#in his head it's all 'oh Mika is fighting; cool'

[aurorxaeternitatis]

He was late; barely able to step out of the bus while he ran to the underground entrance with his sports bag on his shoulder. Shit, shit, shit! That miserable bus and that fucking traffic! Mika was erratic while he slammed his shoulder against the metallic door, making his way inside the locker room to already throw away his sweatshirt onto the bench and get himself ready. He wasn’t on the fighters list tonight, but he had received a call from one of the supposed referees to fill in because a lot of money had already been bet and there were VIPs to watch the fights. Money was money, after all, and he needed it. He quickly made sure to change before he stepped out of the locker room, heading to the cage. With that kind of organization, his name would be called out at the last minute, the very moment he would step into the ring for the surprise effect. 

He gazed at the VIP area from below, recalling the first night he had ever talked to Nikolai. They hadn’t texted at all since yesterday, but Mika was aware he was also a busy man, probably out of town or just… away. He glanced absentmindedly until he eventually saw moving shapes on the booths of the VIP room. He squinted his eyes for a moment, before he eventually recognized the very man he had been thinking about, a smile appearing at the corner of his lips, before it faded immediately. Yes, Nikolai was there… But certainly not alone. And certainly not sharing a drink either. Mika’s mouth went dry, his heart sinking deep inside his guts; oh… How could he be so naive…Of course… Of course it was like this… 

“... BEAR!!” There were acclamations from the scene, the spectators gathering around the ring fervently. He received a loud slap on his shoulder as the referee shook him. “Get in, kid!” He pushed him forwards. Mika was forced to look away from the other show that had caught his attention. Nikolai’s expression, his eyes full of lust for that girl, his hands on her body… It was the same as when they were together. Mika clenched his fists and entered the ring while his name was shouted again. He didn’t dare to look at the VIP area anymore. He was stupid, so stupid. 

He glanced at his opponent with a profound furor. Tonight, the Scottish Bear would be particularly violent. // you thought you could get away Nikolai? NEVER 😤

        Nikolai's fingers gently explored the contours of Annabelle's hand, his touch sending shivers of anticipation through her. She leaned in closer, her red lips brushing his ear as she whispered, " You're a hard man to pin down, Nikolai. Haven't seen you in the club for a while. "

        Hazel eyes met her sultry gaze, a mischievous grin playing on his lips. " I do enjoy keeping people on their toes, " he admitted, his voice low and seductive. " But tonight, you have all my attention. "

        As the announcement of Bear resounded in the club, Nikolai's gaze momentarily flicked toward the ring, his smile amused. " A friend of yours? " She noticed possessiveness in his gaze as his fingers traced tantalizing patterns along her arm. " A friend of mine, and quite the showman. "

        Annabelle's laughter danced like a secret melody between them, her fingers tracing a teasing path along Nikolai's chest. " Showman, you say? " she purred. " I like a man who knows how to put on a show. "

        Nikolai's eyes darkened with desire as he met her playful challenge. " Is that so? " he murmured, his lips hovering dangerously close to hers. " Perhaps we could make our own kind of spectacle tonight. "

        As the first fighters entered the ring below, Annabelle's fingers traced a slow, deliberate path up Nikolai's thigh, her gaze never leaving his. " Tell me, Nikolai, " she whispered, her voice a sultry caress, " what's your favorite kind of excitement? "

        Nikolai's smile widened as her touch sent a rush of desire coursing through him. If only she knew. He leaned in closer, his lips grazing the curve of her neck. " I enjoy the thrill of unpredictability, " he confessed, his voice husky. " The rush of taking risks, and the sweet taste of victory. "

        Annabelle's laughter was like the tinkling of crystal, a sound that echoed with allure and mischief. " Victory... And what if you lose tonight? "

        Their playful banter was interrupted by the raucous cheers and jeers from the crowd below as the fight in the ring intensified. Mika was giving his opponent a run for his money, and the excitement in the club was palpable.

        Nikolai tore his gaze away from Annabelle, momentarily captivated by the intense bout below. " Impressive, " he mused, watching the fighters' every move. " Mika's quite the fighter. " Nikolai was proud of his Scottish bear. He proved to be a far more captivating plaything than the typical individual, and his unique ruthlessness set him apart from the rest.

       Annabelle's fingers resumed their tantalizing exploration, this time tracing up Nikolai's thigh. She leaned in, her lips brushing against his earlobe. "I'm more interested in what you're capable of," she purred.

       Nikolai's self-assured smile returned as he turned his attention back to her, his fingers finding the contours of her waist. " You'll find, Annabelle, " he murmured, " that I'm capable of many things. "

[a-pastel-edgelord]

Hiii. I saw ur inbox was open so I wanted to throw some brain rot at you?? I saw ur tags for the post u reblogged with Kyotani.... PLEASE GO ON. Great with kids, loves being around them, working with them—but never wants one himself? Would his partner be the same? Would he consider it with the right person? Is he immune to baby fever? SAVE ME FROM THIS TORMENT PLSSS ❤️ tyily

That was a hot fucking minute ago anon, but 🆗 tagging @mintmatcha because my idea was spawned from their text post.

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

"You good?"

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?" You look up at Kentarō with a blink. The paper plate you'd been loading with food, is placed onto the end of the buffet table. "Is something wrong?"

The evening has been so nice—as far as you know. It's just a small cook out within the Sendai Frogs group. Tsukishima had surprisingly offered his backyard, and Koganegawa managed to procure a grill from somewhere. Daisho and Mika brought a generous amount of meat while you brought the veggies and rice. Yamaguchi and Yachi are going to arrive a little later with watermelon and booze (as an apology for having to work regular nine to five jobs). Tsukishima's older brother is in attendance as is his girlfriend(?) Saeko—she insists everyone call her by her given name.

There's laughter, music and good food. Everything is as it should be. So why does Kentarō look... anxious?

"Nevermind." He shakes his head as if to clear it. "Eat, go grab a chair."

You nod, picking up your plate and eyeing him as you go to sit. You find an empty spot next to Mika. Daisho just got transferred into the team from the Tamaden Elephants. Apparently he and Kuroo go way back. You can hear Tsukishima complaining about him with Daisho providing enthusiastic support.

You fight to keep a grin off your face and you end up catching Mika's eye. "Tsukishima's favorite pastime is shit talking."

"Oh, I'd call it Suguru's hobby!" You both laugh. "How long have you and Kyotani been together?"

Is this what Kentarō is worried about? Mika isn't the least bit scary. "Since highschool graduation actually. He confessed to me after the ceremony."

"Oh, so you two went to the same school!"

"Nah, I went to Date Tech—I was the manager of the volleyball team. Kentarō and I met through a local gym that had volleyball nights. Then our teams played against one another." You raise a cup in Koganegawa's direction, he promptly drops what he is doing to wave back—spilling water all down his front. Mika laughs again but you just sigh. "He skipped his own graduation ceremony just so he could cheer me on at mine."

"Wow! That's so romantic!" She sighs dreamily. "That'll be a good story for your kids, huh?"

Ah. Of course, you think, they wouldn't know. "Kentarō and I aren't going to have kids."

"Huh?"

You shrug, forcing nonchalance into your expression. "We talked about it and decided we're good as we are. We've gotten quite a bit of grief from our families about it too."

You don't look at Mika, not wanting to be disappointed. You like her, you don't want to give up being her friend. A hand falls on your shoulder. You meet her gaze, it's firm. "It's your business. A child is not a decision to be made lightly."

Relief, cool and sweet, sweeps through your bones. A smile blooms across your features. "My thoughts exactly."

You search for Kentarō, finding him rolling his eyes at Koganegawa's wet shirt. You barely have to stare at him for more than a second before he snaps his gaze over to you. You hold the contact, giving him a gentle wave. He signs to you, all good?

Yes, you sign back, all good.

[sweet-self-indulgence]

Ingot bleeding through bandages on the wheel, I think that would be cool with Mika and Sam, whichever one is bleeding is up to you!

I have too many ideas for this! Here's one but I think I'll do a follow-up to it soon!

I really wanted to post this for Halloween, but I didn't have time to edit at all. So the real horror will be my typos!

Bleeding Out

What is says on the tin: warnings for graphic depictions of blood and gore

Mika hates when it’s her job to stay behind The house feels hollow when they’re not home. So, she sits in the front lawn, worrying the red string tied around her finger while she fails to read the book flopped open in the grass in front of her.  

Suddenly the string pulls taught. Mika’s body tenses.

I have to get inside. The spell is strongest there.

The book is abandoned as Mika sprints to the front door and yanks it open. The second her feet cross the threshold she’s shouting

“Raestrao! Uzaeris! Aomaris! Zecaeru! Izroul!”

Mika blinks away the blinding effects of five strobes of bright white light.

The scene is hauntingly familiar. The lobby floor is painted red with blood. It has a surprisingly strong metallic smell. A scent that Mika now recognizes as demon blood. Five boys-no incubi- are strewn across cool marble. Mika’s stomach churns. She fights the bile rising in her throat through uneven breaths.

For a moment the world stands still, an eerie echo of that fateful day all those years ago.

Then, like a painting come to life, the figures begin to stir. They grunt as they push themselves upright.

Mika lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and finally manages to take in the reality of the situation. Matthew is closest to her, rotating his right shoulder and wincing. Mika kneels next to him and prys his left hand from away from his shoulder blade and into her lap. The hoodie underneath is wet with blood, but intact.

Before she can open her mouth to question him, Matthew locks eyes with her and calmly states, “I’m okay. My throwing arm is just tired.” He winces as he tries to lift his right arm, “Okay, maybe bruised…”

She gives him a small smile and helps him to his feet by his good arm. Mika glances around the rest of the room.

James is standing in front of one set of stairs, wiping blood from a cut on his cheek with a handkerchief. As if sensing Mika’s gaze, he turns to look at her. The lenses of his glasses are cracked. He pulls them off his face and frowns at them, before finally making eye contact with Mika and reassuring her, “It’s just a scrape from a bit of this glass—” He gestures with the mangled frames in his hands, “I am fine.”

Mika’s eyes flick to Damien shaking his head as he sits on the floor to her left. His entire right side is covered in blood. Mika falls to her knees in front of him. Damien looks up at her in alarm and his hand comes to the side of his head and comes away bloody. He looks down at his hand confused.

He doesn’t seem to be in pain. Mika notes and then quietly asks, “Is that your blood?”

He shakes his head. His eyes seem a little unfocused, Mika worries.

Suddenly Erik is beside her, his fingers gently trace his brother’s head, neck, and chest. The faintest purple glow emanates from his fingertips. “He’s pretty drained, and I bet feeling a bit whiplashed from the summoning.” Damien’s nod confirms his older brother’s diagnosis. Erik gently pats Damien’s head as he explains, “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just that he had about a dozen of his show clones out, that spell was severed rather suddenly by your summoning.”

Mika nods, then looks over at Erik. His left arm is holding his torso tightly. “Here, let me take a look”, Mika gently pulls at his sleeve.

“Oh I’ll live” Erik complains as he acquiesces, “Just caught a nasty kick to the ribs!”

Mika relaxes a fraction. They heal so fast they’ll probably wake up totally fine in the morning.A small smile pulls at her lips. This is just like that first time. I half expect someone to steal a kiss-

Mika’s face suddenly falls. She’s checked on everyone expect for—

“SAM!”

Her eyes are drawn like magnets to the pool of blood in the middle of the room, in the middle of it lies Sam. Or rather, Aomaris, in full demon form.

“nonononono”, Mika whispers under her breath. Her feet nearly slide out from under her as she sprints through the ever-growing pool of blood. Her knees land heavily at Sam’s side with a sickening splash.

Mika’s hands hover uselessly over the gaping hole in his abdomen. Oh God, his whole liver is gone, and maybe half of that lung. Her fingers twitch midair. It’s so close to his heart. Wait, does she even have a liver? Or any organs?

A thick pad of gauze suddenly lands in her hands, Matthew helps her press it over the wound. His voice shakes, “You hold it there, okay?” Mika nods silently and watches out of the corner of her eye as Matthew pulls out a strange looking sponge and starts soaking up the blood on the floor.

James and Erik are on the other side of Sam barking quickly at each other in Latin. Mika can feel the rapid-fire spells working through the layer of gauze under her hands.

She startles her hands are suddenly wet. “Matthew!”, her voice sounds high and desperate.

Matthew holds and even thicker bandage over Mika’s fingers, “swap in 3, 2, 1.” Mika chucks the soaking wad of gauze onto the floor and presses firmly on the fresh bandage Matthew placed.

A wordless scream suddenly rips its way out of Sam. Mika struggles to hold the compress in place as he writhes. Damien skitters across the floor on all fours, stopping by Sam’s head and clamping it between his hands. Sam suddenly goes limp and Damien rests his head in his lap.

The new gauze is ruined. “Matthew” Mika calls and they repeat the process to switch bandages. After a few seconds she murmurs, “he looks so pale…”

Erik calls for Matthew and he brings over the odd blood-soaked sponge. Erik digs the fingers of one hand into it while the other remains on Sam’s chest. As the blood slowly drains from the sponge, Sam feels incrementally warmer under Mika’s hands.

Damien hisses and holds his head with one hand. Sam moans lowly. James glances at Erik, who nods, before sliding behind Damien. James guides Damien’s hand back down to Sam’s head while resting his cheek on Damien’s hair. Damien slumps back into this brother, letting Jame’s fully support his weight while he concentrates on Sam.

“Mika!” Her name snaps her attention back to her hands, they’re so wet she didn’t feel the blood oozing under her fingers. She snatches the soaked bandage away just as Matthew produces a fresh one.

They continue their vigil for some time. Erik speaking in Latin almost continuously, maintaining a number of spells knitting furiously in Sam’s abdomen. James supplying Damien with the energy to keep Sam unconscious while Matthew and Mika swap out  bandage after bandage. Matthew tosses the old ones near the sponge in Erik’s hand where they slowly dissolve.

Eventually, Matthew leans his head on Mika’s shoulder in a wordless request for more energy. Mika leans her head onto his in answer. She tries to ignore the new wave of pain as she strains her arms and hands.

Glamor spells flicker out one by one. Damien grimaces as his horns and markings suddenly materialize. James pets his hair soothingly but returns to his true form only a few moments later. Matthew frowns as the next gauze pad he produces is noticeably thinner. He sits up as his horns materialize on the sides of his head and heaves a great sigh before producing another compress.

Erik grits his teeth. Mika’s only familiar with a handful of Latin phrases from her limited knowledge of spells, but she’s pretty sure he’s just cursing now.

Mika resists the urge to twitch her fingers against the uncomfortable sensation as they dry. Dry? She glances at the latest bandage, it’s still white apart from her bloody handprints.

As she looks back up there’s an audible fizzle and then a whoop from Erik, now unglamoured as well, “That’s it! I got it! There’s no more poison!”

There’s a moment of celebration. Everyone with free hands claps Erik on the back. The sense of elation is short-lived as exhaustion rolls quickly in behind it.

James props Sam upright while Mika, Matthew, and Erik quickly tie a bandage around his middle. They manage to lift him and settle him on the couch. James and Erik sit in the arm chairs and quickly fall asleep. Matthew and Damien pass out in a pile on the smaller couch. Mika curls up by the side of the couch and rests her head on the cushion near Sam’s chest.

She doesn’t realize she’s fallen asleep until a movement disturbs her. She opens her eyes to see Sam’s smiling face, “You all look like shit.”

[abbyslev]

𝑨𝑶𝑻 𝑺𝑰𝑩𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑫𝑪𝑨𝑵𝑶𝑵𝑺

A/N: as the middle child, i would like to say being a sibling is the best and worst thing ever. ANYWAY HERES SOME CUTE LITTLE HCS I WROTE MONTHS AGO PLS ENJOY

WARNINGS: mentions of death, angst and whatever else

HANGE

calmer one of the two 

levi prefers you over hange ( or so he says we all know he loves hange)

you’re more brawn than brain 

hange is like a mastermind 

you capture titans for hange

Hanges older smfh they won't let you live in peace 

��Can you-” “no.” “IM OLDER”

hanges actually pretty protective they just won’t say it out loud

levi enjoys watching you two fight 

“I SAID MOVE!” “YOU FOUR-EYED FUCK!” while levi’s in the corner enjoying this 

one time hange made this fart noise thing and put it under your seat, and when you sat down it made a loud fart

IN THE CAFETERIA IN FRONT OF LEVI AND ERWIN AND ALL THE FUCKING SCOUTS 

no one believes that hange pranked you with it so the scouts call you “commander fart” 

you choked hange that night

moblits so kind to you like KING

hange gets all excited and grabs you and shakes you so aggressively 

if something or someone bothers hange you now have to kill the person

when hange loses their eye you’re kind to them but now you just bully hange

“hey look- oh wait” “YOU’RE NOT FUNNY ”

you help hange around with caring for it and stuff 

also help hange through moblits death </3 

you were close w erwin so hanges all like <3333

back to the bullying tho 

hange makes sure you’re safe in the front lines <3

yelena tries to hit on you and hanges NOT having it 

you and hange gush over the guns and new weapons Onyakopon showed you two 

Levi’s trying to shut you two up 

10/10 duo

ANNIE

Annie tried to keep you from becoming a titan so she took it herself 

they ended up giving you another one because you also fought really well 

annie’s all upset cause she wants you to live 

you actually enjoy your time in paradis and annie’s all like “we have a mission stupid bitch” 

one time annie chewed you out cause you hung out w sasha (you’re in love w her) and annie was like “you can’t be doing that, we have a mission” and you were like “FUCK YOU” and annie slammed the door and locked you out for the night. she was not having it 

you and reiner are like twins and annie’s hates you both 

you joined the scouts and ofc annie was like “okay you’re gonna die you stupid fucking brat but whatever no one likes you anyway”

those little night bonfire meetups would just end up in your and annie arguing 

bertholdt takes your side and annie fucking FLAMES HIM

“i mean… we do need someone to bring us information from the scouts. Levi favors them and reiner could just be backup. I could bring the information to you, Annie.” “and who asked you? everytime you speak it makes me want to smash my head against a wall.” 

she just wanted you to live

annie’s actually sweet she just won’t let that show through 

once everyone was revealed from their titan form you had to fight along side w them 

sasha hated you and annie had to comfort you :( 

once annie was in that crystal everyone started targeting you 

“are you a titan too???!!!” and all you could say was no 

annie was your main concern when the rumbling started 

you never left her side after that <33

MIKASA

ofc you grew up w eren around too

it hurt to see mika so in love w eren

you also could fight really well thanks to mika

when you joined the scouts w her she could tell you had a crushhhhhh 

you would sit with sasha and just talk and talk and mika would be like :3

you and armin gang up on her sometimes 

she cuts her hair and you help her <3

she has her scarf and mika gave you this cool bracelet you wear all the time

she protects you with her life and she can be affectionate sometimes <3

you and armin bicker cause he wants to be smart and mika always takes his side 

meatrider 

“mika you only take his side because you like him more than me.” “and?” 

you get mad at her when she gets all worried about eren like girl

you comfort her because she’s an emotional person okay

when the rumbling starts you can tell mikasa has sort of lost herself

when eren said he hated you both you just stared and and blinked at him

ofc mika protected him from armin

when armin got into the fight mika was staring and you had to stick up for that poor boy

you then tried to fight and mika stood up for him again like MOVE 

mad at eren but mika’s like “he has a plan ok:(“ 

mikasa becomes more protective, she can’t lose you either :( 

you’re very mad at eren for causing mika to worry and stuff 

overall, you just want mikasa to be happy but it’s so hard :( 

SASHA

Levi swears he’s gonna kill one of you one day

you two drive him nuts 

drive everyone nuts tbh 

you, connie, jean and sasha are just uncontrollable 

sasha likes food like she’s never eaten before 

you’re more tame

you always share half with sasha, it makes you smile seeing her eat food like that

sasha’s so good with her bow and you’re better with ODM gear

sasha drives you crazy but you still love her

you killed a titan that almost killed her and you were scolding her and she’s like “I PROMISE TO GOD I WILL DO ANYTHING YOU ASK ME THANK YOU FOR SAVING ME PLS.” 

she in fact did not keep this promise 

she always sleeps on your bed with you 

makes her feel at home

when you guys found kaya she threw you and kaya over that bridge and made you run

willing to die for you

you guys saw your dad and you’ve ever seen sasha so happy

so cute 

sasha knows you have a crush on mikasa YOU CANT HIDE IT FROM HER

when the war of Marley starts Sasha’s all serious 

proud of you all and sasha makes sure to let you know you did amazing 

when you lost sasha you lost yourself 

connie tries to comfort you but tbh you both just sit on the floor facing each other in silence 

you take care of kaya and keep your parents safe <3

YELENA

 you’re a bit shorter but still tall asfk

tbh yelena doesn’t care that much 

she meatrides zeke and eren so you’re just kinda there to help 

you’re really good at artillery so yelena uses that to her advantage 

you get along with hange so well and yelenas like “you’re fucking up the plan.”

you don't really care you like your new friends 

one time someone pointed a gun at you and yelena didn’t even hesitate to shoot them 

so she cares but she won’t show it <3

when the general broke her arm you fixed it for her and she didn’t even mumble a thank you

you and onyakopon are best buddies

there’s not much to say yelena just bosses you around and demands shit

LEVI

BUCKLE IN PLS it’s a wild ride 

he makes up these stupid rules like “NO DATING ANYONE” “STAY OUT OF MY WAY”

if Hange or anyone shows a slight interest in you he will go feral

everyone is amazed at the way you talk back to him

“Didn’t I tell you to clean out the cabinets?” “Get out of my face, shorty.” 

he makes you train extra hard bc he hates you (he actually does it to protect you but wtv)

you always reply with “no” to everything he says

you actually clean really well because he raised you like that 

you’re an extremely talented fighter bc of levi

you and levi = deadly duo

when kenny shows up he tries to target you first bc he knows that’s levi’s only weak spot. he raised you and levi together but saw you as the brains more than the fighter 

makes sure that you’re not in complete danger, still lets you fight on the front lines because he knows they need you

he can tell you have a thing for hange 

“do you like shitty glasses” “THEIR NAME IS HANGE AND NO I DO NOT”

sometimes he just needs your presence to feel better 

silence and tea with you is his therapy

he likes seeing you hunched over some book. he likes seeing you at peace 

never says good night but will peek into your office sometimes to check in on you

he smiles (A VERY SMALL SMILE OK) when he sees you asleep on your desk with papers scattered everywhere 

leaves you there bc lets be real he will not carry you to bed 

“Did you get taller?” “That's 100 laps.” 

cannot handle you and hanges energy 

one time you and hange went to jump in puddles and you came home dirty and he was like “you filthy fuck” 

you guys share a love over tea

when the attack on Marley happened you could see the FEAR mold into Zekes face when he remembered there were two of you AND MIKASA??? DEATH.

Levi made sure to keep you safe that whole mission 

was sad at you being upset ab sasha’s death

when Zeke was imprisoned w him you were there too 

you blame yourself because Levi jumped in front of you when the thunder spear exploded 

you thought you lost him

HANGE TO THE RESCUE

you got minor injuries 

“Levi, you are so fucking stupid i’m gonna kill you!!” “You’re still as annoying as ever.” 

levi lets you know you’re strong and that he doesn’t regret almost dying for you (savor this bc he not letting this happen again)

you tend to his wounds :( 

hange tends to yours and Levi’s suspicious of y’all

overall you love being his sibling 10/10

JEAN

good god no one even knows your related by the way he treats you omfg

“don’t talk to me, don’t embarrass me, don’t even look at me.”

he actually broke his own rules and talked to you first

“Jean, do you like Mikasa?” “Remember when you pissed your pants? Yeah. Shut up.” 

