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starcityhq · 4 years ago

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WHAT: The Avenging League finalizes a plan to move against NOVA. This time, the X-Men join them.

WHO: Batman, Captain America, Cyclops, Wonder Woman, Superman, Iron Man, Loki, Bucky Barnes, Emma Frost, Blue Beetle, Iceman, Zatara, Batwoman, Gambit, Moxie, Signal, Black Widow, Supergirl, Flash (Barry Allen), Flash (Wally West), Spiderman, Nightcrawler, Huntress, Hawkeye, Bruce Banner, Rogue, Human Torch, Zatanna, Beast Boy, Green Arrow, Speed, Cable, Nightstar, Polaris, Marvel Girl, Wolverine, Honey Badger, Raptor, Oracle, Batgirl, Stinger, Wiccan, Scarlet Witch, and Red Robin.

WHEN: August 30th, 2020.

BATMAN: The meeting was called in light of new information received from Tony Stark, a man Bruce could take or leave, given the choice, but it provided them with enough to make a move. In the recent weeks he knew some of the burden had fallen on Steve's shoulders. There were other things going on within his own family that needed to be addressed and taken care of, but he didn't even know where to start. Damian and Dick's absence from the large table was strange, discomforting, and his expression was more grim than usual.

Also notable was the addition of the X-Men. He'd never worked with them before in this capacity, but he knew what they were capable of. Over the years, he'd built up a mutual respect with Scott Summers and, perhaps to a lesser extent, Emma Frost, but the others he was much less familiar with. Scott was already in the know.

"The X-Men have joined us because we have a plan. One that will involve every person in this room." No greeting and no small talk. He wanted to get straight to the point.

CYCLOPS: Scott didn't conduct things in quite the same removed fashion that Bruce usually addressed people, but they weren't there for greetings and small talk. If there had ever been a time for that, it was long since passed. "All of us in this room have a part to play in eradicating a threat that is becoming so ingrained and systemic in our world, that if we fail to address it now we may not get another chance. The X-Men," he glanced briefly toward the faces who had accompanied him there from District X, "will do it standing beside the League. Whatever ills mutants have faced alone in the past, we don't need to face NOVA alone. We can't."

"Several weeks ago, a NOVA detention facility was destroyed outside the city." His gaze flickered briefly to Lorna, masked entirely by his visor, "There are others like it. Mutants, metahumans, and other enemies of NOVA are being held there illegally. I won't go into detail about the things being done to them in captivity. Whatever your imagination tells you, it's likely worse. We need them removed, the facilities shut down and reduced to be non-operational. My X-Men and I will assist the League in making sure this is done. Many of you have asked me when we would make our move, what I was waiting for. Here it is."

He had the information that Tony would be presenting and he already knew what part he meant his people to play. X-Force had been reconvened for a reason. They could handle the unknown and the half-known. "Iron Man has uncovered something disturbing that we can't ignore. Our X-Force team will be going alongside members of the League to investigate. We expect resistance. Beyond that..." he spread his hands, "be ready."

CAPTAIN AMERICA: Steve looked first at Bruce and then at Scott, wondering what it was like to lead large groups with little to no inclination to speak to the members like people and to just regurgitate information. He just... had never functioned that way. Maybe it was because he wasn't some kind of super genius, or maybe it was because he had gotten his start in the army rather than alone or at fifteen on a team of child soldiers assembled with little to no prior training before they were flung out into the world. He was used to talking to people as just another person. As someone who had to connect and convey urgency. "I think a little bit of context is necessary here," he said simply. While they could all just cut to the chase, he was sure it would eliminate questions to fill people in on what the hell they were talking about.

"As you all know, several months ago we had our first meeting of the Avenging League, wherein teams were assigned and objectives were given. X-Men, to fill you in, we have been working on NOVA on five fronts. Bruce and Scott are referring to the findings from some of those teams. The patrol team, meanwhile, has been discrediting NOVA and diffusing violent patrols on the streets whenever possible. I'll leave Bruce to explain the findings, but suffice it to say that our more technical side of things, particularly Oracle and Red Robin, have been working on hacking in to NOVA's systems for all those months as well. However, as Bruce said, it was Tony who discovered something urgent enough to call us all to order."

He glanced at several members seated around the massive table before continuing, "Last meeting, we were interrupted by Robin coming in with what we now know to be a prototype of one of NOVA's inhibitors, the effects of which were what caused the city-wide loss of powers during the Joker's crime spree. Tony, Bruce Banner, and formerly Princess Shuri had done work on figuring out what we were dealing with and Tony came to me last week with a... disturbing hypothesis on how they managed to pull all of it off. That's a big part of why we're here. It's time to start acting, as Scott has said."

He knew that the X-Men hadn't necessarily carried the same ideas as the League or the Avengers in the past, but he wanted to make it perfectly clear that they were allies this time around. "The X-Men and their X-Force will be invaluable help in dealing with this. For all intents and purposes, we're all on the same team. Scott, Bruce, and I are going to make sure the efforts are evenly divided to get the job done, but we need to deal with this threat quickly and efficiently. This is what we've been waiting for. I'm gonna pass the floor to Tony to explain further what we're dealing with. Tone?" He looked to his friend, knowing he could definitely articulate things more clearly.(edited)

IRON MAN: Cyclops wasn't as dry as Batman, but it was a close call. Tony didn't exactly mind, because he wasn't in the mood to listen to a bunch of small talk when he was eager and ready to share what he knew with the rest of the league. He'd never been the best at teamwork or collaboration, but he'd come a long way from where he started. By now, he was smart enough to realize that there were plenty of capable people working around him, even if they weren't on the same team, and he was especially impressed by those working the digital side of things. They were also the only team he had regular communication with.

He was out of his seat before Steve finished talking. Pressing a button illuminated a blue, 3-D model of the city above the center of the table. "Caught some footage from my suit during a flyover." It didn't occur to him to explain that this happened only because Hulk had split the concrete. He breezed by that point, instead changing the view so the ground lit up in yellow criss-crossing lines. "There's a whole grid system underneath the city. The inhibitors are all underground." He pointed at each intersecting line. "We're talking far. The grid goes as far down as a mile areas with a higher elevation. It was lucky for us that the portion I caught was high enough to be unearthed at all. There are thousands of them, all connected, which means they likely have the same power source."

Changing the view, he rotated the city so they were looking at it from above. The yellow color was brighter along the water. "I also picked up an area, near the harbor, that is giving off much stronger radiation. Energy. Much too strong to be just an inhibitor. My hypothesis is that they have an underwater facility. Connecting underground tunnels that gave them the ability to set up this entire grid without any of us being the wiser. They did it all right under our nose."

ORACLE: Babs sure did have a time not cutting over people, eyes mostly just focused on Tony once she heard that he had things to share. It wasn't that she was uncaring about the X-Men, quite the opposite. She was happy they were here, but she wanted to know the news more than anything else. She almost smirked as Tony rose from his chair, sensing the same impatience in him. Keen eyes inspect the model before them, even rising from her chair and leaning forward silently to get a full look. At the news of the same power source though, she smirked. That's something they can deal with, even if it was underwater.

"Well, that big of an energy reading means that they're leaving a nice bread crumb trail for me," she'd already had her laptop out at this point, and she goes from looking at the model to typing quickly, though doesn't break her thought process, "Give me time and I can get a rough estimate of where the power source specifically should be. A layout will take more time, their systems are tricky but not impossible. Any entrance would help in that department." Unlike most everyone else, she could start her work right away.

BLUE BEETLE: Teddy had been working on the same team as Tony so far, so the news he was sharing wasn’t a surprise. He’d never been the most confident when it came to situations like this, usually his input was ignored or not even asked for. But he had been given a job as part of the Tech group and had some less than thrilling news to share. “We’ll likely need one. In fact any way we could try and get a head of this would be smart.” Ted said, his voice quieter than his usual boisterous nature as he rose to his feet. “See, Tony charged me with working a kind of Faraday Cage, something we could use to block any kind of electromagnetic fields. It would stop the pulses their technology sends out and render it useless in the affect it has on anyone with enhanced abilities.” He explained. “Ideally this could’ve been equipped on someone like Stinger,” he nodded at Cassie, “But it’s just not feasible.”

“Despite having a great deal of experience in this area,” his damn backpack could fly off and produce one, “Every prototype I’ve been able to create just isn’t strong enough to effect the web they’ve already weaved.” He adjusted his goggles, a little nervously and continued, “I could eventually make something strong enough to neutralise it but I’d need time, weeks, maybe even months to make a finished, reliable piece of tech that I’d be confident in risking someone going in with.” Ted wasn’t about to put someone’s life at risked with a rushed piece of equipment. “And�� given who we’re dealing with, I don’t think we have that much time to waste.” ICEMAN: As Teddy returned to his seat Bobby spoke up from the other side of the room “We don’t.” His voice certain. Bobby’s bottom jaw jutted forwards a little bit, as though thinking hard on what he was going to say (a rare thing for him) “I dunno all the work you’ve been doing. But I’ve been doing recon on behalf of the X-Men. I’ve gotten a look deep inside NOVA’s workings and the shit they’re doing to people… to children-“ he cut off and swallowed, going quiet while the temperature around him dropped by several degrees, his emotions getting the better of him like they almost always did. He cleared his throat, “We don’t have months. We don’t have weeks. We don’t even have days.” He looked around at the other faces in the room. “They need to be stopped and they need to be stopped now. Whatever it takes. Go in guns blazing get the damn media involved if helps.” He shook his head slightly, running a hand through his hair, obviously agitated.

ZATARA: “That won’t help.” Zach hadn’t gone into this affair planning to say a thing, he was new to the group, one of the younger members and probably disliked by several of the others in the room. But he could offer one insight the rest of them probably lacked. “That one article the paper got out the first time hurt them some and the fallout of that was NOVA coming down hard on the political powers in the city. I’m pretty close to the Mayor and his wife so believe me when I say they’ve got their claws embedded deep into the politics and the papers. Even if we went public with this information, gave it over to reputable journalists anyway? They’d have a hell of a time getting it out in any official way and even if they did NOVA has the influence to spin it any way they like. Doesn’t help that that Nabel woman’s got enough PR skills to make my agents jealous.” He added wryly. “We’re on our own here.”

FLASH: "We need an opening." Barry spoke up from another part of the room. He had been biting his tongue - trying to contain his natural urge to meet-and-greet with all of the new faces that were there since their last official meeting. "We have been making steady process, but without an opening to exploit we aren't going to be getting anywhere. Inhibitor networks miles underground or inside mountains... that isn't an issue. Normally, speedsters like myself or Wally could just phase ourselves through the ground to get to them. It's tricky phasing downwards instead of forwards, but it could be done. Underwater, however? We can run on top of the water - but not through it." He shook his head. "Zach and---I don't know your name, sorry; I'm not the one with the files on everyone--" Barry grins playfully and shoots a look a Bruce before clearing his throat and continuing. "They're right though. We don't have the time to plan things out any long than this meeting. We need to come up with a course of action and we need to do so in a speedy manner."

SUPERMAN: The sheer number of people in that room would have been enough to give anyone hope, surely. Had there ever been a larger, better equipped, more motivated group ready to take action? He couldn't recall one. He knew little of the X-Men, though he'd been into District X a handful of times, but they seemed as eager and prepared to make their move as the League. Moreso, maybe. Their struggles had gone on long before NOVA was in the picture.

He opened his mouth to say something to that effect, but Zach's mention of the papers turned his attention elsewhere. "NOVA doesn't have their hands in everything. The Gazette has been standing against them for months. We do have a voice, and we're using it when we can. Taking direct action against NOVA is only one step. We need the people on our side, and we've been working since the day the League reformed to make sure that's happening. The Gazette is doing it with us. But even without that..." he made a broad gesture with one hand around the room that had seemed so large but with all the teams present was nearing capacity, "are we really that few?"

"For those of us heading underwater who can't manage it naturally, I have plenty of confidence that our tech team can compensate. Anyone here taken scuba lessons?" The grin he wore wasn't at all because he wasn't taking it seriously. He was. He knew everything they stood to lose, everything that inaction had cost them and so many other people, but when he looked around that room he knew that it would finally be dealt with. It was worth smiling about.

NIGHTCRAWLER: Kurt had stationed himself in a proper vantage point in the room - nestled quite comfortably up in one corner near the ceiling; hands and feet clinging him to the walls with ease. There were so many people, it was astounding when you got them all together in one room. It really opened his eyes to just how many people were working to help keep the people of this City safe and to help rid them of the NOVA situation that plagued them all. The mutant recognized only a handful of non-mutants; most by reputation and name alone and others by former relations - such as the faces of several Avengers team members. The man couldn't help but frown as Bobby spoke from another part of the room. He wanted to comfort him - seeing his expression change as his emotions took hold of him - but there was a time and place for that and this wasn't one of them. Once 'Superman' had finished speaking about his confidence in the teams they had assembled, Kurt took the opportunity to speak - keeping his pace slow so his accent wouldn't make it too hard to understand him.

"I personally haf followed efery story ze Gazette has put out regarding mutant relations or ze situation ve haf vis NOVA. Zey are expertly written and judging from ze online forums of various chat groups sroughout ze city, zere is a large amount of support backing ze ideologies zey are composed of." He explained. "I cannot speak so much on tactical advice as I can on my own matters - I am a teleporter; ze X-Men's 'Nightcrawler' and vherefer ve need to get into; I am my Bamfs are at your disposal." He gave a nod of respect to their 'leaders'.

RED ROBIN: Tim listened, knowing better than to get involved until he had more information. "Babs and I have nailed down the coordinates of the detention facilities outside the city like the one Magneto attacked. We have all those official locations." It had taken months to crack their system, but once they had, it had come easily.

He moved his spot to settle next to Babs, pulling out his own machine to begin working with her. "We'll help however we can, including zeroing in on a signal for this new underwater facility." He didn't have too much more to add. He had been so busy with nailing down things about Dick's assault that he hadn't focused on the League as much as he should, but now that he was close to cracking that, too, he could put much more effort in.

BRUCE BANNER: Bruce was momentarily grateful for Tony's focus on certain details while completely ignoring others. It wasn't as if everyone in that room wouldn't have known what happened, what Hulk had done, and Bruce did struggle to compartmentalize it enough to accept something good coming of it. It had though, at least in this case. Minimal injuries, maximum and unexpected information. Not that he was going to take any kind of credit for smashing holes in the ground.

"What you're looking for is similar to gamma radiation, but it's not..." he spread his hands, and looked between Barbara and Tim, "it's not like anything I've seen before. If you find the focal point, wherever that's strongest, that's where we'll need to be."

SUPERGIRL: Kara squirmed in her seat at the mention of the media. Both Lois and Clark worked for the Gazette and had been producing articles shining the light on NOVA's terrible actions. Even though she knew what they knew, it didn't prepare her to hear the details from both Scott and Bobby. Wincing, she looked down at her hands. "How long?" She directed the question at Bruce, Steve, and Scott. "Before we make a move, I mean." They said there was a plan. It didn't seem likely, given the circumstances, that they would sit around longer than they had to.

NIGHTSTAR: M'gann paid close attention. This was her first official hero meeting and she intended to remember every detail of it. Down to the cookies Supergirl had brought. There were far more heroes than she'd expected, many of them familiar faces. She took great comfort in that.

"I might be of some use in finding these underground facilities. My telepathy extends out like a globe. It would be easier if I had a specific person to track." An exact telepathic signature. "But people being kept underground is unusual. I should be able to sense them without too much trouble." The rest of what she could do, the team leaders already knew.

HONEY BADGER: This is the first time Gabby has ever seen so many different people in the same room that were like her! It was kind of amazing if she was being honest with herself but this is a serious meeting. This wasn’t the first time Gabby had been in one but it was the first time when it was for something good. She took a handful of cookies — four of them laid out on a napkin in front of her as her feet kicked back and forth while listening to everyone else speak first.

“We have to help everyone in those facilities, I agree with Bobby. We should be doing everything that it takes. I know what it’s like to be poked and prodded at in places exactly like where NOVA is operating. I’m willing to take the risk so we don’t leave those people in there because they might not have much time.” She crushes a piece of the cookie she broke off in her hand so crumbs fall into her lap. Gabby tries to collect herself, looking over at her family for a moment then back to everyone else in the room. “I don’t care what someone has done, treating anyone like an experiment isn’t okay.”

She takes a quick bite of whatever is left of the sweet in her hand, trying to calm herself down. “I’m sorry. I’m just really passionate about this sort of thing. I just want the world to better for everyone — Mutants, Meta-Humans, and animals too. Whatever plan we come up with, I want to be part of it.” Her mind trying to ignore flashbacks to her upbringing.

POLARIS: Lorna couldn't help the guarded look she wore, arms crossed firmly across her chest as she peers around. Sure, one could argue that she had reason to trust those around them now, but she only trusted those she knew. Her eyes dart between the people talking tech, and if Bobby hadn't burst out she would have. Still, she takes a breath. It's quite difficult in the moment, not to snap, not to break in, but hearing the sentiment of brute force makes her shake her head as people speak. She choses her words carefully, more than aware that it's possible others here may know she was with Magneto, more than the couple that did. Still, she wasn't about to shy away from saying her thoughts, and if it came up, then it came up.

"If Magneto showed us one thing, it's that brute strength will backfire on us. The short term saving mutants will be a success, yes, but at this point the long-term repercussions could be catastrophic. Think a mob of civilians descending on District X-- people we don't want to fight." her eyes go to Gabby and Bobby, but land on the man who spoke just before him, "My powers work with the Earth's magnetic fields, and metal. Is there something that I could help with? I know how to create electromagnetic pulses. I... can feel what they have. The web, and I could feel an underground facility if I had time," her eyes turn to Tony Stark, trying to explain, "If you can help me narrow down any materials they're using in construction I may be able to get a better sense, too.... but it may involve concentrating in a very obvious area... like in the air above it. Not sure if that's helpful. " she shrugs with a sigh, turning to her teammates particularly. Normally ready to go in guns blazing with NOVA, she's trying to take a moment.

"If we repeat what happened, we'll have more fallout to deal with. The brief amount of time that it takes to get a layout and a plan together is worth it. Unless we want to be grouped with Magneto some more."

