#is any of this ringing a bell. did you all just walk into the wilds like ‘oh well i’m sure i’ll know what a darkspawn is when i see one’

[vigilskeep]

Wait, what briefing?

christ

[funsizedcrow]

funniest thing that ever happened when we were playing botw was my sister was playing and she had made it up to the top of the tower in hyrule field (the one surrounded by guardians) and was looking down at the guardians through a slot in the like railing and i was like "you should shoot the guardian" because i thought they were out of range and so she shot the guardian in the eye with an arrow and it came alive and immediately hit link with a laser and link instantly died ragdolled and fell through the slot and miphas grace activated and my sister immediately teleported away while mipha was still doing her thing. and i was just laughing so hard.

[wikiangela]

wanna end all my days with talking to you

rating: G words: 1.8k

[also on Ao3]

Buck’s about to get in the engine with his team to ride back to the station, change, and get home to hopefully pass out for the next ten hours – when he thinks he hears a familiar voice among the usual noise of the scene, chatter, yelling, trucks slowly starting to drive away. He stops with one leg on the step and looks around. 

“Evan!” He hears again, this time more clearly, and feels the heavy knot in his chest that’s been there the whole day unfold, a wave of relief and calm crashing over him as he sees the face to match the voice. Tommy walks from the crowd, and maybe Buck’s really tired, but he swears his boyfriend glows among everyone else, getting his attention right away. He’s in his turnouts, hair tousled, a worried look on his face mixed with relief. He’s such a sight for sore eyes, Buck wants to drown in his arms right now. “Hey,” Tommy adds as he gets closer, eyes roaming over Buck’s body. “Just wanted to catch you before you left. You okay?” He asks, and Buck finally turns around, both legs back on the ground. 

“Hi, Tommy!” He hears Chimney say as he passes them to get on the truck, before Buck can even open his mouth.

“Hey, Howie.” Tommy responds, eyes not leaving Buck. Chim disappears, taking his place with Eddie and Hen who are already waiting inside, ready to leave. Buck thinks they can spare a couple minutes, though.

“Tommy.” Buck whispers, taking a step towards his boyfriend. Tommy’s hands immediately reach for him. “What are you doing here? I thought this was your day off?” He asks, arms wrapping around Tommy’s waist, not caring that they’re technically still at work. He’s had a day, he almost killed his current Captain, they almost lost Athena, he was almost run over by multiple cars- it’s been a day. 

“Got called in. I don’t know if you heard but we had a pretty wild all-hands-on-deck situation on the freeway.” He says with a teasing smirk, hands settling on Buck’s waist. Their warmth is so nice and grounding, and Buck leans a little further into him. 

“Hm, it rings a bell. A plane landing, right?” He continues, feeling a little silly and a lot giddy, like any time he’s with Tommy. He just makes him feel so carefree, even after a stressful day like today, before even having time to decompress. 

“Yeah, that one. Crazy, right? I hear my boyfriend was very involved. Had to see it with my own eyes. And make sure he’s alright.” His eyes scan over Buck’s face. “You alright?”

“I’m fine, baby.” Buck smiles pulling Tommy a little closer to himself. “Are you?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. I wasn’t the one right here at the forefront of everything.” Tommy raises an eyebrow, one of his hands coming up to cup Buck’s face. He leans into the touch, not able to keep in a content sigh. All he can think about is getting home, cuddling up next to Tommy in bed, and soaking up his warmth as he falls asleep. 

“How did you know I was? It could’ve been anyone from any station.” Buck says, since it wasn’t public knowledge who exactly was flying the plane, but they both know the answer.

“Who else but the 118 would have this much bad luck.” He shakes his head, and his tone goes for joking, but it does crack a little, worry seeping through. 

“Technically, it was Athena. Again.” Buck points out, silently begging the universe to please let Bobby and Athena have a break now, after the cruiseship and now this, they really deserve to rest and not worry about each other’s lives. “We just came to help.” 

“You were still heavily involved, weren’t you?” Tommy asks and Buck nods. “So, my point stands.”

“Bobby and I stole a truck.” Buck blurts out. He knows now is not the time, but he just wants to tell Tommy every single thing that happened, and every single thought in his head. 

“You what?” Tommy eyebrows shoot up.

“Well, we borrowed it- Actually I have a lot to tell you. It’s been a crazy day. Even before all this,” he gestures towards the plane. Tommy frowns, curiosity etched in his face. 

“I can’t wait to hear all about it.” He says with a smile, and then from a distance they vaguely hear someone call his last name. Tommy glances back towards the 217 trucks, probably waiting on him now. Before he can say that he has to go, though, Buck speaks up again.

“Oh, and I rode a motorcycle!” He says excitedly and grins, and sees Tommy’s expression turn into something fond but still confused, probably wondering how it all connects, and maybe where Buck got a motorcycle in the first place. Buck can’t wait to tell him everything that happened today. He’s avoiding mentioning this morning, back at the station, leaving it for later, he doesn’t want to bring it up, bring him up just yet. Not when they’re all still on the high from the airplane landing being very successful, considering their chances. Unpleasant stuff – like Buck’s guilt and confusion about what his intent was – can wait for later, when they’re home, and they have time for him to spiral and confide in his man.

“You’re so adorable.” Tommy just says, and glances to the sides for a second, before leaning in to chastely press his lips against Buck’s, and it’s over way too quickly, Buck pulling him back in, deepening the kiss. He feels Tommy smile and then he’s kissing him just as eagerly. Before he knows it, he’s being pressed against the cold metal of the engine behind him, his boyfriend’s big, warm body right against his, and for a few seconds they just get lost in each other. What pulls him out is his team – some teasing cheers and whooping and even whistling, and a couple joking comments about being inappropriate in the workplace (he thinks it’s Chim who said that, but it’s all a blur – besides, technically they’re on the freeway, so, not really the workplace, so Buck will kiss his boyfriend if he wants to). 

He hears himself whining in protest when Tommy starts pulling away, and gets a chuckle in response that he feels in his own chest. 

“I’m sorry, but I gotta go now. My team’s waiting.” Tommy sounds regretful, at least. Buck still pouts. But now he can hear Tommy’s co-workers yell his name, and some barely audible jokes and teasing, likely having seen them make out. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” Tommy asks, thumb caressing Buck’s cheekbone. Buck doesn’t want to let him go. He wants to continue their making out, and he wants to talk to Tommy, tell him all about his crazy day, and of course he wants to hear about Tommy’s day, what he was doing before he got called in, and everything that happened after, too. Lately those conversations have become some of Buck’s favorites. He loves talking to Tommy, he loves that he always listens, so attentive and engaged, and visibly enjoying Buck’s rambling. And he loves listening to Tommy, too, his gorgeous voice, and those dry jokes Buck fell in love with that first night they met. They could talk about anything, their days, the weather, some deep personal stuff, Buck loves it all. 

“Tonight.” He decides, not sure if he can handle not seeing Tommy as soon as possible. He knows it’s late, and after the day they had, they’re both probably ready to get in bed and crash, but he just doesn’t want to be without Tommy right now. It sounds silly even just in his own head, but he misses him so much every second they’re apart. He guesses it’s that honeymoon period, but maybe it’s also the fact that in the short time they’ve been dating, Tommy has become a safe space for him, a shoulder to lean on, always there, strong and sturdy, to support him whenever and however he needs. He hopes he’s the same for Tommy. He tries his best, at least. “I’ll get my stuff at the station and come over. If that’s okay?” He asks to make sure, just in case, a seed of doubt seeping in. He doesn't want to overstep or assume. But he should’ve known better, Tommy never says no to seeing him.

“Of course it’s okay.” He smiles, leaning back in for one more sweet kiss. “In the meantime, please don’t get into any more trouble tonight. Especially the life-or-death kind,” he half-jokes, and Buck kind of wants to remind him that it wasn’t his life that was in danger this time, but then again, it was Athena, which means Bobby, which means Buck and the entire 118 ready to follow them into any trouble. So, yeah, he gets Tommy’s worry.

“Can’t really promise that. Don’t wanna tempt the universe,” he shrugs. Tommy chuckles lightly. “But I’ll try.”

“Just get to me in one piece,” he shakes his head, taking a step away. It takes everything in Buck not to follow and squeeze himself into a 217 truck just to be with Tommy for a while more. But he’ll see him soon. Around an hour if they leave now. Maybe a little more with the traffic, the freeway being closed now probably causing some issues. But tonight.

“I will. I’ll see you soon.” He answers, and not for the first time the three little words he desperately wants to say try to force themselves onto his tongue. On one hand, there’s no time to waste, life is short, and especially with their profession, and his luck. But on the other hand, he doesn’t want them to come out like this, while he’s still buzzing with adrenaline, and it might be easy to think it’s a heat of the moment thing. He wants to say it in a quiet moment, at home, just the two of them, putting all the feelings and intention behind it, really letting Tommy know how serious and genuine he is about it. 

Tommy is his person. The one he wants to go home to at the end of the day – whether an uneventful one, or full of chaos and danger, like tonight. He’s the one Buck wants to talk to for hours and hours, about everything and nothing, spill his every thought. The one he wants to wake up to and fall asleep with. The one he wants to love for the rest of his life. 

He can’t stop smiling as he takes a second to watch as Tommy walks away, turns around to flash Buck one more adorable smile, before disappearing in the sea of people. Then, with a shout to hurry up from Eddie, Buck finally turns back to the truck and climbs in. He’s so ready for this day to be over. And what better way to end it than in the arms of his love, while telling him about his crazy day? They definitely need to hurry up and get back to the station, Buck has places to be. Or, one place specifically, the one he already secretly calls home. 

[also on Ao3]

[candlewaxandp0lar0ids]

this is halloween || han x reader

Summary: You weren't happy about getting detention, but getting to be around Jisung almost feels like it could make it worth it at first. At least, until you realize that there's a killer on the loose in the school, and that he plans on getting rid of all of you.

Word count: 6.3k

Genres: high school au, slasher au, thriller/mild horror

Warnings & Tags: angst, class clown!han jisung, final girl!reader (gender isn't specified but that's the vibe), graphic descriptions of violence happening inside of a high school

A/N: Last (late) installment in that Halloween mini-series. To reiterate, this contains description of violence and murders occurring within a high school, which can be triggering to some, so do exercise caution.

I.N. · Seungmin · Felix

It was never supposed to go that way.

For starters, you should never have gotten detention and, mind you, you'd still insist that it was totally unfair that you'd gotten it in the first place. Any reasonable teacher would have looked at the facts, which were your test results, as stellar as ever, and Nari’s test results, stellar as they never were, and assumed that she’d cheated and used you to do so.

Your physics teacher could not be described as ‘reasonable’. He’d called the two of you to his desk, using the one mistake you’d made that she had, of course, written word for word on her test as proof, and he’d given you both detention. You would have tried to defend yourself, had your eyes not immediately filled with tears. When Nari had started rising her voice, accusing you in the same breath, you’d known your efforts would be wasted anyway. You’d hung your heard low, and you’d gone back to your seat.

The first detention you’d ever gotten in your life, and it had to happen on the very last year of your time in this dreadful place. God, you couldn’t wait to get out. Yes, college entrance exams were looming terrifyingly above your head, but there was still freedom at the end of the line, freedom at least from your peers. You’d take that as a win.

At the end of the day, having only gotten a fifteen minutes break to spew your venom at your understanding best friend, you dragged your feet to detention. A confused Ms. Kim had greeted when you’d gotten there, all the more so because you were a few minutes early. As you’d handed her the detention slip, however, she’d had no choice but to let you in, though she had patted your shoulder as she did.

You were not the type of student to get detention. You were the one who got straight As, who never raised their voice, who had painstakingly managed to make one friend who you had clung to since your first year here. If you could avoid drawing attention to yourself, you’d take it. You only raised your hand in class if the teacher had been waiting for someone to speak for the appropriate amount of time, tried to make yourself be forgotten the rest of the time. It did not work quite as well as you would like, but you had stayed out of trouble so far.

The same cannot be said of the students who enter the room after you. Nari runs in right as the bell rings, looking sheepish. She mouths a ‘sorry’ in your direction, like she didn’t try to throw you under the bus after the teacher caught her. She’s quickly followed by Hanseok, the school star athlete, who looks like he’s trying to shrink himself, which is no small feat considering how wide his shoulders are. He keeps his eyes on the floor, and you wonder what could have landed him here. He’s not known for getting into trouble.

Next is Taewoon who walks in nonchalantly, like he does that every day, which, to be fair, he probably does. Known troublemaker, you have no idea why he’s here tonight, but he’s regularly caught doing wild, stupid shit nearby. Ms. Kim shakes her head at him and he just shrugs. Last but not least comes Han Jisung, fashionably late, class clown and another regular. As he walks in, he leans on the desk, grinning at Ms Kim.

“Is that a new hair cut? It looks great!”

She rolls her eyes, but she can’t hide a smile in return.

“See, you’re here so often you notice that kind of things.”

“Of course I’d notice!” he protests, sounding offended as he’s weirdly good at doing — to be fair, it does still get him out of trouble most of the time.

She gestures for him to go to his place, but she doesn’t seem too mad, and he has a satisfied smirk on his face as he does. It’s as he’s doing so that he spots you, and his eyes go wide. He looks around like he thinks he’s gotten the wrong room, before altering his course to let himself fall down on the table next to yours

Your heart is beating like crazy in your chest and you do your best to smile at him the right way — you know, not too briefly so he doesn’t think you’re rude, and not too long so he doesn’t think you’re interested because, ahah, that’d be ridiculous, that’d be soooo embarrassing, there’s no way that would happen.

You may or may not have a raging crush on him.

Look, he’s funny. He’s cute. He looks at you when he makes a clever joke to see if you’re laughing. You don’t hang in the same circles, and you know it’s stupid to entertain your thoughts about him, but you just can’t help them. You wish you could quash your feelings before they hurt you. Because they will. Undoubtedly. Been there, done that. Love hasn’t worked for you, and you’d rather not delude yourself into hoping it could this time.

All these good resolutions vanish when Han leans towards you.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, sounding so confused. “Did you get lost?”

You sigh.

“I was accused of cheating on a test,” you mumble, trying to sound casual about it and not like it makes you want to cry.

“What?” His eyes look like they’re trying to pop out of his head. “That’s ridiculous.” Then he leans closer, conspiratorially. “Want me to try to get you out of here?”

Your heart is beating so fast.

“No,” you squeak despite trying not to. “It’s fine. I guess that’s— part of the high school experience, right? I should live through that at least once.”

He looks deeply confused for a second, then chuckles as he settles back in his chair.

“You’re the only person who’d think that way,” he says, and you think he sounds fond as he says it, but you know that your brain is prone to wishful-thinking. Then, with a regain of interest “Tell me if you change your mind, it’s not too late.”

He settles comfortably on his desk, resting his head on his backpack. It’s already dark outside, as it usually is at this time of the year. Cold, white streetlights have turned on over the football field, and the cloudy, starless sky gives the school a gloomy vibe. It doesn’t help that it’s eerily quiet, the kind of quiet that you’ve only heard when you’d lingered too long in the library. Lively halls are empty now, as are the classrooms. On this last night before winter break, no one has stuck around. Even clubs have taken pity on their members and let them escape tonight. It’s only the six of you left in the building, and maybe a few lingering staff members and guardians.

You glance around at what others are doing, trying to figure out what you’re even meant to do in here. Jisung has closed his eyes and is clearly intent on taking a nap. Nari has pulled out a notebook and is writing in it dutifully. Hanseok is looking out the window with a blank look on his face. Taewoon seems to be sleeping as well. Finally, Ms Kim is reading a book — romance, by the looks of it —  and seems to have no plan of acknowledging your existence until the bell rings and frees her of your presence.

With a sigh, you start pulling out your books. Jisung opens an eye. With his face smooshed against his backpack, his cheeks look even rounder.

“I can still get you out,” he whispers.

You smile, but shake your head.

“It’s fine. It will all be over in an hour anyway.”

Ms Kim clears her throat to remind you to stay quiet. You jump at it, and she gives you an apologetic look, but you’re already back to burying your head in your books, trying to be small and inconspicuous and most importantly, not to anger anyone. That’s what you do after that, even once the room gets quiet again, and that’s where you still are, half an hour later, when the lights suddenly go off.

You look up, startled, and for a second you can’t see a thing, until your eyes get accustomed to the unexpected darkness. In the meantime, someone stands up, not far from you, and surprised shouts rise in the room.

“Everyone stay where you are!” Ms Kim shouts. Phones are starting to come out, lighting up the room, and soon you see that Jisung’s standing next to you, with one hand on the back of seat. He’s so close he’d brush against you if he moved just a little to the left. “It’s either the electricity or someone forgot we were still here. I’ll go see what’s happening and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Can’t we just go home?” Nari whines. “C’mon, there’s, like fifteen minutes left.”

“Make it thirty,” Ms Kim corrects sternly. “Everyone better stay here. Anyone who leaves will get detention for the first week when we’re back in class.” When protests erupt, she raises her voice. “I’ll let you off the hook if there’s an issue with the electricity, but for now, you guys need to stay there.”

She leaves the room as more people are protesting, not paying one ounce of attention to it. It looks like it’s not the first time something like that has happened to her.

Her footsteps in the hallway have barely faded that Taewoon is already getting up.

“Fuck it,” he says, making a whole show out of it. “I’m not sticking around.”

“You’re going?” Jisung asks. Clearly, he’s thinking of doing it as well. He glances around at the rest of the group. None of you have moved from your seat. “What about you guys?”

“I can’t miss practice,” Hanseok says.

“I’ve got a part time job, I can’t lose it,” is Nari’s answer.

That leaves you, and it takes you a second to realize that Jisung is looking at you and waiting for an answer.

“I— I don’t want to get detention again,” is all you can manage to mumble. It sounds pathetic to your ears, but he nods all the same.

“What are you doing?” Taewoon asks him again.

“I’ll stay behind this time,” Jisung sighs dramatically. “Live your life to the fullest for the rest of us, okay?”

Taewoon snorts.

“Sure. Enjoy yourselves here. I’ll see you after the break.”

You feel envy as he escapes the room. You wish you could care this little about all the trouble you’d get into. At the same time, being in your shoes brings advantages that you quite enjoy. Just not particularly tonight.

Then, Jisung pulls his chair to come sit next to you, setting his phone on your table so you can both see each other’s face, and you change your mind.

“You should have taken my offer,” he smiles at first, before his expression shifts to a more serious one. “You okay? It’s happened before, don’t worry about it.”

“I’m fine,” you answer, maybe too quickly. Mostly, you’re wondering why he feels the need to tell you that and if you look so fragile to him that he thinks this would send you into a breakdown. “Does it usually come back on?”

He shrugs.

“Yeah, most of the time. Sometimes there’s a tree that’s fallen somewhere it shouldn’t and she lets us go.” He glances out the window. “It’s pretty windy tonight. Maybe it’s the case.”

As you look out, you see Taewoon crossing the football field, before disappearing under the bleachers, from where he can reach the parking lot. At least one of you has gone free, you think, feeling bitter about all the things that have kept you in this spot.

“Hey, you’re getting the full, five-star high school experience,” Jisung’s voice brings you back to the present. “I can get you in trouble more after that, if you’d like.”

A small laugh escapes your lips.

“I think I’m good.”

“You could see the boys’ locker room from the inside,” he insists, and you laugh again.

“That does not sound like a good experience!”

“The inside of the teachers’ lounge,” he offers as you roll your eyes. “Steal exam questions. Change your grades. Give lower notes to your rivals.”

“What rivals,” you protest, though you’re grinning from ear to ear at this point.

“Are you saying that no one’s good enough to compete with you? And here I thought you valued my intelligence, wah, you think you know someone—”

His chatter takes your mind off your situation. There’s something about having Jisung’s undivided attention, about him clearly having noticed how down you were feeling and trying to cheer you up, that makes you feel all fuzzy inside. You’re not used to someone’s eyes staying on you for that long, certainly not his eyes. And yet he’s choosing to use time that could so easily be spent doing something else with you. Your heart beats so fast you think it’s going to fall right out of your chest.

Ten minutes go by before Nari’s voice interrupts your talking.

“Shouldn’t Ms Kim be back by now?”

Her expression is composed, she’s leaning back in her chair to look at you, but her voice is at a higher-pitch than usual. A glance at your watch tells you that she’s probably right and a cold hand comes wrap around your heart to squeeze it, before you shake it off. No need to feel that way. There’s likely a completely fine explanation.

“Maybe she’s run into Mr Park,” Jisung offers, smoothly. Then, with a gasp, “Maybe they’re having a quickie in the principal’s office.”

You chuckle quietly, but Nari’s not amused.

“Shouldn’t someone go look for her?” she asks. When no one volunteers, she continues, “She’ll never believe me if I go and I really can’t lose my part time job, but, you know, maybe if it was someone else…”

You know where this is going, and she’s not exactly wrong, yet you worry about getting in trouble all the same. Stupidly, you’re afraid you’re going to get yelled at. You hate getting yelled at. You’d probably cry if that happened.

“I’ll go if you go,” Jisung says, eyeing you, saving the day once more — saving your day at least.

“Okay,” you reply, and you surprise yourself at how quick and easy that was. You blame it on the relief you feel for not having to go out there alone. “I’ll come.”

He smiles at you when you say that. It’s kind of embarrassing how it makes butterflies take off in your stomach.

“Everyone be good,” he chastises the other two as you open the door. “Nari, you’re in charge while we’re gone, okay?”

She sticks her tongue out at him while Hanseok scoffs. Still, they’re both grinning as the two of you venture out into the quiet, dark high school.

You’re not one to believe in supernatural creatures. You like logical, provable, tangible things. Still, out there, irrational fear seizes you, wrapping its tentacles around you. Your footsteps echo loudly in the hallways, and the measly flashlight from your cellphones are nowhere near enough to light up the entire place. No matter how your orient them, there remain dark patches all over.

“It’s kind of cool,” Jisung comments as you’re starting to bury yourself in your thoughts again. This time, you don’t know if he’s doing it for your benefit or if he doesn’t like it when things stay quiet for too long. “Who knows, maybe we will see her with Mr Park.”