You joined the Scouts and ofc he joined to watch over you 

“I thought we agreed on the Garrison.” “YOU said that. Not me.” 

he thinks the scouts are pretty fun

“Do you like Sasha or something?” “JEAN THATS ENOUGH.” 

actually gets you and sasha to date <3

you tell connie embarrassing stories ab jean and he choked you 

you laugh so hard and cheer eren on when he fights jean 

#fuckjean

jk we are a #jeanfanpage

when your mom visits you get all excited and jeans like “act normal” 

once the war of marley starts you cut your hair and jean lowkey shed a tear #mullettwins

he loves you sm and he made sure you were not in danger the whole time 

when you lost sasha you literally tackled gabi and jean was like :(

you ran to jean and sobbed in his chest while he had one arm around you </3

you call him captain

HES A GOOD LEADER OK

jean keeps you close and refuses to let you be close to danger <3

jeans a good brother ok:(

ARMIN

you basically bullied his ass  

you deeply care for your little nerd 

he’s actually older but wtv 

you’re the fighter and he’s the brains 

you two are literally a deadly duo 

like he plans the attacks and you execute them like YES

he can tell you like annie 

jealous 

GET AWAY ARMIN THATS MY WIFE 

he’s actually so supportive 

one time you got onto him and he roasted you back so you tackled him

“armin, shut the fuck up.” “remember when you stuttered because-” *table goes flying*

levi gives you both laps like bro chill

you teach him how to fight 

you basically give up but he gets better 

when he died you died but he’s ok and alive now ig

now you can’t fight him cause he says he’ll blow you up :/ party pooper

jk when he’s asleep you and connie pour water on him

when annie’s out of that crystal and you found out he’s like !!GAY ALERT!!

when he got that haircut all the girls wanted him and no one paid attention to your sexy ass anymore

you protect armin with your life <3

“How are they taller, but you’re older, Armin?” “THATS NOT FUNNY JEAN!”

he lowkey is a goat and you just sit back and watch proudly 

now when armin gets stronger he defends you with his life

when eren sits you all down he said if you even move he kills armin

beat armin up and you lowkey got scared so you couldn’t defend armin 

swore to kill eren and he’s like “:| oh i’m so scared.”

eren said that you just defend armin and that was your whole point in life was to defend a “weakling” 

tried to beat erens ass but armins like “it’s ok leave it alone.”

you just love armin and hate to see him hurt 

armins an awesome brother <3 he promised to show you the outside world 

REINER

PLSSS pray that no one messes w you

he’s like those corny ass people that are like “mess with her, mess w me” 

reiner pls stop

its kinda cute tho like he cares sm :D

YOU GOT A COOL TITAN AND WHEN YOU TWO FIGHT HE DOES THIS THING WHERE HE THROWS YOU AND YOU ATTACK ITS SO FUCKING COOL ISKZUKAJSJSJ

annie crushes on you and reiner is like :o

you can tell reiners like super depressed when y’all get back to marley 

gabi and you try and make him feel better 

you like to sit next to him and trace little shapes on his arm 

hey he’s a big scary man but he just needs to be loved 

protects you w his life

confessed that he also felt like giving up and you made sure to let him know that you loved him

you would have bake offs where you would purposely mess up your food just so he could win 

pieck has a thing for you and reiners like “GO FOR IT” 

when war on marley started he wanted to make sure you were ok :(

begged you not to fight but your titan was strong and they needed you 

you two were flawless out there <3

just pls let reiner know he is loved

be a good sibling ok he needs it

EREN

fucking god 

he’s like so annoying and he never wants you in his way

“MOVE” “eren that’s why your ass got beat”

you ofc join the scouts because of him

you’re in love w mika but she’s in love w him :(

when he becomes a titan you get picked on 

levi kicked you cause you jumped in front of eren cause levi was gonna kick him

eren got all mad like woah jamal don’t pull out the 9

you can tell he starts losing himself in all of this

at some point he says things are changing and you two won’t be the same

it upset you :( he was your only brother 

zeke wanted you on his side 

that’s why he tried taking you and eren

you put up fight and told him he would never take you

so eren just told zeke ab you and how smart you were

this made zeke more determined 

NOW levi didn’t let ts slide 

you lost all hope for eren and you became closer to levi and hange and stuff 

when the war of marley started eren looked so different you couldn’t even believe it was him

you were very upset at him you couldn’t even look at him

he stared in awe at you:( you looked just like your mom

all the years he was gone, he missed you a lot 

you stood in the corner looking down the whole time while he talked to you in the aircraft 

zeke was like :3 the whole time bro was just excited to meet his sibling 

you didn’t reply or anything :( it just hurt that he left out of nowhere 

then you found out sasha died and everything came crashing down 

when all the jeagerist stuff was happening you had to find a way to sneak around town 

flotch knew you would refuse to join so eren ordered him to forcefully bring you to him

when eren had y’all sit in at that table oh god nooooo

in a nutshell, he basically said he hated how you follow orders and was willing to die for the scouts. He said you deserved to be free and if you were against him, you were against your own blood.

he made you cry and armin was not having it 

he had you locked up and you literally wanted to cry and scream at him

overall 0/10 hes mean

CONNIE 

OH MY GOD YES 

bros just here to have fun 

you guys are twins 

but you’re cuter (duh)

he knows you have a crush on sasha 

you two make everything into a competition 

you two join the scouts :) 

he’s there to protect you but he just says he wants to beat you at everything 

never a dull moment

you sneak food out for Connie, Sasha and Jean. 

you two can’t be serious 

once the war starts Connie starts being more protective 

he won’t let you fight frontlines, he makes you tail behind him, Sasha or Jean so they can protect you

he’s excited to get some action but at the same time he doesn’t want you to get hurt 

you’re pretty strong so you carry multiple thunder spears 

connie distracts them while you bomb them

badass siblings

once sasha dies you and connie lose it

you lost your gf and connie lost his other twin

you two never really recover yk since she died in your arms and connie was telling everyone sasha was hurt

it was so bad you were putting pressure on her wound and crying and Connie was freaking out and Jean was in shock 

Connie was there for you and made sure you were ok

10/10 brother would recommend 

ERWIN

GOD 

he’s really cool, as serious as he is

he makes you hanges assistant 

he knows you’re in love w hange that’s why

you still have to salute to him and shit like bro chill

levi thinks you’re pretty cool 

you’re like a mini erwin 

you’re so good at fighting and hanges all like *insert hange blushing*

erwin likes to just sit down and talk to you at night it’s like a little stress reliever 

you scold him for putting to much pressure on himself 

when they said erwin was to be executed you lost it bruh 

like NOT MY BOY ERWIN 

once he loses that arm you stay by his side 

you beg him to stay and not go out but he says he would die to find out the truth 

you send levi to convince him but ofc look where that got y’all

you’re so mad at levi for saving armin instead of erwin 

you genuinely thought erwin was gonna live 

but no it was just some short kid with a bad haircut

you lost yourself and just really hung around hange and levi 

10/10 brother you miss him a lot

[moonlite-drabbles]

Underwater Caves (must be mapped) - Freminet x Mika

cws: cave diving, awkward interactions (to start), earthquakes, non-fatal injury, technically canon compliant.

~

He first met him four hundred feet underwater.

Well, met is the wrong word. Freminet saw the boy—dressed in a deep blue Mondstadt Knight uniform, exploring the very same underwater caves that Freminet was diving in. And so, out of both curiosity and shyness, Freminet decided to neither leave him alone, nor introduce himself.

So, for the past few days, Freminet had been… trailing behind, so to speak.

Aside from his attire, it was obvious he was not native. It was almost endearing, watching him struggle to figure out how to use water spirits to fight beneath water, or watching him stumble into a current and get dragged across the rolling underwater plains.

Freminet knew it was slightly creepy—well, incredibly creepy—but he couldn't find it in himself to care. Lyney and Lynette were the public figures after all. And besides, Freminet had been diving professionally for years, and one of the most common types of job given to him are rescue missions; which commonly turn out to be body recollection missions. Freminet has seen his share of bloating, discolored corpses trapped in diving gear—both expensive and cheap.

Sure, the boy had a vision—cryo, like him—meaning he couldn’t drown within the bounds of Fontaine, but there were other ways to perish.

Still, stalking was… bad. Very bad. Unless Father requested it of him, he didn’t do it.

So, the next time he saw Mika surface in the air pocket of an underwater cave system, he resolved to actually meet the boy, planning to reveal himself and say hello.

He took a breath, steadying himself as he stood—hid, more like—a little ways away. Before either building up the courage or losing the nerve though, the other boy spoke.

“Hello?” The boy called out. “I-I know you’re there.”

Oh. Oh archons. The boy knew Freminet was there. Well—Freminet was going to show up anyway, but still, it was different when he was out on a timer.

Freminet shuffled out into the open where the boy could see him, giving him a small wave. “…hi.”

The blue eyed boy—and wow those eyes were very blue—smiled awkwardly, tilting his head. “Ah—well, I don’t mean to really be blunt, but, I-uh, have noticed you following me while I dive for the past two days.”

“Oh.”

“Ha—yeah. Um, what—may I ask what that’s about?”

“Oh. You�� didn’t seem very confident diving. I didn’t want you to get trapped down here. Plus I was in the area... sorry.”

“Oh—well, that’s fine, I guess. My name is Mika.”

“Oh I’m Freminet.” The conversation lulled for a moment, then, with great effort, Freminet spoke again. “You’re a knight, from Mondstadt, right?”

“Yes, I am a frontline surveyor for the Knights of Favonius.” Realizing how that may sound, he quickly amended; “I’m not on duty though! I do a lot of cartography for the knights—and just cause I like it. I’m on vacation right now technically, ha… not making illegal Military maps for Fontaine.”

“This isn’t the best place to map if you were, anyways.” Freminet shrugged. “No use in mapping ruins if you were doing stuff in the military.”

“I suppose not… oh, sorry, you’ve been standing there so long. Feel free to sit! I always pack extra food too—“

“Thank you.” Freminet said, taking a seat beside Mika.

“So uhm, Freminet, right?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a diver.”

“I am.”

“That’s cool.”

“Thanks.”

Silence.

“Um… what do you do?”

Mika looked at Freminet, an almost concerned tilt to his eyebrows. Oh, right, Mika had already told him.

“Knight. Right. Sorry. I’m not good at this.” Freminet looked away, embarrassed. No. Mortified. Ah, of course he was messing this up. He should have never even approached Mika. Why wasn’t Lyney here—

Mika laughed. Freminet snapped out of his spiral, enchanted by the light chime of Mika’s bubbly laughter.

“Ha—sorry! Sorry! I’m not laughing at you I promise.” Mika struggled to restrain his laughter. “Don’t worry—really. I’m terrible at this too.”

Freminet smiled, a bit awkward, a bit strange, no teeth or mirth to it, but still, he smiled. “What are you mapping?”

“I-oh. Like I said, I’m mapping the ruins down here. I’ve not really worked underwater before, but these are all really interesting. The terminology and key signals for underwater mapping are very interesting too, ha.”

“Will the maps be damaged if they get wet?” Freminet asked quietly.

“Not these ones, the ink and the parchment are waterproof, and covered in a waxy layer. Still, I like to do my mapping on dry land, just in case. Writing underwater can be difficult.”

Freminet nodded, not quite feeling the obligation to respond.

“I'm headed in deeper, since I should have the supplies. I found the remnants of a cave-in earlier today. The—um, floor of the cavern up ahead was the ceiling to one under it, so when it shifted the new path was opened.”

Huh. Freminet would have to take note of that. Quietly, he spoke up. “Well, the deeper in, the more common underwater tremors are. If that part of the cave was unstable, others can also

Mika’s shoulders drooped a bit, catching onto what Freminet was saying. “So you think I shouldn’t proceed?”

“I, sorry, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Mika smiled a bit. “No—Don’t worry about it! I’d be a fool not to listen to the diving expert on this.”

Still, Freminet felt a small pang. Mika did seem excited…

“I could go with you. I’m good at recognizing the warning signs. Besides, I’ve been here a lot.”

“Oh, no, really, I’ll just head back to the surface, no need to accommodate me—that’s fine, r-really!” Mika rushed to reassure him, and Freminet suddenly felt even more bad. Still, the thought of helping the Mondstadt boy through the ruins and caverns made his heartbeat jump.

“I would like to help, if you’d want me to.”

“I—well. If you like to. But only if I can pay your commission fee. You’re a professional, right?”

“…Yes.” Freminet answered. “But I’m really willing to do this free of charge.”

“No, really, I want to pay! Especially if I’m taking your time.”

“…alright.” Freminet agreed. Then, suddenly, he remembered he was down here for a reason. Right, work. “But, we’d have to do it tomorrow. I have to finish my current job.”

“Is it anything I can help with? Since you're helping me?”

Freminet shook his head. “I already completed it. I just need to surface and turn it in.”

“Alright, then I’m probably going to resurface as well, I’d rather not stay here overnight…”

“We can go together…?” Freminet offered, somewhat nervously, as if he might be rejected. But Mika just smiled.

“Sure!”

~

Mika followed Freminet’s route back through the water to the surface, trusting him to lead them correctly. The thought made Freminet feel sickeningly nervous and a little prideful all at once.

Mika was a sight, gliding through the water. Of course, Freminet knew this when he was watching him, but it was different up close. He was slim, not containing the specific muscle build that a diver like Freminet had, lean, with long legs despite his stature. He was almost doe-like. The wetsuit he was in helped too. Freminet wondered how he’d look against the Fontainian countryside, or bounding through forests, over fallen logs and exposed roots.

He pretended the chill of the water was to blame for his blush. Mika didn’t notice after all.

He probably should have taken the direct path back up to the city, but something in Freminet had him taking Mika through the scenic paths, past the sea otters and the titalgia, the kelp and the spirit creatures.

Mika let out a small laugh as a stingray weaved around him, reaching his hand out to skim over its back. Freminet paused in the water, waiting for him, face carefully blank. Mika apologized sheepishly, flashing a small smile and a scratch to the back of his neck, before swimming to catch up.

Coming to the harbor, the sky had darkened, even if the sun didn’t quite dip over the horizon yet. It must have been late, dinner time. He usually didn’t stay out this late.

Probably why both Lyney and Lynette were waiting by the docks.

“Freminet!” Lyney called out, waving before trotting over to them, Lynnette following slowly.

“Hi.” Freminet responded.

“You’re later than usual.” Lynette said, her eyes catching on Mika. “And you brought… someone.”

“H-hello.” Mika greeted his siblings with a small wave, a bit of a nervous tint to his voice. He turned back to Freminet. “Thank you for your help, Freminet. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Freminet nodded. “It was of no issue. Have a nice day, Mika.”

“Bye!” Lyney waved after him, Lynette simply watching as he disappeared.

As soon as Mika was out of sight, two, catlike eyes snapped to him.

“Who was that?” Lyney asked, a grin stretched across his face.

“Nobody.” Freminet answered, too quickly. Immediately he regretted it—Mika obviously was somebody. And now he caught the catlike attention of his siblings. He should have just said he was someone who got lost. Freminet mentally steeled himself. “Well—I mean. I met him in the bay. He’s not from around here.”

Lynette, who had at some point summoned a cup of tea, tapped her spoon on the edge of the porcelain cup, “Mondstadter accent. Rented wetsuit. Seems true enough.”

“Meeting up with him tomorrow though? How interesting. Did you accept a commission?” Lyney wondered.

“I—yes. I suppose I did.”

“You don't accept spontaneous commissions though.” Lynette said.

“Not once!” Lyney added, suddenly at Freminet’s side.

“Seems our baby brother made a friend.” Lynette added too casually, before sipping her tea.

“Hm, by the looks Fremi gave him though… maybe not…”

Oh no. Oh nonono. Freminet stood, mortified as his siblings took the situation and sprinted with it, matching catlike mischief on their faces. “Guys…”

“Sooooo…” Lyney’s voice startled Freminet from his trance. His brother practically danced around him, ignoring Freminet’s attempts to bat him away before he flung himself over Freminet’s shoulders. “A Mondstadt boy? How unexpected!—especially from my sweet baby brotherrrr—”

“Lynette.” Freminet said quietly, calling out for his sister to save him. To have mercy.

“It is intriguing.” Lynnette said. “What was his last name again?”

His only savior, betraying him. “It’s—it’s not—we’re—I’m not-!”

“Shh.” Lyney cut him off. He was in front of him now, tutting his finger. “Don’t worry, big brother Lyney is gonna help you get the boy.”

“After a background check.” Lynette reminded him, tapping her spoon against the rim of her teacup.

“Aaand a little bit of reconnaissance.” Lyney agreed.

“Please don’t.” Freminet whispered, head hung low. This was the worst outcome.

“Don’t worry your dear little head, baby brother. Everything will be just fine. Just let your wonderful big siblings work our magic!”

“I’m not interested in him, I’m just helping him out a bit—he’s not an experienced diver.”

“You were staring at him like you wanted to tear open his back panel and look at his components, Freminet.”

“I wasn't—what does that even mean?”

“Bad analogy, brother.” Lynette, finally, decided to have mercy. “And don’t worry about it Freminet, I’ll keep Lyney out of trouble.”

“I’d prefer if you kept out of it entirely. It’s just a commission, you don’t need to stalk him…” Freminet tried one final time.

His siblings both just smiled, and Freminet decided maybe it was time to die.

~

Freminet had woken up early, prepared all his gear, and was out the door before the sun was even over the horizon, the sky that light blue that came before sunrise. Perhaps it was a bit overkill, but without a specified time, Freminet didn’t want to be late.

When he arrived at the docks though, he mentally berated him for his stupidity. Who would come out at six in the morning? Likelihood was that Freminet would wait upwards of two hours for Mika to arrive. He paces the empty docks. What should he do? What would he say?

Ultimately, Freminet decided that, since Mika had shared his food with him yesterday, he’d go to a nearby cafe and grab something for the both of them. To pay him back, of course. Besides—His client etiquette was something he needed to work on, according to both Lyney and Father.

Somewhat impulsively, he spun around, heading towards a cafe near the docks.

He stared at the pastry displays, would a Mondstadter like coffee? It’s not very popular over there, he thought. Mondstadt was known for wine, and if not wine, grape juice. Eggs were a safe bet—Everywhere eats eggs, right?—maybe a breakfast sandwich. Or would he like something sweet? Fontaine was very good at sweets.

Eventually, Freminet decided on a Fontainian classic. A couple sweet croissants—Fontaine was incredibly good at executing them, and unless Mika disliked sugar, he should like these.

But what if he did? Freminet hesitated, should he also grab something else, maybe something less sweet? Before he could make any changes, the cashier had wrapped up the breakfast and Freminet had no choice but to scuttle out the door.

He trotted back back to the docks, the little to-go bag clutched in his hand. Upon arriving, he nearly jumped seeing Mika, sitting on the pier. Mika heard him apparently, head turning.

“Oh! Hello Freminet, sorry if I’m a bit early. I set out early then realized maybe that wasn’t the best idea, ha.” Mika looked… bashful, maybe. People were difficult.

Freminet froze a moment, taking in the sight of Mika sitting at the dock, legs dangling off the side, tips of his feet skimming the water, making little ripples. He was in the wetsuit from yesterday. It looked good above water as well. Mika was lean and a little on the shorter side, but it helped him. Freminet took a small breath.

A moment of silence, before they both spoke: “I brought us breakfast-”

Another moment of silence, staring at one another. Freminet’s face felt hot—he really hoped he wasn’t blushing.

Mika smiled awkwardly. “Oh—wow. Ha. Seems we both had the same idea. If you like, we can pack one of ours up for a snack later?”

“Sure. Um—We can eat yours now?” Freminet carefully lowered himself to the dock, sitting next to Mika.

“If you want.” Mika said, a bit quieter. He handed Freminet a small, paper wrapped piece of food.

It was a homemade breakfast sandwich. Sunny side up egg, lettuce, ham, and cheese on some sort of bagel like bread. He felt sort of embarrassed, since this was obviously homemade. Freminet wasn’t often one for this type of food, but it tasted really good, and he couldn’t help but finish it in mere minutes—something he quickly felt embarrassed about when he looked back to Mika and realized he was only about halfway through his sandwhich.

Mika just laughed though. “Ha—I suppose it’s not just the other knights who enjoy my cooking.”

“It was good. Thank you.” Freminet used the excuse of wiping his face to turn away.

“I—Well—You’re welcome.” Mika turned away as well. “Uhm—so, I have all the maps written out, leading up to the caves we’ll be going into. I’m not sure if we’ll have access to those little ocean spirits—you know, the blue sea creatures that give you abilities underwater?—I don’t know if there'll be any inside the ruins so I marked off the places where I spotted some yesterday.”

“They’re called aberrants. And that’s good. We should steer clear of the destructive ones… the crab and the jellyfish.”

“Y-yeah. I’d rather not trigger a cave-in. Perhaps you could grab a blab—uhm, sorry; I’m not sure how to pronounce it, ‘blubber beast?’, and I’ll grab the hunter's ray.”

Freminet nodded once. “That’s a good idea.”

Mika smiled, cheerful. “Alright. Ready to dive in?”

~

The plan was this: acquire the aberrants needed, based on Mika’s map, head into the caves and ruins they were in before, and dive as deep as possible while Mika mapped and Freminet kept them safe.

It was an easy job. An easy order—and Freminet was excellent at blocking the world out and following commands.

But he just couldn’t seem to tune the world out when Mika was there. Freminet looked to him often—not unusual, for him to try to gauge the emotions of an employer, but he was looking far to much, and was far to invested in how much Mika was enjoying himself.

So much so, he didn’t heed to warnings the ocean gave him when the shallow fields where hunter rays would roam were strangely empty.

He just shrugged, gesturing for Mika to follow him to the next spot, the trench where blubberbeasts liked to sleep.

No aberrants there either.

The sea was… tranquil. Barren. The way the shallows got when a downpour would scare the fish away. The ocean still as it’s residents hid. It wasn’t the most unusual, but…

They had until dark to get into and out of the ruins—it was a one day trip, and swimming home in the dark wasn’t a good idea—even in the shallows. The two of them were operating on a clock, so to say.

When their search came up empty yet again, Freminet bit his lip, hesitating for a second, before he made the gesture for the two of them to surface.Mika, of course, nodded, following him up until they broke the surface of the water, treading.

Mika’s breaths were a bit heavy. Despite the fact his vision allowed him to breathe in water, swimming was still an exhausting task that strained certain muscles—ones that a foreigner wouldn’t have developed. It was strange to think swimming wasn’t a way of life within Mondstadt. Diving? Sure, it’s dangerous as a baseline and not many in Fontainians even do it. But swimming was basically a part of the people of Fontaine. Some learn to swim before taking their first steps. Mika didn’t have that experience.

Watching Mika’s slightly red face, Freminet suddenly became aware that time wasn’t the only limit they had. Mika could only swim for so long. This was really strenuous for him. “We should take a break on the shore.”

“Hm? Oh—right. We should… probably come up with a plan.” Mika nodded, beginning to swim for the nearest beach.

Freminet moved to grab his forearm, the way he usually did when pulling drowning men to shore, only to realize before he touched Mika. He was fine—just panting. No need to coddle him.

They came to the shore, Mika sitting down in the sand, feet still in the water and Freminet following suit.

It didn’t take long for Mika to catch his breath. Just a minute—Freminet kicked himself for overreacting. He was to busy kicking himself, he didn’t realize Mika was speaking.

“—anyways, really sorry about the aberrants. They were marked down but it seems I didn’t account for everything.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Freminet responded. “Sometimes that happens. Probably just means something big came through, or the currents changed suddenly.”

“Y-yeah. I guess you’d know. Shame though, that we can’t go down today. Suppose this will have to wait until the next time I’m in Fontaine.”

Wait—“You leave soon?”

“No—not quite, but the time up until my departure I’m busy—there are some requests that will take a few days to carry out, and then I’ll leave the night after I finish. Sorry about wasting your time—I-I’ll be sure to pay you in full though!”

Freminet froze, somehow the concept of Mika’s departure hadn’t even crossed his mind. “Oh.”

“S-sorry.” Mika said sheepishly.

“I mean. We still have time—If you’re alright with it, we can go down and try to find an aberrant in the cave. Or we can just go without one. Only if you’re fine with it though.”

“I… I guess I won’t get this chance for a long while.” Mika shot a look towards the tranquil waters of the sea in front of them. The blue curtain of the ocean, with the glare of the sun reflecting off it. It looked so calm, and the feeling of <em>this-will-go-fine</em> was tempting.

Freminet waited.

Mika took in a breath, “Alright. Let’s go.”

~

In retrospect, Freminet should have dragged them back to the surface

The quiet scratch of the quill against Mika’s parchment. The clicking of Pers’ clockwork insides.

The small air pocket they were resting in was silent. But it didn’t feel uncomfortable. Mika was content to map. Freminet was content to tinker.

They’d been in the caverns for nearly an hour, and they’d just recently reached the stretches of the cavern that was unmapped. So far everything was fine—they hadn’t come across any aberrants, but hadn’t met any enemies or obstacles that necessitated them either.

Aberrants were strange creatures—or ‘spirits’, as some people referred to them. They were incredibly in tune with their enviroment, and recided in the same ecosystems as their more physical counterparts.

Still, as a diver, Freminet felt a little… bare, without the power of an aberrant on his shoulder. He had his claymore, but that would be difficult to wield underwater. Oh well.

“One moment. I’m just about done.” Mika said distractedly. His eyes were trained down on the, parchment, quill scratching across the paper quickly. Freminet didn’t know anyone could write that fast, let alone draw.

Mika suddenly stopped, looking over his work with a scrutinizing eye. He set his quill aside for his ruler, carefully measuring each line of his. Making sure they were proportional.

“How often would you say these caves shift in measurements?” Mika asked. “I want to add notes about margins of error in case anyone needs to travel these.”

“… well, the water currents will slowly widen the passages over time by wearing down the walls and carrying off the minerals, but that takes multiple decades. Other than that, it’s only really cave in’s, or thermal vents acting abnormally that will change the layout… or earthquakes.”

Mika nodded, noting that down. “How frequent are earthquakes?”

“The lower you get the more common they are. Usually they’re small, and hardly ever noticed on the surface. Just one won’t affect the caves too much. But unsteady rocks can shift, or weak rock can crack.”

“Alright, what’s the correlation between depth and their frequency? Is there any specific checkpoints where they get more—”

They went silent as the very rock they sat on, shook.

“… uh, F-Freminet?” Mika whispered, staring at the ground, frozen.

The shaking continued for four, long seconds. Neither of them moved, except for Mika turning his head to him, eyes wide, silently asking him what to do.

The shaking stopped, and Freminet could finally breathe.

He, alone, was used to the phenomenon. It wasn’t too common, something he’d only experienced a handful of times, but not something that’d freak him out. Usually.

Still, with Mika next to him, actual fear flooded his veins, icier than his vision.

“Well, I—uh… didn’t expect that. Haha…” Mika joked, but he was obviously uneasy, what with his labored breaths and the way his hands shook as he packed up his mapping equipment.

Freminet didn’t respond, turning to his depthometer.

“W-Well. You said this was pretty normal, right? Are we able to continue or should we surfa—”

Archons damned, the ground shook again.

The second tremor set the entire day into context. The missing aberrants—they’d follow their living counterparts, who could sense the changes in the earth, heading out of the region affected by the tremors. The region they were in.

