#i’m fine moving on if she knows she’s the one that fucked that up teehee 🤭

[thatone-churro]

pros of sitting in the green outside the library to do my work & chill:

great way to get sun and/or fresh air

micro dose on exposure therapy for my social anxiety

keeps me from making my dorm/room/balcony an accidental relation to work and thus mentally ruining the space

cons of sitting in the green:

bro i forgot my ex still goes here 😭

[catiuskaa]

your type

SUMMARY: It doesn’t matter how pretty you are, because, Jeongin’s been working in that cafe long enough to notice as soon as you walked in: he knows your type.

WC: 1.5k

CW: silly kind of enemies2lovers, except ‘enemies’ is just Jeongin being dramatic for a bit. It’s fluffy but also a smol tiny bit suggestive too tho. (reader being really hot kinda deal) teehee. (Also, heads up for fem!reader.)

[🔅☆☕️☆🔅]

God, no.

He clenched his fists under the counter, his eyes glued to your figure.

Jeongin shrieked in his place. No way. Why him? He groaned lowly, blinking slowly, trying to process and calm down beforehand, yet he still squinted towards the small bell above the coffee shop’s door, almost as if he could’ve blamed it for the impending dread horror he was about to face.

The smell of toasted coffee beans was almost not strong enough to cover that of your perfume as said bell announced your entrance, and it was then when he knew. Jeongin had covered enough morning shifts and worked several —if not more— evening shifts to know your type.

Pretty.

Disgustingly pretty.

So, so pretty.

Pretty hair, pretty legs, pretty nails, pretty, pretty, pretty. He held back the need to roll his eyes, your tone of voice still able to make itself heard even if the slightly crowded coffee shop was brimming with many other conversations, there it be the small child that blabbered to herself, giggling as she played with some small cars her mother had given her, or said woman, who also played with the colourful toys from time to time, while managing something on her laptop. Jeongin liked her very much. She tipped nicely.

Still, he couldn’t help but grimmace when he noticed your frown as you approached the counter, phone in hand, glued to your ear. Now, could it be that he was maybe being a bit too dramatic? Well, why, of course. His shared shifts were with Hyunjin, after all. Who, to make matters worse, was running late. Again.

“No. And I’m hanging up.” You stated towards whoever was unlucky enough to be at the other end of the call. “No- Jisung, kindly, I don’t give a fuck. If the big man says he’s not gonna pay me, I ain’t doing nothing. I am not some goody-two-shoes he can mess with.”

Your hushed voice still had the classic tone of anger he was familiar with. But Jeongin’s gaze towards you changed, almost reluctantly so, had anyone asked him. He had to hold back his eyebrows from shotting up when even if you were scoffing, still on the phone, arguing with that Jisung man on the other side, you still smiled widely at him, a grin that, had it been somewhere else, it would’ve certainly got you his attention.

But, he had to remain focused. To think, use the head that’s above your shoulders, Jeongin, he told himself. He couldn’t get sidetracked, or else you’d catch him in your spell.

Which wasn’t going to happen, because he knew your type.

Or so he thought.

He noticed an elderly woman waiting behind you, who was obviously not ready to place an order. Ah, there it was. Now you were finally going to turn off that charming attraction of yours, by—

“Oh, please,” You muttered lowly to the woman, a kind, adorable, toothy grin as you moved away from the queue. “I’ll be fine, really.”

Jeongin’s eyes trailed to you as he prepared the brownie the woman had asked for. He couldn’t believe his eyes when you smiled at him, —ouch—, a grin weirdly apologetic, which took him by surprise as you tucked a troublesome strand of your bangs behind your ear repeatedly. Disgustingly cute —yeouch— and without causing a total connundrum over nothing.

Ok. Sure. Yeah. That was totally out of character. But, no, Jeongin didn’t mind. Not at all. Definetely not. Not if you kept smiling at him like that.

“Listen, Ji." Jeongin almost flinched. He felt so lucky for not being the one being scolded by you. "The album is awesome, dude, but I ain’t touching it without being paid. We’re friends, and I love you to death, but if you call me again to make me work without a contract, I am killing you.”

Oh. Well. Jeongin may have not blushed due to your words, but certainly blushed at the way you smiled at him —again, not helpful with his situation—, but also the way you passed a hand through your hair. Ah, fuck.

He had been caught in your spell, hadn’t he?

No. No, no, no. He cursed in his head. Sure, femenine rage was hot. You were hot. Very. But, by all means, this wasn’t something he could indulge in, because—

“Um.” You snickered. “Sorry I was on the phone. Can I… er… may I order now?”

Because… um… what was the reason again?

“O-of course.” He heard himself speak, his voice sounding strange, as if it hadn’t came out of his mouth. He smiled, a bit awkwardly, indeed, but a smile nontheless. It got better when you matched it, chuckling lowly.

“It’s fine. Really. Sorry, again. I can see you’re busy, so by all means take your time.” You grinned, a smile with matching levels of innocence and cheekiness. Damn, he was already that down bad? “Could I have an espresso machiato?”

Espresso. Espresso. Not only you pronounced it right, which made the small barista inside him started to glow and shake Jeongin’s heart, that had started to beat like crazy, but the mere sound of your voice had the young man whipped.

“You're fine." Very fine indeed. "No worries at all." He nodded politely, feeling his cheeks grow red.

He started to note the order on the machine in front of him. Easy enough thing to do. Just tap here, there and… eh… um…

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” He muttered, frowning.

“I, uh, is everything the matter?” You blinked, your expression showcasing a small yet sincere amount of worry.

So odd. So out of character. So, so, so cute, his heart screamed.

“This machine is just the worst.” He gulped apologetically. “Does whatever it wants, really.”

A line started to form behind you, and Jeongin panicked. Why him? Fuck, shit, fuck. That was it. Jeongin was so getting fired after this—

“Do you mind if I step in?”

Jeongin’s eyes almost got lost in yours as his gaze locked on you.

“I don’t think I can…”

“I’ll wait for my coffe, and I’ll fix your machine. Promise. I know how these work.”

The head above your shoulders, Jeongin.

"I think Hyun- um, my coworker knows how to fix it. He should be here in no time..."

"Oh, please. Just let the girl fix it." A customer groaned behind you.

"Actually, I'm still in the wrong. Don't push it, sir." You argued with a smile, shocking both the man and Jeongin, who now saw a sort of halo surrounding your figure.

“I, uh… good luck, I guess.” He sighed, shrugging and letting you behind the counter.

Oh, he was so getting fired. Letting a client step in behind the counter? Nevermind how good she smelled, how cute and hot she looked or how pretty her smile was. You rolled up your sleeves, and he almost thought he had seen traces of ink. Oh boy. He was going to get in so much trouble, in about two sec—

The machine dinged funnily, and you smiled.

“Fixed!” You sighed cheekily. “A reboot and a shake still works just fine.” Jeongin blinked, puzzled. “Guess I gotta speak with Chan and Hyunjin.” You giggled. “Thought I had taught them better.”

...

“H-huh?”

Your smile got bigger, as you chuckled again.

Oh.

Dimples.

“Didn’t they tell you?” You smiled again, taking a hair clip from your purse, swiftly tying your hair up. “I opened the cafe with them a bunch of years ago. Chan owned the building, Hyunjin had the style, and I was the coffee enthusiast.” The way you beamed had him hooked.

The both of you seamlessly got to work together, making coffes and taking orders and serving. It wasn't rush hour, by any means, so Jeongin quickly started up your order, apologizing lightly, a blush on his face.

"I really appreciate it, though." He grinned sheepishly. "Here you go, noona."

You tried to get out your wallet, but jeongin's body worked faster than his head, only able to settle his hand over yours.

It was as if a shiver overwhelmed his whole body just because of that simple touch. A system reboot.

"It's on the house." he smiled, trying to play it off and calm the fuck down. "You saved me back there. I owe you that much."

Then the bell rang again.

"Hey, Innie, sorry I was late, I was walking my fish..." Hyunjin blabbered nonchalantly, unbothered, looking at his phone until he got behind the counter. He stared at you, then smiled widely. "Noona!"

Surprisingly to Jeongin, you didn't match his welcoming. Instead you scoffed. "No. I have to walk my fish, you see." You clicked your tongue, and Jeongin couldn't help but laugh at his mate. "Actually, I think you're fine on your own for the rest of the shift. We'll go watch your fish."

Jeongin had been too busy laughing to mentally prepare, and blushed furiously when you grabbed and linked your hand with his, giddily taking him to one of the free tables.

"I don't think I should go walk fishes still in my shift." Jeongin joked lightly, still flustered.

Your hand left his, and strangely to him, the action felt almost reluctant.

"Maybe we can chat over some coffee, then?"

Jeongin smiled.

"I'd love that."

He thought he had known your type, almost as gorgeous as annoying. Which didn't came as a surprise was how happy he was to be wrong.

[🔅☆☕️☆🔅]

kats, who has to confess she hates coffee with a passion.

catiuskaa, july 2024 ©

[madaqueue]

Dripping in Gold | Chapter 6

synopsis: finding a job was never easy, and why even bother trying after you meet satoru gojo, a man with mysterious and exorbitant wealth, who wants nothing more than to spoil you with it? the only caveat to your little arrangement is that it can never, ever, become personal.

pairing: satoru gojo x f!reader [suguru geto x f!reader]

themes/content: non-curse modern au, sugar daddy gojo. language, angst, smut. alcohol consumption, kissing, mentions of oral (f receiving). 18+, MDNI

word count: 2.2k

a/n: tbh writing this chapter has started turning me into a geto girlie lmao i may have to do some more content for him later teehee

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The warmth of the bar greets your skin as the buzz of conversation fills your ears. You’re too exhausted to wonder if you’re overdressed, your black dress hanging loosely off you after your encounter with Toji. Making your way past sticky, sweaty bodies, you finally find an open seat and sit down on the swivelling stools.

You order a beer and a shot of the cheapest liquor they have, anything to clear your mind of the day. More than anything, though, you’re just trying to clear your thoughts of Gojo. He has this insidious way of popping up when you least expect it, when you let the noise in your head get a bit too quiet.

Knocking back the shot quickly, you sip your drink as you wait for it to kick in, hoping to blur the edges of the turmoil inside you.

An arm reaches across the bar in front of you as a man leans against the counter. “You know, some places consider it rude to take shots by yourself,” he opens, his voice airy. “They’re made to bring people together, but here you are, looking so lonely.”

“Well, good thing that’s not here,” you retort, not bothering to look up at him. You don’t want to be talked to right now, all you want is to sit, drink, get a taxi home, and go to bed.

“I’ll take two more of whatever she just ordered,” the man requests from the bartender, talking to him over your shoulder. “Cheers,” he turns back to you, holding out the two small glasses of liquor.

Your eyes finally move up to him, sluggishly scanning the black dress shirt over his torso, to his arms, one of which is covered in a full sleeve tattoo depicting what seems to be a dragon (it’s hard to tell under the dim light of the bar, and you can only see his forearms where his sleeves are rolled up to, anyways). Finally, your gaze meets his face and your heart flutters for a moment. His dark eyes are partially covered by a few loose strands as his bangs escape the bun that holds most of his black hair.

Oh my god, he’s fucking hot.

Maybe it’s the alcohol finally hitting you or maybe it’s the fact that one of the most gorgeous people you’ve ever seen is standing in front of you, but your cheeks suddenly get hot as you try to avert your gaze from the man you were just ogling.

A soft laugh escapes his lips as he watches you become visibly flustered. “Aw c’mon now angel, you’re really gonna turn down a free drink?”

The nickname only furthers your bashfulness as you try to regain a semblance of self-respect. “N-no,” you mutter, still not able to look back up at him as you reach out your hand to accept the glass.

Before you realize it, the glass slips through your fingers, tumbling to the floor as it spills its contents over you.

“Shit,” you exclaim as the glass shatters beneath you, suddenly covered in liquor.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry,” he apologizes, grabbing napkins off the bar to try and pat you dry.

You sigh. “It’s fine, honestly with how this day was going I’m not surprised something like this would happen,” you reply with a sarcastic chuckle.

The man squats down to collect the broken glass, and something about him practically kneeling between your legs as he does so sends shivers through your body. Once he’s carefully placed all the pieces in a napkin, he turns his attention back up to you, still between your thighs.

“I know this isn’t very romantic, but I live about a block from here, I can get you a change of clothes and wash your dress for you if you’d like,” he offers.

“Is this your attempt at flirting with me?” you tease, trying to shove down the images your brain flashes you of what he would look like if he just leaned forward a bit, tongue against your pussy, eating you out.

No, I’m not doing this again. I’m just getting over Gojo, and the stuff with Toji. No.

“Oh, angel,” he purrs through a low voice, standing up, his body suddenly so close to yours, “if I was flirting with you, you’d know.”

Okay, nevermind.

Unable to discern if it’s the heat of his body or the warmth of the bar, something hot builds in your stomach. You need him.

“Okay, let’s go” you huff, hopping off the stool and grabbing him by the wrist as you lead him out of the bar. You can’t see behind you, but he’s grinning ear to ear.

On the walk to his place, you realize you’re about to willingly go home with a complete stranger. Maybe the whole situation with Gojo made your morals slip a little more than you cared to admit - after all, you did just fuck Toji a few hours earlier, but you at least had his address and pictures in case something were to happen. As the dark-haired man leads you down an unknown street, nervousness builds inside you.

“I-um, I just realized I never got your name,” you observe, trying to quiet your nerves.

He smiles, so genuine that it almost immediately puts you back at ease. “I’m Suguru Geto.”

Okay, a name is at least something, and honestly you weren’t getting any threatening vibes from him. I’m sure it’ll be fine, you reassure yourself as he stops in front of a door, reaching into his pocket to grab a collection of keys.

Unlocking the door, you step inside to the nicest apartment you’ve ever seen as Suguru flicks the lights on for you. The white granite countertop of the kitchen greets you first as your eyes move past it to the living room, decorated with a perfectly clean white couch and light wood coffee table, a gold vase with fresh roses sitting in the middle.

You try to stifle a laugh at how impeccable everything is. No way a guy lives here. Especially not a single guy. This is the opposite of whatever a bachelor pad is, it almost looks professionally designed.

“I can show you to my room to get that dress off for you, if you’d like,” Geto murmurs behind you, forcing your attention back to him.

You nod and he leads you down a hallway to the right of the living room, turning into the first door on his left. It seems like the hallway just keeps going, maybe to an office? You really don’t know enough about Geto to even make an educated guess on his living situation, but you honestly don’t really care. You just want to be out of this dress and under him.

His room is just as perfect as the rest of the apartment, a neatly made bed in the middle with a black comforter, plants decorating the corners of the space.

He clicks on a lamp to provide some lighting before turning around. “I’ll be in the living room, just take whatever clothes you need and come get me when you’re done,” he says as he reaches a hand up to his hair, undoing the bun and letting his shoulder-length locks fall.

Your arm shoots out to grab his wrist, freezing him in place. “Suguru,” you hum, voice low and full of lust, “why don’t you stay in here? I might need help finding something to change into.”

Slowly, he turns back to you, a sly grin on his face. “If you insist, angel.”

With that, his hands are on you. His palms grab your waist and lift you up, gently tossing you onto the bed. Your lips meet his as he lays on top of you, his breath smokey with the taste of liquor. “Let’s get this dress off you, hm?” he purrs against your mouth.

Snaking his hands behind you he undoes the zipper and slides it down your legs without breaking the kiss. While he does so, your hands are on his chest, undoing the buttons of his shirt. He pulls it off his shoulders and tosses it across the room before leaning back down, his lips now tracing down your neck.

You open your eyes slightly, taking in the muscles lining his shoulders and back. So, it is a dragon tattoo, you think to yourself as you mentally trace the outline of it down his arm.

Suguru continues working his way down your body, leaving trails of sloppy kisses along the way, until he finds himself between your thighs. The image of him from the bar flashes into your mind and you smile to yourself in anticipation.

A realization suddenly comes to you: this is about to be the first time in months that you’ve fucked someone and haven’t gotten paid. Hell, it was probably closer to a year since your sex life wasn’t particularly active before Gojo.

Suguru seems to sense the shift in you, pausing from where he was gently sucking on the flesh of your inner thighs. “You okay there, angel?”

“Y-yeah,” you stammer, unsure of what emotion you’re feeling as you grapple with the need to understand why you’re about to hook up with Geto. Is it because you want to? Is that even allowed? The concept feels foreign, especially after Toji. But then again, you kept seeing Satoru long after you had enough money - besides, there was that day when he forgot to pay you, and you didn’t seem to care. What did you want?

“M’kay, if you say so, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart?

Your heart drops. Images of Satoru come flooding back to you as the word repeats in your mind, only this time in his voice. The way he’d laugh through it as he teased you, how he’d whine it when you’d suck a little too hard on the skin of his neck, when he’d whisper it to you as he placed a kiss on your forehead before you both drifted into sleep.

Fuck. Fuck. No, not this, not now.

You were just starting to get over him, you were finally hoping to forget about him.

“I-I’m sorry, but I can’t do this,” you mutter, tears pricking the corners of your eyes.

Suguru immediately sits up and moves to your side, eyes scanning your face. “Okay, that’s okay,” he reassures, gently rubbing your arm as panic begins to take over you.

“Y-you didn’t do anything wrong,” your voice waivers as you wipe away the first few tears starting to fall. “Sorry I just…” you sigh, “I have feelings for someone else.”

The words leaving your mouth feel like a surprise even to you, but some part of you deep down knows it’s true. In everything you’ve been doing you’ve been trying to push Satoru out of your mind, but with each shove it seems like he digs his heels into you further, unable to tear yourselves apart.

“Oh,” Geto chuckles softly, “I get it. I’ve been there.” He squeezes your hand and hops off the bed with a gentle grin, moving towards his closet. Grabbing a large black t-shirt, he tosses it to you before grabbing your dress off the floor. “Why don’t you put this on, and I’ll get this in the wash for you. You’re welcome to stay here tonight since it’s pretty late, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

A smile forms on your face from his kindness as your tears begin to slow. “Thanks, Suguru.”

He nods, still grinning, and heads out of the room. Now alone, you’re able to try working through what just happened with him.

You still have feelings for Gojo? No, that can’t be right, because he doesn’t have feelings for you. Besides, you haven’t seen him in months, and you’ve been completely no-contact since you confessed to him.

But then, why would you turn down hooking up with Geto? There weren’t even supposed to be any emotions involved in it, at least not like there were with Gojo. Wait, were there emotions with Gojo?

Thinking back, you remember the way he’d look at you, eyes soft and full of love. He looked at you like you made everything good in the universe, as if you single handedly hung the sun in the sky and painted the clouds just for him. His gentleness with you, even when he was rough, was tender. The way his lips would linger on yours just a moment longer when you said goodbye after each date, how he’d watch you walk back into your apartment building because he couldn’t bring himself to tear his eyes away from you, how he’d purposely leave sweatshirts laying around for you to borrow so you could remember him even when you were apart.

Those are feelings. They have to be, right?

Too tired and too confused to think any more, you put on the t-shirt Suguru gave you and pass out in his bed, wishing Satoru’s arms were around you.

–

In the morning, you awake to the smell of pancakes. How sweet of Geto to cook. Sliding out of the covers, your bare feet make their way over to the door before opening it and stepping into the hallway.

Your eyes close as you stretch your arms up above your head. “G’morning,” you yawn.

“Well, good morning to you too, sweetheart,” a voice calls from across the kitchen.

Your eyes shoot open, body frozen in place, as your gaze meets the man who you fell asleep wishing for.

“Satoru?”

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[monamipencil]

another banger from mia. i love this series so much. not only was this chapter so entertaining and hot? it was so fucking dense and complex. i rly loved how you explored their characters more and their relationships too!! it's getting messy and messy i love it!! my fav parts below (they just get lengthier and lengthier but i dont' mind it all 😌)

“O-of geese.”

lmaoo

“Like plural of goose, geese?”  “What other kind of geese do you know, you dumbass.”

he's so dumbie, i love him 🎀

 Watching both men glaring at each other,

teehee *debbie ryan hair tuck* but this is a ick irl and i'd rather die.

Zeus, geese and the Helen of Troy.

i hate zeus with everything in my being.

“We have enough on our plate this season, Soonyoung.” It was very apparent that Seungcheol was trying his best not to meet your eye.

this man child, smh

his expression a lot softer

omg cheol look, we got your report back, it says you have fucking bipolar personality disorder.

“Can someone please explain to this man that I’m not going to listen to him.”

asdfghjkl lmaooo

Soonyoung dropped a kiss on your forehead

??? what are we??

As you slowly turned to Minghao, embarrassed to meet his eye, he straight up shook his head, looking amused.

girl, seriously? lmao

“You left this in my workshop last night….” 

...

“That's mine.’

.......

Fine, if he was going to be a bitch, so were you. Following his suit, you walked out of the hall in the opposite direction, leaving everyone inside baffled.

both of them are immature asf, and lmao i love the drama

But rather than scalding your skin off, the boiling hot water just felt like a tickle.

girlie is a charizard, hot water aint enough, we need lava

Soonyoung had broken up with his girlfriend because of you but neither he nor you were sure about what exactly he felt for you and Minghao? You had noticed he was generally protective of you since you had joined camp and thought it was just because he was nice, but the way he pulled you away from Soonyoung every time the two of you were a little more intimate? That did not seem very ‘general’. 

huhu, this is getting more messy, i love it 😌

Wonwoo - also in his towel, hanging low at his waist, moving as silent as a shadow as he walked towards the showers.

im just a man 😌 i need some of that-

“What can I know?” He raised an eyebrow. “I know you're a loner Y/n. You've been one your whole life. Your biological parents never cared enough about you, you don't have any siblings, you've never bothered to make friends, you've always been alone.”

ok nvm, why would she herself walk into the lion's mouth?

why do I have to try and bother with your existence when you’re just looking for the first chance to run?”

fair, but ... this is the opposite of the communication problems soonyoung is facing. also i like the depth of her character, and his too! i love their complexity

That was until one incident turned your entire life upside down.

i see, i have an idea abt what happened and 👀

You didn’t want this home, you didn’t want these people, you only wanted her. 

that fucking hurts. damn.. i love your descriptions of her pain and complexes. honestly, i completely overlooked the mother part. but it fucking hurts

meet the sight of a set of extremely well chiseled abs, rivets of water dripping down them.

chile, we were just talking abt her mommy issues im not gonna jump onto seokmin's DELICIOUS abs. anyways, damn his abs-

And with that you walked away from there, body alight with a different kind of fire now. You needed to find someone immediately.

 i feel so bad for her

“Hi cow.” You waved at the half asleep animal under the tree, lazily blinking at you.

 RIGHT, HIS COW’S NAME IS COW LMAOO

but Jihoon was not normal and that was confirmed when you opened the door and were greeted by two dozen gym equipment

 ASDFGHJKL

“Why has everyone on camp decided to be shirtless today?”  “Is that why you chose to be bottomless instead?”

LMFAOOOO

“Hot you are.” He mumbled, sitting down on the bench, grabbing a pair of dumbells. “There's way too much heat in your body, which means you're either mad or ovulating and I'm not sure how I can help with either.”

srsly? LEE JIHOON? WHAT ARE WE

“Can I at least tell you without having you stare at me getting dressed?”

i love me a smug man 😌

“Please wear them Y/n. I can barely look at you…”

when was the last time you were in the vicinity of a woman jihoon?

Jihoon rolled his eyes and grabbed you by the waist, hoisting you onto the counter 

 we just got manhandled. Im not okay with this, how dare he? Do it again- 

 “Fire is one of the five natural elements. Even the gods, your mother included, can only control fire, not create it.” 

i rly like the fact that she's afraid oh her own abilities and thinks of herself as a freak (it sounds weird like this). she's better than me if it was me i'm villain laughing and causing a wreak all around while showing off lmao (which obv would get me killed aint no way i'd survive ancient greece)

“Though I can’t promise I can keep my hands to myself.” 

 mingyu, honey, not right now. She’s having an existential crisis 

 The only thing that gave you comfort as he laughed was the knowledge that if you burn, Mingyu was perhaps the only one who couldn’t hurt with your fire. 

 this is oddly romantic 

most scenes tend to involve a minimum of five people.” 

 ???? 

Trying not to smile, Jihoon slotted himself between your dangling legs, pushed the hair off your shoulder, gently tending to your bruises. 

 what are we lee jihoon? 

“Uh…. Demigods are barren Y/n, we…. cannot have children.” 

 the plot keeps getting more complex and im here for it! My god, i feel so sad for her and that’s such a punch in the gut… 

That’s it. That’s what you needed again. A distraction.  

 we need therapy 

“Fucking hell.” Jihoon muttered and in a flash you were pushed up against the wall, trapped between it and him, caged by his arms on either side. “I'm only just a man Y/n.”

😌 he's just a man

“You're gonna cum three times before I do.” 

 i love a self confident man  

“I'm savouring.” He smirked, leaning closer. “I'm in good hands and I know you're soaked. It's only a matter of time before you're begging.” 

 okayyy?? Jee, tone down the dirty talk. Omg, the filth he’s spewing??

“Shit.” Jihoon muttered pulling you up. “That's code purple.”

  our man got cuckholded by a code alert 

“Seungcheol and Y/n, you two will head north.” 

and the plot thickens

“Okay mate, you need to get your head out of your bestie's ass.”

lmaoo

“You're the one in danger.” He corrected. “But yes you are the threat and more importantly, Cheol knows that. He always knew that. It was evident from the start that you were a monster magnet, that you are some kind of anomaly and that making you a part of our camp would only mean more danger but he said it didn't matter. He said as long as someone needed to be saved, he would do it. He said he would be your protector and that's why you're here Y/n - because Cheol made the choice to safeguard you.”

 once again, i love the characters being complex. It could’ve been so simple to just hate him with no reason but damn i respect cheol for this. I love your writing skills and plot building!!

As lightning ripped across the sky, Seungcheol let out a deep breath “Send her away.”

 i love scenes with his powers. It’s hot for some reason lmao (future lola squinting at past lola's comment after knowing the truth)

Yet again you had to remind yourself Natalie was in fact a pig and not a dog. 

 NATALIEEE 

“But I thought you should know - his heart was racing just as fast when you came to talk to him. It always is around you.”

😌

 if only Seungwkan didn't walk over, settling down on the log across yours.

jihoon being cuckholded pt.2

 “I wanted to ask for the ointment you gave me earlier, for bruises. I… have many mosquito bites.”  “Right.” He scratched his head. “I was going to offer you the same.” 

IDIOTS LMAOO, I LOVE THEM SM

Seungkwan’s eyes flickered between the two of you but it was only when Hansol looked up that you realised just how suspicious this must seem.

asdfghjkl

“I’m the Sun’s progeny - a little solar energy goes a long way.” 

i just imagined woozi as little ball of sun, i wanna cry

Something was wrong. 

...

“Because the song you just heard is what we call Apollo’s Anthem.” He cocked his head at you victoriously. “If mastered, the one who plays it can make anyone dance to their tunes, like you just did.” 

holy shit. mia i absolutely love your ability to use mythology like this!! your brain??? omg

“Can we please not talk about your hot math teacher while I'm jerking off?” Jihoon groaned. “Now I'm thinking of my math teacher and he was a gnome of a man.” 

jihoon lmfao ???

“Stop talking and move over.”

any other man would fight these hands for that but i can let lee jihoon slide

“You want me to fuck you.”

lmfaooo

Your bratty-ness was met with a painful spank on the ass.

damn... ofc, it's jihoon with his spanks

“Stay safe doll.”

idk who to fawn over here. sir, my heart cannot take this

“It's always night at her realm. No light, no Gods, no eyes are allowed here.” He gulped as though he suddenly realised the proximity between the two of you. “No one can see us here.” 

ba-bump, ba-bump im sorry lmao i just had to. honestly, if this was a visual novel, i'd dig the fuck out of it

 he pulled you up against him, the lighter dropping from your hands due to the sheer force as your body pressed against his.  “No one can see us Y/n.” He whispered, eyes drifting to your lips. “No one.”  You moaned when you felt his tongue slip into your mouth, his hands annoyed by all the armour as though they wanted to rip it out. Looking up at you equally breathless, eyes almost pleading, the words that you'd been dying to hear left his mouth at last.  “Fuck I've wanted this for so long.” He groaned. “I wanted you for so long Y/n, please….”  he was begging for. Choi Seungcheol wanted to sleep with you.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

giggling, blushing, kicking my feet, bitting my hands, bleeding from my nose, dead. omfg, the fucking cliffhanger?? miaa, I LOVE YOU ?!?!

Camp Seventeen: Chapter 3

Pairing - Afab!reader x ot13

Word count - 16K

Genre - Greek Demigod AU! We’ve got crack, smut, fluff , angst, hurt, comfort, all of it in this series, buckle up!

Previous chapter

Chapter summary - As the days in camp seventeen unfold the many burdens you had tucked away in your heart, you dive into the sorrows you had presumably left behind. Thankfully (or not) a musical moment and a menacing monster serve as unforeseen distractions.

A/n - I do have a taglist so comment on this post to be added! As usual, the member and warnings will be added in a weeks time to keep suspense :) This chapter is a bit heavy, the plot is thickening so please do take your time with it - I promise things will make sense eventually!

Special thanks to @monamipencil! Your comments made my day Lola <3

“Chief.” Soonyoung took a worried step forward, hand slipping out from yours. “Is everything okay?” 

“If you’re here it's either not serious enough or it's too serious.” Minghao frowned at Seungcheol, crossing his arms. “My guess is the former.” 

“The camp is under attack.” Seungcheol sighed, running his hands through his hair like he was embarrassed. “Of….” 

“Of what?” 

“O-of geese.” 

“Geese??” Soonyoung looked at him stupidly. “Like plural of goose, geese?” 

“What other kind of geese do you know, you dumbass.” Seungcheol rolled his eyes. 

“I don't know. The kind of geese I know don’t attack human establishments??” 

“It’s obviously some elaborate prank by the children of Nemesis, considering it's their companion.” Muttering, Seungcheol stuffed his hand in his pockets. “Those winged brats are just wreaking havoc everywhere - they’ve broken all of the farm's tools, they’ve made a mess of the dining hall, they’ve shat all over the houses-” Both boys groaned. “-it's a catastrophe.”

“Are we sure it’s not Jeonghan?” Soonyoung narrowed his eyes. “We all know how much he enjoys stuff like this….” 

“Jeonghan also loves to watch the consequences of his very well planned antics.” Seungcheol scoffed. “And he’s not at camp - he said he was going to the city for….. something, I don’t know but no, it’s not him.” 

“If it's not him then how did these birds enter camp at night?” Minghao raised his eyebrows confused. “They shouldn’t have been able to pass Wonwoo’s nighttime defenses.” 

“He says they might have sneaked in during the shift handover. Apparently Hansol and the hounds were the only ones patrolling when he was settling up because Jihoon was busy elsewhere.” Seungcheol looked straight at you, almost accusatorily. 