“I think they’re both very much married,” you reply, and some of the worry washes away when you hear your own voice. Suddenly, you’re not in this unfamiliar place anymore, but back in the halls of the high school that you walk in every single day.

“Like that’s ever stopped people,” Jisung grins. “C’mon, he’s not bad-looking for his age.”

This time, a very genuine laugh bursts out of you.

“That’s not an image I needed!” you protest.

“Like you’ve never thought about it before,” he teases, and as you let out noises of disgust, his flashlight sweeps over the floor. “What do you think? Do we start with the custodian and the principal’s office, or do we go for the basement? That’s where she’d be if it’s a problem with the electricity?”

“She’s probably in the basement if she’s been gone all this time,” you reason, but you really do not want to venture down there at the moment. Even with Jisung by your side, you don’t think you’d enjoy this small of a space with no lights other than your own. Just thinking about it has your throat becoming tighter. “But, uh, maybe we can start with the principal’s office?”

Jisung agrees to that with more enthusiasm than it warrants, and then you listen to him dramatically offer possibilities about how Ms Kim and Mr Park could have gotten together. You laugh more than you should, more than you would were you with anyone else in the same situation, and it’s not the right place nor the right time, but you know you’re falling in love with him. You’ve always suspected that it was just a matter of spending more time with him, always told yourself that it was therefore not a good idea. But here you were now, and there was not a thing you could do about it.

“Okay, here we are,” you say, interrupting a truly wild scenario in which the teacher and the principle are Russian spies who got married as a cover but were actually high school sweethearts. “Should I, uh, knock?”

Jisung shrugs, moving past you to try the handle. As he does so, you’re struck by how quiet it is. There’s no way she’s in there, we’ve wasted our time, you think.

Then, to your surprise, the door opens. Jisung walks in. Then freezes in the opening.

“What’s going on,” you ask, taking a step forward to look over his shoulder, “don’t tell me they’re really—"

But you’re not met with the sight of two lovers. Instead, your eyes first find Mr Park, slumped on his desk, something that you can’t identify sticking out of his back. On the floor, right in front of Jisung, is Ms Kim. She’s lying on her back, her eyes wide open and her pupil still and empty. It takes you a second to realize that the angle her head is at with her body is wrong, and a second longer to understand that that’s because her throat’s is nothing more than a wide, gaping wound. Underneath her, a puddle of blood that you realize you’ve stepped into. She looks so pale, compared to how she was just a few minutes ago.

You open your mouth to scream. Before you can, though, Jisung’s hand comes to cover it, and you only let out a whimper as your eyes search his. For the first time tonight, he’s lost his nonchalant confidence.

“Someone could still be there,” he whispers to you. “We shouldn’t stay here.”

With one last look at your teacher, he closes the door.

Things are blurry after that. You remember him grabbing your wrist as he drags you away from the scene. You remember him trying a few doors before pulling you into an empty classroom. You remember him vomiting in a trashcan and self-consciously wiping his mouth afterwards. You remember sitting on a table in silence for you don’t know how long.

“We have to get out of here,” he says at some point. He sounds sure of himself again.

“We have to— we have to go get Nari and Hanseok,” you answer. As soon as the words leave your mouth, you feel guilty for not having thought of them immediately. Shit, they must still be waiting for the two of you to return. Someone could have— someone could have already—

You’re on your feet before you think. It’s unlike you, but it says a lot that your brain doesn’t harp on that in the moment. There’s an urgency in your chest that you’re not used to feeling.

“We need to go get them.”

Jisung studies you for a second, then swallows, Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.

“Okay,” he says. His voice is weak. “Okay. We’re getting them and then we’re going out of here, right?”

You nod. Guilt and fear are battling within you, but both feelings are directed towards the people you’ve left behind. You think it would kill you if something happened to them that you could have stopped.

The walk back to the detention is faster, but it feels like it take ages. Jisung keeps close to you, checking behind you while you keep your eyes on what’s in front of you. You see nothing, hear nothing. Just like earlier, the high school feels empty. Unlike earlier, you know it is not.

You’re almost there, starting to breathe again, starting to think you’ll make it, when you hear the screams. Terrified, you back into Jisung, who wraps his arm around you.

“Light,” he hisses, “light out, now.”

You’re too scared to do anything other than what he suggests. It overtakes your whole body, freezes your muscles into place. His chest is pressed against your back as you stay perfectly still, and you can feel his heart beating wildly, betraying the fact that he’s in the same state as you. In the distance, a door slams open.

“Don’t leave me here!” Nari screams.

In the dark, someone that you have to assume is Hanseok rushes past you. He’s fast, powerful. Whoever you hear after him is fast too, footsteps squeaking in the hallways, and all you’re thinking is that Nari is wearing heels.

At least Hanseok’s making it out is the thought that follows — for a second at least, because it isn’t long after that there’s a shout of frustration and the sound of someone struggling with a door. Then screams, intercut with disgusting, wet sounds that you can only imagine are what a knife produces when it’s brought down into someone. Tears stream down your face in silence. The front door’s locked and Hanseok— Hanseok is—

“Nari,” you whisper, choking on the word.

Jisung nods and pulls you forward, but by the time you get to the detention room, it’s empty. You check for a body, turning your cellphone’s light back on, terrified you’ll find one, and you can breathe again when you don’t find her anywhere.

“Now we have to go,” Jisung insists.

“But she’s—”

“We’ve done what we could. C’mon, we have no way of knowing where she is, she could be out by—”

The speakers creak horribly.

“Attention, students,” a man’s voice comes through. It’s loud and booming, but more than anything, it’s even. It doesn’t shake, doesn’t have the hysterical accents that you’ve heard in movies. If anything, it sounds like he’s playing the role of a school announcer, and the thought makes you sick to your stomach. “Lee Nari. Han Jisung. Kang Won— Ah, no, I suppose that’s been taken care of, hasn’t it. Im Taewoon.” Then he pauses for a second, before reading your name, and you feel overcome with helplessness. Before that, it felt like it was— You’re not sure what you were feeling, but it didn’t feel targeted. Now, you think that even leaving the school might not make the nightmare end. “Well, you might not be who I’m looking for,” the man chuckles— he fucking chuckles — after saying your name. “We’ll see. If you’re good, I’ll consider letting you off the hook. The rest of you though… you won’t cause trouble again.”

This is like a bad slasher movie with a stupid premise, something you’d make fun of if you weren’t caught in the middle of it.

“Windows and doors are locked,” he announces dramatically. “Breaking out only means that I’ll come get you, so do yourself a favor and surrender, hm? I promise to make it quick.”

Then he hangs up.

“What do we do?” you whisper to Jisung. “You— you love horror movies, right? What should we do?”

He stares at you.

“Yeah, I— I do. I didn’t think you’d remember.” It’s not the moment, but for a second — less than that, a fraction of it — you’re no longer a terrified prey but a teenager again, feeling like you’ve just exposed your crush. “I— one of us should leave.”

You shake your head.

“He said he’d hunt us. He could show up at our parents’ house—”

“I know,” he interrupts you. “But that’s— that’s why one of us should stay here.”

Again, you shake your head, more vehemently this time.

“No. No way. We’re not— We’re not doing that.”

He grabs your arms, the motion gentle instead of forceful, like one more attempt at comforting you as he looks straight into your eyes.

“Listen. One of us needs to leave. I— I think he’s probably watching the windows. He must know that we’d try to leave, right? So he’s— probably ready to give chase.” He swallows thickly. “If he— If he has a rifle or something— But that’d give someone else time to escape, if he leaves too. If not… Someone could go get help. Nari might have called the cops already, but that— that doesn’t mean they’re coming right now.”

“No,” you repeat, because you think you know where he is going with this.

“I’ll— What do you want to do? I— I think I should go.”

He’s close enough that you can see there are tears in his eyes.

“You should— you should be ready to leave from the other side when I do,” he whispers, and you want to cry too. “I’ll distract him.”

You shake your head, but you don’t think you can change his mind.

“Hey, I can be really fast, okay?” His tone gets lighter. “Maybe I’ll outrun him.”

You’d be more inclined to believe that if the man hadn’t been able to catch up with Hanseok — though you suppose that he wouldn’t have on open grounds, and that gives you some hope that you desperately cling to.

“You better,” you hear yourself say.

Jisung lets out a long, deep breath, then turns around to face the window. It’s true that they’re locked; they always are at the end of the day. But they’re not known for being particularly solid. As a matter of fact, they regularly get broken by football players. You wonder if that’s what got Hanseok in trouble, then shove the subject as far down as you can, because it reminds you that he’s— he’s—

“Okay,” Jisung mumbles, grabbing a chair and getting ready to swing it at the window. Just as he lifts it above his head, though, he stops himself and sets it down to face you.

Something passes between the two of you. It’s hard not to think that this might be the last time you see each other, however his escape attempt goes. Jisung swallows thickly.

Then he’s grabbing your shoulders and pressing his lips against yours. It’s brief, kind of clumsy. Nothing about it is how you envisioned your first kiss. But his lips are soft and warm, and he’s holding on to you like he never wants to let go.

He does anyway, looking at you with wide eyes.

“F–For luck,” he mumbles.

“Sure,” you choke out in response. “No, uh, no problem.”

You’ll die of embarrassment at that later on, if you don’t just die tonight.

His chair smashes through the window, the sound unbearably loud in the silence of the school, and he doesn’t stick around to see what happens. Cutting his hands on the broken glass, he jumps out while you back out of the room to go crouch in a dark corner. You peek to see him sprinting through the football field, waiting with baited breath to see the killer following after him.

He doesn’t.

You wait longer.

Still nothing.

And you realize you’re stuck in the building with him.

“Well, well,” the voice in the speaker says, right as the realization settles, as calm as it was the first time. “Seems like we’ve had an infraction. Too bad. Seems I’ll have to go hunting once I’m done with you.”

Then it cuts again. For a while, you can’t hear yourself think over the terrified thoughts that fill your mind. You think of following after Jisung, but you have no way of knowing if the killer would let it slide twice. Truth be told, with Jisung gone, you feel your old patterns of thinking catching up with you. You’re too scared to go, and the more you wait, the more you think it’s now too late to go. Your anxiety has you in a chokehold, with no intention of letting go.

What does get you to move is the greater fear that the killer could come inspect the place, now that Jisung’s left. He must have noticed that only Nari and Hanseok were in the room — if he thinks Taewoon was still here, probably because he was murdering Ms Kim at that point, that would have to mean the three of you were together, in his mind. It begs the question of how Taewoon got out, but you wouldn’t be surprised if he had his ways of doing it, even with the windows closed.

You don’t turn your light off, listening closely as you cross the hallways. You’re aiming for the kitchens, though you haven’t actually stopped to think about it. All that your mind can supply with as a justification is that you need a weapon. Realistically, you don’t think it would do you any good. You probably wouldn’t be able to use it against anyone. But who gives a fuck about realism right now? You might die here tonight. Three of the people you used to see around every day are gone forever already. If finding a knife makes you feel better, you’ll get yourself a knife, dammit.

You regret it when you make your way through the cafeteria. Because of how it’s situated, there is more light coming from outside in here than there was elsewhere. You’ve already started to see the dark as an ally, and leaving it makes you feel incredibly exposed. Despite that, you run through it, bent in half, trying to stay behind the tables, and get into the kitchens.

You’re searching through the drawers for a knife when the most terrifying sound you can think of right now resonates behind you.

The door. Someone’s opened the door.

You crouch behind one of the many kitchen isles. Silent tears are running down your face, but adrenaline is keeping you from completely giving up — for now, anyway.

“Who do we have here?” the voice asks, and you press a hand against your mouth so you don’t accidentally give yourself away. It doesn’t just echo in the cafeteria though, no, it comes out through the speakers as well. Like he wants the survivors to know that he’s gotten one of you, and that they never had a chance in the first place. “I’ll be very disappointed in you if it’s you, (Y/N). If you’d stayed put, you might have had a chance. Now, I have to wonder if you helped your friend leave, too.”

Glancing over the corner, you see a man in a mask slowly walking through the kitchen. Slowly, you start backing up, careful not to make a sound. If you run, maybe you’ll get to the door. If you get to the door, maybe he’ll lose you and you’ll be able to hide better.

Please. Please. You just want to make it out of here. You want— you want to go to college. You want to ask Jisung what that kiss meant. You want to get home to your parents.

It’s as you’re getting up that you bump your head into one of the drawers that you’ve left open. Once it happens, you’re on your feet in an instant, making a dash for the door, but the man intercepts you before you can get away. You fall on your back when he pushes you, and he shakes his head at you.

“I thought you were better than that,” he sighs. “It truly is a shame that you got caught up in this, but I suppose you weren’t as good as you made yourself out to be.”

He raises the knife. Tears blur your vision.

Then there’s a loud smack. Nari appears behind him, a bent plastic tray in her hands and tears streaming down her face.

“I’m s–so sorry you got detention because of me,” she sobs out, chest heaving, and all you can do is stare — though a part of you that right now is very far from the surface appreciates the sentiment. You note, vaguely, that she’s barefoot, probably having ditched the heels when she realized they would only get her in trouble.  She holds her hand out, and you take it without hesitation, pulling yourself to your feet just in time to see the man rise again behind her. He’s rubbing the back of his head, but he’s nowhere near unconscious, and he’s close. You pull Nari away, but his knife still slashes across her back and she falls forward, screaming.

You back up, but his eyes aren’t on you. Instead, he goes to stand above Nari. She tries to crawl forward, crying, and you see him lowering himself above her.

If you don’t want to watch her die in front of your eyes, you need to find the fucking knives.

The first two drawers you stumble into as Nari struggles and desperately hits at the men are empty.

The third one has knives.

You can’t afford to think as you rush back towards them. The man raises his knife once, and Nari catches the blade with her bare hand. You try to tune out both the screams and the sounds. Then he grabs her wrists with the one hand. Raises the knife again.

You’re out of time.

You stab him in the chest, and he lets out a sharp, horrified gasp. You push him backwards while his blade catches at your arms, the adrenaline too strong to feel it for now. You drive the blade into him, again and again and again, until he’s fallen and his knife has gone still, and all that fills the room are Nari’s tears and whimpers of pain.

It’s only as your own pain catches up with you that you admit what’s just happened.

You did it.

You lived.

 They take Nari and Hanseok to a hospital first, both of their wounds being much more significant than your own. Hanseok’s condition, from what you’ve heard, was ‘critical’. You’d felt hope at that, at first, but the looks people had exchanged had soon quashed that.

They weren’t optimistic.

As they leave, you stay wrapped in a blanket, sitting in an ambulance as your arms are being disinfected as the cops search the building. All of your limbs ache like you’ve just run a marathon, but you can’t make yourself look away, no matter how hard you’ve tried. Staying there, you hear, vaguely, that the killer was a former member of staff that had been let go earlier in the year. He’s alive too, for now, because you hadn’t known where to aim when you’d attacked him — ironically, that’s the same reason Hanseok’s still breathing. His exact motive was being debated still, but you found unable to care. Why would you give a shit about why he'd done that? All that mattered was that he’d done it.

You’re sitting there, stewing in those thoughts, when Jisung appears. You don’t think they were supposed to let him through, but it looks like he managed to sneak in. He’s clearly been crying, his eyes all red and his face puffy.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispers, his voice breaking as he chokes on the words. “I didn’t think— I didn’t think I’d be leaving you alone in there with him. I— I did as fast as I could, I promise, but they— they thought it was a prank call and I—”

“It’s—” You want to say ‘It’s fine’, but the words refuse to come out of your mouth. “It’s not your fault,” you manage to say instead. “You had no way of knowing. I’m— Nari and I should both be fine. You did— You did the best thing you could have done.”

Nari had mentioned, as you were lying with her on the cold floor of the cafeteria, that she’d seen you walk in, soon followed by the man. She hadn’t found herself able to stay away. Who knew, if she hadn’t felt so guilty, maybe she wouldn’t have gone in. Maybe if it had been Jisung, he’d be gone by now. Maybe if you’d left through the window, the killer would have followed you.

There are too many what ifs to let him blame himself.

“I’m glad you made it,” you say softly, trying not to cry again.

He nods, opens his mouth, then shakes his head as tears flow once again, and just comes to sit next to you. It’s not so often that you see Han Jisung so completely quiet. You rest your head on his shoulder, trying to bring him what comfort you can, certainly taking all that you are able to from his touch.

You know, in that moment, that the consequences of tonight would likely follow you for the rest of your life. You don’t know if there will be a single day in the future where you don’t think of it. But right now, the thought that maybe, just maybe, not everything that comes from tonight has to be horrible and dark and crushing helps you to just keep breathing.

Jisung’s fingers quietly rub circles on your skin. He presses a kiss into your hair, mumbles ‘Thank you’s to no one in particular.

Finally, you allow yourself to close your eyes.

since this is different from what I usually write (and gets brutal), I'm exceptionally not using my taglist.

i enjoyed writing this and wrote almost 4k for it today, so, uh, sorry if it stops making sense at around 3k in. something that i particularly enjoy is breaking genre expectations by jumping into another genre. here, the first half is inspired by your typical high school movies, before veering into a thriller/horror movie, which i quite like (but it can also be disorienting and i'd get it if you didn't enjoy it). anyway.

if you've made it to this point, I hope you've enjoyed this series and this installment of it! don't hesitate to comment or reblog, honestly any feedback or support is appreciated. i'll see you all again for the hyung line in December (and maybe even in the meantime with other projects, who knows). take care!

[hayakawalove]

Sacrilege

Description:

“Are you the Devil?” You breathlessly ask.

Suguru smiles softly before fixing a piece of your hair.

“The Devil was an Angel, I’m something much worse.” 

TW: Just kind of gross overall, reader has fem genitalia and is referred to as a girl, slight sexism, blood, anal sex, rimming, vampire, dubcon, fear, sacrilege.

A/N: I'm sorry. Just kidding I'm not. Enjoy this gross man. Thank you to those below for helping me come up with things for this. The top two are on archive of our own. @icepopbucky23 @JuicyT @zeninsama

You hear the church bells before your eyes open. 

You weren’t completely used to them yet. Before you became a nun the sound never bothered you, it was barely a blip on your radar. But now it guided your every movement. 6 am, wake up and have breakfast. 12 pm, lunch and mid day prayer. 6 pm, dinner and afternoon prayer. Between the loud chimes there were duties that helped fill your time such as cleaning, helping new sisters, and baking. You were left with one day a week to do whatever you pleased, and it so happens that one day of the week was today. 

You groggily stand, dragging your feet around your room to get ready for the day. You throw on a white long sleeve shirt with a black floor length skirt. Even though you could forego your usual attire today, you still wore your coif. You look into the mirror and adjust the headpiece, letting the length of it flow against your shoulders. 

You had heard murmurs around the convent of a forest nearby. A forest that had wild blueberries, ripe for the picking. You planned to get a basket full and bring them back to make desserts for the other sisters. Not only were there whispers of fruit, but there was talk of a being that lived in the forest. The idea occupied your mind more often than you’d like to admit. The stories ran rampant, all different versions so there was no way to know what was true and what was not. 

Hushed whispers between sisters were often exchanged while cleaning. 

“Sister Sarah told me it has razor sharp teeth and glowing red eyes!” 

“What? No way. It has horns and fur just like the Devil himself.” 

You never participated in the discussions as you had only joined the convent several months ago. But you certainly listened. 

And because of this, you had decided to venture out into that very forest for blueberries. If you happened to catch a glimpse of the being that lurked out there, that wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen, now would it? 

With a wave and a smile you leave, woven basket in tow. 

The forest was a short walk behind the nunnery. The further you walk, the more the shrubbery engulfs you. Bird song fills your ears, along with the sound of a creek running freely in the distance. You spot speckles of blue, and you can hardly contain the excitement that flows through you. 

Your knees hit the ground while you reach over, plucking blueberries and dropping them in your basket. 

You were so distracted with the task at hand you didn’t even see him coming. 

“My my, looks like I have a lost little lamb on my hands.” 

Your head snaps up in the direction of the words. A man. Not just any man, but a beautiful man, venturing on ethereal. His long black locks flow freely from his head, with beautiful dark eyes trained on you. His attire was out of place for the forest, a long black dress shirt with black pants to match. 

Your eyes rapidly blink like a deer caught in a trap. You had no idea what to do. 

“It’s okay darling, I don’t bite.” 

Had the birds gone silent? You could have sworn they were chirping only moments ago. 

“I-Im so sorry Sir. I didn’t know this land belonged to anyone.” Lies. Yes you did. You just hadn’t expected it to be owned by someone like him. 

Your staggering words amuse him. A deep chuckle rings out, a sound so heavenly it competes with the voices in the choir. 

“It’s okay, I’m only teasing you. I don’t mind, really.” He takes several steps forward. 

“They do taste wonderful this time of year, I like using them for tea.” He continues on. 

You can’t help the confused look that grows over your face. 

“What?”

“The blueberries. I take it you’re here for them.” He looks down at your basket. 

“Oh! Right. Yes, but I apologize for picking them without asking. I will leave this here for you, I didn’t mean to take from you, truly.” 

A soft smile spreads over his face. 

“You can take as many as you like, Sister.” 

Your heart beats so rapidly that you feel like it will burst from your chest any moment. 

“In fact, there’s also raspberries out here as well. You can have some of those too, if you like.” 

Heat creeps up your cheeks, and you’re sure it wasn’t from the mid autumn breeze. 

“You are too kind-“ You realize you don’t know his name. 

“Suguru. You can call me Suguru.” He speaks smoothly. 

When did he get so close? He was a foot away now, legs lowering into a deep crouch beside you. 

His cologne fills your senses, and a low buzz crawls over your skin. He smells dark and forbidden, you couldn’t get enough. His hair falls around his shoulders and you briefly wondered what it might feel like against your hand-

He reaches forward and picks a berry from your basket, slowly bringing it up to his lips. You can’t look away. It feels like a sight you aren’t supposed to see, bordering on something intimate yet completely normal. 

“Are you okay Sister?” He brings you back to earth. 

“You don’t look so well. Would you like to come back to my house for a drink?” His tone dips into that of worry. 

His words shock you to your senses. You shouldn’t be out here in the middle of nowhere with a man, a man you hadn’t met before, no less.

“No thank you sir Suguru, I should be heading back actually. But I’m truly grateful for your kindness and generosity.” 