ROGUE: Anna stiffened, her gloved hands folded on the table, but she didn't say anything at first. She hadn't been involved in what happened at the first facility, or fully supportive of the move in the first place, but that was exactly why she'd stayed out of it. Her gaze went to Wanda, as if to see if she were at all affected by the topic of her father being raised at the table.

Normally she was all for going in hard and strong. All the tech talk wasn't her style and she didn't really know what any of them were talking about, so it wasn't something she could offer help on. "Dunno if that's such a good idea, sugah," she said to Lorna under her breath, but she was looking at Scott. Erik had worked with the X-Men plenty of times in the past, but she couldn't imagine him willing to take orders from a group that included so many non-mutants.

MOXIE: She was told to keep her words concise and professional. This was not a time to mince friendly words with others, though she could barely contain her excitement to be a part of something greater than anything she had ever seen in her life.

“Well, first of all,” she started, standing from her seat when it was her turn to speak, blueprints in hand. “Thank youse for bringing me on board. I ain’t much of a hero myself but if I’ve been invited here, that must mean I’m bringing something to the table, right?“

Without another moment’s pause she presented one of the blueprints, unfurling it on the table. She would gesture a hand towards the different aspects of her design as she spoke.

“Sorry it’s on this silly little blue paper. I like to keep things old fashioned, ya know? Feel free to pass it around to the higher ups over there. I understand youse need extra support under the water. I myself did some digging on the currents here. They’re not any more pleasant to the kinda waters I’ve experienced back home. Taking that into consideration with my daddy’s notes on the conditions of the water he had left before he passed, I’ve been working on some deflector technology that could be attached to anyone’s suits, which could provide extra support while you’re lookin’ for these facilities. I used my Heart of Gold as a reference, but because some of it is influenced by magic and I’m not magic at all, I substituted that with a modified magnetic wave field that serves a similar purpose to “Nyx’s Blessing,” which will deflect any projectiles coming towards you on land or underwater, in this case. It’s activated by your heartbeat and breathing patterns so if you sense something is wrong, it’ll give you a small barrier to protect you.”

An anxious grin followed, swallowing the forming lump in her throat.

“But y’know, if that’s not suitable, I’ve got other plans I’m willing to share with the technology team to provide my experience on the kinda conditions and obstacles we’ll have to look out for if we’re going underwater. I have access to all my daddy’s old notes. Seeing as he was an Atlantean, I’m sure the materials would still be useful and their technology is more advanced, from what he told me.”

BLACK WIDOW: Natasha sat by Logan rather than James this go around. It wasn’t all that often that the X-Men and the Avengers were in the same room together and it wasn’t for some fight. So she was pleased that she could actually settle beside her friend. Since the incident with the inhibitors and leaving Clint, they had been meeting up semi-regularly just to drink and talk. Not much beyond that. Now here they were about to take down NOVA. She bit her lip as she listened, taking in the influx of information. “Wanda and Billy could help those of us who need help with the breathing underwater issue, right?” She had, in fact, taken scuba lessons, but it didn’t seem pertinent to bring it up.

She was also aware of the heightened emotions in the room and she ignored them for the most part. This was a mission briefing. “I’m sure that Cap, Batman, and Cyclops have a plan, and I’m sure it won’t include mass destruction of the facilities and every living thing inside that doesn’t ping for mutant, meta, or enhanced.” If it did, she’d still do what she was told, but it would still shock her. Cap didn’t work like that and neither did Batman. She didn’t speak for Cyclops. The X-Men had done their share of death. Not that she blamed them. Sometimes it was the best way to go about things. “Let’s give them a minute to tell us what we need to be focusing on. A lot of us have been running recon, so we’re aware of what’s going on on the inside. I’m sure that’s why we’re here.”

She listened to the new girl speak, blinking at how she sounded like she was from an mafia movie about Capone. She’d been around in the 20s, but she didn’t remember it. Surprising. “It seems like a good idea,” she said. “So we aren’t completely relying on powers in case the inhibitors pop.

ZATANNA: "I've enchanted charms to grant glamours and certain physical protections before. I wouldn't even need to be near them or concentrating on the spell. Water breathing wouldn't be much of a problem. But," As much as she hated to admit any shortcomings, Zatanna obviously had the foresight to plan in situations like this. Recalling her very similar conversation with Barry, the corners of her mouth turned down a smidge. "They haven't been tested near inhibitors. And relying on them underwater isn't exactly the safest test run."

Zee shifted her weight from one foot to the other, glancing at Bruce, at Clark, at Diana, at the rest of the most familiar faces. It felt less like failure directing her statements to people who already knew. "I can provide heavy combat power until the second they decide to turn on the inhibitors. If we beat them to it, though, I can portal a good number of the people trapped there out."

GREEN ARROW: Oliver Queen had finally managed to return to Star City after well over a year's absence, and what he was met with was...worse than it had been. NOVA and The Justice--The Avenging League (he still needed to get used to that) were locked in an all out war, and it held Star City, HIS city, in a stranglehold. He wouldn't have it. Not at all. So, he jumped right back in, with briefings from both Clark and Bruce, and was finally back in the meeting. There were...a lot of personalities in the room. Some he knew well. Many he'd never even seen before. It was refreshing, in an odd way. Gave him hope that they may just pull this shit all off.

As he listened to the people talking, he couldn't help but feel like people were just...rattling stuff off. It felt structureless, like a city hall town meeting instead of a game plan. But, he was sure that Bruce had a plan. Bruce had a detailed plan for how he ate breakfast in the morning. "Alright, everyone," Oliver spoke up, putting his feet off the table he currently had them resting on. "I'm sure they know exactly what all of us are supposed to be doing. Just give the big guys a chance to speak. You all know what I can do, just point me and my bow in the direction of the bastards who are ruining my home."

BATWOMAN: This was a ridiculous amount of people. Kate was used to flying solo and only occasionally pairing up with maybe a handful of other heroes and heroines at most. Even as a part of the old Justice League, she had never really had to worry about dealing with the entirety of their membership. Here in Star City, however, under this - Avenging League - and now with the addition of the X-Men from District X, it was honestly a little overwhelming. Yet, she outwardly showed little expression - her jaw locked into a sharp frown and her body poised with a rigidness that mimicked Bruce's own. She listened to each person in turn as they spoke up, taking in the words they sad - no matter how heartfelt or generic the information they held seemed to be. Everyone has a part to play, no matter how small, and the only way they were going to deal with this NOVA group was by putting everything together into one solid plan.

To that end, the woman leaned forward - the brilliant red of her cowl's attached wig draping over her shoulders as she waited for Oliver to finish what he had to say. "Look," She began - her tone low and just slightly off-pitch thanks to the slight modulation tech incorporated into her cowl. "I'm rather new to everything going on here in Star City, so I've had to play catch up in an extremely short amount of time." She prefaced. "We need to look at this from a more tactical perspective. Yes, we each have bits and pieces of information to share, but we should be focusing our efforts on the biggest problem at hand - how do you assail an underwater fortification with possible inhibitor technology in place? We still don't know if they actually have inhibitors in place around the power core or not, right? All our planning and preparations aren't going to do a damn bit of good if only a tiny fraction of us can even make a stand." Kate finished her statement with a sigh. "We need plans - and we need contingencies for that plan; and more for those."

HUMAN TORCH: “Whatever the plan is, I’d like to officially unassign myself from computer duty and underwater mystery investigations.” Johnny wasn’t the “come up with a plan” guy. He was the “ball of fire and great hair” guy, and lately he’d only been the latter. Peter wasn’t going to go off the rails, and if he was tucked behind a screen with Oracle and Red Robin then it wasn’t like he was going to cause another scene. Johnny didn’t need to be there, and he definitely had no place in the ocean. That left the other thing. He was pretty sure in all the many many words that had been spoken, somebody had said a team would be going after the other NOVA detention centers. He wanted a spot. With a small shrug, he leaned back in his chair. “That’s all I got.”(edited)

SPEED: His first impression had been that everyone talks so much. it was almost enough for Tommy to try hiding under the table to sleep until it would be over. Although the only aspect that keeps him actually paying attention is the fact they’re talking about a topic familiar to him. His fingers grip onto the armrest of his chair as they vibrate just enough to disintegrate them into ash while everyone talks. You just might miss it if you weren’t paying attention but at least Tommy didn’t blow anything up.

He spent his entire childhood in and out of detention centers. It wasn’t until his powers came in that they slapped an inhibitor collar around his neck and threw him in a high security prison. He knows what if’s like to be treated like an animal and experimented on everyday.

“You should always plan on scum like that having inhibitor technology built into everything. They’re prepared even if it doesn’t appear like they are. It could be in every wall they build.” His voice finally fills the room as he leans forward, memories of his own torture playing on repeat in his mind. It doesn’t stop him from getting a word in though. He doesn’t have much else to add because Tommy knows they wouldn’t like hearing what he would like to do. If it were up to him every facility would be vaporized with the scientists with it.

BATGIRL: Stephanie had five cookies left, but none of them were chocolate chip, and suddenly that was the one she actually wanted. Her gaze darted over to the plate once or twice as she pondered whether or not it was worth calling attention to herself just for another cookie. Ultimately, the answer was yes.

But she was quick. It was just a coincidence that she got back to her seat just as it suddenly seemed to be her turn. Was she supposed to say something? Her gaze darted to Bruce, Tim, and Cass - in that order - but then she shrugged. "...Sounds good to me. Anything that's not circling the same city block twelve times in one night." Patrol was getting a little repetitive, even though she enjoyed making the embarrassing NOVA tweets and TikToks. The one trending right now was one showing an agent reaching for his weapon only to discover that it'd been replaced with a very large churro.

HUNTRESS: Helena knew this was serious talk, and she was taking it seriously, but she had never been one for good posture, or for being a leader, for that matter. She was more than comfortable listening to the plans form around her, her foot slung up on the edge of her seat, chin propped against her knee, messing with the hoop in her conch piercing. She was paying close attention, even if it didn't appear that way. It was a strategy she used often: if no one took her seriously or thought she wasn't paying attention, they'd let slip information they'd otherwise hide.

So she was prepared when the discussion rolled around and it seemed to be her turn to talk, and sat up straighter, dropping her hand from her ear. "I'm with Green Arrow. Give me a direction to point some arrows, and I'm good. If you need to keep someone in my ear for on-the-fly instructions, my only request is that it's Oracle, Blue Beetle, or Red Robin," she dropped a wink in their direction. She knew enough to know that they'd most likely describe her as the 'problem child' of the Birds and want to keep track of her so she didn't take things into her own hands if things started to go south."Beyond that, I just wanna take these fuckers down." She shrugged. "However you want to use me to do it, I'm willing to do. But uh... I do agree with Bat-chick over there," she nodded towards the redhead, "We need some contingency plans. Something tells me NOVA isn't gonna have just one line of defense." With that, she sat back again, hand moving almost subconsciously back to the earring, twisting it back and forth.

HAWKEYE: Kate had technically led people before. She didn’t love it. It hadn’t even actually been on purpose. Regardless, it had happened (somehow) and given her a newfound appreciation for what it was like to be at the head of the metaphorical (or in this case very big and literal) table. She could just sit there and take direction, but...

“I don’t mean to pop the power bubble or anything, but I’m pretty sure that we shouldn’t be relying on anybody’s extra abilities to get or find or detect anything. It’s you guys,” she made a vague gesture at a random assortment of her fellow League-ers who were more than just baseline human, “that they’re trying to get rid of. This is just a shot in the dark,” except it wasn’t really, “but I’m guessing that means it’s probably also you guys that they’re prepared for. If they’ve got a super secret lair under the ocean, we should probably count on getting in the old fashioned way. Isn’t that like, somebody’s job? Your job, probably?” The final remark was directed toward Tony Stark at the front, though it probably didn’t rest squarely on his shoulders.

SCARLET WITCH: Wanda sat listening for the most part. She wasn't passive, per se, but she certainly wasn't going to interrupt. However, she didn't particularly appreciate the insinuation that she and the others in this room--mutant, meta, or enhanced--were not capable of infiltrating without their abilities. "If I'm not mistaken, mutants are not useless even with the inhibitors. All of the Avengers have been trained to fight by Captain America. As I understand it, so have the X-Men by Cyclops. While it is wise not to rely solely on our powers, we don't know what NOVA will do. Regardless, I'm sure it will be taken into account that powers may be lost." It made her uncomfortable to be seated in the same room as the X-Men discussing the loss of powers, but it was what it was. She was who she was. "As it is, however, we shouldn't do nothing with them on the chance NOVA will see fit to remove them again. We should use what we have while we have it."

She didn't even entertain the notion of grouping with Magneto and frankly couldn't help the look she shot Lorna in spite of herself. Fortunately, Anna spoke before that and she kept her tongue. Whether their reasons were the same was hardly the point. What did matter was that they surely didn't think her father was the right fulcrum for these plans. Rather than commenting, however, she instead turned her attention to the newcomer. She was old world, much like Steve and Bucky, but what she said did make sense. "A failsafe, as it were," she agreed, nodding to Gladys. "It makes sense. If it can be pulled off quickly enough." She glanced to Tony on reflex. He was, after all, the tech genius she was most familiar with. As Tommy spoke, Wanda could sense his discomfort with the scientists. She felt her jaw tense. Of course her child was uneasy. Without a thought, one long-fingered hand reached out to catch her son's, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She wanted to provide a quiet strength for him, and a grounding one. After all, he was always poised to bounce off the walls. And when he was uncomfortable, she knew it would be worse. He'd want to run off the extra energy.

MARVEL GIRL: Prior to the initial start of the meeting, Jean had caught sight of some faces, familiar and unfamiliar. There was hardly any time for any mingling, as it was serious business. But still, she made the effort to ensure her son was sitting right next to her. She had reached over and patted the top of his hand, leaning down to kiss his cheek before taking her seat.

There had been quite the amount of opinions, both formidable and perhaps, a bit disconcerting. She exhaled quietly right after Wanda had finished speaking and she stood from her chair to address the crowd.

“I for one, agree with Wanda,” she said, gesturing her sentiments towards the woman, “Though I myself have been out of commission for quite some time, I wouldn’t dismiss the idea that us mutants can’t continue to fight back even with the Inhibitors in play.”

She turned her gaze briefly towards Scott. She had worked with him for many years as well as most of the X-Men in the room. Though he was not perfect, he was someone she admired and to know that he was putting in his efforts on behalf of the X-Men was worth praising. “Scott is a formidable leader. He is very capable of consolidating our strategies as well as an excellent negotiator. If need be, I would like to echo his sentiments on dispersing us to work in tandem with the rest of the League.

The young lady with the underwater devices does have a point about observing the currents of the water, provided it is confirmed they do have an underwater facility. It would be far too dangerous to go in there unless we know what exactly is in there. If it’s deep enough, they could be using the darkness of the water as a disguise to hide various traps and mines. Not to mention water currents can be as aggressive underneath than just on the surface. If that’s the case, perhaps if there is someone willing to scan the area by sonars, we needn’t worry about losing any additional numbers in our rankings. As for the various ground teams, I would take advantage of those who are able to easily detect things by smell, such as my colleague, Logan and his daughters, who have an enhanced sense of smell. Surely, even if certain chemicals didn’t have a particular smell on the surface, I’m sure it could still be detected. If not, if there are any samples of such Inhibitors obtained, I’d recommend anyone with a strong knowledge of chemistry observe the ingredients to see if they react to certain elements such as fire or magic.”

Her gaze flickered in Logan’s direction, pursing her lips. “But of course, that is all pre-planning as I wouldn’t want anyone to be put at risk in those stages alone. I think it’s important to find out exactly what we’re dealing with other than the threat of a potential underwater facility. NOVA surely has information on some of us and may be more than prepared and if we don’t have the contingency plan, things will surely turn sour.”

WOLVERINE: This wasn't the first time Logan had worked with the Avengers and he'd been much less reticent than the others to attend the meeting, despite not always being the most reliable team player. The so-called Justice League he didn't know much of anything about. He wasn't exactly eager to end up on a team with a bunch of strangers, but it wasn't his call to make. There were a lot of things he could say about Scott, was perfectly willing to say about Scott, even, but he was here because he believed in his leadership. That was the whole point.

Everyone was just talking so damn much.

Seated between Natasha and Gabby made it a little harder to show that annoyance. He'd met Gabby recently, it took adjusting to, but he was already letting himself get involved in her training. He didn't doubt she was fully capable of holding a position on the team, but he hadn't seen her in action, not like he'd seen Laura or Daken, and she was different. Even Laura he didn't completely want on the X-Force.

He watched Jean as she spoke, giving a slight nod, and realized suddenly it was time for him to say something. Instead he made a nondescript hand motion. "I like the cookies. Next."

BUCKY BARNES: “The odds of figuring out exactly what’s in there ahead of time are probably zilch,” Bucky pointed out. He wouldn’t be heading to that facility, regardless, as the recon team had been working for months to be ready to take down the remaining detention centers. They were as ready as they were going to be for that, though. It wasn’t the thing that needed discussing. “Nothing is ever that easy. But given what we know about NOVA, whatever they’ve got isn’t something any of us want them to keep having.” He shifted in his seat and lifted his left hand as he looked to the three up front. ”However you get in, just make sure you’re ready not to leave anything behind. That’s what you need to do the old fashioned way.” Besides, an underwater explosion, by nature, was more easily contained.

LOKI: Loki nodded at Bucky’s assessment. He didn’t particularly understand the issue with mutants versus non, and he wasn’t at all uncomfortable to be sitting in a room with both. He considered for a moment. He had been trying to find out more about the inhibitors, but it was a slow process. June headed that up and he could get too deep in her science because of how territorial she was. Still... if they had some time, perhaps Loki could get Jihl to talk to him about it. He had had dinner in her office a few times and he could tell she was warming to him even more. He could get information about the facility maybe, if not the actual inhibitors.

“I should hope that the Media isn’t corrupt any longer,” he remarked. Though he would have been able to tell if Lois was a liar. “As for what goes on with NOVA, many of us are aware. Is that not why we’re here?”