What the hell, how was this your fault?

“There’s no need to look at her like that.” Minghao took a step forward, half covering you behind his frame. “You should talk to Jihoon about being more responsible with his time.” 

“That’s not the point now.” Watching both men glaring at each other, Soonyoung tried to ease the tension. “We should be discussing how we can get rid of those menaces.”

“We've been trying.” Seungcheol groaned. “But neither Jun nor Hansol are able to communicate with them for some reason. It seems like they are some weird mix of domestic and wild.”

“That's strange.” Minghao frowned, lost in thought. 

“Something does seem off.” Soonyoung agreed. “Not only have they breached Wonwoo's protection but they're also some sort of unheard half breeds? Two anomalies cannot be a coincidence.” 

“Moreover, it's not like the children of Nemesis to prank.” Minghao frowned, staring at the ground. “Pettiness isn't their nature.”

“What other reason could they have to do this?” Seungcheol crossed his arms, muscles tense. “Revenge?” 

“Maybe, or it might not even be them.” Sooonyoung looked lost in thought. “Seungkwan and I will speak around with our contacts. I’m sure we can find out something.”

Seungcheol nodded, “In the meantime we need to clear them from camp premises before they cause more destruction.”

“Then why aren't you at camp doing that chief?” Minghao narrowed his eyes at the leader. “Why is it that you're here, like there's more important things to worry about?” 

You didn’t have to look to tell that Minghao was glancing at you over his shoulder. 

Soonyoung didn't seem to think his presence was suspicious. “He's the Son of Zeus, Hao. Geese and him don't really go well together.” 

You vaguely recalled Jihoon telling you something in the Iliad about Zeus, geese and the Helen of Troy.

“Is that it?” Minghao raised his eyebrow amused. “Big ol’ chief afraid of some feathered friends?” 

“I’m here for Soonyoung.” Seungcheol gritted between his teeth. “And I asked for the message of the attack to be passed to him alone.” 

Your eyes followed Soonyoung’s which focused on the group huddled in the corner - a bunch of the most beautiful people you had ever seen, snickering away.

“Fucking Aphrodite’s children.” He muttered knowing all three of you were purposely misled here in the interest of creating a scene.“How can I help, chief?” 

“We were wondering if your ability to induce intoxication can calm them down so they can be captured?” He looked unsure. “Hansol and Jihoon were ready to shoot down the birds but if this really is a prank, we don’t want to harm their animals and seek trouble with the other camps.” 

“Even though this might be their fault?” 

“We have enough on our plate this season, Soonyoung.” It was very apparent that Seungcheol was trying his best not to meet your eye. “The last thing we need is more camps to be against us.” 

Soonyoung nodded like he understood. “We should leave then but Chan is too drunk to drive-” 

“I got here on Wonwoo’s bike.” Seungcheol waved his hand, dismissing the younger one’s concern. “You and I can head back first and the rest of the team…...Minghao, are you sober?” 

The man in question nodded. 

“Good, gather everyone immediately and make sure they reach camp safely, especially….” 

Seungcheol glanced at you, his expression a lot softer but the anger you felt for him had not changed. 

“I’m not leaving yet.” You spoke up for the first time, earning the leader’s confused look. “I don't want to.”

“Are you drunk?” 

“And what if I am?” 

“It’s a Thursday night Y/n, we have training tomorrow morning-” 

“Ugh I don’t care.” You grabbed a canned cocktail from the nearby table and popped it open, ignoring Soonyoung’s widened eyes. “Your camp, your rules, whatever the hell you’ve got going on, I don’t care for it Cheol- oh sorry, Seungcheol.” You corrected yourself. “I will leave this party whenever I feel like I want to leave this party.” 

“Stop being a child.” Seungcheol was clearly holding back his anger. “There’s enough going on back at camp now for you to-” 

“Exactly, go deal with it chief. I’m sure you’ll all fare better without the “weak link” around.” 

“Y/n I…” He sighed, watching you drink in big gulps. “First of all, you shouldn’t be drinking that-” 

“Can someone please explain to this man that I’m not going to listen to him.” 

“Cheol.” Minghao looked pointedly at his leader who was on the verge of snapping. “I’ll bring everyone back to camp safely…. everyone.” He emphasized again. “You and Kwon should get going now.” 

“Yeah.” Soonyoung nodded before turning to you and grabbing the bottom ends of Minghao’s jacket, aligning them as his voice fell to a whisper. “Y/n, that’s a sex potion too.” 

Eyes popping out, you nearly spat out your drink. “I thought it was just the beer??” He nodded. “Yeah, so did everyone, hence the improvisation.” He pulled the zip up, adjusting the jacket on your shoulders. “Take care sweetie.” 

You nodded, eyes briefly meeting Seungcheol over Soonyoung’s shoulder. He looked…..indifferent as he stared back. 

“Come on Kwon.” He muttered, turning away as the Soonyoung dropped a kiss on your forehead before taking a step back and jogging away to catch up with his leader. You only let out a breath as their figures disappeared in the rain that only got heavier. 

Before you knew it, a familiar feeling began licking up your spine, warmth spreading all over your being just like it had earlier. As you slowly turned to Minghao, embarrassed to meet his eye, he straight up shook his head, looking amused.

“Nah uh. Ignorance I can understand but stupidity?” He scoffed. “That's your problem.” 

“Minghao-” 

“Fight it Y/n.” He grabbed a macaroon, stuffing it in his mouth as he began to walk away from you. “Fight it.” 

Unlike Seungcheol’s house, the room you woke up in did not have sunlight streaming in. 

Stretching on the large king size bed, you glanced at the now empty space beside you - the man who had given you company last night was no longer there and rightfully so considering it was way past training hours. 

Ignoring the pain in your head, you swung your feet off the mattress, glancing out the window. The view is much nicer than Seungcheol’s house - there all you could see were endless trees and hills but here you could see much more of the camp, particularly the common cabin, where everyone was slowly walking towards after hitting the showers. Slightly annoyed and very bothered that yesterday’s events were about to repeat, you sighed, heading down the stairs, making your way to the dining hall. Unlike yesterday though, no one spared a glance at you as you walked in. 

You could tell they were all tired - you saw much of the aftermath of the geese ambush as you returned to camp late last night. Considering everything looked normal today, you figured the boys must have spent all night cleaning up before reporting to train in the wee hours of the morning. 

“Y/n,” Mingyu’s voice called out to you from behind as you turned to him. “You left this in my workshop last night….” 

As you glanced at the jacket in his outstretched hand, the eyes of the other boys flickered between the two of you. 

“That's mine.’ Minghao walked up, swooping his garment in his hands as the attention of the room shifted to him. You gulped as he walked away from the hall wordlessly. 

You figured you should say something considering the silence was only getting worse, maybe apologise for missing training yet again but before you could say it, Seungcheol got up and walked right past you without saying a word. 

Lips parted, you watched him leave once more, refusing to say anything, refusing to listen to you, simply being stubborn like he always was. 

Fine, if he was going to be a bitch, so were you. Following his suit, you walked out of the hall in the opposite direction, leaving everyone inside baffled. 

The heat of the water just wasn’t comforting. 

You knew it was hot, there was steam all around, the tiles of the shower were covered in condensation and designs you had mindlessly traced with your finger. But rather than scalding your skin off, the boiling hot water just felt like a tickle. Annoyed, you turned off the pouring water and grabbed the towel, wrapping it around your body, tucking it in front of your chest. As you ran your hand through your wet hair, you looked at yourself in the mirror. 

Water was dripping from the wet strands, running down the many darkening, reddish purple marks on your neck and shoulder. You knew they would get darker as days passed but you didn’t expect them to look so bruised up already. Running your finger across them you sighed - last night was a horrible mistake. Sure you were under the influence of some messed up concoction but sleeping with more than one member of the camp was ridiculous to say the least. 

What was more burdensome was the idea that maybe there was more than the concoction involved…. Soonyoung had broken up with his girlfriend because of you but neither he nor you were sure about what exactly he felt for you and Minghao? You had noticed he was generally protective of you since you had joined camp and thought it was just because he was nice, but the way he pulled you away from Soonyoung every time the two of you were a little more intimate? That did not seem very ‘general’. 

Shutting your eyes, you tried to push the details of last night out of your mind. Thank god you listened to your trainer when he told you to fight it. Otherwise when you asked Mingyu if you could crash at his place in order to avoid Seungcheol and found yourself sharing his king size bed, maybe you would have allowed yourself to make another mistake. You couldn't make another one so soon. 

Tightening the grip of your towel, you turned towards the changing rooms, slightly startled by the figure that just walked in.

Wonwoo - also in his towel, hanging low at his waist, moving as silent as a shadow as he walked towards the showers. You should have felt exposed, more conscious, given you were barely dressed, and covered in innumerable hickies but you didn't feel a thing. Because Wonwoo hadn't spared you a glance. He walked past you like he couldn't care less, like you weren't there. 

“What is your problem?”

After days of watching this man behave so unnecessarily indifferent to you, you finally spoke up, mind already disturbed by a hundred and one things. 

“Why do you always behave like I don't exist?” You crossed your arms, staring him down. “If you're an introvert, I can understand, Hansol doesn't interact with me much either but at least he doesn't behave like I'm invisible, like he can see right through me-”

“Because I can.” His voice left him deep and cold as he turned to you. “Because I can see right through you.”

You scoffed. “What-”

“Because regardless of what you pretend to be in front of others, I can see the real you. I know things about you that you won't even admit to yourself.” 

 “What-” You emphasised again. “-can you possibly know?.”

“What can I know?” He raised an eyebrow. “I know you're a loner Y/n. You've been one your whole life. Your biological parents never cared enough about you, you don't have any siblings, you've never bothered to make friends, you've always been alone.” He took a step forward. “Even though it was circumstances that drove you to loneliness, you always told yourself that it was your choice, that you wanted to be alone because it’s easier that way. It’s easier to tell yourself that you chose to distance yourself from everyone rather than admit that you were rejected. You knew you would never be accepted. You knew no matter where you were and what you did, you would never fit in. You knew you were a freak.” 

Eyes widening, you stared at his nearing figure. 

“But now? Now you're finally in a place where you belong. You are finally with your kind but you're still terrified - you're scared that maybe, this isn’t where you’re meant to be either. You're scared that if you accept these people and they find out what you really are, they'll leave you too. They'll break the heart you've been safeguarding for all these years.”

Your heart was quite literally in your mouth. 

“That's why you rebel. That's why you call this place 'camp' and never ‘home’. You say things are hard and you're having trouble adjusting but what you're really trying to do is establish that you always are and always will be an outsider - you’re trying to escape the pain that will come when you're finally abandoned. That is why you'll always look for reasons to leave this camp. You'll never let yourself belong, you'll never let yourself become one of those here. So tell me, why do I have to try and bother with your existence when you’re just looking for the first chance to run?”

And somehow, now you could feel the heat all over. It was uncomfortably coursing through your whole body, burning you inside out in a way that made you want to rip out your skin but you already felt so bare, so naked in front of this man. 

But before any words could leave you at all, Wonwoo took a step back and then another till he retreated out of sight and into the showers. It was only when he disappeared that you finally let out the breath you were holding.

Maybe the more logical thing to do was to dive into the lake before you hit the showers but here you were, stripping into just your inner wear and jumping into the ice cold waters, desperate to cool yourself off. As you submerged yourself further in the waters, you shut your eyes, submerging into the darkness as well. 

The fire burning inside you because of Wonwoo's words was just not dying. For the first time ever, it felt like you had truly looked into a mirror because every single word that came out of that man's mouth was true. So, so true. 

And he was right when he said you've never admitted these things even to yourself because you were never really one for introspection. It wasn't like you to explore your thoughts, understand your nature, figure out the intentions of your actions. No, none of that. 

You were impulsive. You dived head first into things. You made decisions, then considered the consequences. You were reckless, you lived fearlessly, you lived like no one and nothing else mattered. 

Because nothing else did matter. 

Ever since you were young, you were on your own. You were not even sure when your mother left you, you had no memories of her and your father? The man who was barely ever present, abandoned you 3 days before your 12th birthday. From then your life had been just yours alone. You worked odd jobs to feed yourself, you worked hard to study, you studied harder to work better and life just went on like that. You didn't have many friends to compensate for the solitude either. Making friends was somehow not very easy for you - how were you supposed to explain the shambles of your life to people? How were you supposed to establish any kind of relationship with anyone when the only ones you ever had, walked out on you? 

You were better off alone. You were always better off alone.

That was until one incident turned your entire life upside down.

The days leading up to your arrival at camp are still a blur to you. The flames, the masked men, the court, the meeting of dozens of people - it all still felt like a fever dream. But one moment was still very clear in your memory - the moment when you were standing at the shrine of your mother, in front of her statue. 

Goddess of the hearth, home and hospitality they said. The old man beside you was going on and on about her. About her powers, about what a wonderful woman she was, about how delighted you'd be to meet her. 

You, though, felt like you were stabbed in the heart you had so carefully locked away. 

When the masked men revealed the truth of your parentage, when you learnt about your mother, you let that hope in you grow again. You thought maybe with this big secret finally out you’ll finally get to meet her. That she would finally be a part of your life. 

That’s why when they gave you a choice at the swearing in ceremony to join camp seventeen or go back to your mortal life, you chose the former. It was for her, it was to be with your mother, it was to finally feel home. 

But as you stared at her statue, offering your respects after the ceremony, it was like someone was drowning you in cold water. Nothing about the expression on her face felt remotely homely, nothing about her felt warm and loving to you - she did not feel like a mother. Rather she felt cold, distant and unwelcoming, just like you imagined the woman who abandoned you would look like. 

And with time, you realised your fear was right. 

Ever since you arrived at camp, all you did was wait. Wait for just one conversation, maybe an explanation, or even just a glimpse. But there was no indication of her. She didn’t drop by the camp, she didn’t respond to your invocation at the temple, she didn't care at all, just like she hadn’t in the last twenty five years. 

The pain of being re-abandoned was so strong that, with each passing day, it began to gnaw on your insides. The breaking point was perhaps realising that you were her only progeny yet you didn't matter to her. It was a blow you had refused to accept but one that had most definitely broken you internally. You had uprooted your whole life for her, you made this new world yours but at what cost - daily incessant instructions to train, classes after classes teaching you how to fit in, members continually trying to make you feel at home. You didn’t want this home, you didn’t want these people, you only wanted her. 

Wonwoo was right, you were never here to be a part of this camp, it was merely a stepping stone to your final goal. You were indeed looking to run. 

But before you could wonder about how Wonwoo knew all these things about you, a hand wrapped around your waist. In a flash it pulled you out and tossed you onto the bank as you launched into a coughing fit, throwing up water. 

“What the hell Y/n?” A worried voice patted your back. “What were you thinking?” 

In between your fit, you raised your head to meet the sight of a set of extremely well chiseled abs, rivets of water dripping down them. Gulping you cleared your throat and scooted back, suddenly aware that you were very very minimally dressed. 

Your saviour Seokmin, looked away from you realising the same as he grabbed the shirt he had tossed into the grass before jumping into the water and handed it to you. Taking it from him, you slipped it on. 

“What is wrong with you?” 

“What?” You frowned. “I'm fine.” 

“You were underwater for so long, I thought you drowned…” Seokmin muttered, pushing his wet hair off his face. “Are you okay?” 

“I'm okay.” You mumbled. You weren't but you knew he wasn't referring to your broken heart. 

“You looked distressed.” Or maybe he was. 

“I just… had some thinking to do.” 

“Well underwater isn't the best place for that if I'm being honest.” He chuckled. “Unless you're Poseidon's child.” 

“What, only you have a claim on water?” 

“No, only we can breathe underwater.”  He somehow looked embarrassed. “Though I was well into my teens before I discovered that.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I was terrified of water as a child, wouldn't go near it.” He laughed. “Ironic for the Son of the Sea right?” 

You scoffed. “A little.” 

“When my aura got stronger, my father found me and helped me get habituated to the waters, that's how I-” 

“Your father?” You gulped, knowing the answer even as you asked him. “Your father as in Poseidon? Poseidon helped you?” 

Seokmin nodded like it was obvious. “I was so scared of any kind of water body, he would lure me in with my favourite snacks. As I got older, I stopped falling for such tricks so he took me to Olympus and made sure I was personally trained in those olympic size pools-”

“Fucking hell.” You got to your feet, much to Seokmin's confusion, tripping as you did. 

“Y/n careful!” He quickly got up, catching you before you hit the ground again. “Are you okay-” 

“No.” You shook your head.“I am not.” 

And with that you walked away from there, body alight with a different kind of fire now. You needed to find someone immediately. 

“Jihoon, we need to talk.”

As you slammed the door of Jihoon’s house open, you were met with silence. 

This was the first time you were in his residence and somehow if you had to picture how his home looked, it was nowhere close to this. You assumed the son of the Sun would prefer whites or lighter colours but most of the minimal furniture in his house was a dark black, standing out starkly in the small room. But right now wasn't the time for you to ponder about his interiors, there were more important things you needed to talk to him about. 

Turning on your heel, you shut the door behind you, wandering into this backyard instead. You knew Jihoon had his own personal gym somewhere there and if Soonyoung was right about his tendency to work out, it was highly likely you would find him there. 

“Hi Cow.” You waved at the half asleep animal under the tree, lazily blinking at you. As though it read your mind, it pointed its head towards the small path on the side before tucking its head between its legs and dozing off. You followed its directions, reaching a large tinted greenhouse and when you opened the door you were greeted by two dozen gym equipment. In the middle of it all was the man you were looking for, his bare back facing you as he hung off a bar, pulling himself up with way too much ease. 

“Y/n.” Well it was no surprise he recognised you without even a glance. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” 

“Why has everyone on camp decided to be shirtless today?” You mumbled, walking in, looking around. 

Chuckling, Jihoon jumped off, turning to you as he landed. Eyes running down your body, he cocked his head. “Is that why you chose to go bottomless instead?” 

And it was only then that you realized you didn't fully dress yourself before storming away from the lake in just Seokmin's shirt. 

“I was hot.” You shrugged, pulling down the shirt.

“Hot you are.” He mumbled, sitting down on the bench, grabbing a pair of dumbells. “There's way too much heat in your body, which means you're either mad or ovulating and I'm not sure how I can help with either.” 

“The former.” You rolled your eyes. “And only you can help with it.”

“Go on.” He sighed, curling the weights, his biceps bulging with every move. Tearing your eyes away, you cleared your throat. 

“I want to meet my mother.”

“Which one?”

“Hestia.” You crossed your arms. “I have something to ask her.”

“I'm still missing the part where I can help.” 

“You said you'll teach me how to reach out to her.” 

“I did.” He grunted, focusing on his workout. “And I will, every Thursday at 4-” 

You grabbed the dumbbell with surprising ease and put them down before leaning over the man before you, expression threatening. 

“Lee Jihoon, I swear to god, if you don't help me right now…”

Your words trailed away as his eyes shifted down to your neck, the shirt no longer hiding the bruises that were littered all over it. You glanced down before straightening yourself, taking a step back. Jihoon got up, pushing his hair back, eyes fixed on you. 

“I just…” You sighed. “I just want to meet her once.” 

“Then go to the camp temple and invoke her presence.” 

“I have, everyday. She doesn’t respond.” 

“Then there’s no way I can help you Y/n.” He grabbed his towel, wiping the sweat off his arms. “One can only meet Gods if they wish to meet you and I think your mother has made her wishes very clear.”

“I don’t care what she wishes.” You spoke between gritted teeth. “And you said if I played my cards right, my mother would come looking for me.” 

“I also said it would take years of training to become worthy of that.” 

“I don't have years, Jihoon. I want to meet her as soon as I can.” 

“And why the newfound urgency?” He frowned. “What changed overnight?” 

Wonwoo. 

“Seokmin said his father taught him to swim, that as a child he took him to Olympus.” 

“So?”

“So how come my mother never cared, Jihoon? Why is it that she still doesn't?” 

“I already told you-”

“I don't buy that.” You shook your head. “How can a mother be ashamed of having a child? Of her only child?” 

“You'd be surprised.” Jihoon looked at you pitably. “Gods aren't like humans.” 

“Then let her say that to me.” You took a deep breath. “Let her give me that closure so I can stop losing my mind over this. I just want one meeting with her please, is there really no way?” 

“There is one.” He hummed, crossing his arms, his pecs bulging behind them. 

“And what is that?” 

“By doing a sacrifice.”  

“Sac-sacrifice?” You looked at him shocked. “Like those cult stuff?” 

Jihoon rolled his eyes, forgetting just how little you knew about this world. “Sacrifice is an age-old tradition made by our ancestors to please the gods, to gain their favours.” He leaned against the treadmill, slipping into his professor role, just like he had yesterday. “At times of droughts, they used to call on Zeus for rains. When crops were ravaged by pests, Demeter was the one to turn to. When they were at war, Ares was their savior. But,” He sighed. “calling upon a god was not so easy - it required time and perseverance and procedure-” 

“What kind of procedure?” 

“It was insanely complex.” Reaching for his bottle, Jihoon began walking out of the greenhouse, you following closely behind. “First, men would have to climb to the top of mount Olympus to get holy fire, then they would gather items for sacrifice. Every god has a set of items that they just cannot refuse. Dionysus loves his gemstones, Poseidon will do anything for seasalt. Artemis is harder to please, she likes a very specific kind of wildflower. If one offered enough of these to please the gods, then they would appear and were obliged to extend one favour in exchange. But ‘enough’ was where the problem lied.” As he bent down to pet Cow, you stared far off at the horizon, lost in thought.  ”The Gods were incredibly difficult to satisfy, it took large amounts for anything to be ‘enough’ for them. There were demigods who had spent ages trying to invoke them, even losing their minds in the attempts.” 

“That’s degenerate.” You frowned, as he stopped again, this time to grab a bunch of herbs from the wall of his house.

“It was.” He began plucking the leaves, grabbing handfuls. “Eventually, when the Oracle of Delphi was made in charge of the Demigods, things changed. Any demigod who wished to do a sacrifice had to obtain a scroll from her - the Scroll of Sacrifice. A piece of paper that would explicitly state just one thing that the gods wanted in exchange for a favour.” 

Pushing the nearby door open, he stepped in. 

“So you’re saying,” You followed him into his house. “-the only way for me is to go to the oracle, get a scroll, sacrifice whatever is needed and then in exchange I can earn her favour and make her answer my questions?” 

“Theoretically yes, but in reality,” He shook his head, opening yet another door and walking in. “it won’t be that easy.” 

“Why not?” 

“Delphi only hands scrolls to very few demigods, ones she deems worthy and even if she does, they're incredibly difficult - the sacrifice demanded in exchange is almost always impossible to let go.” 

“How hard can it be?” You frowned. “What kind of sacrifices do they ask for?” 

Jihoon sighed, the incessant questions finally getting to him. “You do know your weekly classes are for exactly such information right?” 

“But I want to know right now.” 

“Can I at least tell you without having you stare at me getting dressed?” 

Oh.

Apparently you had walked behind him straight into his dressing room. 

Muttering an apology, you stepped out as he shut the door behind you. 

“So,” You half spun on the balls of your foot. “You were saying?” 

Another one of Jihoon’s sighs reached you before his voice. “The Gods are not fond of being obliged to hand out favours - that's why they make sacrifices nearly impossible. I heard Apollo asked for a demigod’s sight and the boy fell to his death before he could even ask for what he wanted. Aphrodite made one of her own children give up her ability to love…..  it drove her to insanity. And one of those who prayed to Zeus has been chained to a rock on an abandoned island for nearly twelve years and he still has five more years to go. There are endless stories like this Y/n and each of them will only tell you not to opt for such madness.” He opened the door, now fully dressed, a pair of shorts in his hand. “Here.” 

You took it from him, looking a little stumped. “Please wear them Y/n. I can barely look at you…” He muttered walking away again and you quickly slipped on the pair that was just a little too big for you. Following him past a room full of what seemed like musical instruments, you walked into a small pantry. 

“What about Hestia?” You gulped, images of her cold face flashing before you. “What has she asked in exchange?” 

“Honestly, I don’t know.” He threw the herbs he had gathered earlier into a motor. “I’ve never heard of anyone who’s really seeked her favour.” 

You scoffed. “Of course not, what would they ask her help for? Light up their fireplace?” 

Jihoon looked up from the paste he was crushing, slightly miffed. “Your mother is no minor goddess Y/n. She's the caretaker, the protector. Hestia is worshiped in every place called home.” 

“How ironic.” You smiled sadly. “Her own daughter has never had a home.” 

“Unfortunately, no god considers it their responsibility to take care of their bastard children.” He looked pointedly at the counter. “Sit.” 

“Why?” 

“Just sit Y/n.” 

“But why?” 

Sighing, Jihoon rolled his eyes and grabbed you by the waist, hoisting you onto the counter effortlessly as you bit back a scream. As though nothing happened, he continued to do whatever it was he was doing while you tried to calm your uncharacteristically racing heart. 

“It's also unfair to blame Hestia for not having a home when your mortal parents were the one who were supposed to care for you.”

“I know.” You muttered looking down at your fiddling fingers. “This may sound insane but finding Hestia might be easier than finding my mortal parents…. I don't know a thing about them.” 

“I know someone on camp who can help-” 

“But I don't want to find them….yet. I don't know what to ask them.” You looked up as Jihoon pulled out a ladder from the side and began climbing it, reaching for something on the higher shelves. “I’m not prepared to find out if they know the kind of monster I am.” 

“Why would you say that?” He looked at you over his shoulder, frowning. “You don’t even know what your powers are, right?” 

You gulped, staring at the floor, mind racing back to a conversation last night........

“Try not to touch anything.” Mingyu warned as you strolled along his workshop in the faint light of the moonlight. “I’m not really sure if any of these are still hot. I don’t really…. feel heat.” 

As if you did. 

Hanging out with Mingyu wasn’t really on your cards today. After Minghao had left you to deal with your little problem on your own, you had silently made your way out of the house and down the street, searching for a pharmacy. It must’ve been a good twenty minute unsuccessful walk before Mingyu, who was driving around on his bike looking for you, spotted you. You told him you were looking to buy some pills for a headache so he offered to drive you to the nearest store. He didn’t need to know what you really needed was some plan B. After you had procured what you wanted and he started heading back to camp, you told him to take the longest route possible. While he obliged, you wrapped your arms around his waist and drifted off, not wanting to think about all that was plaguing your mind. Not wanting to think about Seungcheol. 

But he’s the first thought on your mind the moment the bike halted at the camp gate. You didn’t want to see him, not now. Mingyu was generous enough to agree when you muttered wanting to take up his offer to crash in his residence. He didn’t question the change of heart, instead he carefully walked you through his workshop, bringing you to the stairs on the other side, leading you up to his house. You though are far too enthralled to follow him.

“You’ve got quite the space here.” You pursed your lips impressed, stripping out of the jacket as he smiled proudly. “Must never be boring.” 

“It isn’t.” He admitted. “Making weapons doesn’t take me too long, leaves a lot of time on my hands for other experiments and endeavors.” 

“Such as?” 

“I like creating little automations.” He shrugged. “Machinery that allows me to be creative and makes life easier. Like the one that's currently out there chopping up wood, for your house.”

“Oh.” You raised your eyebrows looking around. “What else have you made?”

“Too many to remember.” He laughed. “But my best creation is probably my bike. It took months of trial and error. Couldn't have done it without my best buddy.”

“Wonwoo?” You had noticed the two were significantly closer than the rest. There was definitely some story there. 

Mingyu laughed. “Yes Wonwoo is the best but no, I'm talking about that little guy.” 

He pointed behind you and you turned, finding yourself about 500 meters away from a not so little three headed dog, snarling at you with all three of its mouths, drooling leaking from the edges. You took a careful step back and another, crashing into the chest of Mingyu who had sneaked up to you. 

“What is that?” You whispered, voice shaking just a bit. 

“That’s Cerberus, my pet.” 

“That’s a pet?!” 

“It’s Wonwoo’s actually….. But yes, he’s a pet and he’s really friendly, don’t worry.” 

“Huh.” You breathed, not believing his words but only relieved cause you noticed he was chained. “And he helps you with your experiments?”

Mingyu nodded, steering you away from there, walking you toward his house once more. “Cerberus is a very powerful creature - he’s immensely strong, uncharacteristically intelligent and most importantly, he’s my fire source.” 

“Fire source?” 

“The most important tool for a blacksmith like me is the flame - you see those.” He pointed at big cave shaped structures lined neatly on the edge. “Forging presses like that require fires that cannot be ignited by tiny matchsticks. It takes a powerful source to work them, like Cerberus.” 

You tensed, just a little. “So Cerberus can create fire?” 

“He breathes fire.” Mingyu clarified. “Cerberus is from the Underworld, like most mysteries in our world. So yeah, he is one of the few creatures that can create fire.” 

“C-can’t you?” You scratched the back of your head, trying to seem casual. “You said you don’t feel heat so can’t you… make fire too?” 

“Don’t be silly Y/n.” Mingyu scoffed. “Fire is one of the five natural elements. Even the gods, your mother included, can only control fire, not create it.” 

You were right. Even here you were a freak, even here you didn’t fit in. 

None of Mingyu’s excited explanations about the various projects he was working on went into your head. There was only one thing you could think about - You didn’t belong here and you needed to leave before everyone realised that. 

“...and that’s why I don’t have a guest bedroom but don’t worry, my bed is king sized.” Mingyu leaned against the stairs with a small smirk dancing on his face. “Though I can’t promise I can keep my hands to myself.” 

You rolled your eyes, pushing him to lead the way up. The only thing that gave you comfort as he laughed was the knowledge that if you burned, Mingyu was perhaps the only one who couldn’t hurt with your fire......

“Y/n.” Jihoon hopped off the ladder looking at you quizzically. “Where are you lost?” 

“I….” You cleared your throat. “I just meant, I don’t know, what if my mortal parents are aware of any kind of powers I might have? What if… that’s what kept them away from me?” 

“Then that’s all the more reason you have to find them.” Jihoon shrugged. “It would help us-”

“No.” You firmly shook your head. “Just…let me just talk to Hestia first, everything else can wait.” 

“As you wish.” He held up the bowl of whatever concoction he was mixing, a green paste staring at you. “In the meantime…”

“What is that?”

“It's my special ointment for bruises. Makes any and all scars and wounds disappear.” 

“I’m not hurt….” Your voice faded away as Jihoon’s eyes landed on the red, purple and blue trail of hickies on your neck. 

“Are you sure you want to go around parading the evidence of your threesome last night?” 

“I’m not trying to…how do you even know it was a threesome?”

“Those are clearly marked by two different men.” 

You rolled your eyes. “Is this another one of your body reading tricks?” 

“Yes but anyone who knows you were at your first Aphrodite rager last night will be able to guess that much.” Jihoon shrugged, standing right before you. “In fact, three is a rather small number there, most scenes tend to involve a minimum of five people.” 

