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ladykailitha · 2 months ago

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Icarus Part 18

Hey, guys! I'm back!!! I had a great and very productive hiatus, the results of which can be found here.

But tl;dr is that this story is complete, so it will be regularly updated on Sunday until it's done. Then I will release the story that started this all "The Rise of The Fallen" in two parts, also on Sundays. Which will take us all the to December, if you can believe it.

I'm still working on the other stories and at least The Hellfire Exotic Club (stripper), The Caged Bird Still Sings (sugar!baby), and Of Butterflies and Backstrokes (Olympic swimmer) are all going to be fairly long so that should be exciting. Then I'll be working on the fun little game show story now called "A Love Connection". Which won't come out until one of the others ends. Sorry. But WIP Wednesday will show you teases of it until then.

I recommend rereading the previous chapter to refresh your memory and away we go!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17

Steve was riding on the best high. Their next song was “Kiss the Boys/Kiss the Girls”. The song was about finding love in whatever form that took. With a full verse on non-binary folks, despite the title. There was nothing in the world that could compare to crowds screaming your name. It didn’t even matter that the name they were screaming wasn’t Steve, it was Abbadon.

He stumbled into the green room that had all their stuff in it. Corroded Coffin had taken the stage and him and his boys were relaxing with their masks off, Hopper at the door.

“I’ve never been so nervous in my life!” Shane said after downing an entire water bottle. “That crowd was massive! And diverse! Usually we just get college aged kids but there were literal kids out there and old time rockers too.”

“Shit, yeah,” Spence said, pushing his hood off his head to splash a little water on his head. He didn’t have a spotlight on him but wearing all black still made for a hot set.

Shane laid down on the floor, sprawled out spread eagle. “Is this is what real fame is like?”

Steve slid off the chair he was sitting in, to sit next to him. “God, I have such mixed feelings about that if it is. Because the energy was off the charts and I’m pretty sure I sung my heart out...”

“But you aren’t sure you keep up with it for the whole tour?” Simon asked quietly.

Steve threw his head back to rest on the seat of the chair. “Yeah. I don’t want to burn out before I turn thirty, you know?”

“You should talk to Eddie about what they do not to burn out,” Spence suggested. “Because they’ve been doing this for ten years and longer tours than this.”

Steve hummed his agreement.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. “Celeste, incoming,” Hopper muttered, before opening the door.

Anyone in view of the door, put their mask over their face and then off again when the door closed behind their manager.

“Good job, guys,” Robin said cheerily and sat down on the floor between Shane and Steve. “I just got off the phone with Vickie and she says social media is going batshit insane about the song and Steve’s intro. And it’s good. Like really good. There are some assholes, but it seems that even the media and music critics are calling it the next gay anthem.”

“What are they saying?” Simon asked, sitting up on the sofa and scooting to the edge.

Robin grinned. “This is my favorite one: Heaven is where the assholes are, we always knew all the good people were in hell. Keep up the good work, Abbadon and all of the rest of The Fallen. From Metallica’s official Twitter.”

The room was deathly silent for all of two seconds before they all erupted into gleeful screams. They all jumped on her and started hugging her tightly.

“Get off me! Get off me!” she shrieked. “You’re all sweaty and gross!”

They deliberately smeared themselves all over her before they got off, giggling like children.

“Boys!” she huffed dramatically. “So gross. I swear you lot don’t grow up you just get older.”

Steve leaned over and gave a huge kiss on the cheek. “Probably, but you wouldn’t love us if we were any different.”

Robin swiped her cheek in an exaggerated fashion. “Maybe, but boys are still gross.” She went on to tell them all things that Vickie was sending her about the world’s reaction to the song.

Then after a while she bumped into Steve’s shoulder. “Go on. I know you want go watch some of the show, I’ll hold down the fort here.”

Steve smiled at her and gave her shoulder a squeeze. He got to his feet and put his mask back on. After checking to make sure no one was in view, he knocked on the door for Hopper to let him out.

Once the door closed, Robin let out a long sigh. “I worry about those two.”

“Who?” Shane said, sitting up for the first time. “Steve and Eddie? Why?”

She nodded, pulling her knees up to her chest and tucking her chin between her knees. “Being in the closet is hard. And I know Abbadon has come out, but he’s still in the ‘closet’ as it were about his identity and Eddie and Steve having to hide their relationship on top of Steve hiding who is... let’s just say that great relationships then theirs have crumbled under the pressure.”

The room was silent as they all took that in.

“Are we just doomed from having relationships?” Spence asked. “Are we all destined to be lonely?”

Simon’s lips quivered. “I hate that I have all these women throwing themselves at me but they really don’t care who’s under the mask.”

“I hit up every gay bar in every city we tour in as me,” Shane muttered picking at the skin around his nails, “and I don’t know if it’s worse they don’t know who I am than if I had gone as Astraeus.”

“I’m trying to have a girlfriend,” Spence said bitterly, “but all I can tell her is that I travel for work. And yeah it’s new enough she isn’t asking as what, but how much longer can I dodge that question?”

Robin let out another sigh. “I know, and it’s not as though I can really date either. Are they dating the goofy lesbian Robin, or the sophisticated fashion plate, Celeste? But with Eddie I think Steve has it harder.”

“It’s because Eddie is famous, huh?” Simon asked, sliding off the sofa to sit next to Shane on the floor.

Spence got up and curled up around Shane. Robin inserted herself into the pile and they just cuddled until the show was over.

Steve wanted to be on that stage more than anything, just singing with Eddie, happy and free. But he was Abbadon right now and while he might get away with it, Steve didn’t feel comfortable with the not being able to kiss his boyfriend senseless.

He waited until the it’s almost time for the encore before he slipped back into the green room. Everyone else is already changed and gone. It’s just Robin as Celeste waiting for him.

“How did he not have a boyfriend before now?” Steve muttered as he pulled on the khakis and blue polo shirt of his ‘uniform.’

Robin snorted. “For the same reason you went pretty thin on the dating field. He was hung up on a special someone.”

Steve blushed and ducked his head. “I’m assume you think it’s me.” He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to get it lay straight after being hidden under the hood for so long.

Robin got to her feet and leaned down to look him in the eye. “Are you telling me you don’t?”

Steve looked away. Robin gently lifted his chin and then held his face her hands. “Steven Kincade Harrington, you listen to me close. You are worthy of love. You are worthy of care. You are worthy of attention. And Eddie Munson is one hundred percent onboard to give all three. Of course he was waiting for you. Any person with eyes can see how much he loves you. Fuck, Simon bristles every time he’s brought up now because instead him being your protector like it used to be, it’s Eddie.”

Steve stared at her with his mouth wide open. “Simon’s jealous of Eddie?”

Robin laughed and kissed his stupid head.

“Babe,” she said fondly. “Spence and Shane have been beating him off with a stick every time Eddie comes around.”

“But Simon doesn’t protect me,” Steve said tilting his head to the side. “I protect him. He’s so painfully shy outside of the band and he’s always curled up on my lap.”

“Please tell me you aren’t that naive,” she said. “He is always sticking up for you about your writing, about your singing. When it comes to band stuff Simon is the biggest mama bear of them all.”

Steve blinked at her for a moment and then mouthed the word “Oh.”

“You are such a dingus,” she said shaking her head. “But you’re my dingus so that evens it out a bit.”

He pushed her playfully. “I’m going to get out there before people wonder where the missing EMT is.”

He slipped out a different way from when he came in and she watched him go. Steve was brilliant at a lot of things, people included. But he always had a blindspot when it came to when other people caring for him.

She sighed and then made her way out of the green room so that Corroded Coffin could unwind now.

Robin passed Chrissy on the way out.

“Hey,” Chrissy said with a huge smile. “My boys want to go afterwards with your boys, you think they’d be down?”

“Of course they would!” she replied. “As The Fallen or no?”

Chrissy slapped her palm to her forehead. “Shit I forgot. As The Fallen. But they have casual masks to go in right?”

Robin smiled back at her. “It’s fine, of course they have casual masks. I’ll let them know. It’ll have to be much later because they have to be see as normies for a bit before they slip back into The Fallen.”

Chrissy winked and tapped the side of her nose. “I got you.”

Just then all the Corroded Coffin boys came bursting from the stage into the wings, whooping and screaming. They huddled together, arms around each other and counted to twenty.

Once they got to one, Eddie screamed whooped again and all four of them ran back on stage.

Robin blinked at them for a moment. “Didn’t they just have an encore?”

Chrissy threw back her head and laughed. “Depending on the city they can do anywhere from two to five encores.”

“Holy shit!” Robin said in genuine awe. “That’s insane.”

“It’s not even their record,” she said.

Robin’s eyebrows shot up. “There’s no way.”

“Six in Salt Lake City,” she explained. “Just coming off their third album, the one with eight singles. Which was too many in my opinion but apparently a couple radio stations thought there were a really good deep tracks and played. Then it got around, yaddy yadda. You get the drift.”

“But six?” Robin asked a little unsure.

Chrissy nodded. “Salt Lake is crazy for that shit though. I’ve heard bands go there if they want their ego stoked.”

“Any bands avoid it for that reason?” Robin giggled.

“I have no doubt there are,” she said with a hum. “Most of the time bands whine about the lack of boobs and booze when they refuse to go back.”

Robin rolled her eyes. “Men are so gross.”

“Agreed,” she replied with a wink. “Go lesbian power.”

Robin fist bumped her. “I’ve got to go look like a PA schlep for awhile. I’ll text you when they’re free.”

“You’ve got it girlie!” Chrissy said.

Eddie was not pleased that they were at a bar. A bar was the last place he wanted Gareth to be right now.

But he insisted he would be fine and seemed for the most part to be sticking to a cherry coke, but Eddie was keeping an eye on him.

Things were actually going well until...

Astraeus let out a yelp of pain.

Abbadon and Azrael were on their feet in an instant, Asmodeus close behind. There was a little action going on so Eddie couldn’t see what happened, but oh boy did he see the aftermath.

Standing behind The Fallen’s bassist was an asshole with his phone up, filming and another guy yanking on Astraeus’ hood.

“Get off of him,” Abbadon hissed. “Or else.”

Abbadon was the shortest of his band, but fuck in that moment, he looked the most intimidating.

The dude with phone scoffed. “Or what? I’m filming you, you can’t do shit.”

Steve let out a huge ear-piercing whistle and yelled, “Security!”

The two dudes’ eyes went wide as they turned to scramble away from their table, but ran into two very meaty looking guys flanking Hopper.

“You two boys going somewhere?” the head of security asked, low and dangerously.

“We weren’t doing anything!” the one dude said. Not the one with the phone, but the one who had pulled on Astraeus’ hood.

“Yeah?” he asked. “And would these boys say the same?”

The asshole with the phone scoffed. “They’re just a bunch of weird, rich assholes, they’d say whatever.”

“And the security cameras won’t show you filming your friend here, yanking on this man’s hoodie?”

The two dudes looked at each in actual fear for the first time.

“And by the way, that’s assault,” Hopper continued to press. “So unless you want to be arrested, you’ll delete that little videos of yours unless you really, really want to broadcast your crime to the internet.”

The guy with the phone had Hopper watch him delete it off his phone.

“Good,” he said, “now these two gentlemen are going to escort out of the building, a building you’ll never be allowed to come back to ever again.”

After Hopper left with the bouncers and the two idiots, Gareth turned to them.

“Shit,” he said, “that was fucking terrifying. Does that happen a lot?”

Abbadon and Azrael exchanged a glance.

“More than it really should,” Azrael said. “It’s why Ellie designed a hoodie that would be harder to yank off. The trade off unfortunately is that hurts like a bitch when it’s pulled.”

“That fucking sucks, man,” Jeff said. “The next round of drinks is on me.”

Eddie nodded, but inside he was screaming. He didn’t know that this was something the band experienced at all. And even if he didn’t know who they were, that would still freak him out. But it was worse knowing it was Steve that they were doing this to.

Abbadon squeezed his hand under the table. It didn’t reassure him, not really, but it was still nice that Steve recognized his turmoil.

The night was a little more subdued after that as the Corroded Coffin boys thought about the implications of what just happened and The Fallen boys because all they wanted was a fun night out and it was ruined.

Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 @a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence

3- @goodolefashionedloverboi @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @irregular-child @blondie1006

4- @yikes-a-bee @bookworm0690 @anne-bennett-cosplayer @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten

5- @genderless-spoon @y4r3luv @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt

6- @disrespectedgoatman @eyehartart @dawners @thespaceantwhowrites @tinyplanet95

7- @iamthehybrid @croatoan-like-its-hot @papergrenade @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars

8- @ravenfrog @w1ll0wtr33 @child-of-cthulhu @kultiras @dreamercec

9- @machete-inventory-manager @useless-nb-bisexual @stripey82 @dotdot-wierdlife @kal-ology

10- @sadisticaltarts @urkadop @chameleonhair @clockworkballerina @garden-of-gay

#my writing #stranger things #steddie #ladykailtiha writes #rockstar eddie munson #rockstar steve harrington #rockstar au

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azuramarigold · 2 months ago

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"Cursed Vessel" - a Jujutsu Kaisen fanfic

Reposting this for some extra flair I guess since I got information about dividers.

CONTENT WARNING: Work contains depictions of violence and gore, use of swearing, smoking of tobacco, and alcohol.

Each chapter has trigger warnings in the beginning notes due to the nature of the chapter.

