#i'm having the deepest conversation with one person then with another I'm warning them about gomens season 2 lol

[lostaziraphale]

aziracrow au where they meet on a dating app on accident while they're each trying to either cause chaos or put more love into the world.

[comicwritesstuff]

okay this is so incredibly specific so please feel free to ignore BUT i’ve been wanting to read a fic for ages where the reader is Chase’s childhood best friend from Australia and she moves to New Jersey for a fresh start. She’s staying with Chase while she gets settled, and one day she comes to visit him at lunch at the hospital, where she ends up meeting House and he’s… intrigued by her 👀 either romantic or smut would be so very cool :^D <33 💐

YES. I LOVE THIS PROMPT IM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG BUT IM FINISHED!!!

Gregory House x Fem!Chases bsf!Reader

Warnings: None really, just cussing and tooth rotting fluff >:) 3k+ words.

Chase's POV: 

“Well I was just wondering if we could go out sometime, I think you're really-” My attention shifted as y/n's call lit up my phone, interrupting the conversation. It was a more pressing matter than pursuing a one-night stand.

“Excuse me for a moment.” I say walking away, the woman having an annoyed look on her face. 

I answer the phone.

“Hello, y/n? Whats up” 

“Chase! Long time no talk haha.”

“You called me yesterday.”

“Learn to take a joke, anyways, I have some exciting news for you.”

“I’m moving to New Jersey!!” 

“Wait what? Really?”

“Yeah, I kinda forgot to tell you and i'm actually at the airport right now, so I hope you aren't busy tomorrow so you can pick me up.”

“Wow, um alright, yeah I can pick you up, do you have a place to stay?"

“Um…no…” I sigh, “Just stay at mine for now.”

“Don't even with the sigh i’ve known you my whole life you can put the nightly hookups on hold for your best friend.” 

I smirk and shake my head, “Yeah yeah, I’ll see ya tomorrow y/n” 

Y/N’s POV:

I smile as I hang up with Chase, grabbing my luggage and pulling it along the airport. Ahh yes, crying babies, rushed parents, annoying couples and that one insanely attractive person you see for a split second, I love the airport. 

Glancing at my ticket I realize I might have to hurry to make it to the gate, speed walking I see a text from chase, “Have a safe flight.” Let's hope so. 

Time skip (to lazy to write all the details about fucking airports)

Relaxing on a 21-hour flight proved challenging, especially with a toddler nearby. It was unclear whether the toddler would be a source of annoyance or just be tolerable. The flight just started. So to entertain myself I decide to do some digging about Chase's job, he brags about it all the time and the infamous Dr Gregory House. To be honest I thought Chase was gay for a little while with how much he talks about him. Still speculating. 

The plane lifts off and I start my look, at first just looking up Gregory House, a surprising amount of things show up. An article titled, “Gregory House, Talented Doctor? Or a lying Narcissist?” Oh well that's a good first impression.   

Scrolling down I see another article, “The world's greatest doctor, and his deepest secrets” 

Now that's enticing. I click on it only to find out his deepest secrets, including using 3 in one shampoo and how his leg got hurt. I guess people hardly know anything about him. I click on the photos of him, there's only a couple, most of them blurry but to be honest he's pretty good looking from the photos I can see. I’d honestly be gay for him if I was Chase. 

The toddler next to me starts giggling, I glance at her and notice her staring at a picture of House. She's kicking her feet too. That's so relatable. 

For the rest of the flight I find some stuff about this guy named Taub, who somehow also figured out that he cheated on his wife which is why he had to quit. How did I find that out? I took a coding class in 8th grade. (I got lucky) 

Lisa Cuddy the Dean of Medicine, unfortunately only good stuff about her, boring. 

Remy Hadley, oddly, can't find anything on her. 

Eric Foreman, his brothers in jail, fun. 

And the others are just as boring. For the remainder of the flight, the toddler proved surprisingly chill. I passed the time by binge-watching random movies I had downloaded earlier

*Another time skip to plane landing* 

Finally, 21 hours on a fucking plane is horrible. 

I check my phone after I take it off airplane mode, seeing a text from chase a couple minutes ago. 

“I’m at the airport, is your flight done?”

“Yep, wya.”

“I’m parked in the front.”

“That's specific” 

“There's no other front dumbass”

I roll my eyes at his text, and get off the plane as soon as I can. I walk out and see Chase standing outside his car waiting for me. His eyes light up as he spots me, and a grin spreads across his face. Unable to resist, I rush forward and envelop him in a bear hug.

“Man you’re a lot uglier in person” 

I say jokingly, smirking.

“Oh shut up”  

We climbed into his car, and he drove us back to his apartment. When we arrive he helps get my crap into the house, before he gets a call saying he had to head to work. 

Eventually a week or two passes, I've gotten more comfortable in his apartment, applied for a bunch of jobs, and looked for places to stay so I’m not invading his “man” space anymore. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of options, and no jobs have replied to my applications, which is weird since im overqualified, it's almost like they aren’t even getting my applications in the first place. 

I’m doing the dishes when I get a text from Chase.

“Hey, I left my wallet on the counter, so I don’t have money for food, could ya bring it for me?” 

“Nah”

“See you soon”

I breathe out a laugh and grab his wallet, putting a coat on then driving to the hospital. 

When I get there I walk in, looking around before I call Chase, “Where do I go this place is huge” I can hear talking in the background, actually more like arguing. “Uhm just wait at the entrance i’ll be right there.” He says in a whisper.

He hangs up so I just stand there awkwardly waiting, that was a weird ass phone call. To be fair Chase is a weird ass guy with weird ass coworkers so what do I expect at this point. 

Before I see Chase I see Dr Gregory House, limping quickly towards me. And damn he’s even hotter in person than the pictures I saw of him. 

“Hey, no time to explain, you need to come with me.” He grabs my arm dragging me into the elevator. Before it closes I see Chase come out of the stairway, he sprints towards the elevator but it closes. I hear him trying to say something, but it's muffled and I can’t understand it. Wait why the fuck did I even follow House? 

“You're real compliant, you’d make a great hooker.” 

I turn around and side eye him.

“Thanks, so would you.” I say giving a fake smile. 

“Speaking of compliant, why did you drag me away from Chase? What's going on?’’

“I made a bet with Chase.”

“That's really specific and helpful thanks” 

“Oh yeah no problem” 

Sarcastic asshole. 

“If you don’t tell me, I'll stop following you and go with Chase.” 

He rolls his eyes.

“Fine, Mom! The bet is that I can convince you to work as my assistant here.”

“Really? That's it? I need a job. Why would Chase even bet against that?” 

“He thinks you’ll fall in love with me so he doesn’t want that to happen, in his words, “She has a thing for homeless looking, narcissistic assholes with beards.” So he’s trying to prevent it, and he’s sure he can.”  

Damn- I feel so called out. I stay silent before nodding.

“Well to be honest he isn’t wrong.” 

I see House smirk before we get out of the elevator, he hobbles and leads me to his office, locking the door then having me sit down. 

As I sit down in front of his desk, he grabs a ball and starts throwing it against the wall, while sitting down. 

“So are you gonna interview me or something?” 

“Yeah, I’m just waiting for Chase to get back up here so he can watch me interview you.” 

He really is an asshole…it's kinda hot though. 

“Fair enough.” 

We wait a bit before Chase comes jogging up to the door, out of breath, he’s clearly been running plenty. He starts banging on the glass door that House previously locked.

“House!! Y/N! Let me in! This isn’t fair!” He exclaims, House is grinning when he leans over his desk, crossing his arms.

“Okay! Let’s start this interview now.” 

“Y/n! You traitor!” 

Did I abandon my childhood best friend for some disabled doctor? No, I did it for the job. At least that's what I'm telling myself.   

Turning my attention back to House instead of the Australian cry baby outside the door, he asks me, “First question, do you want the job of being my assistant?” 

“Obviously”

“Great! You have the job!” 

I mean, easy enough. I smile and shake my head. This hospital really has some unique people. 

House shakes my hand, grinning as Chase is sitting on the floor defeated outside. 

As the days turned into weeks at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, I got to know everyone. Cuddy had to actually approve of me working as House’s assistant first, but once she saw a…normal enough individual, she welcomed me into the environment.

Getting to know House better, I found myself drawn to him in ways I hadn’t really expected. The bet between House and Chase, Chase thinking I would fall for House, I took it as a joke, until that joke turned more into reality. 

Despite House being a narcissistic piece of shit, there were small moments that I saw, or shared with him that made me fall for him. Ones where he seemed happy, or just easy to be around. At work he's serious but when Wilson dragged him out to bars, or other social environments, he could actually be fun. And though him being a dick is undeniably attractive sometimes, when he was…”himself” that's how I began to fall for him.  

One day, after an especially tough day for the team, and being forced to go break into houses and get coffee and food, I found myself alone with House in his office. The rest of the team had left, leaving us in a rare moment alone with each other. As I glanced up from the medical chart of the most recent patient, I caught House’s gaze lingering on me, his blue eyes intense and unreadable. 

“Something on your mind, House?” I asked, attempting to break the awkward silence between us. 

He smirked, leaning back in his chair with a casual ease, “Oh just wondering why a catch like yourself doesn’t have a boyfriend, or husband?” He responds, his tone laced with flirtatiousness.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at his response, a faint blush on my cheeks. House and I had gained an uncanny camaraderie, made from me running around doing everyone's paperwork, being the designated “you get to tell patients they are dying!!” person. And as you’d expect people didn’t respect me a lot, but if someone was blatantly mean to me, House would step in and destroy their self esteem in a second and walk away like it meant nothing. That's another thing that I think made me fall for him. 

“Believe me, I’ve been asking myself that a lot too.” I smile, placing the medical chart on his desk. 

“Do you want a boyfriend? Or girlfriend, or a pet or something.” He quips, his eyes looking like they are reading me, studying my every movement and reaction to what he’s saying, it's flattering and uncomfortable at the same time. 

“A boyfriend would be nice.” I say reassuringly, a laugh escaping me as I shake my head in amusement.

“Alright let's say *hypothetically* I asked you out. *hypothetically* what would your response be?” 

Raising an eyebrow I ask, “Are you trying to go on a date with me?”

“I said hypothetically, now answer the question.” 

A smirk plays on my lips as I roll my eyes in a mock annoyance. 

“Well.” I say, “Hypothetically, I would say yes.” 

“Great, meet me for dinner at (some random fancy place idk u make up a name i'm too lazy to), wear something cute.” 

 With that, he sauntered out of the office, leaving me to think about what just happened. Glancing at the clock, I realized I had just enough time to get ready for our “hypothetical date.” 

The anticipation bubbled within me, standing outside (IDK A RESTAURANT NAME IT), waiting for House to arrive. My heart raced with nervous excitement, unsure what to expect from a…unique…guy like House. I had used all the time I had to work on my outfit, settling for a simple dress (or suit, or just anything you're comfy in :) ). 

As I scanned the busy street, searching for any sign of House, I heard the obnoxiously loud sound of a motorcycle approaching. House rode in, parking his bike before getting off and walking (limping) towards me. My breath caught in my throat as I saw him, he looked impossibly handsome, in a tailored suit that made his rugged charm come out, good god he looked fine. 

“Y/n,” he greeted with a warm smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners in genuine affection. “That outfit makes your ass look nice.” 

I scoff playfully, hitting his arm. “So much for acting like a gentleman, at least you look like one.” 

He chuckled, offering me his arm in a more gentlemanly gesture. “Yeah yeah, shall we?” 

With a nod, I looped my arm through his, savoring the warmth of his touch as we mad our way into the restaurant. The ambiance was elegant and inviting, with a soft candlelight casting a warm glow over the decor. 

As we were seated at a table in a quiet corner of the restaurant, I couldn’t help but feel a flutter of excitement in my chest. I’m finally going out with House, damn Chase was totally right. 

Throughout the evening, our conversation flowed surprisingly easily between us. I had half expected him to be rude or stuck up, but he seemed actually interested in me, in my life. He was asking questions, laughing and joking with me. Sharing stories of his own, and treating me like an actual human. Honestly it was scaring me a bit, but it was making me fall harder for him. 

House raised an eyebrow, a playful glint in his eyes. ‘So, tell my Y/N. What’s the most embarrassing thing that's happened to you?” 

I laughed, shaking my head as I thought about the memory. “Well, there was this one time in college-” 

“Let me guess,” House interrupted, a smirk playing on his lips. “It involved copious amounts of alcohol and very questionable decisions?” 

I chuckle and nod in agreement. “You could say that. Long story short, I ended up streaking through the campus fountain at three in the morning. I'm pretty sure Chase might still have a video of it still.”

House raises an eyebrow, an amused laugh coming from him. “I wish I could say I was surprised, oh and also. I am finding that video.” He states, with a determined and mischievous grin. 

The dinner continues and our connection just seems to get stronger, fueled by shared laughter, stories of shit Wilson and him did in college, things Chase and I did in highschool. With each passing moment, I found myself more and more under House’s spell, captivated by the complexity of himself, his character. His gaze, laughter, even his personality. Maybe it was the wine or something, but House was being nice, he had charisma, and was being attractive in general.  

I don’t even realize that we’ve spent almost three hours in the restaurant just talking. I check my phone seeing that it's 9:30 already. We had got and paid the check awhile ago, but had stayed to talk longer. The restaurant closes at 10, and I felt a sudden pang of disappointment that our date was close to being over with. I didn’t want it to end, I was savoring this moment I was having, this seemingly perfect night. 