“We have to surface.” Freminet said immediately, grabbing Mika by the wrist and summoning his helmet.

“Wha—you said this was normal, though?”

“We’re not deep enough for a small earthquake to be this strong, or have multiple tremors. We need to surface.”

“I—alright, let’s go.” Mika, for a moment, seemed… scared. A moment later though, he nodded, schooling his face. He hopped up, securing his extra things—his bag, notebook, etcetera—to his body, “Are we in immediate danger?”

“It’s hard to tell. Let’s go.”

They left the air pocket, returning to the underwater caves, traveling through them, working together to retrace their exit.

With Freminet’s underwater experience, being used to remembering his path and turning tail, as well as Mika’s maps, it wasn’t the most difficult to start on the path back.

The rock around them only trembled once as they started to leave. Five minutes in, everything seemed calm. Seemed.

Then, the ceiling happened.

The ceiling. The damn cavern ceiling.

They were in a smaller corridor, easily fifteen feet tall, with deep sea foliage splattered throughout it. Coral and kelp framing the dark cave. It wasn’t even claustrophobic. It should have been safe. Safe-ish. Until he heard it.

It shifted, once, twice. Tettering, deciding whether to collapse. The creak of stone—

Freminet swam faster, hand tightening around Mika’s upper arm as he got close, pulling him along that little bit faster.

Then, the collapse.

Behind them, luckily. They could feel the rock fall behind them—the muffled slam of it against the cavern floor, the force of it sent ripples through the water, propelling them forward a bit. The real danger was a chain reaction.

Mika made a frightened noise as a shard of rock fell strangely close, but kept up well enough.

More bits fell. Freminet didn’t dare glance behind them, but the sound was enough to convince him they were big enough to kill. He couldn’t hear his labored breaths, and could only feel his pounding heartbeat over the sounds.

He almost didn’t notice it. The rock slammed into his side. Bluntly, he felt himself shoved, as well as heard a crack.

Mika yelled something, and vaguely he realized the crack was his ribs. Definitely. Huh.

He looked down, helmet making it a bit hard, he wasn’t trapped, but there was red swirling in the water. His blood.

He closed his eyes, only for a second. Opening them, the two of them had moved.

Mika must have been pulling him along, as his arm was over the smaller’s shoulder, and the boy’s hand was wrapped around to cradle his ribs. He also must have been healing him as he swam, as it didn’t hurt.

“Frem—”

“Y-yeah?”

“Oh thank Barbatos.” Mika muttered. Distantly, Freminet was a little surprised to hear the gods name. It made sense though, Mika was a Mondstadter after all. “— earthquake is stopped for now, and we’re close to an air pocket. Should we—“

“Y-yeah, l-let’s…” Freminet said, even though talking strained him. Mika got the idea.

He was strangely calm, as Mika pulled him over his shoulder and dragged him. Sure, they were in immediate danger, but his mind couldn’t help but drift.

Growing geothermal pressure must have been building up for some time. Leading to small tremors in the earth below the region, driving away the fauna. In years past, the institute would monitor these things, but with the—oh, was Mika saying something? Between his helmet and heartbeat thumping in his ears, it was a little difficult to make out the words.

Mika must be worried, Freminet thought distantly. In a pathetic attempt of comfort, Freminet grabbed his arm a bit, squeezing once. I’m still here. Don’t worry.

They must have gotten to the pocket, as suddenly, they broke the surface of the water, and Mika heaved him over his shoulder, dragging him up and laying him down on some rock.

The tremors in the earth had been silent for a bit at this point. How long, Freminet didn’t know. It was a little difficult to process stuff.

Mika tore his helmet off him, tossing it to the side. Freminet kind of wished he didn’t, as sometime during the event, a few tears had slipped down his cheeks.

“Freminet?” Hands on his face. “Freminet? Can you count to five.”

“I-yeah. One, two, three, four, five.” He croaked out.

“Good. And where are you?”

“…underwater. With you.” Probably not enough information. “On a commission.”

Mika let out a shaky breath. “Alright. No concussion probably. I healed you a bit while we were still underwater, but I couldn't do too much. I’m going to continue, alright?”

Freminet nodded, closing his eyes.

A cold mist filled the little air pocket. Freminet peaked one eye open. Mika was holding his notebook again. When the healing flooded his body, cold and numbing against his skin, he nearly cried again. Thank the archons. Thank the Tsaritsa. Thank—

“Thank you.” Freminet’s voice was hoarse, dry, despite the wretched, humid air of the air pocket they surfaced in.

The cool rock beneath him soothed his hot body. Thoughts came easier.

“It’s no issue, really. It’s what I’m trained to do.” Mika sounded relieved, snapping his book shut.

“I’m supposed to be the one keeping us safe. That was my job. I’m sorry I failed.”

“No—really. I’m a healer. I’m supposed to keep people alive. I asked you to be my guide and you did that amazingly.” And then Mika smiled, Freminet could tell. Wanting to see it, Freminet gathered himself and forced his eyes open and looked at the other boy.

“You did well.” He mumbled, glancing away.

“No pain?” Mika scooted closer to him. “Abnormal heart rate? Lingering feelings of cold? Numbness? Do you mind if I check your pulse?”

“I—uhm.”

“O-oh, sorry—procedure. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable, but I do need to make sure everything is working order now that you’re lucid.”

“… alright. Can… Can I wear my helmet while you do it?”

Mika looked confused for a second, but nodded. “That’s fine, so long as you can answer my questions.”

Freminet summoned his helmet, reveling in hiding in the silky velvet inside. But, even hidden behind the glass of the porthole, he couldn’t help the way his breath caught as Mika expertly grabbed his wrist.

Two fingers pressed to the vein there—caulloused slightly from wielding a polearm—Mika lips twitched as he silently counted.

“I-It’s a little fast…” Mika said, face twisting into slight concern. “I’m going to have you lay down on your back. Focus on your breathing, it could just be shock, or an issue with the cryo I healed you with.”

Or it was a product of Freminet’s sudden flustered-ness.

Probably that, because when he laid back down, counting his breaths, and caught sight of Mika sitting above him, his breathing stuttered.

Mika heard it immediately, but didn’t connect the dots, eyes immediately snapping to him. “Any pain or strain with exhaling and inhaling?”

“… no.”

Mika nodded. “Alright. Just keep calming down. Cryo healing has a small chance of connecting with the blood in the veins and freezing it. This usually never happens without the wielder realizing—the freeze reaction is very tangible—but being surrounded by water may have made me miss it. With your heartbeat being fast your body may be heating up to try and melt it. I—it’s a bit awkward, but I’m going to have to feel around your limbs. Just your fingers, for arms, and calves—! I’ll be quick, tell me if you feel anything.”

“I… I think I’ll be alright.”

“This is just standard, to ensure your safety. Rushed healing jobs can really hurt people. Especially with the cryo element, and more so underwater.”

And what was Freminet going to do? Tell Mika that he was probably the reason for his high heart rate? Absolutely not.

Deft fingers trailed up down his forearm, pressing lightly into the soft skin.

“—well, It’s a highly valued heating element for its ability to numb and painkill, but blood being a liquid makes it dangerous. D-don’t worry though! I haven't killed anyone with healing! Not yet!”

Freminet barely tuned in, trying to keep his breathing even and calm down so this could <em>stop</em>. He was definitely going to keep his helmet on for a while after this—his face was hot, and no doubt red.

Fingers pressed against the pads of his own, one by one, before moving to the next one. Mika was soft, softer than him, but his hands were calloused from wielding a polearm and being a cartographer.

Freminet closed his eyes when Mika moved to his calves, these were quicker, Mika using his palms to feel down the tendons. He pulled away soon after.

“T-there we go! All good. I didn’t find any blockages or cryo constructs, so you should be all good.”

Freminet opened his eyes, looking at Mika through the protection of his helmet. Mika…

His own face was painted with a blush.

“If you’re all good, we should head up. Healing is great, but you should always get looked at by a doctor. Also, I’m not sure how bad that earthquake was, but if it was heard on the surface then your siblings must be worried.”

“Right.” Ah. His siblings. Freminet was not mentally ready to deal with them. Today was… rough. But his body was fine. Tip top shape actually—he’s pretty sure Mika fixed that crick in his neck he’s had for years.

He took Mika’s hand, letting him help him to his feet.

~

As soon as they were on shore, Mika was herding him towards a doctor, no matter what Freminet said. Which was why he ended up laying on the white sheets of a hospital bed, arm hooked up to the IV bag. It was a little uncomfortable, under his skin, but he dealt. Tearing it out would only make everyone upset. The doctors, Mika, his siblings if they were here. He sighed, laying still as a soldier on the bed.

“A-Alright, tell them what happened, I’ll inform your siblings you’re here. Do you know where they might be?”

“…If practice ended on time, they’ll be at our house. Here—I’ll write down the address.” He forced himself up on shaky arms, only for Mika to protest, softly easing him back down and promising to remember it.

Which was also why both Lyney and Lynette burst through the door nearly ten minutes later—the walk would be twenty, did Mika run to get them? Did they also run to arrive?—immediately at his side over him, Lyney’s voice overlapping with the doctor as question after question after concern was fired off. Honestly, it was too much for Freminet, who wished he had his helmet.

“You’re alright—right?” Lynette said through the chaos, the only person who’s voice made sense. Thank god. His savior.

He turned his head, grabbing her hand and squeezing once before nodding. She nodded once in response.

“I figured. Ignore Lyney’s loudness, he’s just concerned.”

“Concerned?” Lyney whipped around from where he was facing the doctor, a look of indignation on his face. “Of course I am! An earthquake with my little brother trapped underground—it’s a miracle he’s even—”

“Indeed. He’s quite lucky he was swimming with a healer when the incident occurred. Any prolonged injury would have made it especially easy for him to become disoriented and trapped underwater.” The doctor agreed. “With the healing—which was quite potent—your brother should be discharged in just a few hours.”

“Oh… right.” Freminet said distantly. Mika. Where’d he go? He glanced around, hoping to find him in the room, except for the fact it was void of the other boy. “Mika… where’d he go? I need to thank him.”

“Mika stepped out after he brought us here, I believe.” Lynette said, looking to Lyney who nodded in agreement.

“He did seem to slip away—oh right! We also need to thank him for taking care of our brother, Lynette!” Lyney hopped up, spinning around and heading for the door, sticking his head out. Only, a moment later, he stuck it back in the room, turning to the rest of them. “Huh. He’s not in the waiting chairs outside. It seems he left.”

“Oh.” Freminet said, masking his disappointment. Alas, nothing could be kept away from his siblings cat-sharp eyes and ears.

“You really did make a new friend, huh?” Lyney smiled.

Lynette shot him a glare. “Knock it off.”

He huffed. “Whatever. I’ll talk to the doctors, see if we can’t get you discharged sooner rather than later.”

They needed to tell Father, of course. And they’d probably tell Father about Mika. Depending on how they think Father will react, they may even tell her about his dumb stupid dumb crush.

Freminet sighed, laying his head back against the scratchy hospital pillow.

He closed his eyes, listening to the ambient noises of the hospital. The chatter of Lyney speaking to the doctors on the other side of the hospital room. The muffled beeps of pagers. The rhythm of a heart monitor. He sighed, body abnormally heavy.

“I’m sorry.” Lynette said. The unprompted apology made Freminet open his eyes again, looking at her questioningly.

“…for what?”

“Your day with Mika is ruined. You seemed to like him a great deal. And you’re injured, so you will have to refrain from diving for a time. Which you enjoy.. I'm sorry about that.”

“Not badly. And… yeah. I think I liked him.” Freminet looked to the ceiling, blankly. “He was… nice.”

“It’s alright, Freminet. I’ll make this all better.”

Once again, Freminet opened his eyes, turning to his sister, and… oh no.

Sometimes, it is hard to remember that Lynette and Lyney are, in fact, twins. Near identical in many ways. Many of their physical features are close, but there were other things they shared.

Lynette met his eyes, and Freminet’s heart stopped when he saw a small smile and a spark of mischief in her eyes.

“Whatever you’re planning, please don’t.” Freminet quietly begged.

“Big sister will take care of it.” She stood slowly, walking to join their brother by the doctors.

~

A couple days later, after Freminet had gone home, and resolved himself to never seeing Mika again, there was a knock on the door.

Lyney answered, aware of the other sibling’s general hatred for small talk, and Freminet hadn’t paid it any mind, continuing to tinker with Pers at the dining room table. That was, until he heard Lyney’s frankly too loud voice.

“Oh, Mika! How nice to see you, yes, Freminet is home—”

Freminet was up from the table in seconds, darting over to the door. He ignored Lynette’s snort, coming up right behind his brother to greet Mika. “Hi.”

“H-hi! I—well, I didn’t get to pay you for the commission, and I’m about to head back to Mondstadt. I—well, sorry for showing up at your house unannounced.”

“It’s fine.” Freminet said quickly, before catching his wording. “I—it’s good. It’s nice to see you again.”

“It’s nice to see you too! I’m happy you’re alright!” Mika chirped, taking a small step forward. At some point Lyney had slipped back into the house, leaving them alone, face to face at the door.

They were quiet for a moment, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. At least, Freminet didn’t find it so. They just kinda… stood, looking at each other.

“Oh!” Mika broke the silence first, turning to ruffle through his satchel. “Right, payment!”

Payment? Oh—“…you don’t have to.” Freminet did fail after all. Both of them almost got hurt.

“No no, I got much deeper than I ever thought I would with your help, plus you risked your life for me. I-It’s only fair.” Mika pulled out a pouch, heavy with mora. “H-here.”

Freminet opened his palms, letting Mika drop the pouch into them. “…thanks…”

Mika just smiled, nodding once before waving, and turning tail to run off, probably to catch the aquabus.

Alone now, Freminet stood in the doorway, mora heavy in his hands, and Mika was gone.

He took a deep breath. It was at least nice to see him one last time. He’d shake off his dumb crush soon enough, forgetting about their fairly short time together. A few days at most. They hardly knew each other.

He sighed, turning into his house and shutting the door behind him.

Lynette and Lyney sat at the dining room table, Lyney with a smug grin, and Lynette with a cup of tea.

“I like him.” Lyney commented as Freminet tossed the mora on the counter.

“I like him as well.” Lynette agreed. “Everything turned up well about him.”

Freminet sighed. Of course, leave it to his siblings to find out anything they could—probably everything—about his dumb crash. Quietly, he responded, voice flat. “Doesn’t matter. He’s going home.”

“Oh? Really? How tragic!—my own dearest brother, his first dalliance into love, left heartbroken as the subject of his affections must return home—” Lyney’s concern was exaggerated. Faked. He had something up his magician’s sleeve. Freminet narrowed his eyes.

“Just say it Lyney.” Lynnette scolded.

“We’ve put a request in to travel to Mondstadt and perform there—with the intention of bolstering international camaraderie… and doing some intelligence gathering, of course! If The Knave agrees we’ll be going next month.”

“N-next month?” So soon? What the hell, Lyney!” He turned to his brother, shellshocked.

He was going to see Mika again. In a month. Lyney said something else, but Freminet didn’t register it. He would get to see Mika again.

[okthatsgreat]

So this one may be hard since it feels like your ocs are catered specifically to the V3 meta timeline, but it popped into my head anyways. How would your ocs act as Remnants of Despair? Let's say Team Danganronpa's doing something and needs to make them Remnants (probably for a gacha game, spend 50 for a chance to get Remnant Naomi)

OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD FUCKING FANTASTIC QUESTION im bouncing up and down. this is so cool. A GACHA GAME IS SO FUNNY TOO like the idea that danganronpa is looking to make some money on the side so theyre like Whatever. throw ryobe into genshin impact. who gives a shit anymore

here they are at their edgiest 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

IN A LIST OF LEAST DANGEROUS TO MOST DANGEROUS I RECKON. COULD BE KIND OF A FLIMSY RANKING LMFAO

billie: scrawny fifteen-year old kid with no talent or charisma. you'll be so fine. worst case scenario it's some kind of izuru 2.0 best case scenario she's not even there in the first place. likely doing the family guy death pose somewhere

mika: another ultimate lucky student who won't be able to do a whole lot. definitely got a lottttt more edge to her than billie does, can definitely be ruthless but can't hold much influence and doesn't have any relevant skills. she's either in hiding or she's made friends with another remnant and kept herself safe that way

yoshito: just a fucked up guy honestly. his entire ultimate revolves around helping people so i can definitely see him taking advantage of this amount of trust he has accumulated and getting a lot of people into some deep shit but eventually they'll learn his tricks and he'll be a lot less immediately dangerous. definitely a behind the scenes kind of guy can't see him being super influential or anything. honestly i don't even think he's a team leader in this scenario i think he just let's all of them go off on their own GHFDKJG they're probably ALL on each others asses

rie: can't realllyyyyy think of a whole lot for her... this is not to say she isnt extremely persuasive and able to get her way but she is more of a figurehead for despair. an extremely well-spoken salesperson in that regard, very charming and probably on a lot of billboards already. i reckon this is a similar situation to sonia but on a much smaller scale, probably does public speaking kind of events and turns people to despair that way, is definitely somebody to be wary of but you can take her in a fight easy. her bodyguards not so much

naomi: you are not running from this girl. she can reach you anywhere and knows how to use a firearm. its either you learn how to fight better than an athlete with a shotgun or youre dead bud. she is extremely independent though so that is a bonus for you

sae: the only reason she is higher than naomi here is she is a lot stronger and knows a lotttt of hunting tactics that can definitely land you in hot water. you'll really need to brush up on avoiding traps because if she catches you in a position where you arent able to run youre fuuuuuckkeddd. unless you are strong it'll be really really difficult defeating her in any sort of hand to hand combat, especially in this despair scenario where she is genuinely not holding back. the one saving grace with sae is she is not dexterous at all so if youre a good runner with a lot of stamina or hell even a more dexterous fighter you'll maybe be ok

erin: ok so she's probably not the most IMMEDIATELY dangerous person, like if you approach her while shes alone with any kind of weapon you'll probably win. but shes this high up just because the implications of her ultimate talent being turned to despair is actually kinda horrifying. like shes a CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINER. she's most persuasive on KIDS. there are many scenarios that can happen here but all of them involve children so immediately all of them are horrible hgfjkgdhsk. could very very honestly turn into something similar to monaca's plan, attacking her will be pretty difficult considering she has a lot of kids hostage

ryobe: evil mr beast. the worst parts of erin and rie and hell even sae combined. has millions of followers who will do literally anything for him, sets out hundreds upon thousands of death traps everywhere he goes. will absolutely 100% throw more ultimate talents into killing games just for good content. catch him alone and you could probably kill him but you will NEVER catch him alone because he is constantly surrounded by people who can and will die for him while also torturing you for views so good luck

andi: most likely wouldn't be there but just for fun andi but SUPER evil (like. somehow even more evil than she already was) is bad news. super bad news. andi being there means that you are likely in some virtual reality type of scenario which means she has complete and total control over everything around you, everything you eat and drink, and everything you experience. she's a rule-oriented machine so the scenario depends on whether or not she's been given instructions, but quite honestly you'd WANT this to be an instruction-less andi cuz she'd kill you quick

[anotherwvba]

An Origin Story pt. 8

Niki leaned against the ropes of the boxing ring, her eyes twinkling as she chatted with Mika and Skye, who stood at ringside. "You two seem super eager to spar with Glass Joe. What's the deal?"

"Are you kidding? It's a chance to step into the ring with a WVBA fighter and see how we measure up," Mika exclaimed, her eyes shining with excitement.

Skye nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and I know people like to poke fun at him for his 0-20 record, but let's be real. An 0-20 record in the WVBA probably means most people wouldn't last a single round with him."

Niki's face broke into a warm smile. "I'm glad to hear you say that. Joe is a tough guy with a heart of gold. Most people just don't get it."

Just then, the gym door swung open, and Cutie Hondo burst in, her boxing gloves dangling from her hand. "Niki, you in here?" she shouted, her eyes scanning the room before landing on Niki.

"Get over here, Cutie!" Niki called back, waving her over. "I want you to meet some new faces."

Cutie jogged over to the ring, her eyes meeting Niki's as she reached up for a fist bump. "Hey, girl! What's cookin'?"

"These are the newbies, Mika and Skye," Niki introduced, gesturing toward the two girls.

Cutie extended her hand, shaking theirs in turn. "Nice to meet you both. I'm Cutie Hondo."

Mika's eyes widened. "Wow, the first-ever winner of a women's match in the WVBA. That's so cool!"

Skye chimed in, "Seriously, you're like a legend already."

Cutie chuckled as she began to put on her gloves. "Well, I don't know about 'legend,' but it's nice to meet you both."

Niki feigned a pout. "Gee, Cutie shows up, and suddenly I'm chopped liver."

Cutie laughed. "Oh, come on, you'll always be my sessatakuma."

Mika looked at Niki, her eyes twinkling. "Don't worry, you're a star to us."

Skye added, "Absolutely, you both are."

Niki grinned. "So, Cutie, you ready to spar today?"

Cutie smirked, pulling on her gloves. "Oh, I'm ready. You gonna try not to get TKO'd this time?"

Niki chuckled. "Oh, it's on. Just don't cry when I land a few good ones."

Before the banter could escalate, Glass Joe returned, his face lighting up when he saw Cutie. 

"Ah, bonjour, Cutie! Always a pleasure."

Cutie nodded. "Hey, Joe. What's the word?"

Glass Joe turned his attention to Mika and Skye. "I couldn't find Hoy, but I spoke with Monsieur Jay. Since I’m working on defense, just light sparring, he said it's fine."

Mika's face lit up. "Really? That's awesome!"

Skye was practically bouncing. "Oh man, this is gonna be epic!"

Glass Joe smiled. "Can you get your gear and be back in 20 minutes?"

Skye was already halfway to the door. "You bet!" she called over her shoulder.

Mika grinned. "Absolutely, see you in a bit!" She then dashed off after Skye.

Glass Joe watched them go, then turned back to Niki and Cutie. "Those two have a lot of energy, non?"

Niki nodded. "Yeah, they're super excited to be here. It's awesome."

Cutie agreed. "Definitely. The more passionate the fighters, the more challenging the circuit."

Glass Joe nodded. "Oui, I couldn't agree more. Passion is the fuel that drives us all. Well, I should get ready for the spar."

"Good luck, Joe. Show them what you're made of," Cutie encouraged.

"Merci, I intend to," Glass Joe replied, heading toward one of the vacant rings.

Niki looked at Cutie. "Ready to go?"

Cutie tapped her gloves together. "Ready to lose?"

Niki smiled and started bouncing on her toes. “Oh sessatakuma, I learned a lot fighting you. Let me show you.”

Cutie grinned warmly and climbed into the ring with Niki, beginning to loosen up her muscles. Both women felt the electric charge of potential in the air, not just for their upcoming sparring session, but for the future of the Women’s Circuit.

[writing-wh0re]

It’s friday!! My friend and i were having this conversation regarding the twins hahaha she isnt into but she provides me with scenarios 😭❤️

Mika.. this is an amazing idea oh my.

Headcanon time!! SMUT18+

Okay so,

You would of been alone in your dorm, reading when the twins burst through the door.

"We need to test something" they would say in unison, George would lock the door quickly mumbling a silencing spell.

"That can't be good.."

Your body would fill with nerves, never knowing what the twins could be up to.

"We need to fuck you"

"Figure out who is better."

Your mind would go cloudy.

Your mouth would dry.

And arousal would rush through you, pooling between your thighs.

You wouldn't trust your voice, simply nodding which causes the twins to smirk.

They would look at each other, trying to decide who gets you first. 

You didn’t have a preference of which twin, just one of them to slip between your thighs. 

Fred would step closer to you, his eyes wandering over you. 

George would kneel on the floor beside the bed, his hands brushing stray hair out of your face. 

“Be a good girl for Freddie.” 

George’s lips would softly kiss the side of your head, your eyes locking together. 

“Don’t look at him, look at me.” 

Fred would palce his finger under your chin, making you look at him. 

“Now, be my good girl.” 

His lips would lock onto yours before you had time to comprehend his words. 

The kiss would be needy and passionate. 

Fighting each other’s tongues for dominance. 

Fred’s hands would be all over your body, pulling each piece of clothing from you. 

Fred would break the kiss to admire your body, looking over at his brother with a proud smirk. 

“Gorgeous isn’t she Georgie.” 

Your eyes would flick to George, his bottom lip between his teeth, puplis blown, simply nodding his head in response. 

But good god, the sex. 

It would be rough but slow. 

Fred wants you to feel every inch of his cock. 

He would encourage you to be loud for him. 

God he would taunt George with your moans. 

“Who’s making you feel this good?”

“You’re mine aren’t you baby?”

“Look at George when you cum.” 

Fred’s words would cause tingles to cover your body, your head to fall fuzzy. 

Fred would rub fast circles on your clit, feeling you cum around his cock. 

Chanting his name loud, causing George to groan. 

You wouldn’t have time to recover before George took over. 

Your cum soaked pussy throbbing with sensitivity.

Kissing your breasts, your fingers tangling in his hair. 

“You’re mine Y/n, time to let Fred know who you truly belong to.” 

George would definately fuck you fast. 

He’d forget about Fred being in the room, only focused on the sweet sounds you’re making for him. 

“George, please, I’m close.” 

George would cover your body with his, allowing for you to wrap your legs around him, needing him deeper to reach your release. 

His lips would capture yours, his hand around your throat as you tremble under him. 

Your high rocking through your body. 

Your pussy sensitive once again. 