He looks deep into your eyes, his shoulders relaxing. 

“That’s a shame.” 

The hypnotizing hold he had on you is broken once he stands up. You let out a shaky breath and stand as well. 

“Well, if you ever want to get raspberries or more blueberries, you are welcome to stop by again.” He speaks with a soft smile. 

Despite the soothing effect his voice has on you, you can’t help but notice how the hair on the back of your neck stands up when he speaks. You nod curtly, thanking him once more before scurrying back towards the nunnery.

Thoughts of him occupy your mind for the rest of the night, and several nights thereafter. You were expecting a monster lurking, not a man. Not just a man either. You had never seen someone so beautiful. His words captivated you, you had held your breath every time he spoke. 

The blueberries you had picked were all used for baking that week, and you found yourself craving more. 

At least, that’s what you told yourself. But really, what you craved was more of his presence. 

On your next free day you decided to get blueberries once more, nerves filled your veins at the idea of catching a glimpse of him again. 

After a short walk you find yourself in the middle of Suguru’s forest once more. You see him sitting under a tree, a meal spread out before him. 

“Oh hello Sister, here for some more?” He asks, looking up at you with a grin. 

Heat creeps up your cheeks. 

“Yes, if you’ll allow it.” 

“Certainly.” 

You work in silence as you pick more blueberries. He continues sitting against the tree, eyes flicking over a book that sits in front of him. 

You try to keep from peering over at him, but you can’t help yourself. You try to steal glances much like a schoolgirl with a crush. 

“Is everything alright Sister?” He caught onto your act. 

You clear your throat and stare at your hands working in the bush. 

“Yes. What is it you’re reading, if you don’t mind me asking?” 

“The Old Testament. I like to refresh myself occasionally.” 

Your eyebrows quirk up and you whip your head around. A book binded in black leather rests against his lap, the pages flipped to the middle of the book. 

“You read the word of the Lord, Suguru?” 

His gaze catches yours, and there’s a glint of something sinister lurking behind his dark eyes. 

“I like to indulge myself once in a while.” 

You feel your cheeks begin to burn at the intense eye contact. Your fingers begin to work on plucking more blueberries as you rip your attention back to them. 

“I didn’t know.” 

Suguru flips a page, the sound filling the quiet space. 

“That’s alright. We’ve only just met, after all.” His voice sounds like velvet. 

Your fingers tremble. You were unsure why your body had such a reaction to being around him. He was a kind man, you had nothing to fear. 

“What’s your favorite passage?” You ask, trying to stave off your nerves. 

“Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your god. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” He speaks. 

You could recite the testament by memory, you knew it just as well as you knew your own name. 

“Isaiah 41:10.” You breathe out. 

Suguru hums softly and flips another page. 

“What’s your favorite, Sister?” 

“Oh, I don’t think I could pick.” Just as you had swore you knew the Bible inside out, all memory of it completely vanished the second he asked. You don’t think you could remember a verse if you tried. 

“You truly are a devout follower.” 

You feel your knees begin to ache beneath you. Surely you had been here for at least 30 minutes by now, but time passed by slowly with Suguru. 

Your legs straighten out as you stand up. Suguru looks up at you, his face relaxed and beautiful as ever. 

“Done already?” He questions. 

You look down at your basket, happy with your harvest. Your eye trails over to the food laid out beside Suguru. He hadn’t touched a single thing since you had gotten there. Maybe he wasn't hungry. 

“I think so. I’m on dinner duty tonight so I need to get back.” 

“Okay, well it was a treat having you again.” His voice both warms you and chills you to your core. 

You smile softly.

“Yes, it was nice to see you again as well. Thank you sir Suguru.”

“Just Suguru is fine.” 

You look down bashfully. Addressing him so casually felt wrong, but if he said it was okay then it must be. 

You turn around when a flash of red catches your eyes. A bundle of flowers nestled in the greenery sticks out to you. 

“Oh, these are beautiful.” You lean over and hold one of the petals. The color was breathtaking, the beauty of the flower completely entranced you. You didn’t even notice the thorns. 

“Ah, yes. Euphorbia milii. Christ’s Thorns.” Suguru sighs out behind you. 

“They are so lovely. How long have you had-“ Your words cut short as your finger slides against a thorn, the sharpness slicing through your flesh. 

You let out a yelp and draw your hand close to your chest, cradling it against you. A pressure presses against your back, making you turn your head. You were met directly with Suguru’s piercing gaze. He looks down intently towards your hand. How did he get to you so fast? 

“Are you okay?” He asks, his tongue sliding against his bottom lip. 

“Yes, I think I just pricked myself.” You murmur, looking back down at your finger. 

Blood was dribbling from the nick, a bright red, a red rivaling that of the flowers. 

Suguru grabs your finger, pulling it to his mouth. His tongue slides against the pad of your finger, before his lips encase it. You feel as he sucks on the wound, his warm saliva coating you. Pain spreads through you before instant relief. His lids close as his tongue laves your finger. 

“Suguru, what are you doing?” You ask shakily. 

His eyes flutter back open as he comes back down to earth. 

Suguru pulls your finger from his mouth and looks down at it, before meeting your eyes. He draws in a sharp breath, staring deep into you. 

“I'm sorry, force of habit.” He brushes off. 

“Do you need first aid? We can go back to my house if so.” The smell of copper leaks from his mouth as he speaks. 

Goosebumps cover your arms as you look up at him. 

“I think I’m alright, it’s not that bad. Thank you, Suguru. I should be headed off.” You stutter out, completely taken aback. 

He's somehow even closer than before. You take in his appearance, noticing the way your blood stains his bottom lip. There was something predatory in the way he looks down at you. Your stomach fills with unease at the sight of his pupils dilating. With a weak smile you turn around and head back to the church. Even though you weren’t looking at him, you could feel the way he stared at you as you left. 

You had gone back to the forest several times. You couldn’t explain why you kept going back. It felt like a magnet was drawing you to the depths, you were unable to resist. Every time you returned, Suguru was always there. It seemed as though he was lurking around, waiting for you. But you knew that was impossible. He lived nearby, you figured that must be why he was constantly around. 

The two of you had gotten fairly close. You had explained to him why you joined the church. A missing piece in your life, it had seemed. He rarely spoke. You wanted to learn more about him, but he always waved you off, telling you he preferred to listen. 

The next time you had gone, you barely even realized the dark heavy clouds that hung in the sky. You picked a decent amount of blueberries, with Suguru stealing several of them. Before you could gather more than a few dozen, rain started to pour. The two of you ran towards a large tree seeking refuge. 

The wind rushed around you. Suguru’s voice melted into the sound. His words flowed together, but you were sure he offered you shelter at his house. Before you knew it, you said yes. 

It was a short walk to his home. The building was small and blended into the trees surrounding it. You certainly would have missed it if he didn’t guide you. You were sure you would’ve gotten lost if you didn’t watch his tall figure in front of you. 

The door creaks open as Suguru turns the knob. He ushers you inside, the door clicking shut behind you. Suddenly you felt like a rat in a cage. 

“Stay here Sister. I’ll go get matches.” He squeezes your shoulder before heading off into the darkness. A shudder runs through you, but you blame it on the way rain water clings to your clothes. 

You expect to hear noises or movement, but the entire house was completely silent. The storm rages on outside, but somehow the noise of it was completely drowned out by the absence of noise in the house. 

A loud swish catches your attention, causing you to jolt. Suguru had struck a match, and was lighting candles around the house. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” He looks at you from the corner of his eyes as he drifts across the room. 

You chuckle and watch his figure move skillfully about. 

“It’s okay, just on edge I suppose.” 

Suguru looks down and blows on the match once all candles were lit. 

“Would tea help? I find that always calms me down.” His voice is like honey. A warm noise that fills your bones. 

“That would be wonderful.” 

Suguru excuses himself once more to get you tea. You hear him call out to you shortly after. 

“Follow me.” 

You feel a lump settle in your throat at the request. There was no reason for you to distrust him, so you make your way towards the sound of his voice. 

You find yourself walking into a decently sized kitchen. Suguru stands beside the counter with two cups in front of him. Steam floats above them, carrying over a heavenly scent to you. It smelt like blueberries, it must be the tea he had mentioned previously. Suguru lifts up one of the cups, offering it to you. You gladly accept, striding over to stand beside him. You slowly sip on the liquid, letting it warm you inside out. The two of you stand in silence before Suguru breaks it. 

“Sister, has anyone told you how breathtaking you are?” 

His deep voice rings through your ears. You feel as heat spreads throughout your body, suddenly making your outfit feel stifling. 

“Pardon me?” You look up from your mug and meet his gaze. 

His face was neutral but his eyes were calculating. He steps forward in front of you, placing his hands on the counter on either side of you. A sickly sweet scent fills your nostrils. You weren’t sure if it was the berries on his tongue or the cologne concoction on his throat. Had men always smelt this addicting? You had never been so close to one before, so you weren’t sure. 

“It’s a shame you’re cooped up there so often.” He muses to himself quietly. 

Your eyes dart to peek at his tongue when he speaks. Stained red. Must be from the berries he had let you pick. 

“I enjoy my work, Suguru.” You try to defend your home. 

You did love being a nun and all the work that surrounded it, so why did it feel like you were lying through your teeth right now? Your mind knew you preferred the pews, so why did it go against every instinct your body was telling you? Each day that passed by since meeting Suguru, you felt yourself wishing to be by his side. Even if that meant you weren’t in the house of God. 

You expect to feel a fan of breath hit your face at any moment, but it never comes. 

“Of course, my apologies.” He murmurs, before pushing himself off the counter. 

You find yourself missing his closeness as soon as he steps away. Your fingers idly fiddle with the mug. Your tea began to get cold, and you had only drunk half of it. You had been too preoccupied with Suguru up until that point. Your eyes drift down and you notice that his cup was still completely full, not a drop of his tea gone. Maybe he wasn’t thirsty? 

“Maybe it’s for the best. Men can be scoundrels. It wouldn’t be safe for you.” His finger traces the lip on his mug once he settles in place beside you again. 

Your throat feels dry as you straighten yourself out. 

“What do you mean?” You hadn’t put much thought into men before. 

“Temptations of the flesh, of course.” His finger stops and his eyes meet yours. 

Your cheeks instantly heat once you realize what he’s insinuating. 

“What about you Suguru? You are a man. Are you not tempted by flesh as well? Are you dangerous?” 

His tongue darts out to wet his lips. 

“I’m safe, Sister.” You feel a chill run down your spine at his words. 

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted. Sometimes I wonder why it’s a crime under the eyes of the Lord.” He goes on to answer your question. You suddenly feel uncomfortable under his piercing gaze. 

“That must be the Devil luring you.” 

“Is it? Tell me Sister, why would God make something feel so good if he didn’t want his children to indulge in it from time to time?” 

Suguru was as much of a child of the Lord as you were, but you couldn’t help but feel like he was a part of something else much darker. 

You’re in a trance as Suguru removes the mug from your hand and sets it on the counter beside you. 

“It can’t be that good.” You find yourself stating as he moves closer to you. 

Suguru lets out a chuckle. 

“Is that so? How would you know? Have you engaged in fornication?” 

“Of course not.” You stutter out, defending your purity. 

“Have you ever been curious? Surely that isn’t a sin alone.” He questions. 

You had wondered what another’s hands would feel like against your skin from time to time. You always redirected your thoughts as soon as you caught yourself slipping, feeling guilty the second it happened. 

“I was waiting for marriage before I became a nun. Once you become a nun, you are married to the Lord, there is no room for another.” You say. 

You look up and notice him staring intently at you. A tingle shoots through your body, you nervously glance away. You could still feel him stare at you. 

“Yes, well, there are other ways to indulge in the pleasures of life besides lying with a husband.” 

You peer up at him. 

“Like what?” 

You had only ever been taught about wedding nights, learning about certain things a woman must do to please her husband. 

He takes a step closer towards you. 

“There are many… pleasurable areas to explore.” 

Suguru reaches for your hand, his long fingers wrapping around your wrist. 

“Come Sister, let me show you what it’s like to enjoy yourself.” 

You have no time to protest. He leads you away from the kitchen counter, bringing you towards a table. It was made of a dark mahogany wood, with nothing on top. Suguru slides you next to the table, and you can’t help but look up at him in confusion. 

“Get on top.” He says. 

His strong hands help you sit on the table. You sit on your spread knees, your ass hanging off the edge. 

Hands grasp at you, inching your skirt up. You find yourself helping to pull the clothing out of the way. You let out a shaky breath as you feel a cold brush of air kiss your thighs. 

“I’m not sure about this.” You whisper, suddenly becoming aware of the situation. 

Suguru’s movements slow. 

“Do you trust me Sister?” 

You wait for a moment before nodding your head. Fingers wrap around your underwear, pulling it to the side. A feather touch breezes past your asshole, making you gasp out. 

Hands grab onto your ass, pulling your cheeks apart. Something wet presses against your asshole, making a moan slip past your lips. It was unlike anything you had ever felt before. You couldn’t tell if you liked it or not. Suguru kneels behind you as he begins to devour your ass. You wiggle around, not sure if you want to press into him or not.

Wrong. This was wrong. 

But if it was so wrong, why did it have to feel so good? You were always warned not to indulge too much, but how were you supposed to stop now? 

Suguru’s warm hands hold your quivering thighs down. The wood table digs into your skin and you swear you were getting splinters. Somehow you couldn’t find it in yourself to care, not when you felt something warm and wet press against your entrance. 

You let out a soft whine, feeling your hole clench around nothing. Suguru’s tongue traces around your asshole lightly, teasing you. 

“S-Suguru-“ You whimper. 

Before you could say anything further you feel one of his strong hands reach up, grazing over your lower back. He pushes your back down, softly but forcefully. You can’t help but lean over completely, only jutting your ass out further. 

Suguru’s tongue dips in your hole once causing you to moan out. His hands grasp each of your cheeks as he spreads them apart, laying you open for him. Your face was flushed and hot in embarrassment. You had never been so exposed before, not even when you laid your sins bare. 

Suguru continues to poke his tongue in and out of your ass, every so often wiggling his tongue inside. You feel your chest tightening with every breath you take. Your pussy aches in need, you could feel it dripping against his wooden table. How filthy. 

Your fingers twitch, desperately wanting to relieve some of the pressure. But you couldn’t, it was wrong. This was wrong. Your moans fill the kitchen, bouncing off the walls. It felt good, but it wasn’t enough. 

You could feel as your hole twitches around his tongue, begging for more. 

His tongue slides up and down against your ass, drawing more moans from you. Nothing in your life had ever felt so good. 

“How does it feel, Angel?” 

Your mouth drops open, trying to respond to him. 

“It’s- it’s-“ Another swipe against you causes you to shiver. 

“Will you let me show you more?” He asks, pulling away. 

“Yes, yes!” The words escape you before you can think to regret them. 

Suguru stands up straight, smoothing his hands against your perched ass. You hear something clink and unbuckle. Your head turns before Suguru grabs it, facing you forward again. 

“Eyes forward, little lamb.” He commands.

You nod your head shakily. The world stills around the two of you. Nothing could get between you in this moment. 

Suguru stands behind you, while you kneel on the table. Your back straightens, no longer awkwardly leaning down. One of his arms wraps across your waist while the other reaches up to hold your jaw in place. You feel as he takes a deep inhale against your neck, lips placed against your pulse. 

“Are you ready?” 

The question runs through your mind. Were you ready? You knew once this happened there was no going back. But your body craved him. It was like an invisible force pulled you to him with string. You needed to be closer to him.

You nod your head as best you can while he holds it. Suguru clicks his tongue and licks up the side of your neck. 

“Need to hear you say it, little one.” 

“I’m ready.” Your voice squeaks. 

You feel as his cock slides against your ass, rubbing against your tight hole. 

“I’m scared.” You admit, trepidation trembling your voice. 

“What’s my favorite passage again?” He questions. 

“Do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed-“ you begin reciting the passage from memory. 

His cock pushes against your opening and you feel it slide in. Your face pinches in pain while you feel the dull ache of his cock splitting you open. 

Just when you think he can’t get any deeper, he pushes in more. 

“Hurts.” You moan.

“You’re doing so well.” Suguru speaks against your skin. 

He pulls his thumb from your face and slides it into your mouth, the length of it stretching across your tongue. You suck on Suguru’s thumb, your eyes rolling to the back of your head. 

The hand resting across your stomach slides down and holds your thigh open at the crease. His hand was dangerously close to your pussy, and you couldn’t think of anything you wanted more than for him to touch you. 

Pain shoots through your body once his hips meet yours. His grip remains tight on you as he fills you. Your hole clenches around him, sucking him further into you. 

He pulls back slightly before shoving his cock in you once more. It felt like your head was in the stars, a mixture of pleasure and pain pulsing through your veins. 

His cock keeps a steady pace as he stretches you out over and over again. Tears prick your eyes at the sensation. 

Your hand holds over his tightly, afraid you would fall forward if he didn’t keep you upright. 

You moan around his thumb. 

“Does your pussy feel neglected Angel?” He asks, pulling his thumb from your mouth.

You hold tighter onto him. 

His hand slides out from underneath yours and he grabs your hand, guiding it between your legs. 

“Touch it for me baby.” 

“It’s wrong.” You moan out. 

“Why is that? Is it wrong to feel good?” 

You feel your fingers make contact with the sensitive nub between your legs. Your stomach tightens as he applies pressure against you. 

“Feel how wet you are?” 

He moves your hand to collect the wetness from your slit before pulling it back up to your clit. 

Suguru thrusts his hips into you, his strong hands holding you in place. 

You can’t stop yourself. Your fingers begin to draw small circles over your clit, eliciting gasps from you. 

“Feels so-“ you moan out. 

You feel something sharp graze your throat. 

“Yeah? Tell me how it feels.” 

“Feels so good Suguru, thank you!” You can’t help but cry out. 

A deep rumble sounds out from his chest. His cock never slows down, continuing to fuck your tight hole. 

Your fingers slip against your soft skin. You no longer cared about what was right and what was wrong. There was only what felt good, and right now that was this. 

Your fingers speed up as you feel something growing within you. You weren’t sure if you were supposed to stop, you had never done this before. But your body begged you not to. 

“You’re gonna cum for me? Cum on my cock?” 

Your body shakes in his grasp. The force of him fucking up into you would shove you down if it weren’t for his strong grip on you. 

“I- oh!” Your moans tremble throughout your body. 

“That’s it. Don’t stop.” He urges you. 

You feel your body tighten when something explodes inside of you. A moan falls from your lips, between pleasure and desperation. Your tight hole squeezes and spasms around Suguru’s hard length. As you feel yourself let go, something sharp pierces into your neck.

You clutch Suguru’s arms harder, your moans falling into desperate pleas. Your mouth moves to ask him something, but nothing comes out. Something warm trickles down the side of your neck and down your chest. The pain from your throat burns across your skin, making your chest pound. It hurt, but the pain felt irresistible.

Your eyes glance down and you see red trickling down your chest, sliding down. 

“Suguru” you start, unable to say anything more. 

His teeth dig in deeper, sending waves of pain throughout you. Your body felt like it was set ablaze, the high not completely washed over. 

His cock drives further into you as you twist in his arms like a wild animal. It felt like his hands were everywhere all at once, keeping you pliable. 

“You do taste sweet.” You hear his voice grumble beside you. 

His tongue licks up the side of your neck, trailing against the warmth that dripped down. 

Teeth graze against your neck once more, diving deep. Suguru’s lips make contact with your throat as he sucks the life from your veins. You can’t help the moan that escapes your throat. Your body felt incredibly dizzy, your mind woozy. You can’t feel anything besides the way he forces himself into your ass over and over. 

“You’ll let me fill you up, won’t you?” 

His hand keeps your face forward, not giving you much moving room. 

Your lips twitch to respond, but nothing comes out. No matter how hard you try, you can’t get your body to speak. 

Despite the way you involuntarily thrash in his hold, your body aches for more. His mouth cracks into a grin and he speeds up his pace. His cocks slams hard into you making you shake like a leaf. You feel warmth spread inside you when his cum shoots deep into you. You couldn’t tell if he was breathing hard or not, your heartbeat was too loud. It felt faint in your chest, but the sound of it deafened you. 

Something wet slides against your neck once more. You identify it as Suguru’s tongue when you feel sharp teeth graze your sensitive throat. You wait for him to puncture you once more, but it never comes. It was like he was showing you he could do it again, and there would be nothing you could do to stop it. 

Your panting fills the room so loudly you swear it shakes his house. Suguru’s fingers dig deep into your waist as he slips himself free from your tight ass. You whine as you feel his warm cum seep from your hole, dripping against his kitchen table. Freezing fingers grasp your ass and spread it apart once more. Suguru’s tongue makes contact against your hole. A strangled noise escapes your throat as you feel him lick the dripping cum from you. His grip remains steady against you as you try to wriggle free. 

“Hm, good girl.” He whispers against your skin. 

Suguru parts from your ass and slides his hand around your waist again. He lifts you with ease off the kitchen table, and you suddenly become aware of how badly your knees ache. You wobble for a second, grabbing onto the desecrated table. Suguru grabs onto your hips and leans down. You watch as his tongue slides against your stomach, following the trail of blood all the way up your chest. He licks your skin clean while staring into your eyes, and in some way this felt far more intimate than anything else the two of you had done. Once he finishes licking it up, he straightens out. 

“I don’t like to leave messes.” He speaks. 

Your hand reaches up to grasp your neck, feeling the ruined skin. Your body feels incredibly hot somehow, a warm tranquility settling over your bones. 

You look at the man in front of you, if you could even call him that. 

“Are you the Devil?” You breathlessly ask. 

Suguru smiles softly before fixing a piece of your hair. 

“The Devil was an Angel, I’m something much worse.” 

The words shock you to your core. You weren’t sure of what happened, or why your body liked it so much. 

A loud church bell sounds out, snapping you from your thoughts. 

“It looks like it’s dinner time for you, Sister.” Suguru says. 

He helps guide your skirt back into place, and adjusts your headpiece. You couldn’t find any words to speak. Everything felt like a dream, you weren’t sure if you were awake or not. 