When the waiter arrived to take our dessert order, I couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment that the evening was drawing to a close. I wasn't ready for it to end—I wanted to savor every moment, to prolong the magic of our time together for as long as possible.

House notices my look of disappointment, “I’m aware how amazing I am, but if its up to me, this won’t be our last date.” 

A smile tugs at the corners of my mouth, my cheeks heating up as I blush. The butterflies in my stomach going absolutely insane. 

So with a quick glance around the restaurant, I rose from my seat, House grabbed my hand as he led me towards the exit. 

Stepping out into the cool night air, I felt a sense of happiness coursing through me. This was it, the beginning of a new relationship, a surprisingly healthy one so far. 

As House’s hand tightened around mine, his touch sent sparks of electricity coursing through my veins. I knew now that maybe Chase knows me better than I know myself, in all fairness he predicted this, but right now I wasn’t afraid to admit this, to admit the undeniable attraction that I had towards Dr Gregory House. 

His touch leaves mine, his hand pulling as we stand in front of the restaurant, close to each other, staring in each other's eyes. I glance at his lips before leaning in, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, not sure if he expected it, but I pull back.

“Goodnight House. I’ll see you tomorrow.” And with that I walk away, to my car. When I get in my car, I look in the mirror, seeing House standing there with a lovestruck grin, one a child would have over some school crush. But it was cute, he was cute. And this was just the beginning of an annoyingly predicated relationship with a Vicodin addicted, asshole, who I suspect has a soft spot for me.

[novamirmirsblog]

I am not a woman, I'm a God (17+)

If I can't have love I want power pt 2

If I can't have love masterlist

Word Count: 1640

Genre: dark I guess?

Request: no

Warnings: none? (atm anyways)

A/N: I'm not too happy with this chapter so it's subject to change BUT the next couple chapters should pick things up a little :3 OH and the next chapter might contain smut (Idk yet - I'll try to edit this when I've written the next chapter)

1737 - The middle

The revenge was sweet and drawn out. The redhead and her long-time friend had made sure of that. They let you finish the duke off but not before they had their fun. The two women were gorgeous, both with red hair that would make any woman jealous. The green-eyed woman had hair like a wildfire and the blue-eyed woman had hair the colour of a deep red sunset. Liking women was wrong but you weren’t sure these two counted as women – they certainly weren’t human. Wanda, the one with sunset hair, tortured your husband mentally, angry whisps the same colour as Natasha’s hair crawled in through his ears and buried themselves deep within his brain. While this was happening, Natasha was peeling layer after layer of skin off him with her razor-sharp nails. You weren’t sure if you could even call them nails – not when they looked so much more like claws. While Wanda was exploiting your husband’s deepest darkest fears, Natasha was calmly explaining to you which tools to use where so you could cause the most pain. Apparently pain and torture was an aphrodisiac for them because the two demons decided to show you what you had been missing out on due to your husband’s lack of skill.