He looked over to Batman and Captain America. “Your inside man,” he pointed out, knowing it was prudent to keep his name out of people’s heads specifically but aware that they had discussed the concept itself in the past. “Could he or she not try to tease out some information on this facility?”

SIGNAL: This was the first chance he'd had to really see everyone together. The past couple weeks had just been weird. Duke didn't really know how to process everything yet. He gave a short clap at the end of Gladys' presentation, grinning at her, and leaned over to whisper, "good job." Even though he hadn't seen the finished product until now, he still knew how long and hard she'd worked on it. She was clearly proving to be a good asset to the team. He was glad Bruce had trusted him enough to give her that chance, even though that undoubtedly meant he had a file on her now. That had been the only reason he'd hesitated in getting her involved.

"I don't think anyone in here would be useless without their powers," he offered mildly. With Bruce's rigorous training, he knew he would be able to keep up with the others. His abilities were completely separate from that. Judging from how competent Steve and Scott had proved to be as leaders, he had no reason to think they wouldn't have trained their teams similarly, or at least prepared them for that possibility in light of recent events. "I think the point she was trying to make was that plans shouldn't have us rely on enhancements if there is a chance of them being taken away."

CABLE: War never changes.

Nathan learned that lesson a long time ago. He rose up against Lord Apocalypse once, a vicious dictator from two thousand years into the future. He doesn’t know how to feel about the likelihood of him trying to rise up into power again but that isn’t what this meeting is about. The point of these thoughts is that Nathan has led armies before —and worked alongside others to strategize the best plan of action to take.

He might not be a leader anymore but maybe some mannerisms never really leave you. His messiah complex still deeply embedded into his actions. However, Nathan just wants to try helping out not just his fellow Mutants but anyone they needs his help. He has always fought for everyone and it was important to come together now.

He felt honored to be part of the meeting but maybe being part of the X-Men and X-Force meant playing his part by offering his expertise. It makes Nathan happy to have guaranteed a chair next to his mother — sitting up straight while everyone is talking their piece. He was even taking notes and scribbling in his own ideas between the lines. His attention focused on every gesture and expression while everyone spoke. It finally comes down to his turn so Nathan does what he happens to do best — public speaking.

His chair is pushed back silently, only a slight squeak before Cable is on his feet. Everyone else might have spoken while sitting down but that’s never how he addressed his associates in an environment like this. One hand made of flesh and bone pressed against the table while the cybernetic one is on his hip.

“If any of our efforts are going to work we have to unite as one. Some of us have never worked with each other but we’re here to change that. We don’t have much time but what we can’t afford to do is rush in without a plan.“ His left eye glowing yellow while speaking as wisps of energy flow out of it. “While I’m always in favor of using our abilities to our advantage, I agree with the others that we have to put into consideration that NOVA will develop creative ways to prevent us from using them. We can’t rely on just that if we’re going to succeed but you’re all brilliant so I trust that you know this already.” He’s not always this serious but Nathan takes meetings like this seriously and always will. “If there’s a chance that we can make this world a better one for all of us then who would turn it down? We’re taking these facilities down either with our enhancements or without them.” Nathan could do both — he’s an expert marksman after all and also pretty good with a sword too.

Deep breath. “Nobody is useless without their powers but maybe that’s not what they’d expect out of us. I look forward to investigating as part of X-Force. We should keep in mind that communication and cooperation will be a must going forward. This is about freeing those people and reuniting children with their parents. I take it very personally when families are ripped apart, maybe more than most but this isn’t about my personal feelings right now when there’s so much at risk. We know what NOVA is capable of but we can’t eliminate the potential for the unexpected. It won’t be easy but taking down any threat is always going to have it’s challenges. If we work together I know that we can come out on top in the end. This won’t be without bumps and bruises along the way but I have faith in us.” He takes a moment to look around the room.

“That’s all I got unless anyone wants to hear my potential tactics after we’re done here.” Nathan slowly sits down in his chair and his eye stops glowing finally. His gaze looks at who was next with a nod of his head as if to signal that it was their turn.

STINGER: Though Cassie took in every word that people said, she was otherwise slightly occupied. She was suddenly keenly aware of Tommy's presence, wanted to go something when he spoke, but the helmet and Stinger costume meant he didn't know who she was. Well, what she was about to say was going to be a dead giveaway in combination with the (very clear, very purposeful) Wasp designs in her costume. Still, she'd keep her cool in this moment, and find him the moment they finished. "Those of us with tech or no powers may be able to get inside, but it's still risky. As long as I have the suit, the pym particles will keep working for me, and I should be able to get small enough to avoid security sensors." no doubt, since the bank, Cassie hadn't gone anywhere without her suit stored somewhere on her person, terrified of being caught powerless again. Still, the suggestion was gentle as she even began to find flaws in it after a moment. Her helmet turns to the head of the table instead, trying not to stare at Tommy.

BEAST BOY: Gar sat quietly, looking from person to person as they spoke. He wasn't even sure he should be here, really. He hadn't taken on any real hero role (animal rescues didn't count) since he left the Titans, so to be at the table with everyone here was... wild. Still, he can't dent the way his heart tugs towards the people lamenting what NOVA could really do. He knew he'd be among the first to be picked out himself, but too much violence in response wasn't the answer. They needed a plan, and he's go with it, but for now he sat quietly, awaiting to see what those he was used to following would say.

FLASH: Contrary to his normal demeanour, Wally had elected to keep his mouth shut unless absolutely necessary. Seeing all the unfamiliar faces sat around the table had made him painfully aware of how long he'd been out of the game, and how much their world had changed since he'd taken his sabbatical from hero work. The experience was giving him flashbacks to when he was first introduced to the Teen Titans: young and naive, suddenly seeing a whole new world that he was suddenly a part of. AS the presentation started he reached down and gave M'ann's hand a squeeze, glad that she'd saved him a seat. The comfort didn't manage to stop the nervous machine-gun tempo of his heart as the reality of the situation seeped in. He was here, in costume, with Barry, and Megs, and Bats. Swap out M'gann for Dick and it was almost like the old days. Including a really ostentatious, expensive and largely impractical secret facility for the bad guys.

He leaned forward on the table, resting his chin on steepled fingers in thought. "Barry's right, our powers really don't gel with water all that well. We're still pretty fast, but the heat build up we generate evaporates all the water around us. So not exactly subtle. Get us close enough however..." He shrugged, knowing full well how difficult that would be. But who knows, maybe there was someone here whose powers could get them to a wall of a facility that was god knows how deep beneath the ocean. "There's not a lot of things that we can't phase through, and we probably have enough brain cells between us to unlock the doors." He became aware that he was breaking his no-talking rule by a significant amount. "You know, if possible. Not saying we have to, just thinking out loud."

BATMAN: Everyone deserved a chance to speak. For that reason Bruce was silent, his gaze shifting to each person as they said their piece, and he didn't once move to interject. The suggestions for contingencies were acknowledged with a slight nod. He never did anything without thorough planning. That included back-up plans and back-up plans for those back-up plans. Even if he hadn't been a vigilante for as long as others at this table, he knew nothing ever went according to plan.

Once it came back around to him, he was quick to make one thing clear, even though he'd stated it in no uncertain terms at the very start of the meeting: "A plan is already in place." This was a league and he knew that meant collaboration, but responsibility fell on the leaders' shoulders when it was all said and done. "What Iceman has said is correct. We do not have weeks. There is no time to test and redesign shields that could effectively protect against the inhibitors. We do not even know if it can be done. As Bruce Banner said, this radiation is nothing like what we've seen before." Although others had suggested using their powers to find the inhibitors, it was Lorna he addressed. He knew she'd attacked the NOVA facility from a distance with Erik, but that was before the inhibitors had been upgraded. At that point they had only affected mutants. "You will not be able to use your powers. Even when the inhibitors are shut off, they give off enough radioactive energy to effectively cloak themselves to metahuman, mutant, or alien abilities. We will not be able to rely on enhancements, which is why I would encourage everyone to brush up on their training. That is why," he directed his next statement to Gladys, "your deflector technology will be helpful. Red Robin, Oracle, and Spider-Man will be on the comms. They make up the first team. There will be three more. We've split them based on your individual abilities and where you're best suited to help. The first team is charged with detecting and infiltrating the underwater facility. Superman, Iron Man, Dr. Banner, Blue Beetle, Moxie, Cyborg, Tempest, Flash." He looked at Wally to indicate which Flash. "Wiccan, Scarlet Witch, Nightstar, Wolverine, Gambit, Polaris, Cable, and Raptor. Red Robin will be on your team's comms and help direct you, along with Moxie's technology. The second team will be large. There are multiple facilities involved. From my understanding, Cyclops will further split you up. This group will include Supergirl, Speed, Human Torch, Iceman, Nightcrawler, Zatara, Flash." Barry this time. "Black Widow, Rogue, Stinger, Black Bat, Captain America, Sergeant Barnes, Cyclops, Ms. Frost, Huntress, Marvel Girl, and Honey Badger. Oracle will be with you on the comms." He sighed. "As you know, we are unable to leave the city vulnerable. The final team will remain here - prepared, willing, and able to respond to any location at any given time. I will be on that team, along with Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Batwoman, Loki, Batgirl, Signal, Black Canary, Hawkeye, and Beast Boy. Spider-Man will be assisting us on the comms. The city will need us to be visible in the case that something goes wrong."

CYCLOPS: “It’s not lost on us how much is at stake here,” Scott began, looking toward Bobby, Nathan, and the others who had accompanied him there. It was the kind of fight that they’d been intimate with for most of their lives, a ceaseless monster of a thing that grew a new head every time one was removed, but it was a fight they could never give up on. By extension, it was one he never stopped planning for. A major reason he’d allied them with the League was the expectation that they could not lean too heavily on the abilities that came naturally for them, and that no amount of training could entirely prepare for that. They needed other resources, technology, and just sheer numbers - all things that the League and its members could provide. “We have to go into this with the intention and plan to use everything available to us. When it comes to NOVA, consider any powers you have to be a liability, not an advantage, and in any situation where we might rely on them we’ll have a second option.” And given the way both Scott and Bruce thought, probably a third and fourth one, too.” “X-Force will be going with the first team to the underwater facility. All of you are in this room with the exception of Kid Omega, and the assignment will be relayed to him as necessary.” There were enough dissenting voices and disruptions without including Quentin when it wasn’t required. “For the facilities outside the city, we have every reason to believe they’re structured similarly to the one taken down a few months ago. That mission didn’t end as we expected,” thanks to Erik and Lorna, which he didn’t point out, “but it let us know what to expect inside. Three six person teams will infiltrate these bases, liberate the people that NOVA is holding captive within them, and render the buildings unusable. We are not there to take the lives of the agents. This is a non-lethal mission, and anyone unwilling to abide by that rule...” he lifted a hand toward the door, “remove yourself. We can’t allow anyone to jeopardize this operation, the lives of your teammates, or the freedom of NOVA’s prisoners because you’d rather exact justice a different way. Is this clear?” He continued on, willing to address opposing opinions once they’d covered the basics of what he meant to occur. “You’ll be given your team assignments once this meeting has adjourned, and in the short window of time between this and when we take action, we’ll spend most of it training. Many of you in this room don’t know one another and trust doesn’t always come easily, but we’re all going to have to find it. We have a way into these facilities that we expect to work, a way to skirt around the inhibitors and get one person inside each of them to shut the system down and give the other team members a window. This has to happen simultaneously, or close to it, at all three locations. We don’t want NOVA to have time to compensate or react, if we can help it, and to do that we have to give them as little warning as possible. Execution in the beginning has to be as flawless as we can make it.” And for the X-Men in the room, they’d know Scott’s standards for that were particularly high. “That means working together and doing your part, but believing in the rest of us to do ours, too. I know this may seem like a situation where there’s too many cooks in the kitchen, but if we move in tandem and follow the plans that are being laid out, we can win here. We all know what’s at stake if we don’t.”

“That said...with most of the X-Men out of District X, the people on the other side of the wall are counting heavily on the League members remaining in the city to keep NOVA in check. We have our own defenses in place, but it’s a responsibility I normally take on myself. I’m taking...an enormous leap of faith.”

He nodded toward Steve, then. “Captain America, Emma, and I will be heading out to these detention centers with you and training with you to do it. We plan to be there every step of the way. X-Force, you’ve been told who you’ll have on your side, and you’ll hear more from Iron Man how you’ll be getting into the facility. Your mission is less predictable. I have faith in you all to complete it.“

CAPTAIN AMERICA: A while back, I said that some of you could train with Wanda and Dick on how to figure things out without the use of your powers. My team has been specifically trained in hand to hand as well as with their powers and it's been invaluable in times like these." They didn't have time anymore to recommend training. He could only hope people had taken Dick and Wanda up on the offer that had been made at the first meeting. He wasn't sure how Scott trained his people, but he didn't ask right now. They had already placed emphasis on being sure to be ready to use them as a last resort.

He waited to see if anyone left on the non-lethal stipulation, hoping they didn't lose anyone. He was glad when his team and the X-Men proved them all right by not leaving before he continued on. "Avengers, we've done things like this before. You know how goes. Tony's got briefings on the detention facilities, like Scott said. With any luck and a lot of strategy, we'll be able to get in, do what we need to do, and get out without much fuss and this'll be a huge hit against NOVA. We can manage this kind of thing without bloodshed. I know we're capable of that."

He glanced to some of the people around the table before adding, "If you see anything while you're on this mission that could be useful in the future, I absolutely suggest you take note of it. Maps, plans, et cetera. That's not the main focus of the mission, but you'd be amazed what kinds of things you can run across." That had been how he had managed so many years ago to help take down HYDRA. Just one glance at a map when he was on a rescue mission for Bucky. It had been invaluable.

IRON MAN: It had taken an enormous amount of effort to sit there and wait until everyone finished talking. Tony had to force himself not to interrupt at least half a dozen times, particularly to explain the pointlessness of using abilities to locate devices that canceled out abilities, but even he recognized that not everyone in the room was up to date on the technology. It had undergone a massive enhancement once it was upgraded to include mutants. He managed to relax when that was explained, at least as much as he could relax with frayed patience. "The silver lining is that there's a lot of gray area between alive and dead, for those of you not morally reticent."

Nodding, he stole a quick glance around the table at those named to be in their group. A click of a button displayed a 3-D map of a NOVA facility that had been provided to him prior to the meeting. "All of their above ground facilities are laid out the exact same way. Guess NOVA doesn't budget for style. As Cyclops pointed out, my team, the one that's going underwater: we're at a disadvantage. I have a plan, but it'll be touch and go. We don't know that the layout will match this. We have to rely on constant and consistent communication with each other and, more importantly, Robin. Right? ...No. You're one of them though, I know that - wait, don't tell me." He snapped his fingers. "Red Robin. We'll go over the details later." Unlike the other team, they weren't fortunate enough to have actual 3D blueprints. Most of their information would be reliant on Gladys and Tim and what they would pull from their respective technologies. For Steve's sake, he was attempting to trust that everyone knew what they were doing - but seeing firsthand how the bat cult offered some comfort.

CYCLOPS: “You have your assignments,” Scott interjected after Tony. “Those of you heading to the detention centers, convene with me and I’ll split our teams. Use what little time we have wisely, find a way to trust the people you’re going in with. Whatever differences we’ve had, leave them at the door for now. We’ve got too many people counting on us.”

He glanced toward Steve and Bruce to see if they had any parting words, and for his part ended on a simple, “Good luck to all of us.”

CAPTAIN AMERICA: Steve nodded as Scott spoke, pleased by how well this had gone. "Remember that it takes teamwork for an undertaking like this one, but it's what we've been working towards for months now. This is the first step in finally getting these guys outta here. Familiarize yourselves with one another as much as you can. Trust that we'll have each other's backs." He shook his head. "The last thing we want is for a man to get left behind if we can help it, and we want to get the people suffering out of harm's way. But this is what we do best."

With a little playful grin, he added, "I'd say 'Avengers assemble', but we're so much bigger than that this time around. Just like this is so much bigger than any one team." He looked around at every face around the table before speaking up. "Heroes," he said in that authoritative tone, because that's what they were. First and foremost, beyond teams, beyond friendships, and their grievances of the past between one another. They were sworn to protect, to save those who could not save themselves. And perhaps there wasn't need for pomp and circumstance for them. So he spoke to them like a man speaking to his equals, fist curling in front of him to assert the point. "Let's get it done."

#starcevent #starcplotdrop #starcadmin #dc rp #marvel rp

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excuseme-youpretty · 5 years ago

Photo

Pairing: Kim Namjoon / Reader

Side Pairings: None

Rating: Teen

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 3,748

Warnings: Brief allusions to sex, but nothing too graphic.

Notes: This oneshot was requested by anonymous. They wanted adorable fluffy Namjoon spending a rare day off with his partner. I hope, wherever you are, that you liked it and I’m sorry for the delay ♥ I’ve had a virus that’s been kicking my ass.

Make your own requests: HERE

As you fold your body up on the axis of your hip, rotating in a clean arc to reach across the mattress toward Namjoon's designated patch, you are fully expecting to feel the cool compress of abandonment rippling along your sheets.

It's always the same, the harsh bite of cold satin which has somehow preserved your boyfriend's silhouette and the residual cling of his cologne; leaving you a little disappointed but nevertheless eager to progress your day until his inevitable return.

Only on this morning it is not a reminiscent frost that you feel, but rather an unmistakable warmth and the soft, shallow breaths which can only belong to one man.

Namjoon wakes you organically, with lips of spun sugar and the barely-there pull of his teeth leaving a curl of calligraphy along the underside of your jaw. He tastes of peppermint and sunrise, pulling you from the remnants of your sleep with a soft exhale of your name.

"Good morning, Princess." He sighs, nuzzling a deliberately soft semi-circle just beneath your ear. "Or should I say 'good afternoon'?'"

The hot midsummer sun bleeds through your aerated curtains like tangerine paint dripping from a saturated canvas. You can hear songbirds twittering enthusiastically just outside your window and the elated laughter of children participating in a rowdy all-bets-off game of kickball in the park across the street.

Everything is go go go. Nonstop motion. Somehow, the world ticks on in spite of your unorthodox absence.