“We aren’t finished darling.” 

Fred would cradle your head, his thumb dragging across your bottom lip as you softly nod, answering his slient question. 

You would take Fred in your mouth, gagging and moaning around his cock. 

George’s head buried between your thighs, sucking your clit, fingers massaging your slick walls. 

Halfway through they would swap. 

Tears covering your cheeks, you jaw growing sore. 

Your legs shaking with every nudge of your clit. 

The over stimuation burning the coil inside of you. 

“So, darling.” Fred would start. 

“Who is better?” George would finish. 

Your chest would rise and fall, your mind filling with the recent activities, your pussy clenching around nothing at the thought. 

“I cannot decide.” 

The smirk the twins would share would cause butterflies to erupt in your stomach. 

“Guess we continue to until you can.” 

“But rest baby, you’ll need it.” 

Hehe, hope you enjoyed this Mika x 

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[peach-pops]

hello!!! I love ur blog so much ! Can I requests a hc with Oikawa and Kuroo dating a Hothead/easily angered girlfriend? Maybe she gets into a fight and how would the boys react?

This is spicy yes of course! Also I def relate to the reader cause I get mad at freaking everything. There is a lot of cussing and there is violence obviously so just a warning!

Also PSA: I know Mika ( Daisho’s gf)  is probably super nice in the manga but I had to make her uhhhhh unlikeable so yeah. 

Oikawa and Kuroo with a Hothead Girlfriend

-Oikawa-

There’s no need to sugarcoat it, Oikawa was intimidated by you because of your ‘ don’t fuck with me attitude’ but once you started dating, he realized it came in handy especially with his fans

He never had to worry about his fans ever messing with you because they’d be dumb to say anything to your face without you throwing hands back so Oikawa always thought things would be in his favor

UNTILLLL you showed up to one of Aoba Johsai’s games because of course, you wanted to support the team 

You watched the game from up on the stands and you could hear his fans whispering amongst each other about you but you wanted to stay focused on the game 

Whenever Oikawa served, he would make a quick glance at you to make sure that you saw it but even though your eyes were on him, you didn’t look thrilled

Oikawa put two and two together once he saw his little fanbase a few rows back laughing in your direction and his heart dropped. Sure, he was upset that they were saying things about you but he was even more worried that you were going to kill them 

The match was getting closer to the end but the girls were persistent in bashing you for every little thing and you did  your best to keep your temper under control 

“ What is she even wearing?” 

“ Shouldn’t she be wearing a jersey to support her boyfriend?”

“ Maybe Oikawa-San and her broke up!” 

“ Thank goodness, he can do so much better anyway. He is way out of her league.”

You clenched your fists against the bottom of your seat. You’d be damned if you were just gonna sit there and listen to them talk badly about you

You whipped your head around and gave them a deadly glare,” Just wait until this game ends and we’ll see if you’ll be able to keep talking shit.” 

They’re just shocked that you even turned around to confront them and while they’re a bit shooketh cause you’re  high key scary, they don’t take your threat seriously 

Oikawa can practically feel the tension in the air so once Aoba Johsai scores the last point and they take their bows, he looks up at you as if he’s pleading with you to just wait until he can get there

Cue that one tik tok: ‘ girl don’t do it, it’s not worth it…’ 

And you’re looking back at him like ‘ im not gonna do it girl...I was just thinking about it...im not gonna do it”

You and Oikawa both thought that the coast was clear and that you two can go about your day but then the main fangirl opened her mouth,” I told you guys she’s too scared to fight us. Who does this bitch think she is?”

It all happened so fast, one minute you were beaming down proudly at your boyfriend and the next, you’re jumping over the bleachers to launch yourself at the girl in the stands 

“ OH SHIT!” Oikawa raced out of the gym with Iwaizumi running after him because Iwaizumi knows Oikawa might need his help 

Oikawa had never seen you this mad before so he didn’t know what to expect as he raced up the stairs

His mouth dropped when he saw you on top of the girl and you were going at it 

like yassssssss reader beat her ass!!! Fuck her up!!!!🤪🤪🤪

There’s a crowd gathered around but Oikawa managed to squeeze his way through and shouted at you to stop. He knew how strong you were and frankly, the girl didn’t even stand a chance against you. 

Obviously, he is your number one fan but he didn’t want you to go to jail for murdering this girl in cold blood

He tried to pull you off of her but you have that gorilla grip and this boy was struggling to pry you off like damn where is all of this strength coming from???

Oikawa looked around for anyone to help him but the crowd was a bit too scared of you so he shouted for backup

“ IWA-CHAN HELP ME BEFORE SHE KILLS HER!” 

Iwaizumi pushed through everyone and he assessed the situation. He sees lil ol’ you swinging at the girl who’s sprawled out on the floor screaming but he’s more focused on the fact that you listened to his advice on how to throw punches

He stans necessary violence!

Iwa managed to loosen your grip on the girl which gave Oikawa enough time to wrap his arms around you and hold you back 

“ Who’s scared now ha!” You laughed evilly as Oikawa tried dragging you away from the crime scene and he’s visibly shaken because his girlfriend is psychotic but is it awful that he feels so proud?!?!?

Like in his head he’s thinking,” damn okay go off queen!” 🥰

He managed to carry you all the way down to the stairs and pulled you aside to make sure you’re okay 

“Are you hurt anywhere? How are you feeling? Do you need some water or some ice for your knuckles?”

You looked down at your knuckles and sure enough, they were bruised but surprisingly not bloody,” Oh, I fucked up my knuckles...I didn’t even notice, ” You said as Oikawa shook his head disapprovingly,” I wasn’t even hitting that hard!”

“ Iwa-chan, can you be a dear and get some ice? I’m gonna stay here with Y/N to make sure she doesn’t go back up there,” Oikawa said as you held up your knuckles to show Iwaizumi 

“ How do I look Zumi?”

“ Damn Y/N, those look badass!”

Iwa was practically beaming because he knew he had taught you well🤩🤩🤩

“ Iwa-chan don’t get encourage her! Go get the ice!” Oikawa shouted as you and Iwaizumi both laughed before Iwa turned to leave 

Oikawa lightly skimmed his thumb across your knuckles and pressed an even lighter kiss to your knuckles before sighing,” Was it worth ruining your pretty hands honey?”

You inhaled deeply before shrugging innocently at your boyfriend,” Toru, I really tried to keep my cool I promise! They were saying really mean things the whole time but I did my best to control myself but she had it coming...Are you mad at me?”

“ Of course I’m not mad,” Oikawa answered honestly as he pulled you closer to him,” If you lost than sure, I would be disappointed but you won so I’m more proud than anything! But I’m pretty sure you broke her nose.”

“ A wise boyfriend once said; If you’re gonna hit it, hit it until it breaks,” You said with a smirk as Oikawa leaned in to give you a victory kiss

-Kuroo-

Kuroo knew what he was getting himself into when the two of you started dating. You were always so sweet and thoughtful but whenever you were upset, you didn’t care who got in your way, all you wanted to do was unleash the beast!

Most of the time, Kuroo could calm you down before it ever escalated but on the rare account that he couldn’t, he just hoped you didn’t do too much damage to whoever was on the receiving end 

At the end of one of Nekoma’s matches, you were celebrating with the team in the hallway when Kuroo excused himself to go use the restroom

You thought nothing of it and continued to chat and congratulate the other Nekoma members but as minutes passed by without seeing Kuroo, you excused yourself and went to go find him

You turned the corner to see Kuroo with his back facing you as he was loudly talking to Daisho. You knew Kuroo disliked Daisho but you were taken aback when you saw a familiar face next to him, Mika Yamaka 

You and Mika had never gotten along, even way before Kuroo had his feud with the Nohebi captain. The last time you had saw her, things hadn’t gone so well so to see her in the flesh made you feel some type of way

You walked over to where Kuroo was standing as the conversation halted

“ What’s going on? Everything okay?” You asked as Kuroo wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you in closer

“ Nothing, everything is fine,” Kuroo smiled but you could tell that something was obviously going on

“ Wow Y/N-chan, I gotta say, you’ve changed a lot. I see you finally figured out how to style your hair,” Mika said ‘sweetly’ as she played with her boyfriend’s volleyball in her hand,” you finally look grown-up.  I was sure you’d always look like that little geek I met in middle school.” 

You felt him squeeze your hip tightly as if to say ‘ don’t let her get under your skin’ but you couldn’t help yourself to snap back

“Aw, Mika. I wish I could say the same for you but turns out you’re still a fucking snake who-”

“ Okay, let’s just calm down and take a breath,” Kuroo said as he leaned down to whisper into your ear,” don’t do anything stupid, okay? I got your back.”

You squeezed his hand as you kept your icy stare on Mika who looked unbothered

“ Your girl sure does have a temper doesn’t she?” Daisho laughed as Kuroo snapped his eyes over to him

“ What did you say snake?” 

OH SO NOW IT’S SUDDENLY OKAY TO SAY SNAKE

“ He’s not wrong. Y/N is kinda known to be a bit of a bitch,” Mika said as a matter of fact as you and Kuroo both tensed up,” little miss hothead is what they used to call you right?” 

As angry as you were, you knew that she was just trying to push your buttons and that she wasn’t worth the hassle. At this point, the rest of the Nekoma boys were watching from afar and even Kenma had looked up from his game to watch the heated interaction

“ Let’s just go, you guys are all bark and no bite. That’s why Nohebi loses everytime against Nekoma. You want some advice, how about you guys win before you start to talk shit,” You scoffed as you grabbed Kuroo’s hand and walked off in the opposite direction 

Micdrop lets get it Y/N

Kuroo smiled down at you as he pressed a kiss on your forehead,” Baby, I’m really proud of you. I know it’s hard to keep your cool and I’m sure you wanted to beat her ass, huh?”

“ God, I was this close Tetsuro. I swear, I-”

You felt something hard hit the back of your head and a second later, you could hear Mika’s annoying voice,” Who’s all bark and no bite now?”

You looked down at the ground to see the volleyball she had just chucked at your head and you felt smoke come out of your ears

You moved your eyes up and locked eyes with Kenma like ‘did this bitch really just do that😮’ and Kenma nodded ‘girl she really did👀’

Kuroo looked shocked. He didn’t even know what to say but he really didn’t want you to get into a fight 

“Baby-”

“ Hold my purse,” You snapped as you shoved your bag into his chest and walked over to where Mika was standing 

“ Aw, is Y/N-chan gonna cry-”

Kuroo and Daisho watched with open mouths as you practically launched yourself at her, causing the two of you to hit the floor. The Nekoma boys shouted words of encouragement and you could even hear Yaku shout “WORLDSTAR!”

“ You! 👏🏼Stupid! 👏🏼Bitch!” You yelled as you kept slamming your fists into Mika as she swung her fists back to try and get you off

Kuroo rushed over, unsure of what to do. 

A little backstory: You two had a hypothetical conversation a while back and you had explicitly told him that if you had gotten into a fight, he was not allowed to step in unless you were losing. By the looks of it, you were winning by a longshot

It wasn’t until Daisho tried grabbing you off of Mika that Kuroo suddenly became protective and stepped in

“ Don’t touch her, snake!” Kuroo yelled as he easily pushed Daisho to the side and ripped you away from Mika

You scrambled and struggled against your boyfriend’s grip as you continued to curse at Mika

“ Uh huh! That’s what I thought you raggedy-ass, fucking bitch! You’re awfully quiet now, huh!” 

“ Oh my god babe, please-”

“ Whatever!” Mika shouted as Daiso helped her up as she held her nose in pain,”That’s why your stupid boyfriend stepped in.”

“ He stepped in cause he knows I will kill you! Do you hear me, Mika? You’re lucky my boyfriend isn’t such a weak ass like you because if he wasn’t holding me back, you wouldn’t be able to get off the floor-”

“ Okokokokokok! She got the message baby, you’re scary and she’s a dumbass,” Kuroo was struggling to keep his grip on you so he readjusted himself and threw you over his shoulder as he walked past his teammates,” let’s head to the bus.”

The rest of the Nekoma teammates followed the two of you back to the buses as Kenma walked over beside you,” Do you want me to send you the video?”

“ You were recording?” You and Kuroo both asked as Kenma nodded approvingly

“ Hell yeah! Send it to me!”

On the bus ride back, it was relatively loud from all of the talk about you throwing hands with Mika but Kuroo had all of his attention on you 

“ I can’t believe she threw a volleyball at your head, what did she expect when you pounced on her?” Kuroo said as you leaned your head against his shoulder,” but damn, we were so close to leaving without a fight.”

“ I know, I’m sorry Tetsuro. You know I can’t stand her or her boyfriend,” You huffed as Kuroo sighed 

“ You know, have I ever told you how turned on I get seeing you mad?” 

“ Yes babe, several times.”

[rev3rb]

You’re right it’s not that surprising, but it is pretty bold. He went from spending the last couple chapters fighting for everyone to work together, to deciding against everyone he knows. So I’m super interested to see how he plans to go at it alone given that the only ppl who would be on his side are probably the First and maybe the demons under him. Whom I definitely wanna get back to. I’m curious if Asuramaru’s return might lead to an interaction between him and Krul. Mainly bc I wanna know if the demons being exposed to other vampires might lead them to break away from the First’s plan and messaging.

Which brings me to the thing you brought up about potential ‘programming’. I definitely think that’s likely the case at some level. When there were so many versions of Yu created it makes sense to think that the First was maybe experimenting with him in some way to figure out how to get his desired results. If so, I think it would be cool to see how acknowledging that some part of their bond was manufactured could change Yu & Mika’s perspective on one another.

Also, as far as Yu wanting to save everyone, that would be a very expected goal for him to go after. But I think if he actually did it, that might become what we talked about awhile ago: an unrealistically easy solution. As a character, he has a habit of making up his mind and dragging along other characters with how he thinks things ought to be, even if he doesn’t have a solid understanding of how to achieve that. So, especially with Yu’s past naive behavior about having his cake and eating it too I personally think it would be more interesting narratively for him to take a path of either sacrifice or selfishness.

Although, I’m never truly against a happy ending, regardless of whether I feel it’s well earned or good for the plot. If everyone gets reunited and there’s world peace? Great 👍 lol

Thanks for chatting with me again :)

True, it is really bold. Yu isn't much of a planner. As you sorta say later, he kinda just does things. He's pretty decent at thinking on his feet, but rarely does it seem like he'll come up with a plan on his own, so I think that, at least for now, he plans on winging it. Probably thinks that he and Mika can do anything if they try. Yu's not stupid when he puts his head to good use though, so I guess we'll see. As for Ashuramaru, I wouldn't be surprised if he interacted with Krul soon. We kinda got faked out on that one back in 109 (iirc?), so it'd make sense if that was looming on the horizon.

Oh yeah, it would definitely be that too easy ending we talked about. I'm not entirely against it either, but I'd want it to feel deserved. Yu would need to develop and grow as both a character and person for that to feel deserved to me. If he just continues to pull people along and get his way essentially just because he's the protag, then that'd make for a lackluster ending. Pure speculation, but I could see an ending where, because Yu has some weird unknown power about him, it turns out that Yu can sacrifice himself to help bring back humanity and Mika. I'm personally not too sure how I feel about that atm since it just occurred to me. Don't wanna deep dive on it for length purposes (I could speculate about possible endings all day), but Yu already has no regard for his own life, so you know he'd do it in a heartbeat. What could be more interesting is if that option is available to him, but he's convinced not to. I digress though. We can speculate until the manga ends, but at the end of the day, that's all it is. Speculation.

Thank you for responding to what I said. Always fun to hear what you think about... well, my thoughts lol

[kuromantic]

Daishou and Mika’s New Year (with the cats)

Here is a reupload of the novel translation, where Daishou and Mika go on a date for new year and end up meeting the Nekoma students.

“Then, how about the shrine near the school?”

“….Eh, no.”

Yamaka Mika hung her head, slightly sulking.

They were in the fast food shop beside Nohebi Academy, and the boy sitting opposite her across the small table was her boyfriend, Daishou Suguru. Friends at their school often commented that he seemed like he had a bad personality, but that wasn’t true. Mika thought that it was a shame, just because he had a mean look in his eyes.

With Daishou being the captain of the volleyball club, he had nothing but practice on weekdays and weekends, every day until he lost a big match in November and retired. Because of this, they were able to stay together during winter break.

He lost the last match, but he was cool, with a serious expression Mika had never seen on him before. But that story didn’t matter now. Their current topic was the new year’s shrine visit.

Seeing as the shrine in their local area was boring for something as big as new year, Mika wanted to stretch her legs and go somewhere further away. The shrine visit was their first date of the new year, and only elementary schoolers would go to the shrine just behind the school. Mika pouted. Why were guys so flaky when it came to this kind of stuff?

“Why not? Isn’t it the same wherever you go?”

Mika persisted against her boyfriend, who didn’t understand at all.

“It’s not the same! If we go to Meiji Jingu, we can drop by at the Harajuku sale. If you want a charm to give to your friend, Yushima Tenjin is the place to go. Oh, the one at Nezu has a power spot for romance. And what else…”

Mika researched other shrines on her phone and glanced at Daishou, but he carried on eating his fries, as if to say that he didn’t care where they went.

“……”

Horrible, Mika thought. This was why girls said he had a bad personality. He was lazy at times, but his personality wasn’t that bad…  

Mika began to get annoyed at her friends as well as Daishou, but she carried on without giving up.

“Then… how about Senso-ji? It’s not a shrine, but everyone goes there. Oh, the Skytree’s around there too.”

“Eh?”

Daishou’s sudden interest surprised Mika, although she was the one to suggest it in the first place.

“Uh, what? Do you not like Senso-ji?”

“Ah, no. I just realised I’d never been to the Skytree.”

Mika was even more shocked at Daishou’s words.

“What, really? Why?”

“Why? Even if you have a reason to go, there’s no reason to not go. I just haven’t gone there yet.”

Daishou said, with a hint of tiredness in his voice. He carried on eating his fries, and Mika frowned. It was really annoying to deal with Daishou’s argumentative side. He just had slightly better grades than her. If he was worse at sports and study than her, he wouldn’t be able to beat her in anything. And it was annoying how he could eat more fries than her and not gain weight at all….

But it was the one spot that he had shown interest in. Mika knew she just had to push and push from there. Lose the battle and win the war, as the saying went. Well, maybe that wasn’t it.

“Then let’s go to Senso-ji! Come on. It’ll be fun!”

“If that’s what you want… I’ll go.”

“Yes!”

And so, the two decided to go to Senso-ji. Mika had won by persistence.

The new year came, and the day finally arrived. The train they got on at Moyori station was spacious at first, but more and more passengers were in each train they took. When they arrived at Asakusa by the yellow Ginza train, they got off from the train by being practically pushed out by the other passengers.

“So many people.”

The station was crowded with people going to their first shrine visit of their new year. Feeling that she wouldn’t be able to see Daishou ever again if she got lost, she held his coat tightly.

“Uh, what is it, Mika-chan? Are you okay?”

Daishou was flustered and turning red, but Mika replied with a “Yeah. I’ll try and follow you as best as I can,” in complete seriousness. They got through the gates as they were pushed by the waves of people, but from there, the area was packed so tightly that they couldn’t move.

“Maybe we should have just stuck with the one in our area…”

Mika yanked the complaining Daishou’s coat. “This is nothing! So, which exit was the one near the Skytree?”

Just as she stood tall, a shout came from somewhere in the crowd.

“Ah! The number one from Nohebi!”

Daishou, having been called his uniform number, lifted his head.

Nohebi Academy High School, uniform number one.

The number he bore on his back for a year had blended into him completely, and it wasn’t something that disappeared just because he moved away from the gymnasium for a month or so. It was still the same as his name.

Daishou found a small girl from middle or elementary school at the back of the crowd, pointing at him and jumping about.

Mika’s expression stiffened slightly. “Who’s she?”

“I don’t know…”

Daishou didn’t recognise her. Maybe it was one of his teammates’ sister. He cocked his head quizzically, but remembered who she was with an “Ah,” when he saw the tall, beautiful blonde girl by her side.

“That beautiful girl, I think she was at the sidelines of Nekoma…”

As soon as he murmured that, a deep, guttural voice came from behind them.

“A date, huh?”

Fearing for themselves, the two whipped around. There was a Mohawk man exuding a dark aura behind them, and a western-looking, tall man behind the Mohawk man.

Mika let out an “eek,” and jumped away, stepping on the foot of a stranger nearby. The stranger grumbled “Be careful,” which was completely justified, but became silent and frozen after being surrounded by the Mohawk man and the tall man- Yamamoto Taketora and Haiba Lev from Nekoma High School- and Daishou, the captain of Nohebi Academy High School.

Yamamoto stared at the pair from Nohebi, letting out a low, hushed whisper. “A shrine visit date from the start of new year… that means your parents have already approved…. I see how it is. I see…”

“What, aren’t you guys with your girlfriends too? Over there…”

Before Daishou could continue, the girl from earlier on- Yamamoto’s sister, Akane- slipped in between the two like a cat and corrected him.  

“I’m his sister.”

Her eyes staring up scared Daishou.

“See? Now my sister has those scary eyes of hers because of you!”

As Yamamoto began to panic at his sister’s attitude, Lev explained to them calmly. “We only had practice in the morning, so Taketora-san and I are just being made to come with our siblings. Oh, this is my sister.”

“We went shopping at the Skytree! I bought matching accessories with Akane-chan, too!” Alisa, the beautiful blonde girl, held up her shopping bag with a smile.

“Ah, I see.”

“Who are they?” Mika asked the fatigued Daishou.

“The guys from Nekoma.”

As soon as she heard that, Mika let go of Daishou’s coat that she had been gripping. “Volleyball again, huh?” She muttered forlornly, pushing her way through the crowd and heading over to the stairs at the exit.

“Huh? Mika-chan, wait a sec!”

“It’s kinda refreshing. They don’t seem to be getting along!” Yamamoto said cheerfully, as Daishou chased after his girlfriend while bumping into others in the crowd.

“Hey, that’s horrible, bro.”

“What? You’re the one who talked to them first! …Hey, stop looking at me that way!”

“Why are you angry?”

Daishou finally got a hold of Mika’s arm, after getting up the stairs and inhaling a breath of fresh air at last. But Mika shook away his large hand.

“…I’m not angry.”

“But you are. Sure, it’s volleyball again, but that was because they were there, and I didn’t…”

Mika stared coldly at her boyfriend, who was making excuses without looking her in the eye.

“…You called her a beautiful girl.”

“What?”

“You called that person a beautiful girl, earlier.”

“Oh.”

He said that, he definitely said that. She remembered. The colour drained from Daishou’s face, but he had to make it up to her somehow. He did say that, but he didn’t say it in that kind of way. He doesn’t know what kind of way he meant it in, but it wasn’t in that kind of way.

“Uh… it’s not in that kind of way. Anyway, Mika-chan, you’re much more of a beautiful girl!”

“That’s not true! She’s more of a beautiful girl!”

Mika felt stupid and pathetic that she was getting angry over a such a trivial matter, and she really knew that Daishou didn’t mean it in that way. She doesn’t know what kind of way, but she knows he didn’t mean it.

But still, it was irritating, and it annoyed her that Daishou kept making excuses instead of apologising. She felt like crying from anger, but she didn’t want to cry while she was on a date. She stayed silent and stared at the ground, because the tears would come out if she spoke.

“…..”

Daishou sighed, not able to do anything for Mika. He started walking.

“The shrine visit doesn’t matter anymore. We should change our mood.”

The two passed Kaminari-mon, which was flooded with people coming for shrine visits, walking along the street. On the road, rickshaw workers called out to people energetically, and women wearing kimonos were getting on, laughing.

All of the shops were open, even though it was New Year’s Day. It was elegant, and it looked like fun. The passers-by all had sweet sake, coffee or dango in their hands, and it looked so delicious, so warm. Mika was jealous of everyone that caught her eye.

Horrible.

It was their date, and they were fighting again. They’d made up after that match, why did it have to come to this? Was she the one at fault? But it was Daishou’s fault too. God, if only the Mohawk guys hadn’t come…

Yamamoto’s face popped into her mind, irritating her. Right, it was their fault. If they hadn’t come, she would have been visiting the shrine with Daishou right then. Wait, that meant that it maybe wasn’t her fault or Daishou’s fault. It was the Mohawk guys’ fault, perhaps?

A single beam of light shone through Mika’s feelings.

Yeah, it was that Mohawk’s fault! Why did she have to fight with Daishou because of that Mohawk? Why was he wearing a Mohawk, anyway? It was total nonsense!

When she concluded that it was all the Mohawk’s fault, her irritation towards Daishou disappeared, and she wanted to make up with him as soon as he could. Mika cast aside her embarrassment and talked to Daishou’s back.

“…Hey, maybe we should… turn?”

“Eh? …Ah, sure.” Daishou replied awkwardly.

They turned right at the intersection and went into the shopping street. As they walked around aimlessly in the street full of old-fashioned coffee shops and Japanese sweetshops, Mika pointed to something.

“What’s that…? Oh, it says Kabuki.”

It was the building standing at the back of the shopping street, Asakusa Public Hall. Elegant banners were lined up there, and many wine-casks and posters with “New Year Asakusa Kabuki” written on them decorated the walls.

“Guess that’s Asakusa for you.”

“Yeah, it’s Asakusa-like.”

The two started to talk a little while walking to the end of the street, peering into the paths to their left and right. Beyond the T-junction, the streets were Edo-fashion, as if they had been swept into a historical drama. Mika looked around the refined streets curiously.