That was almost 200 years ago. Wanda and Natasha had given you great gifts, allowing you to have a much longer life, giving you cat-like reflexes and godlike powers. Perhaps your favourite was the enhancements they gave to your voice. People were suddenly compelled to do whatever you suggested they do and the rush it gave you was unexplainable. These gifts were not free however and yet the price was one you willingly paid repeatedly. Especially because it meant spending extra time with your two favourite demons. You were there to cause chaos and have fun which was ironic considering Wanda was a chaos demon and Natasha was a succubus but perhaps that’s why you did what you did. Perhaps it was because you were made by them and therefore must serve them in every way imaginable.

~~~~~

You had watched your siblings grow from afar and made sure every single villager who ever even looked at them wrong suffered. When you were with Wanda and Natasha, it felt as if everything just fit into place. It was strange and you felt as if you shouldn’t miss them – they killed and tortured your husband in front of you, gave you gifts that meant you couldn’t live a normal life and coerced you into sex that you weren’t sure you wanted; yet you still wanted them.

Your story was told countless times and the more times it was told, the deeper the truth was twisted into a legend, a tale mothers told their children to keep them away from the forests late at night. You were turned into a martyr, a victim of the horrible cruelties the evil creatures of the world could bestow onto innocent girls.

You were anything but.

If the storytellers could see you now, they would burn all mentions of your story. You were a problem child, a bad example and you had two of the most powerful demons wrapped around your little finger.

A few years ago, you had mentioned to Natasha and Wanda one evening that you were bored. That’s how you found yourself currently being shot at.

“Natty I’m bored.” You whined, throwing yourself dramatically over the bed. History was going through a dry spell; people weren’t doing anything interesting and there weren’t enough opportunities for you to wreak havoc.

“Natty” Wanda mocked “Our princess is bored.”

“Well, we can’t have that now, can we?” Natasha moved to hover over you, Wanda placed your head in her lap. Natasha’s tail flicked with a cat-like manner before it slithered between your legs.

You grabbed her tail and she let out a moan “Not now Natasha. I’m serious. If I knew living forever was going to be this boring, then I wouldn’t have done it.” That wasn’t quite true, you enjoyed being theirs to use but you were getting restless.

Natasha rolled her eyes, leaning up to kiss Wanda instead. You waited a few moments for the two demons to stop their make-out session, but it didn’t look to be ending any time soon. You rolled out from underneath Natasha and untangled Wanda’s fingers from where she was massaging your scalp.

“Awe come back baby.” Wanda broke the kiss and made grabby arms at you. For a supposed demon, she sure was soft. “I promise we’ll make things more fun.”

Natasha rolled her eyes again “You’ve gone soft Wands.” Although Natasha huffed and puffed about how ‘soft’ Wanda had gotten, she seemed to have a slightly less hardened heart when she looked at you.

You were no longer bored but you were being shot at and while it couldn’t kill you, it sure did sting. Perhaps going after Dick Turpin’s loot was a bad idea but what can you say? You wanted to live a little. All you had wanted was a pretty horse you had seen him steal but nooo – he had to keep them all for himself. You had managed to escape Mr Turpin himself but one of his lackeys just wouldn’t give up. Rather than continuing to run, you decided you may as well get a quick meal.

“Hello darling.” Your voice echoed from all around, you watched as the man trying to kill you frantically whipped his head around.

“Who are you? Come out now!”

You let out a low, predatory chuckle.

“I’m the poor little martyr in all your stories.”

“No. You can’t be- that’s impossible! You should be dead!” You watched as the man continued to spin around and around in circles, watching him trip before revealing yourself.

“I am ancient. I have seen empires rise and fall. I have seen kings and queens and holy men enter the world and I have seen them leave; and yet I am nowhere near as old or as powerful as the women who made me the person I am today. While I watched preestablished civilisations crumble, they were reminiscing the time they created them, all while burning them to the ground. Some call me the end but they are mistaken. They are the end. I am your warning. I am the only kindness they will show you. Trivial things such as death do not concern me.” As you finished your speech, Natasha and Wanda’s comforting aura surrounded you, the dark mist embracing you before forming the two women.

“Couldn’t let you have all the fun now could we dove?” Natasha’s voice rumbled out against your neck, biting it lightly.

“You have to share.” Wanda cooed, lifting your chin up to face her as she captured your lips with hers.

The idiot who you were about to kill and feed on decided now was a good time to make their escape. Luckily, Wanda had other plans as her red magic bought the squirming meal back to you.

“Go away. I want to eat. It’s been so long.” You pouted, making your way back to your meal. It was a little annoying that to continue living in your young body that you had to drain the soul from another person, but it was worth it.

“But if we leave then who’s going to do all the heavy lifting?”

“And who will dig the hole in your garden?”

“Or put the body in the hole?”

“Or-”

“Okay! I get it. Fine. But just hush, okay? I like to eat in peace.” You grabbed the man and kissed him hard, feeling his soul merge with yours before it was consumed by the darkness.

“I don’t know why you always have to kiss them to feed” Natasha bit out, moving away from you with Wanda, voicing her unhappiness at you kissing someone else when only she should be kissing you- her and maybe Wanda.

“Well, it wasn’t me who made her feed that way.” Wanda whispered back

“Are you suggesting this is my fault?” Natasha’s voice got low and dangerous, and you felt the forest drop about 10 degrees.

“Well that’s how you feed isn’t it?” Wanda’s eyes glowed and a wind picked up.

You pulled away from your meal, the faint glow of his soul swirling around your mouth and eyes. ��Want to share?” The forest rose back to its original temperature and climate as Natasha kissed you, absorbing small remnants of the soul. Wanda wrapped one arm around your waist while the other snaked up to your neck, her teeth lightly biting and sucking along your shoulders.

“I think you forget dove” Natasha broke the kiss to growl at you

“We’re in charge here. If we wanted to share, then we would share.” Wanda finished off for her.

It dawned on you that perhaps this was about more than just the meal. They were jealous.

“Are you two jealous?” You laughed, not at the situation but at their reactions. Wanda bit you harder and Natasha just glared at you.

“Of course not. Why would we be jealous of some silly insignificant dum-”

“Baby…” You reached up and placed one hand lightly on Wanda’s horn and the other on Natasha’s cheek, effectively stopping Natasha’s rant about how unjealous they are. Wanda moved from where she was standing behind you to stand next to Natasha. “You both know that if I could live off Demon energy then I would, but I can’t.”

Natasha and Wanda shared a look, having a silent conversation in the space of seconds before turning their attention back to you. “That’s not necessarily true love.” Wanda said.

“It will be painful but…well demons aren’t born. They’re made.” Natasha explained.

“And if you wanted to…”

You didn’t even hesitate before giving your answer. “Yes.”

Taglist:

@lucydiibi

[toomanyfandoms02]

Shameless // Fred Weasley

Summary - The gang challenges Fred and the Reader to fluster eachother after each being called shameless.

Word Count - 1.7k

I'm not gonna lie this was hot LMAOO

Fred and I were often compared to eachother. These were usually the words we were called

Outgoing

Spontaneous

Idiots

Humorous

Shameless

Pranksters

Delinquents

These were said by a mixture of people, but most knew us as best friends. I marched the halls with the twins every day, but everyone knew I was a just a little closer to Fred. There was just some connection there. A connection lots of people took out of context.

Sure, we flirted, but I flirt with a lot of people. Theres another word we were called, flirts! Though this had a good majority of my friends convinced that we were in love. It was at the point where people openly talked about it in front of us.

*"Nice ass Weasley!" I shouted as I entered the Great Hall. This drew a few eyes towards me, snickering. Fred turned around and looked to me, gesturing to his bum.*

*"Oh this old thing? Nothing compared to yours." I licked my finger and made a sizzle sound. Everyone was right, we really had no shame.*

And that's what my friends were on about at the moment. A big group of us were sitting in the Gryffindor common room. This included Harry, Hermione, Ron, the twins, Seamus, Dean, Angelina, and Ginny.

"You two flirt all the time without getting all ruffled. How do you do it?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know, it's just how we are I guess." I shrugged to Fred as I answered. He nodded in agreement.

"Matter of fact, I don't think I've ever seen either of you flustered." Dean butted in.

"I say we change that." George said with a simple nod. Fred looked at him with furrowed brows. "I say we challenge them!" It was clear that not one person in the room knew what George was on about, so he continued. "Alright see, I give them 3 days to see who can fluster who first. One of us has to see it though, to know it happened. Can the unflusterables fluster one another you think?" Georges arms were crossed at his chest cockily.

"I think that's a brilliant idea." Hermione agreed.

"That's easy, I'll totally win. I have no shame, no embarrassment." Fred announced with glee.

"We will see about that." I smiled at him with one eyebrow raised.

*Oh its on.*

After barely an hour of thinking about this whole challenge alone in my dorm, I realized that I walked myself right into failure. It wasnt that I though Fred could win, it was that I *knew* I would lose. In the way that I had never really charmed any boy. I didn't have anything up my sleeve. I was really just going to have to wing it.

That being said, Fred was quite the charmer. It was hilarious watching 1st years see him for the first time and swoon over him. Pulling girls in with simple winks and little waves across the room.

But now it was dinner time, so I see this as round one to this weird challenge George has concocted.

I made sure to make my way into the Great Hall nearly unnoticed, walking in with a sea of other students. I immediately spotted Fred and made a beeline towards him. Some of the group spotted me but said nothing, letting me go with my improvised plan.

I stood right behind Fred, reaching my hand into his hair and running my fingers though it. He turned his head slightly to see me.

"Hello love." He smiled at me sweetly. I continued, wrapping my arms around his neck lightly and leaning down so my chin was rested on his shoulder.

"You're hair is so soft." He turned his face to mine, our noses almost bumping.

"Thanks sweet cheeks." He put a small kis on my nose which made me smile, sitting next to him after.

"Nothing? Really? No blushy cheeks, or stuttered speech?" Angelina was flabbergasted clearly, her hands gesturing wildly in the air as she spoke.

"I honestly don't know if it's possible." George shrugged. "I just thought it would be interesting if it was."

"Oh I've got plans don't worry, this sexy ass will be blushing to the moon and back when I'm done with her." Fred looked down to me, smirking. He gave a challenging face.

"I know your deepest darkest secrets Weasley. Don't test me." I raised my eyebrow cockily as the whole group just stared puzzled.

"I wish I could talk to Cho like that." Harry huffed, earning a laugh from most of the group. (Aside from Ginny, who I was quick to tap her hand under the table at the comment. She had told me weeks ago how agonizing she felt.)

Later that night a good portion of the gang was hanging out in the common room again. I had just walked through the entryway and saw Fred sitting on the couch. As soon as we made eye contact he patted his lap. All heads whipped my way. I walked over and sat right on his lap, making myself comfortable. He grabbed my face lightly and put a small kiss on my jaw.

"Where were you love, we missed you." The few first years that had joined whatever conversation was going on looked as if they were going to be sick.

"Just went on a walk handsome." Everyone shook their heads with disappointed looks.

"Nothing, seriously?" Hermione laughed in disbelief. The youngins asked about the situation and it was explained to them. They all giggled about it for a while as we watched. Soon Fred was leaned very close to my ear.

"You should just give up now beautiful, you know you're going to lose." He whispered ever so lightly in my ear. I pushed his face away from mine so his ear was towards me.

"Really cute of you to think so." I whispered back. That was the last we spoke that night seeing as it was 10 pm.

I woke up the next morning hearing giggles from Hermione and Angelina. I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes. They got very quite as they saw me waking up.

"What are you two up to?" They looked down at the books they had in their hands, ignoring me. Just then I heard our shared bathroom open, seeing Fred come out wearing only a towel hanging low on his waist. I looked him up and down with a smile. "Not bad Weasley. Working out lately?"

I would never admit it outloud, but this one almost got me. He's only in a damn towel. I mean come on, everyone found Fred attractive.

Right?

"Yeah. Maybe you can try this whole thing in my dorm later? Maybe surprise me?" He winked and left the room quickly.

"Hey! Get your arse back here, that's my towel!" The girls followed us close behind, peaking out of the door to watch us in the hallway between the rest of the dorms.

"Oh you want it back? Her you go love." He pulled it right off his body and handed it to me. I knew if I closed my eyes, or covered them, they would count it as a loss for me. So I just maintained eye contact with him and yanked it from his hands. "Nervous?" He squinted at me. Man was the boy lucky there was not one else in these halls at 6 am.

"Never." I replied with a smile and turned away, walking back into the dorm. "Nice try ladies!" I dropped the towel in our hamper and they fell back onto Hermiones bed with a loud groan.

Later that day Hermione, Fred, George, me, Dean and Seamus had free time in Care of Magical Creatures.

"He was literally naked in front of her and she didn't even blink." Mione deadpanned.

"Maybe it's because shes seen it before." Fred elbowed my side.

"You wish." I rolled my eyes.

"Maybe I do." He stared daggers into my eyes.

"At this point I feel like even if you guys made out nothing would happen." George shrugged. This gave everyone a collective evil smile.

"Oh are we doing that now?" I asked as nonchalant as possible. Even with my heart racing a mile a second. Fred looked at me with confusion. "Unless you're too pussy." That wiped the confusion off his face.

"Nope." He grabbed my face and pulled it inches from his.

"I'm just going to warn you, I've never kissed, let alone made out with, a boy before. So I apologize in advance." I laugh-whispered to him, pushing my lips onto his. I grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him closer, running my hands through his hair.

His hand traced my jaw with one hand and the other was gripped to my hair.

"Pretty good for never kissing anyone, you sure you arent lying?" He said quietly in between kisses.

"I would never lie to you." He took my open mouth as an opportunity to use his tongue and deepen the kiss. I was ready to give up at this point, this boy was unknowingly ruining me. "Would you ever lie to me?" More questions between kisses.

"Never."

"You like me don't you?" His nose bumped with mine at the question. Starting to kiss up my jaw near my ear.

"Of course love." He laughed lightly, pulling back from the kiss. We turned back to the group which was a mixture of disgust, confusion, and knowing glances.

"Seemed like a lot of whispers for just making out don't you think?" Georges arms were crossed over his chest. We both shrugged.

"Sometimes friends just make out." I admitted, which was a very obvious lie.

"So you would make out with me then?" George challenged. Fred grabbed my waist and pulled me closer to him with a glare to George.

"I think I won in a different way than anticipated." George smirked. "So are you guys going to get together or what?" Everyone nodded.

"Was that what this bullshit was about?" Fred asked loudly.

"Yeah of course. Two dimwits you are, walked right into it." Hermione shook her head. Fred grabbed my hand and squeezed it, making me blush furiously.

"I win!" He pointed to my heated cheeks.

"Shut up ares hole." I elbowed his side lightly.

"It didnt even take 3 days!" George cheered.

*Boy are we going to have some stories when we get older.*

[dayxero]

Alright..... first let's start this off right... before I get super ultraviolet pretentious out this mug....

Now fair warning cuz this will get a little Ranty so TL:DR. Fair warning

Ok with that outta the way, good fucking God, is this the absolute shit! Ugh! Got a little too damn excited reading this and the last few ones. Been waiting and would rather post here on patreon because it seems more trafficked here but.... wow. While melled42 definitely is in my Top 3 favorite artists in this fandom for their art style and character focus. This shit hits me in all the right areas that gets me Ace Ventura levels of excited when reading it. I love how, despite the want of sex, violence and gore, the characters feel real and grounded, a layered just enough so you can understand their growth and struggle while also presenting realistic responses that fit within their characters, given what we know and this, is a nice combination. Cheese aside, I completely adore this because it represents a truth about people that most don't want to accept and saying it might piss people off but I'm gonna;

We Love Selfishly