You felt your jaw hang as Jihoon looked amused. 

“So do you want it gone or not?” 

“Why?” You cleared your throat. “You think I should hide all this in case the other boys make assumptions like yours? That I ought to have some shame?” 

“Not shame, I thought you might appreciate some privacy.” He shrugged. “Given there’s someone who you have been particularly wary of these days.” 

Seungcheol. 

How did this man know everything? 

Sighing, you gripped the edges of Seokmin's shirt and pulled it over your head, baring your neck to the man before you. Trying not to smile, Jihoon slotted himself between your dangling legs, pushed the hair off your shoulder, gently tending to your bruises. 

“It might sting.” He warned right on time as you grabbed his bicep with your free hand, feeling pain shooting up your nerves as the cold ointment touched your skin.

“Breathe.” He instructed, softly running his fingers along your collarbone. “It’ll pass.” 

You figured listening to the expert might be better so you did, trying your best to ignore the intimate proximity between the two of you. 

“While we are at it,” You looked away as he blew on your wounds, cold wind caressing it. “Do you also have something for potential STDs or…. You know, ensuring our kind doesn’t replicate?” 

Jihoon chuckled. “Again, demigods don’t get sick Y/n, STDs don’t mean anything to us and we don’t ‘replicate’ either so there’s really nothing to worry about.” 

Suddenly, every cell in your body stopped functioning. “What do you mean?” 

Jihoon blinked at you like he was only just realising what he said. “Uh…. Demigods are barren Y/n, we…. cannot have children.” 

Though you were sitting it felt like the ground had been pulled from under your feet. Like everything around you had stopped. Like everything had ended.

“Y/n are you okay?” 

How could you be? You just learnt that you could never have children, that you could never be a mother. All your life you didn’t have a family but now? Being a demigod had robbed you of your chance to ever have one in the future. You wanted to peel that part away, rip it and throw it somewhere far away, get rid of this side of you that had done nothing but make everything worse. 

Jihoon seemed to have understood the storm inside you. Or felt it. He was quiet as he grabbed a washcloth and slowly wiped away the ointment, the bruises beneath it starting to look a lot lighter already. As the sting ebbed away, the pain in your heart felt more apparent, coursing through you, hurting everywhere. 

At that moment your eyes trailed over the soft and sharp features of his face burrowed in concentration, your admiration for it overpowering every other thought. 

That’s it. That’s what you needed again. A distraction. 

Now that his job was done, Jihoon tried to move away but your grip on his arm was like a vice. He glanced at it then at you with a raised eyebrow. 

“So you're telling me-” You cocked your head at him. “-even though I let two men cum inside me yesterday and if my prediction is right, another will get his turn today - I'm not at the potential risk of anything?” 

Jihoon raised his eyebrow. “No you're not but pray tell, since when did the daughter of Hestia dabble in predictions? I thought that was in the hands of Apollo's prodigy.” 

“It is.” You ran your hand down his arm, feeling every ridge of muscle under your touch, voice leaving you in a whisper. “The possibility of my prediction coming true or not is in your hands really.” 

Jihoon’s eyes darkened as your tongue darted out to lick your lower lip slowly. Before you knew it, his hands gripped the thickness of your thighs and with a quick jerk he pulled you closer to him, your legs wrapping around his waist. Jihoon looked up at you and you down at him, breaths mingling in anticipation. 

“I know what you're doing Y/n and I know why you're doing this.” He spoke ever so softly. “But I'm not a distraction kind of guy so if there's ever a time you really want me, then you'll have me.”

With that he pulled you off the counter and let you lower your legs on to the floor, looking away. Given the kind of tension and the comfort you had grown to have with him and most importantly how unbelievably hard he was, his length right below your ass, you didn't think he'd say no. It was fair, he was allowed to. It wasn't his fault you were looking to jump any given person just to take your mind off things. 

Nodding, and mumbling a soft thanks for the ointment, you grabbed your shirt and walked past him, only stopping by the corridor to return what was his. 

“Sorry.” Muttering you slid off his shorts and placed it on the shelf beside you. 

Jihoon surprisingly let out a soft groan. You thought it was because you were suddenly minimally dressed but you noticed his eyes were gazing between your legs, on the wet spot of your underwear. You tried to press your legs closer, suddenly feeling very exposed but all it does is darken the spot, making things worse. 

“Fucking hell.” Jihoon muttered and in a flash you were pushed up against the wall, trapped between it and him, caged by his arms on either side. “I'm only just a man Y/n.”

Your eyes flickered down to his pants, the outline of his hard on starkly visible. “Uh huh.” 

“Do you still want this?” 

You cocked your head, hand running down his chest and over the tent in his pants as you smirked. “I predicted it.” 

“Allow me to make a pre-” His words faltered as you squeezed his length. “-prediction as well.” 

“By all means.” 

“You're gonna cum three times before I do.” 

“Oh really?” You raised your eyebrows and spat into your hand, slipping it past the waistband of his pants, wrapping your hand around his length. “I don't think so.” 

“That's….” He half panted, watching your hand do its job, his own hands still against the wall like they were taped to it. “Getting a headstart is cheating.” 

“You're slow.” 

“I'm savouring.” He smiled, leaning closer. “I'm in good hands and I know you're soaked. It's only a matter of time before you're begging.” 

You chuckled softly as though you were amused by his assumption but true to his words, your walls were already fluttering, clenching around nothing as your legs squeezed together. Jihoon, like the master of reading your body that he was, put his hand right in between, cupping you over your underwear, the pressure of his palm on your clit ever so light. From the soft sigh that left your mouth you both knew you were faring far worse than he was - truly, it was brave on your part to challenge him.

“Jihoon….” 

He hums in response as the pace of your hand falters.

“Touch me.” 

“I am sweetheart.” 

“More.” You wrapped your free hand around his wrist, breath shaking and Jihoon allowed you to lead him exactly where you wanted him - past the hem of your panties, right where the wetness was pooling between your legs. 

“Good fucking god…” He swore like he didn't expect you to be this drenched. What a funny guy. What did he think was gonna happen when he was this undeniably hot? 

You on the other hand expected him to be a tease, to draw this out, to make you beg. But to your complete surprise, he wasted no time in sliding two thick digits in, making you squeeze his length at the sheer stretch of the intrusion. 

“Sweetheart, you're gonna kill me.” He muttered, shutting his eyes tight. 

You wanted to apologise, you really did but whatever words were leaving your mouth didn't seem to be making any sense. Not when Jihoon was picking up the pace, taking turns pumping, curling and scissoring his fingers inside you. You felt your back arch on its own, head thrown back as an unholy moan left your being. Fuck he was right, you cannot possibly think of anything else now - this man was capable of turning you into a complete wreck before you could even get a moan out of him. 

“Your bruises have nearly disappeared.” He noticed with your neck bared to him once again. “It was prettier marked.”

“Mark it then.” You panted, composing yourself, getting back to stroking him again. “Do whatever you want.” 

And that's enough to break his resolve, as you felt his fingers slowing down while his teeth ran across the skin of your shoulder. Taking advantage of his momentary fixation, you ran your thumb across his slit, feeling the precum spill onto your fingers. Jihoon groaned, his mouth getting more aggressive on your neck as you gripped his bicep again, sinking your nails into it. 

Fuck, there it was. 

That tightening in the pits of your being, there it was, slowly climbing as you felt your legs starting to shake and Jihoon smirking against your skin, reading all the signs like he knew your body inside out. Thank god he could because just when you needed it, he slid in another finger and curled them up, reaching that sweet spot that had you instantly snapping, falling apart.  

He stilled his movements as you convulsed around his fingers, holding onto him tight but before you could even come down from your high, he started moving again.

“Ji… Jihoon.” You whimpered, chest heaving. “Fuck fuck fuck.” 

And before you know it your barely ebbed orgasm blended into a second one and you were practically gushing out into his hand.

“Damn sweetheart.” He smiled at you like he was a little too pleased with himself. “You're an easy one.” 

Excuse me? 

You could barely get a hold of yourself but that wasn't the most pressing matter - how dare he dismiss you so easily? 

Given your mouth was dry you swallowed on nothing, and shoved him back with just a small  push. Jihoon looked at you confused initially, then his eyes widened as you dropped to your knees and he realised what you were up to. But just as your hand reached the waistband of his bottoms and he pushed the hair off your face, more than ready to fuck your mouth, a loud sound rang through the silence of the afternoon. 

“Shit.” Jihoon muttered pulling you up. “That's code purple.”

You groaned. “Why are there so many fucking colours?” 

Frowning, he threw you your clothes before leading you to a small basin to wash your hands and his. “We need to go. It’s an emergency team meeting.” 

As he scurried around grabbing his things, his bow and arrows to be specific, you dressed yourself once again, watching him. Guess neither of your predictions were coming true after all. 

Noticing you were still lost in your thoughts, Jihoon sighed and grabbed you by the hand, leading you out of his house and to the dining hall of the common cabin where apparently all team meetings were held.

When the two of you had reached, thankfully only Soonyoung and Seungkwan were there and though their expressions were full of questions, they asked none. Before you knew it, everyone had gathered and whispers going around as they settled in their seats but the moment Seungcheol raised his hand, they died down.

“What's the matter?” 

Seungkwan nodded at Soonyoung who stood up, looking around. 

“Kwan and I sent some messages out today asking about the geese attack last night.” He shook his head slowly. “It seems no camp is responsible for it.” 

Minghao spun the blade in his hand with a frown. “So it wasn't a prank or an act of retribution?” 

Seungkwan shook his head. “Considering how we all thought their nature was odd, Hansol connected us to some Hunters of Artemis.” He laid out a map with four red crosses. “They gave us four locations where birds like this were sighted.” 

“So this was just like any other animal attack?” Seokmin leaned back, looking relieved. 

“I'm afraid not. It may or may not be a coincidence but the Hunters also claim that all four locations have been frequently exhibiting very high energy signals, signals that might belong to…” Seungkwan gulped. “The Chimaera.”

A strange silence descended upon the room as glances were exchanged. You looked at Jihoon questioningly but he looked troubled. 

“The fire breather.” Chan let out a low whistle. “It hasn't been heard of in centuries.”

“It seems to be on the move off late.” Hansol tucked the arrows he was polishing into his quiver. “It's hunting.” 

“And I think the geese are its agents.” Soonyoung pointed out. “Geese have always been symbols of vigilance and surveillance. Whatever the Chimaera is hunting, I think it's using the birds to trace it. That's why neither Jun nor Hansol could understand them, because they aren't wild or domestic - they're monsters.” 

“Chan,.” Seungcheol straightened himself. “Alert Olympus, tell them we need troops-” 

“It seems Olympus assigned the hunt to Artemis, ” Seungkwan added. “And you know how the Hunters function. Their goal is to capture the beast, not kill it so they have been taking their time to strategize.” 

“Well we can't wait for them to figure things out.” Jeonghan stared at the map on the table, a hundred things running in his mind. “We're going to have to hunt the monster on our own.” 

“Us?” Minghao looked around. “Do you even understand how powerful the creature is-” 

“Should we just sit back and wait for it to attack the camp then?” Jeonghan raised his eyebrows. “Because whatever it's looking for is here and monsters aren't patient creatures.”

“I know, but-” 

“Minghao.” Seungcheol interrupted, warning. “Jeonghan is our strategist, we'll let him decide what's best.” 

Minghao nodded begrudgingly as Jeonghan pulled the paper towards himself, Soonyoung handing him a pen. 

“We'll split according to our assigned partners.” He began drawing out lines and scribbling names. “Seungkwan and Soonyoung, you two head to the demigod union in the city and alert them, in case we need back up. Minghao and Jun, I want you both here for camp protection, Mingyu and Wonwoo as well…” He looked thoughtful. “If the Chimaera decides to attack the camp in our absence, Cerberus is the only chance we have against it.” 

As all four boys nodded, Jeonghan turned to the rest. 

“The remaining of us will go to the four locations. Everyone will use an energy reader and find the location of the Chimaera. Once you’ve narrowed down its location, alert the team to gather for a hunt. Any foolishness such as going after the monster on your own will not lead to punishment because you'll already be dead.” He glanced around. “Is that understood?”

Mummers of agreement echoed in the room. 

“Jihoon and Hansol, you two head to the one in the south, that's the biggest area but your hounds should help cover it. Joshua and I will head east, Chan and Seokmin will head west and Seungcheol…..” His eyes landed on the leader who was very evidently shaking his head. “Seungcheol and Y/n, you two will head north.” 

You looked at Jeonghan in disbelief. 

“Han,” Seungcheol spoke before you could say anything. “I don't need a partner, I've always been a lone hunter-” 

“That was because we were an odd number of members. But now there's 14 of us so Y/n will go with you-” 

“It's a dangerous mission and she's untrained.” Seungcheol spoke between gritted teeth. “She will be better off in camp-”

“She will be safer with our strongest warrior.” Jeonghan argued back. “You cannot always be team leader Cheol, learn to be a team player. Y/n will accompany you.”

“No I won’t.” You shook your head. “I have no interest in being where I am not wanted.” 

“Y/n, it's not a choice.” Jeonghan sounded tired. “I'm the strategist and this is an order-” 

“I don't care.” You got up, firm about your decision. “I'm not going anywhere with this man.” 

And with that you stormed away from there, ignoring the faint voice of Jeonghan who sighed and continued giving instructions. 

“We leave tomorrow at daybreak.” 

You stared at the schedule in your hand wondering why on Earth you hadn't looked at it before you stepped into the classroom. Admittedly all your time went in washing up, changing your clothes, grabbing lunch and rushing for your afternoon lesson, but you should have noticed what was in store for today. 

Friday - Quest Strategy (Choi Seungcheol, Yoon Jeonghan)

And you didn't want to see either of them right now. 

But before you could grab your things and leave the room to make it seem like you were never here in the first place, Jeonghan arrived, standing against the door, watching you pack up. 

“You need to stop running away from everything.” 

As he walked in, you looked up, rolling your eyes. “And you need to stop interfering in my life.” 

“My decisions as strategist aren't personal Y/n, I do what's beneficial for the camp and its members.” He leaned against the board. "Accommodating your individual preference is not a part of my job profile.”

“Okay, that's great, then be prepared for only one of us to come back alive tomorrow.” 

Jeonghan rolled his eyes at your dramatic statement. “What happened between the two of you?” 

You scoffed at him. As if you were going to tell him. 

“Seungcheol has been my comrade since we were teenagers, I know him better than anyone and I know for a fact that he's not the villain you're making him to be.”

“Oh he's not?” You crossed your arms. “Okay then explain why when I was throwing myself onto him for days, he kept avoiding me but the moment I walked away from him, he came chasing? And did the man at least go through with that? No, he decided to leave me hanging yet again and then he behaved like everything that's happening is my fault?” You threw your hands in the air. “No apology, no explanation, he just continued to avoid me and when I finally got him out of my mind, then he decided he wanted to talk to me? I didn't want to, but he couldn't even respect my space and ended up coming to the party and….” 

“And?” Jeonghan looked curiously. 

“And I think he knows that I slept with Soonyoung….” You didn't meet Jeonghan’s eyes. “and Minghao.” 

Jeonghan hummed, nodding his head, taking in all the information, as you added quickly. 

“But it was only because all of us were under the influence of aphrodisiacs-” 

“That's irrelevant.” Jeonghan waved his hand. “Who you choose to be with and what you choose to do is entirely your choice. But you think Seungcheol is mad about that?” 

“I'm not sure. I have a feeling he is.”

“That's not right.” 

“Now you see my point?”

“I didn’t say he wasn't stupid.” Jeonghan rolled his eyes. “But I still stand by the fact that he's not a bad person.” 

“Okay mate, you need to get your head out of your bestie's ass.” 

Jeonghan laughed, shaking his head. You expected him to say something snarky but his expression slowly turned serious. 

“Do you know why you're in Camp Seventeen Y/n?”

“Because I'm a demigod?” That was perhaps the first time you had said that out loud. 

“Yes but why this camp?”

“The Oracle assigned me.”

“Partly.” Jeonghan nodded. “The Oracle of Delphi only assigns demigods to camps that are willing to take them. Seungcheol was the only leader willing to take you.” 

Your lips parted in surprise as Jeonghan continued. 

“Do you know what was supposed to happen the night you were kidnapped and brought to the court?” 

You shook your head. 

“You were going to be attacked.” Jeonghan let out a deep breath. “The sudden activation of your aura after years of dormancy seemed to have drawn in a lot of attention. Days after your little incident, Olympus sent out a report that the levels of monster activity in the city were unprecedentedly high. They said there was a large influx of monsters and we had to be alert but I don't think so. Especially not after what we learnt today.” 

“What do you mean?”

“It's not monsters but one monster that came to the city.” Jeonghan looked at you keenly. “I think it was the Chimaera and I think you are what it's hunting.”

The things in your hand slipped and hit the floor with a thud. You? 

“You mean… I'm the threat in this camp?”

“You're the one in danger.” He corrected. “But yes you are the threat and more importantly, Cheol knows that. He always knew that. It was evident from the start that you were a monster magnet, that you are some kind of anomaly and that making you a part of our camp would only mean more danger but he said it didn't matter. He said as long as someone needed to be saved, he would do it. He said he would be your protector and that's why you're here Y/n - because Cheol made the choice to safeguard you.”

You blinked at a loss of words. 

“Even yesterday, when the geese attacked and we didn't know what was happening at the party, his first instinct was to check if you were okay. That's why he came to the rager. That’s also why he's been so frustrated, why he doesn't want you to accompany him tomorrow. Your safety is his first priority.” 

Letting out a deep breath, you ran your hand through your hair, internally beating yourself up. You had no idea. 

“Will Seungcheol be coming for the lesson today?”

Jeonghan shook his head. “I don't think so, he's busy at Mingyu’s workshop, preparing for tomorrow, like you should be doing too.” 

“I can't possibly learn anything by tonight that'll help me tomorrow.” 

“Yes you can.” Jeonghan walked up to you. “We can try and understand why the Chimaera is after you. We can discuss your lawsuit considering it was the root cause of everything and see if it gives us any answers. Let me just call Wonwoo and-”

“Absolutely not.” You quickly grabbed all your things again. Wonwoo was still on the list of people you didn't want to meet. “I need to find Cheol first.”

And with that you swung your bag over your shoulder, rushing out of the classroom, leaving a sighing Jeonghan behind. 

When you reached Mingyu’s residence, Seungcheol was indeed in the workshop along with a couple of camp members, inspecting the weapons for tomorrow. Immersed in their discussion they didn't notice your presence until you stepped in and Cerberus let out a low growl, his eyes following you. 

“Y/n.” Mingyu jogged up to you, looking concerned. “What are you doing here?” 

“I…” You gulped looking at Seungcheol’s back. “I was hoping to talk to Cheol real quick.” 

“We're in the middle of a meeting, I'm not sure…” 

“Please Mingyu, it'll be quick.” 

“I can ask him but-”

“Gyu.” Seungcheol looked over his shoulder. “What's the matter?”

“Y/n is here,” Mingyu raised his voice. “She wants to talk to you.”

As lightning ripped across the sky, Seungcheol let out a deep breath “Send her away.” 

And for the nth time you could hear your heart breaking because of Seungcheol.

 “Seungcheol I just want to apolo-”

“I don't want to hear it.” He turned to you, voice hard and gaze unforgiving. “Please leave.” 

Mingyu looked at you apologetically as did the other members, Jihoon included. Taking a step back and then another you walked out, the low grumbles of the thunder not louder than the thumping of your heart. 

Sometimes you really had to remind yourself that Natalie was in fact a pig and not a dog. 

You tended to forget given how much she liked to be taken on walks and sniff everything around. Today she took you from Seungcheol’s house to Mingyu’s to Seungkwan’s to the common cabin and finally to the temple where she found a spot of wet mud and decided to roll in it. That was until she spotted Wonwoo walking by, perhaps heading to secure the camp's borders for the night, given it was nearly dusk. You looked away from him but your pet decided to jump up and follow him like she always loved to do.

Sighing, you walked over to the area designated for campfire and sat on one of the logs, picking on the chips of wood nonchalantly. When the cold wind of the evening caressed your skin, sending shivers down your spine, you looked around, making sure no one was watching you. Realising you were all alone you waved your hand, watching the flames dance on your palm before they floated over to the wood in the middle, lighting the campfire. You stared at the orange flames, Jeonghan's words ringing in your head again - I think you're what it's hunting. 

It couldn't be a coincidence. A powerful monster, a fire breather that had been quiet for centuries, wanting to find you of all people. That couldn't be a coincidence. Was it possible the Chimaera knew something about you? Did it know why you were such a freak? 

And why did Seungcheol choose to protect someone like you? Why won't the man just let you hate him peacefully? He just had to be so righteous and brave and good…. But if he cared about you so much, why did he always pull away? Why did he never reciprocate?

It seemed like life only liked to throw questions at you, never any answers. You were too tired for all this. You just wanted to stop thinking. You just wanted this day to end and let yourself be taken away by sleep so you could forget all this. You just wanted some peace. 

As though the universe hated you, at that exact time, Jihoon walked out of the temple, hands shoved in his pockets, mind clearly elsewhere. You were thankful he hadn't noticed your presence and had almost left the premises busy in his own world until he suddenly stopped at the edge of the trees, turning back to see you. 

As your eyes locked his, he sighed walking back to you, sitting just over a foot away. He didn't say anything and you didn’t know what to say. 

“You're nervous.” He pointed out. “Your heart is racing.” 

You shook your head exasperated. “Do people tell you how annoying it is to be around you?”

“Not quite.” He chuckled. “I don't like being around people.”

“Why am I the exception?” 

“You came looking for me.” 

“You literally just came and sat next to me.”

“I meant earlier.” 

“I'm talking about now.” 

“I just…” He sighed, turning to you. “I just wanted to say, don’t take whatever Seungcheol says to heart. He has too many pressures on him as leader, especially in situations like this-” 

“You know, that excuse is getting very overused. Is his consistent dismissal of me justified just because he's a busy, important man?” 

“It's not.” Jihoon shook his head. “But I thought you should know - his heart was racing just as fast when you came to talk to him. It always is around you.”

You scoffed, tired of people telling you the same thing. 

“All that tachycardia could be pathological. He should get himself checked-” 

“There's clearly something he's unable to tell you, some reason for why he is the way he is.” Jihoon justified. “Give him a chance to explain himself.” 

“I have to give him a chance?” You looked at him incredulously. “Did you not see how he sent me away?”

“Yes I did, it was the same way you ran away to a party when he wanted to talk.” Jihoon rolled his eyes. “If you both just keep being idiots like this, things are never going to get better.” 

“Honestly things don’t have to.” You tugged on the sleeves of your shirt. “It's not like we are star crossed lovers or something. This infatuation or crush or whatever it is, it will eventually die down. All I hope is for us to at least be courteous with each other but he can't even seem to do that.” 

Jihoon stared at the ground. “Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” 

That was a question you didn't have an answer to. So you ignored it. 

“I just want us to be pleasant over tomorrow's hunt, that's all. But something tells me things might just get a whole lot worse.” 

“Are you making predictions again?” Jihoon chuckled. “Have you still not learnt that you're horrible at it?”

“Hey, that's not fair.” You laughed along. “Besides, the day is not over yet.” 

“Oh you still think you stand a chance with me?” 

You narrowed your eyes at his laughing self. “I didn't say it had to be you. But you said you could make me cum thrice - I only came once.”

“Twice.” 

“Once.” 

“You're forgetting that I can read your body.” He cocked his head at you. “Twice.” 

“Whatever.” You rolled your eyes. “Still less than three.” 

“You and I both know if I wasn't interrupted I could've done it.” 

“Not true.” You shook your head. “If I blew you, you didn't stand a chance.” 

“How ever will we know which of us is right?” 

He looked at you, something darker swirling behind his eyes and it made your insides twist. There was a way to find out and given how empty you had been feeling since earlier, maybe you would have, if only Seungwkan didn't walk over, settling down on the log across yours. Although Jihoon and you were already sitting apart, the two of you moved further away. 

“Natalie is sleeping in Jun's barn apparently.” Seungkwan informed. “Wonwoo has too much to do today - There won't be a shift handover tomorrow since Hansol and Jihoon will be heading for the hunt.” 

You nodded, not really understanding because you didn't really bother to actually. Your mind was entirely elsewhere, wondering about other possibilities. 

“We uh should probably sleep early since, you know,-” You got up swinging your arms. “-big day tomorrow.” 

“Yeah.” Jihoon followed your suit, slowly standing. “Better get good rest.” 

Seungwkan nodded, glancing at Hansol who was walking over, “You two go ahead, the two of us need to have a little chat.” 

You nodded as the man in question sat beside Seungwkan, poking the fire with a stick, avoiding your eyes as usual. Unbothered, you turned to Jihoon, catching him already looking at you.

“Jihoon can I-” 

“Y/n do you-”

Both of you looked at each other, gulping. 

“I uh…” You tried yet again to feign casualness. “I wanted to ask for the ointment you gave me earlier, for bruises. I… have many mosquito bites.” 

“Right.” He scratched his head. “I was going to offer you the same.” 

“Oh good.” 

“Yeah good.” 

Seungkwan’s eyes flickered between the two of you but it was only when Hansol looked up that you realised just how suspicious this must seem. Waving an uncharacteristic bye, you quickly left, Jihoon following at a considerable distance as you made your way to his residence. 

The events of earlier today repeated in a similar fashion - Jihoon plucked a few herbs and walked into his house. You followed him, straight into his pantry this time considering neither of you needed a change of clothes. He proceeded to grind up the greens in a paste as you leaned against the door, watching the strong muscles of his back. Fuck you’d love to run your nails down that. 

“What are we doing Y/n?” Finally stopping whatever he was doing, Jihoon gripped the edges of the counter, his expression unseen. 

“I don’t know what you are doing.” You shrugged. “I am just here to prove I was right.” 

Chuckling, Jihoon turned to you. When he saw you slowly unbuttoning the shirt you had donned, his eyes darkened. “Straight down then left.” He turned back to whatever he was doing. “Wait in my room.” 

Pulling your shirt off your shoulders you threw it at him, letting out a giggle and walking away. 

“I don’t like to wait!” You announced, following his instructions. Almost. 

On the way your eyes fell on the music room you had seen earlier, legs instinctively taking a detour. There were all kinds of instruments in there - banjos on the wall, guitars lined up beside the drum set. There was a large grand piano too and a huge computer with all kinds of equipment around. It was impressive to say the least. 

“I said left, not right.” Jihoon walked in, one hand shoved in his pocket, another holding on to a strange, black drink.

“You have a recording studio here.” 

“I would say you're observative but it's pretty obvious so that would be an overstatement.” 

“How do you power these?” You turned to him. “Without electricity?”

“Well you’re analytical, I’ll give you that.” He let out a small laugh before he explained. “I’m the Sun’s progeny - a little solar energy goes a long way.” 

“So all of these work?” You looked around surprised. “Can I listen to something you’ve made?” 

“I don’t think we’re close enough for that.” 

You rolled your eyes. “But we’re close enough for you to have your fingers in me?” 

“You asked for it.” He shrugged. “And I’m a giver.” 

Laughing, you ran your fingers across the piano. “Can you at least play something for me?” 

Jihoon looked at you for a solid minute before he let out a resigned breath. Setting the drink down on the counter, he grabbed a saxophone from the wall and aligned it with his mouth. You leaned against the piano, urging him to continue with the tilt of the head. 

As the sultry sound of his melody rang through the room, you found yourself swaying to it - it was a good piece, a sexy one that definitely worked to set the mood. But you had ways you could do that on your own too. 

Nearing him, each step matching the rhythm of the music, you ran your hand along his groin, feeling his erection already waiting for you. Smirking to yourself you got on your knees before him, hands working on his waistband and surprisingly, you heard him mess up a note. 

“Uh oh.” You tutted, looking up at him. “No mistakes, no fumbling or I’ll stop.” 

Jihoon tensed under your touch, continuing to play his piece, facing turning red but the melody not stopping. Unzipping his pants, you just about leaned in to give the bulge in his underwear a butterfly of a kiss when you felt a chill run down your body. Something was wrong. 

As though you’d lost all sense of autonomy, you could feel yourself moving back, sitting on your heels, your hands proceeding to unclasp your bra instead. Sliding it down your arms and throwing it away, you got up and shimmied out of your shorts and underwear in one go. You gulped as Jihoon watched you sit on the black couch across him, breaths shallow and fast, chest heaving because this wasn’t you - you somehow had no control over your body. You didn’t mean to pull your legs up and spread them open or run your fingers along your slit, or slide them into your wet hole as though you were putting on a show for him. Yes you felt good but none of this was you. 

Jihoon watched with hooded eyes as you pumped your fingers in and out, free hand moving up to squeeze a boob. Everything moved to its own accord, working you up with a vigor you would have never used on yourself, the sound of the wetness and your moans almost drowning out the song. Your back arched as you felt everything tense, but your eyes did not leave Jihoon’s who finally could not take it anymore, setting the sax aside, leaning over you. 

His own fingers found your clit, rubbing onto it in a way that unmistakably tightened the coil in you. Whimpers left your mouth and though it felt like you were in control of yourself again, you couldn’t stop. Not now, not when you were feeling so good, not when you were so close…. Not until Jihoon whispered. 

“Come on sweetheart, cum for me.”

And you did, around your own fingers, eyes seeing white as he continued to tease your clit, a groan rumbling across his chest. 

“Wha…” You panted, slowly coming down from your high, arousal leaking out of you. “What the hell just happened?” 

“That-” Jihoon smirked, straightening himself. “-was my prediction coming true.” 

“But why could I… why could I not…” 

“Control yourself?” 

You nodded.

“Because the song you just heard is what we call Apollo’s Anthem.” He cocked his head at you victoriously. “If mastered, the one who plays it can make anyone dance to their tunes, like you just did.” 

“That….” Your eyes widen with realization. “That was you? Making me do all that?”

He nodded. 

“Now that's cheating.” You huffed, pulling your legs together, pressing them. “I demand a rematch. We're gonna have to redo-” 

“Next time.” He fisted the material at the back of his neck and pulled his shirt over this head. “Right now there's another prediction we need to work on.”

You furrowed your eyebrows as Jihoon stripped out of his pants, baring himself completely given he had gone commando underneath. 

“For fucks sake, I've been hard since the afternoon and there's nothing I can think other than cumming inside you.”

A triumphant smirk danced across your lips as you leaned back, watching his callously stroke his length. 

“You know, I had my fill with three orgasms today and I'm quite exhausted. I see no reason I have to indulge.” 

Jihoon blinked at you. “Didn't you want to be proven right?” 

“Nope.” You shook your head. “My math teacher always used to say, the truth never needs to be proven, it always reveals itself. He was a hot man, now that I'm thinking about him, very irresistible.” 