Suguru tucks you in his side and leads you outside. The rain had cleared up, a beacon of light shining on the tall roof of the nunnery. It feels as though you’re in a trance as he leads you back to the house of the Lord. He guides the two of you all the way up to the large entrance of the nunnery. Large wooden doors greet you. Suguru knocks twice, before the door creeps open. A mess of white hair comes into view. 

“Oh, Sister. We were looking everywhere for you.” The head of the church looks between the two of you. 

“My apologies. It seems she got lost in the forest, I’m just returning her to you, Satoru.” The lies slip past Suguru’s lips so easily you almost believe them. 

“Thank you, Suguru.” 

You feel yourself freeze at the realization that he knows Father Satoru. The door opens wider as Suguru passes you over, the other man ushering you inside. You turn around, your eyes locking on Suguru’s. He cracks a small smile before the doors slam shut.

[wisteria-cherry]

forty days and forty nights (day eight!) (part one!)

(wow this is long. there’s a part two too😳😳)

(read them all here!)

the next time those happy little bells rang at 4:56, bakugo came, but so did someone else. it was another man, dressed more casually than bakugo, and a few inches shorter, maybe two or three. he exuded an air of bright happiness, somewhat like a ray of sunshine in human form.

he had hair like bakugo’s, wild and sticking out in many places. however, it seemed more purposeful; you could see the gel that kept his hair that way. he had red eyes, but they were much softer than bakugo’s, and weren’t stuck in a constant state of glaring. he was smiling, looking curiously around the store. he had a snaggletooth.

“you brought a friend, bakugo?” you smile as the two approach the counter.

“he’s a dumbass.” bakugo replied bluntly.

“i’m kirishima.” the red-haired man laughed. “so you’re the barista i’ve heard about?”

“you’ve heard of me?” you raise an eyebrow.

“yup, bakugo’s told me all about you.” kirishima chuckled.

“did not.” bakugo snapped. “i said she’s the annoying-ass extra who makes my goddamn coffee.”

“you said more than that.” kirishima countered. bakugo scowled.

“shut the fuck up, shitty hair.”

“your hair’s just like mine, y’know.” kirishima raised an eyebrow.

“can i get you guys any drinks? medium black coffee for bakugo, i assume?” you smile, stifling your own laughter.

“yeah.” bakugo grunted.

“i’ll have a coffee, too, but with cream and sugar, please.” kirishima said politely.

“of course.” you hum, ringing them up. ��coming right up.” you give them their total— they pay separately— and bakugo walks to his seat. kirishima follows. it’s clear from the way they interact that kirishima’s known him for awhile. yet, you can’t shake the feeling that you’ve seen him before.

“so, are you a pro hero too?” you ask kirishima as you give them their coffees. bakugo sips his as kirishima answers.

“yup. red riot. i’m number 5 on the hero rankings right now.” kirishima smiled. that explained it. you’d seen him in interviews with bakugo.

“ah, i see. i don’t follow heroes much, so i’m sorry i didn’t recognize you.” you apologize. kirishima waves it off.

“no worries. bakugo already told me about that.”

“he did?”

“yeah!” kirishima grinned. “he said that—“

“shut your fucking mouth.” bakugo’s eye twitched as his hands sparked.

“alright, man.” kirishima held his hands up in surrender.

“no explosions in the store.” you chide, half kidding but also half worrying for the general well-being of your precious workplace and praying it doesn’t go up in flames.

“yeah, yeah, i know.” bakugo rolled his eyes. “i’m not that damn reckless.”

“if you say so.” you hum teasingly.

“fuck you.” bakugo spat.

“refill, kirishima?” you change the subject. “on the house.”

“oh! yeah, sure.” kirishima smiled, passing his empty mug to you, which you then took and proceeded to refill. “are you sure, though? i’m totally down to pay for it.”

“it’s your first time here, don’t worry about it.” you wave a hand dismissively.

“thanks!” kirishima beamed.

“no problem.” you hummed. “bakugo? do you need a refill?”

“no.” bakugo took another sip.

“you’re quiet today.” you remark. “how was work?”

“shit.” bakugo replied bluntly.

“the usual shit or especially shitty?” you hum.

“the usual.” bakugo clicked his tongue. “shitty sidekicks and pathetic villains.”

“i see.” you hum. “kirishima? how was work for you?”

“i saved a lot of people, so i’d consider it pretty good.” kirishima beamed.

“that’s fantastic.” you smile back at him.

“yeah. the coffee’s great, by the way.” kirishima said.

“thank you.” that kirishima. he was so different from bakugo. he was incredibly sweet and polite; definitely someone who attracts people, kind of like a magnet. you’d love to be friends with him and bakugo— though, technically, you thought of bakugo as a sort-of friend already, although you weren’t sure what his stance on it was. you resolved to make an effort to befriend these men.

“so, do you have an agency, too?” you ask curiously. “i understand bakugo has one of his own.” bakugo’s lips twitched into a smug smirk, his agency clearly a source of pride for him.

“yup.” kirishima grinned. “we just got a new building, actually. we’re renovating it right now.”

“that’s so cool!” you exclaim. “where is it?”

“a couple blocks from bakugo’s, actually.” kirishima glanced around. “y’know, i’m surprised you don’t get more business, given how close this place is to bakugo’s agency.”

“there’s a bigger one that’s right next to it,” you explain. “so people usually go there instead.”

“right, i forgot about that.” kirishima chuckled good-naturedly. “but you’ve got bakugo now, huh?”

“shut it, shitty hair.” bakugo glared at kirishima.

“and you, if you like the coffee enough.” you joke. kirishima laughed.

“i wish i could. but i’m usually on patrol when bakugo comes in. i took today off, though, because mina— pinky— is having a party tonight as her place.” kirishima explained. his face lit up as he got an idea. “hey, you should come!” bakugo looked up from his coffee, startled.

“me?” you blink, taken aback by the sudden invitation. “oh, that’s okay, i wouldn’t want to intrude..”

“she said ‘invite anyone and everyone.’” kirishima pulled out his phone, showing you the texts between him and who you assumed was mina. it did indeed say “invite anyone and everyone, ei. people u saved. people on the street. sweet old ladies. waiters at restaurants. everyone.”

“are you sure?” you ask, still hesitant.

“yeah!” kirishima smiled. “mina’s wanted to meet you anyway.”

“i feel famous now.” you chuckle. kirishima laughed with you as bakugo glared at kirishima furiously.

“who the fuck did you tell?!” he demanded. kirishima only smiled.

“just the squad.”

“quit calling it the squad.”

“that’s what the group chat’s called, man. the bakusquad.”

“the- the bakusquad?” you sputter out, nearly choking on your laughter.

“our friends,” kirishima explained. “it’s okay, though. mina would’ve found out anyway, bakugo knows that. so, are you in?” bakugo looked pissed, but not in the way that he’d take action over it.

“only if you’re sure i won’t be intruding.” you sigh with a smile.

“positive.”

“what time is it? and where? and how do i dress for it?” you ramble, to which kirishima chuckled.

“it’s at 8,” kirishima began. “and you can dress however—“

“gimme your phone.” bakugo grunted, holding his hand out unexpectedly. you blink.

“huh?”

“hand it over.” bakugo snapped. “so i can put my number in your phone to send you the damn address.”

“woah, man, i thought you weren’t g-“ bakugo interrupted kirishima.

“shut up.” the blond snapped as you pulled your phone out of your apron, unlocked it, opened the messenger app, and handed it to bakugo as per his request. bakugo grumbled as he typed his number in. his contact name was GREAT EXPLOSION MURDER GOD DYNAMIGHT. all caps. you stifled a snicker as bakugo sent you the address from his own phone.

“thanks.” you smile as kirishima watched the interaction, seemingly amused by something.

“whatever.”

“we can pick you up if you want.” kirishima offered.

“oh, that would be great,” you reply, thankful that getting lost wouldn’t be on the agenda for tonight.

“alright. where do you live?” kirishima asked, listening closely as you told him. “okay, so that’s only ten minutes from mina’s. we’ll get you at 7:45ish, sound good?”

“sounds good.”

“woah, man, i thought you weren’t g-“

“shut up.”

<- previous next->

(feel free to comment + leave ur thoughts :)

tags: @k0z3me

[alley-roses]

magazine matchups

vil x reader

you and vil were supposed to just be colleagues, but as your work kept pushing you closer and closer together, you couldn’t help but fall for one another.

a/n: this is another repost of a previously deleted fic I posted. also can’t believe i ever deleted this, this is like the funniest thing I’ve ever written (imho)

—————————————

His absence was something you barely noticed, just as his presence. You weren’t oblivious to it, however. It started out as a coincidence, the two of you ended up modelling for a few projects together, which had the internet going wild. Soon enough, it turned into free advertising, and your managers were intentionally pulling the strings so that you’d be working together. If anything, the nonsensical rumours that came out of it were kind of annoying - other than that, you had no strong opinion about working with him, or his personality.

He wasn’t exactly a constant in your life either, that’s why you almost didn’t notice his unannounced break from the public eye. You remembered him after seeing a now slightly old article about the SDC, ah that’s right, he’d taken a break from almost all of his work to focus on the competition, which had ended a couple of months ago. Despite this, you can’t recall him coming back to the limelight since.

Might as well check his magicam page, you thought. He still posted there, would it be weird to follow him out of nowhere? Eh, who cares- you did it anyways, and then went to bed.

As always, it felt like the sun rose far too early to wake you from your slumber. Your alarm hasn’t gone off yet, or you hoped it hadn’t at least. You checked the time, and you were fine, you didn’t oversleep.

In the meantime you should probably check the texts you got from Neige, your certified best friend who doesn’t usually text you at six in the morning.

“Hey, Y/N! You’re trending on magicam, so is you and Vil’s ship-name, did you know?”

Um, what? That was… strange? Honestly, you really wanted to see what was going on, but you’d be late for school if you let social media get a grip on you right now.

Break time. It felt pretty exciting to hear the bell ring this time around, since you’d been itching to find out what had you on the trending page, it’s not like you did anything either spectacular or offensive recently.

Damn, Neige really wasn’t lying, then again, you couldn’t recall any time he ever has. Your expression died down comically quick, as you kept scrolling through the tagged posts. Your fans were literally insane sometimes, to the point were maybe following someone new on your public account was a bit of a mistake. Basically all of your conjoined fandom was trying to theorise over Vil being added to the list of people you follow, which was otherwise only Neige and your manager. Really, it was a slight disappointment, but it was also kind of funny, at least the internet didn’t decide it was time for a dose of unjust cancel culture just yet.

A few days later, after school had let up, you went to hang out with Neige in town. It was a tradition between you two, a way to keep in contact despite your busy schedules. The two of you often cycled round different attractions or areas in the city, sometimes just opting to walk around and talk. This time, you were headed to the local museum. It was interesting to read about all the history loaded behind what seemed like a simple piece of pottery, or learn about how certain things were used to supplement both the lack of technology and magic of the older world.

It was mostly things you’d seen here before though, but you’d never paid much mind to the modern art section, you realised after thinking about it. “Hey Neige, should we go look over there? Who knows, they might have your portrait framed or something.”

Your joke was received with a light laugh and, “Sure, let’s go take a look!”

This section of the museum felt a lot smaller, but there were even less people willing to marvel at the paintings that adorned the walls. Coincidentally, the one other person that was there happened to be someone both you and Neige recognised. You wondered if he visited the place a lot, people don’t tend to look so blank whilst visiting a museum by themselves.

Neige turned to you, excited to ask if it’d to be alright to approach him. That’s right, you’d somewhat forgotten that those two knew each-other. “Yeah sure, I don’t mind.” As soon as the sound of his name filled the room, his head turned, and his expression looked mildly annoyed. Did he look like that before? God, you’d have to hope the two of you weren’t upsetting him. Your friend however, didn’t appear to notice anything out of the ordinary as he continued to make small talk.

Gradually, said small talk came to close, and Neige had invited him to spend more time with the two of you, though Vil politely declined. He was rather curt, but he didn’t seem like a bad person, if anything your opinion hadn’t changed since you first worked with him.

Before waving goodbye, you rushed to scribble your phone number down on a crumpled piece of paper to give to him. Momentarily, you pondered wether that was a good decision to make, as he almost stayed silent, but soon put on a smile and thanked you. It was an awkward first meet.

Vil turned away after the two of you had left, it was due time to head back to his dorm, despite his visit to the museum serving a different purpose than intended. For Vil, he had hoped to come about some inspiration in preparation for returning to his work but meeting Neige was a frustration in its own right, considering how a large part of his break was dedicated to self improvement after realising his envy was severely holding him back.

Regardless of his efforts, it was disappointing to see Neige thrive under the same conditions as him and yet thwart all the hardships that Vil faced. Whilst his perfection was his pride it robbed him of approachability.

You however, offered him your number despite how out-of-reach he often is to people through your slight uncomfortableness. He thought it was folly of you, but it was a rare boldness that wasn’t unbeffiting of you - having only experienced similar things from Rook, who sometimes took it to an extreme.

Maybe it came from you also being in the industry, but he found himself thinking fondly of it. When Vil arrived at pomefiore once again, he decided to follow you back on magicam, not unaware of you doing so a few days back, although he made no effort to add your contact to his phone. You were still asleep by morning, enjoying the extra time the weekend was granting you. When you did wake up, you checked your phone, a part of your usual morning routine. ‘Oh, he doesn’t hate me’ was what came to mind after seeing that Vil had followed you back.

Not having any plans today you thought to message him on the app, curious as to wether he’d reply. “Hey, how are you doing? Hope we didn’t bother you yesterday.”

After sending that short message you looked through your feed for a bit. Reasonably soon you got an awfully formal response back. Apparently he didn’t mind your presence the other day, which was nice to know. Now however, you were in a position of not knowing wether or not to continue the conversation or what to say. Reaching out to someone over something so minuscule without making an attempt at getting closer with them proved kind of useless, so the two of you briefly discussed your musings about school and work before cutting the conversation.

That was the last time either of you had talked to one another until the two of you inevitably crossed paths again, outside of the internet. This time, the two of you met at a more understandable place, a model’s holy grail, the skincare section.

Another thing to note was that this time, he was not unaccompanied, unlike you. His purple-haired friend was actually who drew your attention away from the ingredient list on the bottle you were looking at. Being a bit louder than intended, he was complaining about this excursion being a waste of time and effort. When you did turn around, you saw Vil glaring daggers into the poor boys soul. Maybe they weren’t friends as you’d initially thought?

Ignoring it would’ve been your best bet but as you heard Vil sigh and mutter something along the lines of ‘I thought we were past this’ you realised he was dragging himself and his possible-friend in your direction. The two of them started looking at the labels of product after product, after Vil had scanned the shelf for a short while. Vil looked quite nonchalant while doing so, but his friend seemed awfully confused when absentmindedly staring at the product. Considering you knew one of them, you thought it might be good to offer up some advice, and recommend a couple brands.

Vil was actually quite thankful for your help, due to him only using products that he’s created himself, he was only aware of what was currently popular rather than beneficial. And this wouldn’t have been the best way to teach Epel how to pick out certain products without any good examples. He thanked you, and invited you to hang out over coffee some time as a thank you.

It was perhaps a little overboard, but neither of you really minded, considering how it was starting to seem that you could become decent friends. And that was how you ended up here, finally settled in to a popular cafe, that at first proved to be a bit of a poor choice, specifically due to its popularity.

When the two of you met up, the people already around the place started to form a crowd around you. It was reasonable, after all people don’t see celebrities everyday, and whilst you were used to it, it could prove to be rather bothersome. Of course, both of you handled the situation well, but there was something so enchanting about how graceful he was with each and every person who approached him, and how he was able to express his appreciation all the while making sure his air of perfectionism never slipped.

When you eventually got a moment of quiet together, you made sure to learn a lot about each other. He wouldn’t say it out-right, but you could surmise that the purple-haired boy from before and a huntsman named Rook were his set of friends. It sounded like an interesting group, but cute nonetheless. You also figured out that a lot of his personal life revolves around his work, or maybe it would be better to say that they happened to coincide.Despite that, he still seemed less daunting now that you’d got to know him a little.

Naturally, you two hung out a lot more after that, and it was fun as you got more comfortable. You even got to do things like convincing him to pose for you to draw him because, “come one, it’ll be extra practice!” He didn’t look amused at all, but he still let you.

Sketching Vil was enjoyable, but he wouldn’t let you notice how he got increasingly anxious as time passed. Vil normally had no reason to feel anxious around anyone, he usually felt confident in himself, but the issue was that his confidence was surprisingly conditional.

It was strange though, the only person to ever make him feel insecure before was Neige, yet you didn’t make him feel threatened. He could only come to one conclusion as to why he was becoming increasingly sensitive to your opinion on him, and being as self aware as he is, the answer didn’t come as a shock to him. But acknowledging that he was in love was a scary revelation to make.

As you finished up your drawings and showed them to him whilst raving about how pretty he was, he calmed down. His appearance was the main factor in his confidence, and reminding himself that he would always have power in that regard soothed his anxiousness, but what really relieved him this time around was the fact that you weren’t judging him.

The next time you were on-set participating in a photo-shoot together, you’d known beforehand. You were both affiliated with the same company, and had managed to put two and two together when discussing your work schedule.

Things felt a lot more light-hearted than all of the other times you’d worked together. Seeing him there as you’d entered the room put a smile on your face.

As you’d taken your last shot together, and everything was getting cleared up, you went to take your arm of Vil’s shoulder, but as you were doing so, he grabbed your hand. You could feel him tense up, and the walls started to feel slightly closer than before. “What’s wrong?” You couldn’t help but be worried. You saw him take a second to compose himself, before he leaned closer to you and whispered a short confession in your ear, “I’ve happened to find myself loving you… Would you be mine?”

That was… unexpected.

But when you said yes, Vil found himself experiencing a joy he hadn’t felt in a long time, and enveloped you in a gentle, heartfelt hug. The two of you stayed there for quite some time, ignoring everyone else around you because they didn’t matter.

[shutit-haha]

WBakugo pt.4

Ok, really really liked the idea of reader having like this senior father figure hybrid. And Aizawa just fits the role so perfectly in my brain. Obviously hybrid AU seeing as how that's my latest obsession.

Aizawa stood behind you all tall and gloomy, his ears were lost in his wild hair, hands shoved deep into the front pocket of his pants. He really didn't want to be here, truthfully you no longer wanted to be here either. All that was left was for Eri to get tired out- whenever it is that happens.

"So why don't you have ears," the lady asked. You had been forced to conversate with her as Aizawa clearly wasn't going to respond to her. She was a loud and ignorant woman, it was clear the two of you weren't blood related yet she had the audacity to ask such a question.

"Adopted," you gave her your best curtesy smile.

"Who adopted who," she chortled loudly, elbowing you in the ribs playfully.

Ok now she was overstepping boundaries. "I'm sorry did you need something?" Aizawa was a looming figure now, darkness practically oozing from him, it encased the poor woman. Swallowed her whole.

"Oh well you see- I came over here to- I figured I could shimmy," she shook her shoulder, "on over to- well I- I must be going." Her mouth shut, thin lips vanishing with her tight expression. She was gone and there was Eri skipping back over to your side.

"Ok, I'm ready to go now." She smiled up at the two of you brightly, the skirt of her new dress twirling around her. "The bigger kids are rolling in," she grumbled peering over her shoulder back at the direction she came from.

"Yeah it is getting kind of late," you took her hand. Aizawa said nothing he simply took her other hand and followed you out. It was all fine and dandy until you reached the car. Your phone had started ringing, vibrating aggressively in your pocket. It was a private number you didn't recognize. "Hello?"

"Yes are you.."

The officer sounded older and clearly skeptical. "I am, and why are you-"

"Well we have a young man here who claims to be yours."

What in the hell were they talking about. "Excuse me?" You didn't own any kids, the closest thing you had to one was buckling up in the car right now.

"Goes by the name of Katsuki Bakugo?"

There's no fucking way. He said he had a license. Why the hell is he giving people your name!? Why is he giving the police your name!?

"Is any of this ringing a bell," the officer sounded tired now.

"Uh... yes Ma'am sorry I uh- I'm out with family currently but I will be right there." You gave a curtesy smile despite it being a voice call, giving Aizawa such a large pleading look. His cat ears twitched shifting to a more alert position. It did little to better your mood.

"Right well he's being contained at precinct 692."

"Ok, thank you Ma'am, really thank you." You hung up, jaw on the floor, blinking in disbelief.

"Why are your friend's getting arrested," he was so blunt and monotone. Where was that caring Dad part of him that would word that just a bit better for you? Weren't you clearly in shock?

"I wish you wouldn't use those," you pointed at his cat ears- though only able to see their tips. "For things like this."

"Who's Bakugo?" He shuts the car door (so Eri can't hear) placing his arms up on top so he can lean in and glare at you. "Why is he in Jail? And why is he suddenly your responsibility?"

"Can't you just drop me off, please." Those wide eyes from when you were a child. "Can't you use that reputation of yours to get me out of this pickle, preferably no questions asked." You bat your lashes at him.

"Not happening." He blinks dryly, and you reach into your pocket for some eye drops. "If I'm dropping you off I'm walking in."

"That means you have to use your noble reputation," you say it all sing-songy.

"That means you have to explain," he mocks you in that same tuneful voice.

"Please Dad," you're begging.

"Absolutely not," he gets in the driver's seat. For a brief moment you stand there, contemplating what the right decision is here. He starts the car, and begrudgingly you open the passenger side door plopping down into your seat.

"Tell me about the kid," he swallows thickly, hands tight on the wheel.

"Met him in a snowstorm."

"That night you came late?" He side eyes you and you bite back any remarks about it.

"When I arrived later the next day? Yes sir."

"You don't have to address me like that," his shoulders eased up. He was forcing himself to relax hoping his body language would rub off on you. Yes he was pissed but that didn't matter.

"Sorry," it was a habit that was stuck with you. Aizawa hadn't taught it to you, yet it remained nonetheless. Eri wasn't the only one here who had been robbed of dreams and given nightmares. Aizawa saved you, for that you are forever in his debt. The best child he could ever ask for. "Some di- dude," you glanced back at Eri. "This 'catcher' was being all hostile- just a total bigot, was bothering him about being licensed-"

"Was he," Aizawa cuts you off.