Each and every single one of us, wants to imagine the idea that our love is boundless, endless, all encompassing and pure. That we love to make other people happy but honestly, that's false or at least, a half truth at best. Most of us who can feel romantic and sexual love, instinctively, despite our natural urges in an attempt to present our love in altruistic manners, deep down inside are seeking some form of validation, comfort, and acceptance from an external force. We see someone, who we only want to see us. Want us. Love us. To have and obtain something and someone that is ours and only ours that will never walk away and will always prioritize us. It is a selfish desire to seek such a form of love from others, to give ourselves meaning, value and purpose and honestly, that's perfectly fine! Its normal. Its probably the reason why so many people love Tsunderes and Yanderes despite the exaggerated extremes portrayed in media. We want someone that will only show us their truest, deepest and most vulnerable sides to their personalty. Gain access to a part of that person no other living person will ever be able to scratch. We want to feel needed, loved and wanted by someone who'd refuse to let us go, even in the face of possible better options, be it looks, personality, or hobbies. For someone to see the significance of who we are, even when we ourselves can't, and this grounded, instinctive trait has probably (in my most biased opinion) has been shown by Mel the best.

The way these two show fear at the concept of expressing their sense of vulnerability to each other, yet the refusal to accept a life where they can't be their absolute and truest selves with one another is fucking peak! For the first time (from my interpretation) Ewen is making a real choice to ve vulnerable, taking something they actually want for themselves, even if they themselves don't fully understand their own desires. They cling to the one person who gave their existence value, who focused solely on them and only them and for a time, could truly understand who and what they were, despite the clear bad blood between them. It shows how loving selfishly can lead to so many negative thoughts of doubt, worthlessness, insecurity (Which is ok for any and all genders to have) which can eat away at someone's mental health. Yet despite this, its the honest statement and open conversation that will ultimately save them from creating that connection with someone they want based on lies or worse, breaking the bond they wanted for so long due to their own preconceived notions on the subject.

These two are like everyone, desires, happiness, insecurities and fears. So many conflicting layers without a true proper understanding of who they are. So many of us are broken in ways we don't want to admit, but still desire to take the shards of our souls, combine them with another's and create a Stained-Glass Mural that will express the beauty of what we are and I fucking love how Ewen and Narinder truly represent this concept both physically through their actions and psychologically through their development. I wish so many other artists here would take from Melled when comes to this. Not just be willing to show a character has fears, but allow their characters to be OPENLY vulnerable with each other. To revel in pain and angst can be fun but is ultimately empty in the face of actual progressive growth and development.

Understand this is only half my thoughts at best and I could keep going but I think I need to lay down cuz I'm a little too damn excited. Remember these are my own personal opinionated thoughts so if anyone disagrees, feel free. But for me; Easily Top 3 artists in Cult of the Lamb hands down.

Narilamb comic "Truth" 3/4 (page 1) (page2)

ROD au masterpost

Bit of a TW on this one at the top

This was a lot of work but I like how it turned out, and its fun doing more horror stuff

next page wip and wips of the rest is up on patr30n

[barnesand]

the scent of old stories [ i ]

Summary: You haven’t found your thing here in Brooklyn, but you hope that you’ve found it within the bookstore that happens to be on your work commute. Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader AU: *chants* bookshop au, bookshop au, bookshop au. Warnings: No warnings for now! Author’s note: I’ve been down, and I just wanted to write something that made me happy. I don’t know if this is technically fluff, but it’s the start of something new and Alpine is in it. Word Count: 2,551 Words (I'm a damn monster) chapter two can be found here: x 

You’ve stumbled upon it during your early morning commute; it was a blur in your periphery the first time, your thoughts steadfast on the sweltering heat of your coffee cup, and it wasn’t until you successfully attuned yourself to your new schedule that you stole a proper glance at it. It was wedged between a coffee shop and insurance agency—two stories at least with gold flourishes and filigree painted at the edges of the window. Through that window you saw the aisles and stacks of books, all old and you gave yourself that short perusal to imagine the alluring scent of old stories. It was during that time that you decided you would take your day off to go inside; you had to.

You haven’t mastered the ability to resist a bookstore, especially one with old books in desperate need of a new bookshelf. Luckily, you had a couple of spots that have yet to be filled. And the Second Hand seemed to be the perfect place to lose a couple of hours scouring the stacks looking for some new companions.

Quick to remember the time that it closed, you tried your best to ignore the glee that settled into the pit of your stomach. How long have you lived in Brooklyn? Not long, and truthfully, you haven’t quite found the thing that made you love it. There were small things that you enjoyed, but you still managed to miss your hometown. You missed your favorite hangouts, the secrets about your home that only you knew. You didn’t have those things in Brooklyn, yet. All you knew was your job, and the streets you took to get there. Perhaps, the Second Hand could be your thing? There would be a seat that you always sat in, and an aisle that you visited so often you memorized all the books that were in it. You could be on a first-name basis with the employees and visit so often that you’d memorize their coffee orders.

Yes, you needed a place to cement your adoration for your new home.

Your day off finally came and dressed in your coziest turtleneck and jeans you followed your familiar work commute until you reached the Second Hand. There was something about the sing-song chime of the bell above a door that made you realize you were going to have a good time. And, just as you suspected, the scent of old stories filled your lungs. You weren’t a big fan of bookstores that looked clean and meticulously organized. You preferred a certain level of chaos—and the Second Hand provided that slight chaos. There were certain aisles thinner than most, due to an overflow of old books that have yet to find a place on the shelves. You could hear the soft mewl of a cat most likely prowling through the stacks above on the second store, and the small piles of books seemed to be on every step of the staircase. You made no effort to hide the elated smile that slid across your features. You clutched tightly to your coffee, making your way towards the staircase.

Indeed, that phantom cat you heard before—snow white and thick around the middle—was lurking on the second story. It leaned against the railing, eyes closed, and you could hear them purring from where you stood at the top. You made a note to ask the shop-keep (wherever they may be), if they had a name and if it was the kind of cat that welcomed a stranger petting them.

Despite being clear signs for each section, you instead made the decision to walk up and down each aisle without a single inclination of what you were looking for. Your fingers lingered over the spines, searching for the ones with the deepest lines. You preferred the ones that made you worry—the ones in which you knew you would have to restore the spines to a certain extent. Because, to you, that meant that it was someone’s favorite. It made you curious, made you wonder what about the story made someone read it over and over and over until the spine was only being held together by sheer faith.

The white cat began to follow you around, weaving between your legs when you stood still. You had to stifle a giggle once or twice when you moved and nearly stumbled over the cat—that was your mistake, you should have known the direction in which the cat was going—when they moved one way and you went the other. By the time you reached the top of the staircase again, prepared to make your descent to the stacks below, you’ve culminated several books.

You meandered halfway down the stairs before looking up, expecting the cat to follow. You tried to hide the pout, not wanting the cat to think you enjoyed your time together or anything.

You reached the bottom step, already scrutinizing over the selection you’ve made so far. Honestly, you should’ve come into the bookstore with at least a budget in mind. Knowing that you didn’t set a hard spending limit was your biggest trouble. Your second was that you hadn’t even looked down the aisles on the first floor, which meant that your stack would get heavier.

You stood on the last step, already looking at the spines—maybe you didn’t need another copy of Anna Karenina. You weren’t much of a Western fanatic, but the premise of it intrigued you and that felt like a good enough reason to keep it. No… no, you’d need a second opinion about it. You looked up to find the front counter mostly abandoned. Somewhere in the stacks you’d probably find an employee (or, if anything else, another customer). Moving towards the counter, you aimed to set your stack of books on the edge of it so that you could retrieve them later.

From the opposite end of the room, you heard a commotion through a cracked door. You stilled, waiting for the person to emerge.

And—fuck. You didn’t expect the person that emerged to look so good. Truthfully, you didn’t quite know which part of him you enjoyed looking at the most. Was it how he nearly filled the doorway with this wide shoulders? Was it how crystalline, even from where you stood, his blue eyes were? No—no, it had to be the stubbled that dusted his sharp jaw, and that dark coif of hair that made your fingertips tingle at the very idea of running through fingers through it? It could be the way his teeth caught his bottom lip for just a second, his brows furrowing apologetically at the sound from earlier, before his mouth curled into a smile.

All the above. That was your answer—all of it.

“Hi,” he said.

“Anna Karenina,” you blurted. You didn’t want to think about the shade of red you suddenly turned, or how dry your throat suddenly became. You sputtered; words unintelligible before you slammed your hand on your stack of books. “I, uh—hi!”

“Hi,” he echoed, only that time it was followed by a short laugh.

He moved toward the counter, and you quickly made note of how tight his shirt was around his shoulders—you also noticed the name of the store embroidered on the pocket of it—and you cleared your throat. He settled behind the counter, that smile of his still fastened onto his face. He was so… pretty, it almost started to hurt. He sat on a stool, placing his elbows onto the countertop and leaning in.

You cleared your throat again, remembering why you placed your books on the counter in the first place. “I’m trying to decide if I need another copy of Anna Karenina. You know I, uh, made the poor choice of going shopping while hungry.”

You sighed. You swore you weren’t always a dork—in fact, you’d like to think of yourself as the female Casanova if you put your mind to it. But there was something about the tilt of his head when he looked at you, the way his smile shifted into a smirk. He reached for the books you’d chosen, and you marveled at the size of his hands with a big gulp. He could see it—you just knew he could see how flustered you were.

“I think my first question to ask is how many times have you read your current copy? I mean, if you’ve only read it once, then what are the odds of you reading this one?” He went through the stack one-by-one, eyeing the spine before nodding to himself. You wish you knew what he was thinking. “I’m also inclined to say, you know, all of them.”

“That’s not a good sign for my back account.”

He looked at you, then, and you felt a pang—not in your heart, but in your gut. The kind of pang that caused chill to climb your spine and told that, oh, you want this man to do awful things to you. Which wasn’t something you felt often. He pressed a hand on top of your stack of books once he was finished and you tried not to think about the size of it. His blue eyes stared you down, and you watched as that smirk of his turned impish almost.

“I think I have a discount code here somewhere,” he mused, reaching into a drawer with his other arm.

You noticed it then, sleek black metal with gold embellishments. The sophistication of the design enamored you, and you couldn’t quite peel your eyes away from the way it moved—which was no different than how you couldn’t peel your eyes away from every single part of him. You swallowed, blinking away the haze before returning your attention back to the conversation.

“I would be eternally grateful,” you answered him.

“I haven’t seen you in here before,” he started to make casual conversation while he filtered through some papers. He paused to look at you, and his blue eyes looked just a little brighter when he did. “I’m Bucky.”

“Reader,” you greeted him. “And, yeah, I haven’t been in here until today. I’m new to town, so—”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Where ya from?”

You told Bucky where you’d come from, how you moved to Brooklyn for work shortly after grad school. For a moment, you started to wonder if he was taking his time looking for that discount, but each time he asked you more about your time in Brooklyn so far, and precisely what your job entailed, you didn’t mind him procrastinating.

“I mean,” you continued. “I’ve done the tourist-y stuff. The bridge. Coney Island. I just haven’t found the little local things that make it feel like home to me. It’s why I dropped in.”

You felt like you should keep that bit to yourself—like you were giving him way too much. For all you knew, he could have been making small talk for the sake of getting a sale. He probably didn’t want to know about your anxieties about living in a new city. But when Bucky looked at you, and listened, you thought you could spill everything. And it made that warm, fuzzy feeling in your stomach grow hotter. He finally found what he was looking for, and your smile sank for a moment. The conversation would be over—you could, of course, return. But that meant making another dent in your bank account, and you couldn’t risk hemorrhaging funs all for the sake of looking at his crystalline blue eyes.

“This’ll take about twenty percent off your purchase today, but,” he lifted himself from the stool, leaning in. He tilted his head, in a sort of look at me way and you did precisely that. “I will give you Anna Karenina.”

“Ooh,” you enjoyed the sound of that. “But your boss—”

“I am the boss. And I’m giving this to you on one condition.” He drew in a deep breath, releasing it with a smirk. “Next time you come in; I’d like to give you an incredibly detailed list of things to do. I mean—every hole in the wall joint I can think of. And you gotta do ‘em.”

You narrowed your eyes. “Every single one?”

“Every single one.”

“I don’t think I have that kind of time—”

“Well, I guess you’ll just have to find time. Because it’ll be a long damn list, Reader.”

He winked at you, and you nearly melted. As he started to ring up your purchase, slipping that new copy of Tolstoy into your bag, you’d reached the deepest shade of red. Again, sometimes you could be a Casanova. You could be flirty back—but you really couldn’t find it in you. All you could muster was the personality of a smitten girl and that was what Bucky would be receiving until you found your other self. He was inviting you to come back—he was practically bribing you to come back. Yes, it was because he was a local and wanted to provide you with the hidden secrets of Brooklyn, but he wanted you to come back so he could say it.

You blinked. “How would you know I did each one on your list? Bucky, I could tell you I did everything. Are you gonna quiz me? Should I take notes?” You raised your eyebrows, leaning against the counter.

You felt the white cat again, their purr vibrating softly against your jean-covered calf. You looked down with a small smile, knowing that the cat couldn’t resist you. When you looked up you found Bucky peering over the counter down at the cat.

“That’s Alpine,” he told you, and you were glad in that moment because you were so close to giving Alpine another name. “And—I guess… I guess I’d have to be there to make sure. For certain ones specifically—I’ll arrange it from solo to co-op missions just in case.”

“I-I, yeah.” You sputtered along, grinning from ear-to-ear almost. “You might.”

You don’t remember much about the transaction—but you quickly shoved your card and the receipt into your purse before you were tempted to look at the price. When Bucky handed the bag of books to you, his pointer finger brushed against your knuckles and your knees nearly buckled. You sighed.

“Thank you, Bucky,” you said, nervously. “For the discount. And for the free book.”

He flashed another smile. “You’re welcome, Reader. Don’t forget the deal.”

“I will not.” Because you were sure he just asked you out—you were certain that he had. You wished he were asking you out. You’d understand if he meant in an utterly innocent way; he wanted you to enjoy Brooklyn the way he did, and you were okay with that. But, God, you wanted it to be because he wanted to ask you out.

The chime of the bell announced your exit, and you took your time strolling past the window. You were so glad that the Second Hand had been in your periphery that day. You were gleeful at the fact that, somehow, you’d found a place to love in Brooklyn.

Bucky and the Second Hand—and Alpine—had become your thing.

[meenah-chan]

Safe haven

a Diavolo x GN! MC fanfic

2.36k words

Genre: Angst

Trigger warning: Insane deadly stunt but not suicide, please don't read if you have this triggers. And please don't try this at home... or anywhere

Part 2 (Safe Haven ~Another Story~) | Part 3 (Safe Haven ~Epilogue~)

Masterlist