Banner credit to https://saradika.tumblr.com/

Cursed Energy gif credit to https://ko-fi.com/setermd/shop

Master list - All available on AO3 Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End Chapter 2: The Mean Voice Chapter 3: Mission Start Chapter 4: Brat and Kuna Chapter 5: Seven to Three Chapter 6: Incarnation Chapter 7: To Kyoto Chapter 8: What is Being Evil? Chapter 9: A Child of Potential Calamity - pending Chapter 10: Bingo - pending Chapter 11: Meet Up - pending Chapter 12: Bad and Good Luck - pending Chapter 13: Welcome Home - pending Chapter 14: Realization - pending Chapter 15: Probability - pending Chapter 16: The Siblings - pending Chapter 17: Yoshinaga and Co. - pending Chapter 18: The Monk and Their King - pending Chapter 19: Tracking Yuji - pending Chapter 20: Clear Evidence - pending

Summary:

Even at the age of five Yuji Itadori knew something was wrong - he woke up with horrible nightmares and terrible burning sensations all over his body, and there was always a "mean voice" in his head that won't go away. His grandfather decided it was time to take him to an old friend that could possibly help him with this new issue. Kento Nanami was extremely disinterested with the Jujutsu world after his best friend was killed during a mission the year prior. When a new mission came up for rescuing a little boy who happens to be the vessel of "The King of Curses", Ryomen Sukuna, Nanami was forced to go on the mission.

TLDR: Basically the story is that Yuji becomes Sukuna's vessel at a younger age and his relation to him is more known, so Jujutsu High has to protect him/save him from weirdos. Nanami is the main caretaker. Gojo likes to be there because he's Gojo. Takes place Spring 2008, so it's after Hidden Inventory/Premature Death.

Special thanks to my Ko-fi supporters!

Basic Tier

Aostrele

Draconic Hermit

JadEDU

Jaune Arc

Zippy

Middle Tier

@genderfluidsgetguns AKA IdoInFactLikeDogs

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occasionallyprosie · 10 months ago

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Febuwhump 2024

As promised, another month of Legend whump 🩷

This is a masterlist that will be updated as I post and finish works. Works that are currently unfinished may not yet have the content that it claims, but it will in time. Works will be added when the first (or only) chapter has been posted.

This is a whump series, be forewarned that there will be content that may include but are not limited to: torture, any character death, graphic descriptions of violence, panic attacks, or rape.

Series On AO3

"A Thousand Ways" (Unfinished; Chapters 11/?) Contains: Legend & Twilight, timeline discovery, heritage discovery, trauma(new and old), torture Prompts used: 1. Helpless, 12. Semi-Conscious, 19. "Please Don’t", 18. Too Weak To Move, 15. "Who did this to you?", 8: "Why won't it stop?" -

"A Warrior's Blade" (Standalone) Contains: Legend & Fi, possession, kinda grooming? Prompt used: Alt 4. Human Weapon -

"Too Much Like Hell" (Standalone) Contains: Legend & Twilight, implied temporary character death (not a lot of whump tbh) Prompt Used: Alt 6. Immortality -

"The Power of Words" (Standalone) Contains: Legend & Time, mind control(?), major character death Prompt Used: 4. Obedience -

"The Storm and a Siren" (Standalone) Contains: Legend & Sky, Wind cursing a lot Prompt Used: 5. Rope Burns -

"Harmless Little Lies" (Standalone) Contains: Legend & Warriors, major character death, graphic injury descriptions Prompt Used: 6. "You lied to me." -

"Take A Break" (Chapters 3/3) Contains: Legend & Warriors, drinking, non-con drugging and kissing, kidnapping, torture Prompts Used: 17. Hostage Situation, 7. Suffering In Silence, 21. Unresponsive -

"Choosing Your Path" (Finished; Chapters 2/2) Contains: Hyrule & Legend, major character death, graphic violence Prompts Used: Alt 10. Last Man Standing, 16. Came Back Wrong -

"They're Not Themselves" (Standalone) Contains: Legend & Warriors, mentions of suicidal tendencies, panic attacks Prompt Used: 10. Killing in Self-Defense -

"A Song On Repeat" (Chapters 2/?) Contains: Legend & Everyone, temporary character death, graphic violence Prompts Used: 11. Time Loop, Alt 7. Last Words -

"Hiding Behind Plaster and Ceramics" (Unfinished; Chapters 2/?) Contains: Legend & Twilight, early days of LU, Triforce Heroes Prompt Used: 13. "You weren't supposed to get hurt", Alt 2. "I love you" -

"A Halo of Black and Red" (Standalone) Contains: Fable & Legend, Prince Legend, major character death, graphic violence Prompt Used: 14. Blood-Stained Tiles -

"The Past Returns" (Standalone) Contains: Legend & Sky & Time, graphic violence Prompt Used: 20. Truth Serum -

"The Stand Of A Survivor" (Unfinished; Chapters 2/3) Contains: Hyrule & Legend, grieving Prompts Used: 23. Presumed Dead, 28. "No... Not like this" -

"Duty Versus Heart" (Standalone) Contains: Legend & Sky, major character death Prompt Used: 24. "I'm doing this because I care about you" -

"Guardians" (Chapters 2/2) Contains: Legend & Wind, graphic violence Prompts Used: 27. Left For Dead, 29. Not Allowed To Die

#febuwhump 2024 #prosie writes #masterlist #linked universe #lu legend #fanfic #linkeduniverse #legend lu #whump writing #whump #angst #angst fic #linked universe fanfic #lu fanfiction #whump fics

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foddercaptain · 19 days ago

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⭐🕷🕸

ーSTARWEB‼️

☆ A bit of information on it, and how it works. This WILL be updated overtime, tweaked, adjusted, and reffered back to atleast until i start publishing everything properly!

Starweb is an insect/bug themed Sonic AU in which all mobian characters in canon are bug counterparts to their original species! Ex: Hedgehogs = Spiders, Echidas = Ants, Foxes = Weevils, etc. Instead of just bugs though, they are referred to as Insectians! Basically means people.

REFERENCE SHEETS AT THE BOTTOM‼️

• The story follows primarily Sonic and Shadow, though many other are still canon and present in the story such as Silver, Blaze, Knuckles, Tails, Mighty, Ray, and other's. However they are less present and can be considered side characters or b-plots to Sonic and Shadow's story.

• This will have it's own terminology aswell, there will be a list with all of them, basically like Warrior Cats if you want an easy example of replacing words, systems, or making brand new ones for specific purposes. (I'm not joking theres already a canon slur against vegetarian insectians).

The canon story will and does follow, as of currently, just Sonadow! However, this does not mean you cannot prefer your own ships with these specific versions of the characters, you could ship Sonknux for example, and you can even make fanart of it. I do this with my own au too, i say this since i don't want people harrassing others in the future for drawing something "not canon" to an au, aus aren't even canon to begin with!! (I've seen this happen to other people before).

• Starweb is going to be done a little weirdly, written moreso in episodes or "one-shot" formats in chronological order of events or days, some may be back to back and some may not. It won't be written like a script for a show i just mean like how in Shows they go in the right order but different days = different adventures!

• This story will actually be portrayed in a few different mediums. The main will be writing, obviously, likely with art or doodles thrown in, and some entire parts will just be comics, I'd include animation but that would take awhile. Keep in mind though: i am no expert writer snd grew up with more visual books aside from WC/WoF and fanfictions (somehow) so bare with me! (Don't worry about trying to locate the story yet, i haven't published anything that you can't find on instagram or tumblr).

You will never see me try to write a description of how a character looks by default, i cannot do descriptions, you are just getting a random refsheet in the middle or beginning of introduction. 🤸🎸

• Here's a better explanation for the layout! The story, in total overtime would likely reach about 4-5 arcs, though I'm only focusing currently on 3 arcs, they're also the build up and the slowburn! (Very, very slow burn). I'm not sure how many "chapters" or parts there will be in each arc yet, but I'll say between 10-15 roughly, not counting b-plots with other characters. I do know the events that take place in each arc I'm just narrowing it down.

• Not too important but i thought i should mention incase this is asked again. YES you can make Starweb ocs or convert your ocs into Starweb!! There is currently no master list of every mobian species converted to thwir correct insectian type but if you wish to ask or want to know the au-specific physical characteristics you can ask anytime!

• A small edition to this about species, they don't have highly specifc species, they are all mostly just generalized, for example even if one spider was specifically inpired to be a tarantula they'd just be called a spider or atleast has to be some sort of arachnid, but you'd make them bigger than probably other insectians because they're bigger, so it's more of size in that case, but i hope that helps for anyone trying to be more specific. There's only a couple roughly specific-er ones such as Weevils (foxes), to those who know their entomology they are beetles, even if beetles as a category is not specific to weevils in this.

• As for art, unless i say something is canon it's likely just uncanon art of my au, so don't take it all too seriously. You can also tell my kinsona apart fairly easy considering some of the added patterns and the fact he's the size of normal Sonic and wears shorts with ripped fingerless gloves. Insectians are the size of bugs and do not canonly wear clothesー at best makeshift stuff from the recourses around them.

★ If you're interested in this au don't be afraid to send an ask here or respond to the one's i do on my instagram story! I also do more rambles or information dumps there on my aus since that seems to be where most people are interested. This post on tumblr specifically will be updated to have all current up-to date refsheets on the Starweb cast, most of them don't have refs and i won't publish anything too major (This post will probably be updated in genural frequently but i don't mind reblogs to get people interested, really helps!)

#starweb #fodder captain #mass info #sonic the hedgehog #sth #sonic au #sonic

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loveau · 1 year ago

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Case Closed: Chapter One | Sehun

Genre: slow-burn romance, angst, mystery/crime

Summary: As the only person willing to take on this wild goose chase of a 10-month ongoing missing persons case, you have your head in your hands trying to figure out why 20 girls and counting have suddenly disappeared. You can't give up now that another girl has just joined that number. Good thing that your persistent crime reporter friend Oh Sehun won't let you quit either.

Word Count: 6.4k

T/W: minor violence, kidnapping, crime, uhhh not edited i'm sorry

A/N: I'M SOOOOO SORRY!!!!!! I've been on hiatus for 3 years LOLOLOLOL then i found this in my vault since may 4th, 2020 and i felt so bad that i wrote literally 3.5k words to finish this first chapter so i can just get it out. i have the whole thing fleshed out.......... i'm so sorry 🙈 also i don't really use this blog anymore but i figured i will just to get out everything again HAHAHA i do not expect this to get any traction at all but if you enjoy it then 🥺❤️

It started like any other day, which was a real cliché to put it. You walk into the station with your usual heavy eyelids and even heavier shoulders. Sleep was something you’d given up when you first started working as a detective, but the word was definitely out of your dictionary when you picked up the case. Most of your colleagues wouldn’t pick up the case. Mainly because they knew you’d be the first one to take it. However, after ten months you still haven’t found any new leads. Six months of chasing after ghosts and you always returned emptyhanded.

This morning, you had something into your hands. Flung into them, rather. A coffee and a file, courtesy of Jongin. Normally there’d be a smile gracing his face and a joke soon to follow to lighten up your mood. Instead there was a frown as he motioned down at the file in your hands.

“That’s number 21.”

You’re grim and you know it’s very apparent. How could you not be with the numbers stacked this high? You mumble a thanks and allow Jongin to linger a bit. He wants to say something, and you know it, but you also know he’s conflicted about whether or not he should continue bothering you.

“Jongin, I’m not dropping the case.”

He purses his lips and takes a tactical sip of his own coffee. After a moment to find the right words he sighs. “I know. I wouldn’t dream of trying to rip you away from that.”

A dry chuckle leaves you and you shake your head almost dotingly at your junior. “Of course.” You point a pen towards the office everyone knew too well after getting chewed out at least thrice. “But that doesn’t mean she won’t. She’s been on my ass for a while.” You’ve joked with your peers about the Boa Constrictor keeping you in her hold until you concede, but you’d never been on the receiving end of it until now. Except you definitely weren’t about to let go of this case.

There’s a moment of silence while he tries to come up with something else to say and you busy yourself with the new file. You curse when you look at the girl’s photo and information. “She’s only 15.” Jongin hums and scans over the information with you. He takes her photo out from beneath the paperclip and holds it up to the board where there were faces of 20 other girls on them.

“She doesn’t look like any of the others.”

“Not at all. She’s got some similar features to some, but… there isn’t a type.”

“If they even are getting kidnapped.” You scoff at that before taking the photo and thumbtacking it to the board. “Not that I’m saying you’re on a wild goose chase or anything, but…” He takes another sip of his coffee. You know the mug is empty. “21 girls who don’t have any connection to each other besides living in the same city… It’s really difficult to determine if they’re all being kidnapped or just-”

“Runaways, I know.”

“Look, they’re all around the ages too. Teen angst, wanting to start fresh in another city, eloping with a secret lover.” He sighs wistfully and moves to take another sip until he remembers his empty cup. “21 girls. No relation. Some of them did sports, but it’s a range. Some of them are in the same school district, but they have different schedules. Two of them lived in the same neighborhood, but that’s in a whole block of apartments.”

Your eyes linger at the girl’s face a couple seconds longer. You’ve heard it too many times by all the others to know that Jongin is implying they could be all coincidences. People runaway all the time, it’s true. You’ve definitely closed those sorts of cases and convinced a couple of them to work it out and return home. You just wish you had some concrete proof that this was different.