The crab-shaped clock on the wall indicates that you have missed breakfast. You are close to missing lunch, too.

And you couldn't be more delighted.

Because with Namjoon, days off are as rare as a rainstorm in the middle of the Sahara; a much-deserved rejuvenation.

"What time is it?" You whisper, your words coming out all slurred and sleep-blanched.

Namjoon presses a gentle kiss to the tip of your nose. "Well, let's see… I accrued three missed calls and four text messages before finally deciding to just turn off my phone."

"Ah, so the children are missing your effervescent presence then?"

"It would appear so. As long as we can get through the day without Yoongi-hyung committing mass Fratricide, I'll consider it a victory."

You can't help but to giggle at the notion as unprompted visuals of an unamused Yoongi wrestling with a quartet of multicolor leashes, each one connected to the torso of a hyperactive dongsaeng, and Seokjin's disapproving pursed lips, overwhelm your senses.

"And in the meantime? You have a whole twenty-four hours before things return to normal. How do you want to spend it?"

Namjoon answers your question with the brush of his lips against your own. He takes his time claiming your mouth, his lips startlingly hot in contrast to his sweet and minty tongue.

Namjoon's fingers weave slanted tendrils down over the bare flesh of your pelvis as soon as you part, summoning a film of goosebumps to the surface of your sun-soaked skin.

You shudder helplessly as you ride out the residual sensation of such an earth-moving kiss.

"Mmm… Well, I hope you're happy, Mister. That kiss just wasted a good five minutes of free time."

Your boyfriend's teeth pull a fluorescent pinstripe across his bottom lip, seemingly lighting his way as he begins his slow descent down your exposed stomach and between your thighs as they give without much instruction.

"If you call kissing you until you're weak a 'waste of time' then you're really gonna hate this next part, Princess."

The tip of his nose skims past your naval, crafting a pathway for himself in the stipple of airbrushed freckles which blossom on your skin. And yet, you are quick to catch the nape of his neck with your fingers, maintaining a barely-there hold of his hair to prevent him from creeping any lower.

"Hold up there, Handsome. How about we nail two birds with one stone? There's a hot, soapy untimed shower with your name on it. And I'd be more than willing to help you scrub any… hard to reach places~"

Namjoon tilts his head back inside your loose grasp, the pads of your fingertips pushing through his silvery-blonde strands to rest almost tauntingly against his scalp. He purses his lips in thought.

"Well, I'd be a fool to refuse such a titillating offer." He presses a large open-mouthed kiss to the underside of your naval. "And I'm no fool."

You are plucked from the barely-there drape of your duvet before you can reasonably react, Namjoon's arms imprisoning your midsection and hefting you skyward before carrying you into the cool porcelain of your bathroom.

The water which had cascaded down from your shower faucet was luxuriously light, a sprinkling of powdered sugar across your sleep-eased muscles. And yet the petting was nothing short of heavy.

Namjoon had taken his time working sweet-smelling suds into your skin until you gleamed with sparkling iridescence; scents of lavender and violet mingling with the sharp musk of your boyfriend's shampoo.

He had kissed you until your lips ached, buttering you up with an overdose of affection even as you stepped out of the shower and into the baked afternoon sunlight.

After a brief rendezvous in your closet, one which had taken longer than necessary to navigate thanks to Namjoon's wandering hands and greedy lips, you both finally settled on outfits which would compliment such a rare day off.

He now sits across from you, grinning from ear to ear as he indulges himself in a

verifiable cloud of scrambled eggs and generously buttered toast; the first home-cooked meal he has had the pleasure of tasting in far too long. Even Seokjin's schedule has become so saturated that he can no longer find the time to finesse his way around their dormitory kitchen.

Who would have thought a group of seven growing boys could survive on a consistent diet of frequented takeaway restaurants and prepackaged vending machine snacks?

He always looks so beautiful like this, dressed in nothing but a pair of faded jeans and a simple t-shirt. His hair, still damp from your shared shower and lacking any product, hangs limply around his handsome face in a fashion not too dissimilar from the signature whistle necklace draped across his chest.

"I swear, babe, this is amazing." Namjoon croons, using a napkin to stipple away the loose crumbs which have gathered in the crevice of his ever-present smile. "What's your secret?"

Pushing your fingertips through the damp sheen of his hair, you take a seat beside him and indulge in a long, contemplative sip of your orange juice.

"A whole lot of love for my boyfriend and an unreasonably long night's sleep."

Namjoon's grin is so vast that his eyes momentarily disappear into little crescents.

"That's fair."

He wraps an arm securely around your shoulders, tucking you into his hip where he feeds you small prisms of toast and watches as the amaranth horizon dances across your cheekbones.

You feel the cold, wet compress of a soft puppy nose brushing against your calf when RapMon darts wildly between your ankles. He yips musically, vibrating with an overdose of unexpected energy as though he himself had also indulged in a deliciously long slumber and was now reaping the rewards of his pent-up energy.

Namjoon can't help but to laugh, the sound reverberating in tandem with the small bell looped onto Moni's technicolored collar.

"I think our Puppy is ready to hit the road. Don't you, Princess?"

"It would certainly appear so."

You watch as Namjoon cross-hatches his thumb across an array of emails on the screen of his business cell phone, organising them into their designated folders, before he opts to switch off the device all together.

Following his lead, you gather up the empty breakfast plates and place them in the sink; deciding rather quickly that all dishwashing tasks are a problem for a future you. You take a bottle of chilled water from the fridge and grab Moni's collapsible bowl as well as his monogrammed leash, clipping it in place upon his collar and earning some gentle puppy-dog kisses in response.

You run your fingers through Moni's soft fur, giving special attention to his pointed ears and muzzle. Placing an affectionate kiss to his snout, you rise to your feet once more and turn towards your boyfriend.

Namjoon rattles his house-keys with a grin.

"Ready to get some sunshine?"

"With you? Always!"

The scarlet-hot skyline reflects prettily upon the shimmering silver swingset where you perch, your toes dangling mere millimetres above the dew-slicked grass. Scents of fresh pine and spring flowers permeate the air, as well as the sugary sweetness of cotton candy being spun into cute little beehives by a nearby vendor.

At the centre of the park, a small group of children are having a competition to see who can blow the largest bubble. Like confetti, the air is full of shiny little bubbles as they rise up to the sky. And darting after them with an open mouth and comically wagging tongue is a soap-spritzed Moni.

The children shriek with laughter, running around in circles with Moni bouncing merrily behind them.

Namjoon's fingertips brush over your shoulders as he pushes you gently on the swing. He traces plump cartoon hearts over the nape of your neck, erecting a small film of goosebumps with every stroke.

"It's such a gorgeous day out." He muses, turning his head to place an unexpected kiss against your forehead.

"Yeah, we really lucked out. Summer sunshine allll day."

"I'd take thunderstorms and heavy rain in a heartbeat as long as I get to spend the day with you, baby."

Ever a poet, Namjoon's words leave your insides tingling akin to sticky sherbet and fizzing pop rocks.

"Dork~" You chastise in a soft voice full of mirth.

You can feel his infatuated grin press into the back of your neck, his fingertips twirling around the stray strands of hair which ribbon over your noon-warmed cheeks.

"Only on my days off."

When Namjoon's digits begin to sway across your collarbones, you concertina them gently between your fingertips. You bring his hand to your lips, kissing across his skin with an audible smack. The pad of his thumb skims over your cheekbone as though he were an artist buffing paint across a canvas.

"You're so beautiful, Princess." He muses.

His words take on an illustrative quality; as though he were scribbling his infatuation across clean journal pages. And yet, before you can respond, he's dipping down just out of view to clasp a fistful of lawn.

"What're you doing, Joonie?"

"Just wait and see - It's a surprise."

Behind you, you can feel Namjoon's fingers work with fast needle-sharp precision. The rounded edge of his nail pierces through stem after stem as he braids several dainty daisies together into a makeshift crown.

"Now, what is it that every princess needs, baby?"

"Her Prince Charming? Or Prince Destroys-Everything-He-Touches, whatever works."

"This is true." Wiping away the residual pollen on the leg of his pants, Namjoon takes a step closer toward you. He carefully places the crown on top of your head. "But she also needs her very own tiara!"

Grinning maniacally, you bring a hand up toward your head to stroke over the small stack of downy-soft petals which frame your forehead.

"You're so cute, you know that?" You shriek, gasping when Namjoon presses a stream of rapid open-mouthed kisses against your glowing cheek.

"Yeah, it's a special gift of mine. Come here, gorgeous."

With his hand outstretched in front of you, Namjoon holds his phone poised on both of your grinning faces. He snaps picture after picture, selca after selca, honing in on the kaleidoscopic shimmer of your eyes and the iridescent glow of lip balm which has transferred from your lips onto Namjoon's.

You stay like that for what feels like an eternity; dissolving into a world where your boyfriend's palms leave semi-permanent prints upon your hips from how tightly he embraces you and his laughter resonates deep within the crevices of your soul.

Namjoon's cellphone feels positively heavy with the weight of all the memories you have captured together. From the soft and tender lip-locks, to the poorly performed rendition of Magic Shop, to the footage you filmed of a hyperactive Moni playfully chasing a butterfly through a cluster of dandelions.

You have squeezed an entire month's worth of desperately craved affection into a single afternoon.

It is only once the air begins to develop the faintest tickle of frost that you finally decide to depart from the park.

Namjoon's jacket falls around your shoulders like a cloak of denim. His cologne overwhelms your senses, scents of crisp waters and juniper berry, and at your feet walks a very tired but exceptionally happy puppy.

After briefly stopping by your favourite local bookstore to purchase some light reading material, as well as picking up an order of strawberry croissants and freshly brewed coffee from the quaint little patisserie where you and Namjoon had your first date, you finally arrive home.

You unclasp Moni's leash, prompting him to scurry enthusiastically over toward his pet bed for a well-deserved nap, and retreat back to your own bedroom in order to slip out of your dress and into something more comfortable.

Namjoon's old sweatpants drape around your hips like an elasticated hula-hoop, just barely held in place by fraying cord and sheer willpower. The sweater you have liberated from the back of your closet was once a Christmas staple before the gaudy crimson bows fell off, leaving a simple doe in its place. There are pinhole sized holes all over the elbow and sleeve, as well as a fraying hem, and yet you always find your greatest comfort when dressed in those faded and pilling fibres.

Once you have changed into your lounge wear, you return back to your living room to find Namjoon staring purse-lipped at the carpet beneath his toes. He has his business cell phone tucked in against his ear.

"So there's no major emergency then, Guk? Because this is supposed to be my day off."

You can just barely make out the airbrushed whistle of Jeongguk's voice tittering apologetically on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, she's here." Namjoon glances up at you, smiling fondly as you throw yourself down on a nearby couch. "We're about to settle in for the evening actually, so - I… yep, okay. I'll tell her. Mhm. I will. You too, Kookie. Aight, bye."

"That sounded like fun~" You tease, wedging your spine backwards into a mismatched eruption of multicolored pillows. "Are all six members present and accounted for?"

"So far. JK sends his regards."

Rubbing away the small pearls of tension which had accumulated in his temples during the duration of his phone call, Namjoon places his cellphone down on the coffee table. He passes over your coffee order as well as a beautiful ooey-gooey strawberry croissant and folds his large limbs over the criss-cross of your own.

His lips are a scarlet compress of sugar-syrup kisses against your cheek as he presses small puffs of laminated pastry into your open mouth.

"Now, what are we watching, Princess?"

It is surprisingly easy to dissolve into a rarely-negotiated routine with your billion dollar boyfriend.

With old Friends reruns playing quietly in the background, interrupted only by the occasional snore from Moni as he navigates his way through a puppy dreamland, and the balanced warmth of Namjoon's large fingertips weaving aimless patterns across your scalp, your afternoon bleeds well into the evening before Namjoon's ravenous stomach alerts you to the passage of time.

Your fingertips have been fragranced by the scent of persistently thumbed pages, and you have just reached the point in your novel where the fair maiden must choose between the handsome but tender farm-hand or the rugged but passionate business executive.

You spare a glance toward your own leading man. With his deep-set dimples and a smile which could thaw the Arctic, you conclude that you have your own fairytale ending right in front of your very eyes.

"Hey, seeing as I'm in such a good mood, why don't we start on dinner? We can attempt that spaghetti recipe again!"

You can't help but to tut at the notion. "You mean the spaghetti recipe which nearly burned our entire kitchen down?"

"That was an accident. It could've happened to anyone!"

"You tried to cook the pasta without any water, Namjoon-ah."

"In my defence, I followed the instructions carefully. 'Cook the noodles in a pan.' I did that."

"Oh, they were cooked alright."

You giggle in response to Namjoon's petulant pout, smothering the blush of his bottom lip in a brief but affectionate kiss.

"How about instead of turning our kitchen into a living charcoal exhibit we order takeout from that Italian place you love?"

Namjoon's stomach rumbles with ravenous hunger as though in response to your proposal and you can't help but to laugh as you reach for the phone, having already committed your boyfriend's usual order to memory.

It is less than an hour later, once your stomachs have been sufficiently plied by copious quantities of rich, herby sauces and ribbons of silken (and most definitely not cremated) pasta, that Namjoon is curling back into your hip with a well-worn notebook in hand.

You have both settled on a film for the evening, opting to delve headfirst into the technicolor vibrancy of San Fransokyo with Moni settled comfortably upon your lap and the fuzziest blanket imaginable draped around your shoulders.

Namjoon's breath is deliciously warm where it unfurls across your throat, dripping like molten honey into your collarbones and stippling a light film of goosebumps across your skin. You can't help but to shudder as his lips find your temple, your cheek, flowing freely across the ridge of your jawline until he finally settles against the upturned curl of your lips.

"I love you so much, Princess." He sighs, inundated with adoration for his girl.

"Not as much as I love you."

As the movie plays quietly in the background Namjoon's fingertips are ever-moving. The light scrape of his pen nib darting across clean paper provides a percussive soundtrack to Baymax's bumbling antics, the edge of his palm stained by faded charcoal ink from touching the page before his words have sufficiently dried.

Out of the corner of your eye you can just barely make out the curl of Namjoon's haphazardly jotted Hangul, piecing together the sentences he has written in your honor.

'...Your eyes are a sunrise which blanch my skin and leave me burning all night long.'

'... Your smile, sweeter than candy, paints syrup in my veins with every glance.'

'... When you say you love me I can feel it resonate skin-deep, stacking promises like petals in my ribcage.'

Namjoon's lyrics are picturesque and beautiful. Even without the accompaniment of instruments and production you can practically feel a cococonphy of emotional ARMYs singing along passionately to each word; as though wearing your boyfriend's carefully scribed poetry like a badge of honor.

To be the inspiration behind so many awe-inspiring songs, whose lyrics act like a beacon of hope for many individuals scattered throughout the universe, well… it's quite the undertaking.

Fortunately, Namjoon makes it all worth it. He's handsome and expressive and capable of leading an entire ARMY into a head space of pure gold.

And as he pulls your body a fraction closer to his own, the tip of his nose nestling against your pulse point to emboss an asymmetric heart on your honeydew skin, you realise you couldn't possibly love him any more.

As the credits for Big Hero 6 begin to roll across your television screen, stark and loud and full of celebratory fanfare, Namjoon is quick to locate the television remote underneath his saturated notebook pages in order to hit mute.

Beside him your eyelids have fallen to a close, lips parted to release several soft snores which fall in almost perfect tandem with Moni's fitful exhales. Your lashes flutter delicately, poured like strips of raven lace across your cheekbones, and your fingers curl instinctively in your lap as you clutch onto whatever adorable projection your mind has chosen to supply.

Placing his notebook and pen aside, Namjoon is careful to shoo RapMon away from your lap so that he does not disturb you. He half-attempts to fold the blanket which had cocooned your shoulders, opting instead to toss it onto the nearby recliner out of harm's way.

Your body is feather-light when he lifts you into his embrace. He is careful to rest your cheek against his chest, hooking your legs over his forearm to make it easier to transport you to the safe haven of your bed.

After navigating your hallway with a surprising degree of sufficiency, having knocked over little more than a plastic vase containing decorative pebbles and perhaps skewing a photo frame or three, Namjoon carefully places you upon your bed.

Your mattress seems to eagerly welcome the barely-there compress of your body, your satin sheets lapping up against your limbs like terracotta waves frothing upon the shore.

Once he has dimmed the lights, Namjoon places his cellphone down onto his bedside table and connects his charging cable once he is certain that he has reinstated his god-forsaken alarm.

He kicks off his jeans, opting to remain in his t-shirt and boxers for tonight, and carefully removes his whistle necklace so that he can slide comfortably in bed beside you.

Your perfume lingers upon the collar of his shirt, fragrant and floral and enhanced considerably by the catalyst of Seoul's delicious summertime air. And on his lips burns the faintest smother of the strawberry lip balm you so generously applied after your post-dinner teeth cleaning; the very same lip balm that Namjoon had been so eager to kiss off of you.

In your sleep, you turn comfortably onto your side, bowing your spine backwards until you reach the solidity of your boyfriend's elongated torso. Namjoon is quick to bracket his calf around your ankles, pressing a stream of steady kisses down your jugular and over the swell of your clavicle.

"Sweet dreams, my Princess." He sighs softly. Contentedly.

His lashes soon begin to droop as though laden with lead, influenced in no small part by an entire day's worth of carefree relaxation and indulging without consequence.

No meetings.

No leadership.

No band mates.

Just his beautiful dog, his beautiful girlfriend and a beautiful twenty four hours.

#bts #bangtan sonyeondan #bangtan boys #bts ff #bts drabble #bts fanfiction #bts fluff #kim namjoon #rap monster #rm #namjoon #kim namjoon x reader #kim namjoon x you #kim namjoon x y/n #bts request #bts imagines #bts drabbles #peanootzramano #bts writer

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writingsilly · 5 years ago

Text

Underwater (ch. III)

Description: Your bad behaviour led you to stay the whole summer in your town of birth with your grandfather. The very first day, you went for a walk to the beach and had an encounter with a stranger that would change your whole life.

Pairing: Reader x Merman!Taehyung.