"mhm," you nodded, "he showed me them later."

"When," a low growl, it was slight something you had to teach yourself how to notice.

"I stayed the night at his place," you mumbled.

"Doing?"

"What if I said something unholy?" The car swerved nearly going into the wrong lane. "I was joking! I was joking! I slept in a guest bedroom," you put your hand over your heart, "honest to God."

Another side eye from your Father.

"Anyways I jumped in and claimed he was mine, as a thank you gesture he allowed me to stay with him. And now... I don't know." Your worried eyes reflected on the wind shield of the car, red flashing within your pupil. A trick of the blinking stop light.

"When you stayed the night," oh no here was that protective personality. "Anything weird?" Clearly his training had stayed with him even through the retirement, he was profiling people no matter his age. That was true Shota Aizawa fashion.

"Typical 'don't touch my shi- stuff' personality." Another weary glance over at Eri, you keep forgetting she's there. "He's hella bossy, just as an FYI. Noticed when I was cold, made me breakfast," you were just listing things off now. "Oh!" You perked up, "he hates the smell of me."

Aizawa chuffed, "doubt that."

"Dad, you're being a Dad. Not everyone's after your wonderful child that you just swear is the cutest thing on planet earth."

"But you do smell good," Eri chirped from the backseat.

Well fuck, now it had to be a fact. I mean Eri said it. Who are you to argue.

"What'd he say," he turned into the parking lot.

"I asked about the whole being stinky bit- didn't want to be a headache- he said I didn't stink."

"Asshole likes you."

"Doubt it," you scoff unbuckling.

"Oh yea, then why are we here?"

Eri is just a ray of sunshine with the police station. Everyone is smiling at her and complementing her dress, they all ask for her name, and she's got a pocket full of candy. You were glad you and Aizawa had taken the time to work through places like this with her, liked that she could so easily twirl and smile. It made the weight you were already bearing that much lighter.

"Where the hell is he," Aizawa was really growling now. He was famous like Eri here too, just in an entirely different sense. Though their eyes followed him no one approached.

"I'll ask front desk," you're slipping past and jogging over to the first officer that looks at you. "Here for Katsuki Bakugo."

They sigh heavily, "follow me."

"Mr.Bakugo?"

His head snaps up, your voice definetly doesn't belong here. He's got this crazed look, his shoulders strain behind his back. His hands are cuffed tightly, to the point of no circulation, and he's been muzzled. Your blood boils but you're not sure where to direct this anger. His gaze shifts from you over to Aizawa, his body tenses, so does your Dads.

Aizawa sighs, he kisses his teeth, grabs hold of Eri and turns his back to the both of you. "I'm gonna use that reputation of mine." He's gone. It's you, the blonde, and a guard.

"Could you- could you please remove the muzzle?" It brings you discomfort.

"Not sure that's safe."

"Please," though a pleading word you state it as a demand. The muzzle is removed. "Bakugo?" You sigh, shifting your weight awkwardly. "You can't just ignore me. I'm at a police station, with my family, because of you."

He leans forward, looking up at you from that position, his dog tags glimmer under the light. "'Was just a bar fight."

"Over what? I'm not gonna bail you out for being ignorant. We don't even know each other like that."

"I wasn't being ignorant. This chick wouldn't leave my friend alone, just kept hitting on him and hitting on him. It was harassment."

"Don't tell me you hit her," equal rights, equal fights but.. Well he did seem kind of brutal.

"Some guy got me before I could do shit."

"Who?"

"Security. Said I was too rowdy, shouldn't being getting nippy with her like that. She was fucking harassing my friend."

"You fought security?"

"Bastard deserved it," he shrugged, slouching back into the wall.

"Ok, so why me? Why not your friend?"

The blonde rose from where he sat on the frigid metal bench. He walked over to you with heavy steps, his frame towering you in an oddly familiar way. His head ducked down just slightly, tilting the smallest bit just before he took in a deep breath. "Met you two days ago, and your fuckin' scent won't leave me alone. I don't get it," he shook his head slowly, "I really don't get it." Red eyes looked up at you from where his head still hung low. "Sedated," his fangs caught in the light, "and out of control," another deep breath. "All I wanted was your fucking smell."

"You gotta be smarter kid, they're gonna start revoking things from you if you don't know how to act." Shota had rejoined the two of you. Bakugo straightened up, meeting Aizawa in the eyes. He seemed less solemn and resigned this time, clearly more confident and repowered. "Thought you would of grown out of this temper."

"You know him," you turned to look at your Father.

"Taught him back in the academy."

Small fucking world.

Bakugo opened his mouth to speak but you cut him off, "it wasn't his fault. Well not really- there's a lot of technicalities. He was doing a good thing."

"You didn't see the pictures." Shota shifted to further analyze the boy, "why so brutal?"

"Lost my shit," he couldn't meet his superior in the eye.

"Why? You're never that unhinged, you got better, you were better."

"They fucked up my hormones, alright." Bakugo glared at you, "Dammit I've been wound so tight for no reason, always on fuckin' edge. It's like I don't know how to chill anymore."

"I hope you really don't think that's gonna win them over."

Yeah 'cause that totally didn't work on you. Totally.

"Not trynna win them over, just confused," he mumbled.

"What never been in a sex ed class before?"

"Dad," what was with his attitude? "We've all had a rough day let's just go home."

"My day wasn't rough," he glared back at Bakugo, "he made it rough."

"It's not his fault Dad really, don't take it out on him." Though that's exactly what you wanted to do too.

"Remember that conversation in the car?" He had turned around to whisper into your ear, "here's where that comes into play."

You shook it off, "so what are we gonna do?"

"You come home with me," Bakugo was surprisingly quick to reply. Aizawa gave you a look as if to say 'I told you so.'

Your eyes scanned over all of them before you nodded, "yeah, ok."

[strayflowersstarsandlove]

𝙴𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚆𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚝 - a Han Jisung short au!fanfic

PART 6

💫PART 7💫

Another sleepless night. Another day. Another bleary morning where you slip into your routine. Go to work, come back home, heat up some ultra processed canned meal, another groundhog day feeling like a crazy person over the radio silence on Han's side.

It's 6.30 pm and you're restless. You barely pick at the spaghetti in your bowl and dial up the same number once again, it goes to voicemail, predictably. Shit. Fuck. You groan and spring to your feet.

This has to end, you can't go on like this. It's not something you've ever thought you'd ever do but here you are, turning on the ignition and speeding down the road, headed to Han's apartment. He has to talk to you. He has to face this. Your heart needs to be put to a rest or else you're going to implode.

You spend the whole 35 minuets drive mentally preparing for the moment you'll see him, going over and over your speech as it frantically forms in your head with every mile you drive. As soon as you pull up to his driveway your mouth goes dry. Every single thought in your head disappears and you're just climbing out of your car and waking up to his door by pure inertia, your brain empty, your instincts kicking in, driven by mere impulsiveness.

You ring the bell a few times, impatiently knock on his door as well, silently praying no other resident will walk up on you looking like a dishevelled lunatic who didn't even bother changing out of her fuzzy pink sweats and battered Uggs boots. No answer. You helplessly look around the hallway. Looking for God knows what kind of signal he might have left.

For all you know he might be hiding inside, refusing to acknowledge you cause he's being a coward. "Han Jisung please open this fucking door", you exclaim once, frustratedly knocking a few more times, to no avail. You try to press your ear to the hard, reinforced surface of the door, trying to listen to any noise that might be coming from the inside. But you hear nothing.

Eyeing the little pass code activated electronic lock on the side, the wild, deranged thought of punching in a random code flashes in your mind but you immediately hold yourself back from even trying to hover your hand above the touch pad.

An old lady with a lovely bouquet of pink flowers and a white crocheted cat shaped bag walks past you, she smiles politely at you and greets you briefly, and you try your best to look casual, bowing slightly to her in greeting, "are you waiting for your friend, darling?", she asks curiously, stopping before her door, "y-yeah, he lives here, we were supposed to meet a few minutes ago but I guess he might be... napping?", you blurt out, a deep shaded of pink creeping up your cheeks.

The nice lady purses her lips and taps her chin cutely, lively eyes lighting up in realisation once she gives the door to Han's apartment a quick glance over," ah! The nice young man with the the bright smile! What a lovely boy he is, I think he left a few days ago with another handsome fellow, he had a little packet of cat food with him, he even gave it to my little darling, Mee", she elaborates, opening the door to her apartment, a white fluffy cat with green eyes peeking out from the door frame.

You weren't going to get a speeding ticket on a regular thursday night but your foot did push down dangerously hard onto your gas pedal more than once. Minho didn't even live that far from Han but the urge you felt rushing through your veins made you drive there almost too exceedingly fast.

With sweaty palms and wobbly legs, you climb out of the car and walk up to the doorbell, ringing twice: this is the moment, you think. Here goes nothing, he's either going to yell at you for basically stalking him or break down into tears cause he realised he missed you. Though that might just be your sleep deprived brain talking.

Minho curses under his breath and scrambles to the door, his face falling the second he sees you standing there behind the gate, eyes bloodshot and watery, your whole demeanor so subdued and miserable: "y/n? What are you doing here?", he doesn't wait for your answer, instead he just opens the gate with a click of a button on his front door video intercom and then quickly walks up to you.

It's not properly disappointment the emotion you're feeling right now but it's still somewhat resembling the feeling of being let down, even though you know you did it all on yourself, this isn't a movie or a novel, happy endings just don't write themselves like that.

Minho approaches you cautiously, concern written all over his face, big eyes poring into yours as he nears your trembling body: "is he here? Please tell me he's here and he's okay", is all you can say before the floodgates open and you're overcome with rugged breaths and loud cries.

The dark haired boy hesitates, he reaches out to pat your hair gently, his voice soft and whispery, "it's alright, y/n, it's alright", he coos, "he is here. He's basically been camping here for the past week and a half. He's sleeping right now. I can't even access my own bed room cause he moved himself in there and won't get out", he tries, slipping a soft giggle in his words.

Meager relief, at least you know he's not completely shutting everyone out. You knew Han well enough to know he knew how to keep a grudge when upset but mostly, you knew he sometimes despised his head enough to get lost in it and let it swallow him up to the point where he didn't let anyone in.

Minho's perceptiveness pleasantly surprises you when he motions for you to give him a little side hug, like he knew you needed that, even though he's not that into physical closeness like that, "I've been looking after him, he's eating his meals and getting all the sleep. I know you're wondering if he's beating himself up over what he did: he is. He hasn't been very kind to himself, I'm sure if he feels bad you must feel ten times worse. For what is worth, I'm sorry, little one", he says calmly, using his fingers to dab away at tears still pooling in the corners of your eyes.

You nod quietly and sniffle, "I-thank you. He-he's been ignoring me for days I thought he was... I thought he was mad at me and mad at himself and maybe not doing so good and I'm-I'm going insane, Min. I need him. I need to talk to him and I need to talk to Felix and I can't do either and it feels like I'm loosing it", you ramble, feeling the sting of the fresh unshed tears beading beneath your lashes.

Minho nods in understanding and pats your head, "he's not mad at you. He never was. You know how he can be sometimes, a little too impulsive. He's been agonizing over you for so long he just combusted that night. I might have suggested to him to act fast if he cared enough about you and about his sanity the most, I had no idea he would straight up confess and break the news over Yongbokie, that wasn't his place to do that, but I believe he did so cause he's genuinely, madly in love with you, he was really on his last resort".

He's is in love with you. It's not even the first time you hear that, Han said it himself. Yet the weight of those words still crushes your soul in the best way possible. It makes your heart pound so hard in your chest it physically hurts. What about Felix though. His spirit would certainly be destroyed if he knew about any of this.

You ponder on your words for a second, your eyes focusing in the distance first, on the bedroom window in the front part of the house where you know Han is sleeping. "I feel like... I feel like I've been blind this whole time, and now there's too many colors and the lights are too bright and I can't see clear. I want to say I'm in love with him too, but I can't shake the heaviness from my heart, cause Felix is my best friend... no offense", "none taken", Minho chuckles, rubbing your arm slightly.

"You'll be okay, you'll figure it out. If the both of your are serious enough about your feelings for each other and the mutual respect for our blue haired angel, you'll find a way to coexist with that heaviness. But you need to face it together".

A few more days go by. They all kind of merge one into another. You try to send Felix funny memes and have basic conversations here and there but it feels like play pretend all the while. You're sure he can tell you're not being 100% yourself, even more so when texts start popping up in your group chat with the boys and you never reply.

When Chan suggest you all meet for drinks one night, you quickly make up some excuse about being sick and turn off your phone, not before seeing the chat fill up with hearts and get well soon wishes which only make you cry cause you miss your friends and you wish you could turn back time and remain blissfully ignorant and enjoy your time with them without worrying about either breaking your own heart or Felix's. Or both.

It's past 9pm already and with no plans for your Friday night beside wallowing in your own pity party, you jump into a scalding hot shower, making sure you're blasting your music as loud as possible, hoping the steam from the hot water and the songs on your playlist will drown out your intermittent crying.

You don't necessarily feel better once you step out but clean hair and a lotioned up, hydrated body do feel like a little treat despite the mental state you're in. You throw on a black tank top and some shorts and gather up the used towels and laundry, your hair still damp and falling into your face when you have to bend down to pick up a sock that fell out of your dirty laundry pile.

And then the door bell rings. And you hit your head on the side of the sink from the jolt. Shit. Grumbling and pressing your hand on the back of your head, you quickly run downstairs, the door bell still ringing and ringing. Exasperated and annoyed by your clumsiness, you thrust the door open without even checking the peephole first.

🥀PART 8

[werecat1234]

Merging Timelines Chapter Nineteen

Dust appeared in the subconscious, looking around for Killer, and found him sitting on the 'floor', his back to him. Dust could see his knees were pulled up to his chest, and he could hear thick, black Broken Determination splattering on his clothes and the floor of the void, coming out of his eye sockets in thick globs. Dust walked over to him, putting his hand on Killer's shoulder, and Killer flinched, jumping back and firing a Gaster Blaster at him. Dust's eye sockets widened in surprise, and he teleported out of the way.

"killer, what the hell?!" Dust asked, looking him over.

Broken Determination was pouring out of his eye sockets in thick globs, and his soul looked... mangled. It looked like it was loosely drawn by a marker or pen, in squiggles that rapidly changed, but kept the vague form of a target, though it drooped down towards the middle, like a heart. His eye sockets were empty as usual, but the Broken Determination was coming out of his eye sockets and mouth much more than Dust had ever seen. Dust looked over at the blast mark, before looking back at Killer.

"hey, it's ok. it's just me. you ok?" Dust asked him, and Killer just stared at him. 

Dust sighed, and took a step towards him. Killer took a step back, hands shaking and his soul swirling more erratically, and a few sharp bones summoned behind himself. Dust held up his hands in a harmless manner, trying to show he wasn't going to hurt him. He had no idea what the hell was going on right now, but he knew he needed to calm Killer down. 

"killer, it's ok. it's me, dust. your friend? your teammate? any of these ringing bells?" Dust asked, trying to get him to recognize him. 

Killer stared at him for a moment, Broken Determination dripping down from his mouth and eye sockets, splattering and plopping down on the floor. The bones disappeared, and Dust took another step forward, and upon being met with no hostility, he took another. Killer's soul got more erratic, and Dust froze, not moving and watching his soul settle down before taking a step forward again. Dust played red light green light with Killer's soul for a few moments before being a step away from him, and Killer was watching him, hands twitching, especially his left hand, like he was trying to grab for something that wasn't there. Dust put his hand on Killer's shoulder, keeping his movements slow and deliberate, and he kept eye contact with Killer the whole time.

"it's ok. you're ok. i promise, i won't hurt you." Dust told him, and Killer didn't say anything, "you're ok, killer. i won't hurt you, i promise."

"... i need to attack something." Killer said after a moment, looking right at him.

Dust nodded a bit, hoping Killer didn't mean him, and he looked around, "ok, do you want me to make some training dummies? would that help you?"

Killer shrugged, and Dust sighed. Training dummies it is. Dust created multiple training dummies, and Killer had immediately lunged at them, slashing at them with his knife, a red slash flying straight through several of them, and cut them all clean in half. Dust made more of them, letting Killer attack them for as long as he needed to, and he created around a hundred of them, maybe more, and lunged at them himself, trying to show Killer 'I'm on your side, relax'.

Killer gave him an odd look at first, before he went back to destroying the training dummies with ease. He summoned a Gaster Blaster, blasting through a row of them, and Dust made sure to stay out of the way when he did. Killer's attacks were wild and erratic, and Dust was making sure to stay out of his way so he didn't get caught in the crossfire. After a while, Killer seemed to become less and less aggressive, and Dust tried approaching him again once Killer destroyed the last dummy.

Killer let him approach, and Dust made sure to keep his movements slow. Dust saw his soul rounding out again, becoming a rough shape of a target, and Dust took that as a good sign. Dust got closer, watching the Broken Determination slow down more and more as Dust approached. Dust was right in front of him after a minute, and slowly, loosely pulled him into a hug. Killer went completely tense, and Dust kept his arms loose in case Killer wanted to back away. He didn't, though, and he slowly hugged him back. Killer let out a shaky breath, gripping his jacket tightly, and Dust rubbed his back slowly.

"it's ok." Dust told him quietly, rubbing his back, "you're alright. just take your time. you're safe, i won't let anything hurt you."

They stayed like that for a minute, and Killer slowly pulled away, his soul stabilizing fully into it's regular form, and Killer looked away, wiping the Broken Determination off of his own face, flicking some of it onto the floor.

"you with me?" Dust asked him.

"... yeah, i... yeah, thanks..." Killer thanked him quietly.

"you're welcome." Dust replied.

Dust made a bench appear, and sat down on it, gesturing for Killer to do the same. Thankfully, he did, and Killer sat there staring at his hands for a moment.

"you doing ok?" Dust asked him, and Killer turned his head in the other direction.

"i'm fine." Killer told him.

"that's a lie and we both know it. what the hell just happened?" Dust asked him.

"memory issues?" Killer asked, and Dust could tell his teasing tone was clearly forced.

"no, no. i remember, but i'm still confused..." Dust said.

"that was stage three. knew it'd pop up at some point, but... i didn't expect it to happen now. you... handled that surprisingly well. no wonder you're the leader." Killer said. 

"i thought that was just because i was the strategist?" Dust asked, and Killer went quiet, and Dust felt the need to ask an important question, "why did you react like that when i told you not to hurt them? why did you listen?"

"because you told me to." Killer said.

"that doesn't explain anything, and you know that." Dust sighed, "you... killer, the way you froze up... it was instant. why? what the hell was that?..."

Killer down at the floor, Broken Determination still dripping down from his eye sockets. He was silent for a few moments, and Dust waited patiently for him to respond.

Killer took a deep breath, before saying, "chara turned me into a living weapon. a tool. it's all i am. i'm meant to attack who i'm told. you told me to stop, so i stopped."

Dust stared at him in shock for a moment, before saying, "killer, i... you're not a weapon. you're a monster, like the rest of us. you have feelings, thoughts, a personality, and motivations. you aren't some... some tool." 

"whatever you say..." Killer said.

"no!" Dust snapped, and Killer looked up at him, confused, "you're not a damn attack dog, killer!"

Killer looked away from him again, and Dust sighed.

Killer spoke again after a moment, "in my timeline, after we did several genocide routes together, chara started telling me which ones i got to kill and which ones they got to kill. they... they kept that up, and after my soul changed, it stuck." 

Dust sighed, looking down before looking back at Killer, "look, you don't need to do that here, killer. that chara isn't here. the chara from my timeline isn't here. everything is fine."

"it doesn't matter." Killer said.

"yes it does. do what you want to, damnit." Dust glared at him.

"fine, then i want to listen to you." Killer replied.

"that's not what i meant, killer, and you know that." Dust sighed in irritation.

Killer was silent, and Dust waited for a moment to see if Killer would say anything. It took a minute or two for Dust to try talking to him again.

"killer?" Dust asked.

"what?" Killer asked.

"... why did you make me leader? not the 'you're the strategist' crap. no, the real reason." Dust said.

Killer went silent, looking away from him, and Dust put his hand on his shoulder, getting him to look back at him.

"please?" Dust requested, looking into his eye sockets.

Killer sighed, before saying, "you know how it feels to watch everyone you know get killed over and over. you were smarter than i was because you could figure things out when i couldn't. you're smart, you're tactical, you know how lv highs feel and you know how it feels to kill everyone you know... you're stronger than me, you're more stable mentally, and i... consider you a friend." 

"killer... friends don't order their friends around, and if they do, those friends aren't obligated to follow those orders. that's not how friendships work." Dust said.

"it's how my friendship with cha-" Dust cut Killer off.

"let me stop you right there, killer. that is not a damn friendship. that is a damn toxic, disturbing, twisted act of manipulation in order to get you to do what they wanted you to. they rewired your damn mind, and i... killer, that's not a friendship." Dust told him sternly. 

"but-" Killer started, and Dust cut him off a second time.

"no. no buts. you are a monster. not a weapon. ok? you're my friend, killer. you aren't a damn tool. don't even think about yourself as one..." Dust told him.

"fine, boss...' Killer mumbled.

"don't even-" Dust stopped as Killer smirked a little, snickering slightly. Dust sighed, before continuing, "damnit, killer, this is serious."

"yeah, yeah, i know... . . . you're still the leader of the team though. i'm still gonna listen to you." Killer said.

"... fine. as your leader, that's fine. as your friend... don't feel like you need to listen to me, ok? i don't want that. can you do that?" Dust asked him.

"ok, i can... i'm still gonna call you boss to piss you off though." Killer smirked, and Dust groaned. Killer wrapped an arm around Dust's shoulders, and said quietly, "thank you for uh... earlier. with stage three. and uh... sorry i fired a gaster blaster at you."

"it's fine." Dust reassured him, knowing he'd been extremely upset.

Killer was silent, before saying, "i'll try helping with chara out there. you're right, and i know them... besides, i don't want you out there dealing with them without me."

"killer, you don't have to-" Killer cut Dust off.

"yes, i do. besides, i... i need to get over this." Killer said.

"... if you're sure." Dust said, and Killer nodded, "... ok. when you're ready to head out there, we can."