Jongin turns away, about to leave and continue his own work after getting more coffee. “I’ll get out of your hair now, but I’m just worried about you. You’re losing a lot of sleep for someone who looks like they’re chasing their own tail. Take care of yourself.” He’s off before you can bark a word at him, and you roll your eyes to yourself.

You take a sip of the coffee he’d given to you moments prior, but it had gotten cold since then. It was still a bit of a kickstart to your day anyhow. You had the cases of 21 missing girls all over the city resting on your shoulders. It was a miracle you got any sleep at all. You tried your hand at anything. Possible gang relations or involvements or some group or organization, and yet you found no link. Like you said earlier, there didn’t seem to be a type that was targeted as the girls were mainly different appearance wise. You’d even thought to consider some underground sex ring, but the information you’ve collected about some of them didn’t fit the bill.

There were a couple girls who were taken in their own homes. They had been the ones living alone, except one who was taken while her three roommates were all home. They had chalked it up to her not feeling well and when they decided to check up on her, she was gone. It just didn’t sit right with you that they had done everything according to their routine and yet they supposedly just ran away. Most didn’t seem to have any motive at all to do so according to their friends and family. Even though you knew everybody’s got secrets and skeletons to hide you knew that was the truth. It was a gut feeling, but it wasn’t enough.

A buzzing noise came from your pocket and you whip your phone out to see what notification it was this time. A random message from one of your friends on social media popped up. You wanted to swipe it away, but you decided against it and opened it up. It was a friend from college who had found some old photo of the two of you at some party, dressed up with a lot of skin showing but even more teeth on display. Back then the lack of sleep you had was because of the constant studying and partying, or rather taking some free booze and dipping when you got bored. It was still fun to socialize and watch everyone stumble dumbly, though. You responded back quickly by telling her to forward it to you. Before you pocketed your phone, you retyped your passcode to unlock the phone again and went into your contacts. Thinking about college reminded you of somebody.

The moment you stepped out you heard a familiar “Hello?”

“Hi, Mrs. Kim. Just checking in like I always do.” You could almost hear the smile in the woman’s face. Tension immediately left your shoulders the moment you heard her coo your name softly. It was like it was never there at all.

“I haven’t heard from you in a while. I was just beginning to think you’d never call.” She laughs easily at her tease. She knew you would call. You always did. “I was just thinking about you actually. I heard there was another one…”

A sigh leaves your lips and you pinch the bridge of your nose before you answer. “Yeah, it’s been a rough couple of months hasn’t it?” She hums in response and you can hear her shuffling papers around, most likely sorting through the mail you know she never opens and gets to once a month at least. She pauses and you can hear her set the large pile down.

“Of course. Five months without my baby? She’s supposed to be starting school in a couple months. She was so excited when she got accepted. They have the best music program in the state, you know.” You knew all too well that her daughter was to be going to school at the best music school in the state. You listened to some of her recordings before after her mother had shown you. You like to think that it was just because of a mother’s pride, but you think it was to hear her daughter’s voice again as she talks through the piece and giggles at a small slip up in one of them.

It almost pained you that you couldn’t find her with what you had now. You were still as clueless as you were when she had gone missing five months ago.

“I’ll find her soon. I know I will. The next time you won’t get to see her is when you have to move her into the dorms. I promise you.” It was an unsure promise, to convince the both of you that you’d get it done. And soon. The shift from a lighthearted conversation had gotten grim fast. Those conversations had typically over the lunches you had with Mrs. Kim. She was the first case of this bunch and also the most optimistic of the friends and family. You felt that you had to keep her updated and in turn she continued to put her trust in you.

“I know. She’s counting on you; I just know it. She knows you’ll get it done somehow.” The words strike you in your core. That’s right, there’s a lot of people counting on you right now. One more family just got added to the list this morning. You try not to think about the handful of others that decided to have you stop looking after they’ve given up that their daughters would come back. It pained you to have them retract their hope enough to have you close their cases, but you wouldn’t stop even if they asked you. You didn’t want to have to leave them in the dark while their daughters were missing. Lord knows you were considering a murderer, but no bodies had turned up to your relief. You just hoped you didn’t have to continue praying for it not to happen.

The call ended quickly, and you spent the next couple of hours going over your information and collecting information from the family of the newest missing girl. She was hanging out with friends when she was all of a sudden separated from the group at the mall. It was a busy place, but camera footage and eyewitnesses last saw her roaming in a store before her trail goes cold. This was frustrating. Rumors had spread about the girl going missing already, but since she was a teen most people assumed that she just ran away. She was pretty social according to her friends, and they just chalked it up to her personality and hanging with the wrong crowd. You decided to ponder over it on your lunch break, calling up your regular lunch partner to meet you at some café a couple blocks away.

Sehun doesn’t have to wave you over for you to sit down at the table you know he’s already at. It’s almost a ritual, to eat at this café every other week and sitting at the same table, nonetheless. He smiles warmly at you and pushes a plate towards you. “I already ordered for you. And don’t worry, I paid for it as a thank you for last time.” You mumble your thanks with a mouthful of food, briefly remembering the time you covered for his ride home after one drink too many.

“You’re godsent, you know that?” His smile turns into a smirk at that and you roll your eyes when you see you’ve stoked his ego. “Before you say ‘I know’, take out that notepad.” His smirk drops and a look of concentration comes onto his face.

“You know, sometimes I like to think you keep eating lunch with me because you like me or that we’re friends or something. But I also tend to think you only keep me around for my work.” He’s teasing you again and you tap the top of his notepad.

“You’re very much aware how much I like having you around. And I’m very much aware about how much you love to collect the information. Sometimes I think you only come back to hang out with me is because I’m not as tightlipped as some of my peers and give you things you can actually report on.” Sehun chuckles at that and the crinkle around his eye is back with that childlike glimmer in the eyes. He looks a lot more at ease than his funky smirk and that impish gleam instead.

He uncaps his pen with his mouth, his other hand busy flipping to a brand-new page and holding a worn notepad with too many torn papers taken from it. He keeps the cap in his mouth and hums for you to signal he’s ready.

“She’s 15.” His eyebrows furrow and a lisped curse slips out of him as he jots it down. He shakes his head sadly at that. “Last seen at the mall with her friends. Eyewitnesses say that she was roaming one of the stores alone before she disappeared. Camera footage doesn’t pick her up leaving the mall, but it’s been picked clean.”

“Has her friends or family said anything about behavior? Being more secretive or distant lately?” Sehun’s habit of keeping the pen cap in his mouth makes his words very mumbled and hard to understand. However, being around him and working with him so often has gotten you used to his silly sounded sentences. You still reach over to pluck it from his lips and snicker that his playfully annoyed glare.

“You don’t think I’ve asked? No, parents and friends claim that nothing was up. They let me in her room and let me search to find any hidden notes. Even let me look through her diary and it was just about some kid drama at school. Seemed ordinary to me, nothing that made me have to investigate this drama. She’s not a part of it anyways, just commenting about how it’s the talk of the halls and dumb.”

Sehun taps the pen against his cheek while your fingers are fiddling with the cap. He’s obviously not to report your words verbatim as it’s not really relevant, but he does appreciate how you share your findings with him. He appreciates your trust in him that he doesn’t skew the details or add too much personal information about these people. He appreciates how you let your thoughts wander with him. You tend to loosely think around him, bouncing ideas off of him every so often or word vomiting to better understand things as you try to explain.

You’d finished with your food while Sehun continues writing and jotting down notes, most likely questions or other tidbits not too concerning for you. Whenever he asks a question he needs for the article you respond and then nudge his plate so that he eats. It goes on like this a couple moments longer until he’s out of food and questions. He finishes jotting down whatever else he wants to and sticks the tip of his pen out to you. You, used to this procedure, cap his pen and look back up into his satisfied eyes. You scoff at his smug look and avoid his gaze as he rests his chin in his hand. He continues to stare at you while you pick at any crumbs you find interesting.

“Got everything you need?”

“How about we get some dessert?” You almost object and tell him you should be back by now until he starts collecting his things and getting out of his seat. “And don’t worry. I’ll pay. You just have to pay me back next time.” You sink lower into your seat in defeat and groan, rubbing your hands over your face. He laughs a little and stands behind your seat, grabbing your shoulders and shaking you lightly. “Come on, Sugar. You’re gonna need some sugar to keep functioning the rest of the day.”

“You and your dumb nicknames are going to kill me before the stress from this case will.” He stops shaking you and gives you a fond squeeze of your shoulders.

“Let’s go before you die on me then.” You turn in your seat to watch him head towards the door before deciding to follow suit and grunting when you do get up. There’s a mini pep in his step and you’re guessing that’s because Sehun has another excuse to visit that favorite bakery of his that a friend of his works at. You couldn’t blame him. There were some doughnuts and cupcakes that were to die for.

As you passed by, you saw some missing persons posters hung up in some alley walls or taped to some lampposts. You’re guessing that’s how Mrs. Kim got news of the missing girl before you caught up with her. Sehun notices your gaze following the long trail of posters, most likely hung up by the gang of girls that were last with their friend. “Is that her?” The both of you come to a stop in front of a small cluster of the posters. He takes on down and holds it out in front of the both of you. You nod and Sehun folds the paper into fours and pockets it for later. “That saves me having to dig around to put that in the paper.”

He tries to keep the mood up as he hums a tune, swinging his arms around and looking around at the people walking the streets. It does little to help, but you do appreciate the thought as he glances at you every now and then to check in. He’s switched songs so many times since he opts for a different, better tune to keep him occupied. You’re trying to decipher his fifth song switch when you finally make it to the bakery.

“Kyungsoo!” Sehun sings into the shop as the door chimes noisily. Luckily, Kyungsoo isn’t tending to any customers at the moment. He pops his head out from behind the counter with a blank face and his lips drawn into a straight line. However he may look, there’s a happy sparkle in his eye at the sight of you two.

“What do you want now?” He asks sarcastically but readies himself anyways.

“I want something with chocolate.” Sehun says as he scans the overhead menu even though he knows exactly what he wants. “Please.” He doesn’t forget to add with a warm smile, which Kyungsoo returns in kind. They both turn to you expectantly and you sputter, not having anything in mind just yet.

“O-Oh! I’ll, uh… I’ll have…” You pause and bite your lips. Suddenly, you’re overwhelmed by all the choices even though you’ve been here before.

“How about some donut holes? And if you don’t like it, you can always have some of mine,” Sehun offers as he turns that warm smile to you.

“What, trying to stick with that cops eat donuts type of thing?” You joke but are grateful at the distraction from you bumbling about. Kyungsoo lets out an amused huff and prepares something for you both of you, making sure to toss in a couple extra pieces in the bag for you. You give him a silent thanks as you nod and take the bag from him as Sehun whips out his wallet in a practiced manner.

The first bite of the donut hole is full of cinnamon and a little honey. Kyungsoo’s been experimenting and you hum at the taste as you squeeze the half-bitten donut hole. As Sehun’s card is ringing up he turns to you with an eyebrow as he wordlessly asks how it tastes. Instead, you offer him the rest of your bite while you chew, and he instantly opens up his mouth to eat the rest. It’s almost like you’ve done this a million times in your life and a million more in your past lives together; you’ve known each other for that long, you think. The motion is easy and simple as he hums and turns back to collect his card and compliments Kyungsoo’s creation with his mouth full.

“It’s good. I like the new flavors, it’s better than just the boring sugar on it.” The words are muffled and both you and Kyungsoo give him a judgmental look as he wipes some of the cinnamon off the corner of his lips.

“… Thank you. I’ve been slowly trying to add more to the menu where I can,” Kyungsoo notes, and you look up again at the menu to see he’s added another couple options beside his regular few in his neat handwriting. He smiles at you again when you look back down. “Keep up the good work. Don’t push yourself, okay?”

You promise him and Sehun gently nudges you to turn and leave so he has a better exit path. It’s not like he couldn’t have gone around you, but it seems he opted to just turn and go. And with his broad shoulders, it seemed you were in his path. You nudge him back as you exit the bakery with your treats in hand.

“What are you doing tonight?” Sehun asks with his mouth full again, this time from a bite of his chocolatey pastry. Crumbs fly in the air and the snort as they do so, but your friend knows no shame and continues to look at you expectantly.

You roll your eyes with a smile. “Probably looking over the case again… and waaay more paperwork than I’m happy with.”

He hums at that as he continues to walk you back to the station. You feel like he’s about to ask you something else, but you’re cut off by your phone ringing and his own buzzing with a couple messages.

“Breaks over.” He comments with a sigh as he scrolls through the messages and tries to type back with the same hand that grips his phone.

“It is.”

The both of you look at each other and trade another bite of each other’s treats. You took a bite of his mainly since you wanted something sweet, and he had his own bite since you felt like you had to repay him for it. He gives you a wave as he, thankfully, doesn’t shout with his mouth full of donut as he heads off to his office building. While you head back, you manage to catch the phone call on its last couple of rings before it could go to voicemail.

“Hello?”

“It’s Boa. You have a couple more files on your desk regarding the girls,” she says with a tired sigh. You know the chief thinks this is wasting time and resources, but you also know she wants to give these girls justice. “Some more schedules of their routines, some stuff they had upcoming, and some chat histories. There’s also someone waiting at the station to talk to you, a friend of the most recent one.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Good,” she states and hangs up the call. You huff and make your way back to the station with a quickened pace. You wonder what this friend has to say since you’ve interviewed the family and teachers recently. Your mind is still reeling with possibilities when you make it back and find a familiar face at your desk.

