had just done it for you and printed it off but Hendery’s mother had explained weeks ago that if you came up with the story yourselves you were less likely to forget it.

“I think it’s best if we say we were friends for a while first,” you began, “I’ve been at the university for two years so we could perhaps say we met a year ago and started dating a while after?” You proposed.

“I agree,” he said, “We can say we started dating two months after we met. That we were introduced by our mutual friend Lucas…”

You cut him off,

“But I don’t know anything about Lucas,” you objected. Hendery shook his head,

“Doesn’t really matter they won’t be interested in the details of that yet, Lucas has many friends so it’s believable and by the time they ask about that I’m sure you will have met Lucas many times.”

What he said made sense. You paused for a moment, when he mentioned that you would meet Lucas, it started to dawn on you that your whole life, however you had seen it playing out, wasn’t going to be that way, your life would be dominated by your marriage to the son of a dictator you barely knew.

You almost dropped your cup at the thought of it, Chanmi saving it from falling by steadying your arm.

Her once infallible expression now looked somewhat anxious.

“Sorry,” you said, “You’re right Hendery that works.” You placed your cup down. Chanmi started to scribble down what Hendery had said once you confirmed he had a good idea.

“What else do we need to be able to talk about?” you asked, Chanmi scanned down her list of questions.

“Well just reasons you like each other, you can make that up on the spot though basic things, maybe agree on the location of the first date and proposal and that’s about it, most of it will be a prepared statement given by Hendery and only a few questions by reporters.”

“Study date,” Hendery said, “for the first date, we should say we studied together, we have to explain in a way that explains why we haven’t ever been seen together, it plays up the star crossed lovers angle,” he said, “You can answer that one, I will talk about the proposal don’t worry about that.”

You nodded, hazarding another sip of your juice. Chanmi smiled.

“All set then, I will go and make sure everything else is set up well, you have another half an hour or so to just hang out or whatever,” she said.

You had been hoping she wasn’t going to leave you alone with Hendery which you knew was stupid because you had to live a whole lifetime with him, however you were postponing that until the last minute.

Chanmi ran out the door and the other two were still enjoying the food, watching a video in the corner, thankfully nobody was attacking at the current moment.

“We are finally left alone,” Hendery joked, “well at least mostly.” You looked up and smiled politely again, playing with your bracelet nervously.

“That’s pretty,” he commented, “where did you get it?”

“Jeno gave it to me when I turned eighteen, it’s from our home country.”

Hendery glanced over at Jeno who looked up from his phone and waved back. Hendery’s face changed slightly but you couldn’t read his expression.

“It’s meant to be charmed by a witch” you continued, “I wear it for luck.”

“Ah cool,” Hendery replied as he continued to watch you play nervously with the bracelet, “you don’t have to be so polite, if your nervous you can say, if you want to scream obscenities at me I wont stop you.”

You exhaled, the tension you held inside releasing slightly.

“It’s not your fault either, it isn’t an optimal situation for either of us so it would be unfair for me to scream obscenities. I’m not angry anyway. But nervous… that I am.”

“About the announcement?” he prompted. You glanced up at the ceiling, looking at the intricate pattern in the paint.

“Not in particular though it does unsettle me slightly. It’s more of an overall nervousness I would say…” Hendery seemed to want you to continue, “Well you seem polite and all, but I don’t know you and so giving up my life to marry you is somewhat scary. But sometimes in life you have to make sacrifices, and this is mine, as it is yours.”

Hendery kept looking at you before he got up, he walked round and sat down in the chair next to you where Chanmi had once been.

“I suppose I understand that better than anyone else ever will,” he said his face serious, “but I really mean it when I say I don’t want either of us to be unhappy, so I really will try my best, not for the sake of international relations but for the sake of ourselves.”

You smiled genuinely at him.

“I’m sure at worst I will only hate you a little bit,” you joked.

A text came through on your phone from Chanmi, you didn’t know when she had acquired your phone number, but you pushed that thought aside.

Makeup Time!!! Upstairs third room on the left

“I have to go, my beautification awaits,” you said.

“You’re already pretty,” Hendery said, you were going to laugh but Hendery seemed serious. You blushed slightly. You put your phone in your pocket and grabbed a water bottle of the table.

“Well thank you and see you later for the end of our lives,” you said.

“It’s not the end it’s the beginning!” Hendery called after you as you hurried out. Jeno saw you leaving and almost fell over running after you.

“I see you have made a new best friend,” you said to him, on the way to where you hoped you would find Chanmi.

“I can’t be stuck with the same four friends my whole life, can I?” he said, “And anyway you and Hendery seem pretty close, you were always obsessed with him.”

“I was never obsessed with him,” you shout whispered back to him, clearly not quietly enough as Chanmi, who was waiting at the top of the stairs intercepted the conversation.

“Obsessed with who? I don’t think I’m up to a secret boyfriend scandal, let’s make that clear now.” She said.

“It’s nothing,” you said, glaring at Jeno. Chanmi seemed happy to accept that and a few seconds later had you seated in a chair in front of a large mirror.

For the next hour you had to endure several people pulling your hair and prodding your face. By the end you did look better than you ever had but you were not sure if the sweat and tears were worth it.

You had no time to ponder this as Chanmi was already pushing you towards a clothes rack. Jeno decided it was time for him to wait outside the door, leaving just you, Chanmi and the clothes.

“Jeno isn’t the secret boyfriend, is he?” Chanmi asked, searching through the rack. You coughed, water almost dribbling out of your mouth.

“No. He’s my brother practically, in all honest he was making fun of me and Hendery. I used to watch Hendery on TV obsessively, not because I had a crush on him but because I thought the son of a dictator was an interesting character. I didn’t believe he could be the same person in life as he is on TV, so I watched him over and over hoping to catch him out.”

“I want to say that’s cute given the situation but really think we will just need to find you a hobby to take up,” Chanmi decided, her face determined, “you can pick from any of these three,” she handed you three similar dresses, you picked a flower one, similar to the ones you had at home but clearly more expensive.

Chanmi smiled,

“Your mother told me you loved flowers,”

That must have been where she got your phone number.

“It’s a beautiful dress,” you complimented her for finding it,

“It should be at the price it costs.”

You pulled your makeshift outfit off and put on the outfit. She gave you some earrings and a necklace.

“Don’t I need an engagement ring?” you asked her.

“Don’t worry about that,” she said with a knowing smile. Jeno knocked on the door at the same time.

“You need to get going,” he called. You smiled at Chanmi before following her out and back down the staircase. She led you into the room next to the conference room where a team of people were waiting.

A lady started explaining how the microphone worked and that you didn’t need to stand up to answer any questions. She fell silent when Hendery walked into the room, his father and yours right behind him. Your father gave you a quick smile before turning back to the President.

Hendery walked up behind you and tapped you on the shoulder lightly,

“Can I borrow you for one minute?” he asked, and you followed him into an empty room across the hall. It seemed to be a rather large bathroom. Hendery locked the door.

“Is this the part where you murder me?” you asked, trying to make a joke. Hendery didn’t seem to understand, he looked shocked,

“I would never hurt you, let alone murder you, y/n, I hope you know that,” he said earnestly.

“I was joking,” you said, trying to laugh to ease the tension but it sort of sounded more like you were having breathing issues.

“Okay good because we don’t have a lot of time,” he said. You smiled back at him.

“What did you want to tell me then, if your plan wasn’t murder?” cursing yourself for bringing the murder joke back as soon as you had said it, luckily whether out of politeness or genuine humour Hendery chuckled.

He started to get down on one knee,

“Oh no… you don’t need to do this,” you said to him, shaking your hands. Hendery just grinned.

“But I want to, I should at least propose to my fiancé,” he pulled a box out of his pocket to reveal a ring that must have cost a large fortune, not a small one, “Will you marry me?” His face now serious as he looked up at you with a certain hope in his eyes.

You were more nervous now than you had been all day, you clutched the ends of your dress, your nails digging into your skin. The reality of the situation ever increasing.

“Yes,” is all you managed to say, but it was all you needed to say, Hendery stood up and placed the ring on your finger, his own fingers cold. The heating was certainly lacking.

He was wearing a much nicer suit than before, this time it wasn’t at all damp looking either. He wore a black tie and a badge with his country’s flag on it.

“We need to go,” you managed to say, very aware of how close Hendery now was to you and how you didn’t need another reason to be nervous. An attractive man standing that close made you nervous.

“Let’s go then,” Hendery said unlocking the door and holding it open for you which you thanked him for, quickly walking back across the hall.

Chanmi grabbed you, clearly checking that Hendery had given you the ring, once she had seen it, she was satisfied.

“Time to shine,” she said pushing you towards the door.

The conference room had been set up with four seats, Hendery and the President in the middle, you and your father seated either side. You saw both your mothers watching from the front row with Chanmi. Jeno was standing with a line of bodyguards at the back, Chanmi had let you keep your bracelet on and so you felt somewhat calmer because of it.

Hendery sat down first and you walked across to sit next to him.

“You will be fine,” he whispered to you. At the same time his father began to speak.

“Today the Presidential House would like to make an announcement regarding the recent engagement of my son Hendery and his fiancé y/n, daughter to an ambassador to this country.” he said, “My son would like to read a short statement to this effect.”

“I would like to express to everyone who is watching my happiness on my engagement to the love of my life, y/n. Although we come from different countries, two that have not always agreed in the past, we have still managed to find each other and that is something I think is beautiful. I hope that all of our citizens can respect out forthcoming marriage and grow to love y/n just as much as I do.” He said smiling down at you at the end.

It made you feel sick, the words he said, lies.

Lies to a nation who would love to see your country burn, just meters away from a President who would let that happen if other countries wouldn’t condemn him for it.

The President then spoke again, of how this had allowed the two nations to come to a trade agreement and therefore how it must have been fate, though he was suspicious at first, he now recognised the power of true love.

In that moment you hated him. He may have given you an opportunity for peace but only in a manner that would cause your father to suffer through losing you to him. You hated him for how he used his own son to achieve this, it made you feel more sick than anything Hendery could ever say.

Yet the conference continued, and you sat with the same fake smile on your face, trying desperately to ensure a nation loved you, to ensure it was all worth it.

The questions began, the same ones Chanmi had promised, first date, favourite things,

“I love how hardworking he is,” you said,

“She is very determined and passionate,” Hendery said.

“Where did your engagement occur” they asked,

“You won’t believe me Jungwoo,” he began, of course he knew the reporter, “but I actually proposed here in a bathroom,” a shriek of laughter went up.

“Why a bathroom?” Jungwoo the reporter replied incredulous.

“Well actually we first met in a bathroom, y/n was with Lucas having dinner with some friends and he had invited me to come join, I walked in to see the bathroom door open and y/n crawling on the floor trying to find her earring and so I helped her search, so I suppose jewellery in a bathroom is sort of a fun joke to us.”

Though the story was false you felt calmer that Hendery somehow had not lied about the location of the proposal, he had made your relationship seem not one-hundred percent fake to you, for which you were grateful.

The interview ended shortly after. You filed out of the room and back into the hallway.

“That went brilliantly,” the President asserted, your father agreeing strongly, eager to please him. You loved your father, but you hadn’t realised he was a slightly weak man until that moment.

You turned to Hendery,

“Thank you for working in the true location of the proposal, its hard to explain why but it means a lot to me.”

“I get what you mean, it is the one thing about us that is true and that does mean something,” Hendery agreed, “that’s why I worked it into that ridiculous story, also its so ridiculous no one would ever believe I was lying.”

You started to notice Chanmi hovering, it was time for you to leave.

“I suppose I will see you for the ball tomorrow then?” you said. Hendery nodded.

You were about to leave when Hendery remembered something.

“Ah yeah, here’s my phone number, in case you need anything,” he said handing you a piece of paper from his pocket.

“Thank you, and thank you for the ring, it’s beautiful.”

“I picked it myself last week… the ring not the phone number,” he said. You laughed, properly, not out of any obligation.

“Bye Hendery.”

“Bye bye future wife.”

And with that you walked to Chanmi who lead you back out of the building and away.

You cried when you got home. You were understandably upset about the whole situation but when you pulled out your phone and the number Hendery had left and texted him saying

This is y/n btw

You felt somewhat better, it wasn’t Hendery you objected to, he seemed nice and maybe in another life you would even have chosen to date him.

It was the lack of freedom and the lies that upset you, it was the smile on the Presidents face when he announced he was suddenly able to agree to the trade deal terms. You could have punched a wall.

You didn’t even want to talk to Jeno.

But when Hendery replied with a screenshot of his phone where he had saved your name as ‘fiancé from the bathroom’ with a heart, you wanted to punch the wall a little less.

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

“Just breathe in more!” Chanmi shouted as she struggled to close the final clasp on the corset of your dress.

“Could you not have found a dress that fits a normal human?” You replied, red in the face from all the breathing in. Jeno and Jaemin were in fits of laughter in the corner watching, clearly finding your struggle rather amusing.

The dress Chanmi was wrestling you into was a beautiful lilac ballgown, one of the famous colours of Hendery’s country, he was going to wear a red tie, the colour of your own nation.

With one last breath in, Chanmi managed to secure it properly and you were able to breathe again, though not at full capacity, the dress had perhaps permanently destroyed your lung functionality.

“Right shoes on, we are almost late,” Chanmi continued running around, shoving one last hairpin into your hair.

It was the night of your engagement ball, even the name of the event sounded elaborate even to you.

Your phone told you that you had about three minutes to run to the top of the ballroom, to walk down the stairs, like something out of Cinderella.

You threw Jeno your phone and started to run, Chanmi running just as fast next to you.

“If that stupid dress had fit this wouldn’t have happened, now you’re going to be red in the face,” Chanmi complained, “I will fight that tailor.”

You had never heard such anger towards a dressmaker before so you refrained from making a statement about how the dress had made you red in the face, late or not.

You reached the door that led to the ballroom balcony with about a minute to spare. Chanmi started viscously fanning you with her schedule to an extent you couldn’t help but laugh.

Chanmi was so passionate about her job it was amazing, it took your mind off your nerves. You were about to walk down the stairs with about three hundred people watching you, you had to not fall, look graceful and most importantly make them love you.

And make them think you and Hendery were in love, there was also that.

Your face had almost returned to a normal colour as Chanmi raised up her fists to cheer you on and the balconey doors opened.

It took a second for your brain to remember what to do, but finally you stepped forward. You could see the ballroom below, filled with important people in expensive clothing. But at the bottom of the steps waiting you could also see Hendery.

You kept your eyes fixed on him as you descended, he was the only person in the room you recognised except for your own parents and therefore he was the only face you could look at without passing out due to nerves.

Peace between nations rested on the important people here liking you, believing you were worth the love of the President’s son. That was a heavy burden to bear and it weighed down on your shoulders that you had to keep perfectly upright even as you reached the final steps.

Hendery’s eyes looked in awe of you. You thanked God that at least one of you was a good actor.

He walked towards you, offering out his hand as you reached the ground. You reached out to meet him, his hand touching yours softly. It was the first time you had ever had physical contact with him.

It wasn’t like a movie, sparks didn’t fly when he touched your hand, but it did reassure you slightly that he hadn’t run away yet.

He leaned down and gently pressed his lips to the top of your palm.

“You look beautiful y/n,” he said, his eyes shining due to the reflection of the chandelier light above.

“You don’t look too bad yourself,” you said, forcing a giggle. It wasn’t that he didn’t look handsome, in truth he was possible the most handsome man you had ever seen at that moment in his black tie suit. You were just too nervous to laugh naturally, to act naturally.

Hendery smiled back up at you as the string music began to play.

“Shall we dance?” he asked, putting his other arm around your waist and pulling you closer. Luckily as the daughter of the ambassador you had learned to dance from a young age and therefore weren’t going to embarrass yourself.

“I fancy myself quite a good dancer,” you said smiling. Hendery nodded in agreement.

“You’re quite right about that, but I have to ask, am I really just not bad looking,” he said, leaning in closer to whisper the last part. You blushed slightly,

“I’m sure you know your very handsome Hendery,” you said before leaning in yourself to whisper in his ear, “and I agree with you, leaning and whispering is a good tactic to make us seem close.”

His eyes narrowed before he chuckled.

“You’re a smart woman y/n.”

You carried on dancing until the song ended at which point the President came over.

“May I cut in?” he asked, Hendery stepped back, the smile from his face immediately gone. In contrast you plastered a fake smile onto yours.

“It would be my honour,” you affirmed, when really the thought of dancing with such a horrendous man repulsed you. Physically the President was almost attractive as his son just many years older, yet you hated him so much so just the thought of touching him made you want to flee.

The music started up and you began to waltz.

“You and Hendery looked happy dancing,” he remarked.

“We get on reasonably well,” you replied simply. It wasn’t a lie.

“That pleases me to hear, I wouldn’t want to make either of you unhappy.” He also didn’t seem to be lying, and maybe he wasn’t but he was still willing to risk his own son’s happiness to make a point and so every word he said to you was like poison.

“Your son is a very smart and kind person, I am sure we will be a happy couple.” You said it because you had to make him happy but you did also wish it would be true. You hoped one day you and Hendery could be happy together for real.

You just had to fall in love with him first.

You danced until the end of the song, then you danced with about five state officials before you finally had to sit down. You were good at wearing heels but dancing for such an extended period of time was tiring.

You watched Hendery as you sat, dancing with the wives of the officials, his face smiling casually. He was instantly likeable just like on TV, yet you still didn’t believe he was really like that all of the time. You still wanted to find out if he had any cracks.

Lost in thought you didn’t notice Hendery standing in front of you, his hair slightly sweaty from all the dancing.

“Why are you sitting alone?” he asked.

“I don’t know many people here and I’ve always been a pretty solitary person, symptomatic of having to be guarded twenty-four seven,” you said, nodding back to where Jeno and Jaemin were at the edge of the room only metres away.

“Well lonely lady, we need to make a toast,” he said offering his arm for you to take. You stood up, the pain of your shoes starting up once again and linked your arm with his.

“We can’t all be sociable Mr. Perfect,” you joked back. Hendery looked away grinning,

“That’s not how I come across is it?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know, you always seem perfect, dancing just now, in all your TV interviews..”

He cut you off,

“You watch me on TV?” he asked, seeming genuinely surprised.  

“Don’t think to highly of yourself, I can’t help that you are always on the television, you’re the joy of a nation, there is whole magazines that basically only write about you and Lucas.”

Hendery chuckled again.

“And now they will only write about you and me,” he said. You had reached the top of the balcony where a member of staff signalled for the music to stop.

Hendery had just stepped forward to speak when it happened. At first you couldn’t be sure, all you heard was a loud bang and the sound of people screaming, then another bang occurred and Hendery let go of your arm, grabbed your hand and started to run pulling you behind him. You saw a group of men start to chase you up the stairs.

Your feet were in the most pain you had ever felt from wearing shoes but you kept running behind Hendery, holding onto his hand as tightly as you could, not knowing where he was running to but knowing that if you stopped the men behind could potentially try to kill you.

Hendery suddenly stopped by a door and flung it open, letting go of your hand to shut it quickly and locked it as soon as you were inside.

You opened your mouth to speak, Hendery shook his head raising his finger to his mouth indicating you should say silent. He turned the light off and got his phone torch out. He seemed to be searching for something but you couldn’t help him because you didn’t know what it was.

Seconds later you saw him lift some of the bathroom tiles that were fixed together to create a secret trapdoor. He pressed his thumb to the top corner of the tile which flashed green. Despite your fear you couldn’t help be impressed by the James Bond level tech this house seemed to have.

Hendery lifted the door up and motioned for you to climb in, you stepped back into the hole, your feet finding a ladder and you began to climb down as fast as you could, Hendery following, he managed to close the door just as you heard people attempt to kick the bathroom door down.

The ladder led down to what seemed to be a secret bunker. There was a final door which Hendery opened this time with his eye. The bunker was a small room, it had a bed and bottles of water but not much else.

Hendery sighed out once he had shut the outer door. You slumped down on the bed, your back leaning against the wall. Hendery walked over and handed you a cup of water.

“You can talk here, it’s soundproof,” he said but you were too shell-shocked to get any words out.

The first thing you could clearly think about was the pain in your feet, the running had caused your feet to start bleeding, something you noticed as you pulled the shoes off.

You ripped part of your dress and put the water on it, using it to wipe the blood from your feet.

Hendery sat down next to you, almost as shocked as you were, even if he was trying his best to hide it.

A bomb must have gone off, was your first thought, the ball had been attacked, probably in protest. You felt hot tears fall down your face at the realisation. Your parents had been down there, you didn’t know if they were safe.

Hendery seemed to snap out of his own thoughts, staring at you with concern. At least he wasn’t stupid enough to ask if you were okay.

You wiped the tears from your eyes furiously,

“Sorry,” you said, “I’m not usually such a baby.”

Your words seemed to cause Hendery more concern.

“Given the situation I don’t think crying makes you a baby,” he said. You shrugged.

“It’s not the first attack on my life in this country,” you replied, which was true, it was the fourth. People on both sides really did hate the other.

“It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve… You have the right to be upset, to be scared, those are all normal emotions.”

“You’re not crying, why should I,” you countered. In any other situation you thought Hendery probably would have laughed.

“I don’t have the right, it was my father who got us both into this situation.”

“Your father,” you said, “not you.” The thought Hendery saw the situation as any way his fault, made you feel so much worse. You couldn’t stop your tears from flowing silently down your face.

Hendery looked at you with sad eyes, before he shuffled closer to you, wrapping his arm around your shoulder, bringing your head down onto his shoulder as he held you.

“I don’t ever object to my father, I’m not any better,” he mused sadly.

“I could have said no,” you whispered in reply, “but I didn’t in the hope that marring you would stop attacks like this, not against me but against my people and against yours. I like to believe Hendery that what we are doing is not in fear of your father, but creating peace in spite of your father.”

“Why has it ended with your cheering me up?” Hendery said, staring down at you.

“We are helping each other, a team for life right? You have a right to be scared an upset.” You quoted him on the last part.

“Are your feet okay?” Hendery asked, suddenly worried again. You looked down at your cut feet, the bleeding mostly stopped.

“I don’t think it’s life threatening.”

Hendery chuckled.

A moment later you heard the door bang. You both stood up, your worry for your feet gone again. Hendery held your hand, pushing you to stand behind him protectively, the door banged again before opening, your nails digging into the skin of Hendery’s hand.

“Are you okay y/n?!” you heard Jeno’s voice. You sighed with relief when you saw him standing at the door with Sicheng right next to him.

You ran over and threw your arms around him.

“What happened? What’s happening?” you heard Hendery ask Sicheng.

“Terrorists, protesting the trade agreement and demanding war, two bombs, luckily not strong but there was still five dead and twelve in critical condition.” Sicheng reported.

“Who, do you know who is dead?” you said letting go of Jeno and turning to face Sicheng.

“Nobody you would know Miss y/n,” he said, “Both of your parents are fine, your father has suffered a few minor injuries but nothing worrying,” he added. You breathed out a sigh of relief, something you felt terrible for given the tragedy.

Sicheng and Jeno led you both back out into the open and along to where both of your parents were waiting. Your father had a sling around his neck and the President had a large cut on his cheek, he had clearly been hit by a bit of shrapnel.

The President came over and started to apologise as your mother ran over to hug you.

“Hendery took me to an escape shelter,” you explained to her as she sobbed into your chest. You could tell she wanted to say she wished she had never let this marriage go ahead.

“I hope that what happened today doesn’t change your mind about anything?” was all the President asked. Hendery looked like he wanted to punch him, but his mouth stayed shut and he didn’t hit anyone.

You managed to remove yourself from your mother’s grip.

“It only reinforces the need for this marriage to go ahead.” You said.

“Then we think it is best for you to move in here for safety reasons. You can still have two of your own bodyguards but we feel the added protection would help. As you have seen we have many precautions in place in times of emergency.”

“Obviously you can have your own room,” Hendery’s mother added, “We can even work together with Chanmi to decorate it the way you like.”

Your heart dropped, you had forgotten about Chanmi, though Hendery’s mother mentioning her must have meant she was fine.

“Is she okay, Chanmi?” you asked to nobody in particular.

“She just had to get stitches in her arm,” Sicheng said, “Not the bomb but she was stabbed by an assailant looking for you.”

You wanted to bs sick, all of these people hurt because of your fake marriage. You put your hand to your head, almost falling over as your legs wobbled. Hendery managed to catch you, helping you stand straight, not letting go of you.

“Can we discuss this tomorrow father, I think y/n needs to rest, this has been a rather traumatising day,” he said.

Before you could protest that you were fine his father nodded.

“Let her sleep in your bed until we can get a room ready for y/n tomorrow, you can sleep in Sicheng’s room,” he said.  Your parents didn’t protest. So Hendery helped you walk from the room, Jeno following behind, now with Jaemin and Sicheng.

“Five’s company,” you joked. Hendery didn’t laugh or say anything in return, his mouth set in a firm line. He didn’t say anything at all until you reached his room.

His room was at the end of a long corridor filled with doors, it really was a massive house. He opened the door and walked in with you, shutting it behind him, the three guards waiting outside.

He sat you down on his bed that was perfectly made. You stared around his room, all of it neat and tidy, you hadn’t expected otherwise. He had some photos of Lucas and him hanging on the wall and one of him with his parents.

He had an Xbox under the tv and a bowl full of keys to expensive cars, you thought it was funny how the things he liked were such stereotypical boy things.

The one thing in the room that surprised you was his bedside tables. One had a stack of books by the lamp, but the other had a picture of you and him, the one of only a few that existed, taken on one of your visits to his house in order for a press release later on.

Hendery saw you staring at it.

“That one was my favourite, so I told my mother she couldn’t give it to the press, something has to be sacred to our fake marriage.”

The word fake hurt to hear, even if it was true. You really wished you had met Hendery under any other circumstance but this.

“Get some sleep, we can talk in the morning, I’m really sorry all this has happened.” Hendery said, turning to leave. You grabbed his arm softly to stop him.

“Hendery,” you said standing up, “thank you for saving us,” you said with a sad smile, “apart from Jeno you’re the only person to ever save me from an attack.”

Hendery bit his lip,

“Of all the things that I wish made me equal Jeno to you, I really wish it hadn’t been having to save you from being killed,” he said it somewhat jokingly but you knew he had said it in earnest.

You stepped towards Hendery and wrapped your arms around him, resting your head on his shoulder.

“I wish we had met in another life, in another way,” you began, your words partly muffled by his shirt against your lips, “I don’t know you well, but I think you are a person I will be proud to marry,” you moved your head back to look up at him.

“I hope you’re right,” he said before wrapping his arms around you in return. You stood like that for a moment longer before Hendery let go.

“Try and sleep,” he said, before leaving, the door shutting softly behind him.

You woke up from nightmare after nightmare through the night. You stared at the photo of you and Hendery in the frame, you looked so happy even if the happiness was fake. You finally fell asleep soundly dreaming of a life in which you and Hendery were truly happy.

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

You woke up to the light shining through the gap in the large curtains as you realised you had forgotten to close them properly.

It was your second week in your room at the President’s House and yet you still weren’t used to it. You heard a knock at the door, the repeated nature of which told you it was Chanmi. She had come back to work shortly after being released from hospital even though you had begged her to take a month or so off.

She was unfortunately not a month off type of person. She walked in without waiting for your answer, sighing when she saw you still hadn’t gotten out of bed.

“You know you have your first live TV interview today, get up!” she instructed. You laid back down pulling the duvet back over your head.

You still weren’t really able to think straight all the emotions of the last month were still processing in your mind, you didn’t know how you felt never mind how to pretend to convey how your pretend self felt on national television.

“It’s just one interview, I’m sure Hendery can do all the talking on the attack related questions,” she said clearly trying to cheer you up but you didn’t feel any better. You felt bad that the explanation seemed to rest on Hendery’s shoulders by default, you were sad that you were the cause of the attack and worst of all you knew you had to tell a whole country they shouldn’t attack you because you loved Hendery when that wasn’t really true.

While you had grown closer on that night, you hadn’t properly talked to him since. He was always busy with work, he worked for his father in his free time, training for a high up government position.

You had spoken to him briefly at meals but you really just didn’t know what to say to him, how to talk to him when at the same meals he agreed with everything his father said about politics, most of which you silently disagreed with.

Politics wasn’t everything but in a political marriage it meant a lot.

So you had been left alone with your thoughts mostly, you had gotten a few lessons from the publicity about how to deal with the media and lessons on the countries culture but it wasn’t really anything you hadn’t learned as the ambassadors daughter.

“I’ve thought a lot about what I want to say, I think I can really help if I speak about the attack,” you said to Chanmi. You had spent a lot of this free time thinking, thinking about how to save the political marriage, about how to save everyone around you from the fallout it would cause.

“Well then even better,” Chanmi replied smiling but the apprehension on her face at your words was clear.

So an hour later you found yourself knocking on the door of Hendery’s study.

“Come in,” he called out, you turned the door handle and pushed the door open, “I was just about to come and find you y/n,” he said.

“I was thinking about the interview,” you began, “I know the plan is for you to speak about the incident and ask that people respect me and so on, but I really think it would help if I speak for myself.”

Hendery didn’t say anything which also wasn’t an objection so you continued.

“I agreed to this marriage to avoid conflict, I don’t want to create it, I don’t want to just wait around carrying this weight of the decision I have made without even being able to speak myself on it. I want to take responsibility for the weight of my own actions.”

Hendery stood up from his chair and walked around the desk leaning back to half sit on the front so he wasn’t talking to you from so far away.

“You are braver than I will ever be,” he said, “if you want to speak for yourself then of course you can.”

“I don’t think being responsible for my choices is brave, it’s a requirement to me. You were prepared to take responsibility for our marriage too, I don’t see why you think it’s brave,” you said.

Hendery looked up at the ceiling, twisting his pen back and forth between his fingers.

“I thought if I was going to be responsible for one choice I made in my life it was going to be marrying you.”

“How so?” you asked, taking a seat in the armchair at the side of the room.

“I see how you look at me at dinner when I agree with my father and the atrocious opinions he has. You hide it well but I can tell. I agree with my father even though I know he’s wrong and that’s partly because I didn’t know how wrong he was until he forced this marriage. I realised that he had been manipulating me my whole life. He always used to say the decisions he made were for the best, for the people for me but when he made us get married I finally understood that he was just playing games.”

“Then why do you agree with him still?”

“Maybe I am a coward, maybe I still believe that he wants whats right deep down but I don’t really believe either of those to answers. I just don’t see the benefit in disagreeing with him.” He explained.

“If you did then maybe he would question his own opinions,” you suggested, “hearing it from his own son.”

“His own son who he would marry off just to win a political game. I can’t win against my father but if I obey him I can try and make some good, marrying you will do good in the long term, even if it is part of his game, so that is what I choose to be responsible for because I believe in the power of it.”