“Can we please not talk about your hot math teacher while I'm jerking off?” Jihoon groaned. “Now I'm thinking of my math teacher and he was a gnome of a man.” 

You laughed, watching as he picked up the pace, desperate to finish himself. 

“Is your right hand satisfying enough?” 

“No but I'll have to settle for imagining it's you.” He whimpered. “Albeit it's not even close to how tight you were.” 

You hummed, suddenly feeling both pity for him and curiosity as to just how much a dick as thick as that could stretch you out. “Do you still want to fuck me?” 

“Why is that still a question?” 

“I'll allow it.” Spreading your legs again, you ran your fingers along the folds again, this time wantonly, smearing the remnants of your previous orgasm all over. “But only because you've to hunt tomorrow and I don't want you to be distracted, thinking about dicking me down-.” 

“Stop talking and move over.” He muttered and finally you listened, shifting to the side as he sat beside you. Wasting no time, he grabbed you by the waist and pulled you into his lap, his dick grazing against your clit, sending a jolt down your body. As you held his shoulders, he pumped himself a few times before aligning the tip right at your hole, dragging it along the wetness agonisingly slowly. 

“Jihoon for god's sake, just put it in.” 

“Say you want me to fuck you.” 

“You want me to fuck you.” 

Your bratty-ness was met with a painful spank on the ass. 

“Say it.” He rubbed the area softly, before spreading the cheeks, the head of his dick ever so slightly entering you. “Say you want this as much as me.” 

You tried to chase that feeling, sink further down his length, but his grip was strong and unnerving. 

“Fuck Jihoon please.” You whined as his mouth wrapped around your nipple, sucking it. “Let's just do this already.”

“Can’t hear you.” 

“Jihoon…” You begged as he pulled out, leaving you clenching around nothing. 

“Walls are soundproof sweetheart.” He reached up, nuzzling your neck. “Let me hear you.” 

“For fucks sake, fuck me already Jihoon!” You babbled, desperate to not lose the feeling of him sliding into you again. “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me-” 

“Ride me.” He whispered, pushing you down on his cock, the sheer thickness of it nearly splitting you open. “God you're so tight.” 

“And you're so big.” You moaned, as you bottomed out on him, feeling every inch of his thickness against your fluttering walls. 

Jihoon allowed you to adjust to his length, mouth working on marking your breasts instead but when you began involuntary squeezing him he pulled away, biting his lip like he couldn’t take it anymore. 

“Y/n....” He mumbled, fingers gripping your waist tighter. “Move.” 

And you did, like your life depended on it, knees digging into the couch taking support. With his hands sliding down to your ass again, he helped too, bouncing you on him with a pace you could not have managed on your own. You threaded your fingers through his hair at the nape of his neck, head thrown back, guttural moans leaving you. Jihoon seemed to enjoy all of it, the way you sounded, the way you felt around him, the way you gripped his hair as your core began to tighten threateningly. You could tell from the way he chose to hold you in place instead, thrusting himself up into you and your arousal dripping down his length filthily that you were close but he was far from ready for this to be over. 

Oh this was going to be a long night. 

“Y/n wake up.” It was the soft shaking that drew you out of your sleep. “It’s nearly dawn.”

Jihoon’s face hovered over yours, looking tense. You stretched awake, blinking your eyes open, looking around - you were still in his music room, lying on his couch. You must’ve slept here last night, you didn’t even realise when you went into a deep slumber. From all the bedding on the floor you figured Jihoon crashed in here with you despite having a room of his own in his own house. Slightly thankful that he was gracious enough to not leave you alone, you sat up, pulling your hair into a bun. 

“The boys are done washing up if you wish to hit the showers.” He gathered the remaining of your clothes on the floor, which was really just your bra and handed it to you. “You should also eat something. We skipped dinner last night.” 

Of course you did. 

You’d never had sex this intense before last night. You vaguely remembered cumming nearly three more times - once while you were riding him, right before he emptied his load right into you and two more before he pulled you off him and had you on your knees on the couch, your ass and his cum dripping out of you on display for him as he fucked you and filled you one more time. After that, right before you faded into a deep sleep, you also recalled him cleaning you, handing you that black drink from earlier and helping you get dressed - eating was not even on your agenda before you passed out. 

But now admittedly, you were hungry and also in desperate need for a shower so you swung your legs off the couch and got to your feet. Taking a step was particularly difficult though, given how sore you were. 

“Here.” Jihoon handed you a glass of the same potion. “It’ll help with the pain.” 

Muttering a small thanks, you downed the bitter juice in one gulp. As you returned the glass he handed you a small box of a very familiar green ointment, looking pointedly at your neck. Apparently he had given you his own set of the very bruises he had healed yesterday. Scoffing, you took it from him, walking away, towards the main door. 

“Are you okay?” He asked from behind as you nodded, looking over your shoulder.

“Thank you Jihoon, for everything.” and with that you shut the door, stepping out into the darkness before dawn, taking a deep breath. 

Something about Jihoon’s expression told you he was expecting you to say something more but you didn’t have anything else to say. He was a distraction, you were successfully distracted and now you were back to your reality and the real world. Now it was time to face Seungcheol again. 

Realising the sun would be out in a while, you quickly headed for a shower keeping your head down not to meet the eyes of the boys busy loading the cars at the edge of the camp. As you walked into the bathhouse you wondered if you would meet your regular bypasser at this time of the day too and brushed off the possibility but to your complete surprise, Wonwoo, fully dressed for a change, was right there, leaning against the lockers as though he was waiting for you. 

“You're on time.”

“And I don't have the time for you.” You rolled your eyes, grabbing your towel, heading towards the showers.

“Careful Y/n.” Wonwoo called out from behind you, his voice a lot less nonchalant than it normally was. “The Chimaera is no small monster. It's dangerous, manipulative and feeds on chaos.”

You glanced at him over your shoulder as he continued.

“If things take a turn and you're forced to face it, do whatever it takes to fight it. Don't think, don't analyse, just do it.” 

Frowning, you turned to him, wondering why he was suddenly saying all this but without explaining himself any further, Wonwoo straightened himself and simply left from there. 

By the time you had arrived at the dining hall, right around the time the sun had begun to peak from behind the mountains, all the boys had gathered around the table, dressed in armours and gear. Jeonghan was leading the meeting again, walking around handing something that looked a lot like a golden medallion. 

“Keep your energy readers close to you at all times - the Chimaera is a very intelligent monster but it's not very fast, so in a critical situation, early detection may be what saves your lives.” Noticing your presence, he walked up to you, holding the medallion out. “This is an energy reader. The way demigods have auras, monsters do too and this little handy thing can pick up on it. The closer you are to a creature, the warmer it gets so pay attention. If the medallion manages to pick the right frequency, it will morph into an image of the monster so you'll know exactly what it is. Understood?”

You nodded. 

“Turn.” 

And you did, as he pushed your hair onto a shoulder and secured the chain at the nape of your neck. You ran your fingers across the golden indentation of the surface curiously - it was kind of heavy. 

“Your armour is in Cheol's car.” Mingyu piqued from his seat. “So are the flares and your looking glass.”

You turned to Jeonghan who understood the confusion etched on your face. 

“You are, at no point, allowed to abandon your partner but on the off chance that you are separated, send a flare and it will help him identify your location and a looking glass-” He pulled out a small pane of glass from his pocket. “-is how you can communicate with the members. Just say the name of whoever you want to talk to and they'll appear on it.” 

Finally understanding you nodded, as Jeonghan handed you one last thing - a folded paper. 

“This is a copy of the map. Seungcheol will be driving so be sure to guide him properly.” 

You looked over his shoulder at the leader who seemed tense. 

“Whatever is going on between you two, please just keep aside for one day.” Jeonghan looked at you pointedly and sighing, you nodded. You would be courteous with him, you could do that much. 

As the boys began shuffling around, getting to their feet and leaving the hall, a hand on your arm stopped you from following. 

“Breakfast.” Jun held out with a small box that looked like it was filled to the brim. “Eat on the way. You'll need your energy.” 

Muttering a grateful thanks, you took it from him, glancing at Minghao who was standing beside him, arms crossed. 

“I know you're not fully trained but every demigod should have a weapon on them when they're out in the real world.” Your trainer put a pair of daggers in your hand. “Twin blades. I think they'll suit you.” 

You turned the sheathed weapons in your hand, liking how light they felt. Minghao seemed proud of how comfortable you were. 

“Stay safe doll.” 

He called out as you left, a new unknown fear coursing through you as everything got more and more real. 

By the time you reached the gates, everyone else had already taken off, leaving only Seungcheol leaning against his G wagon, waiting for you. The things Mingyu mentioned were in the passenger seat, neatly folded when you opened the door. As you tried to quickly slip them all on, Seungcheol waited, not offering to help, not even looking, just staring out at the woods. When you finally clambered in, he got in too, turning on the engine and taking off swiftly. You stared at the map on your lap - fuck, it was a long ride. 

In the 2 hours that the two of you had been driving, the sun had fully risen, you had finished your breakfast and not one word that was irrelevant to the route had been exchanged. You stared out of the window, watching the trees whizz by - you had crossed much of the town houses in the outskirts and the road was getting narrower and lonelier now. It made sense why a monster would hide out here. 

“How much further?” Seungcheol asked, fingers drumming the wheel. 

“Until we reach the big olive tree.” You peered at the map trying to understand the images instead given you couldn't read Greek. “There we turn left.” 

Seungcheol hummed, then silence descended once again. 

It was a miracle you went through so much time without saying anything to the man beside you. Considering it was just the two of you and neither of you could run, it was the perfect time to talk about everything going on but you found yourself complying with Jeonghan’s instructions and keeping quiet. Perhaps because you had too much on your mind. 

As nonchalant as you tried to seem, the Chimaera terrified you. It wasn't because it was apparently a big scary monster but because it was seeking you. You were no idiot - you knew that if a creature that powerful wanted to kill you, it could have at many instances when you were being particularly reckless. This one definitely wanted something else from you and the thought of that was more terrifying. What could a monster possibly need from you? 

You didn't know. And maybe like most things in your life you wouldn't get to know. Like you didn't get to meet Hestia, or didn't understand why your powers were so different, or didn't know how to cope with the fact that you could never be a mother. It was perhaps just another thing to add to this never ending list. 

“Y/n.” Seungcheol's hand on your arm pulled you out of your thoughts. “How many times do I have to ask? Is that the tree?” 

You glanced at it and then back at the map and nodded. “Yeah, sorry, that's the one.” 

Shifting gears Seungcheol slowed down, turning left like you told him to but to both of your surprise, the road ahead led straight into a forest that was submerged in darkness despite it being so early in the day. Confused, Seungcheol turned on the headlights as he drove ahead but the moment the car moved ahead, the lights turned off. 

Frowning, he tried again, only to receive the same result - the lights kept turning off. 

Annoyed, he stopped the vehicle, grabbing a rather large lighter from the dashboard and stepped out, opening up the hood. Unbuckling your belt, you followed him. 

“Sit inside Y/n.”

“How are you supposed to hold the lighter and fix this thing?” You grabbed the light from him and held it over the engine. “Is there a problem?”

Seungcheol peered at the machinery, frowning. “I don't think so. I don't know why…..” He trailed off like a realisation hit him. “Did you say the tree we crossed was an olive tree?”

“I think it was?” You held out the map for Seungcheol to see. “I can't read Greek.”

“That’s not an olive tree and this isn't any ordinary forest….” He turned to you, both your faces illuminated by the faint light of the fire. “This is the Forest of Nyx, the Goddess of the Night.” 

“Is that why the lights won't work?” You whispered, feeling a chill run down your body. “Is that why it's so dark?” 

“It's always night at her realm. No light, no Gods, no eyes are allowed here.” He gulped as though he suddenly realised the proximity between the two of you. “No one can see us here.” 

You frowned not understanding what he meant when he shut the hood, the headlights surprisingly flaring up again. Before you could even process what was going on, he pulled you up against him, the lighter dropping from your hands due to the sheer force as your body pressed against his. 

“Cheol-”

“No one can see us Y/n.” He whispered, eyes drifting to your lips. “No one.” 

And in a flash, his mouth was on yours - hot, wanting and desperate. 

You gripped his arms, taken aback by the suddenness but when he pulled you closer like he didn't even want air between the two of you, you ran your hands up his chest and neck, threading them into his thick hair. Taking that as a sign of approval, he moved his hands down, briefly squeezing your ass before catching hold of your thighs and lifting you with unsurprising ease, wrapping your legs around his waist. You moaned when you felt his tongue slip into your mouth, his hands annoyed by all the armour as though they wanted to rip it out. 

It was only when you felt breathless and pulled back that he finally let you go. Looking up at you equally breathless, eyes almost pleading, the words that you'd been dying to hear left his mouth at last. 

“Fuck I've wanted this for so long.” He groaned. “I wanted you for so long Y/n, please….” 

You gulped, stiffening when you understood what he was begging for.

Choi Seungcheol wanted to fuck you.

A/n - aaaaand scene hehe

If you've managed to make it till the end, congratulations, this was a long one, I'm sorry buttttt Cheol enthusiasts (aka everyone) y'all are in for a ride next chapter hehe, stay tuned!

And if you enjoyed reading, please don't forget to leave feedback in the comments or tags - we've got lots of chapters to go and hearing thoughts really helps <3

[cherry-bloooom]

HI THEREEE this is my first oc story that im gonna post here teehee! originally wrote in a notebook as like a rough draft then perfected it in google docs and it took me like 2 days to do so/ ~4 or 5 hours.. rough draft was written all in one sitting tho LOL took around 2 hours.

this is abt my oc percy being an asshole to his girlfriend at the time, michelle, my other oc, and him being a huge nasty slob. that’s kinda it. takes place around 2016/2017.

CONTENT WARNINGS IF U NEED IT:

alcohol/drinking, drugs, dv, rape/coercion, nsfw, slight mention of homophobia technically?? it’s literally one sentence. fortnite /j

ok hope u like it hehe love u bye click read more now to read…

Percy’s Perspective thing… idk what to call it

word count: 6.1k

I came home from a long morning of running around town taking care of errands. Rubin’s birthday is coming up soon, so my parents made me come over to their place for brunch to help them make plans for him, figure out what to get him. Right after I left, I had to grab something to eat. I was starving even though I’d just gotten done eating with my parents. I stopped at the ghetto McDonald’s me and Michelle go to. Every time we go, she complains about it, but we always end up going anyway. I came home right after that but was so mentally exhausted from being out, I couldn’t help but just lay on the couch.

Michelle was at work, like she always is around this time. I feel she works too much. She comes home stressed out nearly every day, and it never fails to ruin our night in together (never out, because she’s too stressed to even go out of the house). I try to have nice, romantic nights with her, but it seems she wants no part of it when I make an effort. It feels like she’s always resisting, for some reason. Things used to be so different between us. We always had great nights when she got off work, even when she got home late or tired or stressed, and things would be perfectly fine. But lately, she’s just been so distant and moody all the time. We’re always arguing over the little things, like when she accuses me of leaving the apartment a mess, or that I don’t help her out with anything. I feel like those criticisms are a bit undeserved. She has no idea what I do when she’s at work all day, and how stressful it can be sometimes. Like, for example, she knows how much I hate my parents, but it seems like every other day I have to spend money on an Uber to get to their house fifteen minutes away just to discuss a random ass topic they couldn’t stomach doing over the phone or text. God, even an email would be easier than the shit they pull. Or, she knows how much I hate Rubin, but I’m forced to basically babysit him for Mom and Dad while they sit on their asses and do nothing all day at work. They seriously lack the mental capacity to understand how annoying he is, and how annoying it is to hang out with him or bring him over to the apartment. They always say, “But Percy, he’s your baby brother!” But to that I say, “fuck off.” Just because I happened to be born before him doesn’t mean he’s my responsibility now. I don’t even get paid for it. I thought my babysitting days were over once I moved out, but I guess not! Halle-fucking-lujah. And she also knows how worried I am about my Overwatch league, and how often I have to practice for it. I love doing it, don’t get me wrong, it’s fun, but I hate always being glued to the computer like that. I know I gotta make some real money off of this soon, but it just stresses me out so much. Michelle really has no idea what it’s like for me, being home all day, all my duties. I wish she would give me the benefit of the doubt, just once. All she does is accuse and get mad at me for things I didn’t even contribute to.

I just wish things could go back to how they were with Michelle, my Mika, when we first met back in college, and every time we spoke sparks flew instantly. Even a year ago, things were different between us. We used to have romantic nights out, and cuddly movie nights on the couch, but now those have turned into cold, empty looks and heated arguments. That spark I loved so much is fading, and I want it back, so, so bad.

In all my sulking on the couch, I was interrupted by a notification on my phone. I reached for it, and quickly looked at the text– It was from my old college buddy Alex, in the group chat with my whole college friend group.

“Still up for tonight guys?”

Fuuuuuuuck. I had totally forgotten that I had plans with the guys for tonight. It was supposed to be all of us– me, Alex, Josh, and Andrew– going out to some bar downtown. I couldn’t remember the name of the place, let alone what time we were supposed to meet up, and couldn’t bother to check the message history and find out. Soon, the other guys chimed in confirming they were going, first Andrew, then Josh, leaving only me. I quickly thought of an excuse to not go.

“Sorry guys, my girl said I couldn’t tonite. Too dangerous to get home drunk and she has work in the morning, can't pick me up that late. Maybe another time,” is the best I could come up with.

They all typed their cries of disappointment, me remaining silent in the chat. That was until Andrew, the motherfucker, suggested we just come to my place. That way, I wouldn’t need to worry about getting home. Amazing, just what I wanted him to say.

“Yeah, sure. Be here by 4.”

They asked the address, I sent it, then turned my phone off and threw it to the other end of the couch, sighing loudly as I did. Putting my head in my hands, I thought of what to do. God, I hated hanging out with them. They haven’t matured whatsoever from when we were in college, and it’s like having a bunch of little Rubin’s running around whenever I’m with them. Constantly having to remind them to stop being so loud, so rambunctious, so, well, annoying. It reminds me of high school, where I’d be sitting at a table, minding my business, then suddenly people are flinging food at each other and screaming like banshees in heat, and I’m just sitting there, calm, collected, and irritated as fuck. I can’t stand them, I find it hard to relate to them, they’re all so immature for their ages. The only reason I wanted to go out was because we’d be drinking, and it would be fun and more tolerable. I was gonna try to pretend I didn’t know them, and wasn’t with them, and just have an excuse to get out of the house and relax on my own. Now that they’re coming here, and I doubt they’d be bringing anything with them, it’ll just be me and 3 other guys sitting in my living room like we’re boyscouts about to tell a campfire story. Is it really too late to cancel? Maybe something happened to Michelle at work, and they couldn’t come… No, because then, I’d have to keep up the lie. Ugh, god damnit.

I looked around the tiny living room, with our much too big TV and our much too small TV stand, that held my Xbox and my games, and a big bluetooth speaker I ordered for myself off Amazon. I looked at the floor, and at the loveseat where Michelle does all her reading. The house was a bit messy, but I had better things to worry about right now. I needed to start thinking about refreshments. I trudged into the kitchen and investigated our fridge, first. All I saw was a half empty 2 liter of Pepsi, some chinese takeout boxes, some chicken breasts, a barely touched gallon of milk, my case of Redbulls, Michelle’s leftover Starbucks from the other day, some steaks, some lettuce, condiments and dressings, and baby carrots. Nothing good in here, really. Then, I checked the pantry– pasta, crackers, cereal, Michelle’s spices, breadcrumbs, rice, a few picked through bags of chips, bread, 3 packs of ramen, and other random nonperishables. Not much else in here, either, I guess. I rustled around some more until I saw, in the way, way back of the pantry, a bottle of wine me and Michelle were saving for a special occasion, our anniversary, or a date night, or something. The wine itself was nothing special. It was a bottle of Barefoot, I think it was, like, fifteen dollars. Maybe I could bring this out for me and the guys tonight, to make it a little more bearable for myself. I have a feeling me and Michelle won’t be enjoying it any time soon, with how she’s been acting as of late. I know the guys aren’t huge fans of wine, but unless one of them wants to bring a six pack, then it’s just gonna have to do. I grabbed the bottle and set it on the counter, and reached in the cabinet and pulled out four wine glasses for each of us, so I wouldn’t forget to later. It’s only about two o’clock. I have some time to relax before they get here.

I pace around the apartment, completely dreading their arrival. I wish Michelle were here, so I could ask her what to do. I would call, but she never answers the phone at work. She really does work too much. I look back at the wine bottle sat out on the kitchen counter, and daydream about how nice it would be to enjoy that bottle with her. I’ll try to conserve the wine, and I think tonight, after the guys leave, and when she gets home from work, we’re gonna have a nice, relaxing night together, and we’ll talk through all the issues we’ve been having over that wine. I wanna spoil her tonight. I hope she’ll appreciate it.

I continued my pacing, and after checking the clock on the stove, I saw around thirty minutes went by. It’s almost 2:45, meaning I have about an hour to prepare myself. I’ve been eyeing the wine the whole time I paced, it looks really, really good. I pick up the bottle from the counter and start inspecting it. “Red Moscato” was the flavor, it’s deep red color making it look like some kind of fruit punch, or kinda like blood. Under the flavor, the tagline says, “Deliciously Sweet.” I’m not usually a fan of sweet drinks, but hey, it’s alcohol. In my mind, I considered popping it open early and drinking a little before the guys get here, but quickly swept the thought away, remembering how I wanted to save some for me and Michelle. Besides, I’ll have a little when the guys get here too, that’s when I’ll really need it. I continue to pace.

About fifteen minutes go by. It’s exactly 3:02. The bottle keeps enticing me. It really does look like blood, doesn’t it? I start to think about what it’ll be like when they get here. Their grating laughs, their irritating faces. Just the thought makes me wanna scream. I consider drinking it again, this time those images flashing through my head, my mind filled with dread. Maybe it’ll soften the blow when they get here. It’s now a toss up in my mind– but I knew my answer as soon as the question popped into my head again. Before I knew it I was pouring myself a decently sized glass, all for myself. It should be fine, there’s a lot left. With the first sip, my nerves relaxed, the bitterness of the alcohol adjusting them back into place. I almost chugged out of the glass, just standing right there in the kitchen. The glass was nearly empty by the time I was done with that huge first sip, so I refilled it and took my glass and the bottle back to the living room with me. I sat back and kicked my feet up, now properly able to relax.

Around 3:40 or so I heard a knock at the door. They’re here already? I groaned as it took me out of my tipsy buzzy high, and I reluctantly left the couch with a sigh to answer the door. Stumbling on the way there, I opened the door, and saw it was Andrew, the very kind, considerate guy, who kindly and courteously suggested we come to my house, without asking me first, before suggesting it. How lovely. He greets me with a pat on my back, and I notice in his hand he’s holding a six pack of Modelo. Thank fucking god, that wine was too good I almost didn’t wanna share it with these idiots. Being considerate, though, I took his beer and stuck it in the fridge, and led him to the living room, letting him know there’s already some wine in there if he wanted it, hoping in my head he didn’t.

We made small talk on the couch until I heard another knock at the door. I got up, and Andrew followed. Nearly stumbling again, I opened the door and greeted Josh, the most palatable of the bunch. He held a huge tote bag filled with snacks, as if he’d stopped at the store before coming here.

“I wasn’t sure what you had, so, I brought a little of everything, heh,” he explained. Did he not expect me to have anything here already? I sort of appreciated the sentiment, but felt a little disrespected at the same time. Andrew greeted him at the door, giving him the same pat on the back he gave me. Must be some kind of tradition among young men I’m not aware of. They started talking as they stood in the kitchen, and I barely paid any attention, until Alex showed up in the open door frame, greeting us by holding his hands in the air, one holding a drawstring bag and the other holding a case of Corona Light. The 3 stooges began hollering in excitement, huddling up and chanting and jumping up and down to celebrate their hang out sesh. I winced and my ears rang, taking the case of Coronas and placing it next to the Modelos in the fridge. They finally died down and migrated to the living room, and I reluctantly followed.

Twenty minutes have passed, and we’ve already each cracked open a Corona or two, or in my case, 3. They were sipping at them between words, and I sat there silently drinking, quick enough to get drunk as fast as possible and slow enough to not chug it. I’m zoned out, tipsy, and barely paying any attention to the conversation. I hear the chatter, but don’t know what they’re saying, until Alex brings me back.

“Hey, who brought this shitty wine?” He called out, looking to the group, laughing patronizingly. The others laughed with him and they all looked around, apart from Andrew.

“Oh, that was just some stuff I had lying around.. I didn’t feel like going out again today,” I explained, wanting to end it right then and there.

“Dude, this is some fuckin’… Some chick shit!” They all cackled. “What, are you fucking gay or something, man?” The cackling got louder. I took a large sip from my bottle in response.

Andrew opened his big mouth, “No, dude, doesn’t he have a girlfriend or something?” He stifled a chuckle.

“Yeah,” I responded, without a hint of humor in my voice.

“Bro, I forgot you had a girl, man,” Josh said. I don’t know how that’s possible, when I said it was the reason I couldn’t go out. Fucking idiot. “How are y’all doing together?” He slurred out.

I questioned whether to be truthful or to let the question pass by without giving a clear answer, but I’m drunk enough that my real answer comes out without me even realizing I’m talking. “Well..” I started, voice low and words slurring. “She’s… She’s been stressed, with work and stuff, recently, and, uh… Well, we’ve been kinda, um,” my eyes widened and I exaggerated a loud sigh. “She’s been kinda pissed off with me lately. I don’t know.. She’s always complainin’ about something.”

Alex responded, “Well that’s just women, man, that’s just how they are,” he waved his hands in the air, as if to brush it off and say it wasn’t my fault. “That’s why I can’t do none of that lovey-dovey shit. Either she’s mad at me for doin’ somethin’ stupid, or I’m mad at her for doin’ somethin’ stupid. I just.. I just can’t do it.”

Josh raised his drink in the air, said, “Shit, I’ll drink to that,” and let out a stifled laugh. Andrew lifted his drink slightly as well. I stayed still.

Alex continued, “Women are just bitches, man. Personally, what I do, is, I just pump and dump, y’know what I’m sayin’?” He sticks out his tongue, and starts making a thrusting motion, laughing. Andrew and Josh drunkenly cackle. I stayed silent and just nodded along. “But really, man, that.. that blows. I’m sorry. That fucking blows.” He then reached over the arm of the couch, and lifted his drawstring bag over and into his lap. He unfastened the strings and reached into the bag, pulling out a pre-rolled joint, a lighter, and an ashtray. “A little something to ease your mind?” he said, as Andrew and Josh went wild, cheering for Alex. He placed the ashtray on the coffee table in front of us and handed me the joint and the lighter.

God, I haven’t smoked since college. I haven’t had a real reason to since then. Yeah, I’m stressed now, but not nearly as much as I was back with constant finals and exams and assignments. It was fun. And hey, I’m already decently tipsy. What’s a little extra? Why the hell not?

After contemplating for a moment, I took it from his hand, placed the joint in my mouth, and lit up for the first time in years. That first inhale nearly killed me with how hard I coughed. The guys all laughed at me, and it annoyed me. But after they went back to talking, and my high set in, their voices were drowned out and I completely zoned out of the conversation, only ever coming back when they passed the joint to me. I enjoyed my time with them for the first time since we graduated, as I leaned back into the couch and got drunker with every sip of Corona and my “chick shit” wine, and got higher with every puff.

I don’t remember much else about the night until they were leaving. I wasn’t blacked out or anything, I just was so out of it I can’t remember anything until I came back to reality, in a way. I looked around as they were leaving, and it was dark in the living room, the TV was playing some random music I’d never heard before, and the room was a mess, with empty beer cans and bottles all over the couch and coffee table. I got up to see them out, stumbling over the garbage, and the kitchen was just as dark as the living room. The light from the stove clock illuminated it just enough though to where I could see they left all their snacks and beer. I wasn’t sure whether this was on purpose or not, but I certainly wasn’t gonna complain about it at all. We said our goodbyes, and I shut and locked the door, finally getting some time to myself, without worrying for the first time today. I grabbed a bag of Doritos and a Modelo from the fridge, and went and sat down on the couch. I turned the music off, started playing my own on my speaker from my phone, and played Fortnite on my Xbox for the next few hours.

I was so out of it that 2 hours passed by in an instant, and suddenly, Michelle was home from work. I didn’t notice until she turned on the overhead light in the living room, and shouted my name. It startled me, and sent me in a panic to shut off my game and the music.

I looked at her with wide eyes, heart beating out of my chest. “What!?” I yelled out.

Michelle stood next to the couch, still holding her purse and wore her uniform from work. She hadn’t even taken her shoes off yet. She looked at me with wet eyes, as if she had just gotten done crying. “‘What?’ What do you mean, ‘What?’” she mocked. While her eyes were teary, they still showed an intense fire, showing just how angry she was at me. “I just cleaned up the apartment this morning, and, it’s already filthy again! I mean, look for yourself, Percy!” she yelled out, looking around at the beer cans and bottles, empty chip bags, and random piles of garbage, all left by the guys, then back to me. “And, what the hell is that smell? It’s like something died in here, oh my god, it’s terrible!” she cried out. Oh shit, it must be the weed she’s smelling. I hope she doesn’t realize what it is.

“I dunno,” I stammered out.

“You ‘dunno’. You always ‘dunno’. No, seriously, Percy, what happened while I was gone?”

“I just had some of the guys over, that’s all,” I answered, “they left a few hours ago, I think.. It’s really not that bad, hon,” I say as I looked around at the state of the apartment.

“Did one of them die in here, or something? I mean really, oh my god! How do you not smell that?” she questioned, covering her nose with her shirt, wafting the smell away from her.

I tried to diffuse the situation. “..Smell what?”

She groans in response, “Ugh, whatever,” and then continues, “They left here how long ago? A few hours, you said?” she questioned. She then pointed at me, “So, why didn’t you clean up after they left?”

I’m still a little drunk, and I started to get frustrated with her. I wanted to have a good night with her and it’s already going to shit. I try to hold myself back, but blurt out, “Ugh, it’s not even that bad, Michelle. Just relax.”

“I nearly tripped trying to get in the house because there’s garbage piled up by the front door!” she screamed out, “What the hell do you mean, ‘it’s not that bad’?”

I drunkenly blurted out again, “Michelle, honey, please. Just chill out,” putting my head in my hands. I continued, “You’re really stressing me out right now.. I had a really, really long day today, and, I just wanted to have a good night with you when you got back.”

Michelle laughed in my face after I said that. “Really? What was it that made it a ‘long day’?” She crossed her arms and grimaced at me.

“Well, for starters,” I began, “I had to get an Uber to my parents, so we could plan out Rubin’s birthday over brunch, and–“

“With what money?” she interrupted.

I rolled my eyes. “..With your card,” I mumbled.

She sighed out, “Continue.”

“So.. I had to do that, then I had to stop at that shitty McDonald’s you always complain about since I was starving–“

“With what money, again?”