“Yena, what can I do for you?” You ask kindly as you take a seat by the high school girl. She has a puffiness around her eyes that indicate she hasn’t been able to get a lot of sleep and has probably been crying a lot. You offer her some of your donut holes and she politely declines by holding a hand up before thinking of the right words to say.

Yena was the same age as her missing friend, 15 with a short bob and still wearing her school uniform. You’re wondering if she skipped school to come here, and she confirms your suspicions as she wrings her hands. “I just give you these. I found these in Chae’s locker, it’s some of her notebooks and some flyers. These events are all in the past, but one of them is her dream journal. We both keep one to achieve our dreams, except she doesn’t share hers because she thinks that the dream won’t come true then.”

You take the stack of papers and notebooks from her, eyeing the one she was referring to. It can’t be mistaken with the doodling, stickers, glitter, and large words that say ‘DREAM JOURNAL!’ right on the front.

“Thank you, Yena.” You say kindly, knowing that you’ll have even more to sort through and probably come out empty handed with, but every little bit helps. If you could be armed with even that much of a toothpick, you’d count it as a win.

“I just want my best friend to come back. That’s all I’ve been writing about in mine! I want her to come home.” Her eyes water and you push a box of tissues to her. She takes a shaky breath and dabs at her eyes gently and you realize that her eyes are redder than you thought. She dabs to prevent further irritating her eyes that have been covered in makeup to hide just how bad she’s been taking it.

“I promise, you won’t need a journal to make that come true, okay?” You say gently and comfort the poor girl. It’s another 15 minutes before she gets up and leaves, going back to school she promises.

You sigh as you look at the stack of notebooks she gave you. It was all her school notebooks besides her dream journal, which you knew wouldn’t be much of a look through unless you wanted to relieve your high school days and quiz yourself on whatever the kids were learning these days.

“You know, you shouldn’t be promising things like that.”

“Jongin, that girl was crying.”

“And you don’t think she won’t be if you can’t deliver that promise?”

You clench your hands into fists, narrowing your eyes on the word that seems to be mocking you right now. Because it might be true, you can only ‘DREAM!’ that this will all come to a happy end. Jongin sighs and pats your back.

“I’ll help you get through like 3 of those. Make sure it’s all just random notes so you know if they have anything that’s not about some ancient literature piece, okay?” He asks gently and you take a deep breath.

“Okay,” you say quietly and start sorting through the flyers first.

A lot of them are of school events, cram school, auditions for some of the modeling or singing agencies, and one was even a poster of an actor you recognized from a popular drama currently. You chuckled as you saw the sticky note still attached to it that indicated Chae’s wishes to marry a guy like him. A couple more hours pass in between you checking the notebooks, painstakingly flipping through and reading every page just to make sure, and having to deal with other logistical tasks around the office.

Like promised, Jongin eventually makes it through the notebooks and puts them all on your desk with a sad shake of his head. “Math, English, and Composition. All notes, most of it is textbook and following what they did in class. Anything else was practice problems or doodles. These are no good.”

You groan and hang your head. “I’ve just barely gotten through her other two notebooks. A music one from a piano unit and one she kept solely for cram school. The flyers are all past events or just random ones that I think were trash and she never got to throw away.” You look pointedly at the crumpled up flyer that was from her school’s ‘Fish Club’… whatever that’s about. “Had to get through all the other files from the girls too… nothing new. I saved that dream journal for last.”

“Why, so you can honor making sure her dreams come true?” Jongin asks with a smile, lifting your spirits some.

“Yeah…” You trail off absently. You aren’t sure if maybe you were truly keeping up Yena and Chae’s superstition about their dream journals or if you were hoping that the last thing you got to would prove you some substantial evidence. Maybe you should’ve gotten to that first if so. But then you would’ve needed to spend extra time on it. Ugh! Another sigh makes it way out of you and Jongin frowns now.

“Save that for tomorrow. How about you come out with some of us for some drinks tonight? Get that tension off you.” Jongin gives you an expectant look as he sits on your desk. You rub your face and look up at him through your fingers as you slouch in your chair. “And don’t even think about getting to that journal tonight. Your brain is fried, you need a break, you’re burning yourself out.”

You purse your lips at him and groan again, this time throwing your head back over the top of your desk chair and spinning in it a little.

“Fine. But only for a little bit.”

Famous last words. It was not just a little bit. Jongin kept you entertained and kept handing you drinks as you listened to your peers share drunken stories. Even Jongdae came in for a little bit to say hi to everyone and cry a little about his wife and kid, showing everyone pictures. You were sure that he was sober and just living the high of life.

A twinge of jealousy shot through you at him being able to enjoy his life so much right now. You downed your drink and stared at the empty cup grumpily. You felt just like the cup. Maybe you are a cup. Did your legs always feel like that?

“Woah, you doing okay?” Jongin asks as he gets into your space to take a look at you. He was pretty tipsy, but doing way better than you right now. Both in spirits and sobriety.

“Jongiiiiin, I’m like this cup.” He has to jump back a little as you shove your cup in his face. “You see how it’s wet on the outside?”

“From the ice?” He asks with a raised brow.

“I’m all sweaty!” You shout at him, suddenly feeling like the room is a lot hotter.

“No, you’re not.”

“Look! Feel!” You try to grab his hand to bring it up to your forehead and he grimaces. He shakes his head and you try a couple more times before he pins your hand to the table and reaches for his phone. “What are you doing?”

“Getting you home,” he says as he scrolls in his contacts. You try to look at the screen to see who he’s calling, but he brings the phone straight to his ear and turns a skeptical eye on you to make sure you don’t keep trying to bring his hand to probably stick you in the eyes.

You’re too distracted by pouting to care who he’s talking to. And your head hurts. The alcohol is hitting you fast. How much did you have again? Or was it because you drank the rest of your three-fourths of a cup in less than a minute? When was the last time you even drank like this? Since before you took on the first case ten months ago?

“He’s coming in 15,” Jongin says in your ear. You pop your head up from the table. You didn’t even know you had it down on the table in the first place.

“Who?” You ask sluggishly as you try to keep your eyes open. You don’t bother hearing a reply as you quickly make your way to the bathroom. It’s quieter in there, and colder too. You feel better already by giving yourself some space and time to think for yourself. Not really feeling like you need to get everything out just yet, you lean against the wall and take some deep breaths.

Eventually, there’s a knock on the door and a call for your name. It takes a couple more tries before you push yourself off the wall and wash your face.

“Oh, good. I thought I was going to have to pull your head out of a toilet bowl.”

You yell out in shock, water flinging everywhere when you look up to see Sehun in the mirror.

“What are you doing here?” Water drips off your chin and you remember that you were washing your face. You sigh and see if any got on your shirt – a lot did – and look for the paper towels to wipe.

“At the bar or in the bathroom?” He asks. You grunt in response, eyes blocked by the soggy paper you’re using to scrub the water from your eyes. “Jongin told me you had too much and needed to be brought home. And again, I was making sure you didn’t decide to punish yourself and give yourself a swirlie.”

“Why would I do that?” You grumble at him. Your head was a lot clearer thanks to the rest, you probably spent all of Jongin’s promised 15 minutes against that wall. Plus, the water cooling you off made you feel like you could at least walk to a car before passing out.

“He said you looked sad.”

“I’m not sad.”

He gives you a once over. Hair a mess, probably from the wall. Face still red, from scrubbing with that scratchy paper towel, embarrassment, or the alcohol, probably from all three. Clothes wet from you spilling two handfuls of water all over yourself. And the heavy burden of the finding of 21 girls coming crashing back down onto your shoulders.

“Yeah… you look pretty sad to me.”

“Thanks,” you bite a little harsher than you intend to. But, thanks to the one who made you build a tougher skin with a level of sass on his own, Sehun takes it all in stride and smiles. He merely grabs you by the shoulders and leads you out of the bar. Jongin nods and waves you off, keeping your coworkers distracted by the state you’re in so you don’t get teased when you come back the next morning.

Between the time Sehun came and got you and when he arrived, he had already transferred your stuff from your coworker’s car to his. You saw this when he helped you climb in and your bags of notebooks were sitting in the back seat. Sehun buckled you in and shut the door for you. The state of mind you were in currently clearly showed you could do at least that, but Sehun chose not to care and did it for you anyways while you watched him walk around the car to the driver’s seat.

“If you fall asleep, just know that I’m not carrying you inside.”

“So my knight in shining armor does have a flaw for tonight’s rescue.” You sarcastically bat your eyes at him and he chuckles, shaking his head and he starts towards your apartment.

“I meant to add that I’d probably be dragging you up those three flights of stairs. By your feet. Head hitting each step.” Before you can ask why in offense, he grins with a shrug. “You went through all that training, not me. All my muscles go to my ears for listening to you go on and on about cases.”

“I’m the reason why you have a job,” You grumble as you stare at the passing buildings. Sehun keeps that stupid smile on his face and laughs.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The ride to yours is a lot quicker than usual since at this hour it’s already late hardly any traffic. Again, Sehun is humming some songs and tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. At least this time there’s less of him switching it up since he’s forced to sing along for the whole 3 minutes. He’s still humming as he grabs all your stuff from the back seat and follows you up the stairs to your apartment. You silently curse the fact that the elevator is down for maintenance since you wish you didn’t have to climb that much while drunk. You feel even worse when you realize that Sehun took all of your bags and all of those notebooks, binders, and files are no joke. It’s a wonder that kids can carry all that on their backs plus whatever else you put into the bags.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Sehun asks as you pause on the steps, a little behind you and huffing a little.

“For someone who claimed he doesn’t have the strength training to carry me up the stairs, you sure are doing real fine while walking up two and a half flights of stairs and carrying all those books.” Sehun lets out another huff, shorter than usual that let you know he was working up quite a sweat.

“I work out.” He says plainly and grins at you again, which makes you roll your eyes at the statement and continue forth. He’s been over before, plenty of times. He’s come over to bring food on your sleepless nights when you just can’t sleep or spend so long trying to work on another case.

You finally make it to your apartment and eventually into your room. Sehun had set the bags down by your couch where you already had a bunch of files spread out on the coffee table. He tuts and grabs one of the papers and gives it a quick skim.

While you change into comfortable, cleaner clothes he hums and calls out from your small space. “You really need to learn about work-life balance.” He sets the paper back down and goes about preparing you some essentials for when you wake up in the morning definitely hungover.

“You know why I can’t,” you call back as you collapse onto the bed with a groan. Your body all of a sudden feels so heavy and it’s hard to keep your eyes open. You huff into your pillow as you try to block out the haunting words of all the names of the 21 girls that prevent you from sleeping at night. That prevent you from functioning unless you can figure out a way to bring them all home.

From your couch, Sehun makes himself comfy and sighs. He folds his hands over his stomach and quietly says to himself, “Yeah… I know.”

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oubliette-odette · 8 months ago

Text

The Reluctance of Love Pt. 24

This is a shorter chapter, but we have to get Drunrag's POV on what's happening here, right?

I promise things won't be bad forever...maybe...

Orc Male x Half-Elf Male, Fated Mates, Forbidden Love, Slow Burn Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 Content Warnings: mention of mating, homophobia, fantasy racism. All orcish is from orcishdictionary.com, created by Matt Vancil.

I woke up to an intense pounding in my head and a ringing in my ears. I struggled to open my eyes, and I processed everything slowly, struggling to make sense of my surroundings. Here is what I knew for certain: I was laying on cold stone, ground in the center of a room and I was not alone. Beyond that, my brain could comprehend nothing but a pain that pervaded all other senses, all except that slow ringing in my head. My eyes remained clenched shut. Though I could not consciously think in that moment, I think I knew in some way that if I opened them, it would be accepting that the pain I was feeling was in fact real, and I could not escape from it.

“Master, he’s coming to.” Someone hissed nearby.

I fought to remain in the coldness of unconsciousness, but there was an ache in my fingers, in my stomach, my shoulders, my legs, everywhere that would not let me rest. I fought rest until I could no longer, and as I blinked my eyes open, I suddenly recollected everything that had brought me there to that moment where I was clouded with pain.

First, the hunters had shackled me with heavy chains on my wrists, ankles and my neck. A chain kept me tied to the back of one of their horses. I was expected to keep up on foot with the gallop of their horses. If I could not keep up, I was dragged for a time before they stopped and kicked me back onto my feet. I was bloody and raw from being dragged with no shirt, no shoes, and the chains soon stung against my raw skin where they rubbed and chafed.

Like magic, we stepped from the fields into a cool, gray room of stone. My delirium couldn’t understand how we transported ourselves so quickly, but I was dragged by the chains to a room that held dim light. My clothes were ripped from me and I stood naked in the room, taking in the tables around the perimeter that boasted a large paraphernalia of torture devices. Whips, nails, knives of all sizes, a saw. My blood went cold as they forced me to take a seat in the chair that waited for me in the center of the room and restrained me with wide leather straps on my torso, my arms, and lastly my legs. They left the chains on me and the sound of the clinking chains echoed in the dark chamber.

I had not heard from anyone since then and I remained in the dark and cold of the cellar. There was a dull pain in my body that seemed to permeate across all parts of my body. Even with the pain, my body grew too exhausted to stay awake any longer and I found myself drifting into a restless slumber.

I didn’t hear when they returned, I only heard the ringing in my ears and the rhythmic throb in my leg.