“It’s kind of a cute street. Hey, look, there’s Nezumi Kozou on that roof over there!”

“…Mika-chan, you’re like a tourist. You’re from Tokyo.”

“Well, I haven’t really been to Asakusa…”

Mika, embarrassed, turned her back to Daishou after being teased, who began to laugh at that.

“I haven’t really been here either, so how about we explore around here a little?”

And so their Asakusa quest began. Enticed by a nice scent, they moved their legs along to a street packed with red lanterns. Every izakaya pub had chairs and tables laid out on the road as well as inside, and the bustle was just like a festival’s.

“It’s so lively even in the afternoon, huh.”

“Is this meant to be… an open deck seat?”

There were young couples and families in seats with wind-proofing vinyl sheets around them, in high spirits even before it was dark out. Mika and Daishou nervously walked past Hoppy Street, getting to the front of the white fence and tiled roof just like a mansion’s.

“Is this a temple?” “No, it’s…”

Inside the fence, there came laughing and screaming. The building wasn’t a temple nor a mansion.

“Oh, I know what it is! It’s an amusement park! What should we do, Suguru? It’s an amusement park!”

“What do you mean, what should we do? Should we go in, Mika-chan?”

“Let’s go in!”

As they ran into the amusement park psyched-up, a rollercoaster roared past above their heads.

“Whoa! It’s so close to us! That’s scary!”

“Look, there are pandas! Let’s get on the pandas!”

Mika pointed to the panda-karts that moved when a one hundred yen coin was put into them. They seemed fluffy and soft, like a huge moving plushy. The pandas were popular, getting their pictures taken and pointed at as they clunked around dangerously in the crowd.

“Uh, I’d prefer the stuff more like roller coasters, or the ones that spin, or the ones that fall…”

“I want to go on the panda! Let’s get on after those people!”

Mika was completely enchanted by the pandas as she dragged the unamused Daishou over to them. They were going to wait until the people on it got off, and then get on in place of them.

When they looked closely, two boys seemed to be racing each other in the panda-karts, getting all excited over a vehicle slower then their walking pace.

“If I get in from the inside…”

“I won’t lose!”

A tall boy and a boy with a small frame. Perhaps they were brothers, Mika mused as she gazed at them.

The panda-karts eventually stopped with a bump, and the boys got off. “Oh, there’s someone waiting,” they said as they caught sight of Mika. “Ah!” When they saw Daishou, they let out an exclamation and trotted over to them.

“Inuoka-kun, look! They’re from Nohebi!”

“Eh? Wow, you’re right! Um, happy new year!”

The larger one gave them a new year’s greeting and bowed energetically. They didn’t seem to be brothers, after all.

“Oh, you’re the backup libero from Nekoma!” “Y-yes!”

The smaller one, Shibayama Yuuki, bowed his head too. The two of them were strangely polite. And the larger one, Inuoka Sou, was making assertive attempts to keep the conversation going for Mika and Daishou, who was having trouble dealing with them.

“Isn’t this place great? It’s open from the new year!”

“Huh? Well, yeah…”

“There was shaved ice that had seven colours earlier on! Did you eat it? My mouth’s turned into such a weird colour! See!”

The larger one opened his mouth to show his tongue with seven colours, as if he were a relative’s child.

“Yeah. That’s… pretty amazing.”

Mika began to feel uneasy. If she let it continue on, she would be dragged into his pace, and end up eating yakisoba in the food court, riding the rollercoaster and taking photos with the illuminated lights. If she was pleaded with that genuine smile, she couldn’t possibly say no.

“Oh, actually, we’re about to go home! Right, Suguru?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah!” Daishou nodded hurriedly.

“I see, that’s a pity! I was thinking we could have all eaten yakisoba together. Well, see you then!”

Inuoka waved to them, and Shibayama bowed his head. Mika and Daishou broke into a run, as if they were escaping them.

The two ran out of the amusement park and along the road a little, facing each other and laughing after they finally came to a stop. “I guess we can stop now.”

“That was pretty surprising.”

“Yeah. We’ll have to come back for the pandas sometime else.”

“Yeah… Let’s come again.”

Mika found herself reddening, glad that Daishou promised her to take her there again. In the end, he always put her first. She had always thought he only thought about volleyball, but perhaps he really thought about her the most, it was just that she didn’t realise.

Her boyfriend’s sentence made her footsteps lighter as she walked through the cloud. Shops, big and small, were lined up freely, making the whole street seem like a maze. Everything that caught her eye was something rare and interesting, making her excited. She wouldn’t be surprised if a circus tent or a freak show appeared right before her eyes. Mika stared around the street as she walked, making sure she wouldn’t lose sight of a sign of somewhere she didn’t know. It was an exploration, after all. When she was with another person, doing anything anywhere was fun.

“…Oh, there are many banners here too. Is it a Kabuki again?”

There was a building with many colourful banners, along with red and white lanterns and cocoon balls that intensely gave off new year vibes. Daishou looked into the billboard, checking the photos of the faces of those performing.

“No, I think… it’s a rakugo.”

When they looked at the building, it said in big letters, “Entertainment Hall”. They had walked Rokku Broadway south from the amusement park, up to the corner of the entertainment hall.

“Look, there are spinning tops and magic tricks, too.”

“Seems kinda suspicious, but it’s new year’s. Guess we’ll go in.”

They bought the tickets at the reception, and entered the dimly lit entertainment hall. When they opened the door, it was packed to the aisles. The humidity was so extreme that it made Mika take off her coat.

“Oh, they’re already at it.”

“There are more people than I expected. It’s standing room only.”

On the stage adorned with red and white decorations, a young man wearing a kimono was talking. I guess they’re not all old men, Mika thought. “Huh?” Daishou looked over at Mika, furrowing his brows.

“Uh, what? Is it… weird?”

As Mika tried to check her white knitted dress she bought for the date, she realised that Daishou wasn’t looking at her.

“What?”

Mika followed Daishou’s glance, and Daishou whispered, “You’re from Nekoma!”

The man with a buzzcut sitting beside Mika turned around.

“Hm? ….Oh, yes.”

The buzzcut man looked surprised for a moment, and then greeted them with a smile.

“Nohebi’s captain, huh? Happy new year. Fukunaga told me there’d be a comedian that he recommends coming here today, so the two of us came. Right?”

Beside the buzzcut who talked gently, a silent boy stared at them. The boy called Fukunaga wasn’t one for friendliness, and didn’t say anything.

“Y- you guys, it’s almost Spring High! What, you have time to spare?!”

Daishou exclaimed loudly, and the members of the audience around them warned him with a “Shh!”

“Oh, s-sorry…”

Daishou’s voice behind her back, Mika ran out of the hall alone.

Crouching through the red barrier, Mika paced through the new shopping street that had appeared. She didn’t know where she was walking, or where she was heading to.

It was just pathetic and frustrating, and she was about to cry.

After all, Daishou didn’t look at her, he only cared about volleyball. He could have just left the kids from other schools alone, but he went up and talked to them. So stupid. He lost to them.

A sneeze escaped her. She realised she had taken off her coat, and put it on. The white knitted dress she had just bought became hidden by her coat.

“So stupid.”

She’d bought the dress by borrowing her new year’s money off her mother earlier, but he didn’t notice at all. It was fun buying clothes. Would he like these kinds of feminine looks more? Would he prefer white or pink? There had been no point even thinking that at all. She should have just bought some delicious cakes instead of clothes. The ones at the underground floor of the department store that cost about 500 yen apiece, lots of it.

As she thought such things, the back of her nose stung and tears started to appear. As she held back her tears, the flamboyant banner was still waving about in front of her, but it didn’t matter anymore. Kabuki or Rakugo, it didn’t seem fun anymore, like a spell had been removed. But when she glanced at the sign, it read “Rokyoku”, neither Kabuki nor Rakugo. It was even more frustrating.

She couldn’t take it anymore. No more.

Her makeup would be washed away, but she didn’t care anymore. She was going to cry, and she didn’t care about it.

Mika decided so, and stopped walking. She glanced up at the sky, and let out an “ah” sound. In the blue, pure new year’s sky, the large, large skytree towered.

“It’s so big…”

Her tears disappeared.

Beside the road she’d been walking, there had been the skytree all along, pointing up. Of course it was, it was always in the same Asakusa. But she had been walking hunched forward, running as if she were escaping from something, looking around as if looking for a secret in the alleyway. She hadn’t noticed at all.

Forgetting that she wanted to cry, Mika started to walk straight ahead. When she got out of the shopping street, it was Senso-ji. The place where they were meant to come for their first shrine visit. When she carried on while staring at the skytree, she could see the amusement park from earlier to her left, and if she listened carefully, she could hear the rollercoaster too. It felt like she had been walking around a lot, but really, she had just been going round and round the same spot. It was rather funny.

“I didn’t notice at all, either.”

As she walked at the back of the five-story pagoda to the main hall of the temple, Mika realised she hadn’t completed her new year’s shrine visit yet and joined the queue for worship. Daishou ran there, out of breath.

“You’re there… I’m glad… What’s wrong, all of a sudden, Mika-chan?!”

“Sorry.”

“Huh? No, it’s… you don’t have to apologise.”

Daishou averted his eyes, for some reason. He had a tendency to become flustered and nervous at weird moments, Mika thought. She undid the buttons on her coat, showing Daishou her dress inside.

“I bought this a little while ago.”

“Huh? Oh… I think it is cute.”

“Why’re you being polite all of a sudden?”

Mika burst out laughing a little. She couldn’t wait around, hoping to be noticed, she thought. If she didn’t talk to him and show him, they wouldn’t be able to reach an understanding. It’s embarrassing and hard, but even so, they would talk, bit by bit.

The line they queued up at moved slowly, and they finally started to talk quietly. When it was their turn, they threw their coins in and pressed their hands together. And they held hands and walked down the steps.

The sound of shaking the oracle box, the sound of a mobile phone’s camera. Many sounds and many words from different countries rained down. A selfie stick popped out somewhere, too. They walked under Hozomon gate where the two Deva gods stood, and walked the shopping streets to the Kaminari-mon.

“Hey, what did you wish for earlier?”

“Huh? Well, nothing really...”

Mika glared lightly and elbowed her boyfriend, who was mumbling for some reason. “Tell me.” She couldn’t know if he didn’t say it.

“Ow. Well, so… In the Spring High, I wished that they- Nekoma would get at least one win.”

“What, why?” Mika stopped walking.

“Why? …Well, I kinda want them to win for us, as well.”

“What…? I wished I could go shrine visiting with Suguru next year too, but now I just look like an idiot!”

“What?!”

Daishou was dumbstruck by the unexpected words, but Mika couldn’t be stopped now.

“You weren’t even enthusiastic about shrine visiting, Suguru. You just made it seem like you didn’t care where we went!”

“…No, I was looking forward to it! But I said wherever is fine, because it’s embarrassing to act like I’m excited for the date…”

“What’s that mean? I don’t get you!”

It wasn’t just Daishou and Mika that stopped and stood in the crowd. Behind them, two guys stood whispering quietly, but loud enough to make them hear what they were saying.

“It’s a shoujo manga.”

“It is, indeed.”

Mika turned around, surprised. There was yet another tall guy and a shorter guy, but they were nowhere near as pure as the two she’d met at the amusement park. Before she could wonder who those guys were, Daishou shouted.

“Kuroo, you bastard, why are you here?!”

The duo behind them were Nekoma’s third years, Captain Kuroo Tetsurou and Libero Yaku Morisuke. They paid no attention to the red-faced, yelling Daishou and nibbled on ningyo-yaki while arguing.

“See? There are these types of pain-in-the-ass people. This is why we should have just gone shrine visiting in our local area. Kenma won’t come if it’s far away. He’ll say he’s too tired.”

“Shut up! The bigger it is, the more advantage you get!”

“God isn’t that much of a simpleton.”

As if to lash out at the loudly bickering duo, Daishou screamed.

“Oi, Nekoma! You ignoring me?!”

“Hm? Oh, it’s just shoujo manga-kun.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Daishou tried to appear intimidating to hide his embarrassment, but Kuroo continued to smirk.

“I already know you’re a good guy. Never would have guessed you were praying for our victory.”

“Never would have guessed.”

Yaku crossed his arms and nodded too.

“Were you guys eavesdropping…?!”

Embarrassment and humiliation turned Daishou a deep red up to his neck as he glared at Kuroo. But Kuroo merely tapped Daishou’s shoulder lightly.

“Don’t worry. We won’t just win once.”

The words made Daishou momentarily confused, but as soon as he locked eyes with Kuroo, who was smirking with the corners of his mouth, he smiled lightly and retorted.

“You’ve said it now.”

They made a strange face that could have been a glare or a smile, but soon burst out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer.

“Lose, lose! Lose already, you shitty cat!”

“Sadly for you, we’re definitely not losing!”

“Nekoma has me, after all.”

“Well, we won last time without needing Yaku, though.”

“Huh?!”

“That’s it, fall out amongst yourselves!”

“Nope, not falling out anytime soon!”

Mika dropped her shoulders as she watched the three argue childishly.

“Guys are so stupid.” 

They seemed so stupid, but they fought many times, won and lost, and still could argue like this. She was a little jealous. Maybe, she thought, maybe playing a volleyball match instead of talking and hanging out made people understand each other more. It was pretty neat, she though as she waved at Daishou under Kaminari-mon.

“Come on already! Let’s go!”

They couldn’t go to the Sky tree after all, but she would go another time. Take her time, when Nekoma’s guys weren’t there. But if she were to encounter them again- she’d like to eat anmitsu or ice cream wafers with them, together. Even with that Mohawk.

[maymeteorite]

seraph of the end + genshin impact

main: diluc. hear me out, okay. generally, u main based on playstyle, right? (i mean. i don't, but. the consensus seems to be that i am strange for that lmao.) i think that yuu would put a LOT of stress on doing high physical damage, n a lot of people recommend diluc for that. he's ranked pretty high tier, he looks cool, he has a big sword, n he's pretty standard for a dps. also, i feel like yuu is a LOUD player n screaming along with diluc's attack voice lines would be therapeutic for him. i also think the fact that diluc mains drain their hp incredibly fast bc of how reckless they are (yes i am talking about myself too) is very in character for him.

favorite character: also diluc. HEAR ME OUT. i think he would be really taken with the whole darknight hero thing. yuu is also a very protective person n puts a lot of stock in the safety of what he cares about n i feel like he would just find diluc very cool for that.

aesthetically appealing: razor. source: trust me bro.

main: XIAO. i cannot stress this one enough n i will not budge. i can't really tell u why exactly i think he would enjoy polearm users, but the idea of self inflicted damage is very much a vampire weapon choice (thorn sword, yk) n i cannot believe how fitting it is. which leads right into the next category, actually.

favorite character: also xiao. both mika n yuu strike me as the types to main their favorite characters (i am not just saying this bc i relate to mika n i do that what do u MEAN) n not only do i think mika would relate to xiao, but i also think he would find the lore n the roles of the adepti REALLY interesting.

aesthetically appealing: i'm torn on this one bc i want to say albedo. all his outfit details, his color scheme, his hair, his EYES. all of it just screams mika to me. HOWEVER rosaria also strikes me as a design mika would really like.

main: torn for this one. on the one hand, i think she would have an incredible dps beidou that does FAR more damage than poor yuu's diluc n she refuses to give him her build. on the other hand, i think she would also be the type of person to absolutely SHRED domains with a dps barbara. overall she definitely has the best builds of the team, n is really good at team composition.

favorite character: mona! mona says what she thinks, n shinoa would LOVE that. i think she'd admire her pride n determination n that would really inspire her.

aesthetic appealing: keqing! she would love her colors (specifically the purple) n i think she'd find the cat ears really cute. keqing is also a really lovely character n i think she'd have a crush on her.

main: childe. look at this man. LOOK at him. u CANNOT tell me he does not give off obnoxious childe main energy. he fights the oceanid with childe bc he thinks he's invincible. he goes into domains with the wrong level just to mess with people. he's genuinely GOOD though, so it's hard for the team to be too upset.

favorite character: baizhu bc they're both suspicious zhongli. guren has a crush on peepaw pass it on. no i'm kidding (no i'm not) but they both have that "weird n intense methods of testing strength that are definitely questionable but they do still care" kind of thing going on.

aesthetically appealing: kaeya. i don't actually know where i'm getting this from i just had a vague thought that kaeya kind of gives me a similar vibe to shinya n i was like "yes okay this makes sense."

main: sucrose! absolutely god tier support over here. he definitely did a ton of research on how to build her. u see him in a domain n ur like "oh thank god." he also has an extra set of artifacts n weapons aside for her bc he wanted to be prepared, so he plays her as a support or a dps depending on the needs of the party. he likes to have options.

favorite character: jean. hear me out, i think he'd really admire her. she works SO hard n she cares SO much about mondstadt n yoichi would find a lot of comfort in that. also he's a feminist.

aesthetically appealing: venti. between the bow n just how BEAUTIFUL his clothes are, yoichi would be smitten.

main: rosaria. he would love polearms n that is a fact. he definitely pulled on the recent childe banner rerun to get her n ended up with childe by accident, which guren was very upset about bc he was pulling for childe constellations. he builds up her crit like CRAZY n as much as him n yuu don't want to admit it, they work really well together in domains.

favorite character: qiqi. the big brother instinct. he does not trust baizhu. i think she reminds him of mirai in a way, too.

aesthetically appealing: chongyun. again. source: trust me bro.

main: hu tao. her n mika are NIGHTMARES in domains bc of their self-damaging skills, but unlike mika, mitsuba is actually really careful with it, n makes sure she builds up hu tao's hp so she doesn't inconvenience her team.

favorite character: diona. they both have very similar vibes, mitsuba would find her adorable. she would also argue to the DEATH with anyone online who was being creepy about her/the other young characters.

aesthetically appealing: ningguang. she has a massive crush on her.

main: lisa. ranged attacks, wide ranges of effect, really cool burst/ult, n can cause some of the best reactions with her element. he outlasts almost anyone else in domains bc he seems to never take any damage.

favorite character: dainsleif. he wants him to get a release so bad.

aesthetically appealing: xiao. he loves the colors.

main: keqing. she is a huge fan of the whole teleporting thing. her elemental damage is nuts. she had the best sword on her so soon after she started the game that everyone's heads were spinning. she RAGES when she loses, though, n doesn't like teamwork/prefers to carry.

favorite character: lumine, but only if aether was picked as a protagonist. she likes the idea of lumine being the villain.

aesthetically appealing: fischl. do i really have to elaborate on this one.

main: xiao, to piss off mika i actually cannot think of a good enough example for just one character. i feel like he plays for fun n not for consistency of builds, so he just switches between characters to support that. i can see him playing support n not healing his team on purpose bc he thinks it's funny, though.

favorite character: signora. he laughed his ASS off when she punted venti.

aesthetically appealing: xingqiu, probably. with those frilly sleeves.

[the-darklings]

—𝒄𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒔;

—PART XIII. | COR AUT MORS

pairing: john wick x f!reader x santino d’antonio

word count: 9.2k+

summary: One look, and you know. 

warnings: you will suffer x 3

notes: hot off the press! Come and enjoy your (almost) bi-weekly dose of suffering. This one is gonna get intense so strap in. As always your feedback and support are eternally appreciated even if I don’t always have time to reply to everyone individually. You’re all amazing for taking the time and helping writers out <33

children of ares series: 01 | …. | 11 | 12 | . . | 14 |

gif credit (x)

A smile twitches across Lucien’s mouth; a fleeting, haughty thing.

“Hello there,” he greets casually with a little wave. “How’s the head?”

Rotating your neck, you snap at the ties around your wrists, testing their strength. Pain flares through your wrists but the binds hold and you sigh, dragging your narrowed eyes to the tall, blonde man slowly approaching you.

It’s then that you notice where exactly you are.

Even through the pounding in your head, you recognise the too familiar warehouse. The drab, cold greyness of these walls where you and Santino where attacked only weeks ago.

Lucien grins at your delayed realisation, at your simmering rage, as he comes to a stop before you. You have to crane your head back to see his elegant features, meeting his stare head-on.

“Their first attempt was so poor that when I heard about it, I laughed,” he reveals knowingly with a small hum, and reaches out, his fingers touching your bandaged ear. He grips it lightly, a promise of pain scraping against your subconsciousness. “I heard you made that attempt look like they were toddlers. Which is why I’m so disappointed now. Frantic and distracted. You made this easy, you see, and I don’t like that. You’re different. What happened to you?”

You jerk your head from his grip, ignoring the sting of pain in your ear.

“Don’t you fucking touch me.”

Lucien pauses, his hand still hovering beside your head. He takes in your laboured breaths and glassy stare with an inquisitive frown, and you wonder if your expression is as wild as you feel. You hate how he’s looking at you.

If your hands were loose you would wrap them—

“Oh. Oh,” he breathes quietly, blinking as if dazed. He leans down abruptly, his dark eyes two bottomless pits. The light in them is feverish. “Look at you. It’s the edge, isn’t it?”

His words rip through you, leaving you gaping before you manage to control your expression.

For a second, it feels like he’s right there with you, at that crumbling edge deep inside you.

It feels so bizarrely violating you almost flinch.

“You’re insane.”

Lucien smiles an angelic smile but the devil lurks beneath those sharp edges. “Sanity is a matter of perspective,” he hums pleasantly, leaning back, his stare still keen. “And I think you know exactly what I speak of.”

You don’t have time for this.

Santino.

John.

The contract.

Something inside your gut hollows out at the recollection.

You need to get out of here.

Right now.

“Where’s dear Mika?” you question sweetly, hoping that provocation will give you a chance as you subtly tug at your binds. “Won’t she get upset you have me all tied up and alone here?”

Lucien sighs deeply, giving you a look of a disappointed parent about to scold their child.

He steps to the side, walking around you and you still immediately, ceasing your shifting as he circles you.

“My beloved is recovering,” he explains unhappily and you don’t have to see his face to hear the frown on it. “Our last meeting was rather memorable, won’t you agree?”

He leans closer, his breath brushing against your ear from behind. A beat. Then his fingertips ghost over your left temple. “I’m almost tempted to take your eye and gift it to her. But no...no. I need you hale for our next dance.”

He leans back, stepping into your line of sight again and you grit your teeth.

“Untie me, then,” you goad with a tilt of your chin. “Let’s go a few rounds.”

Lucien tuts, his dark clothes only bringing out the almost translucent paleness of his skin as he leans closer.

“No, you’re not there yet,” he says gently, his eyes inspecting you thoughtfully. “I don’t want this. I want you over the edge. I want to dance in the darkness where we are both equals. Just like we did for that one moment in the tunnels.”

His voice dips towards the end; almost an intimate caress.

But your head only tilts knowingly, and you grin sharply, “Is this the part where you torture me, Lucien? You may not like what’s left behind if you push me over the edge.”

It’s what the Lovers are known for after all.

Their rapid bloodlust.

The pale man shakes his head once, dismissive, but his eyes narrow slightly at the casual use of his real name.

“No, not at all,” he rebukes and takes a step closer, your knees almost touching. “You don’t fear pain, I can tell. You pass it out, just like I do. Who was it, I wonder?” his head tilts. “The one who taught you about the abyss below.”

God, he’s insane.

And you don’t have time for his idiotic ramblings.

The fact that you were frantic enough for him to take you this easily is already insulting enough. There is no one but yourself to blame and now—

Now you need to find a way to get loose.

The binds will hold. They clearly knew better than to leave any room for error. You can’t feel any of your weapons on your person, either.

Your coat, too, is missing.

You blink up at the man before you, wondering if you could possibly trick him into giving you what you want.

“Doesn’t matter,” you mutter and flash him another cool smile. “They’re both dead now. By my hand. Just like you will be.”

A promise, not a threat.

He won’t rest till one or both of you are dead, and you won’t rest till he’s dead. Him and his deranged girlfriend.

Lucien doesn’t react to your words though.

“Could you kill me, I wonder?” he wonders instead, curious. “I bet it would be like killing yourself.”

Shut up, shut up, shut up—

“We are nothing alike,” you hiss hotly, and this time your self-control creaks dangerously. “Despite what you would like to think. You’re—”

He explodes.

His hands slam against you as his fingers sink into your shoulder blades.  

“But we are. We are!” he practically screams into your face, a loose strand of hair brushing over his forehead. His fingers constrict, desperate, but he manages to suck in a few calming breaths. “The only difference between you and I is the fact that I have made that abyss my home. My throne. What have you done? You crawled back out like a coward instead of embracing it. I can see it. The agony, the hunger, the wishful hoping that one day you won’t wake up. But oh no—no! You do wake up and the cycle repeats again.”

Yes.

The darkness.

The point of no return you had sunk down to after Tokyo, after John, after Giovanni threw you out the D’Antonio estate, ending your protection.

That pit had almost destroyed you.

It has clearly stripped whatever sanity Lucien might have held onto once.

But you chose to fight back.

You chose to crawl back into the light.

Because you had people there who had needed you, believed in you, who had cared about you enough to tell you to fight back. Who told you to stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something about your situation instead of giving up.

If it weren’t for Winston and Santino and Ares and Charon and—

If it weren’t for them you would be dead or worse.

You would have become like Lucien.

You had become like him. No matter how briefly.  

The slaughter that had made your name.

The transformation from “John Wick’s partner” and “protege” and “little girl” to The Vipress.

“Do you know about Shódigan?”

The sudden question snaps you out of your thoughts, and you ignore the way Lucien’s bony fingers sink into your skin with enough force to bruise.

His faint French accent warps the word into a curse; hateful and harsh.  