You could hear the pain in Hendery’s voice as he spoke but also the determination. You started to understand him a bit more.

“Maybe he wins the short game, but we will win the long game,” you said, Hendery looked about to ask you to elaborate but you didn’t let him, “Interview time,” you got up and opened the door, “time to pretend you love me.”

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

You looked in the mirror just before you went to sit next to Hendery on the set, your makeup was perfect, your hair done, you looked amazing. You had gotten rid of the flowery dresses that you loved for this interview though, today you wore a tailored suit, today you were going to show the country you meant business.

You sat down uncomfortably closer to Hendery but you knew it would look weird if you had sat half a foot away.

The interviewer was a woman who didn’t seem to like you very much as she scowled at you but you didn’t let it affect you. You answered all her questions about your ‘love story’ and smiled up at Hendery as you told the gushing details.

“So what do you say to people who disagree with this relationship, clearly after the terrible act of terrorism that occurred at your engagement party it would be better for everyone if you just broke up?”

“We will not be intimidated by haters or people who write mean comments online or even despicable criminals. We love each other and we will get married. We feel our love conveys how it is possible for both our nations to come to love each other also so that senseless violence will no longer occur, to us our love is about more than just us, it is our love for each other yes, but also everyone on both sides of the border.” You answered.

“How lovely,” the reporter said with a fake smile, “well I think we know one way to appease the viewers,” she said.

“And what is that, we would be happy to oblige,” Hendery said, reminding you exactly of all the times you watched him on TV. He was too perfect on TV you found it unnerving now you had started to get to know him.

“a kiss between the happy couple to be,” she grinned. If you hadn’t known it was impossible you would have thought she knew your marriage was fake. You tried not to look alarmed, Hendery didn’t seem to be phased.

“Is that proper?” you asked, trying to see if you could wiggle your way out.

“It’s the twenty-first century I’m sure it’s fine,” the reporter said. Before you could continue to argue Hendery leaned in and placed a quick peck on your lips.

“How sweet,’ the reporter cooed, “that’s all we have time for today, thank you to Hendery and y/n for joining us, see you next Tuesday for an interview with everyone’s favourite chef.”

Your face burned red and when you looked over you saw the same blush come over Hendery’s face just not to the same degree. He thanked the reporter before grabbing your hand and pulling you up. He led you out into the open air where cameras flashed as you walked quickly towards the car.

Hendery wrapped his arm around you pushing past the reports until Jeno could open the car door allowing both of you to climb in. Once they had gotten in the row of seats behind and all the doors were shut you breathed out a large sigh.

“I’m sorry,” Hendery said quickly, “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable I just…” You shook your head.

“No its fine, I’m not mad at you I just struggle with the situation as you already know.”

Considering Sicheng, Jeno and the driver were all also in the car neither of you took the conversation any further until you had gotten out of the car and were standing in the empty kitchen drinking water.

“I don’t want you to think I don’t like you,” you said to Hendery, “you’re a really nice person and if we had met under any other circumstance…”

It was Hendery’s turn to shake his head,

“You don’t need to explain.”

“I want to. You told me your feelings earlier I will return the favour.” You took a sip of your water, your mouth feeling dry all of a sudden.

“I always knew I would end up marrying for political advantage, I never let myself like boys, not that I had the chance to meet any, I just thought maybe I would have a pick of three or something.” You stopped yourself, “Sorry again I really don’t mean that as an insult to you.”

“No I get what you’re saying…” he thought for a second, “That wasn’t your first kiss, oh I’m so sorry if it was… live on TV as well.”

You laughed.

“Don’t worry not quite the first, I kissed Jeno once actually a few years ago to see if we had feelings for each other, we realised very quickly we didn’t, we were mostly just bored I guess.”

You knew the same wasn’t true for Hendery, while he wasn’t as bad as Lucas he still had a reputation for girls leaving his hotel room at 3am. While you had abstained from romance all together, he had gone the other way and thrust himself into meaningless sex. You understood his choice even if it wasn’t the one you made.

“So you’ve never had a boyfriend?” Hendery asked, he wasn’t judging he was just curious.

“Nope, I’ve never liked a boy and so maybe that’s why all this with you is a bit harder but it doesn’t mean I’m mad you kissed me, you had no choice and we are engaged after all.”

Hendery took a few steps towards you, putting his drink down on the table. His eyes searching your face.

“Would you be mad if I kissed you now, when I did have a choice?” He asked. You thought about to for a second, while you weren’t in love with Hendery you did find him attractive and he was a caring person and you were going to spend your life married to him. So you made a choice.

“No, I wouldn’t be mad,” you said slowly, your heart beginning to beat faster. Hendery took two more steps forward, he reached over and took your drink out from your hand placing it down on the table.

He smiled,

“I think I like you y/n,” he said, his gaze flicking between your eyes and your lips and before you knew it he was kissing you. Tentatively at first, clearly trying not to overwhelm you but as you began to kiss him back more urgently he followed suit, his hands tangling in your hair as your own arms slid round his waist.

It was different to when you had kissed Jeno, it was so much more enjoyable, you realised that was because you liked Hendery. It felt like your whole body was on fire as his tongue played with yours gently, when he bit down slightly on your lip you let out a soft moan causing your ears to burn red.

But it didn’t dissuade Hendery, instead he smiled into the kiss, before going back to kissing you just as passionately before, pressing you up against the kitchen wall.

A few minutes later he pulled away.

“I think if I don’t stop now we will end up somewhere we don’t wanna go just yet, we do have a lifetime,” he joked, pecking your lips again.

“I think I like you too,” you said to him, your cheeks still red as he beamed at you.

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

You started to chat more to Hendery, meeting him in the garden after dinner sometimes, seeing if you were able to hide from Jeno and Sicheng, something you quickly realised was impossible.

You also quickly realised how stressful Hendery’s life was. While your father’s job had isolated you it had never been something you personally had to be involved with. Hendery’s work for his father was hard, especially on top of the university work you still both had, even if the professors were emailing it for safety reasons.

You had arranged to meet Hendery in the garden after lunch but he never arrived. You wondered around the house looking for him, eventually spotting Sicheng standing outside the library.

“Have you seen Hendery?” you enquired, Sicheng nodded his head lightly.

“He’s working in there, I guess he forgot to meet you… I wouldn’t take it personally the President is expecting a lot from him lately.” You truly felt bad for Hendery and how he was treated. All the President expected from you was to learn to sit straight, something you already learned at the age of four. The misogyny of the upper classes.

“Tell him he has to stop working by six, the doctors’ orders,” you said, “tell him to find me in the kitchen!” and before Sicheng could argue you had already raced back down the corridor to sort some things out.

You asked the people who worked in the kitchen where you could find the ingredients to make cookies, the immediately offered to make some for you but you assured them making them yourself was the point.

You stashed the cookie ingredients in the family fridge before racing off again. You had hours to set up your plan but you wanted it to be perfect so you wasted no time. If you weren’t allowed to be involved in state affairs you could at least support your fiancé who was.

Only a few doors down from your room was a little sitting room with a sofa and a tv that was seldom used. In the whole month you had spent in the house you had never seen another person in there.

One of the reasons setting everything up took so long was because you weren’t sure where things in the house were kept. You could have asked someone but you wanted it to be a secret between just you and Hendery.

So when Jeno asked why you were forcing him to run after you like a maniac you refused to give a reason.

You eventually found a cupboard where spare blankets and pillows were kept, chucking as many as possible on top of Jeno whilst picking up just as many yourself.

On the sitting room floor you laid out all the blankets and pillows until it looked as cosy as anything.

Working out how the TV worked was a half hour task in itself, it was so modern you weren’t sure how it worked or how the remote worked but eventually you found Netflix.

Sooner than you expected it you were standing back in the kitchen waiting for Hendery. He arrived not soon after at six-fifteen, his face slightly pale and a tired look on his face.

“Sorry I didn’t come meet you in the garden earlier I was just so busy…” you cut him off, placing a finger over his lips.

“No apologies, just fun relaxing activities,” you explained, pulling the cookie ingredients back out of the fridge.

It turned out neither of you had any clue how to bake but cookies were simple. Flour ended up everywhere and you couldn’t help but think how cute Hendery looked as he smiled, butter smudged on his cheek.

“We have to cook them for ten minutes, so they are still gooey,” you said, going over to the sink and grabbing a cloth, “your face is dirty come here.”

Hendery walked over to you and crouched down slightly so you could clean his face, you chuckled at how cute he was.

“All better,” you said, wiping the butter away, your eyes lingering on his cheek. Hendery caught your gaze and smiled.

“Come here you have something on your cheek too,” he said, you were confused you had checked in the reflection of the oven just a minute ago and there hadn’t been anything.

Hendery leaned in closer to your face before placing a quick kiss on your cheek. Your face blushed slightly pink as Hendery stood up straight again grinning.

“Oh maybe there was nothing there after all,” he said. You shook your head in mock disapproval, saved from your shy embarrassment by the noise of the cooker beeping.

You carefully removed the cookies from the oven and slid them into a bowl. Hendery reached in to take one but you swatted his hand away.

“You will burn yourself if you touch it now, and anyway they are for later.”

Hendery seemed confused. You didn’t bother explaining, you picked up the cookie bowl in one hand and took Hendery’s hand in your other and starting leading him to your blanket extravaganza.

You had gotten some staff to leave actual dinner in the room, you hadn’t been confident enough in either of your skills to make a whole dinner, it probably wouldn’t have had the light-hearted fun vibe you were after if you ended up with raw chicken.

“Pick a Netflix movie,” you said as you settled down into the blankets, eating your food as Hendery found a movie to watch.

By halfway through the film both of you had turned your focus away from eating and solely to the movie. But without the food to think about you began to notice more how close Hendery was sitting next to you.

He seemed to be slowly moving closer and closer to you, his hand resting nearer to yours by the minute. So when the movie reached a slightly scary part you felt no shame and hiding your face in Hendery’s arm.

“You don’t need to be scared,” he said, you glared at him jokingly.

“Says the man who is scared of frogs,” you teased back. Hendery’s mouth opened wide,

“How did you, how, what?” he asked.

“I’ve been asking around about you,” you said in your best attempt to flirt. Your isolated lifestyle hadn’t given you much practise.

“You’re cute,” he observed, looking down at you, taking the opportunity to place his arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer to him, “thank you for doing this,” he said over the sound of the movie playing in the background.

“If you ever need a break just call me up, I’m nonstop fun,” you said, immediately regretting how the statement had come across more sexual than it had in your head. Hendery just grinned.

“But seriously, I can tell your stressed and so if you ever want to talk about how stressed you are or just get things of your chest, I’m willing to listen.”

Hendery sighed lightly. He didn’t speak for a while, his hand fiddling with the corner of one of the blankets, his muscles slightly tensed.

“If… If you would be happier not marrying me, I want you to tell me, I will talk to my father, I will find a way. You’re too kind and beautiful a person y/n to be stuck marrying someone for politics. I want you to be happy.”

His words shocked you but you couldn’t help smiling but not for the reason Hendery thought. You wriggled out from under his arm moving to sit directly in front of him, your legs crossed opposite where he sat, hugging his legs.

“Meeting you has been the one thing that has seemed like real life to me, even if this is an orchestrated marriage, The fact that you would be willing to talk to your father to make me happy, is the exact reason I am willing to try marrying you. Even if there is another way, I still choose this way.”

Hendery still looked conflicted.

“But what if, in the future, you don’t feel the same way, you regret making this choice, choosing me?” he asked.

“While I still don’t consider this marriage a choice, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t chose to date you under different circumstances. And you are correct, I cannot see the future and someday I may not feel how I feel now. But I know two things that are true. One is that your father is unlikely to listen to you no matter what and so this marriage is still necessary. Two, right now the thought of marrying you doesn’t scare me, it makes me somewhat happy, even if the circumstance doesn’t. Even if marriage for us is like dating for others, I chose right now to take responsibility for not even letting you try to convince your father.”

You looked straight into Hendery’s eyes. The hope that you saw appear in his eyes was enough to make you want to cry. This marriage to Hendery, the chance to make you happy, it was his hope, the only hope he felt he had of doing something positive.

Your marriage to Hendery was going to bring good to the world, to his world and your own. You knew that was something to be proud of, you knew that you wanted to love him.

You kissed his lips briefly before pulling away again.

“You should sleep,” you encouraged him, “you are handsome but tired looking.”

“It would be a better sleep if you slept with me,” he joked with a wink. You pushed him lightly on the shoulder.

“Whilst I may have kissed someone before you, I have not shared a bed with a guy before and will not be starting today,’ you asserted. Hendery nodded, getting up,

“Well my door is always open, I’m a great at cuddles.”

He leaned down and kissed your forehead softly.

“Goodnight y/n,” he said, “I will sleep better dreaming of you.”

You blushed in the darkness of the room as he walked away. The man was to charming for his own good.

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

You saw it on the news first,

“Breaking story, five tourists from our neighbouring country have been arrested on suspicions of undisclosed crimes, they are currently being held by the state government, a decision that is being viewed with mixed reactions.”

You stood up, your first instinct to go to Hendery’s study and ask him if he knew what was going on.

But when you tried to leave your room you found it looked from the outside, something you hadn’t known was possible. You began to bang on the door, shouting at whoever had locked it on the other side, but to no avail.

You eventually sat back down and turned the news back on, having no other real plan of action. The news revealed that the tourists had supposedly robbed a bank but it was an accusation you were very suspicious of.

You tried ringing Hendery but every time the phone went straight to voicemail and you didn’t bother leaving a message. You tried searching the internet but you didn’t have a 3G signal and the Wi-Fi seemed to be broken.

You rang your mother next to ask if she knew anything, she said that all she knew was that there had been no bank robbery and they were being held as political leverage. You wanted to scream, you picked up the closet item to you, a shoe, and threw it as hard against the wall as possible.

At the same time you heard the lock on the door turn and Sicheng enter,

“Are you all right?” he asked, “I heard a bang.” You couldn’t believe Hendery’s personal guard was the one keeping you locked up.

“Why can’t I leave?” you asked, “Why won’t Hendery pick up my calls?”

“The President doesn’t want to risk the chance you could talk to the press… as for Hendery I don’t know… as soon as he heard what was about to happen he insisted I tell Jeno we swapped guarding duty for the day.”

After seeing you were okay Sicheng left again, locking the door once he was outside. You wanted to believe that Hendery played no role but the changing of the guards so that Jeno couldn’t let you out was suspicious.

A few hours later Sicheng opened the door and passed you some food into the room but you felt too sick to eat. What was the point of the marriage if it didn’t even keep your country people safe.

Finally your phone rang, Hendery was calling you back. You wanted to ignore it out of spite but you knew the situation was more important than that.

“What the fuck Hendery,” was all you said when you picked up.

“I’m sorry,” he replied.

“Don’t be sorry, just explain to me what the actual fuck is going on here.”

“My father will let them go… he just needs your father to agree to one of the more controversial trade terms. I asked him not to do this, I really tried but,”

“You didn’t have to get Sicheng to guard me,” you countered. Hendery paused for a second.

“I… I just don’t want my father to get angry at you, Jeno would have let you leave and then he would have been fired and my father… he would have made life harder for you and your country,” he tried to explain.

“I’m not seven Hendery I can make my own choices. Your choice to ensure I’m locked up means you don’t trust I won’t do anything stupid any more than your father would.”

You were really angry, to an extent you understood Hendery’s motivations, you understood he was trying to help you. Yet you also disagreed with his methods and you were angry he didn’t trust you.

“I’m smart enough to know that talking badly about your father to the press wouldn’t help achieve what we are trying to with this marriage…” you didn’t have the energy to argue with him.

“I’ll send Jeno back,” Hendery said, his voice barely a whisper, “I never want to upset you y/n that will never be my goal, I know your intelligent, probably more so than me. My father is a scary man and I let my fear of him overpower my trust in you and for that I really do apologise.”

“If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?” you replied.

“Is it really time to quote Confucius?” Hendery asked. You smiled to yourself.

“I was just proving I really am intelligent, and anyway I mean it, you are a good person Hendery, trust me, yourself, our marriage will outlast your father and then maybe things can change.”

“My closest ally on the advisory board thinks they will release the prisoners tomorrow and call the situation a misunderstanding, just wait until then,”

“Goodnight,” you said before hanging up the phone. You were still angry, but not at Hendery. You had never made a habit of disliking people never mind hating them, but the President was a man you really hated.

The next afternoon at around 4pm the tourists were released and a short statement was made about a cultural misunderstanding. One the President hoped would not be repeated in the future after the joining of the two nations.

You wanted to stab him through the TV, but why waste a perfectly good TV.

You heard a small knock at the door, you thought it was Jeno telling you that you could come out now, roam free, inside the prison of a house.

Instead stood Hendery, eyes as tired as ever, his face as defeated as your own. He said nothing, merely walked over to where you were perched at the end of your bed and sat down.

He opened his mouth to speak but you shook your head.

“Nothing we can say makes it better, so it’s better to say nothing at all,” you said, before wrapping your arms around him and pulling him towards you. For those few minutes where you just hugged him you thought of nothing. You worried about nothing, you just felt the peace that holding him close brought you.

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

“You look beautiful,” Jaemin said to you, you think it was the nicest comment he had ever said to you, it was your wedding day after all, “I’m still sad you wouldn’t let me be a bridesmaid.”

You resisted the temptation to chuck some hairpins at him. You hadn’t thought your bodyguards would have looked good in dresses so you had convinced Hendery to make them the other three of his five groomsmen along with Sicheng and Lucas.

“I think Chanmi looks prettier in pink,” you replied, which was only followed by more protests of ‘”she’s wearing blue, not pink,”- a technicality.

Speaking of Chanmi,

“Five minutes,” she called out. You pushed your earrings in, your hands trembling slightly as you got up and saw yourself standing in front of the mirror dressed in white. The gown was beautiful, expensive, everything you could have dreamed of.

You felt so sick. Jeno walked over and grabbed your hand. He was going to walk in front of you the whole way with Chanmi, the male bridesmaid Jaemin wished he could be.

Chanmi held your other hand and squeezed tightly, reassuring you as they led you down the stairs and out to the car in which your father was waiting. Jeno sat in the front as Chanmi gathered up your dress, making sure it all fit in the car before sitting down beside you.

“What a beautiful day for it,” your father remarked. You nodded back but didn’t open your mouth to speak, you thought you would throw up if you did.

The car drove on in silence, you clutched at some vow cards Chanmi had prepared for you. Reaching over and rolling down the window you chucked them out.

“I’ll just wing it,” you said to her horrified glance, but she never let go of your hand.

The car pulled up outside the church moments later, you could hear the low murmur of the guests inside as Jeno opened the door and helped you out.

Sicheng who was waiting by the door for the rest of the groomsmen looked less anxious to see they had actually arrived just in front of you. They headed inside the church as you tried your best not to hyperventilate outside on the church steps.

“Being your best friend has been my honour,” Jeno said to you, leaning down to kiss your cheek. Through your panic you still managed to look up at him confused.

“You will always be my best friend, getting fake married doesn’t change that,” you replied. Jeno held both of your hands,

“You are not getting fake married though, it may not be a marriage of love but it is a real marriage and for that reason I really hope for you, that he becomes your best friend, that he can take my place and support you like I always have. We never loved each other like that but I hope he loves you like that because you will always be my almost sister and I love you. Don’t be afraid, you’re saving a nation, be proud, and love him too,” he said, a tear fell from your cheek, “no crying, someone worked hard on that makeup.”

You let go of his hands and hugged him.

“I love you too almost bro,” you said as the wedding march began to play and some flower girls that you didn’t even know entered through the doors. Chanmi ran over and gave you a quick hug.

“You will rule the world one day y/n,” she laughed as she let go, handing Jeno a bouquet as they both walked in after the flower girls.

Just you and your father were left, you wiped the tear from your cheek and walked over to him, putting a smile on your face. You could tell he was already sad, you didn’t want to make it worse.

“Time to get married,” you whispered, linking your arm with his and staring onwards. 

The doors opened and you stared down the aisle in front of you. You saw Jaemin, Renjun and Chenle standing next to Sicheng and Lucas on the stage. You saw the reverend, you saw your mother, Jeno and Chanmi sitting in the front row, you saw the president and his wife sitting on the other side.

Finally your eyes focused on him as you got closer, step by step.

The sickness you had once felt, gone, the moment you locked eyes with him. His eyes held the same trepidation as yours but the shone through the church as he looked at you.

Your father let go of your arm, kissing your check, before you took Hendery’s hands instead.

The reverend read out a whole spiel but you weren’t really listening, you just stared up at Hendery, trying your best to focus on him and not falling over.

“Today, I promise you this: I will laugh with you in times of joy, and comfort you in times of sorrow. I will share in your dreams and support you as you strive to achieve your goals. I will listen to you with compassion and understanding, and speak to you with encouragement. Let us be partners, and friends, today and all of the days that follow,” Hendery said. His words were the first ones you had really heard.

You took a sharp breath inwards realising it was your own turn to speak.

“I had prepared something to say, but I wanted to speak from the heart instead. I promise to do my best to love you and live harmoniously with you as long as we both shall live, to take on the challenges life gives us together. I hope that our marriage can serve as a sign of peace and that the world can feel compassion as deeply as I know you feel it,” you said.

“Do you, y/n y/l/n, take Hendery Wong to be your lawfully wedded husband,” the reverend asked,

“I do,” you replied, your voice thankfully not shaking.

“Do you, Hendery Wong, take y/n y/l/n to be your lawfully wedded wife,”

“I do,” he said, staring down at you with a smile.

“I know pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride,” he said and so Hendery leaned down, kissing you. Only for a few seconds, there were children present, but it was enough to make you blush.

You pulled Hendery into a hug and whispered in his ear,

“I wish I could have chosen to marry you,” you said. Hendery shook his head, still smiling for the crowd.

“I’m feel lucky to get to marry you y/n, whatever the circumstance,” he said, causing you to genuinely smile. Hendery let go from your hug and threw your clasped hands in the air as you walked back down the aisle and out of the church.

The reception was actually quite dull to start off with, you had to greet many political figures, most of whom you didn’t personally know, there was also the ordeal of extended family which hardly ever went well for anyone.

It got a bit better when Lucas and Jaemin got so drunk they started to perform karaoke standing on tables as Chenle cried with laughter watching.

Your first dance with Hendery had been sweet but after that you and Hendery had mostly decided to sit at the side together, exhausted by the whole affair.

By about midnight your head was resting on Hendery’s shoulder as you began to doze off, partly from tiredness, partly from alcohol. Hendery chuckled at how cute you looked.

“Let’s get you to bed,” he said, about to pick you up when you insisted you could walk. Hendery put his arm around your waist, supporting your drunk figure as he lead you to the elevator. You walked along the corridor before he pulled out the key card, letting you both into the presidential suite.

It had two bedrooms and so he walked you towards the bigger one, helping you sit down on the bed.

Chanmi and Sicheng had made sure you both had stuff there and so she had left you a pair of pyjamas to get changed into. Hendery handed them to you and turned around so he didn’t see you getting changed.

“I can’t do the zip,” you complained, tapping Hendery on the shoulder.

“oh yeah right sure,” he said, turning back around and unzipping it for you, blushing when you pulled the dress down before he could turn around again.

“Don’t be silly, we are married,” you said, making fun of him in your drunken haze.

“Doesn’t mean I cant still respect you,” he said, “I’ll go get changed myself and come back in a sec okay?” he said to which you nodded. You took your underwear off and replaced them with the white satin pyjamas Chanmi had left.

Hendery walked back in with a matching pair. You went and brushed your teeth together before Hendery urged you to climb into bed.

“Goodnight, y/n,” he said about to leave before you sat up and stopped him.

“Married couples sleep in the same bed,” you protested.

“You’re drunk, y/n, I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

“Snuggling is definitely fine,” you said, something which Hendery struggled to argue with. He put his phone down on the bed side table and shuffled in beside you, wrapping his arms around you.

“I think I could get used to this,” he said, his chin resting on your shoulder. You rolled over to face him.

“You have a good face,” you said. Hendery burst out laughing,

“You’re so cute,”

“Can I kiss you?” you asked.

“So this was your tactic then,” Hendery laughed back, placing a small kiss on your lips, “try and sleep y/n,”

Your face became sad,

“Do you not want to sleep with me?” you asked.

“I���m here, I’m going to sleep right next to you,” he said, pressing a kiss to your shoulder. You shook your head.

“No sleep with me sleep with me,” you clarified, your words slurring together. Hendery���s eyebrows furrowed. When he saw your sad expression through the darkness he smiled slightly, laughing.

“It’s not a question of wanting to, you’re beautiful and I really like you y/n of course I want to do all those things with you, but I’m not having sex with you for the first time when you are drunk, when you can’t give proper consent. Especially for your first time.”

It slowly dawned on you even as drunk as you were that Hendery was much more experienced with relationships than you were, it wouldn’t have been hard.

“You don’t mind that I have never had a boyfriend before, that I have never had sex before,” you said, whispering the latter part.

“You don’t have to whisper it’s not a bad word,” Hendery laughed, “And of course I don’t mind, as I said, I’m fully committed to you and we have the rest of our lives, for now we can just cuddle and sleep okay?”

You seemed satisfied with his answer, falling asleep moments later with his arms around you and waking up the same way nine hours later.

You didn’t feel embarrassed in the morning when you remembered the conversation because Hendery didn’t make it feel like something that was at all embarrassing, he just made you feel calm and safe.

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

By that afternoon you were on a flight to a private island, owned by Hendery’s family. His grandfather had owned a brewery there and his own father had worked there before he became president.

Other people lived on the island, local people who would have recognised the two of you and alerted the press with photos.

So before you went to the beach you both put on ridiculously large hats and sunglasses on.

“James Bond has nothing on us,” Hendery remarked as you laughed at his stupid pineapple sunglasses.

“No one would expect the President’s son to dress like this.”

You spent the day on the beach, building a not so impressive sandcastle, jumping through the waves, splashing each other.

Once you had somewhat dried off, Hendery grabbed your hand and led you over to a little ice cream stall where an old man was selling ice cream. Hendery ordered you both one.

“You are a very cute couple,” the man remarked, “is it a special occasion?”

“It’s our honeymoon,” you replied, “we just got married yesterday.”

“Congratulations to both of you,” he said with a smile.

“That’s a rite of passage, isn’t it,” Hendery said as you walked home,

“What is?” you asked,

“Being told we are a cute couple by an older person.”

You giggled as you licked your ice cream,

“I suppose it is.”

You showered after you got back, changing into an outfit Chanmi had packed for you, the dress was lovely, the underwear choices slightly racy.

You walked out onto the patio where Hendery had laid out a fancy table for the two of you. There was a rose in the middle and he held out your chair for you to sit down.

“I have to admit, I didn’t cook the food, I didn’t think that would impress anyone,” he said.

“You don’t need to impress me, I already think you’re great,” you said, sitting down. The food really was good, but you made sure not to drink too much wine to avoid a repeat of the night before.

Your conversation died down comfortably after a while and you both took a moment to stare out at the orchard and the sea that was behind it. You really hoped you and Hendery could move to the island permanently one day. Instead of returning to the Presidential House.

You turned back to see Hendery who was staring at you, a dopey smile on his face.

“I love you,” he blurted out, your heart skipped a beat, “I wanted to say it to you yesterday but I wasn’t sure if you would remember but I love you and I hate my father sometimes but marrying you is the best thing that has happened in my life. We may have married for the sake of international relations but I love you for you.”  

You smiled, standing up as he stood up and walking round to stand in front of him.

“I love you too,” you said, “after meeting you I realised I hadn’t really been living real life before, it sounds cliché but you brought colour to my lonely monocoloured life.”

You snaked your arms around his neck, pulling him in to kiss you,

“Will you let me have sex with you know?”

“You don’t know how long I have dreamed of this moment y/n,” he said, staring down at you with love in his eyes,

“The confession of love or the sex?” you joked,

“honestly, both,” he said laughing before bringing his lips back to yours. His lips trailing kisses down your neck before you grabbed his hand and pulled him back inside towards the bedroom.

You barely made it inside the bedroom door before he was kissing you again, your back pressed up against the wall. He gasped slightly when you moved your hands under his shirt, your finger touching his nipple briefly, before pulling off his shirt.

He reacted by unzipping your dress,

“is this okay,” he asked, not pulling it off you until you nodded,

“It’s all okay, Hendery, I want you.” It was all the confirmation he needed. He couldn’t help but admit that it turned him on, being the first and most likely the only man to ever get to touch you like this, now you were married now you were his and he was yours.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said as he unclasped your bra, letting it drop to the floor. One of his hands massaged your breast, the other placed against the wall as your lips met.

Your attention sprung to the growing length underneath his black jeans. You had never seen a dick before in real life.

“Take your jeans off,” you asked him slightly breathless, he was happy to oblige, pulling his jeans off over his legs.

He picked you up bridal style, literally sweeping you off your feet, before placing you back down on the bed,

“As hot as it would be I’m not gonna fuck you for the first time against a wall,” Hendery explained, you nodded,

“Less talking more touching,” you demanded, Hendery grinned a wicked grin.

“That I can do.” Before you knew it he was placing kisses up your thigh, his finger grazing over the top of your soaked panties before pulling them down and throwing them behind him. It was your first time so he knew he had to stretch you first as he inserted a single finger but it was enough to make you let out a sharp moan.

You wriggled slightly in pleasure as he began to pump his finger in and out, before you knew it he had added a second, which was slightly painful at first but at the same time you felt his tongue over your clit, moving in circles and pleasure took over.

“Shit Hendery,” you called out, you could already feel your orgasm building so when Hendery began to move his fingers faster, you let go, your walls clenching around his fingers.

“Such a good girl for me,” he said. You looked up, regaining your sense to see Hendery was still wearing his boxers. A small wet patch had formed at the end of his hard length. You sat up pushing Hendery down.

“My turn,” you said.

“You don’t have to, you know,” Hendery replied.

“But I want to.” You pulled at his waistband, letting his cock spring free. It was slightly bigger than you had imagined and defiantly not as repulsive, in fact the thought of sucking his dick made you wet all over again.

“Tell me how,” you asked him, kneeling down.

“Well start by touching me,” he encouraged, guiding your hand with his own until it was wrapped around the top of his dick, “now slide your hand down and put your mouth where your hand was.”

You leant over and placed your tongue on the tip, licking slightly before putting it into your mouth. Hendery moaned lightly as you began to suck, taking in as much of his dick as possible before moving your mouth back up,

“yeah, fuck, like that,” Hendery groaned.

You tried to take a little bit more into your mouth each time until eventually it caused you to gag slightly, at which Hendery’s dick began to twitch, you kept sucking as his breath quickened and he finally came in your mouth, cum shooting down your throat as you swallowed.