“You’re going to want that looked at.” A voice said in front of me.

I didn’t lift my head, not at first. It took everything to move. But eventually when they didn’t speak again, I slowly raised my gaze up.

Duke Hilmar, dressed in white robes, looked down at me with a steely gaze. Behind him was one of those hunters, their red eyes were all that I could see beneath their hood, but it gleamed with some cruel satisfaction. I returned my attention to the Duke standing before me. His smile was unkind and I felt a shiver of fear run through me.

This man would not help me. Or take any pity on me.

Duke Hilmar grinned back at me, “I’d like to spend some one on one time with my son’s seducer.” He smirked. “What do you say to that?”

I didn’t have words to answer him, my lips were pressed tight.

“Perhaps you would like something to drink?” He asked, then took a step back. His eyes didn’t leave me, and I could see the way they shone with some evil satisfaction that he stood so much taller than I. That he could easily break me if he wanted to.

I shook my head. I didn’t trust this ruse.

“Oh, come now.” He said, pouting. “I am the only one here who can give you the reprieve you seek. You live under my command when you eat or sleep. Consider this my one act of mercy. I’m giving you this opportunity freely. Take it before I destroy you.” In his hand was a small metal cup with clean water inside.

I shifted my attention from the cup back up to him, but I gave him no answer. He had not broken me yet.

He sniffed, “Fine then, I suppose we can skip the formalities and skip straight to the point. I could kill you, orc. You’ve poisoned my son to turn against me, and you’ve made a mockery of the Hilmar name. But killing you just isn’t enough. Because now you’ve turned my son into something I cannot forgive. That he would willingly choose you over anything. That he would even consider sleeping with you. It’s completely vile. You’ve mixed up his mind and confused him. And so I won’t let you die, orc. That would be too kind. No. I plan for you to suffer a prolonged and painful existence.

“You will be pleased to know that my son is above us now, making the final preparations to leave for his wedding. The wedding you so carelessly tried to interrupt. I believe he has finally come to his senses that such impulsive and truly impermanent romances such as yours are nothing compared to the fulfillment marriage can provide. He has made this choice on his own. He has chosen to abandon you, and greater for us all. He will make a fine leader some day, and an even greater father.”

Every word sliced through me, I tried not to let it show, but I don’t believe I could hide it, not then. “You’re lying.”

“You think so?” He asked, his voice light and unbothered. I hated his face, moreso when he smiled that wicked grin. “Then explain why he gave me this?”

The vial. Dangling from his fingers. Undamaged and filled with the blood and ashes of my people. Containing the anchor that tied Altan and I to each other. It couldn’t be. Lies. It had to be lies. I blinked furiously, my face burning hot with emotions I couldn’t completely decipher.

“You see the truth for what it is then. Good. You understand your place a little better then. So, that leaves us with you. What should I do with you? Free you?” He pondered for a moment, then tsked softly, “No, you would run right back to him, I know you too well now. But perhaps I can offer a bargain.”

I glared up at him, waiting for the next slice of cruelty.

“You will be kept here with the Red Hunters and you will do as they say. Behave, and you may have the chance to see sunlight again and gaze at my son from a distance living life without you in it. But understand this, even still I will starve you, isolate you from everyone you ever knew. You will not know kindness or rest and you will not see my son again without my say so and he will never see you. He will forget you, and he will not know that you live in the shadow of his glory. Your kind must remember that you are not meant to stray from where you belong. If I see any more of you in Berdusk, I will bring them down for you to watch as I slit their throats. They will know that you are the cause of each and every one of their lowly and pathetic deaths.”

My body tensed and flexed, anger forming in the pit of my stomach.

“Now, let’s see how you handle our little toy.” His hand hovered over the table before he stopped and looked somewhere I couldn’t see. He strode out of my vision and I heard the sound of metal against metal, and a hot sizzling, sparking sound.

The Duke returned, a red hot brand in his hand in the shape of a fiery sun.

“The Phoenix is a symbol of the undying, the undefeated.” The Duke said, “You will remember that the Hilmars remain above you, ever conquering.”

My heart was pounding so fast inside me as I watched the brand come closer and closer to me. I held my breath and clenched as I felt the sizzling heat hover over my chest.

“If you pass out, you get another mark. Understand?” The Duke asked.

I didn’t answer, but instead held nothing back as I screamed when the metal met skin.

***

I woke up in a different room, and hissed as I felt the burn on my skin. It was raw and I still smelled the burning in my nose. I was on a bed made up of a straw mattress and a thin, worn sheet. I looked around and realized that I was not alone.

A Red Hunter stared at me, smug. “The master says you can stay here and recuperate. But if you fall asleep, I will tickle you.” They lifted their hands, showing long, thick nails filed down to sharp points.

I knew he was not joking about such a threat, whether it made sense or not.

“Also he insists that you eat this.” With the soft part of their boot, they edged a plate towards me. On it was a roll and a bit of dried meat. It was deceptively normal looking. I looked up at the hunter, but I could read nothing in their hardened gaze.

“Eat,” They said.

I reached for the roll and bit into it. It tasted normal, and my stomach grumbled happily as I continued to eat it.

Only after I had eaten the roll and was part way through chewing the meat did I realize that my vision was beginning to blur and I couldn’t focus.

“What did you…” I couldn’t finish, I collapsed back onto the bed and winced as every part of me screamed in pain.

I blinked and suddenly Altan was there, standing in front of me. Glowing in a light that he created alone.

“Altan.” I choked, suddenly tears were running down my check. I surged forward, ignoring the pain I felt as I fell onto my knees at his feet. “Altan, why are you here?”

“To sing you to sleep, my love.” His voice felt distant, far away and his hand reached for my face, caressing it. “You’ve been so brave so far.”

“I cannot.” I said, shaking my head. “Don’t.”

His voice was suddenly in my head, singing soft, soothing, ethereal and haunting. I tried to clasp my hand over my ears, but his voice was in my head. I knew that all of this was fake, a hallucination from whatever had been cooked into that bread. But his voice sliced through every possible distraction and even as I tried to resist it, his voice urged me to close my eyes and just rest.

“Altan, no.” I whispered out before my eyes fluttered closed, the music lulling me beyond control.

Altan stared silently as the Red Hunter clawed into my bare skin again and again. The tears had not yet dried from my face as he swept a sharp nail across my face, and then all I could see was red.

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niobe-loreley · 1 year ago

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Heaven Is In A Shortcake {xvi}

the previous chapter was the appetizer~ now, for the main dish

disclaimer: The Gray Man and the characters are NOT mine, even the reader. I only own the plot and the reader's character lol. Pictures used in the fic are NOT MINE, but only the edited version (u can msg me if u ze owner); credits to the rightful owners and canva + weheartit. Additionally, I am not a Subic/Zambales native, so my apologies for any wrong locations, descriptions, or languages.

Six x F!Reader / Courtland Gentry x Female Reader

warnings: moderate amount of swear words. some filipino dialogues. slow burn. fluff. trust issues. dramaramramamama. comedy if you use a magnifying glass. culture shock. word count check. slightly proofread/revised.

CHAPTER SELECTION IS IN THE ✨Masterlist✨ Chapter 15 is the moment Chapter 16 is the icon

word count: 3.2k (N/N) = nickname *Kiara = Clare *Kurt = Court *cover names = reader doesn't know YET (except you do know #wreckthe4thwall)

After Court gathers your stuff and helps you with your shorts, he strips off his jacket and drapes it on your shoulders. "I'm just gonna tie them up, so they aren't walking free in the morning." he shortly clutches your shoulder, "Wait here, okay?"

You nod. "Okay.."

As you double-check your things, Court is tying up the unconscious thugs to a tree— rephrase: tightly tying them up. Not too tight to cut off circulation, but tight enough that it hurts and possibly cut off circulation if not untied after 12 hours.

Court was (still is) holding back. When he heard your muffled cries, he was seething. And when he saw the state you were in, there was only red in his vision. He badly wanted to kill them, but he quickly thought that death wasn't the punishment they deserved. Plus, it would attract too much attention.

Despite pulling his punches, Court struck the thugs hard enough for fractures.

"If I wanted to break all the bones in your bodies," he glances at the unconscious thugs, "I would've."

As he triples the knot, he looks over to you. You're fiddling with the contents in your bag while leaning on a tree. Court notices that you've donned his jacket, which looks like a very short dress on you.

A fluttering feeling spreads across his chest and up his throat.

It's that dangerous feeling again. Much more dangerous than when he was livid. This will only worsen if he ignores it, so he decides to contemplate something else.

While securing the thugs' bounds, Court sneaks glances at you every five seconds. The horrific events took place no less than 10 minutes ago, yet somehow you appear to be standing strong and unaffected. He always suspects you're more strong-willed than most. However, Court cannot truly fathom the extent of the trauma you experienced.

It's something anyone shouldn't ever experience. No matter the gender or what kind of person they are.

Court deeply breathes in and out, dousing the anger boiling in his stomach. He steps back, admires his handiwork, and nods to himself. He heads back to you and he notices a light on the ground. It's a phone. He picks it up, thinking it's yours, and swipes at the screen. After two messy photos, he almost crushes the phone upon seeing a picture of you straddled to the ground with your shorts being pulled down.

He knows there are more photos, but he doesn't need to look at them or else he won't be able to leave without snapping all their necks.

You watch Court walking back with angry strides. Even though he's wearing a cap and there's not much light around, you know he has a scary face on.

"Hey," you say with a small smile, in an attempt to calm him.

"Hey.." he replies with a sigh, glancing at the phone in his hand. "They, uh.. they took pictures."

It takes all your might not to break down again. "Yeah.. yeah, I figured. I mean, I saw flashes," you chuckle awkwardly and gesture for the phone.

He reluctantly hands it to you. "You can delete them."

"And destroy evidence that they did this to me? I think not," you huff. "I hope it's enough to land them in jail. I don't want to do any trial of sorts."

"You're probably going to have to, though."

"And get you and Kiara involved? No way."

He sighs, exasperated and amused. "You were just—" he tightens his jaw, "Take care of yourself first before you start taking care of others."

You heave a brow at him. "I know I said you have a savior pass, but don't you dare lecture me right now." you declare chidingly and give his shoulder a shove. "Now, let's go.. there's a police station nearby."

Court frowns. "How near?"

"A minute or two by car? And probably less than a 10-minute walk." you furtively observe the reluctance flashing across his face. "I mean.. you don't have to come with me. Just take me to my bike and—"

"No, I'll take you. Let's go."

"Where's Kiara, by the— ah!— Shit!"

You've only taken one and a half steps when your left ankle screams and decides not to fully function. Court is quick to catch you, and you feel a flare of shame on your cheeks, heating up with another emotion-that-should-not-be-named.

"Where does it hurt?" he asks, assessing your lower extremities.

You groan. "Left ankle. I think it's sprained."

"Let me take a look. Lean on the tree."

"Yeah, sure."

Court descends to a half-kneel and carefully rolls your sock down. He then uses his phone's flashlight to help his inspection. You glance at the thugs, still unconscious, and then you glance around, still no people. But the rain is slowly letting up.

"Maybe it's not a sprain— maybe I can walk it off, you know?" you shortly laugh, "It's my fault for just standing here and not stretching."

"It's sprained," says Court.

"Fuck." you say through gritted teeth, "Are you sure?"

"As sure as it is swelling."

You look down. "Damn, no wonder it kept twinging. I thought I could shake it off."

Court powers off the flashlight, pockets his phone, and rolls your sock up before he stands. "I have a compression bandage in the car. Here," he slightly squats down, "put your arm on my shoulder."

"Okay.. but shouldn't you be at my left side— woah, woah!" you yelp when he suddenly hoists you up in his arms. "Kurt, what are you doing?!"

"Preventing unwanted pressure off your ankle and keeping it elevated," he answers diligently, as though reciting in class, and starts walking out of the park.

You stammer. "I know first aid. I meant, why are you carrying me?"

He blinks at you. "I just told you why."

"I can walk."

"You tried."

"Stop arguing with me."

"That's my line."

"Why are you being stubborn?!"

"Why are you?"

Court's SUV is parked near where your motorcycle has fallen. Except its now up on its two-wheels and parked by the curb.

The driver's window rolls down and Claire's horrified face appears. "Oh my God, (N/N)!" she exclaims and climbs out of the car.

"Kiara? Seriously, what are you two still doing around these parts?" you question, glancing at the father-daughter duo.

"I told you, I'll tell you later." Court says, "You're safe, but not so sound. Health comes first."

Before you can protest, Claire opens the backseat door and Court carefully carries you in the car. "Get the first-aid," he tells the teen.

"Aye-aye!" Claire rounds the car, hops in the passenger side, and reels out a kit from under the seat.

"Scoot over," Court says to you.

"No." you say firmly.

He glares at you, and you glare back.

"Why are you two fighting?" Claire asks, amused.

"We're not. He's just picking a fight." you answer, scooting back.

He snorts. "Says the pigheaded." and climbs in the backseat.

"Who are you calling pigheaded?!"

"You, of course!"

Claire giggles. "Are you two just fighting to avoid saying what you're really feeling?"

You and Court look at her as though her eyes combined into one. "What?" the two of you chorus, "No."

"Jinx!" Claire chirps, laughing.

She opens the light and hands the first-aid kit to Court. He then starts bandaging your swelling ankle while you open up your phone's camera. It doesn't surprise you to see your beaten up reflection. Because honestly, you've been thinking you looked worse.