Trying not to show your discomfort, you give him a dispassionate, “Yes.”

The man leans closer till you’re face-to-face but he seems calmer now, his expression serene.

“You know...everyone who has ever found out about it, I’ve torn apart. Slowly. Piece by piece,” he reveals with a faint laugh. “Not because I cared that they knew but because they…they could never understand. But you do. You know what it is to be so desperate and so afraid that you would do anything to live and anything to die.”

“So you think that just because the system failed you that gives you the right to become a maniac?”

Your immediate retort gives him a pause before he reaches forward, cupping your face in his hands instead, the sharpness of his digits sinking into the flesh of your cheeks.  

“You’re not listening—”

You try to drag yourself out of his grip but it only constricts again.

Something dark gleams in his eyes at your struggle.

“Oh, but I am,” you spit out, glaring right at him. “The poor little orphan boy. People tried to help you again and again but you didn’t want it. I bet it was easy to like her after she killed for you.”

Dear Mika. With her clever mind and her pretty face.

But killing one’s parents for some maniac—

“It was,” Lucien admits easily, unfazed. He finally releases his grip on you, stepping back, his head slanting mockingly. “But are you any different, viper? How many have you slaughtered? I bet you delight in it as much as I do. In fact, I know you do. For a split second in those tunnels, you wanted me more than dead. You wanted me to be ruined. Torn apart. You said it and meant it. You see, we are exactly alike.”

For a moment you only stare at each other.

“Too bad the Dragon wants me dead.”

He says nothing, a faint frown twisting his elegant features at the reminder.

You lean forward as far as the chair allows you.

“I will make you a deal,” you begin and lick your lips to steady yourself. “Let me go now. There is something I must do and it’s urgent. But once that’s dealt with…”

You smile grimly.

“Once that’s dealt with, you pick a place and a time. No running, no tricks. Just you and me. You want to dance with me, Lucien? I’m inclined to indulge you. But I need you to let me go now.”

You need to get to Santino.

You need to talk him out of this stupid, foolish, vengeance-seeking plan of his.

Whatever it takes to get to him now, you will do.

John will wait.

But only for so long when he’s being hunted by everyone in New York.  

Only so long after Santino sent Ares and his men after him in the catacombs.

Lucien stalks closer; a tall, looming figure, and you notice how his right palm rests against the spot where you drove your blade into him. His fingertips trace over the spot almost obsessively.

His eyes are pitch black as he smiles faintly.

You see it coming but can’t react to it with your hands bound.

A needle sinks into your neck and you gasp, jerking in your seat.

Lucien grips your hair, pressing his lips against your ear and breathes a handful of words that get lost in the rush of sudden dizziness.

No—

No—

It shouldn’t be possible. You’re the Vipress. You have trained against this.

It—

“—sends his regards.”

Numbness spreads through you at a frightening rate and your head droops to the side.

“Let her know that I have the Viper.”

Inky darkness drags you down and then there’s nothing.

“—they tried to take her during the Hunt but, well, it didn’t work out.”

“Why?”

“Because she went to Camorra, dipshit. Who the hell goes up against Camorra?”

“I thought Camorra didn’t like outsiders though? They’re traditionalists.”

“Yeah, well, she befriended the heirs from what I’ve heard. Exceptions were made.”

“So Chicago was—”

A faint sigh slips past your lips as you eyes crack open, your vision blurring.

Your throat is dry, a stale taste lingering against your tongue as you try to blink away the dizziness.

What the hell—

“Woah. How is she awake?”

Footsteps.

A barrel of a Sabatti ST18 digs into your bruised shoulder and you jerk in your seat, your head snapping up to glare at the owners of those two voices.

The duo in typical Dragon tactical suits take a step back.

Your vision blurs and you shake your head again, your eyes squeezing shut for a second.

“The fuck, man?” the shorter of the two demands. “The crazy said she should be out for hours.”

“Will you calm down?” the one with the gun grumbles, shooting his partner a look. His gun lifts and he nudges your shoulder again, keeping the barrel on you. “She’s the Vipress. Makes sense that whatever shit he gave her is not as effective on her. You’ve heard the stories. We’re fine. She’s still out of it.”

The first one shifts in his spot, uneasy. “Man, we should call for backup. Get the crazy here to handle her.”

“She’s harmless—”

You ram into the man in front of you.

“Shit!”

The chair beneath you drags you to the side, tipping abruptly, and you crash to the floor. Pain flares through your side but you loosen your tied legs, slamming your knee into the second man’s groin. The hit throws his aim, a bullet sailing past you and hitting the concrete instead. The man curses, and you spot the second one grappling for his gun.

Your hands—

Shit.

They won’t come loose and you wiggle on the ground, kicking yourself backwards to slide across the floor to buy precious seconds. Pulling yourself away from the chair, you curl into a ball, trying to push your legs over your tied arms.

The first man stumbles to his feet, aiming wildly in your direction—

Crack.

The sickening crunch of a broken neck echoes, ripping through the vast space of the hanger like a bomb going off.

The man collapses like someone simply turned off his motor function, revealing another tall man standing where the soldier once did.

A lit cigarette between his lips, the newcomer aims and shoots the second man before he even manages to get back onto his knees, his brain scattering in a gory mess.

You stare. Wide-eyed and speechless.

“Hector?” you croak out, confused, your voice raspy as you squint up at the looming figure.

The man doesn’t acknowledge you at first. He takes a deep drag of his cigarette instead, letting the loose smoke escape past his full lips in small wisps, considering.

“Never thought these dumb fucks will shut up,” he grouses, irritated. “Fuck me. I have brain damage.”

His pale eyes finally drag to you and he stares at you on the ground for a beat. “What are you doing down there? Get up.”

Rolling on your side, you push yourself onto your knees, shaking your head to clear it. Whatever Lucien gave you is leaving your system quickly but everything still feels…mushy.

How the hell did he even manage to find something that would knock you out is beyond you.

“How did you find me?”

“I followed the sound of bullshit.”

You stagger to your feet, glaring at him as you work on the binds on your hands. Hector watches your sluggish movements with a faint frown before exhaling sharply and dropping his cigarette, stomping on it. He steps closer, watching your reaction to his approach. A small butterfly knife appears between his fingers and he cuts through the restraints easily.

You watch the colourful lines of tattoos curving around his neck blankly while he works.

Wings across his throat. You wonder why wings.

“Good old Santi forced me on guard duty,” he says after a moment, the last of the ropes binding your hands falling to the floor. “I wasn’t about to lug your unconscious ass through New York though.”

Santino.

Santino.

Your eyes snap to the windows and you suck in a shaky breath when you realise that it’s dark outside. When you spoke to Lucien there had been a faint pink light emitting through the murky windows. Like dawn. But now, only darkness can be seen outside.

Oh God.

How long have you been here?

How much time has been wasted?

“Where is he?”

Hector pauses, his eyebrows arching at your desperate question. “Shouldn’t you care more about the fact that The Lovers—”

“Where is he, Hector?”

He hesitates. He knows you’re not one for panic. “Relax. Your Little Saint is fine. He’s rushed his coronation, so probably enjoying the company of rich bastards ready to kiss his ass all night long.”

“Call the guard,” you force out, choked, unsteady. “Right now, Hector.”

He rolls his eyes, flipping his knife and placing it back inside his suit. “I told you—”

“He opened a contract for John Wick.”

“So?”

“So,” you bite out furiously. “John will come for him.”

Hector makes a small noise at the back of his throat; rough and dismissive. “John Wick is one man, and Santino is the new head of Camorra.”

Your fingers latch onto his forearm, your nails digging in and he tenses, his gaze sharpening at the threatening gesture.

“It doesn’t matter. You have no idea what John is capable of,” you exhale shakily. “You think you do, but you don’t. This isn’t me looking down on you or Camorra or anyone. But you need to call the guard right now. I need to get to Santino right now or he won’t survive past the next 24hr. If it’s not already—”

Too late.

It could be.

Something cold, downright harrowing, scrapes through your heart at the mere thought.

Hector roughly yanks his arm back, his stare more cutting now, assessing. “I snuck in. But if you want speedy we’ll have to force our way out. The Male Lover has left to check on his squeeze but he will be back soon. He’s expecting someone.”

“Are you asking me if I’m ready to kill people after me?” you wonder bitingly, glancing around for your things.

Hector has that covered though. He offers his earlier knife and a Glock 30S with a sardonic twist of his lips but you grab them without hesitation. While a shitty pistol with 10 rounds is hardly going to be ideal for this situation, it doesn’t matter. You will take what you can get.

“What was—”

You shoot without hesitation but your aim is still unsteady, and the bullet hits the soldier that’s appeared in the shoulder instead.

Hector finishes him off with a single headshot.

His eyes swing to you but you step past him before he can say anything.  

You’ve used this warehouse multiple times, and you move through the space with familiarity, trying to snap yourself out of your daze.

Terror curdles your stomach but you fight it back.

Hector falls in step beside you easily, towering, and you distantly recall that this is only your second time ever working with him.

Neither of you talk. There is no need. You both know exactly what to do.

Kill.

The one thing you’re both best at.

You stumble upon a small group of Dragon’s men moments later, and they’re dead before they can reach for their weapons.

This time your aim is steadier.

You still feel Hector tracking your movements with a critical, merciless eye though.

The sounds of gunfire attract attention as expected, and you hear more footsteps hurry in your direction.

Hector doesn't speak, doesn’t look at you.

He simply moves, and where he goes death follows.

He cuts through the Dragon’s men like cutting through wheat. All murderous, focused intent that’s fascinating and terrifying to watch. He makes death look easy. Effortless.

Much like John, much like you, he has a gift of death—and he knows exactly how to use it.

He grabs one man by the arm, cracking his knee upwards in a too familiar manner that shatters the man’s elbow.

Copycat.

That’s your move.

If you had enough oxygen in your lungs, you would say so. But it’s a bit hard to speak with someone holding you in a chokehold.

Leaning back on your heels, you hook your foot on the man’s ankle, kicking his feet from underneath him. The grip around your throat loosens and you drive a knife backwards, blindly aiming for the liver. The easiest spot to hit from your current position.

The man gurgles, and you shove him backwards, freeing your bloodied blade with a gasp of breath.

The man blindly grapples for the wound, his fingers stained scarlet but it’s too late. He will be dead within minutes. You turn towards Hector and find the man readjusting his crumpled suit, scowling in your direction.

“What the fuck was that?”

“What?”

“I knew the situation was bad but not this bad,” he retorts icily, looking you up and down like he’s repulsed. “Slow. Sloppy. Since when do you struggle with simple Dragon goons?”

You stalk closer to him, wiping the bloodied blade against your dark pants. “They’re highly trained—”

“Cut the bullshit,” Hector interrupts, his stare narrowing on you. Bodies lay at his feet. None of them move. “That was miserable to watch. You looked like you were barely keeping up.”

“It might have escaped your notice but I was drugged only hours ago, asshole.”

“What happened to that woman in Prague who took down an entire crime syndicate simply because they took Santino, huh?” comes his harsh question as he marches towards you. “Have you fallen asleep? Died somewhere along the way? Or are you gonna cry how your life is so hard and that’s why you’re so shit lately?”

You know you’ve been slipping.

You’ve been aware of your decline for a while now.

Every person has a threshold. Only so much they can handle both physically, emotionally and mentally. The last few weeks have been a hurricane of one thing after another, hit after hit. An onslaught of loss and pain and confusion. Of being torn at all sides and it’s been eroding you away.

That’s why after the tunnels you had agreed to rest. No matter how much it had demanded from you.

Because everything has been building up and it’s taken a toll on you.

Because that ruthless calm that you have used to shield yourself in the past has been crumbling away lately, leaving you vulnerable.

But you sure as hell don’t owe an explanation to him.

Not right now.

“You know what?” you bite out, your voice a sharpened blade. “Get fucked, Hector. I don’t need your condescending bullshit right now.”

His mouth twists. “Sorry, sweetheart,” he shoots back, bored. “I’m a busy man. You will have to schedule something.”

You almost go for his jugular, then.

Prick. Prick. Prick.

His arm slams into you suddenly, shoving you to the ground and you both roll across the floor as shots ring through the empty space. He turns to face the attackers at once, every move expertly controlled as he aims. Unloading an entire clip at the men who had rushed through the doorway, he glances your way once. Silent communication. Your arm extends, pistol in hand, counting his shots in your head. He draws blank, but the last two men fall by your bullets instead. Easy transition.

Your arm trembles as it hovers over Hector’s broad shoulder and he reloads smoothly, glancing at you once.

“Go.”

Ignoring the stench of death and blood in the air, you glance his way. Hector doesn’t look at you again though.

“Are you deaf?” he demands coldly after you don’t move. “There’s too many of them here. If Santino is really in danger, you need to go now. Besides, you will only slow me down.”

The last part is a purposeful dig that drips with disdain but you chose to ignore it just this once.

“Where?”

His piercing, pale eyes find yours in the dim light. “You already know where.”

Flavio stares at you like he’s seeing a ghost.

You suppose with how you look and feel after the last few days, to him you are no better than an animated dead corpse.

The party is in full swing by now but Flavio is the first of Santino’s security that you have encountered.

You had gotten here in record time.

You’ve left Hector to deal with the Dragon’s men and potentially Lucien whenever he returns. But if anyone could take on the Male Lover, it’s the Camorra’s Devil. Instead, you had backtracked and shot out one of the warehouse windows before climbing out of it while Camorra’s best covered your escape.

Your phone was missing after the explosion, leaving you unable to contact either Santino or John or even Winston.

So you had decided to sprint straight for the Metropolitan Museum where Santino’s coronation was being held. There had been only one stop on the way. A tiny, dingy alleyway located between 66th Street and 2nd Avenue. A safe spot for some gear, namely a pistol with two spare clips and a vial of paralyser with a few sharpened blades. Minimal, but it will have to do. Safe spots dotted along the city was another trick you had picked up from John years ago.

God, you hope he’s safe. That he’s actually listened to you.

But—

That grim look on his face.

The resolute shift of his entire body when he learned about the contract.

You are on borrowed time.

And John is a storm that will tear everything apart without hesitation once it hits.

Still, seeing Flavio and the party in full swing gives you a nearly overwhelming sense of relief.

Because it means that Santino is here and he is safe. For now.

“Where is he?”

Flavio gawks openly, his lips slightly parted before he blinks his surprise away.

“I thought you were in Rome—”

You grab him by the lapel of his white suit, jerking his entire body forward. “I asked you where the fuck he is.”

The dark-haired man in front of you scowls. “Great Hall.”

Your fingers loosen at once, and you stagger away from him and towards your target. Breathe in and out. Sweat coats your skin, your head ringing, and you can’t begin to imagine how bad you must look right now. Still, security knows your face and lets you pass with only a few, startled looks shared between them.

You need to find him.

The Great Hall is full of people. Even without it being a coronation held with former planning, ascension to the High Table is a rare and high honour. Especially when it’s the new head of Camorra that’s being crowned. It feels like all the rich, powerful people in this city have gathered here tonight to pay tribute. A few faces you spot in the crowd are familiar. Presenting different families and seats at the table. Others you have never seen.

You push through them all, your eyes frantically jumping from face to face.

Where are you, where are you, where—

Your shoulder bumps against someone and you stumble, thrown off of your balance for a second.

The woman in front of you is stunning. With glossy pitch-black curls and piercing blue eyes, she stands almost half a head taller than you. Her blood red lips part before a thoughtful look takes over her features and she adjusts her flowing crimson gown with a simple sweep of her palm. Though she easily has at least 20 years on you, she is the type of woman that makes people look twice.

“My apologies, dear, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“It’s fine.”

Your eyes are already back to sweeping over the crowd and you step forward—

Fingers lock around your wrist and you yank your hand back at once, your eyes cutting back to the refined woman in warning. She blinks at your hostility but doesn’t seem offended as her eyes flicker over your dishevelled appearance.

“You won’t happen to be the Vipress?” she wonders softly, a faint accent lacing her words that you can’t quite place. “I have heard so much about—”

“Look, no offence, but I really don’t have time for this right now,” you cut her off, brushing past her. “Maybe next time.”

You walk away without another word, pushing through the crowd. Few people give you indignant looks when you shove past them too harshly but you ignore them.

Everywhere you look, there are people but none of them bear the face of the one you need right now.

Where are you, grumpy—

There.

It stops you for a few breaths—actually seeing him.

Santino is in his element. Expensive, crisp suit on and charisma oozing from every inch of him as he chats with some woman. Conversation flows easily if Santino deems you interesting enough—which is few and far in-between—but tonight is his night.

He is the sun holding this system together and he revels in it.

A prince finally crowned a king.

You take a step towards him and then another, and as if he feels you drilling holes into him, his head tilts in your direction absently.

His eyes brush over you before he does a double-take.

Like a magnet being pulled, his body swings to face you, his previous companion forgotten as he watches you approach.

The softening of his features hardens with every step.

He tallies the injuries mentally and the look in your eyes makes his own narrow.

You need to tell him a thousand things but the only thing you do manage is a weak, “Santino.”

He meets you halfway, his hands sliding into his pockets as he regards you intently. A shield, an armour.

“Hello, amore,” he greets but his demeanour is cagey, his voice low. He clearly still has your last conversation playing on his mind. But anger can wait till later. “Your head—”

His hand lifts, his thumb tracing over your brow and you hold back a flinch, your face crumpling in pain.

Your fingers latch onto his own when he pulls back, and frankly, you don’t give a shit if anyone is looking and seeing this. Don’t give a shit what they might think—

“Don’t do this,” you breathe, clutching onto his hand desperately. His fingers fold over yours, too, but his expression is hard, understanding blooming in wake of your words. “Recall the contract. If you don’t, John will come for you. You’re smarter than this. You have Camorra. Don’t waste it all now. Let’s get out of here. Go to Paris. Right—right now if you want. Just come with me. Please. Don’t risk everything for some petty revenge, Santino—”

“You would still—”

“This isn’t about him! I’m trying to protect you.”

He pauses at the splutter of your voice, at the way it cracks with desperation, with pain. Those familiar green eyes seem conflicted, heavy, as they track over your face, and he swallows.

Tears burn your eyes, and you feel them spill, at last, trailing down your cheeks. Weeks of pent up emotion manifesting itself in the simplest, most human way possible.

Something about the stiff, unyielding set of his face eases a touch when he notices your tears. You know he hasn’t seen you cry since Chicago. That it’s been years and he simply does not associate such things with you because you’ve rarely allowed him to see you like this.

“Please,” you plead faintly, trying to steady yourself, trying to convince him. “Please, don’t—don’t make me bury you, too.”

The last sentence is a strangled mess but he exhales sharply at your words, his lips thinning into a firm line.

You’ve lost so much.

All you’ve been doing all your life is lose.

Your parents, too many friends.

You’re so tired of being alone.

Left behind. A second choice. Or no choice at all.

So you will demand this. Even if it means you have to make him choose—the one thing you promised you will never make him do.

A simple decision.

Between you and his pride. Between his need for revenge, for more control, over what you want and need.

Santino is silent.

His expression is stony as he peers at you, seemingly lost in thought. But there is something about the light in his eyes that makes a heavy weight form in the pit of your stomach. The guttering dread you’ve felt ever since learning about the contract returns tenfold.

Santino’s hand slips out of your grip.

The soft melody of the party washes over you both as you stare at each other not saying anything.

Perhaps saying everything.

His thumb brushes under your eye, your tears staining his finger and his jaw ticks, his stare stormy.

You know that look.

That look of pride; a look of regretful goodbye.

Your hand presses on top of his, flattening his heated palm against one side of your face. Your eyes squeeze shut as you shake your head slightly, your fingers trembling.

He’s still warm.

And you are, for the first time in a very long time, afraid.

“Please, you p-promised.”

I will never abandon you.

Another strangled breath rattles out of his chest. Quiet enough that only you hear it.

An uneven breath.

Followed by another.

The melody swells.

Your eyes crack open, your sight blurring.

One look, and you know.

“Very well, amore,” he says quietly, meeting your helpless stare. “I choose you.”

You feel them.

Those words.

They roll over you like a warm wave, momentarily washing everything else away.

He doesn’t look happy to admit this defeat, but he means it.

I

choose    

you

That’s all you’ve ever wanted. All you’ve ever dreamt about. Someone placing your wishes first.

The noise you make—feeble and choked—makes him take another step towards you, barely any distance between you now.

“So you’ll—you’ll call it off?”

He nods once, his mouth twisting into an unhappy line but his stare is earnest as he gazes at you. His fingers keep brushing against your tear-stained cheek, drying the skin but you hardly register the gesture or care about anyone looking.

Right now, it might as well be just you two in this gallery, in this world.

“Yes.”

You almost crumble in relief.

But all you do is exhale, your shoulders drooping as you lean into his touch just for a second.

“I figured I could live with it,” he says softly and your eyes flutter open. “With you hating me. Mhm, perhaps even killing me. But it seems…that I just really want to take you to Paris instead, cara mia.”

His mouth twitches into a slight grin at your huff of laughter.

“It seems my father was right,” he continues, his thumb now tracing over the arch of your cheek, all tenderness. “I am weak.”

“You’re not,” you disagree and give him a smile, even if frayed around the edges. “You did what he couldn’t.”

He did what no one in his family has ever done.

Step over his pride.

Change his mind.

Place something above his own ambition just this once.

Something that even you didn’t think he would ever do till the very last second.

“We could go now.”

His eyes flicker, heated. “Right now?”

You nod.

He leans towards you and for a second you think he will kiss you but he stops himself halfway. His tongue swipes over his lower lip once and he swallows unsteadily.

Looks at you like near isn’t nearly close enough.

“I can get the jet ready to leave in an hour.”

He says it like he’s expecting you to change your mind.

But you want as much distance between him and John as possible until the contract is lifted.

And maybe you just really want to say to the hell with all of this and escape for a bit, too.

Maybe—

“Okay.”

His fingers slide down, brushing against your jaw and neck, lingering on your skin. “Yes?”

You meet his searching, guarded gaze evenly. “Take me away from here.”

His lips part and you can almost feel his shallow exhale. You certainly feel the heat of his stare as he keeps looking over you—like he can’t get enough of it, like he can’t quite believe this.

His lips part—

A hush falls over the gallery.

The music cuts off abruptly.

Your head jerks towards the sound of the parting crowd and something inside you ices over when it reveals John.

Your body twists instinctively at the look on his face. At the darkness of those eyes, scrutinising Santino like a predator does with his prey.

Your John is not here.

The one standing before you now is Baba Yaga.

You take a step in front of Santino.

The Italian places his fingers against the crook of your elbow as if to stop you, but you tug your arm away from him, not taking your eyes away from John.

You just need to talk with him.

Explain that it’s over. Finally, it’s over.

He can rest. Be free.

You both can finally be free.

John looks at you eventually but you can’t quite read his expression.

Santino’s guards are surrounding him but they will be nothing but tissue paper for the man in front of you.

His face is littered with cuts and bruises that tell a colourful tale of the last 24hr but you never doubted him. His skill is seldom matched. You can count on one hand the individuals who have a shot at all.

“Get to the Continental,” you instruct Santino calmly while the Great Hall seems to hold its breath, waiting to see what will happen next. “Find Winston. Call off the contract. Go, Santino.”

He doesn’t get to reply.

Your draw is a second behind John’s.

Screams explode through the air as gunfire rains through the gallery. You shove at Santino blindly, covering him, and John’s attention snaps to the guards instead.

He doesn’t miss.

Four shots, four dead.

Blood spatters everywhere and he rushes ahead, determined, only to be met with a shot at his feet.

John halts, frowning.

You don’t aim your pistol at him. You just need him to stop.

“(Name).”

He practically growls your name, angry and warning, but he doesn’t move closer. He doesn’t want to hurt you, or fight you, and it’s clear in his dark eyes. In the pleading look he’s directing at you—a plea for you to step aside. Let him go on his mission and exact his justice.

But not this time.

“John, it’s over,” you shout over the rush of fleeing people, angling your body to block his way. “Listen to me. Santino—”

He fires.

You wait for the pain to hit but hear a dull thud of a body dropping to the floor behind you instead.

Twisting around, you watch as more guards rush into the room but you hesitate.

A few seem to pause at the sight of you, too.

But John fires twice more—another two dead, just that easy for him—before running out of bullets. The guards scramble and unleash their own gunfire in reply.

You throw yourself to the side, firing back, but purposely hitting legs and shoulders. Enough to wound and momentarily disable but not kill.

Some of those faces are familiar to you.

You can’t—

John has no such reservations though. He steals gun after gun, clip after clip, emptying each with such deadly focus that it reminds you of the man you first met.

No mercy. No reservations. A shadow of a being.

As if he’s truly Death given human form, and there is no escaping him now.

His legs wrap around a guard’s neck and a bullet to the temple follows seconds later. He jerks at the sound of another shot sailing over his head but it’s too late. A body crumples to the floor behind him, and John finds you in the scramble, his stare wary despite the save.

“John!” you scream his name as he rounds a corner, disappearing from your sight and you dash after him. “Stop! John—”

You round the corner, only for him to grab and shove you against the wall, firing at the guards rushing through the hallway and directly at you.

His body heat presses into yours, covering you, and you fire shots too. Even if it makes you feel queasy doing so.

You grab him and his attention snaps to you.

Physically this is the closest you’ve been in years. The irony of it all doesn’t escape you.

“Will you just listen to me!” you hiss at him when he tries to wrench his arm out of your ironlike grip. “It’s over.”