It is their sanctuary. A place that has everything they could wish for...

if only, fate isn't fickle...

"If I jump, will you save me again?"

"What a wretched soul I have..."

It’s been an hour since they were staring far in the horizon. Dusk is on its way, with the lake gulping the sun whole to bring forth darkness in the grassy land they’re on. That place is secluded, surrounded with trees serving as its walls. As if it were cradling them away from everything.

It's not their first-time watching day turn to night on where they are. They’ve known that spot enough to vividly paint the place on a whim.

It was neither a simple place as it seems. That place is a part of the human realm, untouched by anyone but two persons— them and Diavolo. A place which witnessed how the said Prince dropped on his knees and confessed he likes them. The place they admit they felt the same.

The place where they held hands in their secret rendezvous; times where the Future king would go to whenever he ran away from his endless responsibilities for a day and spend it with them, with words of affections and adorations for each other. It is their safe haven.

The Forget-me-not flowers they planted are blooming around them. As the two sat beneath the shade of the tree, appreciating the presence of the flowers and each other.

Diavolo has a habit of caressing their cheeks, brushing strands of their locks past their ears, as he embraces them as if they were the most precious treasure, he has ever held. Those smiles he would beam; brighter than the sol they always see. "You're the most beautiful being I have ever seen." And they would smile back, with their feelings overflowing so much they would always pour it back to him with a kiss.

But being always in that place doesn't mean they never left it. There are times they would give him a heart attack by literally jumping off the edge of the cliff. The demon prince then would follow them in a snap, before transforming right before their eyes and seizing them.

They knew it was a foolish thing to do. No sane person would ever carry out such dumb, dangerous stunt. They do have a magic or two under their sleeves should Diavolo fail the task. Spells they would feverishly study and tirelessly practice for the sake of the success of the Exchange Student program; for the sake of making Diavolo proud of them. So, they studied hard, yet fools only around their beloved.

So, they kept on flying off to the danger at every given chance. For the feeling during the times they would fall, they had the best view they could ever see in their lifetime. How the demon they ever loved could be so... breathtaking. Turning into his demon form—metamorphosing like a dazzling butterfly, his red locks fluttering in the wind, with such golden ornaments, such golden eyes reflecting the radiance of the sun. And most of all, such playful, thrilled smiles they would willingly lay their life just to see. He seems like the mesmerizing golden red dusk. He may be a demon, but Diavolo is much more divine than the angels in their eyes.

And to think that such an ambrosial prince would hold them in his firm arms, and bury them in his well-toned chest before gliding up in the air. They really love the feeling. Akin to the flowers they cultivate symbolizes, he is their true love.

"Should we land back on the top of the land?"

"Just a little bit longer." Humming, they would place a peck onto the tip of his horn or temple whenever they would request something so badly, which then would receive a chuckle from the Demon. "Hahaha, what a pampered human... Alright, just a little bit longer." And who knows how long they stay in the air. Then they would share small talks back on the cliff, and soon be bombarded with tons of messages and missed calls from the butler and the right-hand man. They would head back home after that, before the said aides decide to search for them and find their secret haven.

It was all they could ever wish for. An everlasting love to carry inside their mortal heart.

They have everything they could ask for, until that day comes. A moonless, rainy night during the celebration of Diavolo's birth.

"I'm glad to finally meet you, the Future King of Devildom." …the day she came. Rosa, a rather respected princess, and the daughter of Queen Rose.

"...N-No, the pleasure is mine." Whether he was flustered by her sudden appearance or not, something was rather amiss. His gaze towards her was different than anything they've ever seen him make. So different yet... familiar. Like the way his eyes sparked of reverie the day they first met, except it was more profound.

Diavolo sighed, "I'm telling you, you don't have to worry. You know you're the one I love." It was nothing, he said. It was only in their imagination, he said. Even so, the connection between the two they perceived every time the two met on business, felt so real.

They were so anxious, so angry they wanted to explode. They want to blame it all on that demon princess who appeared out of nowhere, and brought everything to a big mess! They wanted to lash at her, right from the deepest pit of their stomach!

...Yet, they didn't.

They simply can't. Not when she was like an angel who descended in the land of darkness.

So pure yet so wise, so diligent and well-versed. She is strong-willed and rather capable in every aspect. She doesn't deserve to be blamed for something she didn't mean to do. It was merely a work of two hearts naturally falling for each other. It was inevitable.

Instead of brooding without doing anything, they will fight. They will fight for what's theirs. For what's right. For the specks of affection left inside Diavolo. For their love, they won't give up.

Or so they thought...

"Y/N, would you mind having tea with me later?" Barbatos asked for their attendance.

But unlike the usual afternoon tea they always share with the butler, "Where's Diavolo?" ... the prince is not around.

"The Young master has prior engagement and brought Lucifer in my stead. My apologies if it was not to your liking."

"Ahh, no. I didn't mean it like that. It's just that... having snacks with only you are unusual." It's not unusual. Rather, it never occurred even once. Diavolo tends to postpone the teatime for another time whenever he can't go, as Barbatos always join his absence.

"Actually, I asked you today about an important matter to discuss."

"...Is it related to Diavolo and me, isn't it?" They shouldn't have asked him. They hated themself for asking Diavolo's attendant.

"Yes. To be precise, it is about your relationship and the lady you met during Young master's birthday. I believe you have the right to know this." They held their breath. "I hate to break it to you but the lady you met back then, is the Young Master's... fiancée and his soulmate." The words that came off Barbatos' lips felt like cold water dumped on them.

They just want to end the conversation right there and leave the garden as fast as they can, but they forcefully pull themself together and learn the whole truth, as painful as it is for them. "...Fiancee, you said? And what do you mean by soulmate?"

"For every heir of the throne, there is a prophecy foretelling the righteous betrothed one fated for them. This Oracle has never once failed in predicting who..." Barbatos paused, evaluating whether they could take any more. "...would help the Ruler in bringing prosperity in the Devildom."

After a minute of silence, they spoke. "Does Diavolo know all about this? About her?"

"Yes... but I swear in my name, he has always wanted to be free of the prophecy and achieve prosperity through his own power."

"Where is he headed to at the moment?"

"..." Barbatos' silence tells them everything. He is with her. That's all that they needed to know.

"I... see... Thank you for telling me this."

"I— no, I don't deserve such words from you." They shook their head, "You still disclosed this even when Diavolo wanted to keep it a secret from me. I'm sorry I brought trouble to you."

"It was my own choice. I'm just doing what I think is right."

"Thank you, really..."

They left the castle, thinking a lot of things but also finally enlightened.

They never had Diavolo's heart from the start.

He is the future of the Devildom, the future of all the demons who could easily outlive them. And for that he needs an Empress who can fully support him and bear another long-lived heir. His soulmate, his forever, his other half. Everything that they could never be.

Their life is short. His' is not. He could never fathom the extent of his life like they could. That is also the reason why they could love him until the day they cease to exist, a mere blink to him.

As obvious as the glaring sun that blinds them atop that cliff, his love... is gone.

They could see it in his eyes. Every day he spends with them, his mind is somewhere else.

Even in their favorite place, his embraces were still as cold as the mountain's peak. His smile is too forced, like a one man playing before their eyes. His kisses were prickling and painful. And his gaze... He is suffering.

Like they were.

"Forgive me." It was for the Devildom, he said. His head hangs low, wearing that distressed expression.

"Hey, lift your head? The future king shouldn't bow to anyone." They smiled, cupping his cheeks to raise his face.

"Look, I understand." It was a surprise they didn't shed a drop of tear, as they pat his head gently. "Follow your heart. You'll become a great king."

He made a wise decision, to choose his bond that suddenly came that day. Someone who really owns Diavolo's heart per destiny's decree. The heart they thought he offered back then, with the trees, and the cool breeze, and the swaying leaves, and the sunset as their witnesses. The heart they thought were already theirs. The heart that slipped from their fingers as he let go of their hand when Diavolo locked eyes with his fated one.

Diavolo's love is fleeting. Or maybe it was never love from the start, but a mere curiosity on his end. A misconception, but it doesn't matter anymore. They already knew the answer.

He already achieved his true love, holding his Empress in white. He wears that smile, much, much brighter than anything they have ever seen.

The bells sing with the crowd in jubilation. It is a merry occasion, with the official new rulers of the Devildom. All were so elated.

Except for one. "What a wretched soul I have..." they uttered under their breath. They couldn't take the sight. With the man they so love to be happy in someone's arms. Rage was boiling inside them. Staying there for a second longer and they would definitely ravage everything. So, they fled the scene, escaping to their secret place surrounded by the lake and the sea of trees.

They wanted to let it all out. Pain, sorrow, rage, envy. They were overflowing with emotion more than they could take. It should be them, placing a ring on his finger! the one smiling and crying of happiness as he makes a vow! The one who should be kissing him in front of thousands of witnesses!

"WHY?! What did I do to deserve this?!" The swaying blue and white Forget-me-nots they took with utmost care came to view. "What useless plants!!" They cried out, yanking and tearing everything off the soil. "True love?! It was only me from the very start!!"

All they could do was cry. Scream until their throat goes dry, until their voice disappears.

When all energy left their body, they slumped in the grassy land they’re on. In that secluded place, surrounded with trees serving as its walls. As if it were cradling them away from everything. Hiding their wretched self from everyone.

Dazed, they stared at the sky for an hour. As its hue turns from light blue to red, their mind gets clearer. That's when they heard a familiar sound. They followed it on the tip of the cliff.

It was the roaring waves beneath the land mass. It seems like it's continuing the cries they couldn't do anymore. Roaring like it was spilling the emotions inside them.

"If I jump, will you save me again?" They spoke to the man who is no longer in that secret place. It will never be a safe haven for them anymore.

"I want to be saved by you one more time." I want to be embraced by you one last time.

They faced their back to the rim of the cliff, and took a step backward. A foot standing on a void. And so, their body tipped, losing the other foot from the ground. As their balance disappears, they see nothing but the golden rays of the sunset and the redness of the dusk. So red like Diavolo's locks, golden like his eyes. There's nothing but only traces of him; of the man who doesn't really love them as he promised.

This is foolish... They thought. They're all alone. No Diavolo will fly down and save them anymore.

"I should go home..." Dying here would only hurt him... They whispered as the firm breeze swirls beneath, ready to catch them. After all, no one will save me but I... thinking of that, another pang spiked their heart.

But the wind spell they casted couldn't catch them. When they should have been falling, a hand appeared and pulled them in an embrace.

"Please don't do this..." it was not the warmth they were expecting. Yet, streams began flowing down their cheeks, in comfort of another’s arms. With their hoarse voice they sob the sorrow of losing their safe haven.

Part 2 (Safe Haven ~Another Story~) | Part 3 (Safe Haven ~Epilogue~)

Masterlist

[yanderenctstan]

Lucky

So, the reader in this fanfic is bipolar. I'm bipolar myself and personally this is how I experience my symptoms. Everyone likely experiences them differently. I just figured I'd clear that up in case someone came for my ass cheeks in the comments. I wanted to make this longer and enforce more emotion into it, but I didn't quite know how to describe it. Also, kind of unrealistic but I tried. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this angsty mess I wrote on no sleep :D

Word Count: 1617

Warnings: bipolar GN reader, idol Namjoon, angst, fluff (?), I think that's it really

Rage. Pure, unbridled hate and rage filled your veins and flowed within the deepest inner workings of your body. Eyes glued to the phone screen as you read through yet another article between your boyfriend and this female idol he was working with. You knew it wasn't real. You knew all of it was for media. You knew Namjoon didn't mean anything he said to her or about her and yet there was still this feeling. This nearly inexplicable abhorrence for the beautiful woman on screen. And you had to admit, she was beautiful. It was hard to ignore the perfection in the detail in her face. High nose, thick lips, large, innocent doe eyes, all curtained by the shine of straight black locks. A smile worth millions and a slim body curated by the gods themselves.

You took notice of every little incident between them. One could call you obsessive or jealous all they wanted but that simply wasn't true. Or maybe it was. You thought you'd known better. You had been desperate and pleading with yourself to wait for an explanation. Due to his job as an idol Namjoon didn't have a lot of time to simply sit and talk with you, especially on matters such as this. Matters that otherwise would have no concern with you. You'd seen him with many other female idols and actresses before, they were all the spitting image of picturesque beauty, and yet this. This. Specific. Woman.

The nerve, the gall, the fucking audacity she had to position herself anywhere near Namjoon's standards. God you hated this feeling but you couldn't stop it. A mixture of guilt flooded your sense and your eyes stung with the threat of tears but the hostility kept them at bay. You shut the phone off, setting it to the side for now in an attempt to calm down. Your chest felt heavy with the weight of holding your breath, lungs crying out for you just breathe. But you couldn't. This had gone on for too fucking long. It had been brought up before, though the conversation was fleeting. You'd asked about her during one of his practices and he tried his best to summarize it for you but he didn't have time. It wasn't enough.

Your fingers scraped against your scalp, tangling themselves in your own hair trying to get a grip on yourself. This was stupid. God, this was so fucking stupid. She wasn't doing any harm to him, she was just doing her job and he was just doing his. It made sense why they were seen with each other all the time, and media didn't help. Fans who supported the relationship of course and didn't know about you would push the companies to milk off of that need. To satiate the fans ache for their affections. Namjoon isn't a product to be milked though. He is a person. A human being. He was your boyfriend and whoever this other bitch was needed to back off.

These sudden cocktails of anger, despair, guilt, confusion, all of it mixed into one and you could physically feel the break coming on. Your sanity slowly slipping over little to nothing. You took a shaky breath, kneeling down onto the ground to grasp at reality.

The keys. Jingling hastily in the lock of the door, him at the other side just ready to be home and relax. Your body went into overdrive, standing yourself up and making way for the door as Namjoon opened it.

"Who is she?" you started before you could stop yourself. Namjoon gave you a confused look in response, brows knitted and plump lips turned down in a frown.

"Namjoon who is she?"

"Who's who?"

"Who is she."

"Baby I can't-"

"Who is she!" your voice raised, fists shaking and blood boiling over to the point of you face getting hot, "Who is she, please tell me, who is she. Who is she." you stormed over to him, closer. His eyes widened, taken aback by the outburst seconds after stepping foot through the door.

"Y/n, who are you talking about?" he questioned. He knew exactly who you were talking about, he had to of. But you spared him another blow.

"That fucking girl you're always with! That girl with the black hair I see her with you every where on every other article on every site, Namjoon who is she!" the tears bit at the corners of your eyes again but you wouldn't let them fall. Your breathing sporadic and your heart skipping beats as you shook with fury. Namjoon's face relaxed. He knew.

"Okay, okay, just give me a second-"

"It's been months! You haven't told me anything and she keeps pushing it," you over exaggerated but were too angry to care, "she keeps liking your posts, posting shit on her instagram, feeding into this bullshit and I can't take it anymore!" the anxiety attack was setting in.

A trigger response.