You have small cuts here and there; bruised right temple and left cheek; and dried blood caking beneath your nose.

Claire pops open a water bottle, carefully dampening a towel, which she gives you.

"Thank you," you smile, immediately wincing when your face twinges.

"Let me help," Claire unpacks the disinfectant spray and band-aids.

"It's alright—"

"No, (N/N)," Claire says solemnly, "None of this is alright."

You're momentarily shocked. This is the first time you've seen Claire immensely serious. Yet it makes you smile, and this time, you don't feel any twinge.

"Thank you, Kiara."

She blushes. "Y-You're welcome— but you don't have to thank me! I'm helping because I care about you, so it's only natural, you know.."

You feel a sting in your eyes and turn away, pretending to be eyeing the scrapes on your knees. In your peripheral, you spot Court staring at you discreetly. You've already cried in front of him, you don't want that to happen twice, let alone in front of Claire as well.

You've worried them enough.

"That's why I'm thanking you," you chuckle, turning back to her. "Because that's the only way I can repay you right now."

She hums. "How about a movie marathon on Sunday?"

You laugh. "Deal."

Court looks as though he's about to reprimand Claire, but quickly keeps it to himself. You stifle a smile at that and start checking on your other wounds.

"Why are we stopping here?" you ask as the SUV slows down to a halt one block away from the police station.

"I, uh.." Court trails off.

"Government issues," Claire chimes in, shortly glaring at Court. "Yeah, he's one of those crazed conspiracy theorist."

"I'm not crazy," Court defends.

Claire snorts. "I didn't say you were."

"Wait, is that why you always wear a hat?" you ask amusedly.

"Yes! That's exactly why!" Claire barks out laughing.

With red ears and a displeased frown, Court climbs out the car without another word. You and Claire exchange grins before she carefully crawls to the driver's seat.

Court opens the passenger door. "Don't move," he says when you start scooting towards him.

"Don't worry, it's not aggravated." you nod at my sprained ankle, which I've set atop the other ankle.

Court waits for you at the edge of the seat. And without warning, he hooks his arm under my legs and cradles my back with the other, gently carrying you out of the car. The heat on your face clashes with the cold biting your skin, the battle sends shivers down your spine and you try not to shudder.

"Hey! Don't tell me you'll carry me to the police station like this," you frown at Court.

"How else would I take you there? Want me to roll you?"

"Go ahead, you'll be the one having a hard time."

"Stop arguing with me or I will really roll you across the ground."

"I'm just saying that you can carry me on your back, dummy!"

"Aww, arguing like a newly-wedded couple!" Claire chimes in teasingly.

You and Court snap scowls at her. "Cl— Kiara!" he chides, while you exclaim, "What?!"

A click and a flash resounds across the quiet street. Claire has taken a polariod picture of you and Court. "If I edit this picture, I'll caption it as Brawl Wedding." Claire snickers as she wags the photo towards the two of you.

As if you haven't blushed enough, your neck and face are flaring when Claire said 'wedding'.

Once you're on Court's back, he starts a slow trek to the police station. You keep your hands on his shoulders rather than wrap it around him. He's already too close as it is, and that zesty scent of his isn't helping. You don't even wanna get started about his hands underneath your thighs.

"Is it okay to leave her alone there?" you ask, an attempt to distract yourself from observing him at such proximity.

He shortly glances over at you. "Can you worry more about yourself right now?" he replies in a playful tone, but you know he's scolding you.

You huff. "I'm done worrying about me."

He clicks his tongue. "Well, I'm not."

"And why is that?"

Court doesn't answer right away. "Because…" he stammers and trails off, and for some reason, that makes you blush.

"You and Kiara dot on me too much," you say to break the awkward silence.

Court chuckles. "About Kiara.. don't worry, she's a big girl. She knows how to defend herself."

"Did you teach her?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Can you teach me?"

"Of course. When would you like to start?"

"I was kidding."

"I'm not."

You feel a swell in your chest. Unfortunately, it's nothing bad. Just good.. stirrings. Same feeling when eating a marshmallow.

"I can handle myself." you say.

He sighs. "I know you can, but.." he stops walking, "I just want to teach you how to clock someone the right way."

"The right way?" you echo amusedly.

"Yeah, the kind of way that knocks someone out in one or two hits. So that they don't quickly get back up."

Court starts his gait again. You're about to reply a joke, but notice that you two are almost to the station. You press your lips shut and stifle a smile.

You want to ask him more. You want him to talk to you more. But you don't want him to run out of things to say or share to you and your curious (talkative) self. Then again…

You furtively peer at his face. It's serious, like it always is; however, there's flecks of nervousness on it. The reason for that is unfathomable to you.

…Court never ceases to astonish you.

The police are like flies on a watermelon on a hot, sunny day when you and Court enter.

They inquire you relentlessly while ushering you to a room. And when asked to have a private conversation with you, Court is about to exit when you hold onto his arm and ask the officers to let him stay.

Now, he's watching you retell the whole event.

"Listen, don't look too suspicious. Keep your cap up a bit, but not enough to show your face on the CCTVs. Just enough to let them know you're friendly."

Court briefly lowers his head, hiding his smile, as he recalls what you whispered to him before entering the station. It's as though you know what kind of circumstances he and Claire have. Surprisingly, no matter how many countless times he did a background check, you don't know anything— you're clean.

Too clean, if his paranoia may add.

And if his paranoia will add another thing, it's: how the fuck is he still calm being in a police station filled with security camera?!

Court is panicking for not panicking in the first place. Scratch that— for not panicking even now!

It's baffling him.

Appalling even!

"Opo, nakatali lang po sila sa isang puno sa Waterfront Park. Kaibigan ko po may kakagawan," you nod towards him and the officers glance with quirked brows.

Court internally composes himself and returns a nod. Looking at you, everything somewhat becomes crystal clear yet simultaneously foggy.

If you're the reason why he's staying calm indefinitely, the next questions should be.. why and how?

By the time you're done with the interrogation, Court unfortunately doesn't come up with an answer.

The officers escort you two out, where Court only piggybacks you down the stairs and off into the street.

"They wanted to interview you," you say once Court crosses to the next block.

"Really?"

"Yup! Told them you're Icelandic and still practicing basic English."

Court stifles a smile, but it quickly ends up into a grin. "I can't believe they bought that," he replies teasingly.

You huff proudly. "I can be monumentally persuasive without breaking a sweat."

"What else did you persuaded them to?"

"Nothing, really. They're quick to assume that I'm your tutor."

"Did you tell them we were out late tutoring?"

"Yeah, I did! I told them that you were an immersive learner, you needed environmental stimuli to learn the words. That's why we were outside, and then got attacked by those goons."

Court can't hold back his laugh. And you're immediately infected by it.

"What?" you ask, chuckling.

"You're a very convincing liar." he declares, "I say that as a compliment."

"It wasn't lying if it was partly true."

"I don't think half of it was true. Nevertheless, it was awesome."

"But you are Icelandic, right? I presumed because of the chef-takes-first-spoonful tradition." you snicker and unknowingly place your chin on the edge of his shoulder, inclining your head sideways. "Remember? The night we first met.."

"Yeah," he looks over at you, "how could I forget?"

Court doesn't realize, and neither did you, just how close your faces are. All he knows is that despite your bruised face decorated with cuts, you look pretty.

You are pretty.

But he doesn't like you because you're pretty.

You're pretty because he likes you.

Wait, what?

"Hey, noble steed, you aren't moving." you pat his shoulders, chuckling.

Court snaps out of his stupor just as you pull your face off his shoulder. He notices your blushing cheeks, but disregards it for a trick of the light on your bruise.

"Sorry," he mumbles and carefully marches towards the SUV.

Once you're safely situated and buckled up in the backseat, the father-daughter duo chorus a question— "So, where do you live??"

"Jinx," you chuckle and reel out your phone. "I live in—"

Without warning, there's a heavy pounding in your chest. You're about to ignore it when you feel your airway tightening. You furrow your brows as you try to steady your breaths. "I'm okay, just—" you sputter, "Just give me a minute."

"(N/N), what's wrong?!" Kiara unlatches her seatbelt and meticulously sidles from the front seat to the back.

You shut your eyes, but that only made it worse.

The guys who attacked you flash through your head, and you feel their hands on you again.

You snap your eyes open. No one's touching you. Even Claire is just right in front of you.

"I don't think I can go back to my apartment." you confess, gauging their reactions.

"That's.. that's okay, hey," Claire rubs your shoulder.

"The landlord will have me taken care of, I don't—" you shake your head, "I don't want to burden anyone."

"You won't be, (Y/N)." Court declares, frowning at you.

"Yeah, you need help, (N/N). That doesn't mean you're a burden," says Claire. "Do you want to go to Mindy's?"

"No, no.. I don't want to drag her into this."

Court sighs exasperatedly. "Are you serious? Will you stop worrying about others for now?" he questions, though it sounds more of a demand. "Mindy is your friend, and she'd want to get dragged into this. Unless you don't consider her your friend."

"She is. That's why I don't want to go to her right now."

"What the fuck kind of logic is that?"

"Kurt!" Kiara hisses.

"If you're so stressed about me, just leave me at the cafe!" you yell.

"What?!" the father-daughter duo looks at you in disbelief.

You sigh apologetically. "I'm sorry."

They stay silent.

"The cafe is a safe space for me." you disclose, looking at Court and Claire. "I have extra clothes there, some first-aid, and a lounge room where I can rest."

Court breathes out a laugh, shakes his head, and exasperatedly drums his fingers on the wheel. "Yeah, no," he says, facing forward.

You roll your eyes. "What do you mean no?"

He looks over to you, gaze unreadable yet solemn. "I mean, you're staying with us for a few days. And that's final."

A/N: very firm, Courtland Gentry! WE LOVE IT! And not to be conceited or anything, but if you think this main dish is sweet.. wait 'til y'all taste the dessert ☆⌒(≧▽° )

The keys to Chapter 17 are yet to be found!

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yet-another-deanw-girl · 26 days ago

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Chapter 11: The Mark, The Blade and The Scribe of God

||The Prophecy Series||

She knew for 15 years that this day would come. She knew her destiny had already been written. That her death had been foretold.

She knew she would have to stop him. She knew she would have to kill him. And she thought she was prepared for all of it. But the day she met him she realized how wrong she was…

Set in Season 10

Pairing: MoC!Dean x Female!OC

Warnings: the usual SPN, language, violence

Episode mapping: During episode 10 of season 10 "The Hunter Games"

Note: The events of this story are following season 10 of Supernatural and are taking place between October 2014 and July 2015. I tried to make sure that all the references to weapons, tech, etc. are accurate with the time period.

AN: This is my first time writing a fanfic but the story has been in my head for too long and it just needed to get out. I hope you like it.

AN: English is not my first language, I apologize for any mistakes.

Castiel is staying in the bunker for the last couple of days. I actually like the angel. It's so refreshing how clueless he is sometimes and the fact he is trying to take care of his vessel's daughter is unexpected. He has no idea how to deal with a teenage girl, none of them has, but they are trying. It is a little unnerving the way Castle is looking at me sometimes… Not like Sam… Not with distrust… or like I’m going to flip any moment and kill Dean. No… Castiel is looking at me like he is waiting for me to realize something… like any second I will figure out the biggest secret of the universe… Maybe I have to talk to him… Maybe he knows something more about the prophecy… He is an angel after all… But… if he knew something, Sam would have already prayed it out of him. But… except those rare moments that make me uncomfortable… I do like the angel. The really interesting thing is to see how Sam is acting with him. He is considerate and kind and supportive… well he acts like he acted with me the first day we met, before he learned who I am. It's nice to see it. I always knew that he is the compassionate one no matter the animosity he feels about me.

"I crossed the line. Guys, this thing's got to go." I hear Dean's voice coming from the library and I turn back. I'm just trying to stay out of their way and hide in the mainframe's room. The stupid thing doesn't want to make my life easy and show me the problem. "That won't be easy." Castiel replies. "Well, then, burn it off! Cut it off!" The frustration in Dean's voice is obvious but the conversation is fading away as I'm going farther away from the library. There is nothing I want to hear less than a new plan and a new hope they desperately want to believe in. "It will take a very powerful force to remove the effect. This reaches back to the time of creation. It may predate the lore. If we had the Demon Tablet, maybe." Castiel's words stop me in my tracks. The Demon Tablet? I thought It is just a rumor, a myth. "There may be another way." It looks like the angel decided to get involved with The Mark after all. I wonder what other way he believes he can find. There is no other way but me.

I admit, I'm curious about the prisoner Castile has brought in the bunker. He believes that the man can help Dean with The Mark. "We need to know how to remove The Mark of Cain from Dean's arm." I hear Sam asking the prisoner. "What? He's back?" The prisoner sounds surprised. "Because of The Mark? So… He's a demon." Wait! Wait! What? "No." "Okay, what then? What, did he kill a human or something?" The prisoner tries to mock Sam but Sam does not answer him. "He did!?" The prisoner exclaims excitedly. "He's gone nuclear! Total foaming-at-the-mouth, balls-out maniac. That's fantastic!" What had he done now!? So that's what they are hiding. My head is spinning. I need to figure out how to stop Dean before it's too late but I can't do anything until I fix this damn bunker! "Buddy… I don't care what happens to you. You killed my brother." He had killed him? This is impossible! The Mark wouldn't allow this. But it explains why the prisoner thought that Dean must be a demon. But why is he not? And who the hell is this prisoner? And why do they believe he has any information about how to destroy The Mark? "Boy, he really is a mess. Who knew The Mark was so toxic? Well… Actually, I did. You know it is going to own you sooner than later." This man is really annoying. I want to barge into the room and punch him in the face myself. "I have a special place in my… non-heart for you both, to which end… ta-da!... I would be tickled to help you pop this biblical zit. To do it, you are gonna need one specific thing. Your old buddy… The First Blade." They have a lot of things to explain but I decide to stick to spying on them for the time being. After all, they had many opportunities to tell me all of this so I intend to gather as much information as possible.