Genre: Angst, suspense, sci-fi.

Trigger warnings (!!!): Blood, swearing, angst.

Click here to read in AO3!

III: Ten Seconds

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Looking back, you could have avoided this situation. You could have simply stayed home that night, you would not have met Taehyung, and you would not be here with Namjoon looking at you as if you were crazy. To be fair, you probably were out of your mind if you thought that Namjoon was going to just give you information about him. But no, of course you would not let it go just like that.

Namjoon’s grandmother was too nice for her own good. She invited you to her house, which was at the back of those bright yellow beaded curtains, to enjoy some homemade lemonade in her balcony. You knew she was only trying to be polite and kind and all that jazz, and the balcony was beautiful, but there was a little problem; you could hear the sea from there.

It had been, what, twelve hours? And Taehyung had already ruined the sea for you, for good, probably.

And you did not know what made you more nervous, the stink-eye Namjoon was giving you while he nibbled on a biscuit, or the way the sea seemed to be getting nearer and nearer.

“So,” Namjoon coughed and dusted off the crumbs of his hands, “are you gonna talk or what?”

That was the thing; you did not know what to say. Taehyung had literally told you not to mention to anyone about your encounter with him, and you were sure that he would not hesitate to make you, or whoever, suffer for talking too much.

“I don’t know where to start-”

“The beginning,” he replied shrugging.

You paused. How could you make your story simple? You had to make him trust you, otherwise, he would never tell you whatever he knows about him. But, at the same time, you did not want to involve him more than necessary, because it would not be fair. It could be dangerous. You were already putting him at risk just by showing up to ask for information.

“I met someone last night. He just told me his name, and,” you stopped for a second to properly think about what you were going to say next, “let’s just say he made a strong impression. I need to know more about him.”

“And you’re asking me, why?”

“My grandfather lives here. He told me that you and the other Golden Grandchildren are my age, so I thought you may know this guy, too” you explained as plainly as you could.

“ ‘Golden Grandchildren’ ?” He chuckled. “It’s been a long time since someone called me that on my face,” he commented to no one in particular.

You could easily know what he meant by that. While walking around town, you could feel people whispering about you, and how his eyes would scrutinize your figure as if you were a weird creature from a fantasy book.

“Yoongi, Jimin and I aren’t the only ones that have been raised here,” he suddenly said, “but it is true that we’re the only ones that come back.”

“You lost me.”

The way he rolled his eyes was almost too annoying.

“Young people, like you and me, are not so common around here because they all run away as soon as they can. They don’t look back. They believe here is where dreams come to die.”

You tilted your head, sceptically.

“A little dramatic, don’t you think?”

“I do think that; that’s why I come back every year.”

Suddenly, you wondered about what Namjoon’s dreams were. He seemed just a few years older than you, maybe one or two, so it may have been possible that he had not figured what he wanted to do yet, but you liked to think that he had, and that even when he had a dream, he would return to this little town every year because his birthplace meant something more to him than simply the place he could get away from.

If you thought about it a little more, you could picture him studying something he had a passion for, something meaningful. He certainly did not look like someone who would just suck it up and accept what came to him, and you liked to think that he had fought for his beliefs at some point in his life.

“Do you have one?”

“Do I have a what?” He asked frowning.

“A dream.”

He smiled, as if you had asked the dumbest question he had ever heard, and then shrugged.

“What was his name again? The guy’s you met last night, I mean,” he took out his phone from the back pocket of his shorts, scrolling down with his thumb.

“Kim Taehyung.”

Namjoon hummed, still looking at his phone while typing on it. At first, you thought he was actively ignoring you, but then he frowned and looked at you with a puzzled expression on his face. Something was wrong.

“Are you sure that’s his name?” He asked with his eyes never leaving yours.

“That’s what he told me,” you muttered. “Do you think he lied to me?

The fact that you needed to ask a complete stranger if another stranger had lied to you was overly ridiculous. Of course he had lied to you! Why in the world would you even think that this guy could have given you his real name?

“It’s either that or he might not be from around here…”

No, you refused to believe that. He knew your grandfather. He had to live here, there was no other explanation.

“Is it possible that you might not know him?” You asked, desperate at this point.

Namjoon huffed. “It’s possible, but why are you so interested in this guy anyway?”

You knew by now that he was not buying the whole “big impression” story. He looked like the type of guy that is not easy to lie to. But what more could you do? You just met him, and he was being nice enough! You did not want to scare him away with the true story.

“He was really nice to me,” you lied, “We talked all night, and when he left, I realised that I hadn’t asked for his number or anything like that. It would be a shame to lose contact with him.”

The lies were something you could handle at home. Your father was gullible, or maybe he just did not have the time to dig any further to find out if you were telling the truth or not, and perhaps that was why you did it all the time.

But now… It was different. Most people here were suspicious, you could see it.

“I’ll tell you something,” he sighed, “I’ll ask Jimin if he’s heard about this Taehyung guy. Trust me, if Park Jimin doesn’t know him, no one does.”

You should have felt relieved, you knew that. You should have thanked Namjoon for going through all this trouble, but you found yourself struggling with an unpleasing pain at one side of your head. What if Jimin had never heard about Taehyung? Where were you going to look for information if you did not even have a name, to begin with?

The idea of Taehyung being a hallucination was starting to sound less and less crazy now…

But you knew that even when you would have loved for that to be true, it simply was not. It could not be when you could still feel his hands on you, and the way your skin burned with every step you took when you were coming back home from the beach, and it had not been because of your feet, it all had been the result of intense fear. Taehyung had made you feel unsafe in the only place you had ever considered to be home.

“Wanna go together?”

“I’m sorry, what?”

Namjoon snorted.

Since you had arrived, he seemed so serious, overly formal, but whenever he laughed, something on his expression would change. His eyes looked brighter than ever and his smile was almost childlike. It was a pretty sight.

“I’ve always thought that people our age should stick together,” he explained, “so maybe you’d like to meet Yoongi and Jimin? I was going to meet them anyway. They’re cool, don’t worry.”

There was hesitation from your side, and it did not take a genius to figure it out why…

But it was not only because of the fear of meeting new people since that awful encounter with Taehyung, but it was also the way Namjoon said it. He seemed like a truly nice guy, and his friends did too, but you could not afford to involve them in your mess. It would not be fair.

“I don’t know, I should go back to my grandfather's…

“Who’s he?” he asked.

You had to stop yourself from answering right away. It had not been a long time since you met him, and Namjoon had already won a certain level of trust from you. He radiated this energy that made you feel safe -like you could believe in anything that came out of his mouth. You wondered if that was smart; to trust him with this kind of stuff, but then you concluded that if he did not know enough to get in trouble, all would be okay. You had to be careful with what you decided to and what not to say.

“He lives in the old, white house, away from the centre of the town,” you answered.

“And you walked all the way here?” You nodded. “This Taehyung must be someone special, huh?”

“You have no idea…”

By the time you got to your grandfather’s, the sun was offering the last ray of light of the day. The temperature was dropping significantly. It brought memories from last night, which you did not appreciate at all, it was a constant reminder that you would have to go to the beach again and face Taehyung.

Of course, you could always ditch him, but there was something that told you that doing that would only ruin things, worse than they already were. Taehyung had shown himself rather calmed when you met him, and that was threatening enough for you to know that an angry Taehyung would be scary as hell.

You saw your grandfather sitting on the porch of the house, with a blanket wrapped around his legs and a book between his hands. There was also a cup of what you assumed it was tea, resting on the table beside him. That image brought more memories, but this time, they were happy memories. The kind of thoughts that work as an escape in situations of distress, like a safe space in the middle of an earthquake. And it sounded stupid, even in your own head, but you could actually feel the heat that the sun would bring to your skin years ago. If you compared it to what you felt today under the hot summer, years ago, the weather would not have bothered you because you were so used to it. It was home, the only thing you knew.

You were glad it had not changed a bit.

You stepped on the first step of the porch and your grandfather raised his gaze from the book. His glasses hanging dangerously low from his nose. You figured he had fallen asleep while waiting for you to come back.

“Hey, sweetie,” he smiled.

A dull wave was the only thing you managed to give back. If he had noticed, he did not say anything. He put the book down and got on his feet with a groan.

“Want some dinner?”

The truth was; no, you did not. You could not think about anything but Taehyung and the way his eyes would hunt you even when he was not there with you to torture you.

Your stomach had literally shut down. Your chest, bubbling up with anticipation, but it was not the good kind because the sun was starting to hide as if it was scared of what the night was promising. You found yourself sympathising with the sun. You were terrified as well.

Everything around you reminded you of the night before. The way the wind blew gently against your figure, making noticeable the lack of clothing for this kind of temperature, just like last night. The vague memory of that was enough to make you shiver to your very core. But the worst thing of them all was that you had to get used to that feeling. You knew it was going to follow you for a very long time, if not forever, like a shadow.

“I’m fine. I just came back to check my phone and then I’ll go for a walk on the beach.”

Back when you had snatched your phone from your father’s drawer, it did not seem like a big deal. It had happened many times before, and your father was not okay with it, you knew that much, but he would always shut up about it because he knew better than to start yet again another discussion with you about how important it was for you to have your phone with you at all times. Arguments like: “what if there is an emergency?” Or “what if I have something about school? Is that what you want, dad, for me to stay disconnected from the real world?” would easily leave your mouth, smooth and clear like water. You actually thought that your phone was the most important thing…

Now you were not so sure.

Going through your notifications, you felt a weight on top of your chest. Jungkook and Hoseok had made clear how much they missed you, and how confused they were about you not replying their texts. You just figured that that was a natural reaction. Your head was somewhere else. While, yes, you missed them so much, and you could not stop thinking about the day you would get to see them again, there was still this sense of responsibility that you could not get rid off. Because if there was something you could not do was to lie to them. And something like Taehyung was not something you could just skirt around in a conversation. You wanted to tell them. Of course, you did. And not because you wanted their help, but because you needed to talk about it with someone.

But you knew that telling them would not be a clever move. Taehyung was omnipresent, that was how you felt him. He was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Namjoon had not heard about him, and at this point, you would not be surprised if his friend Jimin had not either, but he was real. The fear he could inject in you was real, tangible, in the air or in your own skin.

Jungkook: Okay, the bobby pin thing was just a trick (17:33) But you can come back tho right? (17:33) Say yes :( (17:34)

Hoseok: Kook is suffering lol (18:17) I shouldn’t laugh (18:17) I’m suffering too (18:17)

The thing about good friends like them is that the separation hurts like a bitch for both parties. If you really thought about it, you did not miss your father at all. But that was not surprising, was it?

The last few days in the city, you tried to stay away from Jungkook and Hoseok because you were convinced that way would make it easier to let go, even if it was for two months. Nevertheless, they proved to be persistent and bombed your phone with “I miss you” texts and phone calls. You replied every single one of them, a little cold and distant, but you did. They picked up on it but did not say anything, maybe because they knew that behind your efforts to make it seem like you were okay, like you were not even remotely sad about your father’s decision… You were actually terrified as hell to come back here. They knew all about this place, what it meant, the big part of your heart it held. But they also knew that you liked to handle things on your own.

You typed a quick response to both of them. You told them everything was okay, even though it was not.

You were this close to dropping your phone back in the drawer when you remembered last night. How scared and naked you felt without it. It was not going to be useful because; who the hell were you going to call? You doubted that the police were going to rescue you from Taehyung when he could easily hurt you in seconds before they arrived. Besides, he had told you not to tell a soul about your encounter with him... You still put it in the back pocket of your shorts. You hoped that a fake feeling of safety would be enough to make it through the night.

“Everything alright?”

You squeaked and turned around to see your grandfather with a bowl full of diced fruit.

“Please, stop sneaking on me like that-” he let out a dry chuckle and set the bowl on your nightstand. “And, yes, everything’s fine.”

He did not seem convinced, but he did not say anything.

“Eat. You may not be hungry but eat some fruit, please.”

You watched the bowl illuminated by the table lamp. You recognized that he had put strawberries, apples and bananas, just he had always done since you were a little girl and you refused to eat dinner. It was such a tender gesture, you almost missed the way your chest squeezed.

At that moment, it was like all the running you have been doing since you arrived was not worth it. All you needed was here. It was like you could breathe again without feeling the need to check over your shoulder.

But then your eyes laid on your backpack set on the floor.

“Hey, grandpa,” you called, “do you have a flashlight by any chance?”

This time, you put on your sneakers. This time you were prepared for anything… Kinda.

Given the situation you had gone through the previous night, you were not taking any risks now. So you packed up a few things that could come in handy, if that made any sense at all. A flashlight, your phone, a jumper and a knife. You were not exactly proud of the latter, but Taehyung was dangerous, the last thing you could do is to have something to protect yourself.

Walking to the beach had never felt so depressive, like a funeral march. You did not dare to look up from the path. Your white sneakers had already gotten dirty from all the slow walking. It was slow because you were doing all in your power to delay the encounter with him.

In times like these, you wanted to close your eyes for a second and be somewhere far, far away from the place that causes this stress. When your mind was kind enough to give you a few minutes to imagine that, you liked to think about a colourful garden, full of birds that will not stop chirping at the sight of you spread all over the bright green, soft grass. And some flowers would be a nice touch too. The more, the better.

Although all those things sounded nice in your head, and they certainly looked good as well, they were not as great as the sunlight that garden would receive. Because it would not hurt on your skin, unlike in the real world you were living. It would not be suffocating. It would, though, be like a soft caress on your cheek, kind and loving, like it should be. And the grass would be warm, but not burning, so you could be spread there forever as if you had been painted on the ground. And the most important thing? It would never, ever, be dark. The night would not exist. No disturbing silhouette creeping from behind the bushes. The only sound you would be able to hear would be the wind making the leaves dance, causing the perfume of the flowers to wash over you.

But as soon as you sense a little bit of coldness, a shiver rolling down your spine, the spell would be broken. The flowers, the grass, the sunlight would just disappear in a cloud of dust. You would be left with nothing but the arid land beneath your feet. It would be hot, boiling, even. And just when you thought you would not be able to take it anymore, when you would feel the soles of your feet melting, a huge wave would tackle you. It would be frustrating because you would open your eyes despite the way the salty water would irritate them, and you would see the sunlight right above you, on the surface. It would not matter how much you fought, it just would not get any closer. You would get tired, but you would not get any closer to it.

And in the end, you would drown. Just drown. You would not see that light at the end of the tunnel that everyone talks about. Once you shut your eyes when the pressure in your lungs was too much for you to handle, there was nothing but darkness.

You would never quite see what was holding you back from resurfacing. But you could always put two and two together. Because that stifling feeling had become familiar all ever since you had visited the beach. All ever since you had met Kim Taehyung.

It was dumb of you to think for even a second that you could escape him.

Once you got to the beach, you looked at the dock and wondered if it would be smart to walk through it. Well, of course it would not be one of your best decisions (it would be the worst one, actually), but you were kind of confused on exactly where you were supposed to be meet Taehyung. He did not specify.

Well, fuck.

You were sure you were not getting anywhere near the dock, so you decided to walk to the shore. You looked at the sea. It was calm; no waves, just the moon glowing over it.

“Do it.”

The simple sound of his voice was enough to shake you to your very core. You were surprised by how quick your body reacted, almost making you fall to your knees as if he had hit you on the back of your neck.

But you did not want him to notice that. You hoped he blamed your trembling on the cold weather and your poor choice of attire. Yet, no matter how nice it sounded for Taehyung to believe you were not scared of him, you knew better than that. You did not need to know him well to acknowledge he was not dumb. He seemed smart, much to your disgust, and he knew just what to say to push your buttons, to make you shiver. And the worst thing about it was that he did not even have to try. He did not seem interested in trying to come up with something that might make you itchy, it would simply fall from his lips and hit you like a bucket of cold water. That was how you felt around him.

Everything he said, no matter how short or simple it might seem to a non-participant of your conversation, was unexpected. You stayed there waiting for an explanation that of course it was never given by Taehyung. You had to find it. And something told you that it was going to be always like that.

You turned around to face him. He was not looking at you, and, to your surprise, he looked uncomfortable. You wondered if that was why he was looking at the moon so intently; to dress up the lack of confidence, which had seemed characteristic of him when you first met him.

It was like he was inside a foreign body rather than his own. He was balancing his weight from one foot to another kind of like an unsteady child. His profile was proudly facing up to the moon. Just then you noticed that it was the first time you had seen him this up close. And if you could forget how scary he actually was, you could have easily said that Taehyung was attractive. He looked serene, despite the obvious feeling of not belonging here he was radiating, and he also seemed inviting; something not so common around this town.

“Is that an order?” You asked a little more bitterly than intended.

The truth was that you were not keen on finding out how much it takes to make him angry. But instead of an awful scowl, as you had anticipated, a smile crept on his face, just then he looked at you.

“I don’t think I appreciate your tone.”

“And I don’t appreciate you ordering me around like this.”

“Ah,” he chuckled, “I haven’t started yet.”

There was a dark promise behind his words, so you decided not to test your luck anymore and keep your words as kind and light as possible.

“Walk with me,” he said.

You did not have time to say nothing, he had already started to walk close to the shore, but not close enough in order to touch it. Seeing no other choice, you caught up next to him. He bumped into you when the tide almost covered his left foot. To avoid another physical contact like that again, you scooted away from his figure and kept your gaze ahead on the kilometres of sand. It seemed like the beach went on forever.

“Where’re we going?” You asked, slowing down.

“To show you something,” he replied.

It appeared that your ‘little’ walk was never going to end. And the silence between you two was unbearable. But that was absurd. What were you actually expecting, after all? It was not like you could bring up something to talk about with him.

The only thing you could think about was; why. Why would you even put yourself in this position? It was not like you could not run away. You most certainly could, maybe should, throw everything to the ground and escape.

But you were also scared. And apart from your legs that would not stop following every movement Taehyung made, you could not move. You felt vulnerable whenever he was around. Even so, your eyes would go to his face from time to time, and then to his body. You had enough time to notice that his clothes looked about two sizes bigger. They were even dirty with something you could not quite tell exactly what it was. His light grey t-shirt had dust all over it, and, around the collar, splatters of a dark substance could be seen. There were no clear attempts to scrubbing them off since they did not look smudged. Whether he did not notice they were there, or he just did not care how messy he looked.