"i'm ready. ... hey, uh... can you keep what i told you a secret?"

"yeah, sure." Dust nodded, and Killer smiled slightly, vanishing, and Dust followed him out.

Sans was still processing what had just happened seconds before, and Undyne spoke up, "What the hell?"

"he doesn't like chara much. they messed his head up bad in his timeline. i've seen some of it, and it's rough. sans has seen more than i have, and he can tell you it's bad." Horror said.

"yeah it's bad..." Sans agreed quietly.

"I don't blame him either, not after what I saw..." Chara said, and Sans looked over at them in surprise.

"what?" Sans asked.

Chara looked off to the side, sighing quietly, "you aren't the only one remembering things..."

Sans's jaw dropped.

"wait, what?" Horror asked.

"how?" Sans asked.

"... Right, Frisk never explained... Sans, we might want to have this conversation where Undyne can't get pissed and Papyrus can't get sad." Chara said.

"No. Right here, right now." Undyne said firmly, "I wanna know how all this is happening. Right now."

"I DO TOO." Papyrus spoke up.

Chara sighed, before saying, "Fine.. A while back, Frisk did a genocide route, and their Determination woke me from death. I told them I'd let them Reset the timeline if they gave me their soul, and they accepted. When they gave it to me, it split their mind into five fractions, and a different one took control each Reset."

"why don't you let them end the loop? why do you keep forcing resets?" Sans asked.

"Humans are dangerous, and I... I'm trying to save you. They just don't give up. Skyler finally had the right idea, but everything fell apart, and I... I panicked. I didn't want to..." Chara looked down, "I just want everyone to get along."

"then why didn't you reset with karter and iggy?" Sans asked Chara skeptically.

"Because they had enough Determination to where I couldn't hijack control from them. I wanted to, I did, especially during Karter's route..." Chara answered.

"What h-happened then?" Alphys asked.

"paps got killed, and dust killed karter, got the timeline to reload, and then saved him by taking the blow for himself. don't worry, he survived. he's got tons of hp." Sans said.

"... How did he survive if you have 1 HP?" Undyne asked him, narrowing her eye at him.

"this'll be fun..." Horror said, leaning on a machine, reaching up to his face with his right hand, the edges of his fingers going into his right eye socket, hooked on the inside.

"that's uh... complicated, undyne.." Sans said.

"Undyne, don't get angry, ok?" Chara requested.

"... Why would I be angry?" Undyne asked.

"A-Assuming the r-reason D-Dust is c-covered in... w-well, dust.... umm... he p-probably..." Alphys trailed off.

"PROBABLY WHAT?" Papyrus asked. 

"... He didn't." Undyne turned to Sans, glaring at him.

"him and killer didn't have a choice. both were in a genocide loop. dust lasted between one to three years of it before killing everyone for lv to be able to beat the human, and killer... he lasted around two and a half decades before the chara from his world convinced him to kill everyone with them. it all went downhill from there." Sans said.

Silence. Then...

"HE WHAT?!?!" Undyne exploded in rage.

"OH MY GOD..." Papyrus muttered, looking shocked and said.

"h-holy crap..." Alphys whispered in horror.

"I told you not to get mad..." Chara muttered, and Sans looked over at them. He could see where Killer picked up the smart mouth from.

Undyne was fuming, looking like she was going to punch a hole into a wall.

She glared daggers at Sans as she asked in shocked anger, "AND YOU'RE OK WITH THIS?!"

"no, i'm not, but i also saw and experienced what they did leading up to it. neither of them wanted to. the amount of mental breakdowns i've experienced them having is insane. dust hates what he did, but he didn't have a choice. killer did it because the chara from his timelines told him it was a one time thing and then they'd stop. he refused them like two hundred times, undyne. after over two decades of watching everyone die. watching papyrus die. i understand you're angry, but you don't know what they've been through." Sans glared right back at her.

"You're defending them?! Why?! Have they done it here?! Have you?!" Undyne asked.

"U-Undyne! y-you're b-being i-irrational!" Alphys told her.

"No I'm not!" Undyne yelled back at her.

"dust has saved your sorry butt during the genocide timelines! he's saved everyone because he knows how! he only started his own genocide run because the chara in his timeline found out how to get past the evacuation bunker. otherwise he would've continued saving everyone until the brat gave up. killer tried saving everyone but wasn't as successful. they both went through hell, undyne. i know personally, i saw it. they haven't killed anyone here, and dust only killed flowey once because flowey killed the kid and brought horror here from the timeline being reloaded, and made some... remarks he shouldn't have." Sans told Undyne sternly, "i know them, undyne. you don't."

Undyne grumbled angrily, glaring at a wall.

"'sides, they're not the only ones who have done messed up crap for the 'better good', undyne. your ledger ain't clean either" Horror spoke up, and everyone looked over at him.

"What are you talking about?" Undyne asked him, "I'd never kill an innocent!"

Sans started whistling, looking off to the side.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, BROTHER?" Papyrus asked Horror.

"well, the undyne in my timeline... uhh... hey paps, you wanna take off that headset for a sec?" Horror asked.

"WHY?" Papyrus asked.

"you're not gonna wanna seee what i'm about to show undyne." Horror moved his right hand from his eye socket to the back of the hood.

"oh boy..." Sans muttered.

"What is it?" Chara asked.

"you didn't see it?" Sans asked them.

Chara shook their head no, "I saw Dust and Killer's timelines. I never saw Horror's... I wasn't there."

"... look away, kid." Sans advised.

"I've seen experienced some messed up stuff.... like him cutting fingers off and mutilating an arm..." Chara said.

"W-Wait what?" Alphys asked in surprise.

". . . i have three sadists in my head." Sans sighed.

"i had to convince 'em to reset somehow..." Horror muttered.

"BROTHER, I DON'T WANT TO LOOK AWAY. IF YOU ARE WOUNDED, I WOULD MUCH PREFER TO SEE IT INSTEAD OF BE IGNORANT TO AN INJURY." Papyrus said.

"it's more a scar than anything. nothing can be done for it, so you don't need to freak out. i don't want you having nightmares." Horror said.

"SANS, I STILL WANT TO SEE." Papyrus said stubbornly, "I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! I CAN HANDLE ANYTHING!"

Horror sighed, "paps, as your big brother, i'm telling you it's bad."

"AND AS YOUR LITTLE BROTHER, I AM TELLING YOU I'LL BE OK!" Papyrus replied.

Horror sighed, his right eye socket twitching, before sighing again. He pulled down the hood, revealing the hole in his skull, and everyone was horrified. Alphys looked like she was about to throw up, Undyne looked horrified and angry, Papyrus looked extremely worried and concerned, and Chara's jaw dropped, their eyes wide.

"W-Who... WHO DID THIS?!" Undyne asked in anger.

"you did." Horror told her bluntly, and she froze, and so did everyone else in the room but Sans.

". . . What?..." Undyne asked in shock.

"in my timeline, the kid did a neutral route, killed asgore, and left. then toriel returned, and said all humans that fell would be treated as friends. then you started a coup because you hated humans, and she went back to the ruins. then you took over, and started trying to find a way out. then the core shut down. you assigned me to fix it, and i worked on it for months. i found a way to power it, told alphys, and the drawback was she could lose her voice, and you know what she did?" Horror asked, getting angry thinking about what happened.

"horror..." Sans started, but trailed off; he knew Horror wouldn't do anything too extreme.

"... What'd she do?" Undyne asked.

"she didn't tell you! oh no, instead, she told you my eye could power the core, but you'd have to kill me for it. sure, you refused at first, but then... well... you see, no one was too stable at that point, between starvation and all that, but anyways, yeah, you listened. used a little device to steal my eye, and did this." Horror pointed at the hole in his skull, and she looked horrified, "then i... did some things i will uh... decidedly not talk about, and yeah, didn't end well. point is, sans here isn't the only one who has a variant with innocent blood on their hands."

"I.... Oh my god..." Undyne looked sick, "Sa- ... Horror, I'm... I'm sorry, man I... God... I don't even have words..."

Horror shrugged, "eh, don't worry about it. wasn't you. technically. yet. just don't blow up at sans over what those two did. i mean, i don't approve of it either, actually i'm still pissed, but... i know they didn't have other options, and i know they got more than their fair shares of karma. hell, killer's soul is... i don't even know what it is anymore, and dust feels horrible about what he did. he's trying to do everything he can to make it up to you guys even if you didn't know what he did. killer... he's a bit different, but he's not running around killing everyone. he mainly just stirs up trouble and is an annoyance."

"killed actually helps out in fights sometimes. he knows how to avoid killing, and damn is he fast..." Sans replied.

"yeah, killer's fast as hell." Horror agreed.

"I... fine. Sans, I'm sorry. I don't blame you for their actions. I... damn.." Undyne said.

"BROTHER, I... I AM SO SORRY YOU WENT THROUGH ALL OF THAT." Papyrus told Horror, frowning.

"eh, it's fine. i got payback anyways. also sans, mind eating something soon?" Horror asked.

"yeah, i can. ... what do you think dust and killer are doing? think killer's ok?" Sans asked.

Horror shrugged, "no clue. killer looked uh... not ok."

"Yeah, what was up with that black stuff anyways?" Undyne asked.

"it's broken determination." Sans explained.

"B-Broken D-Determination?!?!" Alphys asked in shock, "H-How is that p-possible?!"

"The version of me in his timeline needs to die." Chara said.

"yeah..." Sans muttered an agreement.

"M-Monster's can h-hardly e-even have D-Determination! H-How w-would he?! D-Do you have it?!" Alphys asked.

"it's uh... complicated. let's just say i'm unique. yaaaaaaaay" Sans said sarcastically.

"YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE SUFFERING IN ALL OF THIS. I... DON'T BELIEVE THAT'S A GOOD WAY TO BE UNIQUE, BROTHER..."

Sans and Horror simultaneously gave each other a look basically saying 'good thing Killer isn't here right now'.

"What was that look for?" Undyne asked.

"inside thing." Sans said.

Killer appeared on the other side of the room, sending a look at Chara, and Dust appeared next to Killer. Sans saw the large amount of Broken Determination stains, and he knew something happened in there. Luckily, though, Killer seemed to be doing better.

"you alright, buddy?" Horror asked Killer, causing the others to turn in his direction and see them.

"yeah, i'm alright." Killer said, and looked at his uncovered skull, "they know about the hole situation?"

Sans gave a questioning look to Dust, not believing that.

Horror sighed, and replied, "yes, they know. and stop with the damn puns."

Killer snickered in response, smirking.

Dust sighed, and told Sans, "he went into stage three and it was.. uh... yeah. anyways, he's fine now."

"wait, hold on, he went into stage three?!" Sans asked in shock; he'd never seen that.

"Wait, what's going on?" Undyne asked.

"killer's soul has different stages, and uh... well, we've seen one and two, but i just saw stage three." Dust answered.

"how bad was it?" Horror asked, and Killer and Dust exchanged glances.

"welll....."

"it wasn't too bad once i figured out what to do. almost got hit by a gaster blaster though." Dust said.

"ARE YOU OK?" Papyrus asked him.

"dusty's got 850 hp. he's good." Killer replied, and Dust sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"850?!?!" Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys exclaimed.

Dust sighed again, replying, "yup..."

"Damn... I didn't think you had that much..." Chara muttered.

"yeah, i mean it's got nothing on mine, but still." Killer shrugged.

"what even is yours?" Horror asked. 

Killer walked over to him, grinning, and pulled up his stats, and Horror's eye sockets widened in shock, his eye shrinking.

"tada~" Killer grinned wider.

"jesus christ, killer!" Horror said.

"wait wait wait, how high is it?" Dust asked, teleporting over, and his eyelights turned red and cyan as his eye sockets widened, "how the hell?!?!"

Killer chuckled, replying, "my soul has it's advantages~ i build up lv and stats a bit quicker~"

"dude, i'm at 20, how the hell are you- nevermind, i don't even wanna know..." Dust sighed.

"wait, what is it?" Sans asked.

The three of them looked up, Horror and Dust surprised, and Killer smug.

"it's high." Horror said.

"great..." Sans sighed, "can we get back on topic, please."

"Thank you." Undyne thanked him, and turned to Dust and Killer, "So, Sans explained your timelines."

Dust looked away, pulling his hood up further, and Killer sighed, "you can't exactly do much to us, so..."

"That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is, be on your best damn behavior." Undyne gave Killer a firm look.

"relax, if i wanted to kill anyone, i would have, and dust won't either, he has no reason to." Killer told her.

"... Fine. Just know that if you do-" Killer cut Undyne off.

"you'll make us regret it, yeah yeah, i know. look, fish sticks, you can't hurt us without hurting lucky, and besides... pretty sure we've experienced much worse than anything you consider torture."

Undyne sighed, glaring at him.

"killer, don't antagonize her." Sans sighed, though he could see Horror hiding a smirk, "you three are awful."

"hey, i'm the tame one out of them!" Dust defended himself.

"dust, we both know when you get sleep deprived you're horrible to deal with." Sans said, and Dust went silent.

"SLEEP DEPRIVED?" Papyrus asked, "BUT YOU ALWAYS SLEEP..."

"wel-~"

"killer!"

"killer, don't!"

"killer, i swear..."

"Wait, was he gonna-" Undyne cut herself off in realization.

"GOING TO WHAT?" Papyrus asked.

Chara sighed a bit, "Nothing, Papyrus, don't worry about it..."

Sans sighed, "can we please get back on topic?" Upon receiving nods, Sans sighed in relief, "thank you. dust, killer, you two should probably get caught up on what we know so far."

"yeah, that's be helpful." Dust nodded.

"ok. so basically, the kid did a genocide route, gave their soul to chara, chara gave them the ability to reset the timeline, but when they'd handed over their soul, something went wrong and it split into five pieces, hence the five personalities. chara can take control during a pacifist route, but not during genocide, because they don't have the whole soul and the brat's too determined. chara keeps forcing resets because humans are dangerous, and they're trying to keep everyone from being hurt. oh, and they can see nightmares of what they did in your and killer's timelines, but not horror's" Sans summed up.

"well, that explains some things..." Killer muttered.

"yeah. chara, you need to realize i can protect everyone, ok? trust me, humans wouldn't touch a single monster soul." Dust said/

"I still don't want to take that risk, and I am truly sorry for what's happening to all of you, but... I can't allow any monsters to get hurt permanently." Chara said.

"you think they aren't getting hurt right now? i can see on their faces that they can recognize me and dust's characteristics, and undyne's got some determination. you really think she won't get memories occasionally? papyrus had a nightmare about some.... things i said in my timeline, and he was a wreck. this won't be affecting just us and lucky soon. this could affect everyone, and permanently. besides, what if someone else shows up in here? huh? someone we can't stop from killing everyone? you could be dooming this precious timeline, and for what? trying to overprotect everyone? if they're gonna get killed, it's on them. best thing you can do is teach them how to stay safe, and end this damned loop before things get worse, because it can and will, chara." Killer glared at them, "besides, after a while of genocides, you might not care about that. you might take control and do your own genocide routes, start the loop, and get addicted to the lv and exp. look and me and dust, and look at the version of you in our timelines. you're playing with fire here, and sure, i might like a good arsonist spree, i don't think you will."

"I wouldn't do that, Killer. I saw those versions of me, and I'm disgusted." Chara told him.

"you know, i used to think that same thing about you, too." Killer said, and Chara looked away, realizing his point.

"why don't we tell everyone what's going on, give them a training course on how to keep themselves safe, using magic as a last resort, and then you break the barrier?" Horror suggested.

"THAT COULD WORK, BROTHER!" Papyrus told Horror.

"I-It could..." Alphys spoke up, looking up from a desk with charts on it.

"We could make an agreement with the human governments too, couldn't we?" Undyne asked.

Dust nodded, "yeah, maybe. killer, you watched tv, how often did that crap work?"

"often enough. at least, until someone got upset and decided to try killing everyone because they disproved of it." Killer answered.

"If they tried that, couldn't they be arrested? Couldn't we put in a treaty or something for that to be a condition?" Undyne asked.

"WHY WOULD THEY FEEL THE NEED TO TAKE VIOLENT MEASURES IN THE FIRST PLACE? WHY CAN'T WE ALL GET ALONG?" Papyrus asked, and Killer's eye socket twitched in restrained annoyance, and he took a deep breath before explaining unnervingly calmly.

"because sometimes humans are jerks, papyrus. not all of them, because monsters can be jerks too, but you can't trust everyone you see." Killer explained, voice nearly condescending.

"THAT MAY BE SO, BUT I STILL BELIEVE THEY COULD BE CONVINCED IF WE BELIEVED IN THEM ENOUGH." Papyrus said.

Dust, Horror, and Sans gave Killer a very firm look, and Killer sighed, keeping his mouth shut and leaning against a wall, glaring at the ground with Broken Determination dripping down from his face. Chara sighed, watching after him with a guilty look on their face. 

"What was that about?" Undyne asked.

"killer's uh... complicated." Sans sighed. 

"DID I DO SOMETHING TO UPSET HIM?" Papyrus asked.

"not intentionally, don't worry about it." Dust reassured him. 

"How did he upset him, though?..." Undyne asked.

Horror sighed, "it's complicated. not papyrus's fault. killer just uh... has some issues." Horror turned to Chara, "so, you gonna at least give us a shot at getting out of the loop? if it gets bad, you can reset, and we could plan it out to.... avoid the issues."

Sans knew Horror intended to just kill anyone who would start up another war, but he wasn't going to say that out loud. He'd discourage it later when everyone wasn't wearing headsets. 

Chara looked thoughtful for a moment, before sighing, "... Ok."

Dust, Killer, and Sans all looked at Chara immediately, Sans feeling hopeful and shocked.

"really?" Sans asked.

"Yes... Killer's right. It... It's more dangerous to everyone for this to continue, and you don't deserve to live through this... I... I'll give it a try."

Sans hugged them, cyan and yellow tears forming in his eye sockets, and they froze before hugging him back, "thank you, kid. seriously, thank you..."

"You're welcome." Chara replied.

Sans pulled away after a moment, and chuckled, "well, at least that's outta the way. alphys, you've been pretty quiet over there, you find anything?"

"I-I th-think so, but... s-something d-doesn't make s-sense..." Alphys replied.

Sans walked over to her, looking at the charts she was looking at, and Dust and Horror came over to look as well. 

There was several lines, four lines, which Sans assumed to be their timelines, all clustered together, and he could see the spots where they'd intersected. He could also see charts of time anomalies, and then something Alphys was looking at. There was the four lines, and they seemed to have holes in them, smaller lines seeming to tie three of them to the fourth one. The lines were at each of the holes, and it almost looked like something was going back and forth with them.

"that is weird..." Sans muttered, looking through the information.

Alphys brought a piece of paper over to him, containing magic readings on it, and Sans could see clear anomalies in one soul that the machines picked up, like the magic levels were at different levels at different times, and Sans had a feeling it was Dust and Killer based on the magnitude of the energy levels. 

"... hey lucky, dust, horror, i gotta ask you two something." Killer said, looking at the charts.

"oh boy..."

"what is it?" Dust asked.

"yeah?"

"you two ever see someone? like this uh... black blob with a white head and holes in his hands, and two black eyes, a line above and under each one?" Killer asked.

"every now and then..." Horror replied.

"yeah, i saw him i think... he always looked sad. disappeared before i could get close." Dust answered.

"i... vaguely remember seeing someone like that." Sans replied.

"i saw him a few times before i... you know... he was saying 'don't go down the path he did'...." Dust's eye sockets widened, looking at Killer, who looked back at him, "he was talking about you..."

"wait, hold on, this guy's going between our timelines?" Sans asked.

"seems like it. maybe that's how we're getting brought over while chara's just getting nightmares? he's latching onto our souls?" Horror asked.

"that... explains a lot." Killer said. 

"holy crap..." Dust muttered. 

"wait, so this guy's using me, or.. us as a gate between our timelines?" Sans asked.

"I-It a-appears so..." Alphys said.

"that's how it started.... that's how all this crap started..." Sans sighed. 

"I-I th-think he w-was t-trying to h-help you guys... but he e-ended up c-causing th-this..." Alphys said quietly.

"in a way, he did help. me, dust, and horror are here, aren't we?~" Killer asked.

"you... have a point there, actually..." Dust said, "he unintentionally helped us out."

"you guys, sure, but i'm stuck with you and your pasts in my head." Sans sighed.

"sounds like a you problem." Killer smirked, and Dust elbowed him in the ribs, and Killer laughed.

Horror sighed, "well, at least that's answered. now onto the next thing..."

"W-Which is?..." Alphys asked.

"getting the hell out of the underground." Dust said.

"heh, yeah. let's blow this popsicle stand." Killer agreed. 

[catreginae]

Warriors was a weak man at heart. If any animal looked at him with their pleading eyes, he’d cave into whatever they wanted in a second.

Wolfie knew this. Wolfie decided to use it against him.

It had taken the rancher to swallow down his pride and shift into wolf form to be allowed to go out for some fresh air finally, but he didn’t allow it to dampen his mood. He hasn’t been allowed to do anything for weeks after the confrontation with Dink, something as simple as a walk sounded like heaven to him.

“I forgot how pretty Akkala was the last time we came here.”

“It was raining the last time we were here. With how bad that storm was, we nearly lost Wild to the winds, so we didn’t have time to appreciate the scenery.”

“We both know for a fact that if Wild did get swept up, he would’ve been fine and probably enjoyed every second of it.”

“You really are no better than him.”

“Hey!”

Twilight playfully swatted his shoulder, a cackle leaving his lips as he grinned ear to ear. Wars couldn’t help but laugh in turn. It’s been such a long time since they’ve been this carefree, Wars had to admit he missed these moments.

Even if the only reason this was happening at all was because of his weakness to cute animals.

He was still annoyed by that, but he would pretend that it didn’t.

“So, what was it that Wild needed again? He said that the stable master down south will have ‘em.”

“He needed some things for dinner, I think. Said that there was a traveler there that settled for the week selling spices that he wanted to grab before we left the area.”

“Like Goron Spice? Doesn’t he have dozens of those bottles stashed away in that slate of his?”

“You act as if I know these things, Twi, I don’t snoop in his things.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Then beg.”