“Jesus,” Hendery said, bringing his lips to yours, the taste of his cum still on your lips, “you are something special y/n,”

He brought his hand down to your folds, checking you were still wet enough for him. He propped himself up with his arms before placing his cock at your entrance.

“Tell me if it hurts, I will go slow, I wont move until you tell me to okay and if you don’t like it we can stop.” He said.

You nodded though you doubted after the first part of the experience that you would want to stop.

When he first pushed in it did hurt, as he moved in and out slowly it stung slightly but with each small thrust the pain was replaced with pleasure. When you finally let out a moan, Hendery started to thrust deeper,

“You’re doing so well for me y/n, you’re so fucking tight,” he hissed, his own pleasure preventing him from talking further.

Neither of you were going to last long and Hendery’s dick was beginning to pulse inside of you.

“I love you,” he managed to say as he came, filling you up with his cum, the feeling of it prompting your own orgasm as you moaned his name loudly.

Hendery kissed your lips softly, hugging you for a moment, before offering to help you clean up, wiping his cum from beneath your legs softly.

“I really do love you y/n,” he said as you both settled back into bed to sleep.”

“I love you too,” you said. What had started out as a sick game between politicians in the name of peace had ended up as something beautiful, as love.

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

In the years following life wasn’t always the easiest, the President wasn’t a good man and he made life tough sometimes and you struggled, but you struggled together. You were happy with each other.

You got to know each other more every day and you fell in love more every day. You had two children together and two years after that you renewed your vows in secret with only your children and your closest friends present, to make it clear you did choose to love each other, even if you hadn’t chosen to marry each other.

Ten years later when the President died of a heart attack, came the hardest choice for you both. Most of the country expected Hendery to take over from his father, to become the next leader. He could have, he would have been a brilliant and fair President, but it wasn’t something either of you wanted, you didn’t want the dictatorship to go on. Hendery allowed the people to choose a new president, elections were held for the first time in many years.

Instead of becoming a dictator like his father Hendery moved back to the villa with the orchard with you and your two children. You went to the same beach and built sandcastles with your kids as you had on the first day of your honeymoon.

The orchard where you had both confessed your love was so beautiful. The island didn’t belong to his country or yours. It was on an island that belonged to both of you.

You bought Chanmi and Jeno the house next door, they had gotten married just three years after you, something that had brought you immense happiness. Jeno didn’t guard you anymore but you both lived close enough to watch out for each other, still the closest of friends.

Your children grew up and played together, went to school together. You lived a life that was happy. You had married to bring the world peace but you had also found peace in your heart. Marrying Hendery had once seemed like a cursed fate but really it had been the most blessed fate of all.

You didn’t think people would ever believe such a happy story could come out of an arranged marriage in which the proposal had occurred in the bathroom. It summed up you and Hendery, neither of you knew exactly why you worked but you did. From the day in the bathroom, to the night of the attack, to your marriage to then. You realised you had always seen yourself loving Hendery.

Your love was the only possible outcome.

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 38

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: A new semester is starting

A/N: We are finally done with the holiday chapters! When it comes to this chapter, I'd like to state that I only have some experience from a couple of Finnish universities so I really don't know a whole lot about how certain things work in practice in the States, so please ignore the possible inaccuracies for the sake of this fic. It feels weird after a couple of 'bigger' chapters to have a bit more 'fillery' one... but... but... there's Caleo in the beginning?? So I hope you'll enjoy nevertheless. I wish I could spread even more love towards this ship because they deserve it but sadly there are only so few hours in a day. The fandom seems so quiet these days...

Anyway, enough rambling! Now let's get to this chapter, and the usual reminder: I love to hear what you think! All comments are much appreciated :)

Words: 2500+ 

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

...

”Is something the matter? You look quite unhappy.”

Leo felt arms sneak around his shoulders from behind while he was sitting on the common area sofa, staring at his laptop with a frown. Some of the speaker’s reddish brown hair fell in front of his face, the smell of cinnamon drifting into his nose, and for some reason that alone was enough to relieve some of Leo’s uneasiness. The small, pale hands found their way down his biceps and stopped there, but he wasn’t going to complain. If he was honest, he was really happy about Calypso’s growing confidence when it came to the physical affection, because it told him she really trusted him. Sometimes he was still amazed that he out of all the people had managed to break the ice around her.

Before Leo let himself get too lovestruck, though, he reminded himself why he was staring at his laptop in the first place. The new semester was starting and that naturally meant new courses, new assignments, new texts to read and… new emails from his professors. One specific email had managed to twist his stomach quite badly. In it, the professor from his chemistry lab class had asked him for a meeting, and Leo assumed he wanted to discuss what had happened on the exam day. Wishing that he could just ignore that said message, he turned his attention back to his girlfriend.

“Just uni issues… nothing more severe this time,” Leo replied half jokingly. The holidays had given him some perspective on what really was important to him and failing a class didn’t feel quite as big an issue anymore. It was inconvenient, yes, on a few levels, but not entirely unfixable.

“Oh?” Calypso finally let her hands slide off of him and sat down next to him. She seemed a bit relieved that this was about the university and not something that was out of her reach, and if Leo was honest, he couldn’t blame her. “What kind of issues?”

“A professor wants to meet me face to face tomorrow. Probably to talk about my recent chemistry lab test or something like that.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

“Hmm… Isn’t it quite unusual for them to give special focus to a single student at this stage?” Calypso asked.

“Apparently they still do that in my department. Who knows, maybe they think I’ve caused them enough trouble by now and want me to quit.”

“But what happened in your lab test was not your fault. Do you think you are any closer to being able to finish it in case you get another chance?”

When Calypso was looking at him with those almost chocolate brown eyes, he felt that it wasn’t impossible.

“Some smart person once said that I need to believe in myself more, so that’s what I need to learn to do. After that… it might be possible.”

“I’m glad you’re listening to me at least sometimes.” Calypso gave him a lopsided smile. “The fact that you know what you should do means that you’re already on your way there.”

“Yeah. I guess so.” Wanting to talk about something else, Leo asked: “Well, what about you? How are you feeling about the upcoming semester?”

“I’m feeling… pretty good about it, you know? Sure, I’ve been reading our course plans and it sounds like our professors are planning to make us work like every day is an exam day and we have some group assignments and important presentations coming up, but… I really like learning? And I like listening to the conversations between our professors and my fellow students during our lectures because it’s something I never got to do when I was stuck at home… I feel like I get new points of views from them all the time. And Annabeth is a really big help; she knows everything about everything so if I ever feel like I can’t follow the lectures, she can always clarify them to me.”

“I have a hard time imagining you not being able to keep up with the professors… but yeah, it’s good you can ask for her help if needed.”

Calypso nodded.

“You know, I’m glad you two got your issues sorted out in the fall,” Leo added as an afterthought.

Calypso looked up at him with a slight frown as if she had completely forgotten about what exactly had happened in the fall. “Oh, right, that. I feel like it was just one big misunderstanding. Both of us realized that we can’t get stuck on something that happened so long ago.”

Leo couldn’t deny that he had also felt a bit jealous of Percy when he had first found out about his and Calypso’s past, but she had clearly moved on, so he wasn’t holding a grudge anymore either. Calypso had decided to date him, and that’s what mattered.

“Yeah, I know from my personal experiences that ain’t worth it,” he replied.

Calypso leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed.

“I have a… maybe a bit weird question. Do you believe in some kind of greater power? You know, like gods?”

Leo wondered why she would ask that. “I dunno. Maybe. I’m not really strongly for or against that. I think I’m the kind of person who needs to see it to believe it, but I don’t think it’s impossible. But why do you ask?”

“This will sound extremely cheesy but sometimes I wonder… if there was a reason why we two met. Like some greater power that pushed us together for some reason.”

“Wow. I don’t know if any greater powers had their fingers in that but I am glad that it happened.” Leo threw his arm around her shoulder and wondered briefly why it felt like such a natural thing to do. At one point he had been too intimidated to initiate any kind of physical contact but now that they were more open with each other and she had seen him in some of his worse moments – he didn’t mind anymore.

“Yeah. Me too.” Calypso whispered.

Only the buzzing of the fridge and some other kitchen machinery could be heard on the background while the flatmates were simply enjoying each other’s company, resting their heads against each other, but eventually Calypso suggested:

“Hey... I think I need something that will allow me to disconnect a bit, so… how about some Friends?”

Leo didn’t have anything against that suggestion. In fact, he always enjoyed the TV show or movie nights with Calypso, for various reasons. “Sure. That sounds great to me. You know I’m always ready to roast my homeboy Chandler.”

“I know you are.” Calypso nudged him and took the remote control to find the right episode. As they started watching and commenting on it (he always enjoyed how snarky Calypso’s comments could be), Leo almost forgot about the upcoming meeting with the professor.

…

The next day, Leo found himself in the building where the office of his lab professor was located. At the breakfast table he had practiced the meeting with Calypso, and Jason had also joined him a bit later to wish him luck. To Leo’s relief, he did seem a lot happier than when he had seen him before the holiday break, but he still didn’t talk a whole lot about his current situation. Leo himself decided that it was better if he didn’t guide his friends too much so instead he did a quick recap on the recent developments in his own life – without mentioning his new relationship status. Luckily Jason didn’t ask, as he seemed to be more worried about Leo’s upcoming meeting.

As he was waiting for the professor to arrive, Leo kept glancing at his clock nervously. The man was already a few minutes late. While Leo knew that wasn’t anything unusual in the university world, as the professors tended to be busy, he still kept wishing he could get the meeting over with as soon as possible. His leg started bouncing again on its own and his fingers were tapping against the wooden handle of the chair. Suddenly he didn’t feel quite as sure about what he was going to tell the professor as he had felt earlier.

Finally, he was pulled from his thoughts by a loud ‘ahem’.

“Mr. Valdez? Sorry I’m late, my meeting with a couple of coworkers got a bit long,” the professor said.

“That’s… that’s fine,” Leo stuttered. Some months ago he would probably have said something snarky as a response but right now he knew better than to take any risks.

“Go in, go in, so we can have a talk,” the professor encouraged. Unwillingly, Leo followed him into his office and had to be told to sit down before he even realized that there was a comfortable looking arm chair right next to him.

“So…” the professor started once he was seated behind his desk. “You probably know why I invited you here.”

“I… I do have an idea…” Leo said hesitantly, looking everywhere in the room except the professor. The man had a lot of engineering related books in his bookshelf, a big stack of papers - probably students’ assignments - and a fancy looking calculator on his desk. Behind him on the wall there was a single photograph of his family. Pretty much exactly how Leo had imagined the said professor’s room looking.

“I will be direct with you. Your achievements in the lab classes - or lack thereof - is a cause of confusion for us. In almost all of the theory related classes, you are on the top of the class – despite the occasional reports that your behavior towards the lecturers could use some improvement.” The man raised his eyebrow, but Leo thought he could see a glint of amusement in his eyes. That didn’t last long, though. “However, until now we have been willing to overlook that because of your talents. Maths, physics, chemistry… those things you clearly don’t have any issues with. But already for the second year you have been avoiding the lab classes for which you have been signed up and last fall you even left the chemistry lab test before you managed to get it completed. I’m sure you are aware that if you want to move onto the more advanced classes, you need to complete the mandatory ones before you are allowed to do that.”

“Yes, sir, I’m aware of that,” Leo replied stiffly, wondering briefly when was the last time he had called anyone sir, other than ironically.

“In that case…” His voice turned less formal, more fatherly as he continued, which surprised Leo. The professors he was used to dealing with were usually not all too nice to him, although he was willing to admit that some of it was probably deserved. “Can I ask you, is there a specific reason why you haven’t attended the lab classes?”

Leo wondered if he should come up with a quick lie. It wouldn’t be the first time in his life that he would have to do that in order to protect himself. However, the professor really seemed sincere and concerned about him and in a way his expression reminded him of Jo’s when she was expecting him to open up. Perhaps that’s why he ended up deciding to answer honestly:

“Yes. There is.”

“And? What is the reason?” The professor raised his eyebrow.

Leo inhaled deeply before forming his response. “I’m afraid of fire. Yeah, laugh ahead, but it’s true. I can’t deal with anything that requires heating because of some nasty as hell childhood trauma.”

To his surprise, the professor didn’t get angry at him for talking to him in such a manner. Instead, he furrowed his eyebrows.

“And you’re still planning to make mechanical engineering your career? Despite your fear?”

Leo nodded slowly. “Yeah. Building and fixing inanimate objects is the only thing I’ve ever known how to do. I was basically born with a hammer and a wrench in my hands and I was capable of building toys for myself when I was like four. After an accident…” He refrained from mentioning his mother because he couldn’t guarantee he would be able to stay calm if he brought that up. “… I haven’t been able to light up a match or anything like that. But almost five years ago, two awesome women adopted me and one of them is a mechanic. She reminded me what I really love about tinkering and it was then that I decided that I wanna keep trying. It’s a process but I am working on it.”

The professor smiled a little. “You know… a lot of our students were unable to take the chemistry lab course in the fall, so we decided to organize another course now in the spring. As it happens, there’s still some room for new people in it. So, if you’re interested, you’re welcome. But remember, you would need to attend all the mandatory classes and complete the tasks that you are assigned, no exceptions. That means we will not be going easy on you just because of your fear.”

Leo’s eyes widened with surprise. He hadn’t expected to get a chance like that.

“Woah, thanks sir! I won’t let you down!”

“That’s good to hear,” the professor nodded approvingly. “Can I ask you a question, though? Why do you want to become a mechanical engineer? I mean, what exactly is it that fascinates you about it, other than the influences you have gotten at your home?”

Leo imagined that the professor could probably see the bolts and nuts moving in his brain as he formed his answer. “I… I wanna learn to develop products that will help us make the world a safer, more sustainable place for us. We engineers, if anyone, can develop technology that will help us achieve that goal. But that’s not all. I also wanna learn more so I can help to share the information forward. I wanna show kids who come from similar backgrounds as I that they should keep on dreaming. There was a time when my mom ate porridge - only porridge - for her meals so she could pay the rent when her business was slow, but she still kept doing it. Because that’s how much she cared about her job. And I want to continue in her footsteps.”

The professor shifted on his seat. “That is an admirable goal, Mr. Valdez. I hope you will succeed. Remember, you do have the skill – you just need to know how to use it.”

“Yeah… Thanks professor.”

“No problem. Don’t forget the class enrollments end tonight so you need to be fast if you want to participate. That’s all for now. Good luck in your future endeavors.”

“Thanks. I’ll go enroll myself then. Bye for now.”

“See you, Mr. Valdez.”

Leo breathed a long sigh of relief the moment he stepped out of the professor’s office. The meeting had gone way better than he had dared to expect. He hadn’t thought he would get another chance so fast, but was grateful for the opportunity. Now, he would only need to kick his fears into the deepest pits of Tartarus, as Calypso would say.

[echo-three-one]

Chapter 30

The last chapter for the second arc.

THE ROAD SO FAR

The Man with the Rubber Duck Tie

John Price

Victory Cruise Ship, Port of Dover, UK

"Hey. You!" A patrol guard called making Price, Ghost and Alexandra stop on their tracks. They were already on the narrow and unimaginably squeaky clean hallways of the bottom of the cruise ship.

Price immediately pointed his stun gun, toward the two, nodding as they slowly raised their hands in surrender. His eyes were telling them to follow along and it was great that the two were actually getting his message.

"I caught em Sir, they were trying to sneak into the party." Price reported, his knees bent and stun gun ready to shoot.

"They don't look like party goers. Perhaps spies?" The officer asked Price, slowly approaching the trio, Price looked up at Ghost's fingers twitching. Two. Price knew what it meant. There are two tangos, which meant one was behind him and in one swift move, they could help them escape the situation they're in.

Price quickly tossed his stun gun and did a swift duck as he lifted the officer beside him and slammed it on the ground, Ghost caught the gun and fired it straight at the enemy behind him, sending him into an electric shock. The two fell down unconscious in just five seconds and the three ran up to the main hall.

"Roach? Soap? Alex? Does anyone copy?" Price asked, sounding a bit angry. The ship was already moving and he hoped Gary already had Gold Bar for extraction.

"It's only me now, Price. They got Roach, they're on their way to the east hall, I assume it's to the captain's quarters." Soap panting, his shoes squeaking on the shiny floor.

Alex tried to reply but as the ship moved farther from the dock, the signal was breaking and all they could hear was crackling static.

"Gold bar is still at the VIP Lounge but we don't know who he is. Shadow Company's plan is to prevent anyone from going out of the hall while they find Gold Bar." Soap added shedding light on the actual plan. Price now set their course to the main hall.

Price wasn't great at the Ship's layout, this wasn't in the blueprints. They only wanted to check on the cargo, but they ran, looking cautiously on every corner, hoping to see a staircase that led upward.

Ryder and Ghost were behind him, covering his Six and checking corners as he focused on looking for a way up, on the last turn he finally found what he was looking for.

He climbed straight up to the main hall confidently. He still has his Shadow Company gear and while he's not compromised he could take advantage of it.

"I'm assigned to this staircase, Mate. Go find your own spot." he muttered angrily, almost wanting to push the guard away. It actually worked as the former guard stepped back cautiously and walked away without a fight. Guess he saw it as an opportunity to rest. As soon as the British captain took over the spot, he immediately signaled Ghost and Ryder to move up and blend with the crowd.

"I actually got it." Soap whispered.

"I met a redhead with Roach's rubber ducky tie. He said they swapped ties. Since Roach was caught, that means…" he added.

"Rubber Ducky man is our Gold Bar." Price stated, never in his life would he have realized that that sentence would make sense, but it did.

"Exactly." Soap affirmed. Price now knew who to look for. The man with the Rubber Ducky Tie.

Price signaled Ghost and Ryder to look for Gold Bar. The strobe lights were flashing and it was making him dizzy, he actually had to sit this one out. The younger ones might be able to spot him.

The ship was increasing its speed as soon as it reached the fifteen minute mark. This meant trouble for the team as the faster they went, the farther they were from the dock. It'd be hard to protect a hostage for three hours without an exit.

Price stared at the flashing dance floor, it looked like he was blinking too fast and people inside were teleporting or flashing in and out of the place.

Party goers were being surrounded by the guards, they were being restricted from getting away from the main hall, as some were trying to enjoy the view of the deck.

Five minutes in and Alexandra Ryder emerged from the crowd, dragging along a very drunk man. As soon as he was close enough to vision and away from the strobing lights, Price confirmed the tie. This was their primary target.

"Let's get this one to safety and rescue Roach." Price muttered as Ghost immediately followed behind Alexandra, stepping down to the lower part of the ship where the rooms are.

Gary "Roach" Sanderson

Victory Cruise Ship - Captain's Quarters

Roach found himself sitting on a chair, bound and unable to move. A potato sack covered his head, restricting his vision. He doesn't know where he is. But he does recall the last moments before he got there.

He was bouncing to the beat, trying to blend in with the party. He was by the door, cautiously spying on the three musketeers or huge guards as they looked for Gold Bar. Soap's instructions were clear. They're going to get someone they were tracking before the ship leaves.

Roach found it suspicious that they weren't moving an inch, so his guard went up and eyes locked on the richest people near the door.

Two girls, and one guy. Judging from intel, he knew that it was the guy. He was Gold Bar. Bouncing casually, he squeezed his way to his target and tried to talk to him, but as soon as he tried to save him, electric current coursed through his body, sending him to a shock as he dropped unconscious to the ground. His last thoughts were why and was he compromised?

"Gold Eagle. We have Gold Bar." Gary squirmed and tried to break free. He could hear a taser crackle as he attempted to escape.

"Great. I'll start contacting his father. I'm sure he's willing to donate a wealthy sum of money for his son's safety." Gary squirmed once more, this time it was strong enough to tilt the chair, but he was immediately pulled back.

"Let me identify the hostage. Take a picture of him." Shepherd said. If he was here, the team could easily end this man, right here and right now.

Gary's eyes squinted as soon as they pulled the potato sack, the harsh light blinded his eyes and it took moments for him to actually recover.

"This isn't our Gold Bar! He's blonde! It's supposed to be redhead!" He angrily yelled at the speakers. He wasn't here. And Gary had a hunch that Derek was their gold bar.

"But sir, we followed the tracker." One grunt complained.

"What tracker?!"

"I placed one on the target's tie. The event had strobe lights and he was difficult to spot."

Gary realized the chain of events that led to him here. Derek just wanted the rubber ducky tie to get attention and the moment they swapped, all eyes were on him. That's why they didn't move before the countdown.

"Wait a minute. Isn't this… a former 141?" Shepherd mused.

"Sanderson. What are you doing here?" the former general asked. Gary didn't want to answer.

"Partying." he spat. But Shepherd knew it's a lie.

"First you stole Samantha, my bargaining chip and now you're messing up with my gold bar?!"

"Shadow Company. Activate Intruder Protocol!"

he ordered.

Intruder Protocol. Gary had no idea what it meant but as soon as he said it, their shoulder patches started glowing blue.

"Detain everyone without a patch. Take them all as hostages." he ordered.

"As for you, you will walk the plank." Shepherd's angry stare was the last thing Gary saw before the television turned off. Guards started tying him tight and pushed him to the deck. Gary always loved watching Peter Pan as a kid, and it was a shame that his life is in danger the same way as in the movie.

Gary could take these three men pushing him to the deck, provided he wasn't tied up and he had weapons. Any act of violence towards them is an act of foolishness. And he only considers himself a fool for love.

He obediently followed the three musketeers on the way to the dock. Intruder Protocol was in effect as the party stopped and everyone without the glowing beacon was inspected and placed inside the heavily guarded rooms.

He hoped that the rest of his team were successful in securing and extracting Derek out of this mess. But then again, these rich party goers are already sufficient enough to fund the whole nuke project. A win-win for the Shadow Company. If only there was a way to stop them from mugging these people. A grand diversion.

Gary was already near the edge of the ship, the raging dark sea was calling out to him. Despite the life and death situation, all he could worry about is Shepherd's failed plan that still turned out successful. It was frustrating.

One step. The stun baton was turned off but it was being used to push him more. He wanted to buy more time. But it looked like it was the end of the line for him.

Simon "Ghost" Riley

Victory Cruise Ship - Hull Area, UK

"Shepherd's a wise man. If he can't get what he wants, he'll find another way even if it is risky." Price's words stuck on his head as he ran to the hull. Shepherd's a madman and if a good guy gone bad is capable of doing this, then Nero's far worse.

Clutching the c4 charges, he stealthily maneuvered the hull. Without a beacon glowing on his shoulders, he was a threat to everyone, at least that's what he noticed.

Titanic. They're going to blow up the hull, slowly sinking the ship. He doesn't have to worry about help as Price told him it's already on the way. Whatever that meant, Ghost had no choice but to follow.

The charges were set and he was on his way out, climbing the metal stairs without making a sound.

"Price, charges are set." he muttered to Alexandra, and she relayed it to the Captain.

"He said detonate it now." Ghost carefully paced as far as he could and clicked the remote detonator. A huge explosion followed making the ship tremble a little as alarms started to ring.

Ghost attempted to regroup with Price, but the way to their room was already crowded with the Shadow Company, so he instead ran up to the deck and circled around.

As soon as he got up, he noticed three tall men circling someone and pushing him off the ship. He couldn't mistake it, it was Roach.

He dashed toward the three as he saw Soap dash from the other side. They both pulled the of the tall guards and punched them unconscious but there was still one remaining. And that one grunt happened to push Roach off the ledge.

Ghost tried extending his hand but with Roach's hands tied up tight, all he could do was scream as he fell down to the ocean. Soap knocked the third person out and they were now clear. Ghost wanted to jump and save Roach, but without a rescue boat, it was useless. He remembered that help was on the way and hoped they would rescue him. Roach has to survive. Roach will survive.

"Needing assistance here. They're after us!" Price muttered over comms. Ghost slowly stood up and turned back. He was never going to forgive Shepherd for what he did.

END OF PART 2

Notification Squad my Beloved

@samatedeansbroccoli @enderio @smokeywhalee @beemybee @ricinbach @whimsywispsblog

[drivingsideways]

For the ship and one word thingy, of you're still doing it(and thank you!) . Seunghyo and Seunwoo, exhaustion.

Hi anon! Sorry this is a bit late, and I'm not sure this will quite be what you were looking for, but I hope you'll enjoy the snippet. Once again, I'm setting this in my "Where Your Treasure Is" 'verse, but this works as a prequel to the first part of that series and is gen or pre-slash if you squint (or have read the rest of the 'verse!)

This is set post-canon, premising that Seon-woo gets a life-saving surgery, and Gu Seung-hyo is still with Hwajeong group but in an overseas posting. He's also dating Lee No-eul.

cw: mentions of physical disability, depression

The nurse is carefully unstrapping the prosthetics when there's a knock on the door, and a quiet voice says, "May I come in?"

Seon-woo looks up, startled. In the doorway is the last person he'd expected to see this morning, or indeed, for a long while.

"Gu sajang," he says, surprised. "Good morning," he adds, belatedly remembering his manners.

"Good morning, Ye Seon-woo-ssi. Is this a bad time?" Gu Seung-hyo asks, "I can come by later."

"Almost done," Seon-woo says, gesturing for him to enter. "I've just finished my exercise round for the morning."

The second leg is off now, and the immediate lessening of the weight makes him sigh unconsciously in relief, as he leans back into the pillows. It's been a month into the physiotherapy with the prosthetics, but he's still not used to it- neither to seeing the world from a different height, nor the strain on his back. He much preferred the chair still.

"I'll see you at 4," says Nurse Jang, with a smile, and he dredges up one for her. She's his favourite: a real sweetheart, with deft hands and a wicked sense of humour. She bows politely to Gu Seung-hyo, who bows back, before he takes the chair by the bed.

"I didn't know you were in town," Seon-woo says, "I thought No-eul-ssi mentioned you were in Indonesia."

"I have some meetings here this week," Gu Seung-hyo says, "And some free time. I hope this isn't an imposition on yours."

"My time has less value than yours, Gu sajang," he finds himself saying, "It's very kind of you to come by."

He curses himself inwardly the moment the words are out of his mouth. That had been well short of the inane courtesy that he should have responded with; that kind of self-deprecation wasn't as harmless with Gu Seung-hyo, as it might have been with another, less perspicacious man.

"Kindness has little to do with it, I'm afraid. I've been given a task," Gu Seung-hyo says smoothly, "I'm merely an errand boy."

He rises, holding out a brown paper that Seon-woo hadn't noticed before, toward him.

"From No-eul-ssi," he says, "Since she's unable to visit this week."

It's cherry tomatoes, which he knows come fresh from the little vegetable garden that No-eul's got going in her backyard in Gangneung.

Seon-woo smiles.

"Please help yourself," he says, holding out the bag to Seung-hyo, who looks hesitant but then picks one out, gingerly, as he seats himself again.

"You don't like them?" Seon-woo asks, as he roots in the bag, looking for the ripest one.

"I'm don’t usually snack in between meals," says Gu Seung-hyo.

Seon-woo nods; somehow that seems entirely in character. "It's nice though," he says, "To break the rule once in a while."

"Yes," Gu Seung-hyo says, and the corners of his eyes crinkle a little as he continues, "Though, as you know I'm rather fond of keeping them."

Seon-woo can't help chuckling at that, and the crinkles get more pronounced.

Silence reigns for a few minutes as they munch on the tomatoes; sweet with just a hint of tartness beneath. Gu Seung-hyo studies the room as he takes a second tomato, when the bag is proffered. It's not very large, but there's a long window which overlooks the garden of the rehab facility, and lets in the warm sun in the afternoons. The window sill and the small desk is covered in the detritus of Seon-woo's stay: books (from Choi Seo-hyun, mostly), a stuffed toy (No-eul), board games (which he plays with Jin-woo during his daily visits, flowers and snacks (eomma), a picture of the three of them taken at a cousin's wedding three years ago.

"This is a nice place," Gu Seung-hyo says, thoughtfully. "A good location, and they have good staff and equipment, it seems."

"Yes," Seon-woo agrees, wondering if Gu Seung-hyo's ever-ticking brain was thinking of a business opportunity. "I was lucky to get a place here after the surgery, it's always full, because they're competent but not very expensive. I have Chief Joo to thank for it, he pulled strings on my behalf."

"Did he?" Seung-hyo says, neutrally. "I'm glad it worked out."

Seon-woo nods, and attempts to concentrate on the sweetness of the tomato, and not the bitter aftertaste of pity.

It's hard though, getting harder every day, to not—

Gu Seung-hyo's studying the view from the window now, peering through the glass, hands shoved in his trouser-pockets. He's dressed in his customary three-piece suit, this time a light grey with a fine pattern, over a crisp white shirt and a navy tie. Conservative, reliable. Seon-woo wonders whom he was meeting today- some oldish government type, he assumes.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" Gu Seung-hyo asks, suddenly, turning back to Seon-woo, startling him out of his thoughts. "Sorry, " he adds, taking in Seon-woo's surprised expression. "But I thought it was better to ask it straight, than attempt to infer."

"It gets better or worse," Seon-woo says, "but there's always some. It's—" he shrugs. "I'm doing as well as could be hoped, at this point."

"The prosthetics—"

Seon-woo shrugs. "They'll take time to get used to," he says, "It still feels strange. The ones I'm trying out are among the best on offer, but the cutting-edge stuff is only available if you're in some clinical trial."

"Who's doing that here, in Korea?"

"SNU, for one," Seon-woo says, "They're really out there in terms of their ongoing projects. But it's hard to say when one of those will become commercially viable."

Seung-hyo nods, thoughtfully.

He smiles at Gu Seung-hyo. "But it's boring to talk about me, you should tell me the news of the wide world."

Gu Seung-hyo's sudden smile reminds Seon-woo that he's a handsome man.

"Do I need to? Isn't that what the internet and that tablet by your bed is for?"

Seon-woo acknowledges it with a half-smile. "Then tell me stories," he says, surprising himself, "Of your adventures in the wild jungle of corporate life. I suppose the new assignment must be a relief after the drama at Sungkook."

"It's more what I'm used to," Seung-hyo acknowledges, and then easily, as if they were friends, "but I admit I miss the challenge of dealing with the eccentricities of top-notch medicos."

The crinkly-eyed expression makes a reappearance. The man was quite unfairly charming when he chose to be, Seon-woo notes; he'd forgotten that, somehow, in the year since he'd last met Gu sajang.

"Your successor isn't faring much better, I think, the last I heard."

"No doubt your brother has nothing to do with that situation," Seung-hyo says, gravely.

Seon-woo laughs, "Nothing at all."