I rolled my eyes even harder, becoming even more frustrated. “With your card,” I muttered coldly, louder than last time. “Then,” I continued, “the guys came over, and, well, I had to be around them for like, 2 or 3 hours, or something.. You know how much I hate them, baby–“

“So, why’d you invite them over?” She interrupted a third time.

I snapped on her this time. “Why do you keep interrupting me!?” I whined out, losing my temper a bit. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again and placed a hand on her hip. I continued, “They basically forced me to have them over! And, they, like, pissed me off the whole time, and kept annoying the shit out of me!”

Michelle was fuming, and I could tell. She let out another chuckle to herself, shaking her head and closing her eyes, and rubbed her temple with one hand, leaving the other on her hip. “Percy,” she started, “I just got done working a double at a grocery store that doesn’t give a shit about me, making $12 an hour, where I got screamed at all day for shit that wasn’t my fault,” she crossed her arms, “my feet have not gotten a break since 6 AM, since I had to be up early to start cleaning up after you. My head is throbbing, my legs, back, and arms are in so much pain. You had brunch with your rich parents, got McDonalds for yourself with my money, and drank with your friends all night. But you were the one who had a long day. Right.” She rolled her eyes as I sat there, speechless, until she caught a glimpse of the wine bottle on the coffee table, stared at it, and her eyes simply drooped as they watered again. Wondering what made her so upset, I looked over along with her, and saw the bottle was almost completely empty, enough to probably fill a shot glass or two. Did I really drink all that? I felt mortified as I looked back to Michelle, and saw she was storming off to our bedroom, where she usually takes off to during our arguments.

I leapt onto my feet and called out to her, trying my best to fix this horrible situation. “I’m sorry for the mess, I really didn’t want them to make such a huge mess, and I was gonna clean it but.. Really, Mika, I-“

She snapped her whole body around to interrupt me, pointing a finger at me and shoving it into my chest, “Don’t fucking call me that, Percy!” she screamed breathlessly, “I don’t give a fuck about whether or not you were gonna clean it. I’m so sick and tired of seeing you sit there on your ass and make it worse for me. It’s fucking disgusting. You’re a grown man and you can’t pick up after yourself? Seriously!?” She threw her arms up in the air in confusion, and turned back around in a hurry to get to the bedroom.

In one last dire effort to calm her down, I grabbed her arm, pulling her back towards me and stopping her from reaching the bedroom, spun her around, and kissed her. It’s been so long since we last kissed, and she tasted amazing. I could feel her trying to wriggle out of my grip, so I just held her tighter and kissed her harder to distract her from her own anger. She continued to push away from me, unsuccessfully, until I felt a hard slap on my right cheek. In shock, I pulled away and let go of her, and stared at her in surprise. She backed away from me creating a few feet of space between us, and she stood and stared at me with a fearful stance.

“What the hell, Percy!?”

I immediately lunged forward and kissed her deeply again before she could finally make it through the door. I grabbed her waist and the back of her head, pushing her into me with both hands. She pushed as hard as she could, nearly getting away once, but my grip on her tightened. I felt my cheeks become flushed as I kissed her and felt her body with my hands. Something came up inside me, making me need this woman more than anything, no matter how mad she was at me. I could feel warmth spreading throughout my whole body as she wriggled in my grip. She smacked me again, but it did nothing. Then another time. I simply grabbed her harder each time she hit me. She yelled between my kisses, “Percy, stop!” as she continued to push me away, but I resisted and silenced her by shoving my tongue in her mouth, deeper with each of her cries. She continued to hit me to shoo me away from her, and even began trying to pull my face away from hers by reaching her arm up and tugging at my hair and pushing at my face. I only responded by grabbing her arms and bringing them back down as she did so. By this point I was practically panting, as with each moment and each hit and tug and pull, I craved her and her body more and more. I needed to feel her entire body and I wanted her to feel mine.

I finally pulled away from her to gain some breath. My heart was pounding out of my chest, and my whole body felt so weak and tingly around her, but my grip on her stayed the same. As I pulled my mouth away from hers, I breathed in deeply and opened my eyes to look at her face. Her eyes were wide with a helpless look, an adorable look that made my knees wobble as I saw it. I couldn’t help but lean back in to kiss her again, and as I closed my eyes, I felt a large object make impact with my jaw and ear, physically knocking my face away from hers, and my whole body stumbled to the side following my head. I won’t lie, it sent me reeling, and I grabbed my jaw and caressed it to ease the pain. I looked up at Michelle, who backed away from me again, holding her purse out with her arm fully extended. I could see her slightly tremble, and she said nothing before she made her way in the bedroom, slammed the door.

I smirked a bit after collecting myself, finding her anger so adorable. I followed after her, and turned the doorknob, but it wouldn’t budge. She must’ve locked it. I tried to force it open again, using my body to try and make the door move a little, but still nothing. Still fiddling with the doorknob, I begged and pleaded for Michelle to come back out and talk to me, but she ignored me. I grew desperate and began banging on the door, trying to get it open. I needed to feel her body again, to touch her, and kiss, and taste her again.

“Michelle, please.. I just wanna talk, please..”

“We can talk when you learn how to clean up your shit,” she finally called out through the door. Just the sound of her voice made me melt.

“Baby, I.. I just really wanted to have a nice night,” I whined out, sliding my hands down the door, “why do you always have to go and ruin it for us..? Why can’t you just take care of it tomorrow, or something?”

“Oh, my god, I have work tomorrow, too! 7 to 5, plus I have to run errands tomorrow after! I don’t have the time to be your goddamn maid, Percy! I’m fucking done with it! Don’t think I’m doing shit with you until you learn how to clean up around the house.”

Again with the ‘having no time’. “I had a busy day too, hon, like I said,” I softly pleaded to her, “And I’m busy all day tomorrow, too.. I have to worry about my career taking off soon, and, I.. I have to go back to my parents again tomorrow! I just- I just don’t have the time either, I-“

I stopped mid sentence, quieting down to listen to the rustles and thumps coming from inside the room. I put my ear up to the door, listening carefully, before the door moved suddenly and I nearly fell over. I saw Michelle standing there, holding a ball of laundry, and she was wearing only a pair of pajama pants and a black bra. She let her hair down, just the way I liked it, and she had that look on her face again, with a tear streaming down her face. She coldly said as her brows furrowed, “Then you know what? If you have to go over again tomorrow, why don’t you get a head start, and get the fuck out of here.” She shoved the clothes at me, and I nearly dropped them since I was so focused on her, and her beautiful body. It had been so, so long since I’d seen her like this, and god, that face she was making drove me crazy. My face felt hot and my whole body was all wobbly again.

All I could mutter was, “Look, Michelle, I.. I’m sorry.. for acting how I did, just now. Let’s just.. can we, uh.. restart, hon?”

She looked to the side, crossing her arms over her chest and rubbing her biceps up and down. “Just.. Just go, please. I can’t do this right now.”

“No, baby, I.. I really just, I wanna make this up to you,” I said gently. I tossed my clothes onto the floor, and placed one hand on her waist and wiped her tears with the other. As I touched her, she slightly backed away from me, her body trembling again. I leaned in to kiss her, caressing her cheek as I did, and held her against me by the waist with the other hand. She resisted for just a moment, but finally gave in and began kissing me back.

My face felt hot again as we stumbled into the room, and I lead her to the bed, pushing her onto it and leaning over her as we made out. I made my way down from her jaw to her neck, then down to her chest where I left 2 hickeys. I joked with her, “I know you have work tomorrow, so, I left them there instead, heh.” She had no reaction.

I massaged my hands over her entire body, and my lips followed. I undressed myself, helped her take off her bra and pants, and kissed her one final time before pushing her onto her back, spreading her legs, and getting on top of her, positioning myself so I could see all the helpless faces she always made.

She looked a bit hesitant, almost disinterested, like she was spaced out. I gained her attention, and reassured her, “Just enjoy it, alright?”

After we finished, I fell over onto my back and breathed heavily. Michelle stayed perfectly still, before turning onto her side, getting cozy under the covers, and curling up into a ball, staying silent. Neither of us said anything for a good while. I think she might’ve fell asleep, so now, it’s just me and my thoughts until she wakes up. My mind wandered and recollected our argument beforehand. I looked to the clock, and it was already 10:30, an hour and a half since she’d gotten home. I thought about how angry she was when she walked through the door, and how upset she was while we were still talking. God, her face when she saw the wine. I definitely fucked up with that one. Well, at least the night wasn’t totally ruined, after all of that. I remembered how she’d told me to “get a head start” on my day tomorrow, and told me to go to my parents. I know she meant it as an insult, but.. it didn’t sound like a horrible idea. I have to be there a bit early tomorrow, plus I should dedicate most of my day to my league, shouldn’t I? Thank you, Michelle, for the idea.

I got out of bed and dressed myself again. I gathered all the clothes that laid outside the bedroom door, and loosely shoved them into an old backpack, before finally hearing my Mika’s voice again.

She called out, “What are you doing?”

“Oh, I uh, was thinking about what you said earlier, about me getting a head start on my day tomorrow, and, uh, I thought it was a good idea. So, I’ll be at my parents house for the night.”

She didn’t respond.

“I’ll be home before you get home tomorrow, don’t worry.”

Still no response.

I finished packing up all my things and got my shoes on.

“Is it alright if I take your car, hon?” I asked.

The only response I got was her adjusting the blanket a bit. Must be half asleep. I assume she wouldn’t need it that bad, so I reached into her purse and took her keys.

Before I left, I quietly approached Michelle, gently moved the hair from her face, and planted a kiss on her temple, before whispering to her, “I love you, Mika.” I turned back around, grabbed my stuff, turned off the light, and shut the door. I finally left the apartment, and headed over to my parents house.

[babyboibucky]

The Match - Part 6

Pairing: CEO!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: You deal with the aftermath of your decision.

Word Count: 2.9k

Warnings: There’s a little bit of smut in here, not too filthy though I guess???

A/N: VOILA NO ANGST IN THIS CHAPTER, only tension teehee anyway I hope this doesn’t disappoint and I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s rage about this part lmfaoooo

The Match Masterlist || MAIN MASTERLIST

The last time you lost sleep was back in your days at the university, when you were working on your thesis. And that was years ago so now that you were wide awake at two in the fucking morning, it was frustrating you.

What was even more frustrating was the fact that you were up because of a guy, and not just any guy— Bucky Barnes.

You didn't know whether you made the right decision of rejecting him like that, without even giving the relationship a damn chance. But you were right, weren't you? That making it official with courtship was going to make your corporate life a living hell.

Perhaps you were overthinking?

You groaned out loud and sat up on your bed, grabbing your phone from the night stand and opening up your messaging app.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean those things that I said.

Delete, delete, delete.

Can we talk again?

Delete, delete, delete.

I already miss you.

"Really, now?" you chuckled to yourself, albeit sarcastically.

When did you ever chase a guy? Never in you entire life did you put your walls down for a fucking guy. What would make Bucky an exception? Sure, he was rich as fuck and handsome as hell but those wouldn't give him an immunity from your pride.

Throwing your phone under your pillow, you decided to stand by your verdict about keeping things professional between you and Bucky.

-

The universe seemed to hate you because aside from losing sleep, you also forgot to set your alarms and now you were running late for the mancom meeting. You really had to confront Bucky like that a day before the meeting, huh?

By the time you reached the conference room, the meeting was already in progress. Heads turned to you upon your arrival, the entire room silent as you whispered your apologies. When you looked around, you realized that the only seat available was the one next to Bucky.

Great, just great!

You could feel his eyes on you as you carefully made your way towards him, mumbling another apology for your tardiness before sitting down. You knew how much Bucky hated it when people were late, whether for a meeting or for a rendezvous. The last time you were late, he denied you of your orgasm when he fingered you in his car.

Was he thinking of the same thing now? If not for last night's discussion, you would probably be bent down on his desk by lunch time. You cleared your throat and squeezed your legs uncomfortably, a gesture that Bucky noticed right off the bat.

You crossed your legs and focused your attention on the presentation until you noticed what Bucky was doing beside you. You tried to be discreet when you checked him out through your peripheral vision; he was leaning back against his seat with his legs wide apart. He seemed to be paying attention to the presentation but then he started stroking his chin in a certain way that made you remember all the times he did that whenever he had his eyes on you.

"Mister Barnes? What do you think about this suggestion?" the head of operations asked.

Bucky hummed lowly as he stroked his lower lip, nodding his head in approval before saying in a rough voice, "I like it."

"I like it."

"Like what?" you asked innocently, lifting a curious brow at Bucky when you entered his office one night in a tight fitting skirt with a slit that showed off the garter of your stockings.

You knew that it was going to drive Bucky insane if you walked around the office wearing something so teasing like that. To hell with the HR, you actually received a memo for wearing such at a workplace but whatever. The reward from Bucky would surely be more than enough to make this decision worth it.

"Playing coy now, are we?" Bucky asked, standing up from his seat and then walking over to you.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Bucky." you teased.

Bucky smirked and kept his eyes on you when he knelt down in front of you, his rough palms sliding against the skin of your thighs before tugging at the edge of your stockings.

"I'll show you what I'm talking about." he said before he bunched up your skirt, licking a stripe against your lace-clad pussy.

You exhaled heavily at the memory and shook your head. Fuck no, you weren't going to give in! You weren't even sure whether Bucky was intentionally teasing you. Nope, definitely not giving in so easily.

-

You survived the entire day, despite being on the receiving end of Bucky's subtle teasing. That motherfucker was testing you alright, you were damn sure of it. He really went to the pantry during lunch, when you were washing your mug at the sink. And he had the audacity to stand behind you, pretending to be reaching for something from the cupboards.

Janet the snitch was there too! Thank fuck she was preoccupied with her salad and didn't notice when Bucky pressed his crotch against your ass, his breath fanning against your neck when he whispered "Excuse me." in that delicious, rough voice of his.

Thinking that you were finally free to head home, you started gathering your things until you received an e-mail from none other than Bucky. It was a little past seven in the evening already and you've submitted all your reports earlier. What does he want now?

Come see me in my office. Now.

Regards, Bucky Barnes

A surge of electricity coursed through your veins, your entire body going cold and you weren't sure whether you should be nervous or excited. Or aroused, even. You weren't going to lie but you sort of hoped that his e-mail contained another dick pic again, something to let you know that everything was fine between the two of you.

Who were you kidding though, you were the one who asked for this set-up.

You adjusted your skirt and went straight to the elevator, counting the seconds until it reached Bucky's floor. Every step you took towards his office felt heavier and heavier as you neared his door. What does he want?! You couldn't think of anything that he needed to talk to you about.

"Shit. Okay, bitch you got this." you mumbled to yourself before knocking.

Bucky didn't even tell you to come in, he just opened the door and left it ajar as he went back to his seat behind his desk. He seemed agitated but god did he look good. You really needed to get a grip of yourself.

"You need anything, Mister Barnes?" it felt strange to address him like that.

He heaved out a sigh and shrugged, "I'm very disappointed in this report." he said, slamming the folder on top of his desk before looking up at you.

"I don't understand. I followed every instruction and even included charts to make it easier to understand." you explained, slightly offended that he was questioning your hard work.

You worked hard on that report, and he knew how much. Was he power tripping you now?

"That's the thing, you followed every instruction. Sometimes you have to make certain changes, that doesn't mean it's automatically wrong as long as the outcome is the same." Bucky explained.

You narrowed your eyes at him. He was insinuating something and you knew exactly what it was. You preferred not to focus on it and straightened up, trying to play it cool.

"I don't get it." you shook your head, crossing your arms over your chest.

Bucky heaved out sigh, "Come take a look. I'll show you where you went wrong." he said, raising his eyebrow at you, his tongue darting out to lick his bottom lip.

Oh no. Oh fucking no. He was giving you the look. You tried not to falter and maintained your professional behavior. Slowly, you walked around his desk until you stood beside him.

"See this part? Too detailed, I don't need to know about this. I just want to see the results." Bucky explained casually.

"Another thing is the graph you made. It's good, but again, too many details. You see this?" Bucky asked, glancing up at you.

You squinted your eyes, not wanting to stand too close to Bucky. Even from where you were, his perfume was invading your senses. It reminded you of all the times that scent was all that you could smell, especially whenever Bucky was on top of you, fucking your brains out. Or whenever he took you from behind, his face buried into your neck and—

"Are you listening?" Bucky asked.

You cleared your throat, "Yes." you immediately responded.

"Here, take a look at what I'm talking about." Bucky said, casually placing a hand on the small of your back as you bent down to look at your report closely.

It's as if everything happened so fast. You were trying to see what Bucky was talking about when you heard his chair screech against the floor, followed by his strong hands gripping your waist, pulling you down to sit on his lap.

You gasped out loud when you felt his hard cock against your ass. A slight whimper slipped past your lips when Bucky slightly moved, thrusting his hips upward while his hands on your waist kept you still.

"Bucky, fuck I..." you panted.

And then suddenly, the contact was gone and Bucky was pulling you away from him as he stood up. A shit-eating grin plastered on his face as he feigned innocence.

"I'm sorry, I totally forgot. We're supposed to be professional now. That's what you wanted, right?" he asked mockingly, shaking his head and then fixing his suit.

You stood there, gawking at him incredulously at the stunt that he just pulled on you. Did he really just...?

What the fuck?

"Anyway, I want the revised report by my table end of the day tomorrow." he said oh so casually, as if he didn't just pull you down to sit on his fucking lap while he had a damn erection.

He sat back down and continued with his shit as you stood there, disappointed (at yourself actually) and just feeling like a fucking fool.

"I can't believe you just did that." you softly said, turning around to leave.

"Just say you want me and this will all be over." Bucky said.

You looked back at him with a scowl and saw how smug he was staring at you. His lips curled up into a grin, eyes glinting with mischief. You wanted to kiss that fucking smirk off his face, maybe sit on it and ride it until he's out breath, until the skin on your inner thighs burned from how his scruff was scratching against it.

But again, you were too proud to do that.

"Thank you, Mister Barnes. I'll see you tomorrow."

-

What do you call it when a girl is left high and dry? Is there a female version for having blue balls? You needed to know because that was something you've been going through for two weeks now.

Two fucking weeks.

Since that night in Bucky's office, things have gotten worse for you. Bucky wanted you to give in first and damn, he was giving it his fucking all when it comes to making you cave. The man even texted you a shirtless photo of him at the gym. By accident, he said.

And here you thought that the both of you were going to be professional moving forward.

Bucky always teased you whenever he could, made sure that you'd be reminded of the times you spent together. Whether it was with how he spoke or looked at you, he was subtle but he went all out. One time during a meeting, Bucky started to play with his fucking mouse. His middle finger doing things to his scroll wheel, moving back and forth all the while he was staring at you with a sleazy grin.

As if you needed any more reminder how much his fingers felt so much better against your cunt as compared to your own.

-

Friday came quickly and you couldn't be more grateful for it. It had been very busy at the office and Bucky was edging you even without having the need to touch you. You needed a break from him, needed some time to yourself and rethink about the certain decisions you made.

You stood by the elevator, waiting for it to reach your floor when Mark approached you.

"Been a hectic week huh?" he asked, adjusting the strap of his laptop bag on his shoulder.

You sighed, "Very hectic, thank goodness the week is over." you said with a chuckle.

"Any plans for the night?" Mark asked, turning to you.

You shook your head, "Not really. You?"

Mark smiled widely at you, "No plans either. But I do remember you owe me a night at the bar." he reminded you.

You mentally facepalmed because fuck, you totally forgot about that. Mark wasn't so bad actually, he was kind and seemed like a lot of fun to hang out with. You just...you just weren't attractive to him.

Maybe you should give it a try? Just to keep your mind off of Bucky even for a while. That man was driving you insane, honestly.

"Of course, yeah. I remember." you said with an awkward laugh.

"Do you want to go tonight?" he asked at the same time the elevator doors opened.

Lo and behold, Bucky Barnes was inside as well. Fucking hell.

"Mister Barnes." Mark greeted him before gesturing for you to step inside first.

You saw the look that Bucky gave both you and Mark. Suddenly, hanging out with Mark didn't seem like a good idea anymore. You prayed that Mark wouldn't bring it up anymore, at least, while Bucky was inside the elevator.

It felt like you were being ushered into the pits of hell when you stepped inside. Even with Mark's presence, you felt nervous being around Bucky. God knows what this man could do when provoked.

"Anyway, how about tonight?" Mark repeated his question, much to your dismay.

Bucky was standing behind the both of you and yet you could feel his eyes digging holes against the back of your head. He was waiting for your response.

"Come on, you promised me a date." Mark just had to imply.

Bucky coughed and Mark turned to him all of a sudden, "You ever been to the bar down the block, Mister Barnes?" he asked.

"Yes." Bucky curtly responded.

"They serve the best drinks, right? So come on, let me take you there. You won't regret it. What do you think, Mister Barnes?"

Mister Barnes will fucking whoop your ass, Mark, you thought to yourself. You suddenly started sweating bullets, feeling your armpits dampen beneath your blouse because jesus christ, was this really happening? You just wanted for the ground to swallow you up. Should you pretend to faint instead? Just to get out of this awkward situation?

"Yeah, a promise is a promise. Why don't you let Mike take you out tonight?" Bucky said, stepping in between you and Mark.

Mark made a face, "It's actually Mark, Mister Barnes."

Bucky though, kept his attention on you. His expression unreadable but his jaw was tensed. You were so fucked. And not in a good way. He was trying so hard to stay calm but when you glanced down, his hands were balled into fists.

"What do you say to that date with Martin?" Bucky asked again.

Mark lifted a finger, "Mark." he chimed in again.

"Yeah, whatever Michael." Bucky waved him off with his hand before turning back to you. "So, what do you say?"

You swallowed the lump in your throat and looked past Bucky's shoulder to check on Mark, he didn't seem suspicious though. He looked hopeful, actually. But you pitied him because he just made it to Bucky's list of employees to keep an eye on. Aside from Janet, of course.

"I...um..." Fuck it.

"Yeah, okay. A date it is then." you awkwardly said, forcing out the driest laugh you ever produced in your entire life.

Mark excitedly pumped his fist in the air, "Great! Thank you, Mister Barnes. Guess she just needed a little push." he said.

Bucky feigned a smile and nodded, taking a step back from you. "A little push. Yeah, I guess so."

Finally, the elevators reached the ground floor and you were ready to sprint out of it when Bucky said his parting words.

"You enjoy your date with Marty now. Totally nothing unprofessional about dating a co-worker." Bucky told you and before the elevator doors closed, you saw the scowl that appeared on his face.

Shit.

"Mister Barnes is acting weird, don't you think?" Mark asked as the both of you walked out of the building.

You forced a smile and walked ahead of Mark, "Definitely not weird. You know what? I badly need a drink or two, an entire bottle of tequila maybe so let's just go now."

As if on cue, your phone buzzed and the message that showed up made you want to stop in the middle of the street, lay down on your back and await your demise.

You're playing a dangerous game. Well, two can play at that.

-

The Match Special Tags:

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Everything Bucky Tag List:

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[ladyfogg]

(Kinda naughty) Prompt for Colin Zabel. Going down on him while he takes a phone call from Mare ;)

A/N: Ask and you shall receive (teehee)

Pairing: Colin Zabel/gn!Reader

Rating: 18+

The Evans Masterpost.

If anyone wants to be added to my taglists, fill out this form. To learn more about what prompts I’m accepting, check here.

Look, in all fairness, it’s Mare’s fault for calling so late.

After a long, tedious day combing through files and witness statements, Colin wanted to unwind and forget about his anxieties for a while. The two of you have been secretly seeing each other for several months and, though you hadn’t had plans for that evening, one quick text changes everything.

The next thing Colin knows, he’s in your apartment and the two of you are making out on your couch. As soon as your lips met, he completely forgot about everything that wasn’t you.

“Rough day, huh?” you mumble between kisses, your hands worming their way under his shirt so you can feel his hot skin.

“The worst.”

“I can make you feel better.”

“I know you can.”

With a smirk, you reach down to unbuckle his belt, casually pulling it from the loops. “Just lay back,” you tell him, one hand on his chest as it guides him to stretch out on the couch. “Let my mouth take your stress away.”

Colin moans in excitement, already rock hard without even being touched. “Fuck, I love you.”

“I love you too, baby.”

You just manage to undo his zipper when his cell starts to ring. Colin swears, blindly reaching over to where it rests on the coffee table. He doesn’t even look at the screen as he ignores the call. Smirking and turned on that you have his full attention, you kiss him again, this time with your hand down his pants. Colin grunts against your mouth, his hips thrusting up in search of friction. You grant it, too turned on and eager to tease him. Not tonight at least.

As you yank his jeans down his hips, his phone starts to ring again.

“Fucking hell,” Colin mutters. “Sorry, one second.”

You sit back with a huff as Colin picks up the phone. Instantly, you know exactly who it is.

“Why is she calling you so late?” you ask. “Didn’t you spend all day working?”

“I know, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Colin apologizes, reaching out to squeeze your hand. “Just let me see what she wants. It’s probably important.”

Bored, you sit back and wait as Colin takes the call.

“Yeah, Mare, what’s up?” he asks.

The next few seconds are silent on his end as Mare goes into whatever it is she wants to tell him. Already he’s starting to look stressed again. Well, that just won’t do.

A sly smile crosses your face as you reach out to palm him through his underwear. Colin lets out a small gasp before promptly clenching his jaw to stop himself. He shoots you a wide-eyed stare and mouths, ‘What are you doing?’

You answer by leaning over his lap, gently peeling his underwear back from his cock. Colin’s hand reaches out to grab your shoulder. At first, you think he’s going to stop you, but when you gently take his tip into your mouth, he squeezes in encouragement.

“Yeah, that sounds fine,” he says into the phone, his voice slightly higher pitch than normal.

His cock is like velvet-covered steel against your tongue. Fuck he’s so hard. And it’s all because of you. Emboldened and not one to be ignored, you start a steady rhythm, bobbing your head up and down in his lap and taking more of his cock with each downward stroke. His hand moves from your shoulder to the back of your head, fingers digging into your scalp harder and harder.

You glance up to see his bottom lip mashed under his top teeth as he tries to keep from making any noise.

“Hmmm, what? Yeah, I’m listening,” he manages to squeak out.

Well shit. He’s still coherent. That’s not good. You better up your game. Speeding up your movements, you stroke whatever part of his cock that can’t fit in your mouth. Your other hand snakes into his underwear, cupping his balls roughly. Colin’s hips immediately jerk upward and he has to pull the phone away to try and muffle his swears.

“S-Sorry,” he says once he’s regained a small amount of composure. “You caught me at a b-bad time.”

You stare into his eyes, smirking around his girth as you take him in as far as you can until the head of his cock hits the back of your throat. And even then, you swallow around him and watch his face as he almost comes right then.

“Yup. Uh-huh. Okay. We’ll talk in the morning. Bye, Mare.” Colin hangs up the phone and drops it onto the floor, both hands grabbing your head. “Fuck!”

You chuckle, not letting up for even a second. It’s obvious he’s close. He’s so fucking hard and his hips are jerking way too erratically. When he comes, it’s with your name on his lips and his hands clutching your head to keep you in place as he fucks himself in and out of your mouth.

Swallowing around him, you make sure he’s good and spent before you pull off to catch your breath. “We agreed not to bring your work home with you.” Your words are breathless and panting.

Colin lays sprawled beneath you, cheeks bright red and lips glistening as his tongue darts out to wet them. “Lesson learned.”

“Good boy.”

--- Taglist:

@lejardinfleur @kitwalker64 @tatestripedsweater @milly-louise @kitwalker02 @xmaximoffic @margaretboothsear @slightlyvicked @nia-s-not-so-secret-diary @liandav @billyhxrgrove @tatesimper @spider-starry @beautifuldelusion-writer @marie-catherine @fictional-men-that-i-stan @ryangoslingstanktop @katiekat4594 @undeadcortez @corn3liiia @marshmallow--3 @TheOriginalDoll87 @sanni333 @peterssilverjacket @godblessthegoths @fuckwby @raincoffeeandfandoms @quickiesgirl

[rebeccccccaaa]

𝙿𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜 & 𝙿𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚜

_________________________________

𝙱𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚢 𝙱𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝚁𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍: (ANON) Ohhhhh I want to send in something too! 😍 sorry for another Bucky one but he stole my heart. So he’s your boyfriend and you’re just a normal civilian but you barely saw each other lately (missions, your annoying office job), so he decides to surprise you. He sneaks into your apartment and prepares a pillow fort, makes your favorite dinner and all and when you come home it’s all just fluffy and you cuddle and enjoy your time together? 🤗 and if you liiiike maybe a little proposal 🤭 thank you so much

𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: super fluffy smut, like ew lmao, pillow fort sex,

𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛'𝚜 𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜: timeline’s fucked teehee; whew, man i’m so scatter-brianed right now y’all i’m so sorry for being so crazy thanks for baring with me yall love you lots, my little bugs xx

_________________________________

You walked through your apartment door huffing in frustration. Today at work was very annoying. You applied for the position of Chief Operating Officer; it’s basically the overseer of the company, you would essentially make sure everything’s in visual working order. You felt confident in the position and you showed integrity and potential to really excel in the job. 

However, on your way home passing the parking lot to get to your car on this fine Friday evening, you noticed a little commotion going on in your boss’s car. The CEO. Let’s just say you figured out why he’s been so lenient to your competitor. 

You threw your purse on the couch and kicked your shoes off. You went into the kitchen and grabbed a nice cold bottle of water. You went back into the living room after turning the light on and sat comfortably on the couch. 

You pulled your phone out and decided to call Bucky. He was probably super busy on his mission but you gave it a shot anyway. You let the phone ring but no pick up. You sighed but sent a message saying how much you loved him and miss him. You and Bucky had been together for years. You had been through everything together. 

Unbeknownst to you, Bucky sat adorably underneath his makeshift fort that he created in the middle of your bedroom anxiously waiting for your arrival. He heard you walk through the front door and became super antsy and excited. Practically squirming like a child under his makeshift pillow fort.

When you didn’t come into the bedroom, he grew a bit worried. His phone suddenly rang loudly and he muted his phone lightning fast. He paused for a second waiting to see if maybe you heard it before he declined your call. Not long after he got your message and his heart ached for you. He loved you so much he couldn’t even put it into words.

You shifted on the couch again ready to turn the television on to distract you from all the craziness in your life so far. 

“Why didn’t you come to the room?” Bucky said, coming out from the darkness.

“Buck!” you gasped in fright. There was a brief moment where you two stared at each other motionless before you smiled and started giggling as did Bucky.

“What are you doing here?” you laughed. 

“I have a surprise for you baby,” he led you to the bedroom. When you opened the door wider your mouth dropped in awe at the gesture before your eyes. 

“Is that a fort?” you smiled.

“Yeah, come on,” Bucky pulled you underneath.