An elbow was jabbed into Wars’ side, and he busted out laughing before dragging the younger into a loose headlock. He ruffled his hair, watching as Twi tried biting him in attempt to free himself.

“Let me go! I’ll bite ya, don’t think I won’t!”

“Awe, is our rancher unable to escape from little ole me? I’m not even trying.”

“I will throw your bedding into the river if you don’t stop.”

Wars stuck his tongue out and allowed Twi to fall onto the ground with a thud. He let a few colorful threats out as he scrambled back onto his feet, brushing off the dirt that now clung to him.

“You suck.”

“Not as much as you.”

“But, seriously, what was it Wild wanted? I don’t want to waste rupees getting things we don’t even need.”

“We can just ask the guy what things are and see if anything rings a bell. And, if all else fails, we lie and say he didn’t have any left in stock.”

“We ain’t lying to our chef, he’ll lace our dinner with things that’ll make us see the goddesses themselves if he ever finds out.”

“Then we’ll make sure he doesn’t, you dork, easy as that.”

“I hope he makes it so you can’t shit for weeks, Wars, honest to Ordonia.”

Snapping twigs made Wars pause for a moment, his ears twitching slightly. Twilight stopped behind him, his ears seemingly picking up the subtle sounds that surrounded them. The soft thump of Twilight’s heartbeat filled the air, and the soft stench of blood finally reached Wars’ nose.

It made him gag.

“What is that smell? It smells rancid.”

Twilight cupped his hand over his nose, a faint green tinge clinging to his face as his ears drooped slightly. It smelled like a rotting corpse, one that had been left festering in the sun for days. And it was so far away, goddesses only know how horrific it’ll smell once whatever it was got closer.

“No clue. Is it one of those gibdo’s Wild warned us about?”

“He said those things are only in the Gerudo desert, so I doubt it. But, it isn’t anything I recognize. The monster's ‘round here smell doesn’t smell this bad.”

“A lynel, then?”

“No… no it isn’t one of them.”

The sounds of footsteps made the two reach for their swords, eyes trained on the tree line. They could see shadows shifting, the horrid stench only growing closer.

“Excuse me?”

A soft voice spoke from behind them, causing the two to jump back and point their swords at whoever spoke.

The person raised their hands, panic etched across his face as he took a step back.

“Woah, hold your horses. I’m not one of those monsters you gotta worry about.”

The man chuckled, though it seemed force. Wars’ eyes narrowed as he momentarily looked back to where the shadow was, yet when he did nothing was there anymore. As if it was never there at all.

The stench was gone, too.

“Who are you?”

Twilight asked, lowering his sword just enough to allow the man a moment to gather himself.

“I’m a traveler! I came from around Hateno Village, and I’m trying to find somebody. Can you possibly help me?”

The two gave each other glances, clear distrust still lingering in the air. But, Twilight couldn’t help but smile kindly despite that, even if goosebumps were clinging to his skin.

“Sure, who ya’ lookin’ for?”

“A young man, probably around 20 years old? Long blonde hair, blue eyes, burn scars, goes by the name Link?”

“Link, huh? Can’t say I know a Link.”

Twilight clicked his tongue, every single nerve in his body screaming that this guy was bad news. Wars’ hummed in agreement, feigning ignorance as well.

“Truly? I could’ve sworn you two were with him when you went to Tarrey Town.”

“Nope, you must’ve confused our friend with somebody else. Sorry.”

Wars finally pipped up, his grip on his sword tightening ever so slightly.

“Are you sure? Because I’m certain you both are named Link as well.”

There was no time for the two to think before the man lunged, a croaked dagger in hand. An ugly glimmer shone in his eyes, malicious and full of hate and a smile upon his lips. It all happened so quickly, in less then a second… Warriors couldn’t even react before it was to late.

The dagger was already buried deeply into the front of Twilight’s throat, gurgled yelps of pain being the only sound between them all.

“Shit!”

Wars lunged at the man, one hand reaching for his bag to grab the fairy he always kept on hand. It’ll be fine, he told himself, he’ll deal with the guy and heal his brother before things get any worse-

“Looking for this?”

Another voice cackled behind him, causing Wars to snap his head back. Another man, wearing a red tightsuit and a white mask, playfully twirled both his and Twilight’s pouches in his hands. His eyes widened, horror filling his veins.

He didn’t even realize he was moving before he had his hands around the man’s throat, squeezing tightly to force him to drop the bags. But, that only allowed the second assailant to toss Twilight aside, grabbing the now discarded bags with a cackle of his own.

“You really are stupid! I thought this would’ve been harder considering what you are~”

He holds the bags up, smiling widely, before disappearing in a shroud of smoke. The man Wars had in his grasp followed soon after, leaving behind nothing but their dropped weapons.

Warriors’ heartbeat thundered in his ears as he looked around, nothing but panic filling him as he darted towards where Twilight was thrown. Goddesses, he can barely sense a heartbeat from him, it was so faint and weak.

He grabs the younger into his arms, pressing a hand against the wound on his neck in a hopeless attempt to stop the bleeding. Twilight was barely responding, his eyes fluttering as he weakly grabbed at Wars’ wrist. Blood coated his lips and chin, harsh coughs causing his wound to gush even more.

“H-hey it’ll be okay, right? I’ll figure this out…”

Wars cooed, tears forming at the edges of his eyes.

He hadn’t forgotten the fear and horror he felt when Twilight nearly died mere weeks ago, but having to hold him as he clung onto life so desperately was another thing entirely.

Was this what Time felt?

Twilight gulped, a shaky smile on his lips as he gently brushed away the tears that had left his eyes. Of course he’d be comforting Wars in this moment, even as he danced with death. He hated seeing his brothers cry.

Wars was saying… something. Twilight didn’t know what, his words sounding almost underwater. Everything felt so slow, too, it made Twilight feel tired.

He felt Wars gently tilt his head back, he didn’t put up much a fight. He was just checking the wound, he told himself, to see how it’ll need to be stitched if they were to return his body to Ordon when he dies.

Oh, he hopes Colin will be busy when they do return his corpse. He can’t imagine how saddened his baby brother will feel seeing him in such a state. He never got the chance to watch him grow stronger.

“I… orr- ight-”

What did Warriors say? He wonders if it had any importance. Probably not, it’s strange to talk to a corpse, after all.

A sharp pain shot through his throat as the last of his consciousness trickled away, and his last breath was ripped out of his body through a scream.

(I never really gave them a reason to be away from the group the first time around, and having Twilight get taken down by a Hinox seemed silly. The idea of having the Yiga be a genuine threat seemed like fun. Also, following Twi’s POV when he’s dying seemed more fun then Wars’. I can’t wait to make these boys suffer >:). )

-❄ anon

👀 👀 👀

Very interested to see where this goes from here if you were willing to change so much of it.

[bleedingcoffee42]

(Yay! Just keep in mind that probably I won't stop yapping now, feel warned).

"The series does a great job of showing the gossip." absolutely, they managed to nail his character with one line what is very impressive.

On the other hand, forever sad they didn't explore his ancient history geek side. Him, blabbering about some ancient shit no one cares about, with rosy cheeks and excitement painted all over his face to Grant and Lipton? Hello...? Plus, didn't Buck talk about Romans and barbarians in Bastogne?

The whole (tv) Easy for the fandom is a company of sluts, so someone please play sad violin music for Matheson. Seriously, the power Ron had all over the people, lol. He knew what he was doing.

I mean, someone gave him a nickname "Sparky" and it stuck to him, so he had friends. Also, I know it was because of his "explosive" nature, but please, Sparky? Sparks are cute and make me think about something cozy (I can feel him throwing daggers at me from afterlife right now).

it looks somehow like a normal thing - some really liked him, some were neutral, some hated him. It was a bunch of more than 100 males after all, so characters collied. It seems even Winters didn't have 100% of fangirls there.

Anyway, sometimes, in the middle of the night I wonder when Winters started to call him Sparky and if it was why Talbert was butthurt.

The German uniform's case is hilarious because he just played along and could have not acted better (shoot him? without even rising his head? King). Again, sad we didn't get the scene in the show, especially because from bts it seems they dressed Martin as the German.

Poor Webster. It looks like he romanticized some stuff in his book and there was Ron "Ok, Webster rings a bell but... uhm...." Speirs.

Anyway, as for a dude who was called Sparky, he seemed to be rather chill.

Oooh and Buck was at his wedding. Maybe that's how he got an invite? I think there was a wedding for a Sgt in Easy the same day that Dick went to. Or maybe it was because Buck was hanging out with his UCLA buddy Matheson at HQ and somehow got lumped in with Moose on the Speirs wedding invitation list? History nerds should have gone to museums with Lip and Smokey.

And I never really considered why Cann called him Sparky. I just thought it was random, these 1940s guys all have some cool nickname. Ron did light up in that letter when Dick called him Sparky like it was a great memory. Google really comes up with some fun ones for that 'lively' 'energetic' 'clever' 'term of endearment towards a guy'....I mean let the imagination run wild. Maybe it just rolled off the tongue well- Sparky Speirs.

Yeah, as much as they did and went through they were still a bunch of 20 something year old guys. What else do you do but talk shit? Sometimes it hurts too much to talk about home. So we have this guy who is weird and crazy and doing bad-ass shit and everyone is talking about him. Everyone knows about him. Nobody says "Speirs who?". Or "Why do you need to take ammo from the Germans? They don't have .45 cal ammo or 30-06?" as Sparky walks into the Rhine and tosses his towel on the shore.

I do want to get my hands on the interview where Ambrose talks to Lip about Speirs. Because there is probably way more than "He came to cry on my bed the first time he got drunk". Carwood, please, there is way more you are not telling us. The man is billeted with you (his first sergeant and not any of the Lts?), comes to you when the officers get him drunk and ruin his life, gets YOU drunk for the first time in your life while trying to save you from pneumonia, you know exactly when the last reunion he attended was and 'he told me I was going to be promoted so that was +1 friend points'. And there is no way the Lipton episode wasn't entirely pulled from Lipton himself, especially when Wahlberg was calling him everyday to talk about how to play it.

I also want to know what his beef was with Billy Turner.

We need all the gossip from Charlie Co and Dog.

[readinglatenights]

Can you write a cute fanfic with belly and jere?

i got carried away... if this is too deep then just send another ask LMAOO

call it what you want babe

lol second thing i've ever written but i've had this idea for SO LONG!! you can totally skip the lines i just thought it was so applicable, this is based on the taylor swift song call it what you want!! warnings: angst w susannah and mentions of conrad BUT UNBEARABLE FLUFF AFTER BEGINNING!! IT GETS CUTE IM SORRY I GOT CARRIED AWAY paring: jeremiah fisher and belly conklin word count: 749 premise: takes place the summer belly and jeremiah get together, so basically after season 2 (basically canon complicit?)

all the jokers dressing up as kings; they fade to nothing when i look at him

it had been eight weeks since susannah fisher had died. it had been fourteen weeks since belly had broken up with conrad.

but it had been four weeks with jeremiah fisher.

belly realized shortly after reconnecting with the brothers that jeremiah had loved her. he had loved her more true, and more pure than anyone ever did.

and i know i make the same mistakes every time; bridges burn, i never learn

her life came to a devasting halt. people have come and go in her life, but susannah was someone who loved her from the moon to saturn. she always repeated that she was destined for one of her boys, but never understood jeremiah's undying fire for belly.

at least i did one thing right. i did one thing right.

so here she was, fingers interlocked as they walked down the boadwalk of cousins beach, wrapping up their time out. jeremiah looked down at the girl he had loved for so long, ocean eyes adoringly meeting hers. he asks, "d'you wanna find a keepsake for tonight?" she smiles up at him, barely focusing on his words. his language was entangled with the blaring sounds of the rides and people around them. nodding, he leads her to the ring toss stand and purchases 6 rings for the each of them. as easy as it was to love jeremiah, it was hard to win at ring toss.

i'm laughing with my lover; making forts under covers

jeremiah had gotten a ring to stay on a bottle, and the worker asked what prize he had wanted. he gestured to belly, "pick any one you want, bells." she points to the giraffe.

as she walked with him to the cousins beach house they all loved, she made a mental note.

trust him like a brother

as complicated as her life was, she needed someone who would be her anchor. she needed the boy who let her feelings run wild, but would still tie her to home. she unlocked the door to the cozy abode, leaving the keys on the seashell hooks. the air was reminiscent of moments she had had with susannah, conrad, her mother, steven, taylor, and even cam.

yeah, you know i did one thing right.

she let the thoughts clear her head, and let her heart lead her. jeremiah had taken off his shoes and turned on the tv, opting to play music instead of turning on a movie. belly sits the giraffe down on the kitchen island, slumping over slightly as she prepared dinner.

"what are you gonna name him?" jeremiah asks, walking over to her. his hands meet her sides, resting comfortably on her hips, pressing light kisses on her cheek and neck.

she poured the uncooked pasta into boiling water, then turned to face him. "i'm not sure yet," she giggles, choosing to lightly bump his nose with her finger. "you don't have to decide yet," he kisses her forehead. "we have all the time in the world."

starry eyes sparking up my darkest night

and they did. as jeremiah prepared their pasta, belly couldn't help but feel that everything in her life was worth it if she got to be with him. exciting nights alone couldn't even fathom replacing the most mundane nights with jeremiah fisher.

my baby's fit like a daydream, walking with his head down

plating their food and mixing a fruity concoction for both of them to drink, jeremiah grabbed the unnamed giraffe. belly sat on the couch close to jeremiah, and he pulled her closer. he wrapped his arms around her, cradling both her and the stuffed animal in his arms. the food was abandoned on the table as they laid together. for all the mistakes that she had made, for all the trouble they had gone through together, it had all amounted to this.

"jeremiah, have i ever told you how lucky i am to be with you?" she asked, nervously. he looked stunned, perplexed that she would say something like this. his features softened as he answered, "bells, you don't have to."

i'm the one he's walking to

"i think i'll never truly comphrehend how lucky i am to be with you." he pauses, looking at her. his pupils would morph into hearts if they could.

this was their ending.

so call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to.

[luimagines]

That Dragon AU Part 8

The trio gets to go shopping!! @cafecourage

Enjoy!

Masterlist

First Chapter/ Previous Chapter/ Next Chapter

Content under the cut!

Chapter 8: Day Out On The Town

The ringing of the bell shocked Enno awake. Even from a little bit away it was clear and loud. They smiled at Warrior and clapped. They were very proud that he got the prize for Wind. Though they were still confused about where the boy went. He was so excited for the game. What got him sidetracked?

Warrior takes his two prizes just in time for Wind to come back.

"I got some!"

"Thank you." Warrior takes the potions from Wind.

Wind gasps, eyeing the prizes. He turns back to the game, putting his serious face on. "My turn."

"Go for it!" Warrior cheers him on, sitting next to Enno. He uncorks one of the bottles and passes it to them. "Here. This should help."

They take the potion without question.

“Is this normal?” They asked, putting their head on his shoulder, watching Wind try out the game. “You said my magic is low. I didn’t use any magic unless it was the forced transformations.” They swirl the bottle in their hand, watching the liquid.

Warrior gets comfortable with them by his side. "Not really but I've heard of a few cases. There's an academy uptown where lots of magical folk go. Two other dragons study there actually. I've heard that some magic users can't tap into it despite what they try. So they need to constantly drink magic potions in order to do their work. Figured you might have a similar problem since you're so low. You shouldn't be."

He flicks the bottle gently. "Drink it. It might help. And then we go do something else when Wind is done."

“It feels eerily similar to what I had before.” Enno says now watching Wind trying his best. “Let him be a kid, I want to just enjoy the day with the both of you before we get too busy to be with each other.” They sighed. “Day’s like these don’t come often, Sir. You two lead the way and I will follow.”

Warrior paused before he tumbles into his chuckles. "I'm not sure what you mean. You said it yourself this our family day. Wind is included."

He leans in close to their ear, smirking. "But if you wanted to do something alone, all you had to do was say something."

Their breath hitches and they smack his shoulder lightly. “Stop- that’s- Shut up. You! Whhhhy….” They could only cover their face with one hand since the other was holding the empty bottle. “I mean I was ok with doing what you and Wind wanted to do. I am a follower by default.”

Warrior grins boyishly, pulling away. "Don't worry about Darling. There's very little that can-"

The bell rings.

Wind cheers loudly and Warrior instantly joins in. "Atta boy Link! I knew you could do it!"

There is a small pile of previously won prizes that goes unmentioned.

“Good job sweetheart!” Enno cheered and clapped for him. Wind barrels over with the prizes in hand. 

“I’m gonna give one to grandma and Aryl!” He was so proud of himself that Enno couldn’t help but ruffle his hair. “Ah- hey!”

“That’s a wonderful idea, they will love it.” Enno laughed as Wind tried to swat their hand away.

Warrior stands grabbing his own prizes and gives the biggest to Enno by default. He takes their hand with the other. "Did you have enough?"

Wind nods. "I got more prizes than Wild."

Warrior snorts. "He's going to be jealous."

"Good!" Wind giggles and shoves his goodies in his magic pouch. "They're not for him!"

The prize Warrior had given to Enno was a good size teddy bear. Enno could still hold it with one hand at least. Enjoying the banter silently, they were enjoying looking around the town now that they were more awake. They were especially eager to look around Hyrule Castle Town since it wasn’t in the game. 

“Where to now?” Enno asked, swinging their conjoined hands softly. “I don’t really know what’s here.”

Warrior relaxes somewhat, seeing them look more like themselves. He makes a mental note. "We could always walk around and window shop. I did say I was going to treat you today."

"Can we go to that corner shop by Jane's? Is that still here?" Wind skips ahead, spinning to walk backwards.

"Yup, sure it is." Warrior grins, turning to Enno. "You wanna go? You'll love it."

“Sure!” They smile back. They were happy to see them happy. “Like I said, you two know this place more than me. So lead the way!”

Wind jumps on his toes excitedly before he spins around again. "It's this way Enno!"

Warrior smiles, leading them calmly. "It's a nick nack shop. They sell everything from antiques to paper weights. They also have a small section of toys and sweets for those with younger children. It’s quaint but homey.”

“Ooo I can look for something to get you then.” They elbow him lightly. They remembered that he said it was for them to get things for themselves but they weren’t not going to do that. “Though the toys are tempting. I love a good stuffed animal.”

Warrior snickers. "Not if I get you something first." He squeezes their hand a bit. "I did say I'd treat you today. Are you feeling any better?"

“A lot more energized now. I don’t feel that woozy and my headache is gone.” Enno replied, taking a mental check of what they were feeling. 

"I'm glad to hear it." Warrior relaxes. He thought so. He's going to also have to keep an eye on it. He's not sure how but he's going to have to find a way. Or at least make sure that they always have magic potions in stock.

“You already got me the prize, don't worry about getting me more.”

"Nonsense." Warrior huffs. "I said what I said. I plan on keeping my word. Winning the prize wasn't my intention anyway. It just happened." He winks.

Enno rolled their eyes as they got to the corner store. "Then I'll see you on the other side." 

They let go of his hand and followed Wind since the kid basically bolted in. They really did want to get Warriors something special for his room. Maybe a treasure chest would be nice but then they thought about Cia and crossed that out. They still want to see if there was something close to what they imagined and if they could maybe put a lock spell on it like on his door.

Warrior drops his jaw for a moment reaching out to them for a moment before he stops himself. He smiles and goes in the opposite direction. He has two things precisely in his mind that he wants to buy. 

While he knows they’re not the fancy type, he has an inkling one of two items will appease your new inner dragon. Anything else that catches his eyes is fair game.

Wind is borderline bouncing off of the walls. He's also looking for stuff. He's not sure what. But this is how he usually looks for things for his hoard. It's gotta call to him. If there’s no connection, it's not worth it.

Enno didn't expect the store to basically be almost like a vintage thrift store in modern times. They spend their time roaming around, occasionally stopping. While they said they didn't want to look for anything for themselves, they were auto looking for an enamel pin. Despite them not existing in Hyrule. Eventually, they came across a dark wood chest that looked like a small ottoman. They had to lift up the cushion to actually see what it was.

Warrior finds the first thing he's looking for almost instantly. He bags it before he can even think twice. He goes looking for the second thing, heading for the fancier side of the store to see if anything there will catch his eye.

Wind finds one thing that he thinks his sister would like and something he knows Tetra would riot over if he doesn't get it for her. He wonders if this would be enough for now. There is a moment where he thinks that he should do something for both Warrior and Enno as well, but nothing in this store seems right to his standards. There will be other times.

Enno looked at the price of the ottoman and cringed. It was too much for someone else to buy for them as a gift. They stand back up after observing it to go look for something else. There has to be something else they could get him. It doesn't have to be for the room. Possibly something small to put on display or something he could wear.

Warrior pauses and looks at the gaudiest thing they have in the store. He sees something. That one. He grabs it too.

It's both a genuine and gag gift. He needs to see their reaction to it. 

He's allowed himself one over priced thing. He can only get one more tiny thing that would be worth the pay and he tries to find more practical gifts.

Wind finishes his purchases of his gifts and heads to the candy part of the store, waiting for Enno and Warrior to finish their shopping. He might have underestimated how much time it would have actually taken the both of them. He's going to regret bringing them here if it takes too long. He should have known better.

Enno finds a small pocket watch and takes it off of the shelf. It probably would be the perfect thing for him, but it was a little plain. Still, it’s the best thing they could get that wasn't that expensive. They made the mistake of wandering into the stuffed animal section and found an otter plushie. That was an instant purchase. With two things in tow, they went to find Warriors since he’s the one that needs to pay. Technically.

Warrior was looking through some of the jewelry they had when they walked up. He smiles without turning their way. "You all good to go, Love?

"Yeah." Enno was still thinking about the ottoman. "I need you to pay since you didn't give me anything." They leaned on him. "What-cha looking at?"

"Something shiny." Warrior snorts, finally looks at them. "I would have given you something before you simply left." He raises an eyebrow. "You moved too fast for me to even tell you a budget."

He does a scan and looks over what they bought. "Seems like you held back anyway."

Warrior does some mental calculations and he reaches into his bag. He pulls out multiple rupees and hands them to Enno. "That should be more than enough. If there's change, you're free to keep it or keep buying. Your choice."