“The contract is still open,” John rasps unevenly, his voice as dark as the look in his eyes. Strands of his raven hair stick to his sweaty forehead but he looks wild. Terrible. Godly. “He won’t stop, (Name). Even you weren’t enough to change his mind. He will never stop. This is who he is and I will finish this. Do not stand in my way. Not you.”

His eyes soften at the last part as he peers at you.

So he has no idea what happened to you.

That you got here only minutes before him.

“Listen to me,” you plead urgently, pulling him closer till you’re face-to-face. “Santino will c—”

A shot whistles past your ear, and John jerks your body to him, turning so that next two bullets hit his back instead. Your arm snaps out, shooting the assailant over his shoulder. This time, you aim for the head.

More guards rush in your direction, forcing you two to split apart and John growls under this breath, previous softness long gone.

He just pushes forward.

You’re slowed down by the mere fact that you make a conscious effort to not kill anyone else. And indeed, most guards seem to know better, only trying to hold you back and kill John instead.

It’s a desperate job trying to catch up with him. He’s barrelling through everything and anything in his path with single-minded focus.

You knock your pistol against an unfamiliar man’s temple and he collapses gracelessly to the floor.

At least he will live.

“Welcome to the Reflection of the Soul—”

You ignore the too pleasant, automatic female voice as the glass door opens and you rush through it. Now only armed with blades. Your pistol became obsolete three guards ago.

“John?”

There’s no sign of the man anywhere. Further into the maze you go, twisting through reflections and strobe lights dancing across every reflective surface to a dizzying degree. The woman keeps narrating the concept of perceiving one’s soul through observation of one’s reflection.

And then.

You throw yourself towards the sound of a distant struggle and stagger onto a floating staircase. Below, you see two familiar men on the floor.

“John, no!”

Roberto.

You sprint down the stairs, your ankles quivering from the strain as you stumble hurriedly downwards, ignoring the other dead body. The two men keep twisting on the ground, rolling, and even though Roberto has both the height and the mass advantage, John is simply another league.

He pushes a gun towards Roberto’s head and this time you don’t waste time with words.

BANG

You hit the floor, your arms around John and he pushes you away, twisting to stand. He relaxes once he realises that it’s you but a gasp of pain draws your attention before you can speak.

Roberto is clutching at his chest, and even beneath the thick beard, you see his features contorting with agony.

“Roberto?” you whisper worriedly, stumbling towards him. You fall onto your knees, trying to turn him over but he shoves you away. “Roberto!”

He stills at the snarl of your voice and his eyes crack open. “V?”

“It’s me,” you reassure him, and watch in horror as dark blood pools from beneath his fingers. “It’s okay. I will help you—just—let me look. Keep pressure on it. Are you hurt anywhere else?”

The man groans with a nod. 6’2 but he seems smaller, then. Diminished.  

It takes you another moment to realise that it’s quiet. Too quiet.

Your head jerks to look behind you but John is nowhere to be seen.

“No, no—”

Roberto grabs your hand in his. His face is pale and clammy, but there’s still strength in his grip. “Boss needs you more. Go to him, V.”

“I—I can’t just leave you.”

The man squints at you. “You have to,” he says grimly. “It’s fine. I’m a tough bastard to kill. It’s just a scratch.”

Bullshit.

This level of bleeding suggests an artery was hit.

“Hector is coming. With others,” he adds.

Yeah, and taking his sweet goddamn time.

Roberto’s breaths are deep but laboured and he squeezes your hand again. “Go to him, V. He needs you.”

You nod your head, and wrap both of your hands around his, holding them tight.

“You better not die. You still owe me that poker game.”

The large man huffs a laugh, wheezy. “Yeah, can’t forget about that.”

With one last look at him, you free your grip and lurch to your feet, following the only other exit out.

For a few minutes, you dash through the unknown. It’s so quiet aside from the automated tour guide voice that you begin fearing the worst.

Two more bodies greet you eventually. Both from Ares private guard.

Both faces are familiar and even though you have seen enough death to last you ten lifetimes, something about seeing people you know dead by John’s hand hits you differently.

You force ahead.

A door hisses in front of you.

And another.

Another opens with a gentle whistle.

And you almost fall into the scene before you.

Your reaction is instinct alone.

A blade through her hand, Ares is no match for John’s raw strength.

But with you wrapping your hands around theirs, your joined strength is just enough to still the blade centimetres from Ares’ heart.

Your leg drives into John’s knee and his grip wavers.

He stumbles back a step, and Ares crashes against the glass heavily, silently gasping. Your grip loosens before dropping, and your attention turns to the man behind you.

He tried—

“Don’t touch her,” your voice soft but the fury coating it makes him visibly hesitate. “Don’t forget you owe me.”

John stills.

“I’m calling it in,” you tell him frankly, and block Ares from his sight. “Your life debt to me. Santino’s life—that’s my price.”

His expression goes slack. You know he didn’t expect this—didn’t plan for it.

You can almost feel Winston’s spirit beside you, humming a pleased, “Checkmate.”

John’s eyes lower and you see the weight of this realisation settle onto his shoulders.

Either he lets this go or he risks dishonouring a life debt as well.

Not to some mafioso. Not to some power-hungry man.

But to you.

Quiet shuffle registers in your ears and you tense, your expression dropping as you twist around to slam yourself into Ares.

BANG

The bullet she fired at John sails to the side, hitting the glass above his head instead and you slam her uninjured arm against the wall. You stare at her wide-eyed for a beat. She’s glaring, her mouth bloodied, and the look in her blue eyes is glacial. Furious.

She knows what you’ve done.

Saved John’s life.

And the fresh scratch against her arm begins to bleed at once.

A scratch made by a blade coated in your paralyser.

A blade you were going to use as last resort against John if all else failed.

The effect is almost immediate. Her shoulders drop, her muscles relaxing and you grab her, lowering her to the ground carefully. She glares at you the entire way down. The hand with a blade still sticking through it twitches in her lap and you see her pain even if she can’t vocalise it.

“I’m sorry,” you whisper thickly. “I can’t—I can’t let you kill him.”

In reply, Ares’ eyes slide behind you and you follow her line of sight only to realise that John is no longer there.

“I called in my debt,” you remind her with a thin smile and frantically make sure that she’s not injured anywhere else. Grabbing her shoulder, you gingerly cut a part of her suit sleeve off, tying it around her palm to stop any blood loss till someone finds her. “He won’t—he—”

Your voice breaks.

Because deep down you know he would.

John always finishes his jobs. He never fails, unlike you.

John who refused a Marker to stay away from this world would.  

This is who he is and I will finish this.

Unyielding. Grim.

“Santino is at the Continental by now,” you add hurriedly, for your sake more than hers, tightening the knot and Ares’ hand in yours feels heavy. “He’s safe there.”

Winston would never allow a breach of rules on his territory.

Ares pulls her hands away from you, staring at you for a hard, angry moment. The gleam in her eyes makes your stomach twist with fear.

Her hands are clumsy as she starts forming signs, using the very last of her motor functionality to give you only one message.

A slow arch of her tattooed digits.

A stab in your direction with her index finger.

Her sentence completed, she lets her hands fall back into her lap but you feel her silent words pierce you harder than any blade or any bullet ever has.

Just three simple words.  

You stand hastily, your joints creaking.

Then you turn around, and run faster than you have ever ran in your entire life.

Everything is a blur.

Your legs are numb to a point you barely feel them at all. All you do feel is the weight of them carrying you forward, and the spasms of your muscles as you push them harder than you ever have.

He loves you.

Ares words cling to you like a second skin, infecting every inch of your mind and heart.

You round a corner, pushing past a crowd of tourists who whistle and shout after you but you ignore them.

He loves you.

Your lungs are on fire.

Your eyes are dry as wind beats harshly against your face.

Santino D’Antonio. The Smiling Shark. Camorra’s proud heir and now head of a criminal empire near unmatched.  

He loves you.

Since when some tiny, absent part of you deep down wonders. When did that awful, selfish man even learn to love?

You can think of a thousand moments and none at all.

Chicago.

But you should mind it.

Oh, cara mia, I do. I just pretend that I don’t.

Prague.

You came for me.

You’re an asshole, Santino. That doesn’t mean I want you dead.

Naples.

I did it for you. That was me being on your side. I will always be on your side.

Or was it one of many moments over the last few weeks?

I am a patient man. I can wait.

I wanted you from the moment I saw you, and every moment since then.

The Continental appears in your line of sight and you sprint for it so fast, you trip up the stairs, wavering before you right yourself.

The doormen are absent because of the hour and you slam your hands against the door, the glass rattling upon contact.

Charon’s uneasy expression is telling enough as you sprint towards him, barely pausing but he already knows what you need, and provides you with only one word, “Lounge.”

Few guests scatter out of your way as you dash through the hallway.

There. Just ahead you can already see the warm, welcoming glow of it.

But it’s so quiet that even over the sound of your thunderous footsteps sprinting through the hallway, you still hear the faint sound of Winston’s wary voice reach you.  

“Johnathan,” he speaks, his voice laced with a clear warning. “Just walk away.”

But he won’t.

You know that.

You’ve known it from the moment you saw that look on his face when he first learned about the contract.

You’ve known ever since Ares men attacked him in the catacombs.

Maybe even before that.

Maybe you’ve always known.

That dark, burning emotion that filled those eyes every time you have intervened.

He won’t hurt you. Be it because he cares for you or because he doesn’t want to fight you out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness—it doesn’t matter. He could not bring himself to turn his hands on you the same way you didn’t want to turn yours on him.

But that doesn’t mean he will stop.

You’re not sure if he knows how to stop. If he ever has.

John Wick is a man who doesn’t walk away.

He is a man who will destroy himself or everyone else on his path to vengeance.

“Yeah, Johnathan,” Santino says, his voice soft with mockery. “Just walk—”

Your body slams against the bannisters, pain exploding everywhere, and you throw a blade with one, fleeting look and nothing else.

BANG

Stillness.

Such awful, terrible stillness. Like the building itself has released a long shuddering breath and doesn’t dare to inhale again.

The body sitting behind the table slumps slightly.

He loves you.

You don’t bother with the stairs.

You jump right over the bannister, crashing to the floor heavily.

For a moment, you stay there. Unable to stand or move.

Your legs hurt so much.

You can’t stand up.  

Yes, you can. I know a woman who can do anything she puts her mind to.

Your head lifts, frantically seeking the owner of those words.

Swaying and dizzy, you half-crawl to your feet but you still rise.

Santino.

Why isn’t he—

Swear to me that you will not let my family name die. Swear to me that my line will continue after I’m gone.

I swear.

John reaches for you, his hand bleeding, but you shove it away from you without looking.

“Don’t you touch me.”

You don’t even shout. There is no energy left in you for that.

Just stillness.

Everything is so still.

“Santi?” you croak as you brace your hand against the white tablecloth, using it for support as you limp towards him. Red stains the white where your fingers touch. “Santi? Come on, grumpy. I’m here. I’m here. I came for you. Santi?”

Your hand lingers over his arm.

Nothing.

You touch his round chin.

His skin is warm.

Nothing.

Arms wrap around you, trying to pull you back and the only reason you don’t push the weight away is because you know that scent—sage, bergamot, paper, and ink with a hint of tobacco.

“Winston, Winston,” you repeat his name in a tiny, devastated mantra. “Help him. Help—Winston. Please, help.”

“Don’t look,” he tells you, almost gently, and somehow this ruthless man sounds the kindness you’ve ever heard him. “Don’t look, little hatchling.”

You ignore him.

You pull away from his grip and grab Santino’s face, turning it towards you.

And promptly flinch at the sensation against your fingers. You pull away as if burned, something hollowing out inside your heart.

The ledge crumbles, crumbles, crumbles—

The darkness below beckons; smiling and seductive.

He loves you.

Your hand turns.

Blood.

. . .

an: 

[blackmissfrizzle]

Dance Lessons

Pairing: black!reader x Dean Winchester

Summary: Dean gets an unexpected dance lesson and uses it on his lady.

Request:  Deanx Black!Reader. Basically the reader is teaching Dean about dancing in our culture and offers to show him the dances: (grinding, hip rollin, twerking, dutty wining/whining) after he catches her vibing out to an old school reggae song

A/N:  I’m finally back with another Dean fic! requested by @nervouspetsonanime I changed it a bit, because I didn’t know the full history and didn’t want to butcher it, I hope you like it.

Warnings: Language and mentions of smut.

“Another one,” you asked Dean, noticing his beer getting low.

He licked his bottom lip to catch the remaining alcohol on his lips, set his beer down and started to get up. “Yeah, I can use one.”

Stopping him, you pushed him back down to his seat. “No, I’ll get it. Plus, I have these,” you lowered your shirt down to show off your boobs. “I’ll get our drinks much quicker.”

Dean growled, he wrapped his arm around your waist, tugging you closer to him, his usually bright green eyes darkened before they caught sight of your full lips. Biting your lower lip, he whispered against you, “Please don’t make me fight tonight. I’m too tired after dealing with that nest.”

Chuckling at his protectiveness, you gave Dean a quick peck. “Don’t worry I have all the energy if someone gets out of line, since you took some of my kills tonight.”

“I’m sorry I’m the superior hunter,” Dean joked, knowing you were just as good, probably even better than him.

“Oh really,” you cocked an eyebrow, slipping out of his grasp.

“I’m paying for that later, aren’t I?” Dean yelled, as you made your way towards the crowded bar. You mouthed ‘oh yeah’ and Dean had to shake his head for his stupidity.

Since, Eileen and Sam went back to the motel, Dean kept all his attention on you as you maneuvered through the crowd. He couldn’t help but admire the curve of your hips as you squeezed past people, your cute little smile when you said ‘excuse me’, or how the small of back showed when you had to lift your drink from spilling. Dean didn’t understand how he gotten so lucky with you, but one thing for sure he wasn’t gonna mess it up.

Waiting on the bartender to get to you, the sounds of Turn Me On filled the air and unconsciously you started moving your hips until a group of black girls pulled you into their dance circle and cheered you on. One of the girls flushed herself against you and the both of you were moving your hips in sync. You were having a blast that you forgot that you were supposed to be getting you and Dean’s drinks.

When the song was over, the girl you were dancing against introduced herself and her friends. “Girl, you got some moves! I’m Jade and that’s Sydney, Mika, and Tyler.”

“You too, I had trouble keeping up with you!” you complimented her, “And I’m Y/N.”

“Is that a creep or is he with you?” Jade pointed to a possessive Dean. He was staring you down, trying to communicate to the others that you were off limits.

Rolling your eyes at him, you responded to Jade. “Yeah, that’s my boyfriend Dean.”

She quirked an eyebrow at you and pulled you a little further from her friends. “By any chance is his last name Winchester?”

Eyeing her suspiciously, you pulled away from her a bit, getting ready for a fight if need be. “Yeah, why?”

“Girl, calm down,” she giggled at you. “Me and my boyfriend are hunters too. The combination of Dean and Y/N are famous in our community.”

Letting out a deep breath you hugged her until you forgot that she didn’t know you like that. “Sorry, its just-”

“Not that many black hunters, especially black women. Girl, its all good.” She finished your sentence for you.

***

I calmed down a bit when I saw Y/N hug the girl she was dancing with earlier. When I saw her tense up, I thought somehow a vampire got loose and it was threatening her. But now it seemed like Y/N knew the girl, but that was impossible, since she didn’t have many friends he didn’t know because of the life.

“They probably just figured out that they’re both hunters.” A black guy a couple of inches than me, but much broader interrupted my thoughts. Sticking out his hand for me to shake, he introduced himself, “I’m Lawrence Wheeler.”

“The wendingo hunter? No shit. Dean Winchester.” I introduced myself and shook his hand.

“Pretty much figured that when I saw the Impala outside and the way you kept watching everyone like they were some type of threat.”

Taking a sip of my beer I replied, “Never can be too careful.”

After that, Lawrence and I traded war stories while we waited on the girls get their drinks. He’s a cool guy and I was about to suggest we hunt together when I heard Y/N’s favorite song, Back That Azz Up, which I only knew because it was on her twerk playlist.

She looked for me and crooked her finger to come over and as always, I declined and just stood there and watched. I never knew what to do once Y/N starts twerking, so I always watch until I couldn’t take it anymore and fuck her against the nearest surface.

Lawrence nudged me out of my trance of watching Y/N’s ass work. “You ain’t gon’ dance with ya girl?”

“Nope, not much of a dancer.”

“Oh okayyy, you can’t handle all that ass she’s throwing.”

Quickly, I turned to Lawrence and I must’ve had my bitch face, because he held his hands up in surrender. “Chill out, I wasn’t staring at your lady’s ass. I just made an observation. Obviously, she can dance, and you can’t.”

Calming down a bit, I mumbled a weak yes. Disappointed that it was so obvious.

“Lemme ask you this: can you fuck? I mean like you be having your girl acting like a dope fiend for the dick.”

Smiling to myself, I just thought about how Y/N couldn’t keep her hands off me on our way to the bar and the quickie we had in the back of Baby. Hell, half the time she initiates sex and if I really wanna be picky I could say more than half because she likes to tease me until I snap.

“By that smile, I’m taking that as a yes,” Lawrence concluded and I nodded my head in agreement. “With all respect if you know how to dick her down, then you know how to dance.”

“Man, I don’t know.” I objected taking another sip of beer, watching Y/N make one cheek bounce at a time.

Lawrence moved from the side of me to directly in front and pointed at Y/N. “Look what she’s doing right now is twerking.”

“I know what the hell twerking is!”

“Did you know that twerking is the moving of the ass and whining is the moving of the hips?”

Now I’m completely confused. “Wait a minute, I thought it was all the same.”

“No, grasshopper they ain’t. Lemme teach you a little something.” He said, hitting me in the center of my chest, then wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“Earlier what your lady was doing was called whining. That’s the moving of the hips, usually in a circular motion and mostly to some reggae or dancehall. When she’s doing that, she takes the lead, a’ight?” He looked to me to see if I understood and I nodded yes. “Good, so then all you gonna do is stand behind her, ass against crotch, and move your hips in sync with hers. Now here’s the easy part, how she’s twerking right now, she’s does all the work. All you gotta do is stand behind her and catch what she’s throwing back.”

Lifting an eyebrow, I asked, “That’s it?”

“Yep, playboy. Do it right and people will yell at you to get a room.”

It seemed easy enough. Follow Y/N’s lead and let her do all the work. Could I really do it? Could I do it without messing up?

“I’m gonna go dance with my girl. I’ll catch you before we leave.” Lawrence clapped my hand before he left to join his girlfriend.

**

Jade’s boyfriend joined us and let her dance against him. You kept on dancing with the rest of her friends, wishing Dean would join you. While you were in your groove, you felt someone grab your hips and pull you against them. Quickly, you broke his hold and turned to face the offender.

It was a drunken frat daddy who never heard of the word no. When you had the nerve to look offended, he had the audacity to grab your hips and continue dancing. Grabbing and twisting his wrist, you pulled away from him.

“Awww, c’mon don’t be like that sweetheart,” he slurred making grabby hands.

Slapping his hands away you pointed at a pissed off Dean and smiled at him. Time for him to pay up for his comment from earlier. “My boyfriend is right there and if you don’t stop he’ll kick your ass.”

“What? That old guy? Pfft, I doubt it.” Frat daddy reached behind you and smacked your ass.

You didn’t have time to react because as soon as Dean saw his hand raise, he pushed his way through the crowd to you. An all-out brawl started when Dean punched frat daddy. His fellow frat daddies didn’t approve, and they all attacked Dean.

The bartender finally finished your drinks, so you grabbed yours and leaned back and enjoyed the show. Most of the time you hated when Dean got into bar fights, but there was also, but there was also this one little caveat: Dean was hot as hell when he fights. It was something about how he moved and also his face was so damn pretty. Sometimes, you pissed him off intentionally, so you could admire him in all his glory. But your favorite part is when his shirt hitches up a couple of inches and you catch a sliver of his stomach. It was something so small but turned you on the most.

“A little help?” Dean called out, watching you enjoy your drink.

“Remember you’re the superior hunter. You can handle this.” You smiled, taking another sip. If Dean was truly needed any help you would jump right in, but the only punches that were landing were Dean’s. He was just mad that he had to get some extra cardio in.

Eventually, Dean knocked them out and they left with their tails tucked between their legs. “Not bad for an old guy.” You whispered, hiding a smirk behind your glass.

Reaching behind you, Dean snatched up his beer from the bar and chugged it. A drop escaped his lips and you reached up to kiss it away.

Dean didn’t say anything as he glared down at you and pulled your tank up to hide some of your cleavage. “Hey, he didn’t get to see these babies, it was all this ass that enticed him.” You jokingly said while twerking on Dean.

Knowing he didn’t like dancing, you were about to stop twerking on him when he pulled you back. “Don’t stop.”

Looking back, you eyed him cautiously asking him if he was sure with your eyes. In response, he tipped his head letting you know he was sure.

The song changed and you’ve never been so grateful for Ginuwine before. You didn’t want to scare Dean off by throwing it back too hard.

Wanting to keep it simple, you rolled your hips against his and as just as you suspected Dean kept up. You always knew he had it in him, Dean just got all in his head and fucked it up for himself.

**

What the fuck? I was actually getting it?! Lawerence was right, all I had to do was let Y/N do the work and everything else was a piece of cake.

I suspected she went a little slower for me, but she felt confident in me she started doing a slow twerk on me. Gripping her hips, I signaled to Y/N she could go a little faster.

She bent over some more, shaking her ass right on my dick. It reminded me of last week when I had Y/N’s purple pulled to the side and I was fucking her from behind.

Great, now I was hard. How in the hell am I gonna last?

I’m guessing Y/N could feel my hard-on because the little devil started grinding against me a little bit harder. There was no way I was lasting another song.

Finally, the song ended, and I grabbed Y/N closer. “We’re leaving.” She looked up at me with those ‘fuck me’ eyes and I knew she needed me as badly as I needed her.

Both of us looked for Lawerence and his girlfriend. They were gathering the things as well, getting ready to leave.

Catching up with them, Y/N spoke with Jade while I said my goodbye to Lawerence. “Hey man, thanks for the tip. Anytime you’re near Lebanon or need some backup give me a call.”

Lawerence shook my hand and looked behind me. “Same for you and no problem, man. It seems like it worked for you.” He noted, Y/N’s antsy look.

**

If Dean Winchester didn’t hurry up, this whole bar was gonna get a show and you were sure he wouldn’t appreciate that.

“Damn, girl he got you revved up, huh?” Jade asked, noticing how agitated you looked.

“Hell yeah! And he needs to come on!” You yelled loud enough for him to hear you.

Your voice made Dean hurry up and finish his conversation. Once he was done, you said your final goodbye to Jade and rushed Dean out the door.

Just like before you got to the bar, you couldn’t keep your hands off Dean. One hand was in his hair, the other rubbing is hard-on, your lips suckling on the skin behind his ear while he’s driving.

For whatever reason, Dean was adamant about your safety while he drives, which was hypocritical because he drove like a madman. So, gently he pushed you back into your seat, ordering you to put on your seatbelt.

“But I wanna make you feel good.” You pouted and crossed your arms like a 2-year-old.

This time Dean ran his fingers through your hair. “I promise you’ll get the chance, just be patient. If you kept on, I’ll probably would’ve driven us off the road.”

“We’re here for a good time, not a long time,” you joked. Dean shook his head at you and held your hand until y’all gotten back to the motel.

Once Dean put Baby in park, you jumped out the car and ran to unlock your room. Dean was close behind, itching to take your clothes off.

Your hands were wrapped in Dean’s shirt, mouth nibbling on his ear. “How about you show me more of those dance moves?”

Dean threw you on the bed and climbed on top of you. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m gonna show you a lot more than that.” He chuckled darkly, glad that you didn’t waste any energy with that bar fight, because he was gonna wear you out tonight.

Tags: @nerd-lovely​ @nervouspetsonanime​ @titty-teetee​ @thefaithfulwriter​

[theuntamednarrator]

Thank you @mika--82​ for the question! I’m sorry it took so long but since I really enjoyed plotting out my Cangse Sanren lives au, and I think a lot about the women in The Untamed who didn't get to see their children grow up, strap in for round two of TB Revives the Mothers of the Untamed. This week's episode: Save Mama Lan by killing Lan Qiren \^.^/

(Many thanks to @drwcn​ for letting me borrow her hc names for Mama Lan (Qui Baiti) and Papa Lan (Lan Cenrong). You can read more about them on her blog here and here.)

(Warning for an unsuccessful suicide attempt)

QBT has been isolated in the Jingshi for a decade. She only sees her sons once a month, she isn’t allowed her sword, and her spiritual power is kept sealed

But LWJ inherited his stubbornness from his mum and she's determined to escape, one way or another

LQR is walking by the Jingshi when he feels a massive surge of energy and breaks his first ever Discipline (no running in Cloud Recesses)

He wrenches the Jingshi door open and sees an array that wouldn't look out of place two decades in the future in an alternate universe in a dingy shed behind Mo Manor

LQR breaks his second Discipline in as many minutes (do not make excessive noise) when he screams for his brother before he grabs QBT and drags her out of the array

LQR didn't have time to think, let alone study what the effects of that might be, all he knew was that it was killing her, and that her death would kill the brother he loves more than anything else

The backlash strikes him and he keels over

QBT gathers him up, sobbing and asking why he did it, she wanted to die, why did you do it Lan-er-gongzi? what were you thinking? Your brother loves you

LQR meets his brother’s eyes as he appears over her shoulder, the terrified disciples flanking him a white blur

He smiles and says I know

Curtains on LQR

(alternatively, we can just kill JGS again because ngl that was real satisfying the first time around)

Now the Elders are in a pickle because this may have been an accident but QBT has now been responsible for the deaths of an Elder and Second Young Master Lan

It's decided that the only option is exile

QBT is forbidden from setting foot in Cloud Recesses and the territories of Gusu Lan for ten year and forbidden from speaking to any Lan disciple during that time

She bows, accepts back the plain sword she had yielded when she came through the gates to be married, and is gone before the dawn. LCR watches her leave and then goes to wake their sons

Now, QBT was a wandering cultivator long before she was Lan-furen and actually really enjoys returning to life on the road

I wandered once! I can do it again!