There were blankets and pillows under a large white sheet with hanging lights. He pulled a small basket filled with snacks and candy and your smile grew wider. You cuddled under the blankets and you pulled out your laptop to watch movies together. 

During the movie Bucky’s hand wandered under your shirt and as hard you tried to focus on the movie, you just couldn’t think about anything but his warm fingers tracing your skin. You peaked up at him and Bucky’s eyes were trained on the screen in front of you.

You buried your face in the crook of his neck and you could tell Bucky smiled at the gesture.

“I love you, baby,” you whispered.

“I love you too,” he rubbed his hand up and down your back. 

You hiked your leg over his waist to lay entire on top of him. Bucky chuckled and rested his hands on top of your hips. You just gave him a cheeky smile biting your bottom lip while you played with his hair.

“What is it baby?” he asked you.

“Nothing; work’s been kinda rough,” you said.

“How come?” he asked, making you huff and sigh loudly; he chuckled as he prepared himself for your upcoming rant.

“Well, I applied for the COO position because I really enjoy working for the company and the owner is very friendly and the environment is great. I thought I was gonna get a fair chance to get the position; I feel like I really have the skills for what it takes to help run this company. But I noticed that the CEO, the owner’s kid, seems to be very adamant about hiring Jess,” you explained.

“Jess? She doesn’t strike me as someone who wants to be Chief Operating Officer,” he chuckled.

Although Jess was somewhat intelligent, not in an insulting way, she’s made it clear to many coworkers that she doesn’t enjoy her job too much. So it was surprising to hear when she applied to compete for the position as well despite the previous complaints. Well now considering why she did it in the first place, you applaud her ambition. After all, all chiefs were expected to work alongside and closely to each other. 

“She’d get to and is practically already ‘working’ with Daniel,” Daniel being the CEO’s name.

“No,” Bucky gasped in disbelief.

“Yes,” you chuckled.

“Oh, well. That doesn’t seem too fair.”

“Well, no, but I don’t know. I mean she has every right to date our boss; I just wish his decision wasn’t being affected by that, you know?” you said.

“I totally get it,” he cupped your face, “You’re gonna get the job, baby. I just know it.”

“Thanks, Buck.”

Bucky kissed you gently and your body relaxed onto him. His hand trailed up your shirt and sent chills down your spine. The hand that rested lightly on your face wrapped around your neck as Bucky slowly flipped you over and towered over you. 

He kept kissing you softly and your hands sneaked under his shirt, your finger tracing the contours of his muscular torso. His hips settled between your legs and you could feel his prominent bulge poking at your core even through the thick material of his jeans and your pants as well. 

Bucky released your lips and traced his nose along the curve of your jaw line and down your neck. He licked and sucked gently on the spot that made you gasp and moan and marked you leaving a dark purple and red hickey for you. 

His hand went under your shirt as well but ultimately just pushed it up and over your head tossing it behind him as you two were still laying under the fort. His lips pressed against your chest before capturing one of your nipples in his mouth. His tongue circled the perked bud before sucking and releasing your nipple with a lewd pop. 

He kissed you down before coming in between your thighs and curled his fingers over your pants pulling them down when you lifted your hips for him. He didn’t ignore the wetness that was spread around your pussy, bringing a finger to circle your hole. 

You hips wiggled and your walls clenched around nothing, desperate for him to insert a finger and fuck you. You looked down at him with furrowed brows and your bottom lip between your teeth; your expression silently begging Bucky to do something. He smirked devilishly and leaned down to lick your clit ever so lightly making you groan in frustration and need. 

“Bucky please,” you whimpered.

“Please what baby?” he whispered.

“Bucky, please do something, anything.”

“You gotta tell me exactly what you need baby,” he taunted.

“Bucky, use your fingers please; fuck me.”

He pushed a flesh finger passed your folds but you didn’t want that.

“Not those, please,” you whispered timidly.

“Oh, you want my metal fingers? Is that right?” you nodded shyly.

“Words,” he commanded.

“Yes, I want your metal ones,” you said shakily.

“As you wish, my love.”

He moved his flesh fingers and spread your folds before bringing his metal finger up to your entrance. When you pushed in, you hissed at the cold feeling of them inside you but you loved it. Bucky leaned forward again to lick your clit and made your hips jolt against him, making him chuckle at the reaction he pulled from you. 

“Oh, Bucky, that feels so good,” you moaned.

“You're doing so good baby. Taking my metal finger so well. Think we can add another?” he kissed your inner thighs.

“Ugh, yes!”

“Good girl.”

He brought another finger and inserted easily slipped passed your folds as did the first finger. His lips wrapped around your clit and he sucked making you practically scream in pleasure. You breathed heavily whining as you got close to your release. Bucky’s tongue circled your clit again quickly this time as he could tell you were very close from the way you clenched and throbbed around his fingers. 

“Buck, I’m gonna cum,” you whined.

“Let go, pretty baby. I want to see you gush all over my fingers,” he said, his voice raspy.

You moaned as your legs shook; your stomach contracting as you came. Bucky lapped up everything that flowed from you and crawled out the small fort to strip completely crawling back in with a goofy smile on his face.

“You’re so pretty,” he whispered.

“You are too,” you said tiredly with a smile.

“No you,” he challenged.

“No, you!” you giggled.

“I fucking you so much,” he smiled widely from ear to ear.

“I love you too,” you teared up.

“I don't know what I’d do without you,” you whispered.

“Well, it’s a good thing you’ll never need to know.”

Bucky’s hard dick poked at your entrance and you were both eager to please each other. You lined his cock and slowly Bucky pushed himself in pulling moans from you both simultaneously.  His hips molded against yours like a perfect puzzle piece as he bottomed out.

You tugged on his shoulders silently asking him to move. He moved at a swift pace, his hips slapping against yours making indecent and almost pornographic sounds that echoed in your apartment. Your moans didn’t help to diminish the filthy noises.

“Fuck baby, you’re gonna let everyone in this building know whose fucking you this good? Let ‘em know how good you're taking my cock? Such a good girl,” he whispered vulgarly in your ear.

“Fuck, Bucky,” your eyes were screwed shut and you knew how Bucky got when you didn’t look at him during sex.

“Hey, look at me,” he growled.

“I can’t,” you cried, tears crawling from your tightly shut eyes.

“Come on, I thought you were my good girl? You still gonna be my good girl?” he said.

“Yes! I’m your good girl, fuck!” you opened your eyes and Bucky’s forehead fell against yours.

“Tell me how you feel baby girl. I wanna hear ya keep talking to me,” he panted.

“Fuck, it feels so good. You fill me up so fucking good, baby,” you whined.

“Yeah?” he smiled.

“Yes! I’m gonna come, shit,” you moaned loudly.

“Go on, let go baby. I got you,” Bucky said.

His thrusts became faster chasing both your releases and soon you body shook under his caging arms. His hips stuttered and spurts of hot cum coated your velvety walls. Bucky collapsed over you and both of your heavy breathing slowed. He looked at you and found you smiling sleepily with drowsy eyes and he knew he had to clean you up before you fully fell asleep. 

“Come on, baby we gotta get you cleaned up.”

“No, I’m sleepy,” you whined.

“I know but you’re sweaty and you’ve my cum dripping out of you.”

“So?” you said with your eyes closed making Bucky chuckle. He grabbed your ankles and pulled out of the fort and picked you up to set on the bathroom counter. He turned on the bath and when it was steamy and ready he picked you up and carefully sat in the tub. He washed your hair first and climbed in the tub sitting behind you. 

He quickly washed his body before taking the washcloth full of soap and lathered it against your warm skin. He cleaned your body not without a bit of teasing, moving delicately over your nipples and drawing out between your thighs. You tried your best to not squirm but ultimately jolted when he applied the smallest bit of pressure around your core. 

When you finished you dried yourself off before heading back into your room crawling under the fort that thankfully stayed intact. 

“Can we sleep here tonight?” you asked shyly.

“You liked it?” he smiled.

You nodded gingerly with a grin, reaching out to him with grabby hands desperate for him to join you. He got comfortable letting your arm rest gently on his chest and your head on his shoulder. Your leg wrapped around his and tangled themselves. Bucky smiled to himself knowing you were probably already asleep now. 

He looked down at your peaceful sleeping face and pressed small kisses to the top of your head and your forehead. He reached behind him under the pillow surprised you hadn’t found the small velvet box hiding between them. 

He pulled out a beautiful ring that he was planning on giving to you whilst you were awake. Preferably when you would have walked into the bedroom with a beautiful surprise look on your stunning face. He got distracted when you pulled out your laptop and he just basked in the time and attention he was getting from you. 

He pulled the ring from the box and slipped it on your delicate finger. He knows you’re going to say yes. He loves you so much and he knows you love him just as much. There was no hesitation that he wanted to propose to you; spend the rest of his life with you, it was a dream come true. 

He couldn't wait until morning when you’d wake up as gorgeous as you always do beside him and notice the ring. He could hear your squeals already. He held you tightly and closed his eyes feeling the happiest he’s ever been in years. You made his life better and he loved you forever for that. Anticipating the next morning, he fell into a peaceful sleep with you, the love of his life, tuck perfectly in his arms.

==================

TAGLIST:

@mathletemadison

[binniesthighs]

call me babydoll | reader x chan

a/n: ahhhhh wow WOW cuties LOL i was not expecting this fic idea to keep me up in my sleep and occupy all my waking thoughts BUT thank you so so  much for you words of support!! hehe well....here we goooo i hope that ya’ll are ready teehee--also tags will be added as they come! You can read part one here

Two 

Pairing: self insert, female reader x bang chan 

Genre: action, mystery and suspense, fluff, smut, angst 

Tags: (of this part) bodyguard au, secret agent au, royal au, moderndayprince!chan, secretagent!reader, secretagent!jeongin, secretagent!jisung, skz side characters, adventure and mystery, action and peril, plot driven, running out of time, slow-ish burn, growing feelings, sexual tension, explicit language, jeongin in this fic is my bb and i will protect him, sexy and smart jeongin tho still hehe 

CWs: mentions of death, people dying/killing, mentions of blood and wounds, mentions of getting drunk, hungover, and vomiting, a bombing. 

Word count: 5.2k 

Parts

ONE | TWO | THREE

The road was long and winding, pitch black, desolate, quiet and foreign. In the backseat of the car, Chan had slumped his head over on Jeongin’s shoulder and bobbed with the motions of the road. His nose would twitch in his sleep, and he would make little grunts of nonsense words. He had worked himself up after the banquet, and actually hadn’t stopped his “love confessions” until you told him to shut up or you would shut him up. 

Your partner’s glasses were illuminated from the screen of his laptop which he tapped quietly away at. You too felt drowsy, but sleep would be for later once you had properly arrived at the safe house, or safe hotel, or safe hole in the ground...whatever it was. 

“You hear anything from Carroll?” You slung your arm over the seat and lowered your voice. 

“Nothing yet.” His eyes flicked around the screen. “It’s almost like it’s too quiet. I’ve already told her that we have the prince and that he’s safe, but..nothing.” 

“You don’t think...they got targeted too?” 

Chan snored lightly on his bodyguard’s shoulder, and he didn’t dare to move an inch. 

“I sure as hell hope not. But...that would explain why things have been so quiet. If this was a larger scale attack...I don’t know what this could mean then.” 

From the darkness of the outside world in the car windows, you passed a forest of pines and oher types of stoic trees making up the mountainside. 

“Well, I think that we should be optimistic for the time being.” 

Jeongin nodded. He looked to be a mess: blood had splattered at his white shirt collar and in specks on his neck. His cracked lenses however, didn’t keep him from his work. He had pulled his tie loosely around his neck, and had also provided his jacket as a pseudo-blanket of sorts for the prince. The prince, had offered his own jacket to you seeing as you only had your dress, but you had been managing just fine. You accepted it, but only because it could soothe his chivalrous ego. He had a hard night already, so you saw it best. 

“Two, where are you taking us?” You called to the mysterious driver. 

Ever since meeting him at the hotel, he had been nearly silent the whole ride. 

The man cleared his throat, “As far away from here as I can. I don’t know of any safe houses so...I’m just trying to remove us.” 

“I can find one for us if Carroll doesn’t get back to me....which she should...” 

Jeongin was not one for speaking of his mother as anything other than his boss. Since he had been assigned to be your partner a few months ago, he had never referred to her as his mother, nor did he ever seem to harbor any emotion for the stern woman. Both of them had been a bit allusive to you, but that was simply how it was in this line of work. You didn’t know things about the people around you, and you didn’t need to ask. You had wondered if he had worried about her, or thought about her when you were on missions. The young man had trained rigorously, and had passed each exam from the academy with flying colors. After considering it for a while, you figured what immense pressure he must've been under: son of the woman in charge, a master at infiltration, espionage, manipulation, cybersecurity, and a million more things; he had to prove himself and more. 

You couldn’t have asked for a better partner, but you almost did wish that you had known more. 

Two fiddled with the radio, settling on a station that played some kind of country-western type music. 

“What’s your specialty Two? How’d you end up a part of this shitshow?” 

The driver laughed, then hummed along with the music for a moment. “This has been my gig for few years, but I’ve never been a part of this unit before. Carroll always saw it best for my services to be used in other places.” 

“You have a specialty?” Jeongin asked while still typing furiously. 

Two scratched the back of his head. “I do a little bit of everything. But...let’s just say that I’m good at making friends. That’s why Carroll likes me.” 

“--You know her personally?” Your partner quipped, but the edge to his voice didn’t sound like judgement, but rather caution. 

“We’ve had a few meetings.” 

“Hm.” 

You kicked off your heals to massage your aching toes. If only they had attacked at a time when you had the proper footwear. 

“You said we could also call you J?” You sprawled over the back seat in an attempt to make yourself more comfortable. Still, the plastic seatbelt buckles poked into your back. 

“Yes. You can call me J.” 

And that was that. No “What’s J stand for”, or “where are you from”, “where’s your home base,” “how did you rank at the academy?” You added questions to the list of things that weren’t allowed as well. 

Jeongin tore off his glasses with an exasperated sigh to rub at his tired eyes. Chan made a happy little noise, presumably because he had found a cozier spot on Jeongin’s shoulder. He had now gotten the chance to sleep off his drunken stupor that may or may not had contributed to his sudden confession, and the reason behind the two pitstops you had taken for him to retch on the side of the road. 

If he was a prince, he might’ve also been one mess of a prince. In all of his grace and confidence, the pleasures that he partook in would often get the best of him at times too. 

You gave up on trying to get some sleep, but rather sat up to watch that paradoxically handsome and misshapen prince. Just like this: sleeping, vulnerable, with some kind of lopsided smirk on his face, he was much less than the regal figure that you had painted him to be in your mind. For maintaining appearances the whole day long, you hadn’t ever really gotten the chance to see him like this before. His façade faded, and you surmised that maybe he really was different from the way that he let on. 

“I’m so fucking tired.” Jeongin yawned. 

“Get some sleep then. I’ll stay up to watch things.” 

“That’s just it. I can’t sleep even if I tried.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Can you pass me some hand sanitizer or something? There’s...blood on my hands.” 

Your partner’s voice cracked slightly. It was then when you realized that this had been the first time that he had fired at real people. 

“I’ve got a water bottle? Is that enough?” 

“Yeah. It’s fine.” 

He splashed the liquids around while wiping his hands away, then flicked the remnants of water away. 

“Something about this doesn’t sit right with me.” 

“How do you mean?” 

Chan’s coat draped over your shoulders, and you pulled it in closer around your arms. The night had been cool, and the AC blasting in the car didn’t make it much better. 

Jeongin licked his lips. “Nothing was supposed to happen tonight. We made sure of it. No one was suspicious, we ran background checks, we checked the whole area...” 

“Hey,” You attempted to turn your tone softer, “We couldn’t have seen it coming. They just rolled up out of nowhere, there was no way that we could’ve stopped it--” 

“--Innocent people died tonight. If they were out for the prince, or maybe they weren’t, why so much collateral damage?” 

“Obviously they don’t care.” 

“Bastards.” Jeongin took the last bits of water to slug. “We’re gonna fucking find out why they did all of this.” 

Two shifted in his seat, “Any word? Hate to mention it, but I’m getting kinda tired. It’s past three already.”  

“Fox?” 

He clicked around, then shook his head. “Still nothing.” 

Chan snorted a bit in his sleep: an action which woke him up. 

“Wha-what? Where are we? Are the there yet? What time is it? Fuck...my head feels like it’s splitting...” 

“We’re finding somewhere, your Highness. We’ll be there soon.” Your partner motioned for you to hand him another water to give to the disorientated prince. 

Chan nodded while he rubbed his temples. “Shit. Please tell me that I just made this all up. That it’s some kind of fucked up nightmare...” 

You threw Chan’s coat back to him. “Unfortunately, no. We’re trying to figure out everything that we can.” 

“Who the hell were those guys?” Water dripped down his neck in a way that you pretended not to notice. “They were wearing crests. I couldn’t tell, but weren’t they red?” 

“Very observant, your Highness. F?” 

The younger man bit his lip, “I’ve already tried finding where the crest is from, but I can’t find anything that resembles it within our database. I was able to see one up close. It looked like a heart or something like that, and a diamond. I’m guessing that it could’ve been maybe a spade? Like the kind that you see on playing cards? Still, since we’ve never seen it before, we can only assume that they must be a new group.” 

Chan nodded, but anyone could tell that the information had flown right over his head. He licked at his wet lips, then sighed. 

“Bee, You okay? Fox? I suppose that I should ask you both.” 

“I’m...fine.” His sudden concern came as a surprise, and your partner looked just as shocked. 

“I-I’m fine too. No holes in me or anything.” Jeongin suppressed a laugh. “But you’re not, your Highness. How much did you have to drink?” 

“Oh...enough. I guess that I lost track at some point. Those kind of things are boring anyway.” 

“Fox? You’ve got that locale?” Two clicked the turn signal. 

“Oh! Yeah, I’ve got one. Sorry, It’s about an hour from here.” 

“Locale?” Chan cocked his head. 

“A safe house. Or something like that. We need to lie low while we wait for instructions.” 

“No one has said anything...? Not even...my father?” 

Jeongin shook his head gravely. “No.” 

The young prince fell silent, and you watched as worry fell over his clouded eyes that were lined with bags. Normally his expression was anything but strained, but in this moment, you saw doubt sweep over him like the darkness on the road ahead. You leaned the farthest you could from your seat to grab at his hand behind you. 

“You’re safe with us. Nothing is going to happen to you.” 

His hand was warm, maybe a little clammy, but it was soft, like that of a prince, naturally. Still, it was strong and veined. Chan’s thumb rubbed soft little circles into your own skin, muttering, “Thank you.” For once, his eyes which would normally devour you like some kind of rare dish held you earnestly. I trust you, they said. 

“Two. Let’s switch.” Jeongin slammed his laptop closed. “I’ve got it from here.” 

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

The safe house was quiet. As most of them where. It was even a bit stereotypical: a little cottage in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by woods on nearly all sides. It had a little overgrown garden, and a shed that looked like it held either all kinds of gardening equipment, or the real thing that sheds were meant for in your business: ammo. It had a white painted porch with cracking paint, as well as porch swing with rusting chains. In the early morning the windows were are black, but still faintly reflected the massive array of sparking stars above your heads. The only thing less antique about the home was the touch keypad on the front door. It beeped with a little tune, then flashed the insignia of the agency: a ticking clock. 

“Two, can you find a generator or something? Get the electricity up and going?” 

“Can do,” He said, then disappeared. 

Two was mostly a quiet man, a feature that gave you both reasons to trust him and to be suspicious. Besides him being a bit smaller in stature with thin legs and characteristically round cheeks, there was something different about him that you couldn’t place; something unexpected. You wished once again that questions weren’t on the list of things that weren’t allowed. 

“There should be clothes around here somewhere.” Jeongin padded his way through the dark rooms. “You shower first your Highness.” 

Chan tripped over his feet as he spread out his arms to find his way. You giggled lightly at the action. A man really was stripped down of any and all sense of composure when his life had been threatened and he had to have his bodyguards pat his back while he had gotten sick after one too many royal drinks. 

The lights flashed on, flickering at first with the sound of the lightbulbs waking up after a long sleep. The interior design of the place was exactly as you had expected: it was a family home with a fireplace and several chairs and couches covered in dust. Bookshelves were full with the strangest assortment of reading material and board games there held a thin layer of grey dust too. The kitchen was small and cozy: it had all the necessities. A stained glass chandelier hung over the wooden table for eight, and was decorated with glass hummingbirds and pink flowers. In odd corners of the house, children’s toys had been sitting untouched. A family must’ve been living there, and you wondered what must’ve become of them. 

Two returned with spiderwebs caught on his dress coat. “Water should be hot in about thirty minutes or so I think.” 

Your partner crossed the room, raking a hand through his snowy white hair. “I’m gonna try and make the calls again. See if I get anything. If not, we’ll have to...begin Operation Cheshire.” 

It was the phrase that you had hoped neither you nor your partner would have to say. 

Chan slumped down in one of the upholstered chairs, throwing dust into the air as he did. Compared to the rest of the room, him and his designer clothes seemed comically out of place. “Wha-what’s that?” 

Two pinched between his eyes, and your chest shook with an unsure inhale. 

“It means that we assume the worst. HQ got taken over and we’re all at risk. Information about us could be accessible to anyone. Essentially, we go into sleeper mode until we can reconvene with other agents...if there are any more. We dissapear. Next, we work on getting you back home, no matter what it takes.” 

“HQ?” What are you talking about?” Chan toyed with his diamond set cufflinks. “HQ? Like whoever manages the bodyguards??” 

“Your Highness...” You and your partner exchanged knowing glances. “We’re more than bodyguards.” 

“What?!” 

“We’re operatives. Agents. We work for an intelligence agency that specializes in a bunch of different things...protecting royalty if needed.” 

“What the fuck?! Why didn’t anyone tell me? Chan slapped his leg. “Fuck! No one tells me anything!!! I get that I’m a fucking prince but I’m not fucking useless!” 

The memory of the confidential file reemerged in your memory: the promise that you had made to His Majesty The King after he had requested a “special hire” to watch over his son. The file itself had contained a several thousand words or so that you hadn’t bothered to read, but rather skimmed till you got to the signature part. Carroll had simply nodded before you put your pen to the paper. 

“It was for your saf--” 

“--My father did this, didn’t he? Didn’t he? Some kind of sick way to keep tabs on me? See what I’m doing?? God! The man never trusts me. If the thinks that I’m that much of a disappointment...this is just--” 

“Your Highness, it’s been a long day, you’ve been through a lot, just take a shower and get some rest. Alright? We’ll talk more about this in the morning.” Two stepped forward with his hands folded in front of him. His interjection was unlike his previously quiet presence. 

The prince sighed, tapping his tragically expensive shoe on the hardwood. 

“Fine. We’ll talk about it in the morning.” 

Chan’s eyes grew dark with an authoritative air that you had seen before. His façade had slipped over him like a cloak. He rose, buttoning his jacket, then tweaking his sliver brooches decorating his neck. 

“Fox. Bee. Two. Thank you. Good evening.” 

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

Chan knew that it was you at the door when you would knock two times, then pause, and knock twice more. In your hands, you held a cup of warm milk. For a prince, even he couldn’t reject the beverage to help him fall asleep at night. You had seen him order it at hotels on more than one occasion. Jeongin had found a nearby store to get food for the morning. The two of you had suddenly found yourselves as now both his bodyguards and his servants. While you waited, you hoped to God that Carroll would compensate you for the extra work. 

The door creaked open, revealing your prince modestly dressed in plaid flannel, hair dripping slightly in wet strands. You had never seen him as simple as this before: no princely persona or cold exterior to upkeep. He looked...normal. 

“What is it Bee?” 

“I thought you might like some...well, this.” You provided him with the cup. “I know that it’s nearly morning, but you should still try to sleep in. We’ll take care of things. 

He took the ceramic mug from your hands, fingers barely brushing against yours for mere moments. 

“Thank you.” He hushed with a thankful smile. “Would you like to come in? We could...just kind of...sit for a minute.” 

Behind him, sun peaked at the horizon, a splitting of red piercing the navy deep of the night. The colors muddled, blurred, a bit like the color of blood fading into the deep fabric of one’s formal wear. It was desolate, but still beautiful. 

“To be honest,” His eyes fell, “I don’t want to be alone right now.” 

You had saved the biggest room for him. It smelled of mothballs and other old things like sheets that had rested in a dark room for much too long. Still, there was a kind of familiarity to it all and the way that the matted rugs and brass vintage lamps lit the room with a soft yellow light. The full sized bed creaked once you had sat down. In his golden halo, Chan’s brown strands appeared to be softer, and not as prim and staged. 

“I’m sorry for snapping earlier. I realized that there are things that are out of my control. You know more than I do, and I accept that. I trust you...a-and Fox.” 

You rubbed your hands into the jeans you had found in the cupboard. They had dirt and grass stains from work in the garden you presumed. 

“It’s okay. I understand that you would be scared. It’s okay to be. I...get scared sometimes too. I know that it might look like it, but I fear...for my life too. So does Jeong--Fox.” 

Chan’s voice cracked. “Is someone out to kill me?” 

You sighed, sensing his hesitation. “I don’t know. But we will know soon.” 

The prince stared down at the white bubbles in his milk, then swirled around the liquid to watch the way that that it moved. 

“I don’t think I’d like to die. Would be pretty unfortunate, don’t you think? I feel like I’ve got so many other things to do. A kingdom to manage, people to govern, much more bottles of Scotch to drink, parties to attend...” 

His eyes met yours, and you could see the very fragility of the life that he spoke of right in them. He was right in that dumb speech of his. He really was just a person. 

“...I like to think that I’ll get married someday to someone that I love. I actually would really like to do that.” He chuckled. “Lame, right? Someone like me who always bounces around. Wouldn’t take me for one?” 

“Mm. No. I think that from what I’ve observed of you, and I’m trained to observe, I think that bouncing around...means you’re looking for the right thing. And, I guess that it’s fun too.” 

Chan chuckled, “You’re good at observing.” 

You paused, remembering Lee Minho from earlier. 

“Were you looking when you were talking to that man at the banquet? He was very handsome.” 

The prince placed the cup down. “He was. I don’t know. He just seemed kind of interesting. The kind of mystery that only a stranger has. I would’ve liked to have talked to him more now that I think about it. Maybe it would’ve been worth my time.” Chan twisted his back to crack it. “I don’t know if you saw but he had some really nice fucking thighs.” 

“Ahhh. Nice thighs. Didn’t know that you cared for that.” 

The two of you laughed together a bit like old friends. It felt nice. 

“...Bee. I should also probably apologize for how I acted back before we got in the car. I was...drunk, scared. I said some things--” 

“--That you were in love with me?” 

“Yeah...that. I realized that...I’ve been...unfair to you. You don’t deserve the ridicule. You’ve only ever been helpful to me and--” 

“--Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.” You shrugged. You had met hundreds of guys like him before, at least you thought. 

Chan sighed as if he was gathering himself. “Bee. I did mean what I said.” 

“What? Ch-your Highness, you don’t mean that.” 

He laughed, “It’s alright. You can call me Chan. And...yes. I did. You’ve got a kind of mystery to you too. Frankly, I can’t stop thinking about it.” 

“This...this is inappropriate.” You shifted, the rising off the bed. Your cheeks warmed, but you couldn’t know why. Maybe he was just too damn charming. But, he was like that with everyone. 

He rose too, hastily following you on your way to the door. “Bee, wait.” 

“Chan, you can’t do this. It makes things...complicated.” 

He advanced, slowly, closing the space between you. “It’s only complicated if you feel the same.” 

“I-I don’t.” 

The prince’s hand carefully rose to cup your face, a gesture so gentle that you shied from the feeling. Even this close still he smelled of white roses. 

“Have you ever heard of conflict of interest?” Your breath hitched. 

Chan grinned, “There you go making this complicated again.” 

A wandering hand of yours acting on its own reached to tug hold of his shirt. 

The prince leaned in closer, nearly close enough to breech the gap between his plush lips and yours. 

“What if I don’t mind making things...” He whispered the word, grazing his mouth over yours, “...complicated?” 

“Ch--” 

He pressed his weight fully into you, a smashing of lips met with incessant heat and your back shoved into the door. His tongue easily twisted around yours, and his soft gasps filled up your mouth. It had taken you a couple seconds to realize what had happened, and to decide what to do with yourself. His mouth was blazing, it was as if he was weaving a spell, or perhaps you had made it up for yourself. He kissed you with vitality; like he had never tasted anything like you before and was starving for you. You realized, perhaps you had wondered what it would’ve felt like. One hand squeezed tighter to his shirt, and you kissed back, meeting his heat. 

Jeongin’s voice called down the hall, “Bee? Bee, are you there?” The sound of your bedroom door shut. 

You pushed Chan off you with flat hands on his chest and an amazed smile on his face. 

“This...this doesn’t mean anything.” You gasped, reaching for the knob after a moments pause. 

Chan snickered, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

“Goodnight your Highness.” 

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

For a man so young Jeongin liked his coffee black, and drank it like an old man too with his nose buried in a newspaper while it fogged up his glasses--or what was left of them. 

“I finally got correspondence from Carroll this morning. She said that HQ experienced some kind of blackout and all the systems went offline. It wasn’t safe for her to contact us on a regular line. They got everything back up and running and everything seems fine, or so they think.” 

Your partner had already made himself comfortable in a pair of sweatpants and a cotton tee with slippers. You never would’ve guessed that he was a trained assassin on the side. 

Two returned huffing in the door from his morning run. He was one of those people. 

“Any word?” He rubbed his face off with a dishtowel. 

“Disgusting.” You sneered at the crude action. 

“Well, we’ve got thousands of miles between us and the kingdom and what seems like a hell of a lot of guys on our tail, but, after I sent Carroll the info about the red crest, she wants us to do some digging. 

“With the prince in tow?” You lowered your voice lest the sleeping royal heard you. “I don’t think so.” 

“It sounds like she’s convinced that the person behind all of this could be someone who attended the charity ball. And, I don’t really disagree. They must be good at keeping secrets if they evaded us.” 

“Hm. You’re right. A high profile event like that, even though its for a good cause it’s always a competition with those snobs. I just don’t know who could order something so cruel...all those people in the same place...” 

“Since it’s a new group, they must still be underground. So, to see who lives underground, you’ve got to go there yourself to find out. Or, in our case, find someone who knows the rabbit hole.” 

Two grabbed a chair, ruffling his deep brown soaked hair. “What does that mean?” 

Jeongin flipped his laptop around. “This is the man that we need to go see. Codename White Rabbit. Or as he calls himself--” 

“--Bun.” You cut in. “Yeah, I know him.” 

Both of the men chimed, “You do?” 

“Yeah, he’s undercover ops for the agency. He’s sort of a jack of all trades. He owns some kind of front out in Egypt. It’s called The Tea Party. Bar up front, but in the back he provides all kinds of information--for both sides. His cut is that for any information he gives to the agency he gets cash compensation. If anyone would know about anything underground, it would be him. As I’m sure Carroll told you, he’s a stickler for meeting in person. He’s one of us. I think.” 