"The First Blade is back in play, and Crowley is the one getting it? I don't mean to be an alarmist, but you…" I hear Cas storming into the bunker. "This would be the Crowley who let the Blade turn Dean into a demon?" Crowley? Really? The missing pieces are slowly starting to fit together. My old friend Crowley is in this too…

"I'm guessing you're not here to reminisce." "No, we did what you said. We have The First Blade." That's it! I can not hold my mouth shut any longer. "You have some explaining to do!" I demand, walking in the interrogation room, the devil's trap room, as they call it. "Oh! And who is that? Aren't you a cute little Warrior of the Fates?" The prisoner coos. "Why none of you had told me she is already here?" "We need to talk." Sam tells me. "Oh! Now you want to talk!" I raise my brow at him and my voice is filled with sarcasm. "Outside!" Sam demands. I follow him outside and when we are far away from the room, I explode. "So let me sum up all the things you just forgot to mention! Dean was killed by that asshole, however he is, he became a demon and hung out for a while with my old 'friend' Crowley. With Crowley! With the fucking King of Hell! You found a way to bring him back and that was what triggered the bunker's alarm that brought me here." I'm pissed. "Then Dean killed some human and you hid it from me!" "You know Crowley?" "Kind of! Of all the things I just said, is that what you want to focus on!?" "What did you expect? Of course I insisted on not telling you anything!" He yells at me "You are supposed to kill my brother!" "Do you honestly believe I want to do that? If it depends on me I would rather die before I have to do this!" I yell back at him. "I…" We both stop our screaming match when we hear the door to the interrogation room slam shut and locked.

"So… Trouble in paradise? It seems like your brother doesn't really like your little soulmate." Metatron comments when Ema follows Sam outside. "What did you say?" I ask, not sure if I heard him correctly. "Oh…you don't know about this part? She hasn't told you!?" "Repeat it again!" I demand "How did you just call her?" But he just shook his head, his lips pressed shut. "It's very lonely here, and I have little to do but think." He starts. "And it occurred to me that you really need this mark taken off of you. And in order to do that, you really need me. So, here's the deal… That first little tip I gave you… a freebie, just 'cause you're you. Every future step, every future information? They're gonna cost you… Big…"

GIF from Pinterest

"All right, I'm gonna ask this exactly once before it gets ugly…" I warn him, taking out my angel blade and locking the door. "What did you call her?" My mind is racing… It can not be true… Ema… No… The angels and their games… But they can not be so cruel… It can not be true… It's just Metatron trying to find a way to mess with me again… "I repeat my offer… each question costs you." "You're confused. See, each question you don't answer… is gonna cost you. And it's been a long time coming. I mean, where do I begin? Stealing Cas' Grace… Casting out the angels… Making Gadreel kill Kevin using my brother's hands, starting an angel war… And, oh, yeah...you killed me." "My morality is being judged by Dean Winchester? How many people have suffered and died because they believed in you? How many times have you lied to Sam, including, oh, by the way, when he was possessed by an angel? And you say, 'oh, well, it's all for the greater good,' But lately, buddy, that greater-good thing just went away, didn't it? Now people die just because you want them to!" With each word my anger boils more and more. "Oh! Good, Dean. Go darker. Go deeper! Surely you've noticed every time you respond, when the Mark gets you all twitchy, you fall deeper under its spell. You think roughing up a few humans and demons makes it worse? Try messing with the scribe of God!" His voice is the only thing in my mind… His words… "And Kevin's death? All on you. You put him in harm's way and kept him there. Gadreel possessing Sam? Who was it who tricked Sam into letting him in? Oh, and then my personal favorite… Dean Winchester, whose entire existence is defined by a war on the dark and monstrous, bromancing his way around the country with the King of Hell!" He is right… This is all on me… "And Emilia… Oh! Her death will be on you too…" "Tell me how to remove The Mark!"

We run to the door. Sam tries to open it and yells at Dean. He tries to kick it down but when we hear screams from the inside Cas appears and blows it away. Sam storms into the room dragging Dean away from the prisoner just in time to stop him from killing the angel. He is an angel… What has he done to end up in chains? "I have to take him back." Cas announces. "Cas, this won't happen again." Sam pleads with him. "I gave my word. I have fences to mend in Heaven, and as it is, I have a lot to explain." "If you ever ask me for help again, I will choose death." The prisoner says when Cas walks out of the room with him. "You realize it's going to get worse, Dean. You're gonna get worse!" He looks at me. He is covered in blood, his lips cut, his eye swelling and turning black. Dean… What have you done… "And you, young lady, you will have to be ready to stop him. All the angels are counting on it…" I look at him with confusion. "What exactly do you think The Fates are?" He smiles at me glad that he had cached me off guard.

Dean looks at me with desperation.

Image from Pinterest

Chapter 12: I'm Not a Fucking Princess >>

||The Prophecy Series||

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heavensbeehall · 10 months ago

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"Catching Fire", Chapter 15

Part 2: The Quell

Chapter 15: The Preps keep crying when Katniss arrives in the Capitol. Cinna's new costume turns her into a burning ember. She goes down to the chariots and meets Finnick Odair. Katniss thinks he's creepy but I have read these books before so I know she's wrong. They do the Tribute Parade. Chaff kisses Katniss and she doesn't like it. Johanna strips naked and she doesn't like it. Peeta tells her they are teasing her and she's mad. Also. Darius is their new Avox.

Thoughts:

-- Katniss thinks she "has" to console the Preps and that it's annoying. But she could also just cry with them, but I don't think she can allow herself to be vulnerable in front of them.

-- How ugly do we think the District 10 costumes were? I'm picturing one of those inflatable cow Halloween costumes.

Quotes:

"Don't worry. I always channel my emotions into my work. That way I don't hurt anyone but myself."

D: D: D:

Cinna knows exactly what he is doing with the Mockingjay costume. In addition to designing "dozens" of wedding dresses, he then remade the winning one with an entire other dress underneath it. And I can't help but feel that--if he got the preps away safely--he could have gotten himself away, but he chose to stay. I am assuming he wanted to be with Katniss at the launch room. (Either that or he treats his life as nothing but a performance art piece?) Didn't want her to go in alone. But she did anyway. D: D: D:

"Portia and I spent a lot of hours watching fires," says Cinna.

Are they together? Or just work partners?

Finnick Odair is something of a living legend in Panem. Since he won the Sixty-fifth Hunger Games when he was only fourteen, he's still one of the youngest victors. Being from District 4, he was a Career, so the odds were already in his favor, but what no trainer could claim to have given him was his extraordinary beauty. Tall, athletic, with golden skin and bronze-colored hair and those incredible eyes. While other tributes that year were hardpressed to get a handful of grain or some matches for a gift, Finnick never wanted for anything, not food or medicine or weapons. It took about a week for his competitors to realize that he was the one to kill, but it was too late. He was already a good fighter with the spears and knives he had found in the Cornucopia. When he received a silver parachute with a trident--which may be the most expensive gift I've ever seen given in the arena--it was all over. District 4's industry is fishing. He'd been on boats his whole life. The trident was a natural, deadly extension of his arm. He wove a net out of some kind of vine he found, used it to entangle his opponents so he could spear them with the trident, and within a matter of days the crown was his.

I am getting tired of people trying to tell me Finnick and Annie weren't Careers. Finnick definitely was and Annie probably was. It taking a week for his competitors to realize how popular he was suggests that going in at 14 was a ploy to make him less threatening to the others. Possibly he didn't join the Career pack because of his age (though it doesn't specificy.) This passage also hints at Mags, his mentor, having another skill besides making fish hooks. She must have squeezed a lot of money out of Capitol citizens for that trident and timed it's arrival strategically.

I really want a District 4 book because I want to know about their Career training system. It seems slightly different from the other two, more individualized perhaps.

Because of his youth, they couldn't really touch him for the first year or two.

The Capitol won't sex traffic a 14-year-old kid. But once he's sixteen, that's fine, right?

(It's actually kind of sad that multiple people tease her for being "pure"--as Peeta says--uncomfortable with nudity and kissing. They must have all had fucked up sexual awakenings.)

He's draped in a golden net that's strategically knotted at his groin so that he can't technically be called naked, but he's about as close as you can get.

I hope Mags' costume isn't matching!!!

Probably this drives most people crazy. But for some reason all I can think of is old Cray, salivating over some poor, starving young woman.

Cray is not far off from the aura he is giving off. Maybe I shouldn't bring up my dark Finnick headcanons. But... his persona must be mimicking people he knew, right? So... was he exposed to sexuality before he was 14??? Or did this Finnick not emerge until after the Games?

"Do you think we'd have ended up like this if only one of us had won?" he asks, glancing around at the other victors. "Just another part of the freak show?"

"Sure, especially you," I say.

I think Katniss would've ended up like Johanna or Haymitch if she had won alone, actually. Though if Prim survived she would try to keep it together for her sister. I don't know about Peeta. Katniss seems convinced he'd be worse than her. I could see him ending up like the Morphlings, maybe, since they have so much in common (and also the only way I see him winning alone is by hiding in his rock). But I could also see him being a really good mentor, like Mags.

The woman, Seeder, looks almost like she could be from the Seam, with her olive skin and straight black hair streaked with silver. Only her golden brown eyes mark her as from another district. She must be around sixty, but she still looks strong, and there's no sign she's turned to liquor or morphling or any other chemical form of escape over the years. Before either of us says a word, she embraces me. I know somehow it must be because of Rue and Thresh. Before I can stop myself, I whisper, "The families?"

This is a small moment but it's important to me and I'm sad it was cut from the film.

#finnick odair #tribute parade #peeta mellark #mags flanagan #cinna #rue #seeder #chaff #johanna mason #darius

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extraordinarilyextreme · 1 year ago

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Twenty Questions for Fic Writers!

tagged by @bbcphile～ thank you my dear 🫶

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

30 right now～ what a nice number!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

363,479!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

so many, lol. right now, i'm actively writing for LHL and YRZX (and a bit LZTJ), but i previously wrote a lot for QYJ, CHSSN, and DMBJ.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

may we tie our hearts together again ⚫️⚪️ QingYa

9k, red string AU, canon + post-canon

NOTICE: Seeking Marriage Partner 💙💚 PingXie

5k, post-canon

青山仍在 | as long as the green hills remain 🪷🐕 HuaFang

7k, post-canon fix-it

but ask for no regrets 💙💚 PingXie

5k, canon-compliant N+1 things

a ghost walks into a soldier's house 💙🤍 SuiTang | 🖤💚 WeiLan

16k, crossover + crack treated seriously

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i try my best to, but for various reasons comments will accumulate in my inbox and i might not respond to them until even a year later. but please believe me, i do read every single one.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i write a lot of HEs... perhaps only an echo, since the entire premise of that (unfinished) series is an AU where Wu Xie isn't there to fulfill his ten-year promise with Xiaoge. rather than angsty endings, i write more angsty stories? in which case, the angstiest might be 千里自同风 | no distance too great as a canon-compliant post-canon fic that follows Fang Duobing's journey of grief. (but i don't think the ending of that is sad, tbh.) alternatively, 飞蛾扑火 | for you, i'll gladly burn is another contender given Shen Yi's big reveal in the last chapter (but also don't think the ending is sad). 红尘似水，万事入歌 | the world becomes song is pretty sad too if only because we the readers know the characters' fates in canon.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

honestly, i think most of my fics are HEs. or if not "happy," comforting for sure. most of my fics end with a promise to be together, to spend an ordinary life together, to have the chance to be in the moment together. it might not be super, like, grand or dramatic or anything - but i genuinely think all my fics have peaceful endings. so take your pick, peruse my works～

8. Do you get hate on fics?

rarely, and the few times that i have, i've simply deleted them.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

nope. i don't know how to, LOL

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

i have a guilty pleasure of writing crossovers, lol. i think they're all kinda wild:

a ghost walks into a soldier's house

镇魂 Guardian & 成化十四年 The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty

do not speak as loud as my heart

盗墓笔记 The Grave Robbers' Chronicles & 镇魂 Guardian

红尘似水，万事入歌 | the world becomes song

鬓边不是海棠红 Winter Begonia & 老九门 Mystic Nine

懷月夢 | on the summit, sun and snow

三生三世枕上书 Eternal Love of Dream & 封神演义 The Investiture of The Gods

照猫画狐 | tracing a cat to draw a fox

猎罪图鉴 Under the Skin & 无眠之境 Desire Catcher

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of. don't steal my fics.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes! 此生如梦 | this life, a dream was tl'ed into Russian～

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes～ @naiwong-bao and i somehow churned out the 111k monster that was 懷月夢 | on the summit, sun and snow. to this day, i have no idea how we did that, LOL

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

impossible for me to choose～ recency bias will suggest 🦊🐼 青也, 🪷🐕 花方, and 🎨🔍 城心城翊 though～

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

my 往前走莫回呀头 | go forward and don't look back series 🥹 i had two more parts planned originally after Xiuxiu's POV... one was Liu Sang, the other was Xiaoge. (there was an undetermined Bai Haotian POV fic too.) i also definitely won't be finishing the sound of snowfall (and don't want to LOL)

16. What are your writing strengths?

atmosphere and rhythm, i think. maybe because i used to write a lot of poetry? i also have faith in my world-building (bc i do a LOT of research) and dialogue. in terms of tropes, it must undoubtedly be hurt/comfort.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i'm not good at writing fight/action scenes (probably another reason why i literally cannot write smut). i also don't think i'm super great at description, but i think i've been improving.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

this is an interesting question because i actually write all my dialogue in Chinese first and then tl it to English since i pretty exclusively write for c-media now 😆 i like that a lot bc i think it helps me to more accurately characterize these ppl - but also it sucks tremendously when English is just the ugliest-sounding language in the world, LOL. (i always think my original Chinese dialogue is prettier and has more depth～)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

the first fandom i posted fic on AO3 for was Good Omens: i love(d) you. but in my life, it was probably like... Warriors (yes, the cats) or Shugo Chara..? idk, or maybe Case Closed (still love that series despite how insufferably long it's gotten).