Normally when you'd have one during an argument you'd walk away, not wanting to make Namjoon feel guilty for expressing his feelings to you, for doing anything. You never wanted him to think you were being manipulative or mean just to be mean so you'd leave. He always understood. He knew about your past relationships and the abandonment issues they'd caused. He knew you were only afraid of losing him because he was so hard to find. Someone who actually took the time to care for you and make sure everything was still good despite having an overly packed schedule as it was. You usually hid because you didn't want to add stress to him. You couldn't hold this though, too upset to really recognize it let alone stop it.

"Hey, I know, I'm trying to dismiss it the best I can love. You know I can only do so much." he started. You knew he was right. It wasn't like he could just tell the company to fuck off. He had to do nearly everything they asked of him. This logic didn't stop fueling the fire in your chest however, though it didn't rage it either. It remained stagnant in it's wrath. Namjoon shut the door behind him, kicking his shoes off before standing tall in front of you, palms up and out. His eyes never left yours.

"We're okay, I'm right here. With you. Not her. We're okay." he walked towards you, cautiously, not wanting to further your anger at him. It wasn't okay. Nothing about this felt okay to you. How in the name of God was any of this okay to him? Your fingers laced into one another, gripping your hands until your knuckles glowed white. Namjoon took your face in his hands and you let him, the warmth from his palms relieving the throbbing in your head from yelling. The gesture alone broke through. Something in you felt brittle and shattered at the tip of his calloused fingertips. This wasn't real. This never happened like this. This only happened in movies and in books and yet you could physically feel the anger slip out of your hands like soap.

"I'm sorry..." you apologized, the words slipping from your tongue softly. It was the first thing you thought in that second.

"You're oka-"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-" and you were crying, the sudden flip in your emotions making you nauseous. Your nails dug crescents into the backs of your hands but the pain didn't faze you. Letting your doubts and insecurities get this bad and bringing out on him as if it was his fault. It wasn't anyone's fault but your own. LIke he said, there was only so much he could do. Namjoon shook his head.

"No no no no, baby no. We're okay." his thumbs swiped at the tears dripping down your cheeks. They kept just kept coming. Your mind flooded with thoughts. Everything that happened within the last few minutes, days, weeks, and even months. You were overreacting and you knew it. You couldn't help it though, unsure of how to stop it.

"Breathe with me love." Namjoon inhaled as deeply as he could, trying to get you to follow. You did the best you could muster with the sniffling and crying blocking your lungs from gaining proper air. Eventually your hands gripped onto his wrists. He didn't remove them from your face, holding you there and looking at you.

"We're okay." he repeated once more, finishing the breathing exercise with you. Your own thumbs rubbed circles onto the backs of his hands, a gesture of delicate affection you hoped would make him see you weren't being hostile anymore. You wouldn't say you were okay, far from it. Emotions racing through your head to the point of being unable to process them. Mostly guilt at what you'd just done. The ache in your head was agonizing at this point, from crying most likely now.

"We're gonna talk about this okay, right now. I'm going to explain everything going on, just like I said I would, alright?" he said the same thing earlier, now that he had you calmed down enough he would actually be able to speak without you interrupting him every two seconds.

You felt a pang of hope and infatuation at the man in front of you. How he handled the whole situation down to where he had you now. He didn't get upset, didn't raise his voice, didn't lash out at you or yell back. Instead he knew. He must of known what was going on. Otherwise there would be no way he'd react the way he did.

You were lucky.

So so lucky.

[polarishymn-blog]

I'm bored so here is another theory. Be warned HERE BE SPOILERS!

Tacking on to the Elgar'nan theory here:

I discussed how I think the Evanuris were originally spirits. Well folks I have a personal head canon for my Inquisitor. Let me make this clear MY LAVELLAN INQUISITOR. NOT SAYING ANYONE HAS TO AGREE. I JUST USE THIS WHEN I PLAY THROUGH.

Ok? Ok.

Get your tinfoil hats on. This one is a doozy.

Lavellan is the spirit of sacrifice.

I hear people now like "that's ridiculous." Give me a chance to explain before you scroll on.

The Inquisitor is in the fade after being part of an explosion that kills EVERYONE ELSE. Even Corypheus takes a big ol L on this one.

Everyone is dead. What happens to Divine Justinia? A spirit that identifies with her so much it takes on her persona and memories. As does Compassion who becomes Cole. So we have a precedence for this.

Cole shows us that a spirit can take physical form. Justinia shows us that a spirit can fully believe they are that person. And the ancient elves just...these guys...looking at you Solas.

Var lath vir suledin!

I digress. So a spirit can not only retain the thoughts and memories of a person but take physical form.

"Then how come she doesn't know she is a spirit?" You ask?

Simple the spirit doesn't want to remember. It was a traumatic event. The person they identified with, quite possibly has been watching for some time, died a horrible death trying to save Justinia from that red lyrium blight infused ballsack. They basically ran into a situation any of us would have noped out of. All to try and save (for Lavellan) a woman that made no nevermind to them.

Instead our intrepid little elf is like "nah I should definitely fuck with that big scary guy and grab this clearly magical item."

In the immortal words of Sandal "BOOM!"

Everything goes to shit. Our lady elf wakes in the Fade with no memory how she got there. She recovers her memory later but not all of it. After the explosion there isn't shit until she wakes up.

Sus.

So she wakes up and spends the rest of her time throwing herself into one hellscape after another. Putting herself in constant danger and giving up whatever life they had before to save the world. Spoiler: and her fucking arm. Thank Solas. You lying manipulative beautiful bastard you.

Var lath vir suledin!

Speaking of that wolfish sex pistol...he has some...odd dialouge.

Solas: spirit wish to join then living. Demons are that wish gone wrong.

Interesting. He doesn't say they can't. Cole is proof they can. So lets look at some Cole and Solas exchanges:

Solas: The rifts draw spirits through, and the shock makes demons of them.

Cole: Pushing through makes you be yourself. You can hold onto the you.

Cole: Being pulled through means you don't have enough you. You become what batters you, bruises your being.

Solas: Yes, exactly. Deliberately crossing the Veil requires that a spirit form will, personality.

Solas: That concept of self gives a spirit the chance to maintain its nature.

So according to Cole a spirit that comes through willingly doesn't necessarily become a demon. Solas follows up with a spirit needs the will to do so and to form a personality. If the spirit has a blueprint...say...a person they identify with...they could assume that person's personality and indomitable will and focus.

His voice....sigh.

Let's move on to:

Solas: You may well become fully human, after all. I never thought to see it.

Cole: When did you see it before?

Solas: I did not say that I had.

Cole: No, you didn't. It's harder to hear, sometimes. Sorry.

Solas: Good luck, Cole. You have taken a difficult road.

Ya'll Cole can see/sense that Solas has seen this before. And he also knows who and what Solas is. Our murder bebe all but outs him several times. After Tresspasser you see the breadcrumbs clearly. This exchange could on the surface just be about them but as Solas is also a spirit taken form I find it interesting he doesn't say "You where once like me Solas." If he doesn't out him here he may not out the Inquisitor.

Next! Ah...the balcony scene. WHY MUST YOU BE SO DAMN CHARMING!

Solas: Has it affected you? Changed you in any way? Your mind, your morals, your... spirit?"

Lavellan: If it had do you really think I'd have notice?

Solas: No. That's an excellent point.

Lavellan: Why do you ask?

Solas: You show a wisdom I have not seen since... since my deepest journies into the ancient memories of the Fade.

Solas: If the Dailsh could raise someone with a spirit like yours. Have I misjudged them?

Ok...why is he emphasizing her spirit. Not soul. Not you. SPIRIT! He asks if the mark has affected her. But it could be his way of prying information without "hey bitch are you aware you are a spirit. I know crazy, right?" Js he does this "I like your spirit" talk more than once.

I enter into evidence a snippet from the heart shattering breakup conversation:

Solas: You have a rare and marvelous spirit.

I'm not crying. You're crying. DRINK MY TEARS PATRICK WEEKES YOU BEAUTIFUL BEING!

A rare and marvelous spirit huh...Cole what was it he said to you?

Cole: I didn't know there were spirits of wisdom.

Solas: There are few. Spirits form as a reflection of this world and its passions.

Solas: We will never lack for spirits of rage, or hunger, or desire. The world gives them plenty to mirror.

Solas: The gentler spirits are far more rare. We can ill afford the loss of even one spirit of wisdom, or faith...

Solas: Or compassion.

Or sacrifice! If compassion and wisdom are rare. How rare would sacrifice be?

Solas says the Inquisitor changed everything for him. He is someone who is ready to do whatever it takes to restore his people. Surly he would value sacrifice. If he came across a rare and marvelous spirit of sacrifice would he not at least be intrigued? Or inspired?

Let's face it he is an artist. His lady would definitely be his muse. Especially after she accidentally gives him permission to destroy the world.

...Dammit Lavellan.

Finally, why didn't our precious lying egg not mention this? When the Inquisitor is having the very terse elven conversation and the city elves are brought up this is the dialogue:

Solas: Why? What would it benefit some poor man in a Ferelden alieanage to learn his ancestors strode the land like gods? It would only make him bitter. Or inspire him to take a foolish risk and get himself killed.

Lavellan: You have decided his reaction for him.

Solas: Perhaps I have.

Clearly wolf boy has no problem keeping information from someone he thinks will only serve to harm them. If the Inquisitor knew they were a spirit perhaps Solas would think their reaction would be troublesome. Or even dangerous.

There is more but this is already ridiculously long. All this is to say my Lavellan was a real elf. She was killed during the explosion and a spirit of sacrifice identified with her so much she became her. The elf Solas falls in love with is (in my rp) like him. A rare spirit that became flesh and blood. She chose to be real like Cole can. Her lack of memory of the moment it happened is both self serving and part of the effects of becoming real. I know it is most likely all bs but it makes for an interesting thought.

Solas is the force that will end Thedas. Lavellan may be the sacrifice needed to stop it.

I hope you enjoyed this rant nobody asked for.

Oh and:

SOLAS! VAR LATH VIR SULEDIN!

[bluezey]

How Pixar and Soul handled the Great Beyond and the Great Before

There's a bunch of things I may start giving my two cents about in regards to Soul, and I thought I'd start with how they handled the Great Beyond and the Great Before.

Let's start with the Great Before first.

First, I love the look of these ethereal characters, they're so abstract, yet ironically simple, and the animation of them is all around impressive. The deepest thing is how these characters move to show they may exist in between the physical and spiritual world, which is so paper thin therefore they are paper thin. But they also simplify them that they all call themselves Jerry, with exception of Terry, which I think was to both single her out as an important character to the plot, and as part of the character in general, as I think Terry named herself that to be different, and the Jerrys just went with it. I also like how these characters are so ethereal but generic that they can easily slip into anyone's spiritual or religious constructs. Like I can see them being the thin holding patterns between worlds like the movie suggests, but I can also see them as being what angels would look like without going for the usual angel aesthetic.

I also like the world itself. While simpler than Headquarters in Inside Out, it looks amazingly pleasing to visit. And the simplification works as life starts out simple. The complicated parts are the personalities themselves and finding that spark, but they simplify how assigning them works as simple as the Jerrys running the Great Before like a business. Like the emotions in Inside Out, this is their day to day job, and they even have conversations about it like coworkers. They even have instructional videos and mention rebranding like a business, but I also think the rebranding was a cheeky way to tell the audience that the Great Before, and pretty much Soul itself, is Pixar's visual interpretation of how this all works.

As for the souls themselves, I do like the design. They're simple, ethereal, look like they're made of energy, but also look soft. I also like the colors, they seem to have all the colors of the spectrum, but mainly the color teal, which I don't know why but I can see that being a soul color. I also like how the preborn souls are so simplified that they're generic, and so innocent they're basically babies, mainly cause when they're born they are babies. The only preborn soul that doesn't act like a baby is 22, but not only is it so she'll stand out as an important character, but it also kinda makes sense that's she's around so long that she's matured before she's even born. Makes me wonder how mature she would have been as a baby, or if she's going to be simplified again until her simplified body matures.

I'm also going to give an honorable mention to the lost souls. Both frightening and threatening, I do also like how it simplifies the complicated construct of falling into a rut and falling into a depression. In fact, how they show depression in a lost soul is not only really dark, but really accurate. I can see why some reviews of this film warned people who suffer from depression about that scene. And unlike most PG kid films today, I think Soul earned it's PG rating for how dark and intense they played that scene, it really reminds you of the dark moments in 80s kids films, ironically the ones that got to keep their G rating.

The only part I can't explain is why the zone is inside a literal box that even titled "just a box."

Now to the Great Beyond. This is going to be a little shorter cause the Great Beyond wasn't that looked into in the movie, but that's the point. We see the ascension into Great Beyond, and it's a great depiction of how it would look. I also love how it's awe inspiring and breathtaking, while also undefined, not generic, just undefined. But that's why that works, for the same reason why we don't see the other side of the Great Beyond. It's so each and every audience member can easily grasp onto the concept, while also painting it into something that's personal to them. Like, for example, I see this giant void of white light and not only see it as the white light we see when we die, but I can easily see heaven being on the other side. But easily others can see their depiction of heaven, maybe another department where Jerrys are reincarnating some or all the souls, or just the souls ceasing to exist when they hit the white light.

Honorable mention to this moment. First off, cats go to heaven. Second, great exclamation point to top off such a chaotic scene in the film. Third, it's just like Pixar to kill off a character. Okay, the cats still alive later, but that's clearly it's soul ascending, so I'm counting it. Pixar killed a cat, I think.

[apollos-son]

✎ ❝You And I, It'll Always Be Us,❞

Rating ; 15+

Pairing ; Poly Ateez

Genre ; fantasy, adventure, fluff

Tags ; fluffy, lots of adventure, magic, illusions, some mysterious men in black fedoras gee I wonder who they could be...

Trigger Warnings ; blood, violence, lots of swearing, name calling, abuse, bullying.

Summery ; In the heart of Seoul, eight supernatural men live semi-peacefully as they run through their day-to-day lives. They aren't fond of one another really, but that all changes as their red strings of fate are tied together by a mysterious force lurking in the shadows. This new connection sends them on a rollercoaster ride where they learn to love one another and fight for what's right.

I know this is unlikely but I do ask that you do not copy my work under any circumstances. Do not repost, translate or use my work without permission. Thanks :)

Smol tag list: @atiny-piratequeen , @leelovesatz , @catboy-dia , @btsheadquarters7

<- last intro • next intro ->

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Sector One

"I Feel Familiarity When Our Hands Touch."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

k.ys . . .

Yeosang knew he looked good. Out of all of his attributes, he knew that his looks were the thing that caught everyone's eye. And he meant everyone's eye. People stared at him like he was a slab of meat and it always made him feel uncomfortable. It changed his once bold and proud personality into one that was timid, reserved and untrusting. After the way some people had spoken down to him, trust wasn't easy for him to find in another. Most people didn't even think of his personality traits and instead, only focused on his body.

It hurt him. A lot. He could even say that their disinterest in the rest of his person broke him.

There was a certain point where he believed that he only mattered for his looks and it sucked. He knew he was a faerie and he was supposed to be pretty,, so that's all he was when he was younger. He wanted to make a change, he wanted it to stop. Not only did he want it to stop but he also wanted to be able to believe in himself. He wanted people to believe in him for him, not because he looked hot.