“You think?” 

“He also does...other deviant things. I heard that these days he’s had a couple dealings in some...substances. Black market stuff. Carroll also provides safety for his business in return for his information.” 

“That...sounds illegal. Immoral even.” Jeongin’s eyes widened upon hearing the news about his mother. 

“You’ve got to pay to play you know.” 

“So Egypt then?” Two wiped off the back of his neck with the dishtowel, stretching out one of his toned arms. “I’ve always wanted to go there.” 

“Oh--one more thing.” Jeongin took a rather long sip from his cup. “The King’s counsel reached out to me too this morning. They asked me if the Prince was safe and where we were. I have them loose details of both. They seemed somewhat relieved.” 

Chan sauntered down the steps with a massive yawn, stretching up his arms and shirt to reveal an inkling of his abs. You also pretended not to notice it. 

“Gooood morning everyone. Fox. Two.” He dished out a wink. “Bee.” 

“Morning your Highness.” Jeongin nodded, and crossed his legs. “Feeling well?” 

“Ahhh much better.” He poured himself a cup of coffee in the kitchen, staring out the little window over the sink, then took an indulgent sip. “It’s peaceful here. I kind of like that.” 

“Your Highness, we’ve received word--” 

Chan rose his hand to shush your partner, then languidly took another sip. “I’m still enjoying my drink F.” 

A light buzzing resonated somewhere in the house, a bit like the sound of a dryer, and the home started vibrating. Your water glass on the table rippled. 

“Two, did you notice if there was anything strange about the house?” 

The buzzing grew nearer. 

Two looked puzzled, “No, why?” 

The vibrating grew more violent, and your glass shuddered off the wooden table, shattering on the ground upon impact. 

Chan squinted out the window, “Is that a--” 

“CHAN GET DOWN!” You shrieked. 

Within milliseconds the whistling of a bomb screeched through the air, then crashed into the rickety ceiling, splintering wood everywhere and demolishing the furniture. 

You had seconds to act while the matte black bomb hissed with a steam releasing from some seam and ticked. You sprinted to grab Chan’s arm as hard as you possibly good, all in a blur, pummeling your bodies against one of the shattered windows, and hurling yourself out to the morning dew. You had no time to see if Jeongin or Two had made their exit, but looked out, towing the prince so hard you must’ve done some damage to his shoulder. You stumbled to your feet, tripping, and grunting until the bomb diffused, and exploded the cottage altogether. You covered Chan’s head and most of his body with your own as a shield and the shards of wood, metal, and brick came flying. 

“Ar-are you okay?” You patted the prince down in his shock, who stared blankly with empty eyes. 

The prince’s flannel had been torn to shreds with glass, and blood oozed onto the fabric on his arms. 

“Yeah...yeah...I’m...fine.” 

“BEE! Y/N!” Jeongin screamed over the flames to find you. 

“OVER HERE!” You bellowed back, and your partner came running with Two behind him with terrible cuts on his face. 

“They knew. They FUCKING knew.” He panted after reaching you. 

“We have to get out of here.” Two gasped, and blood ran down his face, nearly into his eye. “If they know where we are now, they’ll come to check to see if the damage is done. We have to move.”  

The sky filled with an angry smoke, and the once peaceful forest filled with the colors of orange and red. 

“The car?” 

“Broken windows from the blast but I should be able to get it going. There’s spare parts in the shed. And ammo. A fuck ton of it.” 

“We’ll need it.” 

You pulled the prince to his feet as he blinked wildly at you and your team. 

“Fuck.” Was all the could manage. 

In your complete surprise, Chan’s bloodied and cracked hands pulled your face into his, kissing you with lips that tasted of the salt of blood. 

“I fucking love you Bee. I’ve decided.” 

Jeongin’s jaw dropped in the corner of your eye, so you promptly slapped the prince upside the face. 

“You’re in shock. We need to get out of here.” 

A wrinkled smile danced on the royal’s face, and you might’ve thought that it was a bit charming. 

“Admit it. You love me too Bee.” 

~🌹~ 

Bunch of (Ro)ses! 

@minaamhh @dazzlehoseok @synnocence @jjewibeans @hyunsluvv @unexceptional-h @bobawithchaitea @lechanters @sailorhyunjinz @silencefavarchive @eunaeiekim @julesinthesoop

[sophiashortcake]

— 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄 🍰

“I GUESS I’M JUST A PLAY DATE TO YOU.”

previous ❀ next ❀ series masterlist

𝟏𝟑. y/n shouldn’t be allowed to drink

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: kicked out of her home with no place to go, y/n is forced to move into her family friend’s home, who coincidentally is also the family of tsukishima kei, the boy who denied her confession.

Kei knew he was shit at apologies.

His entire life, he never bothered to apologize. Sure, there were instances when he was a kid where his mother would scold him for playing too roughly with his brother and he would have to stubbornly mutter an, “I’m sorry.” Or sometimes he’d give a quick, “sorry” to Yamaguchi when he was being particularly snarky that day. But none of those were real apologies, none that would help him now. They couldn’t prepare him for when you walked through the door.

He heard the front door open from his bedroom, instantly knowing it was you from your soft footsteps. He had been sitting in his room, trying to think of what to say, but how do you apologize to someone who you unjustifiably called an attention whore who had daddy issues? (Kei cringed at the memory, realizing how much of a jackass he sounded.)

His hand hesitated when it reached the doorknob to walk out to you, what would he even say? He couldn’t even text you a proper apology (he’s pretty sure you blocked him anyway). Swallowing down his uncertainty, he turned the doorknob.

You had just reached the top of the stairs when he opened the door, your face instantly curling with irritation. Before he could even open his mouth, you marched to your room, and slammed the door shut.

“Y/N, wait!” He called, running over to your room.

He went to open your door, instantly throwing out his ‘no entering each other’s rooms’ policy, only to find it already locked.

“Y/N, open the door please-”

Your door flew open, your expression eerily bright.

“Oh? Are you here to call me an attention whore again?” You chirped. “Maybe you can grade my daddy issues!”

“Y/N, I’m sorry, you didn’t deserve that, I was just being a jackass-”

“Y’know, Kei? That seems to happen alot with you…” You hummed in fake thought, “have you ever considered, maybe you just actually are a jackass?”

“Y/N-”

“Kids! Akiteru’s home! Come downstairs!” His mother called from the kitchen.

“Go fuck yourself, Kei,” you snapped, before heading downstairs.

That couldn’t have gone any worse.

At dinner, nobody could have guessed you were angry at all. You wore a cheerful smile, getting along with everybody with your animated conversation, well, besides him. You had ignored him all dinner, barely even sparing him a glance.

“Oh, I have something!” His brother said, before running into the kitchen. He came back and presented a bottle of sake. “I thought I would bring something home.”

“Akiteru, just because you’re the drinking age now doesn’t mean you can drink at dinner,” his mother sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Oh, just let him pour us a glass, this is a special dinner since we barely see him anymore,” his father said.

“Pour the kids a glass too while you’re at it. Hayami, if you’re okay with Y/N drinking, that is,” he added.

“A small glass won’t hurt, we’re in the house anyway,” Hayami shrugged.

Akiteru fetched some glasses from the kitchen, pouring out small amounts and passing them along the table. He took a sip, ignoring the burn in his throat as he swallowed it down.

You took a small sip before coughing, patting your chest as you retched.

“Don’t tell me I raised a lightweight,” Hayami joked, poking your side. You fumed as she giggled.

The rest of dinner passed by the same, you continued to ignore him, making him lose hope you’d ever forgive him. As time went, he took notice how your cheeks started to flush, your swaying in your seat, and your higher pitched voice. You weren’t actually a lightweight, were you?

“So Y/N, how’s Kei at school? I wanna hear all about it,” Akiteru teased. Kei shot him a glare which Akiteru stuck his tongue out at.

“Kei is actually an asshole,” you slurred. “He’s rude, condescending, and I’m not sure why I ever liked him.”

The table stilled.

Oh no.

Hayami choked on her drink, his mother gasped, his father awkwardly sipped from his glass, and Akiteru’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Kei never wanted somebody to put him out of his misery more than he did now. Kei prayed to every god there was that this wasn’t actually happening, but there was a good chance this was karma, and God was actually laughing at him instead.

“Y/N!” Akane gasped, “you like Kei?” His mother was too meddling for her own good.

“Liked,” you clarified, “up until I confessed and he decided to grade my letter instead, in case you didn’t know, I failed with a D-!”

“Kei! I raised you better than this!” His mother hissed before turning back to you, “when was this?”

“The day we moved in. Imagine my surprise when I found out that day I was gonna move in with the guy who rejected me!” You dramatically whined.

Kei debated if he could stab himself with his pair of chopsticks.

“You graded her letter?” Akiteru replied, “What kind of asshole does that?”

“Thank you!” you sang, “y’know, I think you’re my favorite Tsukishima brother.”

“So Kei, why’d you grade her letter, huh?” Akiteru asked, turning the attention to him.

“I- Uh- Well I didn’t know her…”

“You could’ve just said no,” Akiteru deadpanned.

“He did it because he’s a jerk!” You exclaimed, your face in a pout.

“I know it had a few grammar mistakes and all but it’s the thought that counts!” You whined, tears starting to bubble in your eyes.

Not only were you drunk, you were a crying drunk.

“I think Y/N is done for tonight,” his mother chimed, “Kei, could you take her to her room and make sure she gets to bed?”

His shot Hayami a mischievous grin that Hayami grimaced to (and one that he nor Y/N picked up on).

Kei wanted to decline, but with the way everyone was staring at him, he decided it’d just be better to agree and get it over with.

“Alright,” he sighed, making his way over to your swaying form. He tried to throw your arm over his shoulder, but you wiggled free.

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” You protested.

“Y/N, could you please just-”

“No!” You barked.

He tried again, to no avail.

“Okay, you know what?” He muttered, growing irritated. In one fell swoop, he picked you up bridal style.

“Let me down!” You whined.

“When we get to your room, I will.”

You glared at him, but stopped trying to fight your way free. He exhaled in relief, and made his way to the staircase.

When you two were out of earshot, his mother leaned over to Hayami.

“I was thinking of a spring wedding,” she whispered.

“Akane!”

Making your way to your room was quiet since you decided to stop fighting, you even wrapped your arms around his neck to avoid falling.

“You’re a real jerk,” you mumbled, your face buried in his neck, not brave enough to meet his eyes.

“I know,” he replied, nudging open your door.

He made sure to carefully place you down into your bed, as you already began to curl up.

“Cold,” you muttered.

“What? Do you want me to tuck you in too?” He quipped sarcastically. “Was carrying you to bed not enough?”

“Hmph!”

“Fine, fine, brat,” he replied, pulling your covers over you as you pulled it up to hide your face.

Poking your eyes up from the covers, “are you really sorry?”

“I am,” he muttered, “you didn’t deserve that, and I’m sorry I said what I did today, I really am.”

You yawned, “I believe you.”

“Wait, you do?”

You had already closed your eyes though, beginning to drift off.

He chuckled, of course you would fall asleep before he could ask more.

He made his way out to the door, turning back to you.

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭: y/n still keeps the letter in her stationary box in her desk.

𝐚/𝐧: i literally rewrote this chapter five times before i posted it 😡 but i hope you guys are aboard the kei train now, he ain’t a bitch all the time!! well most of the time anyway teehee

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 (𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃!): @sinistersith @moronsuke @yougivemebutterfliess @saturnfarie @peachiikichu @what-happens-inside-the-box @nonoszrk @cece-lives-here @belli-jelly @cvlliesstuff @ack-aashi @mindofess @virgoamajiki @natsukitakama @shimy-deko @irenevyas @virgoamajiki @toaster-stick @little-dark-empress @h0ngh0ngh0ng @freyafolkvangr @winunk @estmagnifique @thechaosoflonging @ilovesupersoldiers @simpletype @burntcilantro @ryryryleigh @animatedrapture @intothatbluebluesky @resetrestartandreplay @lostmarimoismyhubby @witcherydotcom @kukiisan @not-venice @grapesauze @amberisnotcrazy @tarasaoristark @ammemuts @cloudymotel @loving-unicorns106 @strawberryssel @kakaokenma @cadelinha-de-haikyuu @wowie-issa-me-amario @pruemania @vitalthot @kageyamasgirl @abswrites @kac-chowsballs

[alotsgonnachange]

Mystic Messenger Saeran’s AE Thoughts (.......And Prayers..) #Spoilerz

Hello, I just finished Saeran’s after ending and I have a lot of things to say and I am going to write it down while I'm still all keyed up about it.

First of all… Please DO NOT ask me how much money I spent to finish this as fast as I did…. I’m grown but my bank account is certainly going to have a good ole fashioned CHUCKLE at this….. It’s been a long quarantine I deserve a lil happiness as a treat methinks!

I have been playing this absolutely insane game since I think 2016? When I first started playing the deep routes had JUST come out I think? And I was just finishing up high school and am now a college grad...lmao

I’ve played all routes at least once except Jaehee but i’ve seen walkthroughs of her route (I’ve heard it makes you hate Jumin and he’s my favorite so um. hehe). V’s and Saeran’s routes I found to be so emotionally intense and just….a lot and I've been waiting a long ass god damn time for this after ending okay…. I would theorize and make up an ending in my head but i’m no writer so it was hard to figure out lol. I’m a Jumin stan mostly but I love everybody and yeah I should probably play that jumin dlc too but I need like a DAY to recover from Saeran’s AE. Enough about me HERE are my thoughts on it overall

Major Saeran AE Spoilers under da cut!

Can we please discuss V showing up to the C+R conference room with basically chloroform and made everybody Pass Out like??? I was alone in my room at like midnight just SCREAMING at my phone???? And the creepy ass CG ???? It’s like that gif of sarah paulson from ahs being like “I put arsenic in the wine….and the pasta”

Anyway I screamed at V a lot during this process!!

Loved RFA being sweet and kind to saeran (before V fucking drugged them…)

This is such common V behavior “I have to do it all myself...there’s no other way..” GIRL SHUT UPPP You do this every route....

SO many CG’s and I enjoy them a lot

Saeran’s sprite looks a little TOO crisp compared to everyone else but maybe its a glitch??? V next to him is in 480p while saeran is like 1080p

Hearing both Saeran and Saeyoung missing the other brother the whole time??? PAIN. All my homies know is PAIN

BOSS and his V for Vendetta ass guy fawkes mask??? I literally yelled “this game is TERRIBLE!!” several times at my phone

Their dad is so>??????? When he was sitting on the couch with saeyoung in that one CG while simultaneously telling him to kill himself?????????? Maybe chairman han is actually the best dad in this game somehow

When V and Rika were like we’re back together teehee teehee okay pack it up bonnie and clyde ..

When chairman han calls u and says hes jealous of u and saeran…..HUH????? I’m calling HR

When they go to the apartment and see boss and vanderwood and poor saeyoung is sitting there seeing his brother for the first time in years i wanted to D word sooooo bad like PAIN...PAIN….

Can we HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT JUMIN HAN BEING THE BEST CHARACTER IN THE GAME AND HE LOST EVERYTHING IN THIS AE……. he just took the blame and moved on jumin what the hell….. I love him so much r we serious? He watched his 2 closest friends betray him in the worst way and found out abt how Rika abused Saeyoung and Saeran???? I felt just AWFUL. Terrible ...Terrible….

Rika’s change in demeanor from Saeran's actual route is certainly a Choice. I find her much more bearable this time around and unfortunately i think I was too nice to her and ended up with a bad end LMFAO

I was happy to see Saeran stand up for himself and become stronger and confident. You go king!

The CG of Yoosung laying in Zen’s lap is everything to me…

HOWEVER YUP I sure did get a bad ending and I was so mad fdsafdskfdhsf ! (I would be happy to clarify how I got the good one the second time.) MAKE SURE To SAVE EARLY in days 2 and 3 bc the branches on day 4 is where the bad end will show up. For me it was the first day 4 chat and then a story mode titled “SAVIOR”.... If you see that RUN FOR THE HILLS!!

I was so mad! But I had saved in day 2 and replayed and MANAGED to get good end

I’m obsessed with everyone calling V and Rika “that psychotic couple” like…..its true its true…

No those two are so toxic… V’s route was torture watching them go on and on about the sun like yo can yall just call each other babe like normal people.

I respect straight people but not V and RIka that shit was just wrong… Straight marriage was a mistake

Oh lord i also FULLY Forgot Rika killed the twins’ mother…. Yeah that scene was um Certainly a lot but it needed to happen eventually

Like it’s good they know but damn that storyline is just so bleak

I think it was satisfying TO A DEGREE….To see Rika understand where she was wrong, why she was wrong, fess up and even APOLOGIZE! I was very surprised.

Saeran and Saeyoung are Certainly twins with the amount that those two self sacrifice in every route MY GOD…..

The scene with Jumin talking to his father and the other scene of him praying oh my god I cannot tell you how happy I was to see him begin to understand and address his own feelings in a route that was not his own. My main problem with Jumin’s route has always been the trapping MC in his penthouse aspect.. This way Jumin understands love and emotions without being overly possessive !!! YAY also loved seeing him be on good terms with his dad who was surprisingly profound

That last Story mode was Really a Lot…. and Strange things occurred which I will get into in just a minute

Jumin becoming a politician is so funny but ngl … i see it.

Yoosung going to france to study pastries ok king I see u! (it made more sense to me than the vet thing anyway)

Lastly Zen FURRY ERA

MY BEEF With the AE

I was happy with how they handled it for the most part. I think Cheritz heard our feedback about V’s after ending and was like okay….let’s try something different

HOWEVER

Saeran…. Sweet kind saeran… IS SO AFFECTIONATE HAHA….

He must have said I love you like 300 times…..very mushy gushy flowery language...and maybe that’s just his personality but for me it was like eating cake with buttercream cake. It means well, but god damn is it sugary and going to cause a stomach ache later.

He was just… SO MUCH! SO forward and ON all the time in his affections. I honestly felt kind of smothered and by day 3 and 4 I was sooooo over all the compliments… King you’ve come a very long way, but ur still putting MC on a pedestal and probably need to see a therapist.

Nextly….Rika and V….. Naw that knock out gas really ...that hurt lol. Coming from “I would do anything to protect RFA” V? Idk like…. EYE felt betrayed reading that. It was just hurtful. I can’t even imagine how the members would have felt as they were passing out. It was just so cruel. I suppose I understand why but like?? Just TERRIBLE

Them being in cahoots with the agency and the prime minister..HUH??? Also too much

V just felt so irresponsible like I do understand that he ended up in a weird web of secrets that’s hard to untangle but he’s so fucking stubborn he’s SO stubborn it makes me insane. Like sir… It seems like in other routes he wanted to try to protect Rika and the RFA.. But in this AE it seems more to me that he was like yeah i’m protecting Rika and That’s It… so fucking hurtful to me. Both of y’all apologize ESPECIALLY to the twins and Jumin..

The forgiveness thing…… Okay so I think some people will not like that Saeran decided to “forgive” the people who hurt him (Rika, V, Saejoong, his mother). I would point out that I actually think this was approached somewhat well. He says at one point that he doesn’t think they’re good or bad, just people. I think he sounded mature and like this was the way for him personally to accomplish his healing process. Would I have loved for Saeran to flip V and Rika off and kick Saejoong off a cliff? Yea I really would. But like…. If that’s what HE needs to do to heal then who am I to judge?

HOWEVER…. Everything Eye just said goes out the window when the scenes at the end with Saejoong come up… I was PERPLEXED. Like why did he HUG his deranged father who just kicked the shit out of him??? Also all the chat options that MC has with him r like blah blah you’re like this because no one loves you were so corny to me LMFAOOOO?

AND WHEN HE WAS IN THE ROOM LATER WITH SAERAN… i’m sorry but if that were me I would have called a nurse to deck his ass. Cool he turned himself in YOU SUCK SOOOO BAD AND I NEVER WANT YOU TO COME NEAR SAEYOUNG AND SAERAN AGAIN THANKS.

*scratches ass* I wish I got to see saeyoung and saeran finally sit down and have that first conversation after a long time and hug CG but the ending was fine I GUESS….. I dont care about ROMANCE I want those boys to be happy brothers together

Anyway that was really emotionally exhausting but I fr think I got it out of my system after literal years… And I can rest in peace knowing the choi twins are happy. THATS ALL I WANTED TO KNOW!!!!

[monster-bait]

I’m an exophilia writer like you, and I like writing intimacy in my work. But sometimes, I feel internally weird/embarrassed/ashamed about writing sex. If you’ve ever felt this way, how’d you get over it/how do you cope with that feeling? I just want to enjoy writing sexy stuff without feeling weird about it. Any tips would be appreciated. Love love love your blog.

Aaaa, Hello, fellow writer! Thank you so much for the kind words! 

Okay, so first off...I have been writing for a very long time. Like anything, writing a sex scene is something you have to learn, a skill to develop, and no skill develops overnight. So, if you’re relatively new to writing sex scenes (relativity is relative) then cut yourself some slack. I look back on some of my early smutty scenes and nearly die of cringe. Hell, I look back on smut scenes I wrote last year and want to die of cringe. Our skills are ever-evolving, and the more you do it, the easier it gets. 

I’m going to break this answer into two parts: smut-specific and writing intimate scenes in general. Also: what is sexy is subjective. I was asked a very similar question about a year or two ago by a young writer who didn’t have much experience writing intimate scenes, but had one planned for her story. Another writer jumped into the conversation, at which point I bowed out, because she and I had polar-opposite styles and were giving conflicting advice. It played out like this: 

Asker: I’m brand new at smut and don’t know where to start, teehee! 

Me: be sure to include sensory details and show what you’re comfortable showing! 

Other writer: be sure to vividly describe character A’s testicles slapping character B in the face! 

😐 

Writers giving advice: for the love of Mab, please consider your audience.

Smutty smutness: No, I don’t get embarrassed when I’m writing these scenes. No, I don’t get turned on when I’m writing them, I don’t feel the need to go to church and confess my smutty sins, I don’t need to book quality one-on-one time with myself and a vibrating partner immediately after finishing said scene. Writing, for me, is technical. Writing sex is old hat. Again, I’ve been doing this for a long time. The more you work at it, the easier it gets/those feelings will fade. If you put more of the focus on the craft of writing itself, the subject matter becomes negligible.

But! Within saying that, I think there are some things you can do:

Use language with which you’re comfortable 

I will tell you guys right now, there are certain words you will never find in my writing. I don’t find them sexy, and if I don’t find them sexy, I’m not going to use them. I don’t care what other writers do, I don’t care if readers think that’s limiting. Dick sounds like something a 14 year old boy would say. You know what’s not sexy? 14 year old boys. Pussy to my ears is a word for male gaze-driven porn, and has no place in my writing. Cunt has its place when applied well, but if its the only word you know how to use, I’m probably going to stop reading. If you’re describing your female character’s genitalia as a greedy, dripping gash, I can promise you I’m going to stop reading. And that’s fine, because it wasn’t written for me. Don’t use language you’re uncomfortable using. I know that seems small, but it can make a huge difference, and adopting a mindset of staying within the parameters of your comfort and control might lessen the subconscious need to “sound” smutty, if you know what I mean. There is no right way to write, and that includes sex scenes.

By that same token:

Show as much as you’re comfortable showing 

There’s nothing wrong with a fade to black. There’s nothing wrong with soft-focus sex. There’s nothing wrong with graphic details either, and you’ve got to figure which of the three (or which combination) works best for you. Think about the difference in the M and E rating on Ao3 for a guide, if that helps. (someone in the audience, find that great post about mailing a letter, pls!) Decide the tone of your scene: Do you want to focus on sensuality or the details of the actions? This is the difference between slowly peeling that quivering-with-anticipation little stamp out of her papery underthings and affixing her gently to the front of the envelope’s broad front; and licking that stamp for all she’s worth, your tongue moving in a frenzy against her stickiness and you can’t tell where your mouth ends and her sticky back begins, the drool from your oral onslaught activating her adhesiveness until she’s stiffened against the envelope, flat on her back and spent, the act complete.

(seriously, someone find that post, it does a much better job than I just did!)

Above all, stay true to your characters, and remember that your writing skills don’t get to take a smoke break just because you’re writing a sex scene...which leads to my secondary set of advice:

(I by no means consider myself an expert in this arena, but here are some things I like to focus on when writing an intimate scene)

Sensory details: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell 

A good sex scene needs to be more than “insert tab A into slot B”. Give us a sense of the space, put us into our character’s head. The sensory details you add can paint a very specific picture for your reader, so that one sex scene doesn’t blend into the next. In Girl’s Weekend, I tried to give the sex scenes between Tate & Silva a very distinct feel through the sensory details Silva experiences: she feels small beneath the high ceilings, the bedding in his apartment is always plush beneath her, the lighting is always dim, his hair is silky in her hands, his lips are always sweet. And you know, they’re fucking. But that’s not the only detail I’m focusing on, because that’s not giving insight into her state of mind, and also: it’s boring. Set a scene, tell us where your characters are, what they’re experiencing, if that vase of roses can be smelled from where they are, how the moon cuts through the window to bathe the bed in shadows.

State of mind

You don’t need to exclusively write about genitals mashing together. There was an essay I read million years ago (about the writer’s relationship with her boyfriend and his watersports kink, of all things) that was ostensibly about sex, but the focus was on her state of mind for nearly the entire piece. There’s a scene towards the end when she’s describing the last time they had sex, objectively the best, most satisfying sex they’d ever had, descriptive and hot, the female MC is riding her boyfriend, she’s in absolute ecstasy...but she already feels emotionally disengaged from him and the relationship, and the line I still remember almost two decades I after I read the essay for the first time is “And as I’m loving you, I’m leaving you.” You can still pack an emotional wallop in the midst of a sex scene without needing to stop the action and make your characters have a Serious Conversation™. Show us into their heads! Which leads me to...

Don’t forget about character voice! 

If you guys are ever worried that I’ve been body-snatched, just know that if I ever respond to one of these asks and don’t mention character voice, you know it’s not me. Just because you’re describing the hot and heavy stuff doesn’t mean you shut the proverbial bedroom door on your character’s unique voices and personalities. If your character would never engage in dirty talk, don’t force it on them. Tate and Silva have the capacity to be f i l t h y with each other; Khash does to a point, but Lurielle would die laughing of embarrassment. Know your characters! 

If you keep the focus on the characters, their voices and actions and thoughts, the fact that someone’s getting their face ridden is going to be a heck of a lot less embarrassing, because you’ve to focus on the writing. 

I hope that helps, Anony! 

Team, going forward all of your anonymous writing advice asks are going to be fair game to be included in the “For Writers” sections of my (still under construction) website which you should absolutely go visit! ...and sign up for email updates on my publication news, and click some of the other social social media bubbles while you’re there!

[readymades2002]

its a little more complicated than that i guess. it's not entirely because of me. he hasn't been socialized well and it got worse after joe died and after moving into an apartment and it is kind of important to socialize your dog in these places but we never did that. my mom made attempts but she works a lot and to be honest he is an intimidating dog so it is in fact our fault for not doing that. we shouldn't have had him to begin with and we certainly shouldn't have taken him here and we did not get a lot of say in either decision (joe got him and joe died before separating into a new household with the dog but that would've been bad and maybe worse for the dog so) but ended up here anyway

he's very edgy around people but my mom says she's made improvement with him (before this, obviously) and i dont know how much of that is optimism and how much is sincere because he and i get along badly. im edgy around people and we feed off each other. i don't think he'd be as aggressive if it wasn't for me. he's worse because of me and i'm not strong enough to handle it and so. um.

mom contacted a behavior specialist but i don't know if it will matter because he is scary and everyone is scared of him except us and going "well he's a sweet dog to US and when he's not SURPRISED by people he doesn't bite them he’s just loud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (that was what happened, someone hopped the fence with him while i was taking him out and i was at the top of a slippery hill with bad grip so he got startled and took off for them and i couldn't stop him, her mom was more pissed than she was but that's obviously justified, a dog bit her daughter, and while her daughter was trying to be cool about it and wasted her precious energy AFTER BEING BIT trying to tell me it was fine and she'd had worse and here are some tips for reeling your dog back in but like. it obviously hurt and she shouldn't have had to bother) because like. he is a sweet dog to us. he is so sweet and cuddly it is annoying at times. but like. we live around so many people and keep him isolated out of fear and its clearly not good for anyone. i mean its like. i dont blame anyone wanting him put down i guess is the point, i understand, i think they are objectively correct and even if by some fucking miracle he goes through behavioral training and improves it still shouldve happened sooner and didnt because of time/money not allowing it and frankly without those things we shouldn't have kept him with us and only did because. he is a dog our dead dad gave us five and a half years ago and we got attached lol. so

its like. um. it felt like this was going to end up happening eventually and its entirely our fault (and my fault for making him even worse around even the idea of people) and im just uh. you know. you know. i keep thinking he wouldn't have done this if my mom had taken him, and she asked before i took him out if she should, and i said no because taking the dogs out is one of the only fucking things im good for and im not even good at it and, in fact, BAD because it directly led to someone getting hurt and a dog probably being killed, and now the only responsibility anyone will trust me with is haunted by "if i had just taken him out instead this wouldn't have happened" and its like instead of puttingthe dog down i think they should have me put down since i won't do it myself because im spineless and it's better for everyone that way. that i dont play like i can be around people or do things when it leads to this.

um. i don't know. i don't know what to say about it really. i mean i did talk anyway but it's like. entirely our fault and my fault and if he does get put down which i really should just say he is because i don't really see a way out of this then it's the safer thing to do and besides that we cannot fucking get evicted so. im just dealing with it i guess. the consequences. im not used to thinking anything is real in that way so its um. teehee. im really fucking upset with myself, is essentially, kind of where im at, no matter what else goes into it i really wish id just. done anything else.literally anything else

[smooshjames]

forget you not (ii)

your voice a serenade and it sings to my heart (or: concerts, closure, and an la sidewalk)

word count: just under 4k

a/n: part 2 of forget you not is here! again, i didn’t write any of the songs mentioned herein; all credit for the music in this story goes to little mix. links as always to the songs mentioned in this part: x, x, x, x. if you like what i do, consider buying me a coffee! it’s never obligatory but the support would certainly be appreciated. if you can’t/don’t want to donate, don’t worry about it!! i’m just grateful people take the time to read my work!

warnings: more angst teehee, an obscene amount of italic text

previous part: here

Your break seemed to pass in no time, and then it was time for mic check. You noted Courtney and Shayne sitting in the front row and wondered silently if God was punishing you for something you’d done. Maybe this was karma from a past life.