20. Favorite fic you've written?

only children need to choose; adults can have everything～

tagging: @rongzhi, @elenothar, @difeisheng, @asterdust, @willowcatkinblossom, @starlitwishforu, @tunnelofdusk

#tagged #answered #mine #my writing #i dont remember what my system was for these #i tagged seven people for my bday but~ if you see this on ur dash THEN YOU ARE TAGGED!!!!!!!

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aboutkiyoomi · 4 months ago

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lil update for the masterlists !

antipathy: putting this out there rn, antipathy is looking at 10-12 chapters max. more likely 10. its gonna be short because i did not plan that book and it was very spontaneous. but it definitely won't kist get cut short but its not my best writing and im aware of that.

new fic alert ! but the good news is, i have an atsumu smau scheduled to drop directly after antipathy ends !!!! its 15 chapters so a bit longer and fully planned out. chapters will come out every other day, hopefully and yes !!! so be on the lookout.

craving onigiri : craving onigiri is looking at 20 chapters and i'm looking to drop chapters every 2 days. its a good story and im excited for it. i dont wanna burn out like i did with antipathy so im trying to make better schedules. not to mention, just taking my time and fully crafting stuff.

sweet escape: is a 2 part oneshot and the first part is out !! second part will be out soon-ish. just keep your eyes out for that.

other than that, thank you guys so much for 120 followers and who knows how many likes. i love and appreciate how fast we're growing. anyways, will see you all later. milani out 🦔🦔🦔

#milanionthemic

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suzyq31 · 1 year ago

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Question 30

I was meaning to ask that after you'll finish found, can you make an one shot of iris as a 15 to 17 year old girl with moments with both harry and teddy

I mean in this story unlike iris, we've mostly seen the relationship between both of them as a teacher student even though harry would like to scream in joy when iris performs well or iris would often wonder what it would be if he had known from the start

Maybe in this one shot, we can see their relationship as father daughter and with teddy, you said that it would be like having sibling so them bickering but also being protective of each other, you had already developed victoire and Teddy's relationship with each other and harry so well , it will be an icing on cake to see it

Because with only 10 chapters left, I think it will only cover the reunion between three of them and we haven't even reached to Halloween in the story or an end to her first year so we won't be able to see her quidditch tryouts, owls and newts preparation because as much as we love a 4 year old iris and dad harry, I would also like to see harry and a rebel iris or just a teen iris with harry getting taste of his own medicine and her getting a crush with harry and teddy being protective and all that fluff

I know, I'm asking a lot but your writing and story is so good, I would love to see those moments of that family together

Hope you have a nice trip ❤❤

I'm really glad you enjoy the story! Not sure if I'll end up writing a one shot...but never say never. I am likely adding at least another chapter or two to Found, since some of the other plot stuff got away from me. So while it's a slow burn in many ways with the reveals etc. There will be several chapters of them as a family of 3. Also we will see more of the dynamic between her and Teddy. Plus Teddy meeting Hermione etc. My hope is to one day have all three stories in this universe complete...even if it takes me a few years 😅

I searched through my draft for anything that didn't have too many spoilers. So here's a snippet from later in Found if that helps showing the three of them together! (Haven't written the Teddy scenes yet!)

===

Soon enough they were at the same oak door from yesterday. Harry paused, a hand raking through his hair. She tilted her head towards him, it was still surreal to be able to look directly at him like this. Emerald eyes held hers and Hermione couldn’t move, mesmerised at the sight.

“What are you doing?”

The new, but familiar voice made her jump, knocking into Harry who grabbed hold of her arms. She spun to her right to see Iris emerge from under the invisibility cloak, half her body still hidden.

“What’s the matter?” Iris asked this time, brow furrowed as she looked between them.

“Nothing,” she managed to reply, suddenly out of breath, Iris’s frown deepened.

“You just scared us,” Harry added, releasing her arms.

“Sorry,” Iris mumbled sheepishly, eyes moving to her trainers. She rubbed the cloak between her fingers, falling silent.

Now it was her turn to frown, sensing the tension in her daughter. “What is it sweetheart?”

Iris chewed on her lips “Everyone is staring,” she replied quietly, eyes flicking up to them. “More than with the vomit.”

Guilt flashed across Harry’s face. “Come on,” he said finally. “Let’s have a butterbeer.”

Iris brightened at this offer. Hermione followed her daughter and Harry into his quarters. Iris draped the invisibility cloak over the armrest of the sofa before flinging herself onto its cushy surface.

“What do I say? When people ask me things?” she asked.

Hermione glanced over at Harry who nodded thoughtfully as he fetched three butterbeers from a cabinet under his desk.

“Tell them you can’t talk about it. Auror orders,” he replied as he handed Iris her drink.

Hermione took the one offered to her, his fingers brushing against hers, making her heart jump. She ignored this and sat next to Iris who continued to watch them with her carefully held expression.

“We do need to talk,” Hermione said, placing her hand on Iris’s leg. “There’s a good chance this will end up in the paper.”

Her eyes widened, head whipping towards her father. Harry took a long sip of his butterbeer.

“There’s been rumours of a leak. About your mum. That she’s alive.”

“How did they find out?” Iris asked.

“The less you know the better,” Harry replied.

Iris crossed her arms. “I’m almost twelve!”

Harry stood, crouching in front of Iris, a hand on her shoulder. “Some things are too heavy for twelve year olds.” His eyes moved to Hermione and back to Iris. “I wish we hadn’t had to take on half the things we did by the time we were your age.”

Iris sunk further into the cushion. “You know I’ll just find out anyway.”

His lip twitched upwards. “Of course you will. Still, can you trust us that we’ll tell you what you need to know as it comes up?”

Her face twisted into a sceptical frown, gaze piercing. Hermione sighed, reading the expression all too well. “I know. My track record isn’t…great.”

Harry raised his eyebrows. She shook her head, pleading silently with him to speak about it later. He nodded and she released a relieved breath.

“Stop talking with your eyes!” Iris said, voice rising. Both of them stared shocked at her outburst.

Harry’s expression was just as incredulous as hers likely was. Suddenly she was laughing, unable to stop as she covered her mouth. Harry’s joining hers instantaneously. Iris glared at both of them.

“It’s not funny,” she muttered.

That only made them laugh harder and eventually her frown cracked, revealing a partial smile.

Harry stood from where he’d been laughing on the rug, wiping his face with his sleeve and offering Iris his hand.

“How about we get some fresh air?”

#suzyanswers #harmony fanfic #harry/hermione #spoilers

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ussjellyfish · 9 months ago

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You write a great deal of very long in depth fics. What advice do you have for tackling such a project? What do you do before you start writing? Do you hash out the major plot points entirely? Do you just start writing with a general idea and see where the story takes you? Have you ever written yourself into a corner or a plot that you don't like, and if so, how did you get resolve the problem? What are the hardest parts about longform fic? What are the easiest? Any other thoughts on the subject?

Thank you! I really enjoy the character journeys I can go on if I write something that goes on a for awhile. That's my favorite part.

Before I start writing I try to tell myself that this time, I'm not going to write something really long. It's a short idea. It'll be a few chapters and I'll be done. (this fails).

I usually write a few chapters first, before I'm really committed. There's a place for an out, and I don't take it.

I'm pretty vague on my main plot points, because they're less important to me than the character arcs. The character arcs I want are usually more defined. What do they need? What do they want? What are they totally unaware of right now that would be fun to write?

I usually (I have one exception) write slow moving romances this way. I can't call them slow burn because the characters are usually pretty committed to being together fairly early. I don't usually write "will they won't they". They will, it's the how they will that's fun for me. How do they get along, how do they work together in a relationship? How do they interact with each other's friends and family? Where are they going together?

I try to work that out fairly early. Where are they now, emotionally? Where are they going? What needs to happen to get them where I want them to be?

If the story is really long, the characters usually get to have a few arcs, make some progress, have a little emotional climax, work through that for awhile, start a new arc. That usually gives me something to work with.

I have written myself into plot points I don't like before, and I'm a post as I go writer, so I was trapped. Now I try to keep my plotty parts really subtle so I can have them be background or ignore them if I want too. The plot is less important than the emotional outcomes of the plot. The plot is really there to give my characters something to do while they make progress with their feelings.

My current fic is 35 chapters right now.

The first four were like a prologue, characters trapped together, they're stuck, how do they decide to move forward. For Quantum Variations on a Love Theme, the first four chapters could have been a stand alone. It could have ended, and it would have been satisfying (but a very different story.) One problem, a few character beats, done.

I decided I didn't want to be done, so then I needed more character beats.

My central couple in this one is Laira and Michael. Michael thinks she needs to sacrifice what makes her happy to be a good partner/parent. She's driven by being needed. Laira thinks she should be independent. She is terrified of being abandoned, so pushes Michael away first. She's fine, she doesn't need anything.

Their first arcs are Michael learning to be a little selfish, she can have the position that she loves and be a good partner at the same time. It's okay to want that and change her world to accommodate it.

Laira's is that Michael's not leaving. They're committed. Michael is going to stay not just because of her responsibility, but because she wants too. Being together is a choice they both want to make. Their first climax is agreeing they want to stay together.

That takes about 10 more chapters. I knew I wasn't going to end it at chapter 15, so I dropped a few threads that I could pick up on later. (Political instability on Andoria and space storms).

They each get a new character arc. Michael's is her fear of losing Laira, now that they're together, and how hard it is not to have control. Laira has some external things to work through, she has an ex and a family she hasn't met. Who is she now that she's closed one chapter (the ex) and what's it like for her opening a new chapter (her family). She trusts that Michael won't voluntarily leave her, so her climax is 'what if Michael is taken from me?'.

And they learn to function as a team, they agreed they wanted to be together as a unit, how does that work? What do they need? How do they deal with the other one being mad or having a bad day? What do they do for fun together?

That one takes another 10 chapters or so, and ends with Michael nearly dying, and how hard that is for Laira, and Michael trying to keep Laira from danger, while not making choices to keep herself safe.

Michael will sacrifice herself in a moment, if Laira's all right. Laira doesn't want to be left behind like that, and it's reasonable of her to want Michael to be safe. It's a low stakes story, neither of them are going to die, they'll face the idea of sacrifice, but I'm not going to demand that of them.

They fight about that. ARgue, end up trapped together again and work through how they can stay safe together. They both need the other one to be safe to be okay.

The background plot is that the space storms are getting worse, political instability is back burned for the moment. (I might bring it back, I might not, the space storms were more fun so I spent more time with that).

They've agreed that they need each other to live safe lives, so the last ten chapters (around 26-35) are them growing closer to each other, deciding how they want to be parents together, and taking a step back. Both of them have a moment where they let go of their professional responsibilities to be selfish and focus on their personal lives. Laira's is bigger, but Michael's is significant as well.

Then I (rather indulgently for me because I love labor and birth scenes) spent three chapters on that as an emotional climax. That has the emotional punch of dealing with pain, exhaustion, watching the person you love be in pain, and how do you feal with aht?

This one was fun because they have really excellent friends / found family, and they got to be so supported and safe. So there's a nice level of vulnerablity they could find because they were so supported. It ended with them looking inward, which I liked.

That part wasn't really planned. I knew they'd have really good support, and that they'd be open to it, which was fun to write, and where they went happened while I was writing it.

That wrapped up that arc, so how they go ahead together is next. How do they share, how do they balance...and I'll need something going on in the background, but I might chose exploration, or low key political stuff. That part I might work out as I go, because the plotty parts (what's going on in the galaxy and around them) is less important than where their feelings go.

And they're content but exhausted, but also have some time to figure out what things are like while Laira's not pregnant, which is fun. Babies are hard, so that's always fun to write too. More opportunities for support and supporting each other.

all of my really long fics have a character pregnant in the background, and that's usually what drives me to write it so long. She has an emotional journey and it's a long one so many things need to happen so she can work out what she needs and wants.

Making it into little arcs helps me pace. My pace is VERY slow, and unhurried. (think jellyfish, not shark). I take forever. So this works for me.

Thank you for asking!! It was fun to talk about.

#writing jellyfish fic #thank you for asking!

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