Five years later she meets XXC battling a ferocious demon snake and together they defeat it

QBT definitely doesn’t feel her heart beat a little faster at the youthful face, white robes, and elegant jade-and-silver sword

She answers XXC's graceful bow with one of her own and the two spend a week clearing out the fierce nests of demons on the mountain

The next time their wandering brings them together she is introduced to my good friend Song Lan and hides her smile in her sleeve

Meanwhile in Cloud Recesses without LQR to pick up the slack LCR is forced to step out of seclusion and actually run his sect and parent his children

He does a very good job

QBT has to fight back proud tears every time she hears Twin Jades of Lan spoken of with awe

Ten years to the day of her exile QBT is grinning as she climbs the long flights of stairs towards the gates of Cloud Recesses

Part of that might be the entertaining company she walks with

A young man clutching two bottles of Emperor's Smile and talking so fast she’s only half listening while she tries to figure out if he’s actually taken a breath since introducing himself

Talking at breakneck speed of the young master who had been so strict with him at the gates, aiya Auntie! He was so cold! you should have seen his stony face

QBT only grins harder as WWX climbs the wall, is challenged, and blades flash over tiles (it might bring back fond memories of her own youth)

She slips over the wall while they are distracted and once WWX is silenced she reaches out her hand

You handle your sword beautifully, may I?

LWJ can't even say why - it's too dark to see her face and the voice is roughened after 10 years on the road - but he hands Bichen over without a second thought

She sighs as she runs a finger over the blade and the steel glows, lighting up her face (solely because I think glowy Bichen is very sexy and we should have had more of it in the drama honestly)

Bichen suits you better than it ever suited me, ZhanZhan 

LWJ is emoting all over the place (so embarrassing)

(luckily his back is to WWX because if baby disaster bi WWX saw that smile he would've died on the spot)

WWX of course is still a troublemaking rule breaker and LWJ is still charged with overseeing his punishment

QBT and LXC are united in their LWJ should make friends agenda and LXC inherited his sense of humour and delight for teasing LWJ from QBT

Between the two of them LWJ soon has more friends than he knows what to do with

QBT and LXC co-captain the good ship Wangxian

Of course plot stuff still happens including accidental-marriage-before-a-Quest-Ghost

XXC and SL meet them in Yueyang and when LWJ introduces himself they're thrilled because hey we know your mum! she’s real cool!

They don't trust the clans and they might've heard of NMJ but they know Qui-jiejie and they trust her and so they decide XY will go to Cloud Recesses for judgement

N-wow the twin jades are really deserving of their reputations-HS insists on a Qinghe representative going too

oh me? no no Wei-xiong this has been quite enough adventure for me. Meng Yao you'll go won't you? Dage trusts you and Lan-gongzi admired your *delicate cough* capability *innocent smile*

my.blush.com/embarrassed/yearning agrees

QBT is delighted to see XXC and SL again and happily introduces them to her elder son

SL and LXC almost immediately get into a heated debate over ahistorical fantasy chinese philosophy and/or politics and are instantly bonded

QBT may or may not have instigated said debate with a well-timed quote from a well-known (re: divisive) text

Basically QBT shares my get LXC more friends agenda

SL is, again, the first person (apart from LXC and his parents) to laugh at LWJ's jokes

WWX still refuses to believe this actually happened (the joke and SL laughing) (XXC swears it’s true)

XY is locked in the back hills and eventually a) dies trying to use his hidden piece of the yin iron to break the seals OR b) is rehabilitated by the power of bunnies and become an outer disciple (reader's choice!)

XXC and SL accompany WWX and JC part of the way to Lotus Pier

Cloud Recesses is attacked, QBT and LCR send LXC and MY away with the sacred texts, MY promising he knows somewhere safe to hide

LWJ refuses to leave his parents. The losses are not as bad as in canon, the Wen are beaten back, but LCR and LWJ are both injured

No Good Very Bad Summer Camp with World's Worst Head Counselor WC

No Good Very Bad Turtle Cave of Love

WWX wakes post-rescue with LWJ still there

(Because his parents are holding Cloud Recesses and he knows LXC is safe so he doesn't need to rush off)

JZX, JC, LWJ, and WWX spend a day planning before they split up

(this is hilarious and JC says "fuck" not less than 219 times)

(WWX only almost punches JZX and it only happens twice honestly people should be grateful! he was so restrained!!)

They all return home, LWJ promising to bring reinforcements from Cloud Recesses to Lotus Pier (because it's the most obvious next target. no other reason. just. strategically it makes sense)

WQ sends WN to Lotus Pier to warn WWX when WZL's forces are on their way

When the Wen attack, they're met with a prepared force of 1) YZY and the Jiang Disciples 2) QBT, LWJ, and a contingent of Lan Disciples AND 3) JC and WWX and a gaggle of archers (seriously why tf show the Jiang being so good and then only give us two archery fight scene moments and it’s heart breaking sixth young master jiang dying and some rando ouyang disciple shooting WWX?)

Things get a little hairy but between YZY and QBT they defeat WZL and the rest of the Wen quickly surrender

JFM and JYL arrive just as the battle is ending, escorted by Madam Jin, JZX, LQY, and all the Jin Disciples who were at Cloud Recesses

(WWX: MianMian you came you must have been so worried about me! LQY, ignoring him: Lan-er-gongzi are you okay? WWX: ah Lan Zhan you MianMian really likes you! that’s lucky! LWJ, screaming internally: mn)

(JGS was furious when JZX announced he was joining the campaign but what could he possibly say in front of his battle ready wife without looking like the utter coward of a wet biscuit he is)

Once again WWX is left with a screaming sword, too much curiosity, and too much time on his hands (due to his adopted family being not-dead)

But worse he has now also access to a woman who created an array powerful enough to kill even with her spiritual power sealed

Poor WRH doesn't stand a chance, even without MY spying for the Sunshot Campaign

After the battle QBT&LCR and YZY&JFM shut JGS's bullshit power grab down real quick and JGS sulks like the baby he is (probably in a brothel) while Madam Jin and JZX take over Lanling Jin

JZX hears about MY and the way he helped LXC and NMJ sends a letter of support and JZX is already quite jealous of all these sibling bonds and welcomes Ziyao with open arms

(All of which goes slightly to waste when JZY marries out to the Lan clan slightly less than a year later but hey, at least it's a good alliance.)

WQ takes over the Wen Clan but tears down Nightless City and relocates the capital to Dafan

(WQ: have you been to Nightless City? It’s built on an active volcano. Do you know how bad sulfur ash is for open wounds? Do you know what medical herbs grow in lava slurry? None is the answer. My family are all fucking morons)

(WQ: Not you a-Ning you’re a delight and we’re thrilled you’re here)

Rumour has it a certain immortal was so impressed with the stories of the medical techniques of Dafan Wen that she paid WQ a visit

(Disciples are so reckless after all! One never knows when one might need to be capable of transplanting vital organs!)

Each year WWX and LWJ spend 3 months at Gusu, 3 months at Lotus Pier, and 6 months wandering with XXC and SL

They get "fake married" no less than four times in three years (for the investigation xiongzhang! absolutely no other reason shishu! no other reason at all!) before LXC, MY, XXC, and SL get fed up and barricade them in their room until they talk to each other dammit

(LXC is very grateful MY has gotten so handy with the silencing talismans because the 'conversation' gets uncomfortably loud real quick)

Side note to say Clarity works very well to avert a qi deviation when it's not being actively corrupted, thanks very much, and NMJ lives many, many, many years which would be entirely happy if only NHS would pick up his saber once in a while

He would tell NHS this if he could ever find him

Happy ending!³

[chimchimsauce]

Allure

Commission for @bangtansnight​

WC: ~ 3500

I hope you enjoy it! Due to Corona, I will be opening commissions again since school is canceled. Please dm me for more info.

Famous producer Namjoon and rising star Jungkook are working together to promote Jungkook’s new album Allure. Unfortunately, the two of them can’t stand each other. Good thing there’s a new intern around who’s not afraid to put either of them in their place.

The sound of the large clock on Namjoon’s studio’s wall is nearly deafening in the silence, each tick seeming to echo through the room. He frowns, gets up from his chair, and walks to his backpack which he slung on top of his small couch, rummaging through until he finds the headache medicine he was so desperately craving. He takes it dry, not chasing it with water as he should. Once the two pills have forcibly made their way down his throat he checks his phone, curing under his breath.

In half an hour, that annoying prick Jungkook will be here at his studio. If someone had told Namjoon a year ago that he’d be producing the next mixtape of his favorite indie musician, he would have been ecstatic. But that joy quickly faded when he realized how arrogant Jungkook was. Sure, he was incredibly talented and had a voice that would tempt angels out of Heaven, but his personality is borderline intolerable. And while Jungkook’s mixtape is one of Namjoon’s proudest moments, he can’t wait until it’s over and he doesn’t have to see Jungkook’s stupid face nearly every day anymore.

Someone knocks softly on his door, snapping him out of his slightly mopey thoughts.

“Come in,” he barks out, wishing Jungkook would have rescheduled today like he did a million times during production.

The door creaks open to reveal an unfamiliar figure holding a steaming cup of coffee.

“Sorry to interrupt,” she says politely, “But your manager asked me to bring this to you,”

She steps into the room and outstretches her hand, ready to hand the beverage over. Namjoon doesn’t move to take it, however, instead simply staring at her skeptically

“Who are you?” he asks rudely.

He hasn’t seen her around before and it certainly wouldn't be the first time a crazed fan broke into the company to try and meet him. God, the lengths people will go to!

“Oh,” she begins, “My name is Céron. I’m the new intern,”

“What happened to Mika?” Namjoon asks, still suspicious.

“She apparently got a job offer elsewhere. I was hired as her replacement about three weeks ago.”

Namjoon looks her over, eyes carefully falling on every inch of her from the work appropriate sensible heels to her black slacks and white button-up. She’s a bit taller than average and has some noticeable curves, as well. Overall, she doesn’t look threatening.

Céron pulls at the simple black cord around her neck, tugging her employee ID out from under her shirt.

“You can have a look at this if it makes you feel better. Or I can go ask my manager to have someone else bring you coffee,” she says in that same polite, slightly uninvolved tone.

Before Namjoon can speak up and tell her that it’s fine, a very flashily dressed Jungkook turns the corner and strolls towards the open studio door.

“Ey yo, Namjoon!” he shouts as he approaches, looking ridiculous in his gigantic white furry coat, “My main man!”

Jungkook brushes past Céron without even looking at her, snatching Namjoon’s coffee before taking a sip and cringing instantly.

“Oh God, that’s awful,” he says, face all screwed up in an expression Namjoon finds hilarious.

“Not so cool now, huh?” the producer thinks, winking at the slightly baffled intern still standing at the door.

“That you for the coffee, new intern,” he says, already forgetting her name.

“Can you get me a grande, iced, sugar-free, vanilla latte with soy milk? Oh and make sure you don’t go to Starbucks, they never get it right. There’s an indie coffee shop like forty minutes from here that does it justttt right. Okay? Thanks!” Jungkook says, smiling at Céron with a grin so bright and charming that she almost forgets how pretentious he sounds.

“Well?” Jungkook prompts once it’s clear that the intern is a little starstruck.

“Oh, yes, right away!” she says, turning around quickly to make her way out despite having no clue where that coffee shop he said to go to is.

As the door closes behind her, Jungkook’s smile fades as he flops down on the couch pushed against the studio wall. He places his still shoe clad feet on the fine fabric, rolling his head to the side with one arm propped behind his neck. 

“Where’s Mika?” Jungkook asks Namjoon.

In the weeks that they’ve been working together, Jungkook has made it his personal mission to flirt with each and every female employee who works in Namjoon’s company. The producer is one hundred percent positive he’s doing it just to annoy him.

“Can you be professional for once?” Namjoon says, swiveling his chair around to face Jungkook and ignoring his question, “And get your feet off of my couch! Who raised you?!”

“Your mom,” Jungkook says, as he sits up, sticking his tongue out at him, “And of course I can be professional.”

He crosses his legs and sits up straight.

“See?”

Namjoon rolls his eyes.

“Whatever. Let’s just get down to business, alright? The tracks are done, all that’s left is promotion. My team has drawn up a schedule, so all I need to do is go over it with you and finalize everything.”

“Fine, fine,” Jungkook says dismissively, “Let’s get it over with.”

By the time Céron makes it back to the studio with Jungkook’s crazy expensive coffee (seriously, who pays twenty dollars for one coffee?) Namjoon is ready to rip Jungkook’s soft locks out of his head. He’s shot down every suggestion Namjoon has come up with and has offered up nothing in return.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Namjoon shouts so loudly that Céron hesitates outside of the door, knuckles just grazing the wood.

“No one told you to go pick those dates. You should have spoken to me first,” Jungkook’s voice wafts through gently

He’s speaking as if he's addressing a young child.

“You know what?” Namjoon’s voice grows in volumes.

Céron decides that she’s heard enough. She knocks loudly on the door, interrupting their fight before it can really get going.

“Your coffee is here,” she says politely as if she hadn’t heard anything.

“Thank you,” Jungkook says politely, grabbing the coffee and immediately beginning to down it.

“I hope you choke,” Namjoon bites out bitterly, causing Céron to gasp.

In the short time that she’s been working in this company, Namjoon has never been so rude to any of his clients. Each time she passed him in the hallway or saw him interacting with a client or staff member, he always seemed so polite. She wonders what could have irritated him enough to be so mean to Jungkook.

“Hey, Intern,” Jungkook says, ignoring Namjoon’s remark, “I have a question for you.”

“Okay . . .” she says, suddenly aware that she's under his eagle-eyed stare.

Jeon Jungkook is an extremely popular new artist with a fanbase devoted to his unique sound and his gorgeous face. He has the same level of star power as other celebrities years his senior and he knows it. That cockiness shows in every inch of his being from the expensive clothes he wears to the way he walks by people, head straight and never paying anyone else any mind.

But now she’s at the center of Jungkook’s attention and she doesn’t know how to feel about it. Slight unease washes over her.

“Tell me,” he says loftily, “Do you think it’s unreasonable for me to protest a promotion schedule if it was created without my input?”

“Well . . .” 

“Oh, get over yourself, Jeon,” Namjoon snaps before Céron can even get her sentence out, “our team was the one who refused to contribute. Don’t act like this was something I did to spite you. If anything, it’s the other way around.”

Céron feels very much as if she just walked into a war zone based on the way the two men are glaring at each other.

“So tell me,” Namjoon continues, staring at her, “Who do you think is being unreasonable? Since Jungkook dragged you into this, you tell us whose being the difficult one and we’ll stop arguing.”

For several moments, Céron doesn’t speak at all. Jungkook is sure that she’s entirely overwhelmed by being in this situation and is about to protest when she speaks up.

“If I can be honest with you,” she says, slightly afraid of losing her job. She continues when Namjoon and Jungkook both nod at her to finish, “I think both of you are in the wrong.”

“What?” Jungkook asks, nearly spilling that expensive coffee over himself in shock.

“You’re joking!” Namjoon shouts.

Céron shakes her head.

“It would be obvious to anyone that the two of you don’t seem to get along well. But regardless of that fact, you’re both professionals with a job to do. It honestly seems like you’re getting nowhere. I’m surprised that an album was produced in the first place with all this bickering.”

The two men are completely shell shocked. Neither of them quite know what to say. But once the words start flowing, Céron can’t bring herself to stop. She’s always been incredibly aware of herself and her surroundings and often points them out to other people. It’s what makes her so good at her job - what made her get hired to replace a well trusted and respected assistant even though she’s still just an intern.

“Namjoon, you seem unusually hostile. In the time I have been working here, I’ve only seen you be kind and polite to people. Honestly, you’re turning into a bit of a monster.”

Jungkook is smirking at the other man but he soon turns stoic as Céron turns her sights on him.

“And you,” she says, “I don’t know you personally, so I can’t speak on behalf of your character. But I can say that you come off as being an incredibly arrogant diva who thinks the sun shines just for him. It’s really annoying and makes it hard to like you.”

Once she’s said her two cents, Céron stands in front of the two of them, half expecting to be scolded. It wouldn’t be the first time her mouth got her into trouble, though she’ll hopefully be able to talk herself out of it.

“Fair enough,” Namjoon says suddenly, “What was your name again?”

“Céron,” she says, voice strong.

“Céron . . . why don’t you sit in on the rest of this meeting and keep us both in line, hm? You’re absolutely right - we are both professionals,” he says, still shooting a glare at Jungkook, “And it is extremely important that we get this schedule all figured out. Do you have any objections, Jeon?”

Jungkook shakes his head and returns to the couch, fluffing his gigantic coat and sipping on the rest of his coffee. It’s obvious that Céron’s words affected him, even if he won’t be honest about it.

“Alright then,” Namjoon says, clapping his hands, “Let’s get on with it, shall we?”

He’s honestly exhausted from fighting with Jungkook all the time. If Céron can keep them from arguing by putting both of them in their places, Namjoon is all the happier for it. After all, it means that Jungkook will be out of his hair once and for all much sooner.

“Céronnnnnnnnnn” a voice whines, startling the assistant from her previous concentration.

She received the promotion after Namjoon insisted she become his new assistant after she mediated the scheduling meeting. He and Jungkook were actually able to get some work done and without disagreements dissolving into full-blown arguments.

“Yes, Jungkook,” she says without turning from her task, eager to write down all the things she needs to bring for today’s busy schedule before she forgets something.

Namjoon’s favorite water bottle, a lint roller for Jungkook, breath mints, an entire wardrobe change for the both of them, advance CDs for them to sign and give to the radio stations . . .

“Have you seen my -”

“Your phone is over there on that table,” Céron says, nodding her head in the right direction.

Jungkook frowns. He hates being interrupted more than almost anything and would normally throw a fit, but since it’s Céron, he’ll let it pass. It’s been two weeks since the schedule was finally adjusted and sent out. Thankfully, due to Namjoon’s popularity as a producer and Jungkook’s rising fame, they didn’t run into any problems getting appointments set such last minute.

More than anything, he's upset that Céron didn’t even turn to face him. He’d dressed up nicely and everything, although he’d lied to himself and said it was because of all the public appearances he and Namjoon are making today. No, he paid extra attention to his hair and clothes today because he wanted her to notice.

Jungkook’s never had any issues getting attention, not even before he got famous, but something about Namjoon’s assistant is different. She’s so bold and upfront and willing to put him in his place and it’s exciting. It makes her interesting, makes her worth vying for attention. He’s tried to flirt with her on several occasions, but Jungkook knows that she doesn’t take him seriously and it’s starting to piss him off. 

Trying not to stomp off like a child, Jungkook retrieves his misplaced phone and returns to Céron’a side, peeking over her shoulder.

“What are you doing?” he asks, leaning as close to her as he thinks he can get away with.

From an outsider's perspective, it’s obvious what he’s doing, but Céron is focused entirely on her list.

“Trying to make sure today goes off without a hitch. The first day of promotions is the most important.”

“Mmhm,” he says, leaning just a tad closer.

“Are you wearing a new cologne?” Céron asks suddenly, turning her head and noticing how close he is for the first time.

“Yes,” he says, nearly ecstatic that she’s finally looking at him, “Do you like it?”

“Not really, no,” she says, crushing his happiness only to bring it surging right on back when she continues, “Your other one is better. It smells more like you. Sweeter. It suits you really well.”

Something inside of the star warms considerably. Before he can say anything, though, a voice calls out.

“Stop flirting with my assistant, will ya?” Namjoon says, strolling up with his hands in his pockets.

“Oh hey, Joonie,” Céron says, looking at Namjoon right away and smiling.

Jungkook scowls. Since when are the two of them on nickname basis? And why does she smile at Namjoon instead of at him?

“Is that brat bothering you?”

“Oh he’s fine,” Céron says, nudging Jungkook playfully, “He just lost his phone and needed someone to find it.”

She goes back to making her list.

Hairbrushes, lip balm, chewing gum . . .

“Sureeee” Namjoon says, his tone telling Jungkook that he sees right through his little ploy, “Are you almost ready to head out? We should get going soon.”

All the other staff members from both Namjoon and Jungkook’s company are mulling about and doing last-minute tasks.

“You guys are due to leave in five minutes. I’ll be taking one of the vans with a few other workers and catch up when we arrive at the first station.”

Both Jungkook and Namjoon’s hearts sink to their stomachs. They’d both planned on getting her to ride with them.

“But -” Namjoon starts.

“The two of you should get going. We don’t need to get behind on our first stop. It’ll mess the rest of the day up.”

“But -” Jungkook pipes in.

“And I’ll make sure to bring snacks and phone chargers since we won’t have time to stop to rest or to get some real food until late tonight.”

When neither of them moves, Céron looks up and shoos them away playfully.

“I’ll see you both in less than twenty minutes,” she says.

“But how am I supposed to function without you?” Namjoon pouts.

He’s only half kidding. Céron is the best assistant he’s ever had, always there to handle whatever issues he may have. He honestly loves having her around. His heart may beat just a tad bit faster when she’s around, but he’d never admit it. Namjoon makes eye contact with Jungkook. They both look away quickly, not liking the expression on the other’s face. They don’t look so disappointed.

“You’ll be fine for twenty minutes, Joonie,” she pauses, “You too Kookie. Go before you two actually make us late.”

They walk away together, each of them having to go in the same direction.

“Kookie, huh?” Namjoon pesters, trying to get a rise out of Jungkook.

“Oh shut up,” the star says, cheeks blazing red.

It’s the first time she’s ever called him that. Jungkook is incredibly pleased to have earned a nickname of his own.

“You’re one to talk, Joonie,” he pokes back, sneering.

Now it’s Namjoon’s time to blush.

Céron was right. She’s not away from either of them for more than twenty minutes before they catch sight of her mulling around with the other staff at the radio station where their first interview is taking place. Jungkook wants to go say ‘hi’ and Namjoon wants to claim that he had a very difficult time indeed going without her help for twenty whole minutes, but they’re already being ushered into the recording room and given giant headsets. They have no choice but to wait until the interview is over to speak with her.

The ‘RECORDING’ sign above the door lights up red.

“I’m so glad you guys made Smile radio your first place on this promotion tour,” one of the MCs, a young man named Jimin says, “We’re so happy to get to talk about Jungkook’s new mixtape - Allure,”

“Thank you,” Jungkook says, tearing his eyes away from the glass Céron stands behind, giving him a thumbs-up, “I’m glad that it’s finally out! It’s really been a labor of love.”

As much as Namjoon still doesn’t like Jungkook, he has to agree with the younger’s words one hundred percent.

“There are twelve tracks on the album and they’re all amazing,” Jimin compliments, “Can you walk me through the production phase of these songs?”

“Well,” Namjoon says, taking over, “I usually have a couple of melodies stocked up in my computer just from messing around in my free time. Sometimes the artist I end up working with will vibe with one or more of them and that was the case this time around. Forever, the title track, had been sitting in my drafts for over a year when I let Jungkook listen to it.”

“Oh yeah,” Jungkook says, hopping in, “I already had a couple of the lyrics floating around in my brain before working with Namjoon and they just fit in so perfectly with what he showed me.”

Namjoon is the one looking through the glass now, noticing how focused Céron is on the interview. Everyone else is talking amongst themselves, already used to this sort of thing and not really caring anymore. After all, the interviews are almost all the same anyway.

But not her. Even though Céron let it spill that she’s actually a big fan of Namjoon’s work and thus has heard or watched almost every piece of media he’s released or been in, she watches intently, giving the two of them her full attention. It’s so endearing. She smiles and waves at him slightly.

“Isn’t that right Namjoon?” Jungkook says suddenly, startling Namjoon ever so slightly.

“Oh absolutely,” Namjoon says without missing a beat even though he has no idea what Jungkook and Jimin were talking about.

“And what was it like working with Namjoon for you, Jungkook?” Jimin asks, thankfully moving on from whatever the previous topic was, “I know you usually self produce all of your songs. Was it hard giving some of the control over to someone else.”

“Oh, he was great to work with,” Jungkook says, watching as Céron laughs to herself on the other side of the glass, the two of them sharing a secret.

He wishes he could hear the sound of it.

“He’s a very talented producer,” Jungkook continues, “And he’s produced music for some of the artists I look up to - V and Min Suga, for example. As I grow as an artist, I am presented with more opportunities that I never would have had before, like working with Namjoon. I know it’s all thanks to my lovely fanbase that I am where I am today, so I want to say a special thank you to all of my bunnies.”

Céron has to admit, Jungkook is quite a smooth talker. It reminds her of how dazzled he left her the first day they met, even if he was being a bit of a brat then.

Almost as if he’s reading her mind, Jungkook sends her a sly wink.

For the rest of the interview, the two men get easily diverted, playing with Céron through their answers and mannerisms, both falling a little bit deeper with every second that passes. And while they blunder over their words a bit more than usual, neither of them can say they’re upset about the distraction.