"It's your money, I'm not going to just spend it without care." Enno takes the rupees and goes to pay. He did in fact give them too much. They sigh and go back to him with the change. 

"Here. I'm going to buy Wind candy if you don’t take it back." They hand over the rest. That was a threat.

Warrior rolls his eyes. "And here I thought I was clear that what mine is yours... not to mention I was going to buy everything today anyway."

He smiles easily. "Go buy the boy candy if that's what you want but I'm not stingy. If there's one other thing you want to get, you should. You suggested this idea anyway."

"I- No there isn't anything else." They didn't know how to bring the ottoman up to him so instead they poke him. "And just because you say what's yours is mine, I will still feel bad if it's too much." They pull back. "I'll go catch up with Wind then."

"Why do you feel bad? You're spending your own money." Warrior snorts. "Go catch up with your son. I won't be long. Give me around... ten more minutes. I should come to a decision soon."

They couldn't even fight back as the ‘son’ comment threw them for a loop. 

"Fine, Fine." They walked away to go find Wind, plotting something in the back of their head.

Warrior smiles, happy with himself and how the day is going.

He finds something more subtle, something he wants them to wear. He picks it up and takes all his purchases to the register. It's about as expensive as he assumed it would be, but he's getting that bonus soon enough. He knows how much treasure that prick had.

If it's his money, then he's not concerned. He should get something for Time while he's out and about and maybe something for Pinky as a thanks... not that he knows what to get for Pinky but he might get some points with Time if he considers her as well.

Enno finds Wind at the candy section. "Sea pup look!" They hold up the otter. "It's you!" 

Wind gets excited then confused. "I don't get it." He says, taking it from them.

"We call this animal a Sea pup where I come from." Enno ruffled his hair. "So it's you!" 

Looking around this part of the shop, Enno recognizes some of the candy. "Is there anything you want here? I got some money from the Captain."

Warrior tucks the gifts in his bag without thinking twice about his purchases. He heads over to where Enno said they were going to meet up with Wind and sure enough he's somehow got them looking through all their candies. Some of which he can see they've never come into contact before.

It's strangely endearing… seeing them so confused.

He walks up next to Enno and points to a colorfully wrapped piece of hardened sugar. "These were my favorite as a kid."

Enno looks at it and adds some to the glassine bag they were supposed to fill up. 

"Welcome back." They were looking through a few more of the selection. "There's a lot here." Enno didn't know how Wind convinced them to actually buy some for themselves. "Are you done too, Sailor?"

"Yep! I got some for Aryll and Tetra too!" Wind held up three small bags.

Warrior raises an eyebrow amusedly. "And not any for Hyrule? You know how he gets buddy."

Wind pauses before he turns to Warrior. "He should have come with us then."

It takes Warrior by surprise and he laughs. "Fair enough. Did you pay yet?"

“Just about to.” Enno took Wind’s bags and went to the counter to pay, using most of the change they got to pay for it. Wind was bouncing next to them as they handed his treasure back. 

“Are you ready to go too?” They ask Warrior.

Warrior grins, holding up the bag which held his bought goods. "All set over here."

He moves over, taking some of the bags from their hand before he replaces them with his hand. "Anything else you want to do today Wind?"

Wind turns around and beams. "I get to choose again?"

Enno lets him take the bag but not the plushie. The plushie stays. They lean on Warrior’s shoulder. “Why not? So far everything has been fun.”

Warrior leans back. "Sure Wind. Both of your ideas have been great so far. Third time the charm."

Wind jumps on his toes and starts looking around trying to think of something to do. They could literally see when the idea pops into his head. "Dad, where's the park?"

Warrior tenses up again. "By the by. Take a left and head straight until you see a blue cottage. Turn right and it'll be on the left."

Enno couldn’t help but smile softly at Wind. “Shall we go to the park then?” 

They look up at Warrior. They only saw the time briefly when picking up the pocket watch so they’re not sure if there’s still time to do more today. Not to mention they still needed to figure out how and when to give the watch to him. “A walk before dinner sounds nice.” 

Warrior grins. "Sounds good to me. It's not like we had any plans otherwise."

"Alright!" Wind cheers and goes off. 

"Link, stay close!" Warrior calls out and Wind pauses for two of them to catch up. Warrior chuckles, swinging Enno’s hand gently. "It's not all that great. But I'm happy you're excited."

“I’m just happy to see you two happy, it’s nice to not worry about monster attacks all the time.” Enno lets him lead. “You and the others work very hard to keep each other safe.”

They kept an eye on Wind so he didn’t go far. “I wonder what he has planned.”

"Which is?" Warrior chuckles, laughing at his own little joke. "There's a lot of us. But we're also here for you too." Warrior leans over to kiss their hairline. 

The walk is silent for the most part with Wind having to pause every now and then to wait for the two of them. They get to the park and see a wide open grass area with a small pond. There appears to be a small area where the little children play, as well as a fountain where birds are taking their baths for the evening.

“This is so adorable!” Enno stops leaning on Warrior to walk ahead, still holding his hand. “You can have a picnic here.”

"We could." Warrior muses. "I know a few food shops nearby. You don't have any allergies, do you?... I'm not in any rush to go back to the castle."

“Uh- I had something I should have been allergic to this morning and I’m fine.” Enno looked away sheepishly, partly glad the allergy didn’t transfer over. “I’m honestly not in any rush to go back either but we should keep in mind the time.”

Warrior nods. "Fancy an impromptu picnic by the pond then?"

He points at Wind. "I can go get something if you're willing to keep an eye on him. Keep it simple. Like... a few smoked sausages, some bread and cheese. I might be able to find some drinks too, if Reece's hasn't moved yet. Does that sound good?"

“I am always down to watch Wind. We’ll try to stay around this area.” Enno smiled back at him, running to catch up to the kid in question. “Hey Sea pup, wanna look for a spot to eat dinner?”

Wind runs up to them and grabs their hand, not bothering to consider the bags they're all holding. "I know just the spot."

Enno somehow keeps a hold of the things they’re holding as they get dragged. 

“We need to make sure the Captain can still find us, Link.” Enno says, not really knowing what to expect.

"He's been there too. It's ok. All three of us used to eat here before we were sent home, when we were all hiding from Cia." Wind gets on his toes for a moment and points at it. "There!"

It was a small corner of the park hidden slightly by a hill but it still was resting by the pond. Wind brings Enno to the Cherry blossom tree and plops down. 

“As long as he can find us.” Enno joins him, sitting back and just relaxing. They did a lot of walking today, while they were used to it, it still was tiring because of the fun they had.

Wind just drops what he bought and plops down. He doesn't hesitate to flop on the ground as well and take a deep breath. "What did Warrior say he was getting again? Today was awesome."

“Don’t you mean your dad?” Enno teased him and poked his cheek. “He said something about sausages, bread and cheese. An impromptu picnic basically, and I bet it will taste really good.”

Wind flushes and swats their hand away. He seems a bit embarrassed by his thoughts. "....I never had a dad... and he let's me..." He coughs, clearing his throat as dramatically as possible. "I hope he gets the ones from Yanger. Those are the best the city has to offer."

“Wind come here.” Enno leans over. “He is really happy that you keep calling him that. He sees you as our son.”

Wind fidgets a bit beside them. "He does?"

They lean back to fish for the pocket watch. “Actually, can you do something for me? In my home it’s slightly common for kids to give their dad a watch or a wallet or tie, for gifts.” They show him the pocket watch. “Wanna do me a favor here?”

Wind kicks the ground a bit, sitting up. "Is that OK? He... he's going to know it's not really from me."

He pauses for a minute and blushes deeper, looking away. "Does this make you my mom? What would I call you?"

Enno shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s whatever feels good for you. There isn’t really a gender neutral term for a parent. Other than parent.” They pat his hair. “And that's the point. I think you get double points if you call him dad again.”

Wind grins, rolling over to place his head in their lap. He hides his face against them. "I'll think of something cool then. And it's gonna knock your socks off."

Enno smiles and pets his hair. “Just do your best, Sailor.” 

Honestly, they also wanted to call Warrior out. “He was telling me how much he wanted to be a father while you were asleep last night. We were talking about taking you out today, because of how scared you were before. We both wanted to make sure you had a good time. He was about to not come since he might have had work until Impa came at the god-awful hours of the night to tell him he was free today.” 

They tried to talk softly. “I think today means so much more to him than you think.”

Wind wiggles a bit. "Warrior is actually a big softy. He took care of me and Time during the war. He didn't want us to be in any trouble....Of course he had to get in as much trouble as he could." Wind laughs. "I liked today. We should do it more often."

“Of course we can.” Enno wonders when the next time will be. Maybe when Warrior would mark them or when they actually adopt Wind’s family as their own. They close their eyes to rest. Wind’s comment from this morning came back into their head. “Does it bother you that we haven’t marked each other yet, Wind?” 

Wind perks up, sitting up and laying his head near them instead. "Why would it bother me? I just don't see why you would wait. You clearly like each other."

Wind leans in like he's going to tell you a secret. "Warrior is a romantic sap. Mask once made a joke about Warrior collecting a bunch of ladies and Warrior shot him down so fast. Something like.... ‘The love of my life is worth waiting for. I'm not going to waste others' time by even pretending to be interested’. It was a bit awkward and Mask got all red and blushy. I think he had someone in mind too... I wonder what Mask was thinking."

"Found you." Warrior steps into their line of sight, cutting off the conversation before it could continue. They could still see the steam coming off of the basket in his arms as well as the pitcher in his other hand. "I brought some food and I have lemonade. Let's eat!"

[sapphire-weapon]

I'm gonna sound so predictable here, but any new EagleOne material to comb through in Separate Ways? I can't help but ask!

no new content, but it's definitely

framed

differently

like I think it's going to be a lot easier to sell people on the idea that EagleOne is a canonical romance now that SW is out, because that's pretty much how both Luis and Ada see them.

like SW goes out of its way to reinforce over and over again "Leon and Ashley" "Leon and Ashley" "Leon and Ashley" like this is their story. they come as a pair. Luis is very tangentially and distantly part of their team, but not really; it is still The Leon and Ashley Show, and Luis knows he doesn't belong. and Ada has no place among them at all.

like. this is Ada's perception of Leon and Ashley:

+ after ringing the bell of the church, Ada can go back onto the roof of the church, where she can hear Ashley sobbing from the window. you can then go down in the little room on the side (that has the hatch underground), Ada finds Ashley's photo, and goes "I'm sure Leon is here to save her"

+ is told by Luis that Leon and Ashley are infected, and Ada's actual literal response is "why should I give a fuck"

like no seriously that's what it is

+ is present for the radio call between Luis and Leon at the very start of the castle, hears Leon playfully ribbing Ashley with the whole "but Ashley just had to see the inside of this castle first"

+ tells Leon to leave Ashley for dead, which pisses him off, and offers him sex, which he just ignores

+ sees Krauser walk out of the Salazar boss room with Ashley slung over his shoulder and watches Leon and Ashley call out each other's names. stays only long enough to watch Leon get pissed and shoot Salazar in the face.

+ watches the "for Luis" scene play out

+ hears Ashley successfully fight off Saddler's influence in order to protect Leon, because Leon's headset like. automatically connected to Ada's very conveniently

+ watches Leon princess carry Ashley out of the altar room

+ encounters Ashley during Leon's fight with Saddler, where Ashley basically orders her to go help Leon. it's kind of wild, actually. it's very much a tone of "Leon and I are a team and if you're not here to help you can just fuck off, actually"

+ the ending as normal

like

when Ada is watching The Leon and Ashley Show, it's more often than not moments of really heightened emotion between them.

and she only sees Leon a handful of times in a context divorced from Ashley, and it's usually to watch him fight like hell to get to her. and when that is basically all Ada actually sees of Leon during his mission, like...

it feels very very very different from Leon's campaign. it feels very concentrated and focused on his bond with and devotion to Ashley.

it felt like

Ada was being forced to witness what it looked like for Leon to actually have his feelings reciprocated in a way that he never got from her back in Raccoon City, and there was definitely a sense of like

annoyance about it.

it's like when you see your ex with his new girlfriend and they're like WAY happier together than you thought they'd be and it just kind of pisses you off on principle and you don't even really know why because you really don't want him anymore, but it still just sort of makes you feel some type of way about yourself and the relationship that you DID have with him

it felt like that

I'm high out of my mind so this is probably not making any sense but. I think there's something really profound that can be said by making a direct comparison between Leon and Ada in RE2make and Leon and Ashley in RE4make.

it just feels so different. and Ada knew it was different. and it felt like Separate Ways as a whole wanted its audience to know it, too.

[natasha-in-space]

hi!!! can I request a school ver seven and MC maybe confessing to each other? I wanna write a bunch of school ver mysme stories but I just don't have any time 🥹

Sooo, I actually ended up writing this promt in the canon timeline for mm, and not as an au... I just had this idea for a possible scenario, where you get to meet Saeyoung before he ever got the chance to join the RFA, and the rest was history. SO! I used his college fake name 'Chilyoung' for this drabble. This is kinda angsty... But, with the happy ending. Enjoy! :)

Today was going to be the day. The day you will finally overcome all your fears and take the leap of faith instead of fretting over every little thing that could possibly go wrong.

Your rapid heartbeat thundering all the way up into your temples, you paced through the quiet corridor, nervously fiddling with the sleeves of your shirt and waiting for him to leave the classroom. Your school day was over a few hours ago... But, you refused to leave, fighting against your inner demons and anticipating the moment you'll have to spill your heart free. And what a cliche situation this truly was... confessing your feelings to your school crush that has suddenly popped up into your life like a wild hurricane, sweeping you off your feet before you could even blink or shield yourself against the whipping wind.

Chilyoung was a boy bathed in secrets and mystery, being a transfer student with a truly genius mind. Granted, you did not think of him much at first. To say he was distant is to say nothing at all. He was someone who shocked almost every teacher and student with his exceptional abilities, but he also treated those around him coldly and seemingly indifferently. He sat and walked alone, refusing to be a part of any company friendly enough to outstretch their hands to the new student. It didn't take long for your classmates to give up their numerous attempts at befriending him, preferring instead to create a whole plethora of rumors that could potentially explain Chilyoung's withdrawn nature.

Some were sympathetic, while others cruel.

It wasn't until one fated day when you were paired up with him in order to work on a new school project, when you first interacted with him directly. You didn't have much of a choice back then, really. But, you kept an open mind. After all, your redheaded classmate was notorious for his outstanding skills and creativity. You just needed to find a way for you two to get along! And, well... the rest is history.

It's not like he became your best friend right of the bat, quite the opposite of that, actually. In the beginning, you were the only one babbling away about this and that, asking him various silly questions and trying to learn at least a tiny bit more about him. You quickly found out that trying to fish anything out about his personal life was not something he particularly enjoyed. For someone so closed off, his emotions were strangely easy for you to read.

You could always see it all in his eyes.

They would darken and lower onto his long fingers whenever you'd press the wrong button. On the opposite end, regardless of how neutral his face may seemed at first glance, his golden eyes would practically sparkle if you'd ask him to explain something he found particularly interesting about a math problem or some random fact about the universe. It was... cute. And, somewhat sad. Chilyoung was so very lonely... And yet, he refused to let anyone in.

You wondered why. Perhaps, today's the day you finally get to solve the elusive mystery by the name of Chilyoung Kim.

You were jolted out of your thoughts by the unmistakable deafening sound of the last bell ringing, making your heart start to race anew. Soon after, the doors to the computer class were flung open and a sea of laughing and chattering classmates filled the entire hall, eager to end their hard day of learning and blow off some steam with their friends. You paid no mind to them, though. Your eyes were too focused on trying to locate the one boy you were so desperate to see today, searching for a bright explosion of fiery red among the group.

And, there he was, coming out of the classroom as one of the last students to leave, with his pensive gaze studying a few notes he was meticulously placing into his notebook. He was always a diligent student, as you slowly learned about him. While he definitely was a smart one... that did not mean that he did not have to work hard. You could see the determination, the resignation in his eyes as he worked his way through yet another complex problem on his hand.

There was something he was working towards, something that pushed him to try as hard as he did.

Either way, you gulped, taking a single steadying breath and calling out after him once the hall grew quiet enough and everyone has already rushed off to their individual lockers. The sound of your voice crying out his name had him stopping in his tracks seemingly in an instant, his head whipping into your direction so quickly, you got a bit worried he might have strained his neck a little.

Oh Jeez... were you too loud?

You couldn't read him as he stared at you, obviously trying to figure out your intentions just as hard as you were trying to do the same with him. Well... not like you could back down from this now.

"Why are you still in school?" He asked, squinting his eyes a little in clear suspicion. "Your lessons ended hours ago."

"Uh- W-Well yes, but... I... had a very important question I needed to ask you." You stammered, suddenly feeling your cheeks burn from the realization of just what you were planning on doing. Oh, God, you were so nervous... But, a part of you refused to run. A part of you kept your trembling legs glued to the wooden floor, whispering somewhere in the corners of your mind, that there was no reason for you to be so afraid.

You wanted to get closer to Chilyoung, whatever this may mean for you two. You wanted for him to know just how much you care about him. You wanted... for him to know that he's not alone. Because you knew his heart desired for it strongly and desperately, regardless of the indifferent facade he put up in order to protect himself for some unknown reason.

"You could have just texted me, you know." He murmured, clearly taking notice of your frazzled state. You took a small breath of relief as his gaze visibly softened, his shoulders relaxing under his shirt and his attention now focused solely on you. This may not be a lot, but it's a sign that he does care. And, you needed to see that right now.

"Well... What is it? Is there something bothering you?"

Yeah, how pretty your eyes look.

You shook off the unwanted thought and clenched your hands into tight fists, deciding to try out a bit of an unconventional route to test the waters. Or, maybe, you were just trying to pull yourself together before you messed everything up. "I... Yes. But... It's a bit personal, so... I don't want for my other friends to tease me about it. And, I know that you're not that type of guy, so I can trust you with this. There's... Um, I really like one of my classmates. It took me some time to figure out my feelings for sure, but now I'm confident that I want us to be closer to each other. But, I'm terrified of pushing them away and ruining our friendship. They... mean a lot to me, you know?"

It felt weird, saying all of this in such a peculiar way. But... You just wanted to take a look at his reaction before you would make a choice to just come out and say it how it is. So, you stood there, your lips pursed into a thin line and your gaze fixed on him with an intensity you haven't felt before.

His expression remained blank for a while, his eyebrows slightly raised as he listened to your makeshift story in all its entirety. But then, you could notice his lips twitching, just enough for a resemblance of a pained frown to take its place on his freckled face, before he swiftly regained his stoic composure once more. However, you did not miss out on this small slip-up of his. And, once he did come up with a reply, his hands were clenched around his notebook way harder than they needed to be, his fingertips turning a shade of sickly white.

Chilyoung took a shaky breath, suddenly lowering his gaze onto the floor, just like he always did whenever you hit a nerve. A gesture you grew so familiar with, and yet, he still had no idea about just how perceptive you really are, when it comes to his self-expression. "...I'm not the one you should consult with about romantic relationships, Y/N. But... If that person means a lot to you, and if they truly make you happy... You should let them know that. You never know when will come the day you'll be forced to say goodbye to them, regardless whether you want to do it or not. Even if they may not understand you... You might regret keeping this truth from them for the rest of your life."

You blinked, not at all expecting to hear something of this nature from him. Your heart skipped a beat. This... felt way more personal than a mere advice for your crush.

This felt like something being spoken from a personal experience of his. And this thought... It made your hurt ache for him in more ways than one. Right now, he looked like the loneliest human alive. Chilyoung, too, seemed to catch onto the particular way that his words sounded, hurriedly continuing with a different narrative from before.

"-And, you deserve to be happy. You're... a good person, Y/N. If they make you happy, then... It's all I- It's all you need."

You took a step closer, all of your fears seemingly gone in an instant. "Chilyoung... I... I was actually talking about you. You're the one I like. That's... That's what I really wanted to talk to you about... I know you don't get along with anybody here, but I want to know more about you. And... I want you to know how much I care about you."

"You-" To your shock, he recoiled, uncharacteristically stumbling over his own legs in the process. He looked... almost terrified, staring wide eyed at you with thousands of conflictive emotions shown clearly on his usually indifferent face. "No. No, you can't. This is... No."

He sounded so hurt and scared, it almost made you question whether this was ever real or not. You never saw Chilyoung act out so openly and emotionally towards anyone before. But... you were not at all happy with the way that it happened.

"Chilyoung...? Hey... It's okay if you don't feel the same, really. I just... I wanted you to know that there's someone who really cares about you. That's all. I don't need anything in return, I promise." You tried to reassure him, slowly following him down the corridor. His reaction was... strange. It's one thing to feel upset about not being able to return one's feelings, and it's completely another to react as if you just got told the grimmest news possible.

But, your attempt did not help much. He shook his head vigorously, his breath coming out in short panicked gasps, all of his stoic facade long gone. "No, no, no, you don't understand, you can't! I can't! I can't- I can't do this! Why me? Just why the hell you chose someone like me!? Of all people!? Are you really thaf stupid!?"

His words... hurt. But, what hurt more, is just how distressed he sounded, how desperate and high his soft voice got, how utterly terrified he looked. Why is he acting like this? You reached out with your hand, at this point, disregarding everything to do with your confession and simply hoping to calm him down a little. "What are you talking about? I told you, it doesn't have to be so complicated... It's going to be okay."

A sound akin to a choked sob reached your ears as he backed even further away from you, refusing to look you in the eye, his voice dropping to a broken half-whisper. "I'm sorry. I don't have any other choice. Just- Know that it's not your fault."

Before you could utter a single word, he ran. He ran so fast, it felt like his life depended on it. And, you were left standing there, alone, confused and equally heartbroken both for his heart and your own.

The next day, Chilyoung did not come to school. And the next. And then the day after that. And the week right after. As well as the months that kept following on.

You thought you'd never see this redheaded boy again. That he'll simply remain as one of the first people that have ever made your heart flutter to life. But... it all changed once you noticed a strange app you did not remember installing onto your phone, years in the future.

Maybe, it was fate for you two to find each years down the line. A chance for you to make things right. Which is why you refused to let him go ever again.