Talk drifts from Sungkook, to other things- Seung-hyo's new role, Korean chaebols, the economy, the Blue House's current occupant and the prospects for the next elections which are less than a year away, books that they discover they're both fond of, and music, and somehow, before Seon-woo realizes it, it's lunch time. There's a knock on the door- it's the kitchen staff with a tray of food. The young woman pauses when she sees Seung-hyo and asks if they'd like another tray.

Seon-woo, mortified by the realization that he's probably upset Gu sajang's schedule irrevocably, is just going to decline, when Seung-hyo says, "It looks delicious, I think I'll have some, if that's not a bother."

"No problem at all," says Min-joo-ssi, with a pleased smile, "We have extra trays."

After she leaves, Seung-hyo says, "Do you feel like having lunch outside in the garden? It's a fine day. I noticed there are some tables set out."

"Uh," says Seon-woo, "I've already made you late."

"Not at all," says Gu Seung-hyo, blatantly lying without missing a beat- another talent that Seon-woo had forgotten he had- "I'll call someone to get a chair."

He's already at the desk phone, quickly dialing the extension after a quick check of the list tacked on the wall, and somehow, before Seon-woo can quite process it, they're outside, under the shade of a garden umbrella, watching butterflies flit, and the bees stagger, punch-drunk, among the roses that are in outrageous bloom.

Seung-hyo eats heartily, Seon-woo notices, without affectation.

He looks up at that moment, to meet Seon-woo's eyes. "You must be bored of the food here," he says, looking a bit rueful.

"They try their best to vary it," Seon-woo says, "and eomma always sends dinner or breakfast with hyung, so I don't have too much to complain about."

Seung-hyo nods, though something flashes in his eyes, that Seon-woo has no way to parse.

A silence falls between them, as they finish the meal. It's not an entirely comfortable one—and Seon-woo feels compelled to occasionally make a remark of some kind to break it, as he becomes more and more conscious of the passage of time. Gu Seung-hyo doesn't look at his watch or mobile even once.

"Do you mind showing me around the grounds?" Seung-hyo asks, after they are done.

Seon-woo looks at him in surprise. "There's not much to see," he says.

"A walk might do me some good," Seung-hyo says, "I'm afraid I might have overdone on the meal."

"You should snack more often," Seon-woo says, smiling at him, "That might prevent these situations from arising."

"Shall we?" Seung-hyo asks, rising from the chair. "Where do I put away the trays?"

So they make their way toward the rear entrance of the kitchen to hand over their trays, Seon-woo wheeling his own chair, and Seung-hyo keeping pace with him. After, Seon-woo directs him toward the southern end of the property, toward the area where there are some tennis courts and even a basketball court set up for the residents who might be able to play.

It's just after lunch, so the courts are empty.

"You used to play," Seung-hyo says.

"Yes," he says, surprised.

"No-eul-ssi mentioned it," Seung-hyo says, "She said that your brother and you made a formidable duo on court."

"Is that so?"

Seung-hyo slants a smile in his direction, "Well, her exact words may have been that you were both bastard cheaters."

"Sore loser," Seon-woo says immediately, "She hated it when she lost."

"She's surprisingly competitive about some things," Seung-hyo agrees, and the accompanying smile is a revelation, starting up an ache beneath Seon-woo's ribs.

"I hope you'll be able to play again soon," Seung-hyo says, "The next time I come by, we should have a game."

"Sure," Seon-woo says, "Next time."

"Seon-woo-ssi," says Gu Seung-hyo, "You can say no, if you don't want to."

Seon-woo looks up, startled.

Seung-hyo is smiling wryly. "I'm quite good at it, so I should warn you it won't be an easy game. You should consider it carefully."

"Is there anything you aren't good at?" Seon-woo says, a trifle acerbic.

"Cooking," Seung-hyo says, immediately, and then adds, reflectively, "And the care of tiny creatures."

"What happened to the dog?" Seon-woo asks, immediately concerned. He's seen enough photos of the creature thanks to No-eul to justify the feeling.

"Oh nothing, Nighty is, as the kids say these days, living his best life. He's eomma's dog now, barely acknowledges me."

Was that a hint of petulance? That was unexpectedly amusing. But there was something a little wistful in it, as well.

"You aren't home," Seon-woo finds himself- consoling- the man. "It's quite natural."

"I'm aware," Seung-hyo says, "And it's fine. It's good, actually. Like I said, caretaking isn't one of my talents."

Unlike compartmentalization, Seon-woo thinks. I wish I had that.

"Shall we head back?" Seung-hyo's voice breaks in. He hadn't realized that they'd been standing there in silence for a while. "You seem tired."

There's something oddly gentle about the way he says it, something that makes Seon-woo both want to punch a wall, and break down crying.

It takes him a minute to gather himself, before he nods.

"Seon-woo-ssi," says Gu Seung-hyo, "Is there something you want to say?"

Seon-woo looks up at him.

Gu Seung-hyo's face is watchful, cautious, but not closed off.

Seon-woo looks away, across the empty basketball court.

"I regret the surgery," Seon-woo says, aloud, for the first time. "I wish I had never let myself be talked into it. I should have had the courage to—let go."

Seung-hyo doesn't respond for a long minute. Then, with a sigh, he says, "But there's so much to let go of. And why should you?"

Seon-woo turns to him, but Seung-hyo isn't looking at him either. Instead, he squats, running his hands over the rough grass at the sidelines.

"I don't suppose you could understand," Seon-woo says, softly.

"No," says Seung-hyo, "You're right, I don't. But it's not your disability or its consequences that I don't understand. It's that I've always wanted everything that this world could offer, and I'm determined to have it. Whatever it takes. I don't accept any other possibility."

He turns to Seon-woo after a minute of silence.

"An uncle of mine once told me that it was better to be alive than dead, and to be born than not at all," he offers.

"Was your uncle a priest?"

"A foreman in a factory that made precision tools. He worked forty years there for the same company, before he retired to a fishing village."

"Close," notes Seon-woo, and Gu Seung-hyo gives him one of his genuinely warm smiles, that he's only seen in photographs No-eul had sometimes shared.

"I'm selfish," he says, "about the world, and my place in it. I have an outsized ego, perhaps, to insist on my significance in the face of the vast unknown. But I am convinced that there's one thing only I can do, and that is to live my life to the fullest."

"The universe has been benevolent to you," Seon-woo says, "You're her favourite. You know, as a pep talk this is remarkably bad."

Seung-hyo smiles, a quicksilver flash of amusement.

"If you wanted a pep talk, you'd talk to your psych," he observes. "Or someone who's invested in keeping you alive, for one reason or the other."

"I'm exhausted by people trying to fix me," Seon-woo admits. "You're a nice change."

"I don't think you need fixing," says Gu Seung-hyo, "I suspect you have problems that need to be fixed. Like the rest of us."

"Is that how you see yourself?" Seon-woo asks, diverted. "As a problem solver?"

Seung-hyo shrugs. "It helps me to think of the world that way," he admits. "A series of problems that I can apply my mind to."

"Sounds exhausting," Seon-woo says, not quite kindly.

Gu sajang seems unperturbed. He shrugs out of his jacket and spreads it on the grass, before sitting down on it.

"It is, sometimes," he responds. "But there's that ineffable component called luck," he adds, "Sometimes the problems sort themselves out."

"Hashtag blessed," says Seon-woo, "Do you have a social media account?"

"I've hired a very competent firm to run my PR," Seung-hyo says, "Though they insist that I post at least one cute picture of my dog or my mother every day. I believe I have a respectable number of followers."

Seon-woo laughs.

Seung-hyo looks up at him, with a raised eyebrow.

"Likeability is a problem that's not too difficult to solve these days," he remarks.

"Another win for the universe's favourite," Seon-woo murmurs, "Hurrah."

The silence that follows lasts a while, but oddly enough, doesn't feel awkward.

"Thank you," Seon-woo says, finally. "For your time today. I'm afraid I've messed up your schedule."

"You were the only meeting on my list."

"You're dressed to meet a government bureaucrat type—" Seon-woo starts, incredulously- and then stops, outraged.

And this smile- pure mischief, that makes him look ten years younger- is something he didn't even know Gu Seung-hyo was capable of, he thinks, and close on the heel of that, he looks like someone I could be friends with.

"You didn't mess up my schedule," Gu Seung-hyo says again, "I don't have those kinds of luxuries in my life."

Seon-woo huffs, looking away. He feels hot under his collar, and it has nothing to do with the afternoon heat. He wishes he had more experience in dealing with this kind of thing- the kindness of strangers was one thing, but Gu Seung-hyo's place in his life was ill-defined.

What rot, says a voice in his head, he's the enemy.

It sounds suspiciously like Jin-woo hyung.

But Seon-woo doesn't have that kind of luxury in his life, either, or the inclination for it. Whatever lay between them- Gu Seung-hyo's time at Sungkook, his ongoing relationship with the love of Seon-woo's life- that was a past perhaps best laid to rest. Life was constant turmoil, and to fight against the current of it in this matter seemed a pointless waste of energy he didn't have.

"Tell me more about this research they're doing at SNU," Seung-hyo says after a minute, and Seon-woo takes the out offered. Sooner than Seon-woo had thought, it's almost time for his second round of physiotherapy.

"I have to get back," he says, "I don't want to make Nurse Jang wait."

"Of course not," says Seung-hyo, as he rises, folding his jacket neatly over his arm. "Shall we?"

They head back, slower than strictly warranted, as the conversation continues.

Nurse Jang is waiting for them at the door.

"Ah, Ye Seon-woo-ssi, I hope you had a good day today," she says, "with your friend."

It seems pointlessly rude to correct her; what was he going to say anyway—

"Yes," he says, not looking at Seung-hyo, "I did."

But he can't resist a glance, and catches quietly pleased look on his face, though, perhaps, to a stranger, it wouldn't look any different than his normal expression.

Somewhere between strangers and friends, he thinks, that's where they were.

As Seung-hyo makes his farewell, Seon-woo says, impulsively, "Next time, we'll play a game."

"Sure," says Seung-hyo easily, "Basketball?"

"Hmm, I prefer strategy games."

There's a glint in Gu Seung-hyo's eyes that Seon-woo finds highly entertaining.

"Loser pays for a meal," he says, recklessly.

But there was something, Seon-woo thinks, to be said for making plans for an unknown tomorrow.

'Deal," says Gu Seung-hyo, holding out his hand, " I'll be seeing you then, Seon-woo-ssi."

"Yes," says Seon-woo, as he shakes the proffered hand, "See you soon."

[neednothavehappenedtobetrue]

so! the Fun Thing I am currently writing:

you know Isabelle if you've been here a while, but this is Slightly Different Nearer Future Worse Political Situation Isabelle, so I will describe her as she is in the relevant thing

-Isabelle is the wife of the American president. she is a wheelchair user.

skills: being Just So Fucking Smart, deliberately hiding her intelligence enough that people think she is just regular smart and underestimate her, writing speeches and other political media, poise in public, manipulating people by talking at them.

weaknesses: remembering that she personally is a human being with needs and feelings, knowing what her her feelings are, communicating about her feelings instead of keeping everyone six feet away behind a facade.

how is she so good at Making Other People Have Feelings but so very bad at "knowing that she even has any of them?" because sometimes it's like that.

but, she is married to Robert, who is President. if they were not married, he would be like, maybe a congressman? he is not stupid at all, he is a competent man and would be a competent politician on his own merits, but also, power couple.

-he is somewhat better than Isabelle at coming off as warm and genuine because he is so incredibly warm and genuine all the time that you can't think he's anything else. she comes off as "nice, but a bit reserved."

-conveniently, he has noticed that Isabelle sometimes has feelings and needs. often, he can predict what they are, in the way of people who have been married for like twenty years. also, because they have been married for 20 years he is by now a Level Twelve confidant and gets to be told what most of them are.

-even he does not know how smart she is, though, really, in a few specific arenas. she realized when she was very young that people do not like when you are smarter than they are, and adjusts accordingly, automatically.

-one of the first things Isabelle learned from watching people is that people hate it when you watch them, so she stopped letting them know what she saw, but she didn't actually stop watching.

-she combines "being that fucking smart" with "not realizing that her husband will not cringe away from her if she tells him" because, again, sometimes it's like that. you learn shit young and it sticks with you and nobody tells you different because they don't know what they'd need to tell you.

-Robert is probably, at the start of the story, the person who has the second-closest idea of how smart Isabelle actually is, and he's still off by enough that it would startle him a little.

-Theo, their dear friend, is the closest to knowing how smart she is, because Theo watches people in something like the way she does, and sees it. Theo doesn't do feelings either, though, so Robert ends up closer to understanding her overall.

-Robert is as close to her as anyone in the world, and they love each other so much. they are casually affectionate in public. they have a daughter and a life and nothing's perfect, but it's good.

-and then Robert is shot.

-he is shot on a stage. the people who shoot him take Isabelle and put her in a basement for a while, with her daughter, until Theo, who has a specific skillset, gets them out.

-ever after, Theo puts little GPS things in all of her jewelry. the people who kidnapped her let her keep her wedding ring, and if she'd had a tracker in it, she wouldn't have spent eight days in a basement.

-liberated from the basement, she flies to Rio, because it is a place that has agreed not to turn her over to the shitty people who have taken over America

-there has been a coup. lots of people are dead.

-Isabelle throws herself into caring for her daughter and running the counter-revolution, talking to the international press, making deals, smuggling things and people in and out, etc. she is doing a lot of good work. she is doing her goddamn best.

-she outsourced all of her "knowing and caring about her own feelings" and "generally making sure she is taking good care of herself" to her husband, who was good at that.

-he's dead now, for which reason she has maybe more feelings and related needs than she's ever had in her life?

-she knows she has a whole PTSD, she knows that early on. she is very smart, her trauma is huge and obvious, but, like, you can just sort of ignore that and hope it goes away, right? probably

-it takes her longer to know she is an alcoholic, because that one is harder to know. less obvious, at least to her. but she is, very definitely. she gets bad very fast.

-most people don't notice, though, because she keeps it behind the wall between her and most people.

-so she lives in Rio, and she works, and she drinks.

Isabelle is not actually the narrator of this story, though. the narrator's name is Sasha. she was a Russian diplomat living in America.

-skills: compassion, style, a few languages, being passionate about the places and people and things she loves, falling in love easily and completely.

weaknesses: keeping her temper, keeping her composure, not calling people motherfuckers when they really, really are but also it would be disastrous to do so, knowing what her own feelings are,

-did we see one of the things on that second list on an earlier list?

-also, do some of those weaknesses seem like they might be problems for someone in her line of work (diplomacy, a field in which it is often useful to be diplomatic).

-it's fine, she's charming and pleasant and smart enough to compensate for the things she is not as good at.

-also, she doesn't generally care about most politics stuff enough to get to the "this person is a motherfucker and if I do not tell them I will explode and my entrails will land on them in the shape of the word "motherfucker," stage with work people.

-she might have a different job if her whole family wasn't prominent politicians, but.

-her brother is an asshole, but, like, also he is her twin brother and she loves him. her father is an enormous fucking asshole and also dead now, and also, fuck him.

-she likes traveling and coffee and her dog and a series of women who she tries to start casual with and then either gets bored of or falls in love with and then they are like "you are, um, maybe a little intense?"

-she likes living in America, with good friends and a job she enjoys and does reasonably well.

-and then the president is shot, and there is a coup.

-her brother calls her back to Russia immediately, arranges a flight for her before any of the rest of his staff because, twin sister, obviously. they learned to be protective of each other young, Leo and Sasha.

-she spends very little time in America post-violence, when things are different and unsafe. she was there for about twelve hours before she got on a plane.

-she thinks this means that she did not experience a trauma, will not experience any symptoms worse than "occasionally being a bit sad" and does not deserve to complain to anybody about it.

-fortunately, she has some people in her life who are immediately like "you are actually having so many problems right now. did you know that when shit like this happens, there is enough trauma happening for everyone to have seconds? even if it could be worse? also, your trauma symptoms will not go away if you ignore them or pretend not to have them, so, like, therapy?"

-it would be good if Isabelle had more friends like that, but, unfortunately, most of her close friends are dead now.

-sasha, meanwhile, goes to therapy. she discovers that, if there is a minimum threshold on how bad an experience you need to have had before you call it PTSD, she is actually well past it. huh.

-also, maybe the situation with her dad was, uh, worse than she may have thought? him dying did not magically erase his effect on her life, which is unfortunate.

-sasha knew Isabelle barely, pre-assassination. not well, but she'd met her a few times. she was pretty and loved her husband and daughter and seemed smart. a little reserved, maybe.

-Sasha cries when she finds out that this woman and her daughter are still alive, but mostly because if another two people were dead, and one of them a seven-year-old girl, that would be worse, and there is not room for much worse in her heart.

-she cries mostly because her brother is in nearly the same political position as the dead man was, and if his wife and kids were missing, she would lose her goddamn mind.

-she tries not to think about what would happen if her brother was shot. he is an asshole, but he is her brother.

-her brother, meanwhile, has to deal with these fucking assholes who are running America now. god, they're just the worst, but they do seem to be in charge now, so, like, needs must.

-he does not allow sasha to do diplomatic work with them, because he knows her. he has seen her explode before. she has never exploded at work, so he has trusted her up to this point.

-she is very much already at the "if I do not call these people out on being motherfuckers, I will literally explode and my entrails will call them motherfuckers" stage with these people.

-which is fair, honestly, it's not like she's wrong, but also, she is not in charge of negotiating with these people.

-there is a counter-revolution brewing, folks trying to get America back to normal. several governments are offering a certain amount of clandestine support, because it's not great for the global stage having America just sort of, collapse a bit. also, fuck these people entirely.

-so Leo assigns Sasha to contribute to the revolution in a short list of prescribed ways, and keep him in the loop while allowing him just the thinnest possible veneer of plausible deniability.

-boy, if he has known what was going to happen later, he would for sure have assigned somebody else!

-Isabelle is running the counter-revolution from Rio, so Sasha and Isabelle have calls about once a week for a year, mostly about work.

-Isabelle is, at the start, blandly professional, but Isabelle has very few people to really talk to, as herself, the human person, to the point where sometimes she forgets the human person exists.

-she doesn't quite warm up to like "genuine closeness" but she warms up to "social chatting" as part of the work calls.

-it is hard not to warm up to Sasha, when she likes you. she is easily friendly and kind. she likes Isabelle a lot.

-like, the normal amount. the normal amount to like your work friend, for sure, definitely. she spends the most normal amount of time thinking of ways to make Isabelle smile, because Isabelle doesn't smile much.

-Isabelle drinks much too much, and Isabelle stops drinking, and Isabelle's doctor is like "is this a situation where you could get a less stressful job?"

and Isabelle is like "if you ask me that again I will get a new doctor immediately, who is less of a fucking idiot. do you have a non-idiot suggestion?"

"okay! cool and good! maybe make some friends, or try a change of scenery?"

-Isabelle's not-dead friends are Theo, and technically it is possible that some of her old friends are still alive, in America, and just can't get in touch with her because of everything. she likes to think this. it's not making anything worse to think it, so she allows herself to.

-Isabelle's friends who she can speak to are Theo, end of list.

-so, change of scenery? it might be a good idea anyway, Brazil is getting tired of having those dipshits in America yell at them. governments are not always thrilled about the idea of her living and working within their borders. they are glad she is living and working, but not in my backyard.

-when she mentions to Sasha that she is looking for a new place to live, she is not fishing for anything, she is just chatting.

-Sasha immediately says "why don't you come to Moscow? you'll be safe here. I can bully my brother into allowing you to be here and helping you to stay safe. it's nice here!"

-she says this for friend reasons, obviously, and also strategic revolution reasons, the latter of which she uses to talk Leo around.

-Isabelle comes to Russia. she is amenable to weekly dinners with Sasha. Sasha is her phone chatting work friend. maybe Sasha could one day be her real life actual friend. that would be good maybe.

-the second week, Isabelle is sitting on Sasha's couch, with her feet up on the ottoman. they have had a nice dinner and are watching a documentary and chatting in English.

-at this point, Sasha goes "oh, fuck. I do not want to be real life friends with this woman, actually. not just friends. she is so beautiful and smart and I would so much like to kiss her."

-Sasha, you have been experiencing this feeling for like at least three months. it did not just pop into your head the minute she put her feet up on your furniture. you moved her to fucking Russia because you had so many big feelings. it just got loud enough for you to notice.

-is it u-hauling to move someone across continents to live in the same city as you? how about if neither of you knows you have feelings yet?

-Sasha will realize this several months later. right now, she thinks she has acquired a new feeling.

-she dithers about this for a bit, without telling anyone, because all of her friends would be like "well, that's a bad fucking idea."

-which, like, she is not stupid. Isabelle is a martyr's widow who is both grieving still and also doing a lot of work on the public image of being a martyr's widow. good work, important work, that helps

-it would have to be a very secret thing, maybe could never be anything else. her brother would be mad about it for politics reasons.

-if Sasha asked her out, Isabelle could very easily say "sorry there are too many politics reasons" or "sorry, I am heterosexual and/or very sad still."

-it would be a very bad idea in many ways!

-Sasha knows she is going to do it anyway. she does not always identify her feelings for a while, but once she does, she commits to them.

-but also, if Sasha causes Isabelle to experience any additional bad feelings, or to not want to chat with her anymore, Sasha will explode.

-this time her entrails will spell out "sorry."

-the solution here is to slow-play it a bit, she thinks.

-Sasha is not... super good at slow-playing it.

-she opens with what she thinks is a very casual, normal question about whether Isabelle is seeing anyone, or might like to. carefully worded to be normal and subtle and friendly.

-there are two problems with this. one is that Sasha's facial expressions tell you everything she is thinking all of the time. another is that Isabelle is uncannily good at facial expressions.

-it is hard at the best of times to ask the relationship status of a person you have feelings for in a super chill super casual very normal way that will not raise suspicion.

-when you have all of the natural deceptive skills of a Golden Retriever and also you are speaking to someone who reads everyone she meets like a book, well, you're just not going to pull it off.

-the subtext behind the question is "god, I would so like to kiss you, but only if you're cool with that?"

-Isabelle absolutely knows this right away.

-she wasn't expecting this at all. she'd like to give it some thought.

-in the meantime, she tells Sasha that she is not totally disinterested in the idea of dating again ever, but it would have to be very private for a while, if she did date again. she weaves in a little bit of information about her romantic history, in order to tell Sasha that she is bi.

-she thinks she has been about as unsubtle as it is possible to be, because she sometimes forgets that most people aren't her or Theo.

-Sasha thinks she completely nailed normal and casual. she thinks Isabelle's response was very normal and casual also, while also containing a lot of useful information.

-the orientation thing was going to be Sasha's next question, but she couldn't think of a way to be like "hey hello are you interested in women?" that did not tip her whole hand, so it's great that Isabelle happened to volunteer that information while they were both being normal and causal.

-Sasha, your whole hand is already tipped. you took out a feelings billboard. she knows.

-meanwhile, Isabelle gives it some thought.

-it's not a terrible idea, really.

-well, it is, in lots of ways, but there's no risk-free way to pursue any kind of relationship, especially when you are very famous for being widowed and people want to kill you.

-no matter who she gets involved with, some people are going to be Big Mad about it, and it will make some of her work harder.

-now, given that there is no safe choice, is Sasha the safest possible choice? absolutely not, not even close, but you don't get into relationships by triangulating the safest option.

-Isabelle is lonely. she is not great at assessing her own feelings, but the thought has occurred to her before. and when someone basically took out a feelings billboard at her, but in a respectful way, well, the thought occurred to her a bit more.

-the idea of spending the next several years or maybe forever being single and married to the Mission kind of sucks, actually.

-besides, Sasha is kind, and easy to talk to, and quite pretty. she does not seem like the type to insist on too much too fast.

-this is true, that is not the kind of intense Sasha is. she just sort of falls in love at you very quickly, which not everybody wants.

-but the only way Isabelle has ever been loved in her life is "very intensely" by a man who also saw her reservedness and was comfortable with it until it gave way around him. so that's fine.

-a few weeks later, around when Isabelle is done thinking, Sasha decides it is next move time.

-she has used up all of her very normal conversational gambits and has been debating between "just telling Isabelle about her feelings, or, like, some percentage of her feelings, the normal amount of feelings to have for a person you have not kissed." or "some kind of very casual very normal very chill physical contact."

-Sasha so wants to be a chill, casual person. unfortunately, she just isn't.

-she puts her hand on Isabelle's shoulder, and Isabelle settles into her a bit, makes herself comfortable.

-they sit like that for a minute.

-Sasha is thinking "is this like, chill, normal, platonic half-cuddling or is she trying to give me a hint?"

-Isabelle has never been less subtle in her life and would be shocked to know that this is being read as "a hint" rather than "a very overt declaration of interest."

-Isabelle, who thinks everyone's intentions are fully on the page now, says "if I ever tried to be in a relationship again, it would have to be very private, at least at first. it would have to be a secret for a while, which I know isn't something everyone would be interested in. also, "being very open with people" is not part of my skill set really. I do get there, but sometimes it takes me a minute."

-her frame of reference for "the normal amount of open to be with someone you like" was Robert, who knew he was going to marry her three months in, so she might not be calibrating this perfectly.

-she is now sitting on a couch half-cuddling with Sasha, who also falls in love very fast.

-Sasha listens to this information about Isabelle's relationship needs and thinks "that's probably a large hint, right? like, almost definitely. I am pretty sure. also, all of those things are fine and I basically knew them already, so that's good. this is going really well. what do I do now? should I be like "all of those things you want in a hypothetical relationship sound good to me" or should I save that for next week, because of the slow-playing I am doing here?"

Isabelle, meanwhile, is thinking "well, I have been as explicit as it is possible to be. if she didn't want to do something secret and careful and patient, she would remove her arm and stop half-cuddling me."

-so she sits for another minute or two, to give Sasha time to make a decision.

-Sasha does not move her arm. even if she knew what Isabelle was actually thinking, she wouldn't move her arm.

-at this point Isabelle kisses her, which she was not at all expecting.

-like, it was feeling like a more plausible future option, but today? right now? not that Sasha is in any way complaining.

-they kiss for a bit, and then Isabelle briefly removes her mouth from Sasha's mouth and looks at her and goes "wait, are you surprised by this?"

and Sasha goes "a little bit, yeah? I mean, this is great, I am very pleased with this outcome, but I wasn't sure if you were..."

later, Isabelle will be like "please tell me in what way I could have been at all clearer" and Sasha is like "by using words with your mouth to talk about your feelings?"

"I did that," says Isabelle, bewildered.

"no. "if I was going to kiss somebody I would need to take it slow and keep it secret" is a logistic. "I like you and want to kiss you" is a feeling."

"why would I talk to you about kissing logistics if I didn't want to kiss you specifically? just as a hypothetical? is that a thing people do?"

neither of them is entirely sure. but also, they will have this conversation later, because right now is kissing time.

[mochi-and-indigo]

You’re mine...

Joseph x Reader

Word count: 3609

Triggers: Mention of blood

A/N: Hi! This is our first story writing together and we are both very proud of it. We hope that you like it as much as we do. Also if there are any triggers we left out please tell us so we can put it in!

Joseph gets overprotective of Y/N when he realized who they are.

Normally all stories start with a tragic beginning and well I guess this one is no different. My name is Y/N and let me get you caught up on how my life became something worse than a nightmare. As a kid, my mother and father were always quite busy taking care of my siblings. I'd hardly get to talk with my parents and they seemed to think it was just due to me being antisocial. It hurt me deep down but I got past it by reading books and learning how to paint. Sure that may sound cliche, but it's what I did to pass time.

A couple of weeks before my 23rd birthday, a strange letter appeared. The letter was sealed with a wax stamp as the paper was also tied together with twine. That wasn't the only strange thing about the envelope..It didn´t have an address.

The letter was an offer to join a game of cat and mouse. A game where survivors run away from hunters and must decode ciphers in order to open a gate to escape. I originally thought it would be just a small joke so I decided to go to where the letter had told me. Along with, I had nothing else better to do and I was bored with my current life.

The manor was dark and gloomy, it almost appeared to be rundown and maybe abandoned. Once I  built up enough courage, I stepped inside. I noticed the beautifully furnished manor, from the hand railings to the paintings. It was hard to believe this manor was the same as the one outside. “Hello?” I called out. A shorter woman with a straw hat peeked her head through the door. “Hey, we’re in here!” The woman said as she motioned me to go into the room as well. When I entered the room, I saw an array of strange looking people. They varied in color themes, shapes, and smells. The woman wearing the straw hat gave me a wide smile. “You must be a new survivor! My name is Emma Woods, I am the gardener of the manor!” 

Her cheerful attitude caught you slightly off guard. “Hello,Emma. I am Y/n L/n. I currently don't know what I am to the manor.” Everyone in what I assumed to be the dining room, began to go round and introduce themselves. Out of everyone, a certain someone caught my eye. It was a man with an owl on his shoulder. He wore a blindfold over his eyes which caused me to question how the man could see.

I noticed his owl had been staring at me for quite a while so I decided to approach him. He looked like he was a tad bit startled as I walked to him. His owl looked away from me as he began to speak. “Hello, welcome to the manor. My name is Eli as you heard earlier, I am the Seer, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He gave me a small smile as he extended his gloved hand out to me. I took his hand and shook it. “It's A pleasure to meet you as well, Eli.” His owl let out a small hoot, as if it were trying to also say hello. I nodded towards the owl trying to show that I knew what it was saying, even though I didn’t have one small clue at what I was supposed to do.

I give him a small smile before Emma starts to drag me off to the room I was staying in. I wish I could have seen Eli for even a second more but it was already too late since Emma pushed me into the room I was assigned. I sighed softly to myself as Emma started to explain the rules with the manor which got me a bit sad since I wouldn’t be able to talk to my parents anymore. Not to mention I did leave a note saying I ran away so they probably think I’m dead by now. Whoops. Emma explained everything to me, which took an hour since I’m not that smart when it comes to human interaction and learning new things. I started to unpack all my things in the room I was in before going down to the dining room to eat dinner.

Joseph´s POV

I was enjoying a nice glass of tea in the library when all of a sudden Jack rushed into the room with Michiko behind him. “The baron says there is a new survivor joining. Want to go try and find out more information on the newcomer?” I rolled my eyes at the taller male. “No thank you. I’d rather not pry into other people's business, unlike you.” Jack sent me a small glare as I heard Michiko whisper about him owning her money. I went back to peacefully drinking tea until Mary walked in, casually complaining about something I had no interest in. “AND NEXT THING I KNOW, I AM GETTING SHOT BY TWO PUTAIN DE FLARE GUNS!” Mary cursed. Angry at what just happened to her while throwing her glass shards across the room, breaking a window in front of me. 