Doing your best not to look at him, and pushing down the absurd hope that he’d be looking back at you if you did, you went through mic check as quickly as possible and made your way back into the safety of the dressing room. With mic check done, the concert would begin in less than an hour, and you were starting to reconsider singing Towers. The front row of the arena was close enough to the stage that you’d be able to see him even with all the stage lights, and you weren’t sure you could sing the song if you had to actually look him in the eye while you did it. It was one thing to know he was in the room, another entirely to actually watch his reactions.

But Carly had already gotten Michelle to coordinate with the sound people and the backup dancers, and you didn’t want to have to force them to go back on all that. You couldn’t back out now.

That knowledge weighed on you up to the start of the show, and then you got your game face on. You had no time to dwell on Shayne once you were out of the dressing room, doing warmups as you made your way to the lift below the stage, performing your pre-show ritual which involved some call-and-response singing and a lot of hugs, and then getting into position on the lift which would bring you up from beneath the stage floor.

You could already hear the audience cheering and talking, and you felt your heart skip a beat at the sound of it. You counted out the beats in your head as the intro music started, the lights began to flash, the dancers got into place, and the lift began to rise.

“Make way for the G-O-double-D-E-S-S.” The mantra of your newest album, and the way you began your show. The band harmonized this phrase a few times before the song, and the concert, began in earnest.

It went well. You were right; you could just make out Shayne’s face even through all the stage lights. But for the first few songs, you were so occupied with remembering your choreography and making sure you sounded good that you could sort of forget he was there.

And then it was time for Towers, and your heart fell into your stomach.

“We’ve got a little bit of a treat for you tonight,” Alexis said. The audience quieted slightly as she spoke, obviously wanting to know what she was talking about. “We’re gonna take it back a little bit. We haven’t sung this live in quite some time, so forgive us if it’s a bit rusty.”

You heard the familiar drumbeat of Towers begin to play. The audience started screaming immediately, obviously recognizing the song right away, and you grinned despite your nerves. For the time being, you managed to keep your eyes off of Shayne. You focused instead on Carly as she began to sing the first verse of the song.

And then it was your verse, and you stared out at the sea of nondescript shapes that made up the majority of the audience; you could only see the first few rows before they became dark, vaguely person-shaped forms. “It’s a shame, you’re to blame, ‘cause once you owned my heart,” you sang. It sounded a little wobbly, but overall it was okay.

You made it through the first line of your verse before your eyes betrayed you. You couldn’t stop yourself any longer; you looked at Shayne.

He was staring directly at you. You couldn’t make out much of his expression, but it seemed… pained, like he was sad.

The sound died in your throat and you heard the audience murmur as you stopped singing. You looked from Shayne to the rest of the audience and then to Carly, who was nodding in an attempt to be encouraging. You took a deep, shuddery breath, frantically trying to get your shit together. You could hear the audience trying to help you by singing the lyrics you were missing, and you were vaguely aware of Alexis and Piper holding their microphones out to the crowd in encouragement, but everything was sort of blurry.

You kept your eyes locked on Carly. You would not look at Shayne. You couldn’t. You knew that he was hearing you, and that would just have to be enough. You opened your mouth to sing again.

“I still feel love when I see your face, but all these tears I can’t erase.” Luckily, you had only missed a couple of bars of the song and were able to pick up just about where you had left off. You hoped the audience would just chalk it up to what Alexis said before the song started; it had been a while since you’d sang Towers live. “Sorry heart, I’m sorry heart but we’ll have to start again.”

And then, like an angel from heaven on high, Piper began to sing. You had a momentary reprieve to collect yourself and take a deep breath. Since performing this song was so impromptu, there was no choreography for you to remember, nothing to think about as Piper sang her bit.

The second chorus was yours, and you weren’t sure what came over you but you looked at Shayne again as you began to sing and this time, you didn’t stop. You didn’t look away. Maybe it was all the pent-up emotion finally being released, or maybe it was just the energy in the room making you braver than you might’ve normally been, but you held his gaze through the chorus: “you never brought me flowers, never held me in my darkest hours. And you left it so late that my heart feels nothing, nothing in towers. Once we were made like towers. Everything could’ve been ours, but you left it too late, now my heart feels nothing, nothing at all.”

You felt a tear drip down your cheek as you sang, but you forced yourself to push through it. You were sure the audience had probably noticed the shaky quality of your voice by now.

You continued to look at Shayne while Alexis began singing the bridge. You thought you saw him reach up and wipe at his face like he was wiping away a tear, but that was probably a trick of the stage lights. It had to be. Why would he be crying?

As the final chorus began and Piper belted out her high notes, you watched him in sort of a daze. He reached up to swipe at his cheek again, and then he stood up and started walking toward the exit. You lost him in the crowd almost immediately.

If that was what closure was supposed to feel like, then closure was pretty fucking useless.

***

The evening air hit Shayne like a freight train as he stumbled out of the arena and into the night. He took in a gulp of air and wiped at the tears on his cheeks, letting out a pitiful noise of frustration and anguish. He sat on the edge of the sidewalk. He bowed his head between his knees, ran his hands through his hair, and tried to remember how to breathe.

It had been going alright, all things considered. He felt a little bit like he was getting the shit beat out of him as he watched you grind on backup dancers and sing about love and moving on and strength and how you didn’t need a man, but other than that he’d been having fun; the show was good, not just from a musical standpoint but from a technical standpoint as well. He could tell that you and your bandmates had put countless hours into learning dance routines on top of singing everything, which was really impressive. Costumes and special effects made the show feel complete.

And you had been utterly ethereal, silhouetted by stage lights and grinning as you walked around the stage like you owned it. It had seemed, for a while, that you were having the time of your life. That you’d forgotten he was even there.

Your bandmate -- Alexis or Piper, he couldn’t be positive which -- said you were doing an older song, and Courtney reached out to grab his forearm like she’d just won the lottery. When the intro started playing, she shot out of her seat to sing along. For the first few seconds, it was fine. Just another song.

When you started to sing, though, you looked at him, and he felt his heart ripped from his chest and stomped into the ground like it meant nothing. You seemed so sad, so angry, so accusatory. And you had every right to be, he knew.

But it was when you stopped singing, when you made that little sound that he knew meant you were about to cry, it was then that the room slowed and shrank around him. The air was punched out of his lungs and he couldn’t seem to get any more. He felt like his world had gone off-kilter, like he was careening at lightspeed into the sun.

You tore your eyes away from him and looked at Carly, who nodded at you. You seemed to find your voice again, and oh, it was like fire curling out from his ribs and up into his throat. He was utterly transfixed by you; he couldn’t look away even as one of your other bandmates began to sing.

“You never bought me flowers,” you sang, and you were looking at him again, all that sadness and fire behind your eyes. He felt his throat spasm around a sob, felt his eyes burn. “Never held me in my darkest hours.” God, you were right; he’d fucked up so monumentally. “And you left it so late that my heart feels nothing, nothing in towers.” This was when the tears started to fall.

The rest of your words were sort of a blur. All he could focus on was your eyes boring into his.

Eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore. He stood up and rushed out, and now here he was, close to hyperventilation on a gross LA sidewalk.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. It was Courtney asking where he’d gone, making sure he was okay. He typed back that he had just needed to get some air. He was grateful when she didn’t reply.

In all honesty, he wasn’t sure how long he sat on that sidewalk. He didn’t want to go back inside. He wasn’t sure if he could see you without dissolving into tears all over again. He wanted to go home; or, even better, he wanted to go to Damien’s and cry on his couch and eat ice cream until he couldn’t think straight. But he knew Courtney would be worried and disappointed if he left early, and she would push him for a reason, and he couldn’t tell her. This was her favorite band. 

He didn’t want to change her opinion just because he was still pining over a relationship that ended years ago.

He sniffled, stood up, and dusted off his jeans. Before he went back inside, he sent Damien a text asking if he could come over after the concert. Damien’s answer came quickly; sure, he wasn’t busy. Shayne let out a sigh of relief and made his way back into the arena.

You didn’t look at him for the rest of the show.

***

Luckily, the concert ended sooner rather than later. You and your bandmates waved and called goodbyes as you disappeared beneath the stage floor. Shayne, anxious to get out of the arena, was out of his seat as soon as the house lights turned back on. He rocked up on the balls of his feet while Courtney gathered her stuff.

Once she was ready to go, Shayne began pushing through the crowds toward the exit. It took a while, but he finally managed to get out of the building with Courtney in tow.

“So, did you like it?” she asked as they walked back to their cars. Shayne stuffed his hands into his pockets and did his best not to look like a kicked puppy.

“Yeah, it was pretty good,” he said.

“I thought it was great. I was so surprised when they sang Towers; it’s one of my favorite songs by them. And they all sounded so great, too.”

Shayne tuned her out for most of the walk, too deep in his own feelings to give Courtney his full attention. Once they made it back to their cars, they hugged and went their separate ways.

He’d never been so anxious to get to Damien’s.

He was greeted, as usual, by the cats. They meowed up at him and twined around his legs, almost like they knew he was upset. He leaned down to scratch behind their ears. Damien shouted a greeting from the kitchen.

Shayne didn’t respond, just toed off his shoes and went to sit down on the couch. He leaned back against the throw pillows and closed his eyes for a while, lulled into a sort of trance by the sound of the sink running in the kitchen.

Shayne turned up on Damien’s doorstep with hunched shoulders and red-rimmed eyes. He reached for the doorknob and, as Damien had said he would, found it unlocked. Zelda and Freyja swarmed around his legs as he entered, purring and twining around him. He smiled softly down at them but didn’t stoop to pet them. He was pretty sure if he crouched to their level he wouldn’t be able to get back up; the exhaustion and sadness and disappointment in his system felt so intense, so bone-deep and pervasive, that he was fairly certain he might keel over unconscious any second.

He shuffled over to the couch and collapsed onto it, groaning into one of the throw pillows. He’d only been there for a minute or so when Damien emerged from the bathroom. Shayne heard his friend suck in a sharp inhale at the sight of him and realized that Damien probably hadn’t heard him come in. “Sorry,” he said, “didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s fine,” Damien replied. “I just didn’t realize you’d get here so fast. You want something to drink?”

Shayne thought for a second and then decided against it. “No,” he replied. “I’m not thirsty.”

Damien didn’t respond, though Shayne did hear his footsteps receding into the kitchen. He came back after a few seconds with a bottle of water. Once he had made himself comfortable on the couch and taken a long drag of said water, he peered at Shayne for a long moment. Shayne didn’t look back at him; he was fixated on a point off to Damien’s left, and he was only half-aware of his surroundings, anyway. He didn’t need to look at Damien’s face to know what he’d find there: confusion, disappointment, probably some anger.

“What happened?” Damien asked. That question was almost worse than the uncomfortable silence.

“I don’t know,” Shayne replied, and it wasn’t a lie. “I don’t… dude, I don’t fucking know. I panicked, I ended things, and she just… she just left. She didn’t even try to fight it.”

“Please tell me that’s not you trying to blame her for this,” Damien said, and Shayne could hear the anger creeping steadily further into his voice. He squeezed his eyes shut, scrubbed a hand over his face, and reached for the water bottle. He downed the rest of it and set it on the end table. With the water gone, he sat up and turned so that he could face Damien.

“I’m not. It’s my fault. I’m not stupid enough to try to deny that.”

“Well, you’re stupid enough to end a three-year relationship for no good goddamn reason, so at this point, I’m not a hundred percent sure where all of your brain cells have fucked off to.”

Shayne grimaced at the biting words as if Damien had taken a physical swing at him, unable to help the wounded sound that lodged itself in his throat. He didn’t try to fight it, though. Damien was right.

There was a moment of tense silence. Damien sighed and shook his head, and then his form softened; his shoulders relaxed and some of the ire left his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said. “That was harsh. I just… I’m just confused, dude. I thought you guys were happy. This is kind of coming out of nowhere.”

“The other day, we talked about getting married. And we both agreed that it was something we wanted.”

Damien’s brow furrowed. “Oh… kay?” he said slowly, sounding out each vowel. “That kind of proves my point, Shayne.”

“Today, I got home and she was sitting on the couch and she asked me how my day was and I panicked. Suddenly, it was just… too much. And I started talking before I could think about it. And from there it was like I was completely out of control, like I couldn’t shut myself up. The look on her face… that look is gonna haunt my fucking dreams. And by the time I realized what I had done, by the time I was about to get down on my knees and beg her to stay, she was gone.”

Another long few seconds of silence. Shayne realized with a start that he was crying. He took a shuddering breath and wiped at the tears on his cheeks.

“I’m scared, Dames,” he continued. “She didn’t fight it. She just… she just packed a bag and went. Maybe she wanted this, maybe she was waiting to tell me. Maybe she wasn’t happy. Maybe that’s why she didn’t fight.”

Damien looked at him like he had grown a second head. “You’re crazy, Shayne. She was… she is so utterly in love with you. Think about the shit you’ve gone through together. Do you honestly believe that she would’ve stuck around this long if she wasn’t happy with you?”

“I texted her after she left,” Shayne said. “Right before I texted you. I apologized and asked if we could talk more. She hasn’t responded.”

“Can you blame her?” Damien asked. Shayne shrugged feebly. “She’s probably with Carly right now. I’d bet any money Carly told her not to answer, and that’s probably for the best. Wait at least until tomorrow and give her a call. You both need a little time to calm down, but you can still fix this.”

Shayne nodded, but he knew deep down that it was done. You were done.

Shayne was startled out of his memories as, in the present, Damien sat down on the couch next to him. He opened his eyes and looked at his best friend, and he knew without having to see himself that he had the same expression as he’d had five years ago; shocked, distant, utterly devastated.

“You okay, man?” Damien asked. Shayne scrubbed his hand over his face and let out a long, frustrated sigh. “That bad?”

“You’ll never guess who I ran into today,” Shayne began. Damien didn’t say anything, just sort of cocked his head as a sign for Shayne to continue. “Y/N, of all people.”

Damien perked up at the mention of your name, but then shrank back down and made a sympathetic sound in the back of his throat. “Was she at the concert or something?”

“Oh, not only was she at the concert,” Shayne said. He surged upward so that he was sitting up straight, feeling a surge of frustration course through him. “No, she’s in the fucking band.”

Damien’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped into a sort of shocked “oh” shape. Shayne nodded and threw his hands in the air for emphasis.

“So not only am I caught completely off guard seeing her again during the photo op or whatever, but then I’ve gotta watch her for the whole concert. And she sang this song that I just --” his voice died in his throat as he remembered the look on your face, that same look from years ago, so wholeheartedly hurt.

“I’m sorry, Shayne,” Damien said. It was clear that he wasn’t sure what to do. “Do you wanna talk more or do you wanna take your mind off it?”

Shayne sighed again. “I think I just need a distraction. Let’s find a comedy special or something to watch.”

Damien nodded and turned the TV on, scrolling through Netflix until he found something they agreed upon. Shayne drifted in and out of sleep for a while, exhausted from the emotional whiplash of the day, before he finally passed out on Damien’s couch.

***

He woke up to a sharp pain in his neck and the smell of bacon frying in the kitchen.

“Morning,” Damien greeted him as he entered. “Figured I’d make some breakfast.”

Shayne nodded his thanks and went to the fridge for some water, and then he sat down on a stool at the breakfast counter. His phone was almost dead, but there was just enough power to make sure he hadn't missed anything important. He checked his texts, listened to a voicemail from his dentist’s office about an upcoming appointment, and then scrolled through his emails.

There was one in his work inbox which caught his eye; the filming schedule for the upcoming week. He clicked on the email and scrolled down until he got to the attached document. At the top, Monday, he and Damien would be filming a guest Try Not to Laugh. When his eyes scanned across the page to see who the guest was, his heart dropped into the pit of his stomach.

There, written in clear, bold print, was the name of your band.

And Shayne’s lungs were caving in all over again.

[ariyadaivaris]

- i didnt realize that jiro had already moved on to nxt...well not "moved on" of course but hang on who the FUCK wore a critrole tshirt to 205 live. who are you. WHO ARE YOU. I HATE YOU. IM GOING TO BITE YOU

- i dont wanna watch thisss i already have never felt so indifferent to a new wrestler in my life. this guy is nothing to me and sunil is going to lose to him for no reason. i hate this...i just. i don't care how inevitably talented/whatever these new recruits are really. there's just nothing there! there's not a story there's just the wrestling which everyone marketing 205 has always mistakenly taken as it appeal. and it's just not! it's not at all. why was lince teamed with john morrison whadda hale.........where's gran my friend gran :( for that matter why isn't lhp on 205 still i miss them so so much. also riddle should still be killed

- oh do we have a 20 minute main event? where tony and ariya win which i know because i accidentally checked twitter? worm? maybe this will be something

- uhm i should say something about the new guy whos name i forgot but i dont want to. i don't like the look of him. the mma background the leopard print the demeanor it all feels Bad or at least like Something I've Seen Before That Should Be Taken As A Red Flag and maybe that is unfair but i don't care enough to form another opinion. c'est la vie as they say

- sorry i feel like i am complainier than usual which given how late i am to boot is not really great. i would say i haven't been doing well (which i haven't, in fairness, though when am i ever doing well lol) but to be honest i just really, really, REALLY have not wanted to watch. i don't know exactly why, knowing tony and ariya actually win this match should be a hook for me, but it's a combination of the bogus debut match and the...having to expend energy being excited about gold standie match. i know it doesn't seem like it but it takes me a lot of energy to watch 205, actually. it always has in a weird way. back when i took eight hours to dissect an episode which was a better time really even if i was cringe, to now when i spend even longer just trying to garner the enthusiasm to withstand a show that is just not something i expect things from anymore, that occasionally provides me a foothold regarding the only two characters i think about in depth anymore and that i pounce on in order to compensate for the lack of enthusiasm everywhere else. i am very passionate about 205. it's something i have worked hard to understand and that takes a lot out of me, which enjoying anything usually does. if i'm too excited about something, i can put off engaging with it for months, even years. if 205 wasn't weekly i probably still wouldn't have watched this episode. i just don't have the energy i guess. its...idk. i don't really know what i can do about it besides stop watching but...i don't want to do that either. i dunno :(

- "they know they can rely on each other. they know they can trust one another." feels VERY good to hear that about tony and ariya to be honest. healing <3 i like that for them and i think it's been really genuinely hard earned

- matching black gear. this is all i have wanted. thank you   - okay...okay i hate to say it but ariya's hair has been having a rough time of it lately huh! it happens to everyone...he’ll come back from this

- oh my god wait did tony's flexing taunt actually work...why did [pop punk lead singer newbie] take so long to come back from it. usually when tony does that it just pisses people off and just now tony had to like reassure him out of the corner. i know it was probably him being Too Mad To Speak (especially him mocking it just now) but it's SO funny to think of it as tony actually intimidating someone lol. i think he deserves it. i would LOVE to meet the person successfully unnerved by tony

- support <3

- so bored by this match they're talking about meiko satomura on commentary. listen who can blame them though? i think more people should talk about meiko satomura at all times. she is very cool. who ISN'T boring next to her

- that was...some not-good camera work!!! what else to be expected from the ole double yew double yew

- ARIYA SETTING UP POP PUNK FOR THE MOONSAULT WITH THE KICK TO THE HEAD!!!!!!!!! LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOO THAT RULED. TAG TEAM MOVES

- AWH there's a nice culmination of the last two weeks! tony almost taps and ariya saves him. tony is a lot more willing to tap out than ariya is, quicker to preserve his health, and this time that moment of almost surrendering is used to put him in a worse spot. ariya sees tony about to get fucked over and jumps in. i don't know how to word it entirely, but there's just that sense that they look out for each other! even if tony was going to tap, the only person to take it out on is the person putting him in that position. tony never has to tap if ariya's there to save him. that works out just fine. they care about each other a lot. if you ask me. just my opinion. :) smile

- they're doing more tag team moves teehee ^_^ also that uranage to backstabber RULES that's SO fucking brutal!!!!!!!! no one is surviving that!!!!!!!! gold standard tag team champions NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- ariya's sell of that kick to the head. he's noodle

- tony save awiya...................

- who am i to deny that that springboard move was cool. i'm only human

- TONY SAVE ARIYA..................TWO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- ARIYA AND TONY WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- i LOVE seeing them develop new tag team moves and i LOVE seeing them point and laugh whenever they beat someone. mischief! mischief and rudeness! i love them. i care gold standard

[faunusrights]

OFFAL HUNT REMASTERED LIVEBLOG // CHAPTER 19

IN THIS EPISODE OF MURPHY IS SCREAMING, CONSTANTLY, TRAPPED IN THEIR PERFECT NIGHTMARE:

Glynda was saying: “I know we aren’t friends. I know we aren’t partners. I know you’re a criminal. But—I think I can trust you. I think I have to trust you, even if you’ve done awful things before.”

EVERYTHING GOES WRONG BUT LIKE SOMEHOW WORSE THAN EVER? LIKE A WHOLE NEW BRAND OF LOW. LIKE CINDER’S GOT A PICKAXE AND THE CENTRE OF THE PLANET CALLS FOR AID.

IT’S BEEN A WHILE HUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but dw offal hunt, like the rising of the sun, the arrival of winter, and the eventual downfall of capitalism, always returns. so lets go.

(i just quickly reread chapter 18 liveblog to remember what happened and Ah Yes I Remember Now. The Suppressed Memories)

The place was emptier without Glynda. Quieter.

/gunshot oh we’re in danger right out of the gate huh? we got some yearning right out here? right now? how quickly the turn do tables.

Cinder appraised her work, holding the beige coat up to the light and squinting.

man i forgot. i FORGET. how much i just love cinder in this fic. sometimes she kinda zones to the back of my mind where she sits waiting for me to start thinking about her again, but now i remember that this cinder is Peaque. look at her GO, minding her own BUSINESS. im proud of her. does she know i love her.

It didn’t take long to don her new, fire-proofed clothes.

in another world, in a more comical plot, she used asbestos. it didnt go well.

The subtle warmth of the Dust teased tension from Cinder’s stiff muscles, even as she marvelled at the strangeness of her own bedroom’s space. It seemed bigger now than it had the last two nights.

h

She chose not to dwell on it.

h

i choose to dwell on it! ME!!!! I CHOOSE TO DWELL ON IT. HEY CINDER WHAT THIS GAY SHIT. hello. ma’am. can we look deeper into this. i, for one, would like to, and i, for one, think its of value to think abt this. that said, small segue

Quietly, Cinder murmured, “I didn’t freak out.”

THE FACT SHE SAYS IT ALOUD LIKE EM AND MERC CAN HEEEEEEAR HEEEEEEEER i am. INFATUATED with this family. cant wait for the 100k spinoff thats basically an elongated beach episode where they go to like. alton towers. or butlins. six flags??? thats a thing in america right??? anyway. beach episode. call me. (wink wink nudge nudge push push shove shove)

 We had to stop back in because Merc left his favorite binder, and it was 2 in the morning, so it was easier to crash here for the night than mess with the ship’s autopilot.

them,,, THEM!!!! mercury is just a son and childe. thast it. he canot change this. i love these kids so much i am SHAKING THE MONITOR RN!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAA

Stuck here in one of the homes they’d shared, Cinder missed them terribly. Missed the sound of their voices and the easy comfort of their presence. Finding the time to contact them had been difficult, between managing Glynda and Hati both, but Glynda was gone, and she’d sent Hati onwards to Atlas. She remembered her call with Emerald, before arriving in Umbraroot; she knew it had not soothed her or her fears.

im sorry was this chapter targeted at me, specifically, as a human being on planet earth? GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS FAMILY!!!!!!!!! THIS WONKY OLD BANDAGED UP FAMILY UNIT!!!!!!!!!!!!! i thrive every time they are mentioned on the page. it is a blessing. my succulents grow stronger each time they show up.

“No,” Cinder argued softly, “I had to. Mercury, you deserve to hear it from me as well. I am sorry. And I am promising you: I’ll come back.”

For a long, heart-wrenching moment, he was completely quiet. It was good that Cinder was alone in the apartment; laying herself bare like this would be unbearable with an audience.

GODDDDDDDDDDD AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

i am OBSESSED WITH THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM GOING TO BE THINKING ABOUT THIS UNTIL I D I E. of all thing the remaster does better than og, this is just. SPEEDING AHEAD. this whole CONFLICT this whole MESS just makes everything so much RICHER its like when u splash some wine in yr fancy food or stick some cinnamon on yr favourite desserts u dont NEED TO but it adds that lil SOMETHING,,, that little KICK that just ties the flavour profile together and in this case ofgughugguhu it just GIVES SO MUCH. im making SNOW ANGELS in the WORDS on the PAGE.

“Mercury. If I could prove it to you, I would. But you have to—trust me. For just a while longer.”

“It’s getting harder,” he said. He didn’t sound like he was lying just to hurt her. That wasn’t spite. That was honest anger. And it made her feel like dirt.

im less picking these for specific instances of like, things i want to say, but more just because bits of this r rly just so /chef kiss. cinder has these.... endearingly (take that whichever way u like) human qualities in OG to rly make u realise she had ties to add to her #Doubt but the remaster is just AMPING it up and u FEEL IT and ive never been more SYMPATHETIC to a round-faced sinnamon bun of assholery and fire id DIE for cinder fall and this is a fact PUT IT ON MY GRAVESTONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Is there anything you need?” What was this? Cinder could barely focus on her words. It felt like... “Anything? At all?”

“We’re fine.”

“Mercury, wait please—” She was losing him. “I think—”

“Just hurry up.”

The line went dead.

this place is not a place of honor.................. no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here........................ nothing valued is here................ IM DYING

Cinder began to type out her response, and that was when the nausea really kicked in. 

[...] 

She recognized this now.

Glynda.

stress stress stress stress STRESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

There shouldn’t be anybody. Cinder had done everything in her power to cut Glynda from people who would interfere. To isolate her. Make it easier to bring her to Atlas, to the frozen north, to her mother and the machine…

Cinder’s esophagus quivered; furiously, she shut her eyes and thought of nothing.

god cinder don’t remind me that you’re an asshole and dipshit and also a moron im trying to be NICE and CARE ABT YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STOP REMINDING ME YOU’RE A PIECE OF SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

FOR FIVE MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The front door clicked open.

Cinder couldn’t have said how much time had passed, only that it had passed slowly. What she did know was that it was Glynda returning, the sensation of boils bursting wafting off her soul. It crawled over Cinder’s flesh. She curled in on herself.

There were mites under every nailbed. Salt in her weeping mouth.

offal hunt’s brilliant use of this horror aspect is something i have tried previously to emulate and here’s a fact, take it from me: that shit is HARD. offal hunt consistently able to whack those real nasty, really Disgusting vibes on the head EVERY TIME is a work of art. i mean, kc and diesel do not fuck around, and therefore i am NOT surprised, but it’s only when u try this shit yourself that you realise: this is hard! this is difficult! it’s a huge testament to how GOOD this fic is in every way. also this whole fucking body horror aspect is something i didnt know this fic needed, but it did, and here we are. 

Thickly: “Things were going okay. If you hadn’t gotten nasty, I might have smoothed things over. I could have fixed things with my son.”

with my son

with my son

with my son

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I CANT TAKE IT EVERY TIME ITS TOO MUCH FOR TO BEAR I CANNOT HANDLE IT I CANNOT STAND IT ITS LIKE BEING SHOT JUST DIRECTLY IN MY DICK

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

im like sweating rn

Glynda said, “I’m scared.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to tell you.”

I SAID IM SWEATING

Glynda asked, “Are you lying to me?”

And Cinder said, “What?”

“About me. About Witches. About Ozpin—” Cinder’s guts went sour. “—About anything. I need to know if I can trust you.”

I SAID I! AM! S W E A T I N G

“I know you’ve lied to people. Hurt people.”

Adrenaline and the image of her kids’ faces behind her eyes made a potent, sick cocktail. “—Not. Now.”

so lets like double back to when i said hey was this chapter written to target me specifically and as it turns out, yes. yes it was. yes it was and as MUCH AS I AM LIVING FOR THIS MOMENT THIS SWEET BUILDUP THE EXPLOSION AND THE CRATER IT ALL LEAVES BEHIND

I

AM

so this next bit is like. i cant really quote one section but as i was saying in Vague DMs, this whole bit feels like wading through mud. usually if you say something consumes energy to Read it’s in a Bad Way when yr bored but this is more like. you Feel cinder all over everything feels so sluggish and it’s like dragging your own corpse around as you try and leave and you’re TIRED and your LEGS HURT and you’re kinda thinking god what if i just fell face down for just a moment of my LIFE.

The putrid weight of Glynda’s soul filled the room until there was no space left for her.

it’s like being trapped in a sauna, like getting stuck in a humid waiting room. where do you GO. what do you DO. god this whole section is fantastic and offal hunt NEVER fails to fucking nail the Vibes but reading it is HARD. i literally keep having to stop and breathe like ive been holding my breath. jesus h christ.

a small intermission for a mood:

“Get fucked.”

back to regularly scheduled hell

Out of the bedroom. Down the hall. The walls were sweating with heat. She tasted smoke. 

i love that i just said how i feel like im trapped in a sauna and it turns out: thats because me and cinder both, baybee!!!! hahahaha help

Glynda’s soul chewed her to the marrow. “Move, Glynda.” 

cinder being hunted at the start of this fic: teehee! im running away! now im gonna getcha! heehee! arent i clever :) cinder being hunted now: this uh. this blows, actually,

Cinder’s pulse roared in her ears. Her hands twitched. She smelled Ochre Brown’s round face melting off. His wide smile shattered with each of his teeth, going black and popping like corn.

this chapter is probably my favourite so far for this blending of so many elements. i cant even begin to like. THINK STRAIGHT about how all of this is tying together. the lore. the THEMATICS. like i said this character rly is just Rich with what og lacked and oh is it RICH. im gonna read this chapter in future and see so much that i know ive already missed. holy shit.

“Ms. Fall,” she said. “The White Fang requires your presence immediately.”

NOT NOW

Cinder stood there looking at it for a moment. Her thoughts were slow. Copper-tinged. Something small and indulgent whispered to her through the blood-fog.

It was obvious enough what would happen if she got into this car. The driver would take her to a secluded place, where she would be ambushed by a squadron of battle-hungry White Fang grunts.

They’d try to take her down. And she was a killer, wasn’t she? Ochre Brown wailed in her ears with every thump of her runaway heart. Her hands itched for action; her teeth, for blood.

She’d burn them black.

never mind! you are already dead,

She thought about Glynda. About her saying that if there was trouble with the Fang, she wanted to come. That she would fight for Cinder.

She thought of Glynda’s question: What aren’t you telling me about Ochre Brown?

Yeah, fuck that.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A CLIFFHANGER!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A MOMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!! MORE MOMENTOUSLY: WHAT A CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is EASILY my favourite chapter so far. EASILY. everything about this was peak offal. the relationships. the dynamics. the dialogue. the vibes. the Grossness. the fighting. the EVERYTHING. this is some other level and its BITCHIN. PEAK. that said im now very tired. im going to have a cup of tea and Consider Things for a few hours. brb.