His jean shorts were not looking good either. Besides the fact that Taehyung was struggling with coordinating pulling them up while walking, they were also really dusty.

“What?” He snapped.

“Nothing.”

After that, you did not dare to look at him until you arrived. But that was the thing; you did not know where you were going. Nevertheless, it did not matter because Taehyung seemed confident enough when he stopped suddenly in what you believed to be a random location.

“What-”

“I’m going to get into the sea,” he announced. There was not a threatening tone under his statement. “I want you to stay there. Wait for about ten seconds and then join me.”

There it was the unspoken warning. He did not need to say “get in with me, or else” because you knew what would happen if you did not listen and obey him. But still, following every order without any questions was not something that you could not do.

“Why?”

“Because you love your grandfather, or do you need some kind of motivation ?” He grinned. At this, you shook your head. No hesitation this time. “Then, count to ten. You can do that, right?”

You did not bother to reply as you watched him stepping into the sea. You started counting.

Ten. You closed your eyes.

Nine. The white sound of the waves started to reflect the annoying noise that the clock hands made.

Eight. It was getting louder and louder.

Seven. You crossed your arms over your chest because you somehow thought that would restrain you from doing something stupid.

Six. Like escaping, for example. That would be stupid. You knew you could not do it.

Five. But that was the only thing on your mind. How much time it would take Taehyung to notice you were gone? And how much it would take him to get out of the water and look for you? A lot, you hoped.

Four. But you could not do it.

Three. You could not breathe. Once again, Taehyung showed to have a great power over you. Enough to make you feel like you were choking just by thinking about the consequences of disobeying him.

Two. How far were you going to get if you could not breathe?

One. You were not going anywhere.

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speaking-to-the-dead · 6 years ago

Text

The Ama’rathi Warbeast

The Past

Years had been spent chasing one another, and whether it was by design of one, or a false step by the other, round and round they went. Sin’dorei versus Amani, an old feud that would never end.

The battle today was a short one; power collected in the northern field of the necromancer’s home from both sources. Breadcrumbs had left a trail for the troll leaving him in the belief that after all this time, he’d finally caught the one he was after. But these crumbs weren’t from a single instance, no. Hints had been allowed over the years, a game played by the necromancer in allowing the belief that it was his own intelligence that had led him here.

To a degree, it was true, but a master puppeteer like Sorena enjoyed the pleasure from a drawn out game of cat and mouse. And now, she looked down at her long time nemesis, a ghost of a smile appearing at her ruby lips as blackened orbs took in the glorious sight before her. Drakuhl’s life essence was slowly being drained to heal the wounds he’d given at her chest, a powerful swipe of the druid’s claws cutting deep. But now, he was anchored to the soft soil that had been prepared for his arrival, small crystals of ice forming here and there due to the sudden plummeting of the air’s temperature at her own design.

When he spoke, his words were followed by puffy white clouds, and light flared and dimmed in his eyes as he struggled to remain conscious. Every syllable echoed, and was laced with venom and he stared into the blackened eyes of the necromancer.

"I curse ya to suffer from da snake's bite, from da wasp's sting, from da spiders web. I curse ya by every t'ing day heeds my call, to hinder ya every day. And I curse ya to fail, little Elfie, for da rest of ya life. If I'm gonna serve ya we gon' die togetha, and it's gonna be all ya fault. Don't Eva forget dat my spirit hates ya, dat my body rots in hopes of faster decay. Use me as a tool if ya can, while ya can, because ya soul is mine when ya pass."

The druid snarled, reaching out a hand in spite of the magic, seeking to take hold of her ankle and squeeze, despite the rapid failing of his strength. Lifting her foot, she felt the sensation of a sting at her heel, through her shoes. At the base of his foot, she could see a serpent having answered his call, and he served as a conduit to envenom her also as the creature disappeared.

"Ya better hurry... Bwonsamdi be gettin impatient wit ma soul."

He laughed, starting that final fade, and the Necromancer let out a hiss-like sound, hand snatching his throat. Whatever he’d just done was dismissed for the moment and she lowered, her lips pressing gently against his ear. The musical laughter was oddly soft, as were her words, and each one was almost a soft kiss against his flesh.

“Oh, my darling. Your Loa won’t be getting your soul today. That’s mine for the keeping.”

His eyes went wide, his body jerked in protest, but before even a sound could be uttered, those necrotic energies poured from her hand, swirling in beautiful hues of black and green. The life was sucked out of him, and she breathed deeply as if inhaling them herself, taking in the last of his own life essence to finish the healing of herself.

When she pulled back, all that was left was shell of a once mighty and fearsome Amani troll. The Grizzly Sin of Sloth. Speaker of the Fallen. The titles were endless, and there was one more to add to the list.

The Ama’rathi Warbeast

Energized, Sorena got to her feet and moved out of the dusted circle she’d created when Drakuhl had first fallen. It had crystallized, and though the base of the combination was ground draenei tails, the rest of the reagents used all interacted in a perfect balance, and left a sweet, but necrotic pungency to the air around her.

The Necromancer moved to the settle on her knees at the druid’s head, and her armor and clothing were shed, revealing the woman at the height of her power, a look of such deadly beauty wrapped up in her features and form. Her eyes were pits of darkness, and the veins that shot out against her skin were a dark gray, almost black in contrast to her pale skin. Her hands moved to rest on either side of the body’s head, and the words slipped past her lips in an ancient language.

There was no other sound, no creature to interrupt, the winds deadly still for the moment as she began the ritual. Though she’d prepared the soil earlier in the day, the decay began to spread further from the center of the circle, touch upon the life of the nearby plants that were in the field, causing them to whither and shrivel before becoming nothing more than broken stalks. The wind kicked up, carrying wails from another plane as she continued the incantation. Her silken tresses swept around her like a blackened halo as she tipped her head back towards the sky.

Power rushed through her and was sent outward with force, causing slight discharges of energy to spark here and there, much like a sparkler during the Midsummer holidays. Wisps of gray and white swirled around in a vortex above his body, turning black and purple as those energies were directed into Drakuhl’s body. There was a growing wail, and all at once, it ended. The wind died, the wailing stopped, and for a split second, the only sound heard was that of each quickened breath the Sin’dorei took as she peered down at her Amani.

Only seconds passed before his body lurched upwards from the ice-cold ground, his eyes flying open as he took in a deep breath, though it wasn’t necessary. He scrambled to his feet, preparing to fight, to defend whatever had taken place, when Drakuhl caught sight of Sorena. The desire to tear into her, shred her body to pieces and feast on her flesh was enough to cause his body to tremble. But... there was no action taken, the druid finding that he couldn’t bring himself to move against her.

“What did ya do to me?” came the hoarse voice of the Warbeast. But he didn’t need an answer; he could feel it. He could feel that desire to do as she commanded, and it didn’t matter how much he hated it, the two emotions warring within him and clashing against one another. The druid was bound to Sorena now, and though it seemed he was.... his self, he was also hers.

“Enjoy what ya can, elfie. I will find a way to end ya.” The echoed words were spoken even as he moved to kneel in front of her, and she slowly got to her feet, feeling that burn that still existed from the mark he’d given her.

A single hand reached out, running her slender fingers through his hair. “Oh, my darling,” she whispered, a smile slowly appearing at her lips as the threat was dismissed. “This is going to be delightful.”

#the past #necromancy

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ephrampettaline · 6 years ago

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.. chatzy log for Soapberry Pride 2019, at Erzebets with @thisbrutalbelle

Bella picked up a red macaron on one of the tables scattered around the edges of the room. Like whenever they hosted events the tables usually there had been cleared out and replaced with a collection of lounges, though most people had to stand. That evening was open mic for whoever wanted to go on stage and sing, or play some kind of instrument they had one stage. Currently there were two girls up singing 'Smoke Weed Eat Pussy' by Ängie and Bella hummed along once she got the tune, eyes scanning the room as she chewed on her pastry. "Hey, you better be going up," she said when she spotted someone she recognised.

Ephram demurred, "Well, now, I don't know no songs bout smokin' cock and crack pipes, so there's no way I could compare with that act." Ephram smiled and reached out for a macaron, deciding on taking two. "The place looks amazing, Belle. How you manage to make Erzebets look totally different for each new event is pretty fuckin' impressive."

"No one expects you to be nearly as skilled," she grinned at his own tease and her own. "Honestly having everything black on black basically makes it a canvas," eyeing him as he picked up food, smiling when he took more than one. From what she could tell Ephram was very much embracing Pride this year and had been to a few events. "You're really not going to go up?" she asked. "Come on, you came all this way."

Ephram shrugged, the white blazer he was wearing resettling itself on his broad shoulders. "Been a while since I sang in public," he said. "Maybe I jes need a lil more liquid courage afore I can go up there, huh?" Ephram finished his cookies and brushed a couple of crumbs off the front of his black, slightly see-through shirt. "I mean, hell -- it's takin' me enough gumption just to be out in clothes like this, to be honest."

"Liquid courage is definitely something we can do," she told him, taking one of his hands and pulling him in the direction of the bar at the front of the place. When there she released him to head behind it by herself and make them something. "You didn't wear anything last year that was more pride like?" she asked him, spacing on what he'd worn. Freddie's look had been very memorable but Ephram's was evading her. "Why did you need a bit of bravery to come out as you are?" she asked, meaning his clothing.

Ephram looked down at himself, blinking. "Reckon I din't feel as much like I could do it last year," he mused, plucking at his fur lapel. "I mean, you know me, you know where I started at. Jeans and flannel and workboots and t-shirts, basic straight drag. Clothes like this was always..." He trailed off, not caring to talk about Anaxis right now. "Always for somebody else, not me. I cain't even recall what I wore for Pride last year ... I think I was workin' most of it, so I would of been in uniform, anyhow."

"Well faux fur suits you," she complimented, recalling in her mind what Ephram had looked like when he was younger, back in Apple Falls, with that long hair and perfectly pouted lips. He'd lost a lot of that plush styling to himself as he'd grown older and she wondered if perhaps he missed it. As for who else he meant she didn't connect the dots. Even dressed up Ephram wasn't dressed like the demon. "Expand it to your daily wardrobe, put it on the Sheriff's uniform."

Ephram gave a little snort, tapping his fingertips along the bar. "If it was that easy," he said wryly. "Look at me, I ain't no willowy pretty boy no more! And I'm the town Sheriff. And a million other reasons why if I suddenly started wearin' fashionplate clothes -- even in my own style, which sure as hell ain't fashionable -- it wouldn't go down real well. Naw, I reckon I'll just get it all out my system during Pride, and save the rest for Freddie."

Bella reached out, her other hand on the bar, pushing a clear drink towards him, and ran her fingers through his hair. "You're pretty, I can show you," she offered him. "Let me do you make-up," she requested, assuming he may need some liquid courage to agree if a fur neckline had taken a few deep breaths before leaving the house. "Besides, you're sheriff in a town where people are a bunch of things. Only shitty people will get made if you dress differently. Not saying you have to, but I'm sure more than Freddie would appreciate it." Bella's fingers left his hair and came down to pick up her own drink. "So, can I do your make-up? I'll make your lips look as pouty as mine." With her words she held out her drink to touch his if he agreed.

Ephram took the drink, downing half of it before considering Bellamy's offer. "I'm okay," he said in response to her calling him pretty. "I mean, I'm a grown man now, we don't all stay lookin' androgynous as we get older. And it's ... probly more my own worries about what folks are gonna think than anything what would actually happen, I know that. Soapberry ain't like other places and that's a fact." Ephram paused to beam quietly to himself, his love for his town swelling through his chest. "You can put makeup on me iffen you want, I don't mind. I had a big ol' video game character-lookin' red stripe on my face all day yesterday, after all." Ephram clinked his glass with Bellamy's, draining the rest of it.

Bella heard the clink and a wide smile spread across her face. Who didn't want to be pretty? Even when they got older. "Come on, I have a bunch in my office," Bella grabbed the bottle she had made their drinks partially with, not intending to carry up a tonne of ingredients before dragging Ephram once more across the restaurant. "Some worries are a lot harder to deal with than others," she acknowledged as she linked her fingers between his own and guided him through the place he had been to so very many times before. It was strange the amount of memories they had there. Places in Soapberry really clung to them, people moved a lot but most businesses and town land stayed the same. "Well I'll try and do something that will match what you're wearing, so it won't be a big red stripe," she informed him as she opened her office door. No furniture inside was the same as the last time he saw it but the walls and tiled floors were the same. "You doing okay?" she asked him as she released his hand, placing the gin on the office desk before opening a cupboard to find her make-up.

Ephram nodded automatically before clicking in and asking, "...doing okay how exactly? I mean, what way? I'm doin' okay in general, I mean actually I'm doin' pretty fuckin' great in general, but I don't wanna...." Ephram gave Bellamy a faintly apologetic grin. "I don't wanna make this conversation awkward, honestly." Bellamy's office was the site of a lot of their escapades, way back when, but to Ephram that felt worlds away. A change in decor made much more difference to him than it did to Bellamy, with her eye for decorating; to Ephram, the whole place could have been picked up from some other building and replaced Bellamy's old office. "Do I get a couple lil yellow and purple stripes?" he teased, wandering around to look at her new (to him) decorations and furnishings.

"Is there something that isn't okay that could make our conversation awkward?" she asked, a furrow over her brows because while she could easily assume it was about her that seemed kind of selfish and also kind of unlikely. Maybe it was but Ephram's life involved a lot and Bella got awkward about a lot of things, or emotional in some way anyway. "Feel free to make it awkward," she offered as she picked through some things she felt would do what she wanted. Not foundation and bright lids, but just...accentuate features that aged had perhaps dulled for him. "I will keep a level voice and, since I can attempt to do this for other people, try not to let my imagination get away with me." With what she needed in her hands she gestured to the couch, the newest item in the office since she and Ryden had broken the last one. If shown images of her old one and the one she had now she'd certainly see they were worlds apart but it was a slow process of replacing things and replacing those things that made it like growing, you just didn't notice over time. "Come on, what's not okay right now"

Ephram obediently went over to the couch and plopped down, shouldering out of his jacket and turning his face up (which wasn't really necessary, given how tall he was and how short Bellamy was). "It's all good, though," he protested with a laugh. "Freddie and me, we dealt with a man who's been a threat to him since he was seventeen, and part of that, well -- I got the demon under control. For good. For real and for good." Ephram gave Bellamy a look that matched the hopeful sound of his voice when he asked, "Don't I look different? Better, less tired? Now that I got -- I got all my magic, Bellamy, ain't nothin' siphoning it off no more. I feel like my whole body's been renewed, somehow." The excitement and pleasure about this change was pouring off of him, Ephram shifting on the sofa as if he was running with so much heightened energy that he could barely sit still. "Be happy for me, honey, please, I want you to be happy about this. It's good. It's a good thing."

Bella tilted his head slightly back down before laying the products out on his lap as he began to speak, listening as he spoke of something Freddie was going to. Seventeen was young and Bella knew little about Freddie's life but to be threatened for that long it was probably a relief to be done with it. He continued quickly though, speaking of himself...and Anaxis. His hopeful voice caused her to lift her face and when she did she examined his. In the lights of Erzebet's it was not easy to see but in her office she could, eyes wandering over the lines in his face. Admittedly he still looked tired to her but he was human, the dark circles from existing weren't going anywhere but he definitely looked lighter, the muscles in his face not nearly as tense. His request came likely off her silence from studying him, the way her lips tightened when she focused that matched the confused face she could make when she was upset, but she wasn't and quickly relaxed her own muscles to smile at him. "I am happy for you," she assured him easily, a hand reaching out and resting on the corner of his shoulder and neck. "If we had not been so surrounded I could have smelt it on you," she grinned, her thumb rubbing over his vein tenderly, she could feel it. Freddie's own magic remaining but Ephram's stronger. "Sounds like you really are pretty fucking great," she repeated his own words. "What do you intend to do with your newfound magical abilities?"

Ephram grinned wide and loopily at Bellamy, open-mouthed and without -- like she'd noticed -- the strain and lingering tension that he'd carried in the background of his mannerisms for so long. Nobody in Soapberry, he realized, had ever seen him without the effects of Anaxis, and how he'd laboured unendingly to keep the demon contained and to try and tune out its cacophonous torment in his brain and his body. No wonder Cardero had been staring at him like he didn't recognize Ephram. "Thank you, honey," Ephram said gratefully, taking her hand and planting an enthusiastic kiss on her fingertips. "I'm learnin' to control em! Ciara's teachin' me. I got so much of it I barely can control it, heh."

Everyone knows this woman, Bella thought to herself as Ephram's lips pressed to her fingers, softer than they had been before. She wondered how much of the difference in him was not having his powers taken and how much of it was just the sheer fucking relief of it, the safety that enveloped him now. The way he gussed at her with affection in a way he hadn't in a long time seemed like safety and comfort. Her hand squeezed his gently, drawing it down to his lap. She went to speak, to acknowledge that his head was finally his own but she paused, mouth hung open slightly because the words got stuck. Maybe Anaxis was in there, buried deep, but he wasn't in Ephram's head, he wasn't draining him, or bullying him. It was basically just Ephram and it had strangely taken a moment for that to sink in, Bella lunging forward, free arm wrapping around him, drawing him to her, while the other remained in it's awkward position as it was held by his own. "I love you so much," she assured him, feeling like it was the first time she could say that without the implication it was a love she retained in the hopes Anaxis would return. "I'm so glad it's you, it sounds like it will be so wonderful." Her words were whispers as she held him for a short time.

Ephram was startled by Bellamy's sudden, affectionate weight against him, but it felt so good, so right, that he barely hesitated before squeezing her in a tight embrace that took complete advantage of her not needing to breathe. "Oh, sweetpea," Ephram murmured into her sweet-smelling hair, all caramel and vanilla, "oh, Bella, I love you too, girl." For the first time in a long, long time, Ephram could say those words without any underlying unease -- and part of that felt like it came from Bellamy, too, not just his own newfound lease on a life free of constant gnawing torment. "I feel like you're only jes meetin' me for the first time, a bit, though, huh?" he teased, holding her a little away from him just so he could see her face as they talked. "And you feel ... different too. Lighter. More ... thoughtful." Ephram cocked his head at her. "Big changes for you too goin' on?"