“Mary, Darling calm down please we don’t need to have 10 more broken windows like yesterday” I sigh while holding my forehead, too annoyed and stressed to deal with her at the moment. Mary shot me a glare. “You cannot tell me what to do! I am a Queen and you are a mere peasant compared to me!” Mary spat as she started to grab her shoe before throwing it at me but I merely dodged it in a second. “Mary I am not a peasant. Don’t forget how I was a Dukel.” I explained. Mary scoffed and stomped out of the room like usual. As I watched her leave I contemplated throwing my teacup at her. 

“How dare you!?” Mary screamed as loud as she could. Making the ground feel like it shook beneath me as I realized that I had messed up. I stood up as fast as I could before running out of the room, jumping through the broken window she had created with her broken shard and headed for the roof. Mary cursed loudly at me from the Library room as I sigh knowing she would never dare follow me to the roof. 

While sitting on the roof, I peered into a window on the survivors side of the manor only to see a room that was recently vacant, filled with clothing and bedsheets. On top of what appeared to be fresh bed sheets laid a survivor with h/l h/c hair sleeping peacefully. Even from a distance I could tell that this must be the new survivor Jack was trying to get to know. I grew interested in who this person was so I headed back down to the dining room where everyone was to try and find Jack. With just enough luck I found him talking to Robbie and Yima trying to teach them to stop stealing the cookies that Yidrah made for everyone. 

“Jack!” I called out to him causing him to turn his head towards me but soon shot a glare at my face. “What do you want, George Washington?” He said quite aggressively in a teasing way as I sighed and motioned for him to follow me outside, “I want to know more about the new survivor you were speaking of.” After saying that Jack quickly shot up from his chair, dragging me outside with a bright smile, “I’ll tell you everything I know!” He exclaimed. I softly smiled as Jack explained to me that the new survivor was none other than y/n. I felt something pounding in my chest the moment he spoke their name. A strange feeling in my stomach. Was this what people meant when they said there were butterflies in their stomach. Wait, no… That isn’t it, the word is flustered. 

I glanced out the nearest window that I could see to try and figure out if I could see their room from where I was. “Dang it…” I mumbled under my breath as I couldn’t see their room so I quickly ran up to my room, leaving Jack confused on what was happening. I slammed open my window to see if I could see across the yard to the survivors manor, to their room. Surely enough I could see them, sitting on a chair that was quite comfortable to what they’ve mentioned in my past life. Reading one of their favorite books, a soft smile as their eyes filled with excitement with each word they read as if they haven’t read the same book for the one millionth time. I softly smiled at what they were doing before they looked up at me, making eye contact for a second as I jumped back panicky. Falling on the floor hard as I covered my face with my hands, praying, wishing, hoping. They didn’t really see me.

 “Joseph are you o-... Kay-?” Mary asked as she had barged into my room, seeing how pathetic I was now. Stuck on the ground as it felt like something was paralyzing me as my face felt like it was on fire that needed to be put out. Mary suddenly grew a large grin, that I knew wasn’t a good thing as she walked over to the window I was just at and waved to y/n. I panicked more, pulling on her legs for her to get down but she wouldn’t budge. “Mary get down!!”

“Calm down lover boy, if you pull me down they’ll worry” Mary said between her teeth as she was smiling. “I see you have a little crush on y/n hm?” Mary said as I knew she was teasing me. I wouldn’t let her tease me but I was too vulnerable not to be as I sat in the corner of the room and nodded. Mary looked over to me, shocked at how I was acting as she left the window and crotched in front of me. “Joseph… You actually like something other than me?” Mary said in an offended tone. 

I panicked again as she started to pout and made this whole situation worse for my mind but then I realized that I could calm down. Having her focus on herself would make her forget me staring at y/n and everything would be ok. Until she randomly stopped talking and started to walk out. Before she closed the door she smirked darkly at me and said, “Also,” she started as she leaned against the door frame, “Don’t forget you have a match with Y/N~” I started to panic again before hearing her evil laughter echo through the empty halls of the manor.

The Match: y/n’s pov

My first ever match. When I tell you I could feel my heart drop to my stomach, I mean it. I only agreed to this whole chaotic game thinking it was all some stupid joke, but it turns out it wasn’t. I was matched with Eli, Emily and Emma. Emma was trying to convince me that it would all turn out ok if I stuck with her or Emily but what was all about to happen couldn’t settle down in the back of my brain. I started to have a slight panic attack which is when Eli touched my shoulder and told me, “It’ll be ok y/n, you’ll do great.” with a soft smile which soon made me happy and calm down. Little did I know, a certain photographer had seen everything that had just occurred. 

Joseph’s Pov

Mary´s words hadn't left my head all morning. As soon as the match began I felt a bead of sweat run down my forehead, until I spotted the worst thing possible. A certain Seer was putting his hands on something that was not his. I quickly activated my camera world and quickly incopacitated the Seer´s mirror image. It was strange for I did not terrorshock the Seer and yet he went down in one hit. That is when I realized how tightly of a grip I had on my sword. I knew I was upset but.. Why was I this upset? 

Something felt off but oddly enough it felt right. It felt as though I should be happy the Seer went down in one single hit. As I chaired the mirror image, my camera world collapsed leaving the Seer downed in some place on the map. As the camera world disappeared I could see a trail of blood that came from the Seer. Following it before it disappeared I see Y/N healing him as fast as they could with him helping them. Seeing that in front of my eyes made me mad yet happy and in love to know that Y/N cared about others. As I slowly approached them I mumbled, “I’m sorry my love” before terror shocking them. A loud, painful scream leaving their soft, light peach lips as I immediately regret it. Wanting to hold them close to my body but I couldn’t as I knew I had a job.

I picked up the Seer as I placed him down in a nearby chair, wanting him to get sent back already so I could have Y/N all to myself. As I glance over to where Y/N was before, they weren’t there. I started to panic as I looked all around for them before running off to search for them. 

Y/N’s Pov

Emily had told me she made a plan with Emma as Joseph was looking for me. Emily had helped me over to a huge rock before healing me as fast as I’ve ever seen someone heal. Emily stood up and told me to run across the map to the cipher behind the wall that was in my sight. I nodded to show I understood as I started to run as fast as I could. Scared to get caught as Emily glanced over at Emma and gave her a thumbs up to signal it was time for phase two. 

Emma smiled widely as she took off running to the rocket chair, letting Eli go before Joseph ran over to them and tried to hit Emma since Eli had run towards me. Emma was teasing the hunter behind the pallet she had knocked over before Joseph destroyed it and Emma knew she was in trouble. Emma started to run fast as Emily jumped in and took Emma’s spot, getting hit by the hunter before grabbing Emma’s hand and hid with her behind a large wall.

Knowing Emma, Emily and Eli were safe made me feel better but didn’t help with what had just happened as I started to decode the cipher machine that was in front of me the best I could before I messed up and started to panic.I looked around to see if anyone was around as I remembered what Eli said, “Whenever you mess up make sure to go hide somewhere but somewhere where you can watch him go to the cipher and leave completely” which is what I did. I looked around for something to hide in but I couldn’t find a good hiding spot other than a tall, bright orange, rusted locker. I opened it quickly and climbed inside as I heard heavy footsteps slowly approach. 

Through the bars of the locker, I saw Joseph look around, wearing a small glare. I quickly covered my mouth so I wouldn't make any noise. There was a small knock on the door before the door to the locker flew open. I tumbled out of the locker and began to fall until a strong pair of arms caught me. “There you are, mon chéri.~” The photographer cooed. I began to struggle out of his grip as he picked me up instead of using the balloons like I saw him do to Eli. “Put me down!” I scream as I had my eyes closed, too scared to look up at the photographer. 

“Now why would I do that Y/N? I thought you would remember me by now” He spoke into my ear as it sent shivers down my spine. I shook my head as I looked up at him, “Why would I remember someone like you” I asked which I soon regret. Anger and hatred filled Joseph's eyes as he dropped me somewhere where we both knew no one would find as he sat down in front of me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Do you not remember?... Me?” He asked in hope I would say yes but I shook my head from left to right. Nothing coming to mind until he said his name, “Joseph Desaulniers? Does this name not ring a bell..?” 

My eyes widen as wide as they have before as I try to stand up and back away before I feel a shooting pain go up from my back to my head. Falling back onto the ground, holding my head as he pulled me to his lap as he had a soft smile. “Don’t try to move you’ll hurt yourself mon chéri” I sigh softly out of pain as he was holding me like I was his child. No, as I was his wife which confused me but I didn’t move because I didn’t want to get hurt.

“Let me go Joseph…” I mumbled as he shook his head fast, “Can’t do that, you're mine and you know this so tell me… Why did you run away and disappear?” I sat there in silence as I looked up at him. “I don’t know… I wanted freedom from everything. No one cared about me-” I started before he interrupted and said, “I cared about you, I was going to ask you to marry me you know. But you ran away before I could do so…” I gave Joseph a small glare. “And I would have declined. I didn't nor do I now love you. You were always busy with the other woman and men at the dances. I love Claude, not you. Claude was there for me, not you. You never made time for me. You treated me like a child!” I spat as I crossed my arms and looked away from him. 

“I always made ti-” He started but I didn’t let him finish. “Don’t you even dare say you made time for me and never treated me like a child because you did and you know it! I ran away because no one cared or noticed! I bet no one even went on a search for little old me!!” By Joseph’s silence I could tell that I was right. No one came looking for me so what even was the point to stay here. When I tried to stand up Joseph stopped me  and shook his head from left to right showing that he didn’t want me to go. Holding me softly against his body I closed my eyes with a soft sigh leaving my lips. “You died so what was the point?”

“The point was that you could have told me.” Joseph closed his eyes too as he started to braid my hair carefully like he used to. “You never listened.”

“If you told me that it was this bad I would have, I’m sorry for never spending time with you and I’ll fix that if you give me another chance.” he started, trying to get me to give him a second chance but it was too late. We were both trapped in this new game and he had one job, kill me and send me back to the manor as for mine was to doge him and escape with my teammates. “Joseph I can’t give you another chance. You know what situation we´re in and if I ever wanted too I wouldn't because I’m done with being ignored. You need to understand that.”

Joseph’s eyes darkened. “Listen, I am trying my best to be nice here mon chéri.” He said in almost a threatening tone. He began to yank my hair while braiding it. “And alas, my dear brother Claude had passed away after you left.” I noticed his eyes soften at the mention of Claude´s name. “He..died..?” I could feel my heart shatter into thousands of pieces. The only person who paid attention to me and saw me for me was dead. 

“Even if Claude were alive,” Joseph continued, “you wouldn't like him anymore. After your disappearance, he changed. He had become more rude and hostile.” I looked up at the photographer who was now fixing the bow in his hair. “Claude would never. You’re nothing but a dirty liar!” I shouted at the photographer. Just then, an alarm rang through the map. The last cipher had been popped. I quickly shot up from Joseph’s grip, running towards the exit gate but almost falling in the process. I could feel Joseph’s glare burn the back of my head as he chased after me. I luckily made it to the exit gate where Eli was as he ran over to me and began to try to open the gate. The gate wouldn't budge. My only escape from this chaos wouldn't let me leave. Joseph stuck Eli hard with his sword before walking off with Eli in the balloons. Making sure to step on Eli’s back hard as he walked away from me. “If I can’t have you,no one can.”

[hovee-writes]

Aizawa x Amputee!Reader [f,a]

Aizawa x Reader (angst and fluff towards the end) Word Count: 1,325 Warnings: Hostage situation, guns, slight gore, amputation

❥ Masterlist

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

You’ve been a Pro Hero for quite some time now.

Right after you graduated you found a job as a sidekick at Purple Revolution Agency and you worked there for 3 years. After His Purple Highness retires you decided to do some solo Hero work. This lasted a further 3 years.

As much as you loved hero work and helping people, you found yourself getting burned out pretty quickly. For a while you thought about moving to a different country and starting over or perhaps even changing profession however you never had the guts to do so. 

Until a battle with a villain went really wrong...

You heard screams in the distance so naturally you rushed over to see what was happening. A large creature was keeping a woman and her children hostage and at gunpoint. It seemed like an easy job compared to some of the other villain attacks you witnessed - distract the villain as much as you can until other pros arrive and try to disarm him. Oh boy were you wrong...

You were trying your best to keep the villain’s attention on yourself while the other Pro Heroes flooded the scene getting the hostages to a safe place. You landed a few hits on him and managed to kick the gun out of his hand. After you thought he was unconscious you turned around for a brief moment to signal to the police that they can arrest him now. Wrong move - Never turn your back on an enemy.

You didn’t hear the gun go off. You didn’t feel any pain. It felt like you were hit by a small pebble in the back of the leg, right below the knee. You didn’t think much of it until you took another step and your leg buckled underneath you. You looked down at your leg, utterly horrified to see so much blood spilling out of you. You let out an involuntary scream. Then the pain kicked in. Your leg felt as if it was on fire, burning from the inside out. The burning sensation seemed to get worse and worse as time ticked on.

Just as the police arrested the villain, the ambulance came and you were transported to the hospital.

•┈┈┈••✦ :Time Skip: ✦••┈┈┈•

“I’m sorry to say this Mx. L/N but the bullet managed to shatter most of your tibia and we can’t do anything to fix your leg.” The doctor informed. “The only option is to amputate.” You felt like your world was ending. You wouldn’t be able to pursue your hero career further. Yes, you could get a prosthetic leg but all the rehabilitation and getting used to doing stuff again would take too long. You didn’t think it was worth it.

‘God damn it! Why me?’ was all that you could ask yourself.

And then your friend Nemuri came to visit.

“Hey sweetie, how are you holding up?” she asked.

At this point you already had your surgery and had to stay in hospital for a further two weeks just in case if something went wrong.

“I just lost half my damn leg and ruined my career, so yeah, I’m doing absolutely fantastic!” Your words were dripping with so much venom and sarcasm that it caused Nemuri take a step back in fear of your wrath.“You see, your career might not be completely ruined, Y/N.” She pulled up a seat next to your bed. 

“I heard Principal Nezu complaining about a shortage in staff in UA and I could always land you a job there.” She suggested. After all, you were thinking about switching to a different career before your incident, so maybe teaching would be a good path for you?

“Hmm.. I’ll think about it.” You replied. “But what subject would I even teach?”

“You have a lot of knowledge about different quirks, no? Maybe you could help teach the kids how to use their quirks at full potential?” She suggested. 

“Hmm.. I think I still have a few notebooks from when I was younger and I studied properties of different quirks. I think I might give teaching a shot while I try to recover.”

Hearing this Nemuri’s face immediately brightened up. “I’ll call Principal Nezu right away!” She beamed.

Since you couldn’t exactly leave the hospital yet, your interview with Nezu was over Skype. It went pretty well. He said that you can start work as soon as you feel better.

A little over two months have passed since then. There had been no complications so you left the hospital relatively quickly. You also managed to get yourself some crutches for the time being and placed an order for a prosthetic leg. Overall, everything was going pretty well.

•┈┈┈••✦ :Time Skip: ✦••┈┈┈• 

On the Sunday you got a call from the Principal saying that you’ll be assigned a more experienced teacher to show you around the school and to supervise you when you start teaching your classes. He also emailed you your timetable and a map of the school should you get lost.

The thing that you weren’t expecting was the teacher showing you around to be so friggin’ hot!

He introduced himself to you as Eraserhead, “but you can call me Aizawa if you want.” You weren’t sure why but somehow his tired looking eyes and messy hair made him that much more attractive. Also his voice... Gosh you just loved his voice-

‘Get a grip Y/N will you? He’s just a co-worker and let’s keep it that way. It’s not like something would become of this anyway.’ you blinked away your thoughts before you got too carried away thinking about the dark-haired man.

The tour went well. He told you a bit about the history of UA and a bit about the teachers, he mentioned the competition between class 1-A and 1-B but you shouldn’t worry about it too much, if things start getting difficult he’ll handle it. Then he went on about how the dorms will be opening soon due to a villain attack that happen not so long ago and that you’ll have the choice of moving into the dorms or saying where you currently live.

As the tour went on you found yourself getting lost in your thoughts more and more. Aizawa’s presence was making it hard for you to concentrate on what he was saying and where you were going. You also felt as if the building was getting hotter and hotter.

“Hey, L/N is everything alright? Your face is really red, do you have a fever?” He asked concerned and pressed the back of his hand to your forehead. “Sheesh you’re really hot, let’s take a break maybe.” He said helping you sit down. You could’ve sworn that when he touched you, you felt a spark and your heart skipped a beat.

“I- uh- I’m okay. Just a little tired from using the crutches, that’s all.” You scratched the back of your neck.

“How about we continue the tour tomorrow then? I don’t want you tiring yourself out before your first day.” He suggested.

‘He’s so sweet and considerate omg (┬┬﹏┬┬)’

“Uhh, sure, sound good.” You smiled trying to hide the faint blush on your face.

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then. Do you need any help standing up?” he questioned. “No I’m good.” you replied slowly lifting yourself up before losing your balance. You braced yourself for the impact but that never came. Instead, you found yourself embraced by a pair of strong arms.

“If you needed help you could’ve just asked you know.” He smirked causing your face to redden even more. You quickly thanked him avoiding his gaze.

“Well, I suppose we should get going now.” He removed his hands after making sure that you’re steady. “Oh and one more thing, along with teaching your normal classes, you’ll be helping me with homeroom, okay?”

Oh boy, teaching at UA might just become your favourite job.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Hello! I really hope you enjoyed reading this imagine. It was meant to be posted last week but I’ve been struggling with writer’s block and wasn’t really motivated to write so my apologies for that. I was thinking about writing a part 2 to this but I’m not sure yet, let me know what you think! Anyways, have a lovely day! :3

[fairiesherefairiesthere]

I’ll be there if you need me

@fuckyeahfraxus ‘s Fraxus week day 2: Enemies to friends to lovers! a fantastic trope! Royal au babes

If there's anything Laxus Dreyar, captain of the royal guard and the king's personal bodyguard, could confidently say about the king's temporary replace, it's that the young prince is a definite pain in the ass. He's awfully stubborn, butting heads with nearly every official he encounters, yammering about something or other he can't find peace with. There's always something to complain about with the young man.

Even worse, the man is vain. Vanity is a trait that Laxus has never appreciated in other people, but has to admit that it's sometimes somewhat of a point he himself could work on. The difference however between Laxus and prince Freed is the fact that Laxus likes to take care of his appearance outside of his work, while the prince has taken to prancing around in clothes that look like they were made for him, bejeweled as though he's trying to pass for a christmas tree. It's working, certainly with that particular hair of his.

Rest of the fic under the cut!

To add the cherry on top, Laxus has never seen the man fight and to be honest, he doesn't have high hopes for him. The man's muscular, sure, but Laxus suspects it's merely for aesthetics. Just like everything else the man has to offer. So essentially, Laxus has to protect a tantrum-throwing toddler with fancy clothes, which is just great.

Unable to keep these thoughts to himself, he relays them to Bickslow, a fellow guard, during one of their rare moments of synchronized free time. The man patiently listens to his gripes and after his rant has ended, only answers with a thoughtful hum and an uncomfortably long, sustained slurp of his beer.

"You're right, he's a bit of a stubborn bastard, ain't he? But do tell me about the missions he's assigned your border troops." With a roll of his eyes, Laxus sighs. "His approach is terrible, the amount of wounded soldiers has drastically gone up ever since he has taken over." With a grin, Bickslow shakes his head. "You should be fired", he jokes, but there's an undercurrent of seriousness in his voice. "I'm not going to deny the fact that there are more wounded soldiers, but have you looked at our death toll? And the death toll on the other side? Both of those have sunken into a deep, deep low. I would watch our future king, the man's something alright."

Bickslow's right and Laxus thinks he should indeed be fired. Overlooking the big picture like that isn't something he can afford to do in his line of work. He vows to pay better attention to what's happening from now on.

The first opportunity he gets to do this, is a visit from the king of the neighbouring country. The whole palace is vibrating with barely hidden nervousity and this jittery feeling only comes to a summit when the young prince summons the whole staff in the courtyard in shifts. As his personal body guard, Laxus witnesses each of the shifts and also the different ways Freed speaks to his staff. The man's aware of what's going on in his castle, Laxus realises, and he knows which words to say to every group. The nervous energy dissipates and when escorting the man back inside, Laxus really notices for the first time how the palace has changed.

There's not a speck of dust to be seen and the rigid formality he had previously hated, brings an unspoken air of sophistication to it. As soon as the prince is out of sight, the formality drops, but there seems to be no resentment towards Freed when they have to keep it up. By watching Freed formally interact with his staff, it's clear why they harbour no resentment. His words are gentle, but firm and it's obvious that the tasks he gives his staff makes them proud. The prince and his kin formality have given the staff a sense of pride.

Upon seeing prince Freed interact with the neighbouring king, Laxus comes to the conclusion that even Freed's vanity has purpose. The impeccable clothes, combined with his elegant posture and calm exterior, make him an imposing figure, even at his very young age. Unlike with his staff, Freed doesn't seem to have friendliness to share with the other royal, only politeness. It's strategic, Laxus thinks, for kindness would've made him look weak in front of the other of higher status and now, prince Freed looks like he's been nothing but a king his whole life long. It's respectable.

Eventually, the picture of a perfect king to be shatters, although luckily for Freed it's not in front of his whole court. It's during a little moment, where there's no one else but him and Laxus. The prince had asked for a glass of water, Laxus had reached over and given it to him. For some reason, Laxus suspects fatigue, the glass had slipped from the young prince's fingers and suddenly there were tears. Quickly enough, Freed had wiped them away and gotten on his knees to clean up the mess of glass with his bare, quivering fingers, which of course had gotten him a cut.

"Sorry, I'm making a mess of things, aren't I?" the prince had said with a fake smile that quickly fell apart. "Ah fuck", he had continued with a whisper, "Please excuse me", he said, frantically wiping at silent tears that kept coming. 'Ah fuck', Laxus also thought, but because he was raised to be a polite (he wasn't), he didn't say it out loud.

That led to the current situation, where Laxus plants his hand on the prince's hair and pats him somewhat roughly on the head. "There, there", he awkwardly sushes like he's done many times (with varying degrees of succes, fuck you Gajeel) with his adopted siblings. Shocked by the absurdity of it all, the prince bursts into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Every now and then it seems like his laughter'll die down, but then he sees Laxus' face, which starts the cycle all over again. "Stop that, stupid." With a shove, Laxus rolls his eyes at the prince, something akin to affection seeping into his voice.

Behind closed doors, they become friends and Laxus can comfortably call the prince an idiot to his face. Frequently, they are joined by Bickslow and Evergreen, two guards who have also gained the privilege of calling the prince a dumbass. Although those two are Freed's closest friends, Laxus can't deny that he and the prince also share a certain type of intimacy, one that feels just a tad different than the one he shares with his other friends.

That intimacy loaded with a tension that doesn't feel uncomfortable, mainly outs itself in moments when it's just the two of them. Like now, where Laxus has the nightshift to guard Freed and the man lets him stay, lets him watch as he undresses himself. Coyly, the prince gives him a smirk. "Want to help?" he says with a voice none too innocent and Laxus laughs him off. "You don't pay me enough for that, dumbass prince", he says. That and the bags under Freed's eyes are too damn dark for him to be anything but get a good night's rest right now. So after Freed's gotten out of his clothes, Laxus tucks him into bed with gestures that are perhaps a bit too soft, a bit too familiar and gentle.

"I'm not a doll you know", Freed complains and Laxus shuts him up by patting his head. Although Freed grunts and grumbles everytime, Laxus isn't blind to the way his body relaxes at the simple touch. "I know, but you aren't invincible either. Goodnight, I'll be here if you need me."

'I'll be there if you need me', was a nice sentiment, but it's a shame that Laxus can't keep that promise. Although it wasn't necessarily his fault that he failed at that, it still feels like it. Looking at Freed, sweating feverishly from taking a poisened arrow to the chest after pulling Laxus out of it's path, he can't hide his guilt anywhere.

"Hey dumbass prince", he whispers, "It's my job to protect you. You pay me enough to do that, so let me." A weak laugh garners his attention. "But I was considering dropping your pay, you sure you still want to work for me?" Freed jokes between wheezes and coughs. Rolling his eyes, Laxus pushes the prince back as the man tries to sit up. "You stay there, dumbass prince. Dumbass is a part of your title now, by the way. Evergreen and Bickslow voted for, so it is rule now."

"Guess it is", Freed smiles. "Can I add 'handsome' to that? I think it fits", he smirks and Laxus sighs. "That's because you're a pompous dick", he flatly answers and Freed's smirk only gets bigger. "You didn't deny it though."

"As your personal bodyguard, I do what's best for you and in your current physical and mental state, I think breaking illusions would bring you more damage than good." He gets a light, playful jab in return for that and Laxus retaliates with a kiss to the prince's sweaty forehead. "Ew", he says before planting another one on his nose. "Go to sleep dumbass handsome prince, you need it. I'll be there if you need me."

"Of course you will be", the prince answers confidently and gives him a kiss on the hand, promptly erasing Laxus' doubts. "I trust you", he yawns, before drifting off too sleep and Laxus'll do everything in his power to not betray that trust.

[flipomatic]

Internship Chapter 4: Day 1 - Amity

Author Note: The first Amity chapter is here. As a note this fic will have lumity in it, but lumity is not the primary focus of Amity’s story.

First Chapter Previous Chapter

___________________________________________________________

Amity was enjoying the sunny Monday afternoon as she walked home from school. Hexside had been quite quiet with the absence of the two oldest grades, but that just meant it was easier to walk through the crowded halls. Her siblings’ absence also meant far less pranks being committed. Amity had recently gotten cast removed from her ankle, so she could go to school full time again.

The biggest topic at school was the new internship program that had pulled the upperclassmen away. Amity had discussed it with Luz that morning, how Em was going to the Illusion Coven while Ed was going to the Emperor’s Coven. They both wondered what was happening in the Emperor’s Coven now that Lilith was no longer the coven leader, and what kind of impact that would have on the coven moving forward.

Hopefully Ed would still have a good internship with them, though he was not excited about it. In fact, he had complained loudly all weekend about having to go, and had left the house very slowly that morning. Em hadn’t expressed much excitement either, but she didn’t seem to dread the upcoming experience like Ed did.

Amity tried to put those worries out of her mind as she arrived home and entered the Blight manor. She wondered if either of her siblings were home yet. They could be pretty loud, or silent depending what they were doing, but she didn’t hear anything upon entering the house.

When she walked through the house, towards the stairs, she could hear her mother and father talking in the study. They talked in sharp tones as usual, though their words were too muffled by the walls to hear. Amity moved past without stopping to speak with them.

When she reached the stairs, Amity glanced briefly out the window. She turned to walk up the steps, but had to stop and look back again at the view outside. She had spotted an unusual flash of green out in the grass, a lighter shade than the surrounding area. On longer inspection, it appeared to be Em laying in the sun.

Amity smiled, happy to see Em already home for the day. Em had been more optimistic than Ed about the internship, though her current posture implied that it hadn’t gone well. Amity changed course, turning to head towards the back door.

When she made it outside, Amity walked over to where Em laid in the grass. She was lying face up, eyes closed with arms and legs spread to catch more sun. When Amity was close her shadow covered Em’s face, prompting her to open her eyes.

“Oh hey, how was school?” Em asked without moving, only her eyes following Amity.

Amity sat down in the grass next to her. “Pretty uneventful.” She answered, stretching her legs out in the grass in front of her. The sun did feel nice on them, even over her leggings.

Em turned her head towards her. “The school didn’t implode without us?”

“Not yet.” Amity chuckled, remembering how calm things had been. “Any day now though.”

Em laughed as she sat up, pausing to brush grass off her back and arms. “How’s your ankle holding up with walking to school?” That had been a concern when she got the cast off, that the distance to Hexside was too far to be walking on it.

“It hasn’t been hurting.” Amity reported, glancing down at the leg in question. She was lucky that it healed as cleanly as it did.

“Great.” Em smiled, though she still looked tired.

Amity changed the subject away from herself. “How was your first day at the coven?” She was curious; she didn’t know much about the illusion coven.

Em’s expression immediately fell, a frown taking over her face. “It started ok, but then it was absolutely terrible.” She scoffed. “They’re not taking me seriously at all.”

“What do you mean?” Amity scrunched her brow as she asked.

“I just followed the coven leader around all day and watched him work. It was super boring, even worse than school.” Em waved her arms for emphasis, complaining loudly. “If I wanted to watch half baked illusion magic, I’d go to a show, not work at the coven.” She ended with a huff.

It must’ve been really bad if she thought it was worse than school. “That’s surprising.” Amity replied with a frown. “Hopefully they’ll give you some real work.”

“I hope so too.” Em sighed, crossing her arms. “Or it’ll be a very long month.”

The two sisters talked for a while longer, about the coven leader and the exact degree of boredom Em reached that day. So far, it sounded like her internship was going poorly. If all she could do was watch, she wouldn’t have a chance to hone her magic. Ironically, if it were Ed in that situation he would’ve been thrilled.

After a few more minutes, Amity stood to go inside. “I’ve got homework to do.” Amity said as she brushed the grass from her pants.

“I’ll just lay here; it’s working well for me.” Emira collapsed back onto the ground, returning to the position Amity found her in. She closed her eyes before Amity turned away to return to the house.

When Amity reached the door, she double checked that there were no bits of grass or dirt stuck to her clothes. She would be scolded if she tracked dirt into the house, and it just wasn’t worth the hassle. She didn’t find any, so she re-entered her home.

Then Amity went back on her path from before, moving to climb the stairs. She passed by Ed’s room, but the door was open and it looked like he wasn’t home yet. She wanted to hear how his day went too, but for a totally different reason than with Em.

When Amity reached her room she went inside and closed the door, ready to work on her homework. She had a couple assignments to work on, which would take a couple hours. She sat down at her desk and took out the first assignment, putting thoughts of internships aside for the time being.

For the next half hour, Amity focused on her work. She was writing about the different compositions of abominations and how changing the ingredients could give them different abilities. It was an interesting topic, but one she hadn’t dabbled much in.

Amity had just finished her third paragraph when she heard a loud thud, the sound echoing through the house. It sounded like it came from upstairs, not too far from her room. Was Ed home?

Putting down her pen, Amity stood to go check. When she reached the hallway, she saw that she was correct. Ed’s door, which had been open before, was now closed. He had likely slammed it shut when he arrived, which wasn’t a great sign.

Amity should’ve just gone back to her homework, since she still had a lot to finish, but she was too curious about how his day went. She hoped to join the Emperor’s Coven someday, and Ed was spending four whole weeks there.

There was also the question of who was running the coven now, since Lilith was gone. Amity was dying to know that too.

Unable to resist, Amity walked down the hall to his door. She knocked on it twice, and waited for a response.