He silently sat down on a park bench alone and sighed, looking down at the grass and thinking, again, of what it would be like to be believed in. "Excuse me, human?" a rather impatient voice spoke up and Yeosang's head timidly rose to stare at a pale but gorgeous male. "I'm not a human..." he admitted, almost as if he were ashamed of it. The pale man looked surprised "Oh you aren't? My deepest apologies.... I thought you were because there was nothing.... different about you,"

That somehow set him at ease completely. There was nothing different about him. That's the opposite of what all of them said. It was always that there was something different about him. And that "different" was only that he was attractive. Now, with slightly more confidence, he nodded his head "Yes... My faerie wings were removed when I was a child, my step-parents didn't like them," he explained and the other frowned. "Well that hardly seems fair...."

They were in silence for a few moments before the pale man spoke up "Park Seonghwa," he said and Yeosang smiled at him "Kang Yeosang, this may sound strange to you but I'm glad that you aren't another creep trying to hit on me," he said gratefully, as if the other had done this miraculous deed for him. "Well.. you are attractive, yes, but it would be wrong of me to merely speak to you about your body. I know if somebody randomly came and talked to me about the way I looked I'd be slightly uncomfortable despite my confidence in my attractiveness," he said grandly and Yeosang couldn't help but smile wider.

"Ah, that sounded quite narcissistic, forgive me," he apologized and bowed slightly. "Well, if you're having issues with people,, I'd say to stand your ground if possible," he then said. "Now, I actually first said hello to ask for directions," he added after, taking a seat next to Yeosang and chatting with him for a while. The talking made Yeosang's stomach swoop and he genuinely had a wonderful conversation with the slightly older man. This was the first person who he'd talked to in a couple of years who hadn't tried to flirt with him. It was refreshing, to say the least.

From afar, a man in black watched the two and a small ghost of a smile graced his cold lips. He held up the red string of fate that was attached to Kang Yeosang between the fingertips on his left hand and he held the red string that was connected to Park Seonghwa in the other. Park Seonghwa's string had two threads already tied to it. Kim Hongjoong's and Jeong Yunho's. He attached the fourth string to Park Seonghwa's and then let go. "Everything is going to plan so far," he whispered.

[har-rison-s]

absolutely smitten

Request: Hey, I was wondering if you could do a teen!tony x reader were the reader is the new to his high school and he somehow is the person to show her around. But it’s like a love at first sight thing. Kinda based off of Absolutely Smitten by Dodie. If you don’t mind. Thank you!!💖💖 can’t wait to read it

A/N: Oh my GOOOD the song is so cute, I can totally imagine young tony with it. sfsdjfhbsfhdsbdhs i'm having very warm feelings. Robert, you make my heart do flips. I love this. And I love Tony. Currently watching “Restoration” which is in my rdj's film list in caps because he's got long hair in this movie (sfjsbh). Happy reading! (this gif screams “i'm going to allow that”)

main masterlist

mcu masterlist

Warnings: extreme cuteness and sickening love-at-first-sight stuff. Read at your own risk!!

Am I really lost on my first day?

The question slips through her mind several times as her desperate eyes search for something to point her in the right direction. There's no sign, no nothing. And no people around, as well. How is she ever going to find the counselor's office if she doesn't know where it is?!

Y/N begins to walk towards the end of the hall she has not yet discovered. Couldn't go wrong walking here, she thinks to herself. But suddenly, out of the silence and loneliness, she hears footsteps. Lousy, loud as well, probably belonging to a guy. She stops, hoping he's one of the students and can tell her where to go.

It is a guy, indeed, and he wants to tap her shoulder with his pointer finger to alert her with his presence, but she's already turning around. He's a bit late to withdraw his hand and it hangs in the air as he stares at the completely breathtaking stranger.

“Wow.” He says and raises his eyebrows. Y/N eyes his hand warily and furrows her eyebrows. The guy immediately retracts his hand and lets it fall by his side. 

“Wow what?” She asks, straightening her posture and taking a small step back from him. She does this every time she meets someone new because she is a bit afraid of every stranger. But this stranger... well, his good looks certainly earn him first-impression trust.

“Wow you.” He says. “You, I found you, I was looking for you. And now I found you, and I said... wow.” He speaks in a fast manner and Y/N has to take a short while to figure out what she heard. 

“Okay, um,” she starts to say, “wh-why were you looking for me?”

“I am to,” he starts now, and bends a little, extracting his arm to her, in an old-fashioned polite manner, “show you around your—obviously—new school.” 

She laughs and he lingers on how it looks. A spectacular apparition, her laugh and smile. And that he's caused it—miraculous. He stands back up and straightens his jacket, smiling sheepishly at the girl. She's the most charming girl he's ever seen, he's sure of it. Her charms seem to be quite unplanned and natural. And her smile. Oh, her smile. 

“Thank God.” Y/N says. “I thought I was lost on my first day already.” She offers him a nervous smile and he gives her a wider in response. Though when she sees it, he narrows it down to a polite smile. He's shy. He's shy? Tony Stark's shy? Of a stranger? A damn beautiful one at that. “Hello? I don't know your name, but you seem to have drifted, so—”

“Yes, we're going.” He says and starts walking in the direction Y/N was already headed to. “I should probably tell you who I am.” He says it in a way that makes her think she should know his name, know who he is. As if it's a fact. “I'm Tony. Tony Stark.” He extends his hand towards her again and this time, she shakes it. Even if she is unsure of the horrid formality of his gestures. 

“I'm Y/N.” She says in response and realises she doesn't know his name, even if she's supposed to. It's not that obvious to her. “I would say my last name, but since yours is much more brighter and cooler, I won't.” She admits.

“Ridiculous!” Tony says. “Although, thank you, I know it's cool. Or whatever.” He takes it as a compliment, due to his arrogant ways. Back to my own self, at least, he thinks. Y/N feels a bit awkward from his comment, so she says nothing. 

“Where are we going?” Y/N asks quietly, filling the silence of footsteps and their echoes in the hallway. 

“To the office, sweetheart.” Tony replies. “You'll get your schedule and since you're with me, and since I'm—well—me, I'll show you around the school and no teachers will complain that you're absent!” He says, a bit too excitedly maybe, and Y/N has to look at him to be sure that he's really that giddy. Because of her?

Surely a guy like him wouldn't be affected in any way by her. She's just not that... what he would want. Anyhow. Would she miss the first lessons? But would it be so bad? Passing one day to spend with him? This incredibly handsome stranger Tony. 

How could she actually say no to him? Well, she couldn't, that's the thing. She couldn't deny him, and that's her weakness. Pretty strangers make her succumb, and it's not always a good thing. But, alas, this is not a bar, and he's no creepy guy, so there should be no problem. 

“Okay, but if I fail this semester because I've missed a lesson today, I'm blaming you.” She points a mean finger at Tony, which he moves away and leaves them both standing closer than just-met strangers would. Y/N blinks a couple of times, lost in his eyes.

They're a beautiful shade of brown. A raging, anxious, active, but comforting, deep brown. Beautiful. And he got lost in her eyes, as well, what a coincidence. They're anxious, like his, he sees, and finds comfort in that. But they're calming, too. The orbs are understanding and look like the deepest ocean.

“I'm sure I can take the blame.” He says, talking quieter than before, the foolish smile gone from his features. A blush invades her cheeks and she looks down, looks away from Tony. He closes his eyes for a second, but then turns and starts walking again down the hallway, Y/N following him soon after. She's shy now, they've both gotten shy. Tony doesn't speak a thing. How strange for his usual behavior that Y/N knows nothing of. “So, uh, any plans for the summer?” He asks.

“Tony, it has just ended.” Y/N says to him and Tony almost faints. The way she says his name. So innocently, so purely and shyly. He's ready to give her his heart. “Summer's next year.”

“Still, have any plans already?” He repeats his question. Tony's realised his clumsiness but tries to make it better, still tries to keep up a conversation with the beautiful creature. 

“No, I don't think so.” She responds. “Probably sleeping. I get very tired during the school year.” 

“From all the studying and working hard in the late hours of the day?” Tony asks, a knowing grin on his lips. 

“Quite so.” Y/N confirms. “What about you?” She looks at him, wicked and interested eyes looking into Tony's. 

“A year's the same all around for me, hon.” He admits sorely. “But I would like to join you in sleeping some day.”

Y/N can't stop the playful scoff, although full of shock, that leaves her mouth. She feels it's impolite to Tony - if he was either way horribly joking or trying to flirt. But he enjoys it, hearing and seeing her laugh. But he was serious. 

“Show me around first, then we'll talk of possible, uh, sleeping.” Y/N says to him, patting Tony's shoulder. That's strange, he's never had someone playing with him like that. Everyone is always serious and modest towards him. 

“I'll strongly take that as permission.” Tony tells her. She only laughs quietly, more to herself than Tony. And she shakes her head. He's unbelievably sure of himself. 

Even though they are faintly flirting and catching glimpses at one another, as well as knowing there's some kind of attraction to each other, they don't otherwise speak of it out loud. That would be a crime! They've only known each other for two or three minutes, not known, but met. 

But they know, they knew from that moment, that they were undeniably and absolutely smitten by each other. 

Permanent taglist: @v0idbella @inlovewithmiddleagedcelebs @works-of-fanfiction @destiel-stucky4ever-loki-queen @stfxlou @ur-gunna-h8-ths @one-taylor-one-vision @empressdreams @betweenloveandfire @but-legendsneverdie @deardeacy @mavieesttriste16 @fvckyeahbenhardy @thewinchesterchronicles

A/N: Forgive the ending, it sounds like a corny teen movie's beginning narration. Also, I finished watching Restoration and I have exploded because o h my god. my kink is actually men with long hair. i mean, i've already fallen in love with downey, but this look,,,, W O W. Have a good night!

[langdonwhore]

prophecized pain (michael x fem! reader)

Description: It turns out you aren’t the loyal satanist you thought you were, and Michael just so happens to be the one who brings that to light.

Note: Talk by Hozier is what inspired this honestly. This is my first Michael fanfic and I hope it’s up to par! I appreciate all forms of feedback! Let me know what you think.

Word Count: 1.7k (the rest of the chapters will be much longer!)

Warnings for this chapter include: Cussing.

Chapter One:

You noticed him walk in almost immediately, it was a shift in the air. He looked as if the world had almost legitimately put itself upon his shoulders. He was covered in dirt, and another substance you weren't too curious to think or ask about. His hair, heart, and soul disheveled and you felt as if you shouldn't be able to tell that about a person from their mere appearance. At least not at first glance. He had lost all hope, and you could feel it.

Far too caught up in your own head, you hadn't noticed he'd made his way to the pew you were sat at, plopping down with no mercy and staring straight ahead as the dark priest belted her beliefs to Satan's loyal followers. You snapped your head forward, careful to give the man his own sorrowed privacy. You chimed into the conversation the dark priest was arguing, laughable as it was really everyone was talking, discussing and comparing their own evil actions they had performed for their Dark Lord. Chewing your lip you raised an anxious arm to spill your latest duties, and when the dark priest called upon you, you spoke cautiously. "Lately I've been focused more on stealing money from celebrities and donating it to animal shelters." Hearing a few scoffs you curled in upon yourself. You knew the majority of the people who attended the Satanic Church were murderers, it didn't bother you because you knew they had a primal cause, a destiny to fulfill, but you weren't like most Satanists. Not really.

When the service was over you made your way to the snack deck, plopping grapes and blueberries into your mouth as everyone gathered and planned their next heists. Grabbing a cup full of juice you stared off about to take a sip when you noticed the same man from earlier was staring at the table full of sandwiches. He never made a move to grab one, eyes locked onto the snacks as if they were the forbidden fruits. Setting your pride.. and anxiety aside you took a few cautious strides towards him. He was terrifying in the most unexplainable ways. You cleared your throat and he made no move to turn towards you, only taking a deep breath and tapping his leather boot against the tile. You spoke hesitantly, "You know, you may be new, but these are for everyone and I can tell you're starving." You stepped forward to stand beside him, grabbing a plate and putting a few items onto it and gesturing it towards him. He made no move to take it from you, but turned his head toward you to scan your figure.

"You don't belong here." He spoke, turning his entire body towards you. You flinched away, something about his icy tone and stance had you uneasy. "Care to explain?" you asked him, setting the plate down, just to give him your full attention. He raised an eyebrow, and you could've swore he rolled his eyes. "You, as in the girl who steals money to donate it to fucking charities, does not belong here. You aren't fit to serve my Father when what he craves is chaos. He doesn't need charity work sweetheart, He needs bloodshed and innocence sacrificed to him. Acts of horror your little mind could never conjure up. I've sat in grief for days in the forest, just for him to guide me home and.." he paused and you took that moment to breathe. Catching glimpse of the blood splattered under his sleeves and over his black clothing that was days old at least. "people like you, who are unable to proudly shed blood upon His name aren't worthy of redemption."

You were stunned to say the least. He was steaming and whatever else had him upset before he even brought himself here was fueling him on. How dare he, a strange man you'd never met before, accuse you of not fulfilling your Satanic promise. Of course he was right, you had never shed blood or sold your soul. Far too terrified to get caught by the law and far too scared to bare your neck to the beast. The thought of it sending you spiraling into shame and how dare a stranger have the audacity. How dare he. "What makes you think I haven't fulfilled my promise? Do you always intend to insult strangers, or is that today's theme?" you barked back, trying to feign control.

He really did sigh and roll his eyes this time, entirely fed up it seemed. Running a dirty hand through his golden locks he snarled, "The one bad thing you've ever done is steal the money from that racist youtuber, but then you donated all three hundred million of it to the animal rescue center. You have yet to sacrifice your soul to my Father and then question me on my anger? You can't claim to serve him when you haven't given yourself to him fully. I'm fucking starving" He spoke as he snatched the plate off the table and walked out of the building, leaving you frozen and slack jawed. Never before had you been so confused, he referred to the Dark Lord as his Father, which wasn't unusual at all. Except, there was something about the way he referred to the beast. It was unholy, unwelcoming, and unsafe. You had never met such a strange, yet dark aura. His presence still lingered no matter where you ran to, even in bed late at night or in your early morning shower. The darkness was tainted and you could almost smell it.

Exactly a week later you were back at service, hoping the not so familiar face would stay hidden in whatever shadow he originated from. A week had passed and you still had felt the nagging sensation of what felt like paranoia ever since his stern prophesation to you. You had hoped dearly he wouldn't return, you had hoped he wouldn't taint your mind any further. Fear and curiosity embezzling itself into the depths of your mind. Oddly enough, you completely doubted that was the last time you'd ever see him. In fact you had an aching feeling inside that he was near. It was an overbearing feeling in your chest that had the hairs on the back of your neck astray, and the goosebumps littering your body, rigid. With a shaky body you made your way to your usual pew, noticing a pretty unusual commotion at the front alter. Oh no.

There he was, in all his unholy glory. Wearing a black robe, and clearly he had showered this time around. You were standing now, almost unconsciously making your way to the front, to him. You were prying, way too curious to care about the unforeseen consequences that you being nosy may bring. Then you heard it, "He's the one.." and you froze in place. Time had unbeknowingly stopped, to some that statement would be rather normal, rather funny really. He was the Father's son. He was the Antichrist. You didn't need proof, the prophecy was already proven from the aching fear you had felt for him since you first laid eyes upon him. The way he had ridiculed you for not being worthy of his Father's redemption. It all made sense now.