It was nice when he held her back, not that she thought he wouldn't, but Bella needed it. That fullness that came when someone reciprocated affection. And even though realistically she knew he knew she loved him, and she knew he loved her, the weight that was filled by what underlying things that could mean wasn't there. She fell back a little when he spoke, as he did too, their limbs still close to one another. That was something she had missed with Ephram, just being close, but even this felt oddly different because it was just Ephram, no tense reminder of Anaxis on his skin. "Definitely," she agreed before scrunching up her face as he called her thoughtful. Bella still felt selfish but maybe she'd spun it differently. "Oh um, I guess, not nearly as exciting or as wholly wonderful as yours though, I'd much rather focus on you face," she said, pulling further away, hands coming down to the make-up that had fallen in her sudden movement. Her knees still brushed against him but she was finding some eyeliner in a navy. "When you go back downstairs everyone will be like 'he had fillers'," she joked, uncapping the lid.

Ephram was a little disappointed that Bellamy didn't want to talk about herself, but on the whole, he supposed that it might take a little more time and easing back into being around each other for her to feel comfortable with that. So he put it aside for the moment, preferring to concentrate on the here and now, a tactic which had never steered him wrong. "Okay," Ephram said, holding himself still again. "What's fillers, though? You gotta remember, Bellamy -- I might have a fashion-forward husband now and all, but that don't mean I know much more about the means and methods of lookin' good than I used to."

"To be fair, Freddie never would have mentioned what fillers are because he and I are beautiful enough to not need them, and I'm sure he knows you're handsome enough that you don't," Bella commented, taking his jaw in her hand and looking up with her eyes as an indicator for him to do the same. "Fillers are when you get something injected into your lips to make them bigger." Once he was looking up she gently moved the liner beneath his lash line, being a vampire she could actually do this steadily enough it shouldn't have made him blink unless he just hated things near his eyes. "Did Freddie buy what you're wearing or did you go ham with a credit card?" It wasn't that Bella didn't want to talk about herself, she just didn't want to have the smile on his face fall. She could talk about herself another time, when he hadn't shared such good news.

Ephram looked up as Bellamy showed him what to do, keeping his blue eyes wide and open for her to start in with the eyeliner. "Ohhhhhh I see. Yeah that would be the last thing you or Freddie would need, for sure. He's got such a beautiful mouth. Sometimes I just space out thinkin' bout it, I mean, it's sorter unfair, ain't it? For a man to have a mouth that pretty." The dreamy quality to Ephram's voice made it clear in just what way he found this to be 'unfair'. Ephram raised his hands to Bellamy's hips, waggling her gently as she worked on his face. "He bought the shirt and the brooch thingie, I bought the rest. He's been real good at biting his tongue when he sees me cobble together my own bizarre outfits." Ephram laughed, keeping himself from scrunching his nose. "No, no -- he's super encouraging, only he makes lil suggestions here and there when I get it in my head to dress myself. And I appreciate it. He wants me to feel good dressing how I want, and he knows that the better I look, the more confident I'll feel. It's a good system we got."

"In my experience boys always luck out with the best 'female' features," she commented, even looking at Ephram's lashes made her jealous. Her own, when not wearing fakes, were a light brown and short, barely noticeable while his, despite their light shade, were long. His hands at her waist she stayed focused, finishing the second eyes liner before finding some mascara before he was able to move. Bella didn't think sorely when he said Freddie tried to keep his lips tight when Ephram wore funny things. Bella knew from experience that it wasn't because someone genuinely felt their partner was embarrassing so much as they knew they just had a better eye for things, and they knew their partner well enough to make adjustments. "Well, I think you look dashing and I'm sure he agreed. Miles basically dresses up when he knows I really want him to, otherwise it's jeans and a tee, but I'm a sucker for basic boys, as I'm sure you recall." Anaxis and Valentin were the only men in Bella's life who had dressed with refinement and they weren't exactly people she had dated, just obsessed over. "I can bet you he is wearing the more official pride badge this week, no feathers."

Ephram clucked at Bellamy's supposition about which of the Pride epaulettes Miles had gone for. "Sounds like a safe bet," he agreed. "You should try and get 'im to wear the feathers even if it's just once! It's a liberating feeling. He might get a taste for it, heh." Ephram blinked when the mascara wand approached before figuring out what Bellamy was intending and holding still again for it. "Sometimes guys with more manly features make better drag queens, though," Ephram said with all the wisdom of somebody who watched RuPaul religiously with his husband. "Funny how that works, huh?"

"I should, I'm sure his daughters could convince him. I'll ask his youngest Ellie to do it, he can't resist her," she said of his children. Bella was still nervous about them sometimes, well not them, but how exactly she was meant to behave, but she liked how happy Miles was when they were around and she liked how much more open he was tto doing things. "Not sure he'd get a taste for it, he partially dressed up one Halloween for me and I have yet to get him in a full costume, which sucks because I really want someone to do Swamp Thing for me this year. I might try and convince Ryden to be the Alec Holland to my Abby Arcane." Bella pulled a stern face, giving her best Crystal Reed impression, Ephram was probably too busy to have seen the show. "True!" she agreed, especially since there were so many shows lately. "I love whenever buff men wear heels, beautiful calves," she commented finishing Ephram's mascara before begining on his brows. It was the second last step, she wasn't trying to do him over after all, just return some of the features that had fallen a little. "I don't think I could convince Ryden to get into those though." Bella looked at Ephram's brows with focus, Ryden said some awful stuff sometimes and Bella knew why but it didn't justify any of it and it was his business so there was no explanation to give. "And Miles is not buff enough."

Ephram listened closely as Bellamy talked about Miles' kids. Ephram himself had only had water-cooler chats with Miles about his family and children, nothing terribly in-depth, but quite obviously Bellamy knew all their names and personalities and whatnot. He couldn't tell how comfortable the little vampire was with the whole situation, but Ephram supposed if she felt all right with talking about them to Ephram, then she was making a concerted effort to integrate and blend. Not an easy thing to do under any circumstances. "I don't know a danged thing bout Swamp Thing," he admitted, chuckling. "But I support your idea to badger Ryden into it!" He snorted when Bellamy mentioned the idea of the young wolf wearing heels, though. "Naw," Ephram drawled, "he ain't the type to pull that off. Miles might, if he tried." Ephram tried for about a quarter of a minute to hold in his own gushing before he burst out with, "Freddie bought these gold Louboutins shoes with super high heels and he looks fuckin' gorgeous in em, Jesus Christ. I could fuckin' lick those shoes when he's wearin' em, they look like candy. Bright gold shiny candy."

Bella nodded as she finished his brows, fortunately in the process of switching products when he blurted out that Freddie had purchased amazing gold Louboutin's because Bella burst into laughter, starting with her trademarked snort. The idea of Freddie in beautiful golden heels was obviously hot, it was just funny how much Ephram /needed/ to say it, and how he described it so vividly. "You could? Or you have?" she teased back, picking up the lip liner she had in the closest shade to the colour of his lips, opening her mouth to show him how to - not stretched but just not closed. "I couldn't lick anything near anyone's feet, my sense of smell is way too strong, but I don't know, he's fae. His feet probably smell like sunshine and honey."

Ephram had the grace at least to turn a little flushed at his own inability to keep from vociferously adoring his husband at any opportunity, grateful that Bellamy was indulging him on the subject. "I haven't," he admitted. "Not yet. He was goin' out when I saw em first and I din't wanna keep him. But I would." Ephram huffed, amused, at the description of sunshine and honey. "Not quite that, my darlin's flesh and blood and that's the way I like him. But he does always smell real nice, which I reckon is a fairy thing, yeah." He did wrinkle his nose this time, waiting till Bellamy was done with the lip liner to say, "--good thing he likes the way I smell, since I sure as hell ain't roses and perfume."

"I hate when they're so handsome and have some place to go," she pouted, which felt like every morning Miles had to work after she'd stayed over. "You /will/," she answered his 'would' with. The description of Freddie smelling nice was vague but Bella also didn't figure she needed to know or would be sniffing Freddie anytime soon. "You smell wonderful to me, but everyone except seafolk smell pretty good to me." Bella inhaled hard, focusing on Ephram's scent as she put the lid on her lip liner she'd filled his lips with. "You smell so much more...full bodied. More flavour." Yet since she was done she pulled out her phone, turning the camera on selfie side and handing it to him so he could take a look.

Ephram agreed with Bellamy, he probably would make that particular little fantasy a reality the first opportunity he got, but he didn't say anything more about it. Like his burgeoning forays into exploring his queerness, his genderfluidity, the newness of certain sexual exploits wasn't something he was quite confident enough about to discuss. He could still hardly find the right words with Freddie, much less on his own. But he appreciated Bellamy's encouragement and patted her hip in thanks before taking the phone to look at himself. For a moment, Ephram just widened and narrowed his eyes, peeled back his lips to show his teeth, turned his face this way and that, before looking at Bellamy. "Good God," he said, blinking. "That's ... incredible, Bella! You're crazy good at this. Does Miles let you do him up? Or his lil girls?"

Bella was quite proud, grinning from cheek to cheek until he said Miles and she snorted a laugh. "Come on, do you really think Miles would let me. Maybe, if I did it silly for his daughters on him but not really," Bellamy said, she dated the straightest of straight men, which admittedly was not always the most comforting but Bella couldn't totally fault them, she was stubborn in her own ways. "Miles won't even let me eat food in bed, no way is he letting me line his lips," she said with a gentle shrug. "As for his daughters, well, their Mother doesn't like the whole supernatural thing and I don't want to piss her off any more so I kind of avoid doing anything that could step on her toes. Besides, one day I'll have a kid and I'll get to do their make-up and it'll be nice to have that be an experience I share with just them." Bella smiled softly, it was something she wanted, and had for a while now that she felt capable of it but other factors made it difficult. Being in a relationship, especially with someone who already had kids being one of them, but Bellamy had more time than most on her hands. "You look very gorgeous though, totally ready for a performance."

Ephram caught Bellamy's hand. "Wait," he said, the rest of the information about Miles and his ex-wife and their interpersonal politics falling to the wayside compared to Bellamy's other comment. "You're thinkin' of havin' a kid sometime soon? You and Miles, together?" Not as in Bellamy getting pregnant, of course -- that was impossible -- but all the same, it was a huge step. For anybody. "That's amazing, honey. Really it is." Ephram beamed at her, then glanced at his reflection one more time. "Okay, I'm ready. You got me a drink, you put on a face for me, least I can do is give you the opportunity to boo me off the stage, right?" Ephram laughed, getting to his feet and shouldering his jacket back on. "Let's go!"

"No, no, no, no, no, no," she repeated shaking her head vigorously. No way did she need Ephram saying congratulations to Miles at the station come Monday and needing to explain that mess. "No, I just...I think I'm in a place where potentially I could. Miles and I have a lot going on right now, no way we're talking about a kid, I mean, he has kids anyway and I -" /am selfish enough that I wouldn't want him to lose focus on ours when his with Beth came over a few times a month./ "I think we just have a lot to deal with as a couple. I just meant more personally, I think I could do it without it being about me just wanting to not be alone." Bella stood as he did, watching his jacket fall over his shoulders. "Let's go."

#thisbrutalbelle #the demon anaxis #//there was no rose gold appearing in this thread #//but whatever #//it's their signature colour lol #sbs pride 2019

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coffeeandyoongi · 6 years ago

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Underwater III

Prompt: The sea holds lots of secrets, are you ready to reveal them?

Word count: 4.9k

Pairing: Taehyungxreader

[Previous chapter]

[Next chapter]

[Masterpost]

It had been, what, twelve hours? And Taehyung had already ruined the sea for you, for good, probably.

And you did not know what made you more nervous, the stink-eye Namjoon was giving you while he nibbled on a biscuit, or the way the sea seemed to be getting nearer and nearer.

“So,” Namjoon coughed and dusted off the crumbs of his hands, “are you gonna talk or what?”

“I don’t know where to start-”

“The beginning,” he replied shrugging.

“And you’re asking me, why?”

“My grandfather lives here. He told me that you and the other Golden Grandchildren are my age, so I thought you may know this guy, too” you explained as plainly as you could.

“‘Golden Grandchildren’?” He chuckled. “It’s been a long time since someone called me that on my face,” he commented to no one in particular.

“Yoongi, Jimin and I aren’t the only ones that have been raised here,” he suddenly said, “but it is true that we’re the only ones that come back.”

“You lost me.”

The way he rolled his eyes was almost too annoying.

“Young people, like you and me, are not so common around here because they all run away as soon as they can. They don’t look back. They believe here is where dreams come to die.”

You tilted your head, sceptically.

“A little dramatic, don’t you think?”

“I do think that; that’s why I come back every year.”

Suddenly, you wondered about what Namjoon’s dreams were. He seemed just a few years older than you, maybe one or two, so it maybe have been possible that he had not figured what he wanted to do yet, but you liked to think that he had, and that even when he had a dream, he would return to this little town every year because his birthplace meant something more to him than just the place he could get away from.

“Do you have one?”

“Do I have a what?” He asked frowning.

“A dream.”

He smiled, as if you had asked the dumbest question he had ever heard, and then shrugged.

“What was his name again? The guy’s you met last night, I mean,” he took out his phone from the back pocket of his shorts, scrolling down with his thumb.

“Kim Taehyung.”

“Are you sure that’s his name?” He asked with his eyes never leaving yours.

“That’s what he told me,” you muttered. “Do you think he lied to me?”

“It’s either that or he might not be from around here…”

No, you refused to believe that. He knew your grandfather. He had to live here, there was no other explanation.

“Is it possible that you might not know him?” You asked, desperate at this point.

Namjoon huffed. “It’s possible, but why are you so interested in this guy anyway?”

But now… It was different. Most people here was suspicious, you could see it.

“I’ll tell you something,” he sighed, “I’ll ask Jimin if he’s heard about this Taehyung guy. Trust me, if Park Jimin doesn’t know him, no one does.”

The idea of Taehyung being a hallucination was starting to sound less and less crazy now…

But you knew that even when you would have loved for that to be true, it simply was not. It could not be when you could still feel his hands on you, and the way your skin burned with every step you took when you were coming back home from the beach, and it had not been because of your feet, it all had been the result of an intense fear. Taehyung had made you feel unsafe in the only place you had ever considered to be home.

“Wanna go together?”

“I’m sorry, what?”

Namjoon snorted.

There was hesitation from your side, and it did not take a genius to figure it out why…

“I don’t know, I should go back to my grandfather's…”

“Who’s he?” he asked.

“He lives in the old, white house, away from the centre of the town,” you answered.

“And you walked all the way here?” You nodded. “This Taehyung must be someone special, huh?”

“You have no idea…”

❊ ❊ ❊

You were glad it had not changed a bit.

“Hey, sweetie,” he smiled.

A dull wave was the only thing you managed to give back. If he had noticed, he did not say anything. He put the book down and got on his feet with a groan.

“Want some dinner?”

The truth was; no, you did not. You could not think about anything but Taehyung and the way his eyes would hunt you even when he was not there with you to torture you.

“I’m fine. I just came back to check my phone and then I’ll go for a walk on the beach.”

Now you were not so sure.

Going through your notifications, you felt a weight on top of your chest. Jungkook and Hoseok had made clear how much they missed you, and how confused they were about you not replying their texts. You just figured that that was a natural reaction. Your head was somewhere else. While, yes, you missed them so much, and you could not stop thinking about the day you would get to see them again, there was still this sensation of responsibility that you could not get rid off. Because if there was something you could not do was to lie to them. And something like Taehyung was not something you could just skirt around in a conversation. You wanted to tell them. Of course, you did. And not because you wanted their help, but because you needed to talk about it with someone.

Jungkook: Okay, the bobby pin thing was just a trick (17:33) But you can come back tho right? (17:33) Say yes :( (17:34)

Hoseok: Kook is suffering lol (18:17) I shouldn’t laugh (18:17) I’m suffering too (18:17)

You typed a quick response to both of them. You told them everything was okay, even though it was not.

“Everything alright?”

You squeaked and turned around to see your grandfather with a bowl full of diced fruit.

“Please, stop sneaking on me like that-” he let out a dry chuckle and set the bowl on your nightstand. “And, yes, everything’s fine.”

He did not seem convinced, but he did not say anything.

“Eat. You may not be hungry but eat some fruit, please.”

But then your eyes laid on your backpack set on the floor.

“Hey, grandpa,” you called, “do you have a flashlight by any chance?”

You put on your sneakers. This time you were prepared for anything… Kinda.

It was dumb for you to think for even a second that you could escape him.

Well, fuck.

You were sure you were not getting anywhere near the dock, so you decided to walk to the shore. You looked at the sea. It was calm; no waves, just the moon glowing over it.

“Do it.”

“Is that an order?” You asked a little more bitterly than intended.

The truth was that you were not keen on finding out how much it takes to make him angry. But instead of an awful scowl, as you had anticipated, a smile crept on his face, just then he looked at you.

“I don’t think I appreciate your tone.”

“And I don’t appreciate you ordering me around like this.”

“Ah,” he chuckled, “I haven’t started yet.”

There was a dark promise behind his words, so you decided not to test your luck anymore and keep your words as kind and light as possible.

“Walk with me,” he said.

“Where’re we going?” You asked, slowing down.

“To show you something,” he replied.

His jean shorts were not looking good either. Besides the fact that Taehyung was struggling with coordinating pulling them up while walking, they were also really dusty.

“What?” He snapped.

“Nothing.”

“What-”

“I’m going to get into the sea,” he announced. There was not a threatening tone under his statement. “I want you to stay there. Wait for about ten seconds and then join me.”

“Why?”

“Because you love your grandfather, or do you need some kind of motivation?” He grinned. At this, you shook your head. No hesitation this time. “Then, count to ten. You can do that, right?”

You did not bother to reply as you watched him stepping into the sea. You started counting.

Ten. You closed your eyes.