About thirty seconds later, Ed pulled the door open. He was dressed in the black and grey uniform of the Emperor’s Coven, but wasn’t wearing the cloak or mask. His light green hair was more disheveled than usual, probably from wearing the hood all day. Other than that, he looked unharmed but tired.

“Hey, what’s up?” He asked, leaning against the door frame.

“How was it? Did you catch any criminals?” Amity asked the two questions rapidly, her excitement getting away from her. She mentally pulled herself back, reminded herself to be cool.

Ed’s expression immediately soured. “It was the worst, and no, I didn’t.” He stepped back from the door, waving for her to come into the room.

Amity entered, closing the door behind her. Their parents had good ears. “What did they have you doing?” She asked, still more eager sounding than she intended.

“Just following a patrol in this awful uniform for literally hours. My feet will never forgive me.” Ed scowled, pointing down at his feet dramatically. Amity quite liked the Emperor’s Coven uniform, but now wasn’t the time to mention that. “How were things at school?”

It was funny, since Em had asked a similar question. “Quiet without you.” Amity replied.

“I would rather be there tomorrow than back on patrol.” Ed grumbled, walking over to his desk. The coven mask was placed there, along with the cloak. “I don’t know how they run around in these masks all the time, honestly.”

Oh, Amity knew something about that. “I heard they use a spell to make it easier to see.” She had seen that in a pamphlet for the coven once.

This drew Ed’s eyes back to her, finally with a spark of interest. “What spell do they use?”

Amity shook her head. “I don’t know, you should ask them tomorrow.”

“Guess I’ll have to.” Ed chuckled lowly, a forced sound. “Or I’ll trip over my own feet on the chase. It would be funny though, if it happened.”

Amity smiled at the mental image that provided. “Did you meet the new coven leader?” She asked, bringing the topic to something else she very much wanted to know.

Unfortunately, Ed shook his head no. “I met Kikimora and a few patrol witches, but didn’t see a coven leader.”

“I guess they wouldn’t visit the jail branch regularly.” Amity mused, bringing one hand up to her chin. “Or they haven’t promoted someone yet.”

“I think it’s the second one.” Ed chimed in. He turned back towards the desk, and then reached forward and batted the mask off the side of the table, causing it to fall to the floor with a light thunk. As expected, it was undamaged. “After the internship, I’m burying this in the yard.”

That drew a laugh from Amity. “Only if you don’t get caught.” Their mother would be so angry if she saw him doing that. Both because of what he was burying and where he was trying to bury it.

“With Em’s help, we can do it.” Ed said as he turned back to her with a straight face, deadly serious. Amity believed him; the two of them were extremely skilled in illusion magic. Their parents often couldn’t see through their tricks, which had been quite frustrating for Amity in the past.

“Good luck with that.” Amity chuckled. “I should get back to my room, lots of homework to do still.” She opened the door, getting ready to leave.

“That’s one perk I guess. I don’t miss homework, not one bit.” Ed said, picking his mask up off the floor. “Later then.”

Amity waved once, then left the room. She shut the door behind her and walked back down the hallway to her room. When she went inside, her abomination assignment was waiting right where she left it.

Unfortunately, it was hard to get refocused on it. She couldn’t stop thinking about the covens her siblings were interning at, the experiences they had on their first day.

Amity had always been excited about someday joining the Emperor’s Coven, but with Em not making the internship that meant Amity might not make it too. She knew there was always a chance of that, but honestly thought she would make it in if she worked hard. Em didn’t work hard, but she was one of the most skilled witches Amity knew. She had better focus than Ed and could make some amazing layered spells. Not that Amity had told her that; she had trouble expressing those kinds of things.

Ed wasn’t bad at magic of course, the opposite was true. He was quite skilled, but lacked the patience and persistence to truly shine.

If Em didn’t make it, what were her odds? Yes, Amity worked very hard to improve her magic, but she wasn’t nearly as naturally skilled as her siblings. This was just an internship for now, but it could turn into coven membership offers later. It was a big deal and was freaking Amity out.

She hadn’t even written another sentence on her assignment, instead she was just sitting there thinking.

Another train of thought was that both of her siblings hated their first day on the job. Amity had read all of the pamphlets about the Emperor’s Coven, but she didn’t know much about the workings of the rest. Even the abomination coven, which was run by her mother and was also her track in school, she knew minimum details. At the covention, she didn’t spend time looking at other covens. She was always so focused on the grand prize, she never dug into her second option.

It was certainly something to think about over the next few weeks.

Next Chapter

[heartslogos]

the declassified texts of the inquisition’s elite [154]

(870):  Or is it distressingly heterosexual? - (254):  How’d it go? (915):  I accidentally joined a cult (254):  So not great... -

“I want it to be clear, acknowledged, understood, and on the record that this is not my opinion. I am reading a message that I have found in a chat log of a person of interest out loud to you. This is not my commentary, this is not my personal belief, this is not a thought formed and springing from my own mind.” Max punctuates each sentence by slowly leaning forward just a little bit more and increasing the intensity of his eye contact in a way that makes everyone want to lean back and avert their gazes. “I want this on the record. I want verbal and written acknowledgement of this.”

“Just relax, will you? You’re freaking everyone out,” Herah says.

“Listen. I know how bad it sounds. I know that out of all the people here who could have just read the start of this flaming wreck of a message thread, it being me makes it seem all he more potent because of — well.” Max waves a hand at himself. “As Sera so often calls me, I look like the poster boy for everything wrong in the world. I know it looks bad. I know it. I know it sounds bad. I know that me, looking as I do, verbalizing the words on this document, is very, very bad. I need it acknowledged that this isn’t going to come around and bite me in the ass with several rows of serrated teeth.”

“Acknowledged,” Josephine says, looking entirely too amused with the situation at hand. “Max. You can keep reading.”

“I’m not going to lie, Josephine, I’m a little afraid to. Because when a conversation starts using the words ‘distressingly heterosexual’ and are read out loud by someone who looks the definition of ‘distressingly heterosexual’ things can get dicey. I am afraid of where this conversation is going and I would like to pass this onto anyone other than myself.”

“Coward,” Mahanon mutters under his breath.

“Fine, I’ll read it,” Herah says, taking the laptop from in front of Max and adjusting the screen. Her eyebrows raise. “Alright, no. Shit. Max is right. Damn this convo takes a wicked turn for the worse.” Herah taps on the touchpad, scrolling through. “Okay, okay, fair’s fair. Maxwell really did need to bail when he bailed. Those are some good instincts there, Trevelyan. Yikes. This takes a dip into some really bad shit.”

“See?” Max gestures at Herah. “See? If I was the one still reading and it started in on some of this, one of you would’ve pulled out your phones to record it and I’d start being blasted on the internet as some kind of disgusting white cis-gendered heterosexual member of the patriachy. But coming from Herah, my near exact opposite, you guys can clearly hear the disgust and incredulous rage as when she reads.”

“I haven’t even started reading.”

“My Karen senses are tingling,” Max replies, “I don’t need you to start actually reading out loud to know that someone’s about to say something wildly inappropriate and exclusionist.”

“You’re not wrong,” Herah mutters, shaking her head as she slowly returns to the start of where Maxwell left off. “Alright. Look. Do we have to read it out? Can we just quietly read it in our heads and be silently disgusted with people in general? Because it starts off with ‘or is it distressingly heterosexual’ and turns into a whole thing about bi, pan, and ace exclusionism and like. Discussions on passing. It’s shit. It’s really shit.”

“Oh thank god I dodged the bullet of reading that out loud,” Max brushes his hand over his face. “If I had to read anything closet to that out loud I’d be in jail.”

- “I sent Sera off with one job and she joins a cult?” Evelyn presses the heels of her palms to her eyes. “Are you guys even trying anymore? Are you guys trying to do your jobs? Have you given up? Are you just letting the current take you wherever it takes you? I’m begging you. Make an attempt at doing your jobs. Make any attempt at getting the tasks assigned you actually completed.”

“That’s harsh. She did get her job done eventually,” Edric says. “And it’s not like we’ve given up. It’s the path of least resistance and all. It all works out in the end.”

“That’s very unlike you to say, Edric. Are you feeling alright?”

“It’s what they’ve been telling us to practice in stress management,” Edric replies. “I don’t know if I believe it but I figure I probably ought to pretend to try it before completely disregarding it as bullshit. I mean. If I gave it a shot no one can complain, right?”

“I’m not going to touch that,” Evelyn says, turning to Leliana. “Can we agree that I’m not going to even attempt unraveling that? Can we agree it’s probably not in my best interests for me to give that thread even a tiny yank?”

“Agreed, and moving on before this thread gets snagged on any further, all’s well that ends well. Sera’s en route with the asset,” Leliana types something into her computer. “I think we can safely assume we can proceed to the next step of our plans. Provided that the others have also completed their tasks. Cullen, any word from Blackwall’s group?”

“No,” Cullen answers after a moment, checking between tabs on his computer. “Their plan is progressing as normal, nothing unusual to report. Idly chatter for the most part. A lot of waiting involved in this one. I don’t think anything exciting’s going to be happening on that side tonight.”

“Shame, Blackwall doesn’t get into trouble often but when he does the stories are spectacular,” Leliana muses. “Evelyn, I think it’s safe to say that you can call it a night. I’m sure if anything does blow up between now and tomorrow morning it’s not going to be something you can fix from here.”

“Please don’t jinx it by saying that out loud.”

“Too late, already voiced and projected out into the universe for the powers that be to bounce back right at us like a giant middle finger,” Edric says, “Anything else you want to jinx while you’re at it?”

[darkpoisonouslove]

“Ice Is Stronger with Some Lightning and Darkness Mixed in”

Summary: Icy is trapped after her convergence with Darcy and Stormy ended and it seems like her powers won't be quite enough for her to escape. She still has her sisters to help her, though. Even when they are separated, their bond can't be severed and she can draw strength from it. Set in 3x01 and fixing some things that just didn't make any sense whatsoever.

This was totally inspired by my rage over the stupidity that was the part of the writing for 3x01 that involved the Trix' escape from their ice blocks in Omega. You have to be really stupid to think that an ice block can contain the literal witch of ice and it was just written so out of convenience for the writers but it gets on my nerves too much so I took it upon myself to fix it and I got some Trix feels along the way. Enjoy!

She felt the impact when her ice capsule hit the ground. The Omega dimension. Where everything was dead and frozen, and so much better than their previous prison. At least it was full of negative energy and no one was trying to drill happy, peaceful thoughts into her head. It’d taken less than two years and one unfortunate team-up to go from the most prestigious school for witches to the prison for the worst criminals in the universe but she wasn’t complaining. Other than not getting the ultimate power and universal control and the situation with her current commodities, it was still much better than that absolute nightmare in disguise that’d been masked as lenience had been. And now they knew her name and she’d built herself a reputation. A very bad reputation. How fitting for a descendant of the Ancestral Witches.

Icy allowed herself to smirk before focusing her attention on getting out of her newly assigned cell. The temperature was correct but everything else was rather distasteful. There wasn’t even room for her cape in there and she could barely check out her nails. No, that wouldn’t do.

The ice was not a problem, of course, but those fools from the Council had somehow pulled out enough brain cells to grasp that they couldn’t contain the witch of ice in an ice cube and had made sure her capsule had extra security built in its system. There was a magical force field around it that not only prevented her from blowing the ice to pieces since it would just turn right back on her and cut through her but it was also feeding off of her own magical powers and draining them. She’d be impressed–it was genius, really, and the moment she died, the force field would disappear as it was no longer needed–if she weren’t absolutely livid. Not to mention that she couldn’t attempt to mess with the structure of the ice and try to get it to turn liquid since there was electrical charge woven into the force field that would churn her completely when the ice broke and any water would only make it worse. It was a tight bind but she was far too powerful to let herself be defeated by those losers and their inexplicable show of wit. Or at least she had been.

She still felt empty after the rush of the Gloomix was gone. And Darcy and Stormy’s thoughts were no longer in her mind. They’d been in total unison, the rage flowing through all three of them binding them so tightly as if their beings had been woven together and allowing them to merge into one whole. They’d been so powerful... so close... so close to their goal. Only to be separated from it... and from themselves. It felt like a part of her was gone, taken out by the force released when they’d been separated back into their own bodies. It was emptier than the loss of her magic left her as the force field drained her. She would never gather enough magic to escape if she allowed that to go on. She needed to take the reins.

She listened to the buzz of the energy outside, the electricity coursing around scraping and tugging at something in her very essence, irritating her to the point where she barely kept herself from giving into the urge to blast the cell to pieces. She couldn’t. It would kill her, and that would be too much of a loss. Not only her beauty and power would be lost but also those of Darcy and Stormy, too. They couldn’t get out of the ice without her and she had to save them. She had to save herself. They couldn’t be defeated. It was too stupid an end for the three of them and their origins.

Something sparked inside her at the thought and she finally recognized the source of the persistent sensation that was still clawing at her mind and magic. It was the electric shock that came from one of Stormy’s attacks. She’d felt all of Stormy’s powers when they’d been merged together into the same being and somehow she still had some of Stormy’s magic left in her veins. She sensed it out and felt the electricity in her body, hiding deep, deep inside her, at the center of her power, at the center of all of her rage and madness, in her heart. And there were traces of Darcy’s darkness, too, her powers even more elusive but they came out at the call of Icy’s own, almost reached out to her magic in an attempt to meld into one once again. She would love that but she had work to do and she had to keep the powers separated. She’d need them a little later.

Icy sensed out the ice surrounding her, studying its structure. It was negatively charged just like everything else around and for someone else that might have been a setback but she’d always found it easier to cooperate with another problem. And it looked like she wasn’t the only one.

The ice responded to her magic and started cracking. Slowly, very slowly and precisely, the fissures appearing just where she envisioned them and not a molecule away. She had to be careful if she didn’t want to fry herself with the electricity that a mistake in her plan would let in. Though, she’d have to worry about that, too, but a little later on. Now she only had to worry about the ice–it was her only shield against the violent charge waiting to roast her–and not breaking it too soon. And about her sisters, too.

She was in her own waters in the ice cage but Darcy and Stormy didn’t have her defense against the volatile temperatures. She knew they’d developed a bit of an immunity through the quality time they’d spent with her but she could only guess whether it would be enough for them to last until she could break them out. Their other saving grace was that they probably still had some of her magic left inside them, too, but she had no idea whether they were conscious enough to employ that. They had to be! They were witches, her sisters, in the name of all things evil. They couldn’t let her down like that and waste what surges of her magic they had left in their bodies.

She had to rein in her temper once again. She would use it, just not yet. She had to be careful and execute everything according to plan. Once they were all free, they’d have plenty of time to rage and think about their revenge. Perhaps releasing all of Omega’s criminals would teach those idiots from the Council a lesson. But that would leave them with too much competition in their quest for universal domination and would require too much effort. At least she’d crossed off one option. And perhaps Darcy and Stormy could help her come up with something tasteful when they were out.

The ice was all broken and ready to crumble out of the way to give her her chance at freedom. She still had the electricity to get through but she had a plan for that, too. She just had to focus on the execution. Which was, of course, the tricky part.

Once the ice crumbled away, she’d have to use Stromy’s electricity–she wasn’t sure how much of that exactly she had left but she had to go in blindly as it was her only chance–to make a shield around herself protecting her from the security spell around her while she used Darcy’s hypnotic powers to convince herself she had no power left. It would be hard to pull off the duality of feeding Stormy’s powers and letting Darcy’s convince her she was powerless but it was the only way to disable the defense system. She could do it anyway. She was the most powerful witch in existence. Of course she could do it.

Icy sensed out the powers hidden inside her once again and coaxed them out to the surface, holding on to them with everything she had, for they were her only chance at escape. Once she was sure she had a secure grip and easy access to them, she let the ice shell around her fall apart, her thoughts forming a sphere around her to keep away what wanted her dead and the magic in her being followed them, spreading around her to keep her from getting fried.

She let the illusion in her head, letting it make her vulnerable while doing her best to keep her shield in place. She had to fight against her instincts clawing at her magic as they made her hold on to it with all her might. She had to quiet them down if she wanted to get out, but letting go had never been something she’d known how to do. If it had been, she would’ve ceased to exist–at least in her own eyes–a long time ago. Giving up was a loser thing to do. And she was as far from that as her freedom was close. She just had to keep pushing against who she was and convince the defense system she was powerless.

It wasn’t working. Not really. Her powers were at an all-time low now to the point where she wasn’t sure she’d manage to ever get them back and she could barely find any more of Stormy and Darcy’s magic inside her. It would soon run out and leave her to burn to crisp that wouldn’t even be good for lunch. And it couldn’t end like that. Her sisters, her powers, her origins couldn’t let her down like that. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t something she’d allow.

She let go, feeling like she almost had to peel herself off of the magic she’d sunk her claws into like her life depended on it. She let them go, let everything go. Her magic, Darcy and Stormy, herself – it was all gone. She was so empty, so powerless, so alone–not at all the way she’d felt when the convergence between the three of them had given her power like she’d never had before–and the electricity moved right into her body, getting under her skin and filling her with pain as it threw her to the ground.

It had worked. She was out. The security spell had disappeared, the last remains of it coursing through her body but those were of no consequence now that she was free. She had other things to do.

She jumped on her feet resisting the impulse to groan–that would still be admitting defeat in a sense and she was far above that–and focused on the other two ice cages. She was downright exhausted but those two would be much easier to break through. It was just ice that was in her way and she could deal with that any day without any help. Stormy and Darcy were the ones in need of help currently and she concentrated on saving them from certain death.

She raised both her hands and sent her energy towards the two ice blocks simultaneously. She still had enough power to deal with them at once and set free her sisters. And it was well worth the effort as their power would multiply once they were at her sides again. It was a win-win and what made their partnership so wickedly useful.

The ice gave way under her intent and her concentration that only cracked after it did. She opened her eyes to find the other two witches falling to their knees, their arms wrapping around them in an attempt to warm them rather than extending forward to brace them against the ground. She’d known the cold would get to them but she’d beat it. They were still breathing and, hopefully, with rage burning in them directed at those who’d forced them on their knees. They’d have the time of their lives plotting their vengeance and it would make up for what they’d been put through.

“Welcome, ladies,” Icy greeted as she moved between them, focusing her powers into draining the cold from the air around them so that it would feel a little warmer and allow them to come back to their senses. She didn’t need them dying from hypothermia on her now that they weren’t frozen anymore. “The Omega dimension.”

“The worst criminals in the magical dimension,” Darcy looked around, her tone proud, of course, as it had to be. They’d earned their place. And if there was wariness in her eyes, Icy pretended not to notice. She didn’t need another reminder that they were essentially powerless compared to what they’d been when their powers had all been merged together and she didn’t want to think about what it must have felt like for Darcy and Stormy when they’d been completely defenseless against the death threat of their cages. She didn’t need more weakness. So she didn’t even see the hint of fear hiding in the golden irises.

“They’re probably talking about us in Cloud Tower,” Stormy said, her voice light, too light without the rage of lightning inside so Icy focused on the words.

“Oh, they most certainly are.” They were talking about them in the whole universe. And soon they’d have a reason to do it all over again because they’d break out of Omega and they’d have the power they’d always been meant to have. “How’s your magic?” She needed them battle ready and motivated. They still had a grand exit to make.

“Good enough,” Stormy said and Darcy nodded at the sentiment.

It was rather debatable but that was all she could want from them right now. She was quite exhausted herself and she hadn’t had the unpleasantness of freezing to death to worry about.

“How long were we in there?” Darcy asked while her gaze was all over the place, looking for anything that could help and it was high time that they did something as well.

“About an hour,” Icy said, well aware things would’ve moved much faster if they’d been there as well just as she knew that she wouldn’t have done it without the leftover magic from their convergence. So they had helped. They just didn’t know it as they’d been deeply frozen, unconscious. There was no need to bring their attention to insignificant details now and undermine herself. The last thing she needed was them doubting her abilities and worrying about the hypothetical situation in which they would’ve all died. Well, less hypothetical and more real for them but they’d made it. It was all that mattered.

“An hour in that cold? That’s-”

Impossible. It was. Or at least would have been if they hadn’t had traces of her magic left in them. And of each other’s too. It had activated even with them being unconscious, the terror of dying strong enough to overcome even that but she didn’t have time to judge them because they were no longer alone.

A white snake with ice crystals all over it appeared and the wave of magic that hit her was unbearable when it came from outside. That thing was powerful. Far more powerful than they were currently, and Icy so hated to admit it. But it would be stupid to get killed by clouded judgment after the feat they’d pulled off. They’d be the first to escape from Omega and the universe would know them as such. And then it would know them as its rulers.

The thought gave her enough clarity for her to take the most sensible course of action and not let her pride dictate her moves. It would be stupid. And she didn’t do stupid.

“Run,” she yelled. She could settle for tactical retreat as they were far from defeated. And even farther from done for. Plus, the running would help Darcy and Stormy warm up after their dwelling in the ice cages they’d been trapped into. It would wake up their survival instincts and their powers and the world would cower away once again.

[disasterdeacy]

Forbidden Fruit: Part One

A/N: This is going to be the first of a two part series! Hopefully I will have Part Two out in the next week or so, because I’m travelling to Australia this coming Thursday so I have a lot of prep, but hopefully I’ll have some time to write up part two in the next few days or while en route! Just let me know what y’all think of this one, and remember to reblog and comment! Pairing: 1998!Brian May x Reader Word Count: 7.5k Summary: Y/N is Jimmy May’s best friend in the entire world. So when she’s unable to return home for the 4th of July, he does what any good friend would and offers to have her come stay with him at his Dad’s place for the weekend, the whole thing culminating in a BBQ that would rival any her family ever threw. Little does Brian, or Y/N, know, this weekend will be memorable for more reasons than the burgers and sparklers.  Warnings: Infidelity, Age Gap, 18+, Y’all This is Just Disgusting I’m Sorry

To say that Y/N was having a bad day, would be like saying that there were a few people living in London. An understatement of the highest degree. The 20 year old Archaeology student was lying face down on the floor of the living,to of the flat that she shared with her best friend Jimmy, an Enya CD playing at full blast from the boom box near the fireplace. That’s how Jimmy May found her when he returned home from his final lecture of the semester.

The sight made him chuckle as he sat his book bag down, before walking over to Y/N and lying down beside her on his back, hands crossed over his chest. The two young students had been best friends since their very first day of university 2 years prior, when Y/N, an Archaeology and Medieval History major from America in need of friends, was assigned to sit beside Jimmy May, an undecided major from London who was also in desperate need of friends.

Y/N had stuck out her hand for him to shake, a bright smile on her face, her brows furrowing in confusion when he’d just stared at her hand. “Oh shit, y’all do shake hands right?”

Jimmy had just laughed loudly and nodded, taking her hand in his and shaking firmly, seemingly solidifying their friendship. While most people assumed they were together romantically, the sheer thought of that made bile rise in the the two young adults throats. They did love one another, but their relationship was nothing more than that of siblings, and that’s exactly how they wanted it to stay.

 Y/N groaned when she felt Jimmy lie down beside her, knowing that he was waiting for her to explain why she was having a slight mental breakdown in the middle of the living room.

“Can’t go back to the States for the Summer, which means I’m not going to be able to be with my family on the 4th..”

 She had received a call from her parents earlier that day saying that they’d not been able to get her a plane ticket for her trip home, which meant that she was stuck in York for the remainder of the summer.

Y/N didn’t exactly mind this, she loved York, loved being in the UK, but she also had never not been home for her family’s annual 4th of July BBQ, aka her favorite part of the year.

Her aunt and uncle had a huge pool, so the entire family would pile into their house and spend the whole day gorging on watermelon and burgers, veggie for her, and getting sun poisoning while her grandmother made homemade ice cream. The fireworks were her favorite part though, and Y/N and her younger cousin would always sit in the pool in their doughnut floats and watch as their dad’s and uncles attempted to light the fuses without managing to blow off a limb. It was her absolute favorite thing in the entire world and now she wasn’t going to get to experience it, all because of a mix up with the airline.

 Jimmy knew how important Y/N's annual trip to see her family was, the promise of seeing her family was the only thing that helped her get past the final semester of classes, now that had been taken from her, and it broke Jimmy's heart. Sitting up, he reaches over, rolling his best friend onto her back, frowning when he sees the forlorn look on your face.

"Shit love, are you alright?"

Y/N just sighs, a sad smile on her face.  She was completely heartbroken and beyond upset, but she knew it wasn't anybody's fault, you can't control when an airline cancels your ticket the day before you're supposed to leave.

"Its alright dude, shit happens, shit sucks, but it happens."

She had always been more of a glass half full kind of person, and this situation could be so much worse, so Y/N wasn't about to complain. She was still going to see them in December, and hey, at least she still had family to go see.

The two were quiet for a while, Y/N on her back staring at the ceiling, Jimmy sitting straight up, chin in his hands, a look of concentration on his face.

Y/N knew that look all to well, and she didn't like it at all. It meant Jimmy was thinking, and when Jimmy was thinking, and things happened. Sitting up alongside her best friend, Y/N raises her eyebrows, suspicious look in her eyes.

"You're thinking really loud Jim, what's up?"

He laughs, jumping off of the floor and running to the kitchen before she can question him further.

If Y/N had known what Jimmy was doing in the kitchen in that moment, she probably would've tackled the phone away from him and forbade him from ever using it again...

 Windlesham, Surrey

3 July 1998

 Jimmy had neglected to tell Y/N just how insanely large his dad’s house was. Sure, she’d figured it was going to be relatively large, it was the house of a rockstar, she didn’t expect it to look like it belonged to a CPA from Chester.

However, this was on another level of insanity.  It was an absolutely gorgeous Tudor revival style home with at least 10 bedrooms rooms, situated on a few acres of land, a pool smack dab in the middle of the spacious back yard. This was honesty her dream home.

Jimmy laughed at his best friend’s slack jawed appearance beside him, taking her bag from her as they ascended the stairs.

“Trying to catch some flies love?”

Y/N only reached over and smacked him on the shoulder the same way she did her brother anytime he decided to be a brat.

“I doubt there’s ever been a single fly in this house before James.”

She rarely used his whole name, saving it for moments like this when he was seriously grinding the last root of her final nerve, and she barely had a nerve left for him to grind... all of them were currently being used to try and keep her from throwing up the lunch her and Jimmy had eaten in Cambridge.

Why was she so nervous again? Oh right, because she was stood outside Brian May's house, where she would be staying for the next week, because her best friend, who also happens to be his son, decided that the best course of action to cure her small sadness was to ask his father to host them and throw a BBQ to rival Y/N's family's.

Brian had enthusiastically agreed to his son's idea, having never met the young woman who he couldn't seem to shut up about.  For a long while, the older man had assumed that the two youngsters were together, but after asking Louisa about it after she'd met Y/N at Chrissy's and received a loud laugh in return, he was positive that they were only the closest of friends, with a relationship more akin to the one Jimmy had with Louisa and Emily.

Sadly, he wasn't home at the exact moment the two arrived, which caused  Y/N to sigh in relief.  She didn't even know who Jimmy's dad was until the two had been friends for almost 6 months, only finding out when she met his sister Louisa when she came to visit and began to talk about an Uncle Roger and Uncle John. To be honest Y/N had felt like a bit of an idiot for not making the connection, knowing that his dad was a musician and his name was May, but Jimmy had just laughed loudly as the realization hit. He still teased her to no end about it, and had been taking her as they entered the house, cackling as she slapped his arm when he asked if she was going to pass out when she met him.

"Oh fuck you Jimmy, it's not funny!"

Y/N had been embarrassed enough when she found out that her best friend was Brian May's son, mainly because of the times she'd completely fangirled over Queen, Brian in particular, in front of Jimmy, and now he was just eating up the fact that she was about to meet him. He'd even placed a bet with Louisa on how long she could last without losing consciousness.

"Don't know love, it's pretty fucking funny to me. My sweet innocent little best friend wants to fu-"

Thankfully a green human shaped blur tackled Y/N to the ground, surprising Jimmy enough to stop him talking before he could finish his sentence.

Laughing loudly as she hit the ground, Y/N wrapped her arms around what she assumed was Louisa, only to find out that it was the youngest May, who was laughing just has hard, her arms firmly around the older woman's waist.

"Em! God, You're getting strong, and, a-are you wet?

Y/N laughed even harder when she saw that the 11 year old was wrapped in a lime green beach towel, water dripping from her dark curls onto Y/N's previously pristine white sun dress.  Emily just laughed and nodded against her friend's chest.

" Yeah! Lou and I were swimming when we heard the car pull up, and I missed you so I just jumped out and ran in. "

She was talking 1,000,000 miles a minute, which wasn't exactly weird for an 11 year old girl, but it still caused Y/N to laugh.

"Did you trail in half the pool while you were at it?"

Y/N nodded towards the puddles of water standing on the tiles of the kitchen floor, giggling when the young girl scurried off of her lap, cursing quietly as she unwrapped her towel from around her to clean up the mess, allowing Jimmy to pull his best friend from the floor.

"Why don't you let your brother do that so you can show me the pool?"

Wiggling her eyebrows at Emily, Y/N extended her hand to her, smiling widely when the 11 year old accepted it happily, throwing her towel at Jimmy before she pulled Y/N out the patio door and towards the pool.

Like the rest of the house that she'd seen, the pool was amazingly ornate. Pure white stone lined the path to it, and surrounded the edge of the crystal blue waters where Louisa was lounging on a pink float. The diving board and slide were just begging to be used, but seeing as how she was in a dress, Y/N resisted the urge to utilize either one of them.

Despite being absolutely pressing petrified to meet Brian, Y/N was overjoyed to see the girls again. She hasn't seen the two youngest May kids since November the year before when their mom had invited Y/N to her home for a little Thanksgiving dinner since she hadn't had one in 2 years. Chrissy was an actual Angel and Y/N had never felt so welcome before, that week had been one that she would always remember fondly, and she just hoped that this one would also go down in her memory bank.

Laughing loudly as Emily jumped into the pool right beside Louisa, absolutely saturating her with water, Y/N sat down on the edge of the pool watching as the older girl dunked her little sister under the water, screaming bloody murder the whole time. The noise from the two girls was so loud that Y/N didn't hear the tell tell noise of a car pulling up, nor the sound of a door opening, nor the sound of feet running up to her.

One minute she had been yelling at Emily to "fight like a girl!" and the next she was underwater, eyes burning with the sting of the chlorinated water.

Popping up out of the water gasping in shock, Y/N started treading water, glaring at the side of the pool where Jimmy was stood laughing like a goddamn hyena, well it looked vaguely like Jimmy, she couldn't exactly tell with her eyes squinted like they were.

"JAMES MAY YOU ABSOLUTE CUNT!"

She yelled out, voice full of amusement despite the angry words. Louisa and Emily were also laughing, holding onto the pink float for dear life as they watched Y/N flail around, brushing her hair from her eyes as she yelled at their brother.