With wide eyes you took quiet steps back to your seat, hoping no one saw, and hoping no one could sense your distress. Looking up you caught sight of him, preparing to make sacrifice of a young man and woman. He raised the dagger, chanting a loud 'Ave Satanas' along with everyone else there. It took a good nanosecond before he sliced both of their throats, sending them to an unknown realm. It was catastrophic really, the upset feeling you had in your stomach as the blood poured out of their bodies. It was even worse when you realized he had been staring at you for who knows how long. His eyes were glazed over, a pale black as they tore into the deepest depths of your soul. You knew exactly what he wanted as his lip curled up in a little smirk that made you wildly uncomfortable. He wanted, craved almost, you to bare your neck to him. Hand him your soul on a silver platter like everyone else in the building had already. Idealistically you would, considering the main idea of the church was to literally serve him but was it really worth it? No. He'd have free reign to your subconscious, you're carnal desires and deepest regrets. Something so livid about that terrified you into denial.

As he smoothly stepped off the alter, you took that as your momentary sign to vacate the situation. Walking home to avoid being subjected to you're unwanted destiny. Maybe you'd decide to submit but was it really worth it if you had to hand it to him? His very aura had darkness and power you didn't want to dabble with. Comically, you'd rather not cause trouble but you knew if the true Son had been found, the world was soon to meet it's doom. Prophecies were always fulfilled, and soon this one would be too. Why fret over anything when everything would be over soon.

Late at night in bed you were woken to harsh thumps on your door, jumping up you grabbed your sheer black robe and tied a knot in it before checking the time. 3:00AM. You sighed before getting a baseball bat and walking to the front door, "Who is it?" you asked gripping the bat in fear of an intruder. But the hairs sticking up on the back of your neck spoke numbers.

There was a dark chuckle before the door creaked open on it's own, forcing you to stumble back. You raised the bat and prepared to swing, then you saw his face. "Oh. It's you." you sighed before dropping the bat and going to sit on the couch. He was dressed in all black, a turtleneck dress shirt accompanied by dress pants and mens boots. "Who else would visit you at the Devil's hour?" He strung, ice in his tone and trouble in his smile. Raising your hands in mock humor you let out a humorless laugh speaking, "I don't even know your name, yet you randomly show up to my house? Kinda predatory if you ask me." He didn't think that was funny. Not at all.

"Well I wasn't asking.. and my name is Michael Langdon. It's a displeasure to finally meet you."

[gone4neow]

The New King ♔ dks

Chapter One

- kyungsoo x reader, royalty AU, prince!kyungsoo

warnings : swearing, mature themes, arranged marriage, i don’t know anymore at this moment

word count : 2,832

chapter two or masterlist

♔ ♔ ♔ ♔ ♔

The atmosphere of the large ballroom was nothing but joyful. There were hundreds of people inside the stunning room, all dancing or cheering for those who were dancing. Their cheers were almost deafening combined with the noisy sound of the music playing in the background. A live band played enthusiastically as their eyes flickered back and forth between their instruments and the crowd before them. It was a royal celebration, therefore everything was extravagant and significantly closer to perfection than any regular celebration. There was no one in the universe that did not wish to be attending this party - except for the two people the party was being held for.

They were dancing together. Their sweaty palms pressed together while their bodies unwillingly swayed in synchronization. Large smiles were plastered on their faces as they stared into each other's eyes. It appeared they were madly in love to the outside world, but they knew the truth. Every touch, every glance, every little whisper was nothing but one giant lie. It was all a facade to protect the truth and the truth was the prince and princess could have wanted nothing more than to be light years away from one another. It wasn't that they hated one another. In fact, their personalities meshed together perfectly and in another lifetime they could have been great friends. They couldn't stand to be near one another because it only reminded them of the cold reality that they would be stuck together for the rest of their lives. It was a choice that they had not made. Their parents had come to an agreement two weeks ago and since then they had been forced to spend every moment of their day together.

"Please don't lower your hand too much," The princess spoke quietly to the prince as she gave his shoulder a warning squeeze. She felt his breath tickle over her ear as he scoffed in disbelief.

"Don't flatter yourself. I wouldn't be touching you at all-"

"If you didn't have to. Don't worry, we're on the same page," The princess finished for the prince with a small sigh. The prince looked down at the woman with a smile that was almost sad.

"The night is almost over. You won't have to be with me much longer," he told her in a quiet voice. The princess leaned back and let her head raise so she could look him in the eyes. The prince was a handsome man and anyone who said differently was wrong. She watched his features soften as the fake smile on his face vanished gradually. His eyes were her least favorite trait of his. They were a deep, warm shade of brown that seemed like liquid gold in the right lighting - breathtaking, really - but every time she looked into them she saw the disappointment swimming within them. What she saw as disappointment due to their forced engagement was really disappointment that he could never love her. The prince wanted to, her really did, but he couldn't no matter how much he tried. He was terrified of sharing the rest of his life with someone he couldn't love and even more terrified that she would come to love him. The princess was far from worried about falling in love with the man.

It wouldn't have been such a problem. He was handsome, kind, and funny but he wasn't the man for her. He was too outgoing for her. He loved being the focus of everyone's attention. His views on the world were different from hers. They were so different that there was hardly anything for them to talk about when alone, aside from the devastating situation they had been pushed into. Most of the time they sat in silence, sharing shy glances whenever they thought the other wasn't looking.

"Prince Sehun!" Called a voice full of cheerfulness. She recognized it as that of Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun was a close friend of the prince. Together they would practice in combat and sports, sharing whatever time they could with one another. The princess found him to be humorous but overly enthusiastic about everything. He found something to say about everything and often teased her for things no one else did. He was exciting all in all. He approached the pair with Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo was the prince's younger brother. Though their parents pretended the young prince didn't exist most of the time, all of Sehun's friends had accepted him with welcoming arms. The young prince was more reserved than most of them. He was quiet, observant, and extremely intelligent. He spent most of his time alone in the library or with his closest friend, Jongin. The princess found him to be mysterious. Unfortunately, this sparked a flame of curiosity inside of her that she wished she could put out.

A wide smile was formed on Baekhyun's face as he looked between the prince and princess. Kyungsoo stared at them with his usual blank expression. Both of the men were dressed elegantly. They wore matching suits that were colored like the deepest part of the ocean, paired perfectly with the black shoes on their feet. Prince Sehun was dressed in a royal purple and it went so well with his dark hair color. They were each overwhelmingly handsome and it wasn't hard to tell that the rest of the party thought so too. Women shared lingering stares at the men, their lips parting slightly as they danced by the men. They were all oblivious or simply ignoring the burning stares.

"Ah, Princess Grace... it's wonderful to see you, as always. You look ravishing," Baekhyun greeted the princess. He held out his hand for her to place her own in and she allowed herself to separate from Sehun so she could. He kissed her soft hands with a gentleness that she had never known men to possess. She felt her face flush as the feeling of his warm lips against her skin.

"Baekhyun," Sehun warned in a low tone. The man pulled his lips away from the princess's skin and she retracted her hand away from his hole. He raised his eyebrows at the eldest prince and released a laugh.

"Relax. I'm well aware she is all yours. It's just too fun to watch her grow flustered," Baekhyun grinned. The princess looked away from the man at his words, no longer wanting to participate in his flirtatious game.

"Brother, you look nice tonight," Sehun complimented his brother as he let his hand reach out to run along the collar of the young prince's suit. Kyungsoo smiled a small smile and nodded his head.

"You look well put together for once," Kyungsoo told his brother. It was as close to a compliment as the older sibling would get from the quiet man.

"Do you know where my father is?" The princess interrupted their conversation. She looked at Kyungsoo, growing intimidated when his stone-like eyes met hers.

"Is it wise to leave my side?" Sehun asked her before his brother could answer. She glanced up at her fiancé and sighed in annoyance. Perhaps it wasn't wise to leave his side but she was willing to gamble five minutes of her time to visit her father.

"I wouldn't let you leave my side," Baekhyun commented, laughing at his own joke once it had rolled off of his tongue completely.

"Your father was near the balcony the last time I seen him," Kyungsoo finally spoke. She found his eyes again and nodded her head at him.

"Thank you, Prince Kyungsoo," she said quietly before she turned on her heels and began to push through the sea of dancing guests. The balcony was located near the long tables of food that had been prepared for the night's guests and it wasn't hard for her to find. She pushed the doors open, welcoming the cool night air that brushed against her exposed skin. Her father stood under the moonlight with his head raised towards the dark sky. They had been staying at the northern kingdom for the past week and she knew he missed his home. She missed their home.

She approached his side quietly. He leaned against the cool, metal railing that enclosed the balcony and she copied his pose to do the same. They didn't speak when she first arrived but they didn't need to say anything. The atmosphere automatically felt far more welcoming here than it did when she was inside the ballroom.

"I was wondering if I would get to see my daughter tonight," The king finally spoke. His voice was scratchy and shaky tonight, but then again it had been the same way for the last few months. On the better days he was able to speak like he used to when he was healthy but his illness made it hard for him to do anything he used to do. He was dying. It was something that she had caught onto before he told her. When she had confronted him he had cried and told her it was true. She had never seen her father cry before. They had spent the day lying in bed together with misty eyes and broken hearts. Since then, they had come to understand that their time together was limited so they refused to spend it being heartbroken over the inevitable. It made most days easier for the princess.

"I would have caused an argument with someone if you didn't. I'm not used to being away from you this much," The princess's voice was soft as she spoke. She stared out at the bright moon with distant eyes. There was nothing she wouldn't give to return to the time when things were normal. Her father reach over and took her hand in his, causing her to look away from the moon and into her father's honey colored eyes.

"I do not like seeing you so sad. You don't smile anymore," he told her with a deep frown on his face. She felt as if she had committed a crime as she watched his eyes wash over with shame. She placed her free hand on top of his and gave it a tight squeeze.

"I'm fine dad. You shouldn't worry about me so much," she told the man with a small smile. He couldn't resist the smile that formed on his face at the sight.

"It's my job to worry about you and I will always worry about you," he told her quietly. The princess grew sad at his words. Today was not most days and it certainly wasn't easier.

"Not always," she breathed out in a shaky voice. Her father placed his unoccupied hand against her cheek. She leaned into his hand and let her eyes close. She didn't want to live in a word where she could not spend time with her father like this.

"What are you doing out here? The prince will grow lonely," a high pitched voice filled the night's air. The princess's eyes snapped open almost immediately, wishing she never had to hear the sound again. Her father's hand fell from her face and he turned to look at the moon again.

"I'm spending time with my dad. Is that a crime?" The words were falling from the princess's lips before she could stop them.

"Don't speak to your mother like that. She's right, you should head back inside," the king told his daughter. The princess wanted to argue but she didn't want her father to grow upset with her. She slipped away from his side, his hand falling away from hers. She shared a sharp look with her mother as she brushed by. Entering the ballroom after spending time on the tranquil balcony was like entering hell; hot, stuffy, and far too loud. The princess guided herself through the busy crowd until her eyes met the prince's. He was smiling brightly at something Baekhyun had said. The princess noticed Kai and Jongdae had joined the men she had left on the dance floor. When the eldest prince noticed her return, his smile faltered. As if reading his mind, his friends turned to look in her direction. She felt shy under all of their stares but she still made her way towards them.

"Hi everyone," she greeted them in a shy tone. Sehun's hand found her waist as soon as she stepped back into her place beside them. Kai and Jongdae bowed in her direction with kind smiles plastered on their faces.

"That's not necessary," she told them with a small sigh.

"Of course it is. You're our future queen after all," Jongdae replied. She smiled at him and didn't say anything else. She knew it would be an endless argument.

"How is your father?" Prince Kyungsoo spoke towards the princess. She looked at him with wide eyes, hoping she hid the surprise she felt inside. His expression was one of genuine concern. His eyes locked with hers, his stare as intimidating as ever.

"He's fine. Thank you for asking," she replied. Though she had lied, a genuine smile formed on her face for the first time that night.

"We're stealing too much of the couple's time! You guys should be dancing the night away, unless you have places to dance the night away later tonight," Baekhyun ruined the lightened atmosphere. Jongdae laughed lightly at the man while Kai and Kyungsoo shook their heads in disbelief. The princess looked up at Prince Sehun with flustered cheeks. His eyes met hers for a second and he found himself ready to escape his friend's' company with her. He bid a goodnight to the four boys and led her deeper into the crowd.

"I am sorry for Baekhyun's behavior. He makes this harder," Sehun told her once he had her in the heart of the ballroom. His left hand rest against her hip and his right hand was intertwined with hers.

"It's not his fault. I think he senses that there is something off between us and he tries to lighten the mood," The princess replied lowly.

"It would make sense. Baekhyun is a smart man, much to everyone's surprise," Sehun hummed as he spoke, almost as if he were voicing his thoughts as they came. The princess nodded in agreement. Without anything left to say, she pressed her face against the prince's chest. She could hear his racing heartbeat even through the fabric of his suit. She wished she could bring him comfort but she knew she only did the opposite.

It wasn't until around midnight that the celebration came to an end. It was one of her duties to stay until every last guest had gone home for the night. She stood beside Sehun with a smile on her face. Everyone complimented her appearance for the night and wished her with in her future marriage. They said similar things to Sehun as they went on down the line. When they had all gone, it was time for the royals to head to bed.

The prince and princess were silent as they walked up the stairs together. Sehun's hand rest against the small of her back as they walked. It wasn't much but it was enough to comfort her a little bit. She felt overwhelmed with several different emotions, something she was growing familiar with. She had been raised to become a queen but as time ticked on she felt herself doubting whether or not she was fit to be queen. The only example of a queen she had ever had was her mother and she was certain that the woman was only an example of what not to be when it came to ruling a kingdom.

"Goodnight Prince," The princess whispered when they came to a stop in front of her chamber doors. 

"Try to not dream about me too much," Prince Sehun attempted to joke with the princess but she was so emotionally drained for the night that she could only laugh half-heartedly.

"Only if you promise to do the same," she told him. He held up his pinky finger and she eyed it with disbelief. Still, she let hers wrap around his before she pulled away and entered her chamber without another word. He watched as her doors closed with a gentle thud. The guards standing at the doors wore masks but he could feel their eyes boring into his face. He turned and made his way towards his brother's room for the night.

The lights were completely off when he entered the room. Sehun checked to make sure Kyungsoo was in bed and laughed gently when he heard his young sibling curse at him for disturbing his sleep.

"The princess is okay?" Kyungsoo asked quietly as Sehun prepared to climb into bed.

"As far as I know. She's a hard one to read," The prince answered his brother. Kyungsoo hummed in response. Sehun climbed into bed with his brother and the two bid each other a goodnight.

a/n : this is one of my first attempts at writing a serious fanfiction, so i’m sorry if it sucks. also, i apologize for the weird spacing. i’m not entirely sure how to work tumblr yet. any feedback is appreciated. thanks for reading!