Nine. The white sound of the waves started to reflect the annoying noise that the clock hands made.

Eight. It was getting louder and louder.

Seven. You crossed your arms over your chest because you somehow thought that would restrain you from doing something stupid.

Six. Like escaping, for example. That would be stupid. You knew you could not do it.

Four. But you could not do it.

Three. You could not breathe. Once again, Taehyung showed to have a great power over you. Enough to make you feel like you were choking just by thinking about the consequences of disobeying him.

Two. How far were you going to get if you could not breathe?

One. You were not going anywhere.

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dark-unimaginably-stupid-kids · 7 years ago

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Not Dreaming of You [Ch 1]

(Because You Won’t Let Me Sleep)

Series- Voltron

Pairing(s)- End Game is Klancelot, with a slight incline toward Keitor simply based on the set up.

Other pairs include minor Shallura, past Rolotor, one-sided Sheith. platonic Plance and even a hint of Heith if you squint real hard.

Characters in this fic in order of most screen time: Keith, Lotor, Lance, Pidge, Hunk, our Lovely Lady Generals, Kuron, Shiro, Allura, Rolo and Nyma

Synopsis: Keith has been tensely living with Lotor for about a year. They aren’t exactly friends, but occasionally they can get along. Suddenly with no explanation their neighbor Rolo moves out and two very noisy whack jobs move in. Somewhere between the loss of Lotor’s old fuck buddy and Keith’s sleep deprivation things start to get a little…odd.

“I’m telling you, there is something wrong with them!”

Chapter 1-

In which Keith gets out of work late and is too tired to deal.

Lance is loud and Lotor is…Lotor.

Work had been exhausting. God knows why anyone in their right mind would travel all over the grocery store with raw meat in their basket just to leave it buried behind the cereals—because that’s absolutely where it’s supposed to go right?

Keith had been the unfortunate one to find the mess and the blood and the boxes and boxes of completed ruined cereal. That was just the cherry on top of his grueling day at the express lane feigning cheer and putting up with stupid customers.

One of these days he was going to quit. Just. Just take his little name tag and stab Iverson in the eye with it.

…That could end in incarceration rather than just a very clear “I Quit” though so…maybe not.

Whatever. He was exhausted. He was allowed to day dream.

Even if it was close to two in the morning and he was laying on the couch praying for his aching muscles to give him the strength to drag himself into the shower because!! He was not crawling into bed like this absolutely not, na-uh.

He was so tired though. Maybe he could just. Take a little nap right on the couch.

His roommate wasn’t due home for another couple hours, little club hopping piece of shit that he was. Heck, if Keith was really lucky Lo would find somewhere else to spend the night and Keith could have the apartment all to himself in the morning to wallow in his miserable life.

But he needed to shower.

Lo or not he needed to shower and crawl into bed and sleep for the next week.

He rolled off the couch and screamed at nothing—quietly, to mind his neighbors beyond thin walls—and when that didn’t help his situation at all he dragged himself to his feet to trudge along to his bedroom for his towel. Normally, he’d carry clothes with him as well as he was so unlike his roommate in that he didn’t thoroughly enjoy parading around the apartment naked but fuck it he wasn’t home and Keith really didn’t want to wear clothes or exist—

He was going to pull the extra fluffy blanket out of the closet tonight it would be glorious and absolutely necessary and prudent to his recovery.

God did he still smell like cow blood?

He still smelled like cow blood.

“What IS that?!”

Keith fumbled with his towel.

“I know it…! PIIIIIIDGE!”

“what-what-what-what!?!! Why are you screaming?!”

That was coming from those thin walls as previously noted. A boy and a girl. The girl sounded further away but grew progressively louder as she presumably got closer to the wall Keith shared with them.

It was two in the morning right? Why were they so active?

And didn’t Rolo live next door? Neither of these two sounded like Rolo.

“Do you smell that?! What is that!?!”

“Lance we just moved in there’s bound to be—Oh.”

“YOU SMELL IT TOO DON’T YOU!?!”

“Well—!”

“Dude! Is it coming from the walls!?!”

They were excitedly squeaking at each other, getting shriller as they went. Keith could feel his head rattling. He really didn’t have the energy to be concerned about what kind of mold Rolo had growing in his apartment. Of course, by default that meant it could very likely spread and become Keith’s concern in a short span of time but…

For right now, he just couldn’t be bothered.

As he held his towel in his hands he briefly considered how disgusting his hands were. He’d washed them eighty times at the store but they just. Didn’t feel clean enough. And now they were on his perfectly clean towel he was going to need to use to dry himself off later.

Maybe he should just dump this in the dirty clothes along with his uniform and just—air dry.

“No. No Lance, we can handle this okay. We just got here. This is gonna be good for us. We’re fine. We’re two… totally stable…totally normal individuals and we can handle this, no wigging out.” The girl sounded determined and her voice somehow retained human levels of shrill.

The boys did not, “But Pidge it’s right there!”

Keith glared at the spot on his wall where he was sure the boy on the other side must have leaned against it with a thump. He was confused, but too tired to ask so instead he walked over to that spot on the wall and slammed his open palm down against it. The smack made his entire body go weak but with the startled yelp from the other side it had been worth it.

“Keep it down!” Keith shouted at them.

“God Lance look what you—how could you already upset the neighbor!?”

“Why does it smell like this!?!”

Keith quirked a brow but the girl shushed him and there was the sound of several thumps and a door shutting hard.

Alright.

Okay.

You know What?

This is fine.

He took his disgusting towel in his disgusting hands anyway and went to shower.

There was something crazy soothing about being drenched in scalding hot water when your body felt like gelatin. He might have stayed in there until the skin on his fingers got pruney but frankly he didn’t care. He wrapped his towel around his waist, having mostly forgotten it was previously dubbed “disgusting” and let himself out of the extremely fogged up bathroom.

Standing out in his apartment in nothing but his towel felt a little strange, but he reminded himself Lo wasn’t home and hopefully, one day when he lived far far away in a lonely little shack in the middle of nowhere, every day would be like this and it wouldn’t be weird then.

The bathroom door looked out onto a hallway that ended in the apartment balcony and Keith offered the darkness of three AM a passing glance when he caught sight of something that looked vaguely terrifying.

If Keith had to admit it, it looked almost like the shadow of a person on the balcony. The shadow of a person, crouched on the floor, staring through the sliding glass door with glowing golden slits for eyes.

But, when Keith’s eyes adjusted from the light and fog of the bathroom to the blurred darkness of the outside there was absolutely no shadow and no glowing eyes.

Clearly, Keith was tired.

His stomach growled in agreement.

Wait, no.

No way. He was not hungry he couldn’t be hungry he didn’t have the energy left to be hungry—!!

---

Lotor came home while Keith was standing in their kitchen chewing on a pop tart over the sink, still clad in only his towel.

Keith didn’t need a mirror to realize he was probably pink in the face and doing a piss poor job of hiding his panic.

Lotor stared at him for a long moment, door ajar behind him, coat half shrugged off his shoulder and keys in hand.

“…Good Morning, Red.”

“It’s night time.” Keith mumbled over a mouth of pop tart he hadn’t managed to swallow.

Just like that, Lotor relaxed, “It’s 3 AM. As in morning. Don’t be difficult.”

“…Fair.”

Lotor shut the door and locked it before shrugging his coat the rest of the way off and hanging it from one of the hooks near the door. Keith had one too, but his cropped jacket wasn’t as aesthetically pleasing as Lotor’s long black fleece lined coat. And Lotor would definitely fight him if the hideous bright red thing clashed with his living room.

It had won him the nickname “Red” after all.

To be fair, since Lotor’s dad was footing most of the bill for the apartment the two of them had moved into after their sophomore year, Keith really couldn’t complain much.

“Anyway, is there a reason you’re up this late? And…naked?” Lotor’s eyes drifted up and down Keith’s pale form and Keith felt vaguely violated. When Lotor dared to raise his eyebrows and smirk Keith almost threw the remainder of his pop tart at him.

“Got out of work late, showered, snacked. That’s all.”

“Darn, and here I thought you’d finally cracked and fallen prey to my charms, that I could have gotten lucky tonight after all. Perhaps there’s still a chance to convince you?”

Keith flushed and stuffed his face with the rest of his pop tart, a large part of him wanted to dart into his room and ignore the comment but the part of him that rose to the challenge wanted to bait him. He knew it was a joke but he wanted to see how far Lotor would take it, “You want to convince me?”

Lotor leaned against the kitchen counter, a small but obvious smirk on his face as he looked Keith up and down again, seemingly considering the idea before he shrugged his shoulders, “Eh. You look beat. I’ll try again tomorrow. Stay naked though, makes it easier.”

Clearly Lotor was still working whatever alcohol he’d consumed out of his system if he was going to play flirt like that.

“The pop tart crumbs on your mouth really seal the deal too. Really works for me.” Lotor’s grin widened to show his perfect teeth and Keith rolled his eyes, before rinsing his still vaguely pruney hands in the kitchen sink and wiping his mouth.

“Maybe I should eat something myself actually. Narti had me try something called a Dirty Bong Water. We had…possibly eight of them.” Lotor drawled out before squeezing past Keith in their tiny kitchen toward the refrigerator.

Keith hummed absently, trying to pretend he didn't pay close attention to the warmth of the other man's presence or the way several unnaturally silver strands of hair were falling loose from the bun he'd tied it all into earlier that night.

“We have to go shopping,” Lotor mumbled as he peered around the contents of the fridge. They were almost out of soy milk, the grapes had shriveled and needed to be thrown out, they had two eggs left and a ridiculous amount of pudding but otherwise, yes, it was looking pretty scarce.

“Not it!” Keith shouted immediately.

Lotor turned to stare at him as if he’d grown a second head, “But you work there.”

“Exactly! That’s like my asking you to go to your dad’s firm on your day off.”

Lotor’s brows remained quizzically raised, “That isn’t the same thing at all. Why would I have to go there on my day off? I barely work there as it is.”

“To get groceries.”

“It’s a law firm, Keith. You're not making any sense.”

“I am very tired, Lo.”

The taller boy retreated from the fridge and shut the door behind him as he offered his roommate a sympathetic stare.

“Perhaps you should go to bed then?” He offered.

Keith nodded, “Hopefully the new neighbors will let me—oh! Did you know about that? That we got new neighbors today?”

At this Lotor’s eyes, a pretty deep dark blue, flashed in recognition, “Ah yes, I did see them come in today. Not sure what exactly got into Rolo but he said something about going back to his family for a while.”

Keith blinked, “…Rolo hates his family.”

“I’m aware.”

“He moved into his van when he was fifteen. He couldn’t wait to get away from them. Why the hell—”

Lotor raised a hand to silence Keith before placing both hands on Keith’s shoulders and turning him around, nudging him forward, “I don’t know Red, and there’s no point in asking me, these are mysteries for the daylight hours—”

“Eh it's not like it matters. I didn’t really like him anyway.” Keith continued, tilting his head back, watching Lotor’s long tan fingers as they released his shoulders with a questionable wave.

“Hm?” Lotor hummed. Of course, he didn’t know how little Keith and their neighbor got along given that in the last year he'd never actually seen the two interact. But if he had been paying attention one could even make the case that Rolo would have preferred his family to having to live next to Keith at this point.

Why were things so tense between Keith and his neighbor?

Well, because Lotor had an awful habit of getting bored, wandering over to the apartment next door, and not coming back for hours during which Rolo would play that horrendously awful “sexy times” playlist that Keith was more than tired of listening to.

Of course, to be clear, Keith’s annoyance was primarily with the playlist and not in Lotor��s involvement at all.

Naturally.

The man just had awful taste in music.

Though after Rolo met his girlfriend Nyma and Lotor stopped going over to the backdrop noise of deep repetitive beats Keith might have to admit he found his neighbors existence slightly less annoying.

Even despite the fact the music never stopped because Nyma wasn't even remotely prudish.

But again, Lotor wouldn’t know and it didn't matter because it had nothing to do with Lotor.

Nothing. Not a thing.

“He was just a dick sometimes, ya know?”

A vaguely knowing look passed over Lotor’s face as he eyed his roommate. At Keith’s unsure silence Lotor finally shrugs and reached up to run his fingers through his hair. Remembering at the last moment that his hair was tied up, he lifted both hands instead. One removed the hair tie, the other quickly went to work threading through his locks to make them appear sensible.

Of course, they always appear sensible.

Because Lotor always looks like a goddamn model no matter what he’s doing.

At least, Keith thinks dryly, he knows Lotor’s hair isn’t naturally silver. Hell, he’d even helped touch up the other mans roots once or twice when they’d been having a tolerable week.

Still. Rooming with Lotor had always given him a touch of a self esteem issue. He was just. Perfect. All the time. And on top of that he was a very prosperous flirt who could get pretty much anyone he wanted and flaunted this evil super power with this infuriating pride—

Keith wasn’t really interested in relationships if he was being honest, he was too busy trying to figure out his life and what he was going to do with a bachelor’s in liberal studies and a dead end cashiers job to really try going out and meeting anyone. But sometimes, he figured, it might have been nice.

And maybe it would be nice to get that kind of attention from Lotor in a more genuine way.

Rather—not Lotor, of course not Lotor—but when he’d walked in earlier and almost looked like he was genuinely checking him out it almost made Keith feel…good.

God damn Lotor had nice hair.

“But the new neighbors are noisy. So. I’m not sure if we leveled up or not,” Keith offered finally.

Lotor raised a brow as he decided he wasn’t going to wait for Keith to call it a night and let himself into the bathroom. Keith stayed idle at the entrance to the hallway. Honestly, it was rare they’d talked this long as it was and Keith probably should have taken the hint and just gone to bed.

Heck, he was still wearing just a towel. How exhausted was he that he could just forget that fact?

“Noisy?” Lotor called out to him, surprising him. He really had thought Lotor was going to ignore him and head to bed at this point.

Lotor turned on the sink and proceeded to brush his teeth while Keith explained what he’d overheard when he came back from work.

“Rolo doesn’t have mold. I was there yesterday,” Lotor responded dryly when he was finished rinsing.

“Well what else could it have been?”

“More questions I’m simply not equipped to answer for you tonight, Red. But I’ll tell you what, I’ll go over tomorrow and investigate. Make nice with the new neighbors. I’m sure they’re not as bad as you think.” Lotor dried his hands on the purple hand towel and shut off the bathroom light mumbling about it being way too late to take a shower and odds were Keith had used all the hot water.

This was one of their first arguments as roommates, they both enjoyed scalding hot showers and if Keith was tired he simply would not leave. They had decided at that point Keith would bathe in the mornings and Lotor would take the evenings baring unforeseen circumstances that they would then accommodate to accordingly. Much like he was going to do now.

But again, Lotor was perfect so he probably didn’t even sweat and he certainly didn’t come home smelling like cow blood so he’d be fine.

Regardless, Keith couldn’t help but consider how willing Lotor was to visit the new neighbors.

“…Which one.” He groaned, voice dripping with exasperation.

“Pardon?”

“Which one caught your attention?” Keith grumbled while the taller male paused in front of him, his eyes lingering on Keith’s collar bone for just a second. Keith assumed he’d imagined a mosquito or something. Lotor absolutely hated those and would quite comically rave about setting fire to the apartment if it took longer than ten minutes to kill one.

Not that there was any reason for Keith to be thinking about some of the funnier or cuter things Lotor was capable of when he was so close to him and naked.

Honestly, Keith didn’t want to hear the answer to his question but he couldn’t help that he’d still asked it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Keith.” Lotor even said it with a lilt and the beginnings of that shit eating grin Keith hated so much.

“I swear to god Lotor— they already sound annoying I don’t need you making it worse.”

Lotor laughed outright and Keith wanted to wretch at the awkward feeling in his stomach.

“Red, you think everyone is annoying.”

“And don’t you forget it. You’re not even an exception.”

Lotor nodded, raising a hand to Keith’s head and roughing up his hair. Would it be dramatic to say it felt like his heart stuttered with the motion? Lotor gave him palpitations. Clearly living together was shortening his lifespan.

“I’m aware. Nice chatting with you, we should avoid it in the future.”

Keith shivered at the fond way Lotor said that, but he blamed his current ensemble for it, “We should. Agreed.”

Lotor removed his hand from the others hair and waved, “Night Red.”

Yeah. Yeah really this was such a weird night.

“Night Lo.”

Lotor’s bedroom door shut quietly behind him and Keith shuffled into the hallway closet to dig out his fluffy blanket as he had planned at the beginning of the night.

When he made it to his room the neighbor was playing music. Not as loud as Rolo but still loud enough to keep him up if he were any less exhausted.

The quality of music was also nicer. Softer… Spanish?

When Keith’s head hit the pillow he went out like a light, whether it was from exhaustion paired with the music or the idea of this being the start of one of those “tolerable” spells between himself and his roommate, he didn’t know, he didn’t care.

Sleep was just. So good and so necessary right now.

And yet he woke up around sunrise to the sound of his neighbors shrieking.

“Cover it up! COVER IT UP!”

“I’m TRYING!”

Keith pulled his second pillow over his head and squeezed it tightly. Somehow he got the feeling sleep would be a rare thing from now on, with those two living next door.

What the fuck was wrong with them? ----

AN: So I would have posted this earlier but I was thoroughly distracted by Steven Yeun’s VOICE--

And yes, this is another multi-chaptered fic (Because what the fuck Gen) I’m still going to be working on IFE but it’s at a slightly lower priority right now because A) I’m totally winging it and it was mostly an experiment to play with some world building for my original series and B) There doesn’t seem to be much interest in it ANYWAY so like...no pressure yeah? <3;;; Also C) THIS STORY RIGHT HERE ACTUALLY HAS A PLOT?!!!

Like I have actual chapters planned and Lisa even got a ridiculous derpy outline when I was bored and ended up writing one instead of working on Dusk.

This was SUPPOSED to be a stupid little one shot with Klance and platonic Plance but then suddenly there was Lotor. Descended from space to give me a message! “You’re going to love me and give me the littlest blade now.” And suddenly my derpy Klance one shot became multi chapters predominantly Keitor/Klancelot.

So.

Fuck it.

Let’s see how this goes lol.

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