The two girls started to swim over to her, trying to assist their friend, when they noticed the tall figure of their dad walking towards the pool, an amused look on his face.

Brian had just returned home from the shops when he'd heard the ear piercing scream coming from the pool, and he immediately slipped into dad mode, dropping the bags in the kitchen before taking off towards the pool, fearing the worst.

Only when he stepped onto the back patio and heard a very distinct American accent did he smile and breathe a little. He had been looking forward to the arrival of his son and the American girl who had some how managed to teach Jimmy how to properly fold is socks and boil an egg, but when he'd woke that morning to find the fridge completely empty and his daughter's "dying of starvation", Brian groaned and headed out to the shops, determined to be back in time to meet Y/N when she and Jimmy arrived. However, Anita had insisted on coming with him, and that had turned what would've been a 20 minute excursion into a 2 hour social call.

Now, he was slowly approaching the pool, arms crossed over his chest, eyebrows raised in amusement as the curses that were being thrown at his son reached his ears. Well, the girl certainly had a mouth on her.

" I swear to god Jimmy, when I get out of this goddamn pool, your skinny little ass is MINE! "

Y/N was expecting an equally abusive retort from Jimmy who was stood in front of her from what she could see past her hair, not a loud laugh from her left.

Jerking her head over to the source of the noise, Y/N managed to swallow a sizeable amount of water, coughing loudly before swimming over to the side of the pool closest to her, which just so happened to be the side from where the laugh had come from.

Clutching onto the side of the pool, she began to attempt to lift herself out, not realizing that she had to actually have upper body strength to be able to do any sort of physical activity.

Brian couldn't exactly get a good look at the girl swimming towards him until she was struggling at the side, her pitiful attempts to lift herself out making him laugh louder. Jimmy was doubled over beside the lounge chairs on the other side of the diving board, Louisa and Emily holding onto the pink float laughing equally as hard. Deciding to be a decent human being, Brian bends down, still laughing, and grabbed her hands.

"Right then love, up ya get."

He immediately regretted his actions upon seeing her...state of dress. Brian’s eyes widened when he took in the soaking wet young girl’s appearance, she was absolutely drop dead gorgeous. Her hair was dripping wet, flat against her face, but he could still tell that it was thick and beautiful. Her eyes had yet to meet his as she attempted to steady herself on the pavement, a small laugh falling from her mouth as she glared over at Jimmy.

Shit, even her laugh was beautiful.

Brian's eyes then drifted naturally down, cock responding fast to the images that his hazel eyes were sending to his brain. This young woman, this 20 year old girl, his son’s best friend, was wearing what had at some point before her trip into the water, probably been a very pretty white sundress. Now, however, the fabric was clinging to her skin, exposing every single curve, lump, and bump on her body... and more over, exposed the dark green fabric of her bra and light blue fabric of her panties.. for some reason, the fact that she wasn’t wearing matching underwear made him smile, showed that she was still a young woman, someone who wasn’t concerned with matching her panties to her bra.. he liked it a lot. Shaking his head a little in self disgust, Brian gently dropped Y/N’s hands, not wanting to seem creepy.

 The action jerked Y/N from glaring at Jimmy, her eyes looking up at the person who’d helped her out of the pool for the first time since she’d been “rescued”. She didn’t know what she was expecting when she looked up, I mean, who else could’ve been the one to pull her out of the pool but Brian?

However, the moment her eyes met Brian’s, Y/N swears her entire body sets alight.

Ever since she was a young girl, around 10, she’d had the biggest crush imaginable on the curly haired guitarist. Her mom was a massive Queen fan and had facilitated her daughter’s love of the band, and Brian, and had bought her absolutely any poster, album, T-shirt, anything she wanted.. god, if her mom could see her now. Eyes wide, Y/N took in the appearance of the man in front of her.

Shit, he was hot.

Sure he was almost 51 years old, 31 years her senior, but she would’ve never known just from his looks, he was as beautiful a man as she’d ever seen, and the hormones coursing through her body as his eyes stared into her’s were enough to kill a goddamn horse. His hair was still as dark as ever, famous curls bouncy and framing his face perfectly. And god, his FACE... He had aged like a fine burgundy, and much like her favorite red, his gaze was leaving her feeling warm and slightly dizzy.

There were a few well placed smile lines around his eyes, which were on full display as he smiled down at the young woman, eyebrow cocked at her wide eyed expression, a look which caused a red hot blush to erupt onto her face and all down her chest.. Fuck, she might as well have been naked standing in front of him with as much as her dress was covering.

His eyes were dark, predatory almost, as he looked down at her expectedly. The young woman simply cleared her throat, smiling shyly up at the older man, sticking her hand out to him.

"This certainly wasn't what I was imagining our first introduction to be Mr. May, but thank you for rescuing me."

Brian waved away Y/N's hand, instead electing to wrap his arms around her, pulling her into a hug, his hands trying to disobey his mind and move further down her body.

"What kind of gentleman would I be if I let a beautiful young woman like you drown! The men of Britain would never forgive me."

Y/N laughed, a shaky little thing it was, but honestly nobody in their right mind could blame her for the instability in her voice, not when a black tank top clad Brian May's hands were dangerously close to her ass,and with her dress being soaking wet like it was, she could almost feel the callouses on his fingertips against her skin.

"Um, thank you Mr. May... but, I don't think the men of Britain would dare do anything to harm you. You're a national treasure."

It was Brian's turn to blush, something he hasn't done in a few decades,but for some reason the attention from this gorgeous young woman was making him feel things he hadn't felt in a long, long, time. Chuckling, Brian reluctantly pulls away from the hug, remembering that his children were watching the two of them, and that Anita was only a couple hundred yards away inside the house.

"Now that is some high praise coming from you Y/N. I can see why Jimmy had kept you hidden from all of us heathens..."

Turning towards his son, Brian's hand brushes down Y/N's  shoulders, coming to rest at the small of her back, fingers splaying out as wide as they could. He was desperate for as much contact with her as possible, and if absolutely disgusted him to no end.

Jimmy took great offense to his dad's comment, claiming that he wasn't hiding Y/N away from the May family, simply "protecting them" from her insanity. Had it not been for Brian's hand seemingly burning into her skin, she probably would've retorted with something equally as witty and biting, but in that moment, the poor woman couldn't even remember what color the sky above her was, much less think of something sarcastic to say to her best friend.

Luckily, she didn't have to think of anything, as the patio door opened a few seconds late and Anita walked out carrying a large coal colored towel, a smile on her face.

It made Y/N sick to her stomach.

Not because she didn't like Anita, no she rather liked her to be quite honest, but the thoughts running through her head about the woman's partner were obscene. Never once in her 20 years on Earth had she ever thought that she would be in this situation...not that she was in any situation at all, yet. But if Brian didn't remove his hands from her back soon,Y/N was going to abandon all of her morality and fuck her best friend's dad, partner or not.

Thankfully, Brian noticed Anita and quickly, albeit reluctantly, removed his hands from Y/N's back, electing to shove them into his pockets to avoid raising any suspicion from the red haired woman walking towards the pool.

"I've brought you a towel love! Seems like Jimmy would have at least had a little foresight to collect one for you before he decided to send you for a swim."

Anita was smiling from ear to ear, swiftly wrapping the plush fabric around Y/N's shivering shoulders, bringing her in to place a small kiss to her cheek in greeting.

"You poor dear! You're absolutely quivering!"

Oh she didn't even know the half of it...

"Bri, love, take the poor girl to her room and let her get warmed up, that fabric might look amazing when dry, but when wet, it's absolutely useless."

The older woman then turned her back to the two and headed back to the house after giving Jimmy a rather stern look, which he simply rolled his eyes at.

Wrapping the towel around her shoulders tightly as she could, Y/N chuckled a little, she wasn't cold at all, in fact she was absurdly warm. The shuddering of her shoulders, shaking of her hands, had been caused by a wetness, just not the one Anita had thought.

Brian's mind had gone straight for the gutter as soon as his girlfriend had suggested he take Y/N to her room, imagining her creamy legs thrown over his shoulders, cunt pulsing against his tongue. Fuck, he needed to stop, his jeans were tight enough as it was without the added strain of a swollen cock.

Clearing his throat, Brian slaps a smile onto his face, turning to Y/N, extending his arm for her to take.

"You heard the missus love, let's get you out of those wet clothes. "

He wasn't sure if he had genuinely meant for his words to sound so suggestive, but when he looks over at Y/N 's face and sees the scarlet blush covering her skin, Brian can't help but send the young woman a wink, unaware that he had just managed to decreased her life expectancy by a good 7.4 months.

Trying to act completely unaffected by Brian's actions, Y/N happily accepts his arm allowing him to lead her up the trail from the pool towards the house. The back of the house was just as gorgeous as the front, the Tudor style architecture even more grand than the bits in the front. Looking up just a little, Y/N gives Brian a gentle, somewhat shy, smile.

"I absolutely adore your house Mr. May, the style is one of my favorites."

Gaining just a bit more confidence, Y/N allows herself to scoot closer to Brian, until her hip is right against his as they ascend the stairs. The action seems innocent enough, but Brian knows differently, he's seen this move countless times over the years, and seeing this beautiful young woman, who he absolutely should not be thinking of in the way that he was, use it? While excited that she might not mind him being so close and intimate, he's still felt a bit disgusted and ashamed of himself for thinking the things he was..

Still, her innocent little compliment about the house made him smile down at her, canines grazing his bottom lip as he does so.

"Thank you dear. It's not too shabby, four walls and a place to lay my head down at night."

The two share a little laugh as they enter the house, Y/N reluctantly removing herself from his side so he could open the door for her.

"I'd say it's a bit more than four walls Mr. May, it's absolutely stunning, and I can only hope to live somewhere like this one day."

She's not actively trying to butter him up, but when Y/N sees the slight blush on his face at her compliments, she can't help it.

Brian knows he's as red as a beet, he can't even hide it, but the young woman's compliments were just having an effect on him that he didn't foresee. He wanted her to keep giving him compliments, to keep paying him as much attention as humanly possible.

The older man shoots Y/N a wink, bending over to grab her suitcase from the kitchen floor where she's dropped it when Emily had come barreling into her. Y/N tries to protest, insisting that she's perfectly capable of carrying her own bag, which Brian simply smiles at.

"Oh I have no doubt about your abilities my dear, but my Mum didn't raise me to allow a young lady to carry her own luggage."

He gives her a gentle smile, walking back over to her and placing his hand on the small of her back, lightly pushing her in the direction of the stairs. The two are quiet during the walk to the stairs, Y/N too busy trying not to pass out to speak. Brian, however, is desperate to learn more about the young American.

"So love, Jimmy said you're an Archaeology student? How in the world did you pick that up living all the way across the pond? "

He's genuinely curious, Y/N can tell, and that makes her heart feel as if it's going to burst right out of her chest. Pausing at the bottom of the stairs, she smiles brightly, a small laugh escaping from her throat.

"My mom is a history professor at the university back home, and when I was younger she took me to Scotland because she was supervising on a dig, and I just fell in love with it. Medieval archaeology is a lot less explored than classical, so that gives me a whole world of possibilities. There's just so much history  that we've yet to unearth, and god, there's just so many stories that haven't been told yet. There's something about being the first person to hold an object in hundreds of years that just makes me tingle. "

Y/N was so focused on her little spiel about archaeology that she didn't notice Brian's intense gaze, because if she had, she probably would've melted into the floor.

If Brian had thought that he was infatuated with this young woman before, hearing her speak so passionately and intensely about Archaeology, seeing the sparkle in her she when she mentioned telling the stories of the forgotten, he was thoroughly invested now. She wasn't just a pretty face and an incredible body, no, she was intelligent, articulate, a scholar, just like him, and it only made him want her more.

She looked up at Brian when she finished speaking, heart pounding when she noticed the look he's giving her. Laughing bashfully, Y/N runs a hand through her hair, wincing just a little in embarassment.

"God, I sound like such a nerd don't I?"

Y/N had always been insanely self conscious about her intelligence, and had been greatly admonished for flaunting it when she was younger, and did God's sake she was talking to Brian May, one of the most intelligent men alive.

Brian only laughed lightly, reaching over to brush a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm a nerd too love, so you're in good company."

Letting his hand fall down to her shoulder, Brian clears his throat, a little taken aback by his own actions. Y/N just smiled at his touch, heart still beating wildly.

"You're just being sweet Mr. May..."

She trails off, hands clutching the corners of the towel around her shoulders, her fingers dangerously close to his.

Brian's breath hitches in his throat, eyes never leaving hers. He knows that he could stay like this all day, staring into her eyes. They were gorgeous, just like everything else about her, so innocent and full of curiosity, he wanted nothing more than to see them wide underneath him as he fucked deep and fast inside of her, making them clench shut in pleasure as he brought her to her peak...

"Um, why don't I show you your room yeah? That way we can get you out of those wet clothes."

He's desperately trying to suppress the feelings that he was experiencing, wanting to just put Y/N in her room so that he could just breathe. Moving his hand back down her back, Brian smiles down at Y/N, pushing her gently up the stairs ahead of him.

Y/N let out a small laugh, nodding her head before heading up the stairs, swaying her hips a bit more than she usually would've, but who could blame her? She had her childhood crush, a goddamn rock legend, behind her, leading her up the stairs of his home. Plus, the wet fabric of her dress was tight against her ass, so she knew that Brian was getting a show.

Brian had to bite his bottom lip to keep from letting the moan that threatened to escape out, his eyes trained to Y/N's  ass as his hand gripped the handle of her suitcase so hard his knuckles turned white. Fucking hell, her ass looked like it was made for him, fat and jiggling with every step. Her hips were swaying just enough to tease him, making his cock swell in his skinny jeans, fuck he should've worn something less constricting.

Thankfully it doesn't take too long to reach the top of the stairs, and Y/N halts her movements, waiting for Brian to reach her and guide her to her room. Originally, Brian had thought to have her stay in the room beside Louisa's, but now that he's met her, now that he was fully lusting over her... He wanted her closer. Smiling down at her, Brian takes the lead, walking one door down from him and Anita's room, pushing the door open with his hip.

"Here we are love, home sweet home."

Y/N laughed lightly at Brian's words, taking in the room. The bed was large, way larger than her own bed back in York, light colored wooden drawers lined the wall, and a beside table of the same material was on the right side of the bed. It was obviously a guest room, but it was still extremely nice, and Y/N felt perfectly at home.

"Its beautiful Mr. May, thank you so much for letting me stay here, you have no idea how much it means to me."

She was being as sincere as humanly possible, even without the obvious interest that Brian had taken in her that made her heart and cunt throb, the fact that Brian had been so welcoming and open with her made Y/N feel extremely happy and less homesick.

Brian let's out a happy sigh at her words, placing her suitcase on the bed before sitting down on the bed and patting the spot beside him, beckoning her to join him. Y/N happily accepts and has to stop herself from practically running to him, gently sitting down beside him, hands in her lap. Her obvious interest in him made Brian feel young again, made his hands sweaty and his brain foggy.

It also made him feel far bolder than he usually would have.

Reaching over, Brian takes Y/N's hand in his, turning it over so her palm was facing the ceiling, before tracing his fingers over the soft skin, eyes trained on his movements.

"You don't have to thank me love, you're Jimmy's best friend, he loves you as much as he loves Lou and Em, so I as far as I'm concerned, you're family.."

His voice is soft and assured, just like his movements against Y/N's skin.

"Although, I have to admit, if I'd known how stunning you were, I would've asked Jimmy to bring you around sooner..."

He knows that he's being inappropriate, that she might not take his advances in the way he was hoping, but he had to try, wanted to try...

Y/N is in shock at his actions and words, not a bad shock, just, pure and genuine shock. His calloused fingertips feel like heaven on her palm, movements gentle and deliberate.

"I-I.. stunning? Mr. May, I'm n-,"

She isn't even able to finish her statement before Brian's lips are on her neck, featgerlight movements causing the young woman to let out a qtuiet whimper.

"Brian... Call me Brian, Y/N."

His hands move to her thigh, thumb rubbing circles onto the delicate skin as he moves back, standing up off of the bed, smirking at the noise of surprise that escapes Y/N's mouth.

"B-Brian..."

Her voice is weak, eyes wide in desperation, begging for him to continue. He'd given her a taste of him, a fraction of what was to come, and as much as she liked what she got, she hated being teased.

Brian smirks, leaning forward, hands on either side of her thighs, eyes dark and full of mischief. As much as he wanted to just go ahead and fuck her into next week, he knew he couldn't, at least not here... Not now.

Placing a kiss to her cheek, closer to her lips than her cheek, Brian stands straight up, walking towards the door, speaking loudly, as if to throw the scent off of what the compromising position they'd just been in.

"Dinner will be ready soon love, I'll send Jimmy to get you when it's finished. Mine and Anita's room is right next to you, so if you need anything tonight, don't hesitate to ask."

His voice lowers, more intimately.

"Absolutely anything..."

Sending Y/N a wink, he taps the door frame and walks from the room, still smirking widely. Y/N is breathless on the bed, completely dumbfounded by what had just happened.

She somehow manages to change out of her dress and brush her hair, slipping on a new bra and underwear under a yellow sundress. Her eyes are still wide, breathing shaky when Jimmy comes.to get her for dinner, not even noticing how shook his best friend was.

Dinner went by without a hitch, Brian was relatively silent, stealing small glances at Y/N while she laughed and joked with his kids, throwing her head back in laughter every time Jimmy would bring up something regarding some party in Nottingham. He didn't hear a damn thing regarding the party, focused solely on the creamy skin of her neck, remembering how soft it was under his lips, imagining how it would feel to sink his teeth into it...

He was so focused on his fantasies that he didn't notice the four run off upstairs as soon as they'd placed their dishes in the sink, only becoming aware of their absence when Emily came bounding back down the stairs, running out the patio door dressed in her swimsuit, followed by her brother and sister, and finally Y/N.

His head pops up when he hears her asking Anita if she needed any help with the dishes, his mouth going dry when he takes in her appearance.

She'd changed out of her sundress, and into a black one piece that accentuated every single curve of her body.

Anita had adamantly refused to allow the young woman to help any, stating that Brian was washing the dishes tonight, and that guests didn't do household chores, which made Y/N chuckle before she nodded her head and headed out of the patio door, turning around to steal a final glance at Brian, smirking as she noticed the deep blush on his chest.

He had always liked having the window over the sink overlooking the pool, in the past it had given him the ability to keep an eye on the kids, which gave him a sense of security. However, it was now only giving him a fucking hard on as he watched Y/N play in the pool.

Brian knew this was wrong, knew he shouldn’t be feeling this way, that he shouldn’t be looking at his son’s 20 year old best friend in the way he was... But seeing her straddling the diving board of the pool, her fat ass barely being contained by the black one piece she was wearing, her thick thighs jiggling every time she laughed and threw her head back.. the way her breasts.. god, her large, perfect, delicious breasts seemed to spill out of the top of the nylon fabric..

 It was a wonder he hadn’t cum in his pants yet, just watching her swim and play around with his daughters.. it was borderline perverse, he was SPYING on her.

 That’s not how it had started out, but the dishes had been washed and rinsed for going on 20 minutes, and the whole time he has just been stood at the window, slack jawed and leaking cum all over the silky fabric of his athletic shorts that he had changed into after their encounter in the guestroom. 

 The straw that ended up breaking the camels back for Brian, what caused him to break down and sprint to the bathroom to take care of himself before anything embarrassing happened, was Y/N standing up off of the diving board, bending over in a mock bow before jumping straight into the water, laughing loudly as she swam over to the ladder, stepping up out of the pool... water dripping down her body, her PERFECT body.. curvy waist, hips that Brian was desperate to bruise with his fingertips, tits that were begging for his mouth, thighs that he needed to smother him while he feasted on her cunt, an ass that deserved to be spanked raw.. all covered and dripping in water, teasing Brian, making him feel progressively more horny with every drop he could see fall between the valley of her breast, and as such, made him feel progressively more disgusted with himself..

 But he didn’t care, he wanted Y/N, needed her, but he couldn’t have her.. not right now at least... his hand would have to do for the time being, until he could get her properly.. and based on the teasing wink she sent his way through the window, it wouldn’t be too long now.You

Outside, Y/N had been putting on a show for Brian, trying her best to make herself appear as appealing as possible on the diving board. When she pulled herself out of the pool, her eyes immediately went to the window, a wide smile pulling at her features when she sees Brian move from her view after she sends him a wink.

Her mom had raised her to be bold, to go after what she wanted, and that's exactly what she did.

Turning her head towards the four people at the pool, Anita had joined them a few minutes after Y/N had walked outside, the young woman quickly mentions running inside to go to the bathroom. Jimmy made a comment about just going behind the bushes, to which Louisa had thrown a beach ball at his head for.

Y/N chuckled and ran towards the house, excitement and anticipation building in her stomach, the feeling bubbling over when she closed the patio door behind her. Heading up the stairs, she tip toes towards the closed restroom door, mouth dropping slightly as she heard the obscene and obvious noises of Brian jerking off inside. Smirking, an idea popped into her head,  so she ran off to her room, grabbing her discarded underwear before returning to her spot beside the door, eagerly waiting for

Inside the restroom Brian was lost in his pleasure, one hand wrapped firmly around his aching cock, shorts not even pulled down, his cock simply pulled out above the waistband. His other hand was clutching the counter top hard, eyes clenched tightly shut as he imagined that his hand was  Y/N's tight cunt clenching around him. He runs his thumb over the tip of his cock, letting out a small whimper at the immeasurable pleasure he was feeling. Yes, he was absolutely disgusted with himself, jacking off to the image of his son's 20 year old best friend coming apart underneath him, her head thrown back in ecstasy as his cock hammered in and out of her.. But he didn't fucking care. He and Anita hasn't been doing too well recently, and as such, he'd not had sex in quite a few months.  But, even without the issues with Anita, Brian was certain that he would still be in the same position; his cock throbbing in his hand as he threatened to spill his seed into the sink of his bathroom.

It didn't take him very long before his balls tightened painfully, and rope after rope of hot cum spurred from his cock, painting the grey marble of the sink white as snow. The noises that came from his mouth were absolutely pathetic, whiny and bitch like, and his knuckle was white against the counter as he bent over, milking his cock for all it was worth.  

He takes a moment to steady his breathing, to come down from his high, before he sits up, tucking his softening, still throbbing cock back into his shorts. Gazing in the mirror as he washes out the sink, Brian is almost embarrassed at what he sees. His face is flushed, chest and shoulders as well, eyes wet with the tears of pleasure that had escaped from them when he came. He looked thoroughly fucked.

Sighing, Brian finishes cleaning out the sink, wiping his hands off as he takes a deep breath, steadying his breathing before he unlocks the door and swings it open, letting out a small gasp of shock when he sees Y/N standing across the hall from the bathroom, dripping wet, smirk on her face as she takes her eyes up and down Brian's body.

Fucking hell, he looked so good, Y/N's mouth was practically watering at his flustered appearance. Giving herself a mental pep talk, she pushes herself off the wall, one hand behind her back as she approaches the older man.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Mr. May, I didn't mean to scare you..."

She was quicker than Brian had been expecting, her arms wrapping around his waist, lips crashing into his bruisingly.

He let out a strangled moan, his own hands coming to rest on her face, cradling her cheeks in them, pulling her even closer to him, wanting to feel every single inch of her against his body. He had barely gotten the chance to his her back before she pulled away, smirking up at him as she leaned up again, teeth grazing his earlobe as one of her hands lowers to his ass, squeezing his cheeks before brushing them forward, slipping a hand into one of his front pockets, her lips never leaving his skin.

Y/N wanted nothing more than to keep kissing him, to shove him into the bathroom and ride his cock with enough force to break the porcelain of the toilet...but, she wanted to draw this out, to tease him like he had teased her earlier in the day.

Pulling away from him she tucks her panties in his pocket, letting her hand brush over his cock as she removes it, leaving the panties behind.

Taking great pleasure in the look of sheer shock and amazement on Brian's face when he pulls the red fabric from his pocket, Y/N bites her lip, brushing her hand through his hair, her eyes trained on his shorts, before she jumps away from him, moving to walk back down the stairs when Louisa calls up to her asking if she's okay.

"Yeah Lou! I'll be down in just a sec!"

Y/N smirks at Brian one final time, descending the stairs as she speaks.

"You might want to wash your pants Mr. May... You've made a bit of a mess." His eyes are still wide, breathing even more erratic, and his cock, his fucking cock was hard again, almost like he hadn’t JUST washed a bucket load of his own cum down the bathroom sink. Bringing the red fabric to his nose, he breathes in deeply, groaning as he smells Y/N’s most intimate scent.  Turning on his heel, he reenters the bathroom, locking the door behind him before stepping into the shower, repeating his previous action which much more furious and desperate movements, her panties flush against his face. Yeah, he was properly fucked.  Tags: @meddows-taylors @toomuchlove-willkillyou @brianmayoucease @leah-halliwell92 @goodoldfashioned-rogerboy @rogertaylors-lipgloss @mariekuuuuuh @unofficialbillnye @stephydearestxo @danamaleksworld @dereones98 @glasgowkisschelseasmile @awkwardangelshezza @bellamy1998 @psychosupernatural @warren-lauren @womanwithahotdogstand @oujiacallme @simonedk @queen-see-ya-in-valhalla @sam-mercurry-sixx @horrorsinwonderland

[kimshavacado]

Dead Heat Ch. 5

Pairing: Yoongi x reader

Genre: Arranged Marriage/Mafia AU

Summary: Three extremely powerful families with enough power to bring down entire governments, all with vastly different views on how things should be run. The Min family thinks everything can be solved with money, the Jeon family think everything can be solved with violence, and the Kim family relies more on thought which leads to a lack of action. When Kim Y/N loses her father, she only has one way to save herself and her family. But it involves having to give herself over to a stranger. How the hell is she not supposed to punch him in his stupid rich face?

Dead Heat Masterlist

Warnings: Language, Alcohol, Awkwardness

A/N: Sorry it took so long, but I’m back in the country and ready to write! Be prepared for more of the guys to make appearances in this chapter. Please enjoy these wonderful words I’ve so carelessly thrown onto this site.

Chapter 5: Never Have I Ever

***Jimin’s POV*** Jimin finished the drink in his hand before grabbing another from the closest bartender. He wasn’t really keen on spending the night sober. Not when he had to look over at you sitting at the front table with Yoongi. He was losing you, and in more ways than one. It was only a matter of time, so why not take advantage of all the free alcohol? Maybe Jimin could just forget that entire night and rid himself of the situation he found himself in.

He knew he had definitely succeeded in one aspect when he woke up laying face down the next morning feeling like shit. He let out a large groan and buried his face deeper into the sheets that he then realized were not his own. They were too soft and warm. He groggily raised just his head trying to get a grasp in his surroundings. The room seemed a bit familiar until he lost the strength to place it in his mind. His head fell back down as he submitted to become one with the mattress. “Jimin!” Someone shouted outside the door to the bedroom. Almost imediately the door was swung open as someone bursted inside.

“Bro we gotta go, come on.” He then knew where he was.

Jimin sighed deeply into the sheets before looking up to see an impatient Taehyung.

“The others are downstairs. An important meeting or something. Let’s go, put on some clothes.” Jimin lazily rolled his body out of the bed and was greeted with a throbbing headache. He should’ve taken it easier last night. When he left the room with Taehyung, he was still confused as to what was happening at the moment. “What the hell Tae? Why am I here?” Jimin asked. “No idea, but everyone’s back. I figure we’re about to find out.” When they reached their destination, they found several familiar faces gathered around the table. “Hey there sleepy head!” A loud voice chimed from the table, ringing through Jimin’s head. “Ugh, Hobie it’s too early for that volume.” Jimin responded to the cheery friend. “Yah! I’m the one who had to drag your drunk ass out of that party last night. Let me do as I please!” He complained right back at him. Jimin just groans and throws himself into a chair next to Taehyung. Tae was about to say something to Jimin when another person entered the room, causing everyone to look up. Once he noticed that he had the complete attention of the room, he got straight to the point without a greeting to anyone. “Due to my father’s current state, I’ll be taking over duties for the time being. Starting today we’ve pulled everyone back from their assignment. Min has been gathering too much information from us lately. As it turns out, he has as many spies as we do. You will all be confined to the house for a short while until we figure out what they have on us. Don’t contact anyone outside of here. Any questions?” “What about the fact that Kim’s daughter is a Min now? Are we gonna do anything about that?” Taehyung asked, causing Jimin to listen a bit more closely. “We’ll deal with that when we’re better able to gauge the situation.” The thought of “dealing with you” ran through Jimin’s mind but he immediately buried it deep down. He never thought that it would ever have to happen, and secretly hoped that he wouldn’t have to be the one to do it. But by burying the thought, Jimin came to a sudden realization. “Kook, how much do we think they know?” Jimin asked, noticeably more worried than everyone else. “We’re not sure yet, but they have enough.” Shit. He had come to terms with the fact that one day you would find out, but damn he felt worse than he thought he would. That’s what he got for spending so much time with you instead of the guys. Maybe the time he had to spend confined with them would remind him why he’s here. But right then he felt like… well… shit.

***Y/N’s POV***

You have been spending quite a bit more time with Yoongi. It’s not like you’ve been spending every second with him, he is busy very frequently. But in the evenings you eat meals together and drink tea while sharing stories. And honestly, it’s a good distraction from everything to get to know him.

It’s been so long since you’ve met someone new. You haven’t really had to get to know anyone new since you were a kid. Then again, you’re not really close with anyone right now as it is. Maybe Yoongi is the person you know most about in your life. What a strange idea… You find Yoongi very different but also very similar to yourself. You were both made from the same mafia boss archetype complete with tragic backstories, but it went even beyond that. Your conversations were pleasant because he had the same sarcastic banter abilities as you. You think you two could’ve been friends in a different situation. You two have a pretty good bonding routine until one day Yoongi doesn’t eat with you. You find yourself feeling sad that he’s not there, but blame it on the lonliness of being stuck inside all the time. But that lie you tell yourself doesn’t stop you from waiting up for him. From your regular tea spot, you hear him come home around 10. You peak towards the front door only to see how much he looks like shit. You have the urge to tell him so, since it would be amusing to see his annoyance, but instead you offer him tea.

That’s out of character, you shouldn’t get used to being soft on him. But you don’t really know where you stand with him. You two are starting to get close, but you keep associating him with the shit you discovered in his office. You need to pull yourself together. He doesn’t respond to your tea offer and instead drops his stuff and head straight into the kitchen. There he rummages through cabinets and pulls out some liquor. “Wow, that kind of day huh?” You ask. “Yeah. I just… do you want some?” He offers. “Absofuckinglutely.”

You two attempt to have a normal night after that, only the tea is replaced with alcohol. You find out that damn, Yoongi can drink. He’s an unhealthy number of drinks in and has become a whole new person. He’s like a child, animated, easily distracted, and a little bit paranoid.

You aren’t doing very well either being that you can’t seem to form complete sentences. You two had definitely lost it, especially when you started playing Never Have I Ever. How classy of you. “Bullshhhhiiiit!” You screech. “There’s no way you have never experienced that in your life!” “I enjoy taking things in life slower.” He defends. “Gaaaah but it feels soooo good! "Listen I’m just not into that sort of shit.” “…It’s not some weird kink, it’s just roller coasters.” “Yes but I don’t enjoy the idea of being hurdled through the air so exposed like that.” “It’s so FREEING though!!!” You attempt to push your feelings about roller coasters onto him, but your power doesn’t seem to work on him. He just sits there and stares at you until you give up. “Fine, then. Never have i ever married someone against their will.” It’s a low blow, and you realize how low when Yoongi’s face sinks. He sighs and downs the rest of his drink. There’s a moment of awkward silence before he gives you a serious glare.

“Fucking drink, Y/N.” Now you felt bad. You knew that he probably hadn’t planned for this to happen either, but you said it without thinking. You take your last sip and look back towards Yoongi.

“I’m- ”

“You should probably go to bed.” He says without looking at you. You can’t tell if he’s angry at you. All you know is that Yoongi might be the only one you have for a while so you can’t afford to be on bad terms with him. When he stands from the couch you desperately stand as well.

“Wait! I didn’t… I’m sorry. I know you didn’t want this either, I’m just…”

“Drunk.” He finishes the sentence for you.

“Yeah. I… I think I want to be friends with you, so please don’t let my harsh drunk personality make you hate me.”

“You think? What does that mean?” It’s then when you realize how close you’ve been standing to him. You’re practically toe to toe. If you were sober you’d probably back off a bit, but drunk you is a bit too worried about other things.

“I’m… not really sure.”

There’s a long moment as Yoongi’s face relaxes and you two separately ponder your relationship. You find yourself still lost in thought when Yoongi lowers his head for a breathy laugh. He looks back up to you, places a hand on the side of your face, and stares at you for a moment.

You internally panic since drunk you is not equipped to deal with something regrettable happening right now. You literally hold your breath.

“Go to bed.” He says as he lets you go. “You’re gonna feel like shit in the morning.” He begins to walk away, leaving you dazed. Eventually you catch yourself and call after him.

“I’ll bet you’ll feel worse, you drank like twice as much!” He laughs at this and turns away, heading to his room before calling back to you in a mocking voice.

“Goodnight wife!” This man was testing your patience.

A/N: The boys all have a role to play in this story so stay tuned. I start a new job this weekend that involves managing children so we’ll see how my update timeline turns out. Once again, I appreciate your lovely selves. :)

Next Chapter

Tags: @badbyeyoongi​ @whothefuckstolemykeds​

[wolf-555-writer]

Target On My Back Part 2

Well... you guys requested a sequal, little did you know there was already one in the making ;p. Hope you like this one too. Enjoy!

PART 1

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow x Reader

Summary: Reader is still hung up on the encounter with Black Widow. Becoming a little paranoid maybe? Seeing her when she’s not even there? Will you see her again?

Word Count: 2,675

In the paralyzing darkness. An intense shiver runs down your spine. It's ice-cold, you're exhausted and all alone. A small, bright light catches your attention. It’s warm and tempting, inviting you to come closer, so you slowly stroll towards it. But it seems nearly impossible, like dragging a block of cement with you every step of the way. One, heavy movement at a time. Now you're able to see a shadow, features of a person, of a woman in red. Trying to reach for her, with your hand carefully stretched out and slightly leaning forward. But you trip and fall down. And keep falling, and falling into a void. A scary, lonely void, so hollow that it takes all the breath out of your lungs. You want to scream, as loud as you can, contracting all the muscles in your body, but there’s no sound coming from your mouth. Silence is filling the emptiness. It’s too much. Too dark. Too cold. Too lonely. Lost and nobody to save you.

Chest heaving and hyperventilating as you sit upright, eagerly gasping for air. Breathe... Breathe... Not that dream again… Just woken up, bathing in sweat, you let yourself drop down onto the pillow and gaze at the ceiling, resting on your arms behind your head. You exhale deeply and sigh. Luckily you’re allowed to work in the field again. You had to lie about it, obviously, and at least you had the bruises to confirm the story. Besides, you were not the first Agent she had managed to slip away from. However, Coulson was acting weird. Was it because you disobeyed a direct order? Truth is, you had done that before, so what’s the big problem. Or was he holding something back? Sitting on the edge of the bed as you calmed down a bit. You’ve thought about that day multiple times over and over again, why you'd let her go. It felt as if you were a totally different person at that moment. Like you shared a connection maybe? Well, it was weak and you’re certain she's not getting away the next time. To be honest, you have been wanting to cross paths with Black Widow again. Planning what you are going to say and do. Sounds kinda pathetic, you know, but you’re so fixated on it, perhaps even strangely looking forward to it. Unfortunately she hasn’t been on SHIELD’s radar ever since your last encounter. Looking at your watch, time to get up. You throw a splash of cold water in your face and notice the scars on your body when staring into the mirror. Some you don’t even recall. One that looks like a bullet wound, close to your heart, or the tiny scar just below your jawline. That’s all part of the job, the risk you’re willing to take. You quickly put on the SHIELD uniform and go.

“Just in time Agent (Y/L/N)”, Agent Hill states as she looks up from the wide screen in front of her. “So, what do you have for me today Maria? Something special I hope?”, you playfully challenge while joining her for the briefing. Desperately wanting to ask if there's any new info on Black Widow, but you stopped doing that for some time now. It was becoming way too suspicious. “It’s Agent Hill, and yes, I have”, she replies with a bit of an annoyed tone and pulls up the schematics of a building. Feeling as if you’re getting a little paranoid though. You keep seeing her, on missions or at the SHIELD facility, even in your dreams. Are you going crazy? Or have you become too obsessed? 'Teenager-with-their-room-full-of-posters' obsessed or 'Basement-wall-filled-with-documents’ obsessed? Yeah… probably the latter one, it’s not healthy anymore. But you can’t tell them or let them know, because then they’ll definitely pull you from the field again. For good this time. “Do I need to know what’s in the package?”, you request after receiving the assignment from Hill. “That’s classified. Will that be a problem?”. “Nope, no problem”. You just get your orders and carry them out, the loyal SHIELD Agent you are. “Let’s gear up then”.

“Where are all these goons coming from?!”, you yell, trying to fight off the security guards while seeing more approach in the distance. “I thought this was an easy-in-and-out kinda mission”. “Do I hear someone complaining? Is it too hard for you?”. “No. Of course not”, you huff, and search for a way out. Something else catches your attention. Wait- is that… did you just spot someone with red hair? Was that Black Widow? Without proper thought you start sprinting to the corner of the narrow passageway and make a sharp right. No, can’t be, you’re wrong, you really need to get her out of your mind. Before you know it, you get brutally punched in the face. Ouch. Keep your head in the game, or at least out of reach. Ducking down for the next hit and throwing a mean uppercut after. Knocking the bad guy out as he crumples on the carpet floor. Leaping over him and running towards the stairwell, you make a low, painful grunt while rubbing your jaw. That truly hurt, it shouldn’t have happened. You go up, but notice some other men closing in from the stairs above. So you’re forced to go to the next floor and slam the door open. Now sprinting through a hall full of offices. Passing a locked door every few meters as you rush by them. I have to get out of here! You think now that you hear guns loading. Heavily panting, but can’t stop running, because that will jeopardize the entire mission. The end of the hallway is almost in sight and there's no way out anymore. It’s a dead end. Now what? Focused on the glass windows in the distance, separating the building’s interior from the outside world. “Guess I have no other choice then…”, you mumble while grabbing the handgun out of the holster attached to your thigh. You aim carefully, trying to keep your arms steady and squint your eyes lightly. Firing several times at the glass to break it, creating an opportunity to escape. You accelerate even more these last few meters - also 'cause those men chasing you are using you as target practice now - and powerfully jump. The ground underneath your feet has disappeared. Turning your upper body to face the window with your right shoulder while you fly towards freedom. You perceive the sound of shattering glass as you cover your eyes with your right arm to prevent the sharp pieces injuring your face. Clearly you sustained some cuts, but that’s something to worry about later. Sensing a sharp pain on your left arm, a bullet grazed your skin, but you finally escaped and retrieved the object. So, mission accomplished, right?

“Oh, fuck…”. You forgot a tiny, little detail…. The improvised exit was at the 51st floor of this huge, glass covered skyscraper. Now mid air, you’re falling down fast at an incredibly dangerous velocity towards the earth. “Sometimes you gotta hate gravity, right?”, you joke, pulling the cord on the backpack to open the parachute. Of course you came prepared, as a SHIELD Agent you have to be. But something’s wrong. You're not slowing down as much as supposed to. Looking up, you notice a tear in the chute, probably caused by the sharp glass from the broken window or from the bullets that were flying past you. “I might have a bit of a situation here Agent Hill…”.

“What is your position Agent (Y/L/N)?”, you pick up from the comm in your ear. “Um, kinda hard to tell… But I could use an extraction, like, right now!”

“Agent… could… repeat… last-”.

“Agent Hill? Hello? Do you copy?!”, you shout back, but there’s no response, only white noise. You lost contact. Well, now you’re fucked... Guess there are worse ways to die right? Okay, maybe you're overreacting, but it's not going to be a pleasant landing on that concrete below... Trying to navigate with both cords clenched in your fists tightly as you anxiously stare down. You sense the chilly air on your skin while sliding rapidly through it. Almost reached ground level and your heart is pounding in your chest, adrenaline pulsing through your veins. You brace yourself for impact, but suddenly feel a pull on your backpack. The signal for help did come through after all, and a sigh of relief escapes your mouth. It’s still a rough landing now that you've crashed onto the hard, sturdy pavement. The person that grabbed you had a somewhat softer landing though, meaning you broke their fall. Feeling several parts of your body aching, you let out a painful moan while lying flat on your back.

“And then we meet again, Agent (Y/L/N)”. You recognize that soft voice, or is it all in your head again? Slowly opening your eyelids and you stare into a pair of familiar fiery green eyes. Is this real? You sense a strand of her red hair gently brushing against your cheek and stop breathing for a second. She's close to you, very close… This is not exactly what you had in mind about the next confrontation with Black Widow, but it sure as hell makes your heart beat faster. “H-how- what are you doing here?”, you stutter as your eyes are widening and pupils dilating. Not sure what to say or do, cause you might be a little aroused by your current view. “Saving you, clearly”. With her hands on your chest she pushes herself off and gets up. Lastly you're able to take a deep breath and respond defensively: “Wh- I had the situation under control okay, I don't need your help!”. Natalia chuckles as she walks away. You scoff and try to untangle the strings of the torn parachute to free yourself. Taking the package from the backpack. However, it's gone. There's only one person who could’ve snatched it. Quickly reaching for the handgun, but the holster is empty. “Looking for this?”, Natalia taunts, displaying the gun in her left hand and the package firmly tucked under her right arm. Without hesitation you jump up and storm towards her. “I wouldn't do that if I were you”, she warns while she points the Glock at you, holding you at gunpoint, finger pressed on the trigger. Not eager to surrender, you come to a halt and want to call for backup. But your comm is still not working, remember?

Now standing in front of her with your hands behind your head, clenching your jaw strongly. “Do you even know what’s in it”, you ask, angry and pissed at yourself that you’ve let this happen. Sure, you were somewhere else with your thoughts…. “I don’t care, I just do what my employer requests”. You make a face on which she answers: “But so do you right, you also follow orders blindly. Difference is I just get paid more”. She winks at you, matched with that grin which has been imprinted on your mind. That last remark of hers got on your nerves badly though. You and her are definitely not the same. She's the enemy, a target, and everything you’ve been doing is for the greater good, protecting the people. You scowl, this time it’s your turn. With one, abrupt movement you grab her arm. She pulls the trigger as a reaction, but you dodge the bullet and yank the Glock out of her hand, whereas it lands in between you. You want to take hold of the gun, but catch her knee with both hands instead. Lucky for you, because else your nose would’ve been broken. You throw a series of punches her way, but she blocks or slips them all, feeling as if she knows your next move already. Natalia ducks down for your left hook, and takes this opportunity to pick up the gun. She aims it at you, steadily with both hands. But you’ve grabbed her arms again, twisted your body half around and tossed her over your shoulder. Turning back because the handgun dropped on the ground another time, and you go for it. Barely able to touch the metal of the gun handle with your fingertips as you’re violently pulled away. Natalia wrapped her legs around your neck from behind and flipped you to the side. Should have seen that one coming… After your hurtful collision with the sidewalk, you rapidly stand up. Still too slow though, Natalia already hits you hard in the stomach with a back kick. Due to the power of her kick, you're forced to move backwards and hunch over, clutching the affected spot with your arms. When looking up again, your eyes meet with the barrel of the handgun.

“It really is you... You don’t remember, do you?”, she mentions with a slightly puzzled look. “What do you mean don’t remember?”. You have no idea what she’s talking about. Is she trying to manipulate or distract you, so that she can freely walk away again? “Why do you think I’ve been going easy on you? And why I saved your life back there?”. Her expression seems legit, it’s compelling, but you have no memory of this. “Wait- going easy on me...?!”, you grumble in an inaudible tone. What is she aiming at? Well, okay, obviously at you since she’s holding you at gunpoint. But for real, you don’t understand where this is heading. Then her voice cracks, a feature you didn’t expect she had, as the next sentence leaves her lips: “(Y/N)... I-I thought you were-”. Both of you jolt your heads in the same direction at once since you're interrupted. Backup has arrived. You notice Agent Hill and two other SHIELD Agents nearing in a covert SHIELD SUV, hearing the raw engine sound. Turning your head back to face Black Widow when she instantly fires the gun without even blinking, causing you to collapse onto the concrete.

“What the fu- This doesn’t look like saving my life!”, you grunt in pain. “You’ll live”, Natalia sort of apologizes as her voice has switched back to normal. She wants to tell you more, you can see it in her eyes. It’s pretty difficult, but you also manage to identify a tiny share of remorse laced in her features. Reluctant to leave, however, she can't stay. Who knows what will happen when she’s in SHIELD’s custody. Before Natalia sprints away, she briefly glances at you one more time and disappears, again, while you apply pressure on the fresh gunshot wound. “Hey! You owe me a motorcycle by the way!”, you shout back as she’s fading in the distance. Well, this seriously didn’t go the way you planned it inside your head. “We heard a gunshot earlier, are you alright? What happened?”, Agent Hill questions as she’d hopped out of the car parked right beside you and immediately came to your rescue. “I’m fine. Just a few scratches”, you mutter while you feel blood seeping past your fingers that are covering the injury. The two other SHIELD Agents have rushed by you, sent to catch Natalia, and retrieve the package of course. Despite the fact that they won’t succeed. But hey, at least they tried, you gotta give them a little credit for that. You certainly can’t follow her, probably the reason why she shot you in the leg. Giving no warning whatsoever, Hill tugs on the tight band that she’d wrapped around your thigh to slow down the blood flow, causing you to wince while letting out an agonizing groan. She continues to ask questions about the package, Black Widow, how you survived that landing and many more, but you’re no longer listening to her. Lost in thoughts as you’re trying to put the pieces together. Why indeed did she save you? Did you know her? You stare at the horizon, Natalia already out of sight, and softly whisper:

“Till next time, Natalia”

PART 3

[kmindset]

Grief & Hybrids: Chapter Two

Word Count: 3,319

Pairing: OT7 x Reader

Synopsis:  Ready to begin healing from the death of your boyfriend, you become a volunteer at the local hybrid home. When you catch the attention of seven hybrids you begin to open your heart again. But are you ready to move on?

On AO3

“____! Would you mind waking up the felines?”

You nodded.

Two weeks of working here and you have effectively kept your distance from as many male hybrids as possible. Especially the one you encountered in the cafeteria. Happiness at interacting with the felines was growing, however. Personally, you loved all hybrids but easing into this was key. This was only your third day working with the felines but you loved it because you were assigned to female tigers. Typically, all male and female sleeping quarters were separated for many reasons. The main reason being the inevitable pain of their heat. That was a nightmare according to the day manager, Sulji.

“Alana, Naeun.” You called, recognizing the occupied beds of the two older hybrids. Whenever possible you wanted to allow them to sleep as they had a hard time before entering the home.

The familiar black and white ears of Naeun came into view as she slowly rose from the bed, waving sleepily at you as she passed. You slowly approached Alana’s bed not wanting to startle her.

“Unnieeee” you sang.

A deep voice caught you off guard. “I’m not your unnie, now shut up.”

You flung the covers back to reveal a male hybrid looking rather comfy in a bed that was definitely not his. “What are you doing in Alana’s bed?”

He peeked from where he was balled into himself. “If I tell you will you put the covers back?” In response, you flung them fully off of the mattress.

“Ok then.” He sat up with slightly widened eyes and a hint of an amused smile. “Alana was “embraced” yesterday.” He informed you, grumbling “fucking adopted” under his breath.

“That doesn’t explain why you are in the female quarters.”

“It actually does. I fucking hate the male quarters and now there is a free bed in the quiet, better smelling area.’

“Either way you have to get up, they’re cleaning in 5.”

That got him up. “Shit!” He didn’t have to say it for you to know the threat of multiple vacuums was not something he was excited for. You followed behind as the hybrid scurried out.

The way to the cafeteria was quiet, most of the other hybrids already indulging in lunch.

“Why do you hate the male wing?”

He snorted. “Have you not been in there?” He looked over and could tell by the confused look that you hadn’t. “Wait have you actually not?”

You shook your head.

“It’s… too much sometimes.” A thoughtful look painted his features as he contemplated how to explain. “Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful more than I can express for this home. I just…”

“You wish there was somewhere better for you.”

He glanced at you, briefly showing his surprise before looking away. “Yes, exactly. I’ve been to worse places though.”

You wanted him to elaborate however he jogged away to a group of men, one with a familiar tuft of hair that seemed excited to see him.

One more reason to steer clear of the male quarters.

An endless string of curses went through your head as you vigorously scrubbed the wide hybrid home sign. The night before, a small group of people that seemed way too angry about nothing came and trashed the front of the center. Your manager informed you it was most likely a group the volunteers had come in contact with before. The group was known to be outspoken in their distaste for hybrid rights. Often they complained that hybrids should be grouped together with animals in pet stores.They were few in number but worryingly aggressive.

It took what felt like an eternity but once you finished you returned to the building to see a debate already in progress inside the volunteer break room.

“Everyone with a brain to think about other species knows that hybrids can’t be grouped in quarters like this with full blooded animals without risk of further cross species contamination.*

“It sounds like inbreeding and experimentation in one.”

“I don’t understand it all truthfully. They are part animal, seems to me that would be healthy. The poor things are already the result of experiments anyway.”

You made eye contact with Barbara and tried not to roll your eyes. “Sulji, animals and hybrids can interact safely. The problem is similar to why male and female hybrids living quarters are kept separate. Natural instincts take over too heavily making for high risk for either one or sometimes both.”

“Not to mention, most hybrids are more in tune with their human side, not wanting to mate with a full animal or shit wherever. Their animalistic qualities and form are a byproduct of what they are not who they are,” you added.

“Ehh maybe I am old fashioned but animals are animals.”

Another volunteer began to respond but you had had enough. With thirty minutes left on your break, you opted to go to the library. The cleaning crew was finishing up, ensuring no hybrid was there and with Sulji’s ignorance you were sure all working volunteers were engaged in the increasingly intense debate against “old fashioned’ ideas about basic rights. Fun for sure.

You smiled at the last vacuuming janitor as you took a seat behind the first computer. There was nothing you were interested in looking at but the monitor blocked you from view of the entrance, allowing you to drift into your own thoughts without being spotted easily. Five minutes of listening to music, the last janitor was finished. You paused your music and looked around. The library was well organized and thoroughly cleaned but staring long enough you can see signs of aging. The walls were a beautiful muted golden but in the corners and crevices, there were chips and uneven areas where the old color was visible. The most noticeable was the old mural rather poorly covered up behind the volunteer desk. You remember seeing a picture of the mural in its glory days and while it was beautiful it represented the “old fashioned” way of thinking Sulji spoke of. It depicted hybrids as companions but it was clear it was thinking of them as pets, not people. Thirty years outdated for sure.

As you drifted further into your thoughts you had to admit that was part of the reason this place was bittersweet. The love radiating from everyone there created positive energy in every way but there were still reminders of the past. Not only the unequal past of all hybrids but his past. So many things reminded you of what he told you. His early life was heartbreaking. No one deserves to be in a volatile environment. It was beautiful though that despite his situation he still became loving with an affinity for kindness beyond belief. It brought a smile to your face but as you spotted a hybrid rights book you grimaced. The photo on the front of an angry man yelling at a cowering canine hybrid reminded you that no matter how brilliant and warm he was, it was repaid constantly with aggression and prejudice. Even in the end.

There was a whimper. But it didn’t come from you.

It took a moment to realize before you were looking around. You almost didn’t notice the black tail barely sticking out from the computer desk across from you. Carefully, you walked around to see a sad figure huddled into the corner under the desk.

“Are you alright?”

He sniffs and quickly crawls up to where you are kneeling to see him. “Are you?”

For a moment you’re shocked because of course you weren’t but that’s not his concern as you’re there to help all hybrids. With him in better view now, you notice right away he is a beagle. Their increased empathy often made it easy for them to pick up on the emotions of those around them.

“Shouldn’t you be in the cafeteria? Lunch was just put out. Or at the gym? Or anywhere else but under a desk?”

He pouted at his ignored question. “There were too many people in the cafeteria right now and Ms. Kim says I spend too much time in the gym.”

“Aren’t you hungry?”

He was quiet this time, opting to scan your face. You grew insecure under his gaze. “Who was it?”

“Chef Bae I think. Either way, it smells goo-”

“No, who died?”

This time you were dumbfounded. After a moment of silence, you moved to leave but he whimpered again, his ears hanging lower in dejection.

“My boyfriend.” was all your offered before once again escaping the personal questions from strange hybrids.

-

You’d done your best.

After the last interaction with a nosy hybrid, you began helping out more in the kitchen. It was a job you wished you’d taken before. There was minimal interaction with non-volunteers and any opportunity to cook was welcome. Cooking calmed you which is why you were currently enjoying the music you were playing as you prepped ingredients for the day’s next meal. Until you turned around and met face to face with both hybrids of the hybrids you were mainly avoiding.

“You.”

“You remember me!”

“Why are you back here?”

“We got into a fight with an idiot.”

“ You got into a fight. I was having a conversion.” The shorter one corrected.

“No, you were being harassed.”

“Whatever.”

The taller one shook his head. “Either way we were put on food duty as punishment.”

With a hesitant nod, you bit your lip. “Put on a hair net, wash your hands, put on gloves and an apron.”

They stood staring at you for a moment.

“Now!”

The smaller one jumped a bit as they both did as you instructed. Taking on the manager role while Chef Bae was on the phone, you efficiently prepared lunch and avoided conversation with the two.

You could feel them staring at you every now and then along with whispers but you choose not to say anything.

Burning.

Everything and everyone is burning.

He’s somewhere in here but all you see is flames and unbothered neighbors. They sit as if their skin isn’t being charred off. The boiling flesh turning your stomach.

Then you hear his voice. He’s calling your name. Screaming it.

Finally, he is standing in the doorway of your apartment. His back is to you. The soft grey tail a flame and moving towards the top like a lit stick of dynamite.

Part of you doesn’t want to call out in fear of the horrific scene.

Then he calls out your name. But it isn’t right. The voice was demonic and taunting.

“It’s just a dream, it’s just a dream.” You chanted over and over. Eyes shut tight and begging for true consciousness. He was next to you, you could feel him.

“Accept.”

You popped your eyes open.

The next morning, you made an impromptu decision. The whole drive to the Hybrid Home was a blur as you spent the entire time thinking about your decision and trying not to think anymore about your dream.

Nothing was going to stop you from quitting. Until you saw the fire trucks. For a moment, it spooked you. The intense fear of still being in that horrible nightmare sped up your heart rate. Thankfully you were awake but unfortunately, that meant the lost looking hybrids in the street were real.

The road was littered with overnight and morning volunteers trying to comfort scared hybrids. You parked at the playground across the street. After a few minutes of search, you approached panic-stricken Sulji and Barbara speaking with whom you assume to be the fire captain.

“______!” Barbara’s panicked eyes found some relief in spotting you.

“What in the hell is happening?” The question seemed obvious in a way but you wanted something specific. The whole damn home was in the road.

“Someone started a fire in the male wing.”

“One of the hybrids?”

She shook head. “One of those anti group jerks. They think he didn’t mean to do this much damage but regardless it’s a mess.”

She informed you the whole home is burned to different extents. Parts are nothing but ashes others are only singed.

Sulji and Barbara gathered some of you who were not tending to the hybrids. ” ”We have just been informed the building is uninhabitable. Thankfully there is a hybrid shelter nearby able to help. The only problem is, it is a female shelter. They are willing to take all misplaced females but males are another story.”

Worried gasps sounded from the crowd. “What about the male shelter in Gwangju?”

“We can possibly arrange for travel for some but not all. We will still have about 20-25 hybrids displaced. That number is being very optimistic.”

Barbara spoke up. “We will be moving next door for an emergency embrace event. Some of you will go back with the females to inform them of the move. They are still going to be involved in the embrace event as we need to thin out our numbers. They are encouraged to stay together while we organize.”

Everyone nodded along in understanding. “The news is running the incident as we speak and asking for temporary volunteers and families willing to adopt or at the very least foster any of them.”

Sulji cleared her throat. “With that being said if any of you have room please considering taking in some of them.” It was silent but you couldn’t blame them. Many of your fellow volunteers were single parents needing this job, though low paid, with no time, money, or room to foster. Others were financially not able to do so.

Sulji nodded somberly. “Ok then. We need to begin setting up in the rec center.”

The small crowd breaks to get into action.

You get swept up in the chaos not long after. People in every direction. It isn’t helping your anxiety but the sympathy for the now homeless hybrids keeps you grounded.

Something crashes behind you. You whip around to see a tall man with fluffy ears almost blended into his brown hair. He is trying to set the water bottles he knocked down right side up until another volunteer tells him to leave. The tall man tries to get a water bottle but the volunteer smacks his hands and points for him to leave. As he walks away, she notices you staring. “The hybrid of destruction strikes again.”

The snort she lets out hints at a joke you clearly aren’t in on. Either way, you feel bad for the man.

Soon the adoption event is in full swing. All hybrids mingled with families and one another. Some opted to play amongst themselves. Two of which you noticed were the two you saw many times. It wasn’t until their “playing” got too rough that you interfered.

“It’s you!” the one with pouty lips spoke excitedly. You made a noise in confirmation, taking the chance to look at the hybrid ID tag to finally see his name.

“We know we won’t be fostered. It’s better to not get our hopes.” Taehyung spoke matter-a-factly. His words didn’t appear to have much emotion, but Jimin deflated a bit at the statement.

“Do you feel the same, Jimin?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know but if Taehyung isn’t there I won’t go anyway.”

You frowned at their somber words. There was so little hope in them. A nagging feeling began to grow. They didn’t mind as during your internal emotional battle Taehyung roughly hit Jimin’s shoulder and took off. The smaller male took off behind him.

You took your bottom lip between your teeth nervously as you eased over to the outgoing form and wrote down both names.

The nagging feeling ceased but a wave of anxiety threatened your sanity. Thankfully, a fellow volunteer asked you for a hand with the snacks.

Not long after, the feelings were pushed down momentarily to focus on the matter at hand. This was working until you went in search of a janitor. A younger hybrid came with a family interested in helping out but was spooked by the activity. He had an accident. You assured him gently you would find someone to clean it while the family apologized. You spotted the janitor coming from the supply closet. “Ma’am! There was a little accident on the court.”

She nodded mop already in hand. “Can you reach that spray bottle for me, love?”

You looked to where she pointed. It was a higher shelf but not too high for you. You paused for a moment then handed the bottle to her and waited for her to walk away before turning back to the closet. “Come out.”

“No.”

You felt his presence before you even spotted the cat eyes. You weren’t sure if he would be chastised for being in there so you didn’t inform the janitor.

“How did you know? She didn’t even glance my way.” The dark-haired feline emerged from the darkness of the corner.

“I have experience with a hybrid wanting to hide.”

He examined your face. From the look on his own, he found the answer to the question in his head but kept it to himself. “Ignoring the overwhelming aroma of cleaning products, this was the only place to get away from everyone.”

“Everyone?”

“ Everyone .”

You smiled, holding back a laugh and he looked as though he was doing the same. Though his smile was smaller and gone much quicker you felt something. An understanding of disdain for a crowd and the mix of people in it made you feel like you feel mutually accepted. With a small wave of your hand, you ushered him back to his corner, sure to catch the name on his ID tag you did. “I’ll bring you a snack. Maybe it will make the smells more tolerable.”

“Doubt it.” he scoffed but you could see another smile as you closed the door. You turned away to get him a snack.

And write his name down.

To your surprise, the community showed up in aspiring numbers. Many came to help with the event and transportation while many took advantage of the embrace opportunity.

Typically, home and background checks were done to ensure the safety of the hybrids however Barbara informed all embracers that an inspection and evaluation would be done a week from the event “When we have our bearings.” she had stated exasperatingly. The outpour of support helped thin the number of misplaced hybrids.

“The list of secured hybrids was much longer than expected,” Barbara announced happily at the end of the day. All volunteers and remained hybrids were crowded around. The volunteers all appeared worn out but proud. Some of the hybrids appeared sad while others couldn’t care less. A chunk of them were waiting to be transferred to the partnering shelter. Some were already on the way there but there wasn’t room for everyone. “Although, I see Taehyung, Jimin, and Yoongi‘s names written but they are still here.”

A stiff silence fell. Four long seconds pass before you bashfully speak up. “That was my doing. I can foster them for the time being.”

You dare not look at the men as you could feel their shocked gazes.

“Oh, that's wonderful! That only leaves these four.”

You don’t really want to but something keeps pushing you, the nagging feeling from earlier. The words tumble out before you can catch them. ”I have room for them.”

Barbara is taken aback. “Really?”

You nod reluctantly. “My home was originally built for a nine-person family. They will have to share rooms but nothing too crowded.”

Sulji spoke up. “____, that is truly amazing! Of course with your number embraced we will make your inspection priority as a precaution for them but until then thank you!”

An absentminded nod was all you could give. The true reality of your charitable act not hitting you until everyone else dispersed and only seven pairs of eyes remained on you.