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illateriteral · 2 years ago

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Chapter One 🁤

HI SORRY THIS TOOK FOREVER IVE BEEN WORKING ON IT + CHAPTER TWO FOR LIKE A MONTH AAA

WC: 5,876

A solid punch drives itself straight to my face, throwing me backwards from pure whiplash. Before I can react, another punch strikes my stomach, my body struggling to maintain itself as it nears collapse. My vision is blurred, the approach of a large figure being my only eligible sight.

“Christ,” I manage to wheeze and cough, “chill, chill.” I back myself up. The figure continues to approach, though the barrage of punishment comes to a halt and I’m able to focus. I’ve been thrown into a variety of scenarios over the cycles I’ve traveled, and though the physically daunting ones hurt like a bitch, they’re at least a change of pace, but you never quite get used to them.

“We got a deal or not mo’fucker? You gon’ get my shit, or you gon’ die.” A rough voice scrapes across my eardrums–did this dude swallow a fucking cigarette or something? “Yeah, course’ boss” I murmur. Silence is more often than not how to escape alive. Sandpaper voice stares me down for a moment. One second. Two seconds. Three. Four. The silence gains intensity; he’s practically twice my size, so my ass WILL get fucking fucked if I don’t get outta this one. Following his motions I drop my sightline, lowering my eyes to beneath his own.

“If this shit happens again, boss, you can kill me yourself.”

With that said, the piece of work scoffs and smirks. “Or I can save myself the hassle.” He slams his fist into his palm–you know, typical gangster tough guy shit–and takes a step forward. “Don’t let this shit happen again.” He spits on the floor between us and throws his hand behind my head, tossing me to the ground as a foot lands atop my back, pinning me to the ground.

“Twelve hours. If you try to leave town, you’re fucked.”

“If you try to fight back, you’re fucked.”

“If you try to scam me with my own shit, you’ll be really fucked.” He scoffs and trots out of the opposing end of the parking lot. Holy shit, I chuckle to myself. I’m alive. I sit for a moment, the concrete a familiar comfort, then stare as the hunk of a man gets into his truck and drives off. With a sigh of relief, and the hint of free time I now have, I analyze my body and my surroundings. I feel… young? I’m short, and my outfit is practically rags–a cold ass breeze flows through the dozens of holes dotted in my clothing. My body is clearly that of a prepubescent–Jesus, what the hell did this idiot get involved with? My elbows are red and my body is covered in bruises, and the pummeling I got the pleasure of feeling first hand finally begins to hurt. Spinning around to check out the parking lot, the word “empty” doesn’t quite exemplify how dead this shit is. It’s barren, and surrounded by nothing but quiet desert and a highway spanning across the wasteland. More questions arise, though my main priority is to not die first. Feeling my pockets for a hint of what my next action should entail, I see that they’re all but full, and what little resides inside them consists of lint and coins. I have a small cross necklace scrunched up and weaved inside its chain, and that’s about it. Lovely. The lone building the parking lot breathes for is an abandoned supermarket, and though it towers over everything in the vicinity, its size is futile for anything this far into the middle of nothing. This is what I have to work with, and I doubt I can simply sleep this loop away. Fuck, man. Twelve hours. I glance around the lot once more and then to the sun, barely reaching over the distant horizon. Twelve hours. With the coast clear, I lightly jog to the behemoth of a building–most of the windows are covered in cardboard, paper, and propped furniture, and its walls made of worn-down brick. As I analyze the building, I can barely see a pair of young faces glancing out at me. I squint as our sightlines converge, and the pair of youngsters quickly hop down and disappear. Oh shit. Did I just alert someone? Though before my worries can advance, my eyes are drawn to the once automatic doors of the grocery slowly prying themselves open. Three children rush outside, their ages ranging from what looks like four to twelve, and as our bodies clash a barrage of hugs intercept my stance, alongside a bombardment of questions to follow.

“Did you do it!? Did you do it!?” the little ones chime, “are we free yet?”

I glance atop the heads of the trio and take a moment to register their inquiries; fuck, did I mess up my own plan?

“Come awnnn!!! Tell us, Olives! Tell us. Tell us.” They chant as a hint of sadness overtakes me–what the hell did I interrupt? The chanting falls to a beg as I stand in silence, the kids crowding around my waste. They need an answer. They need to be assured. I crouch down and hold my breath, my eyes scan the four of them individually, preparing the like of us four for the word that leaves my mouth:

“No.” My eyes fall to the ground with disappointment, the children stepping back, their excitement exhausted.

“I’m sorry, but we’ll need to come up with something new.”

I don’t know what the original plan was, though if it was shit enough to nearly get the lot of us–or at least me–killed, it couldn’t have been that good. What a situation to be dropped into. Damn this heart of mine; I know I can’t just abandon this. Seeing these children–seeing the sorry state of the outfit I dawn–I can’t help but feel sympathy. I rub the newly acquired bruise on my face and watch as the children stare for answers, for someone to look upon, and I know what I must do. I funnel the three back into the store and glance around; beyond the checkout lanes lies towers and towers of shelving units, the near entirety of said shelves empty and desolate. Furthermore, every aisle has drippings of sand, the ceiling giving in and collapsing on multiple parts of the building. The state of this sanctuary, of these children’s home–nobody deserves this kind of treatment. I clench my fists as my eyes return to the quartet, a new determination striking me as their living conditions worsen.

“Alright, let’s get to work,” I say softly. “We have thirteen hours.”

The four of us swiftly start preparations. For what exactly, I have no clue–but most likely a fight. As much as I despise not only using children to fuel a war, but also actively sending them into said warzone, my options are limited. No vehicles means we’re not leaving. Limited supplies means we’re not outlasting them in some battle of attrition. No people means we can’t take them head on–oh, but that means we can easily stay hidden… Our store gives us a place to defend! We have one advantage over them, at least, and with a thought like that a plan can finally arise.

As my inner monologue continued thinking of how the hell we’re gonna get out of this, the children and I had begun organizing resources; you wouldn’t believe how much crap is in a grocery store that isn’t food. As our organization continued, however, the main point of interest was the back warehouse. Towering shelves, stripped of nearly all that maintained value, stood high and strong among all else. Bingo: we’re gonna “Home Alone” this bitch. Our work passes hours into the night, a slow barrage of homemade traps erecting across the warehouse. By the time we feel decently secure, our quartet is ready to pass out, and with one last contraption made, we eat a brief snack and sit near a fire made of broken-down furniture. It doesn’t take long for each of them to fade into their exhaustion; they did incredible, honestly. They earned the rest and to live a better life, one that hopefully this would provide. Jas, the other girl–and youngest of the group–passes out nearly immediately, asleep on the floor next to her brother, Tiger. Tiger’s second oldest behind me; he stares at the fire in quiet contemplation. The final kid is James–the most silent of our party. He’s slowly falling in and out of sleep, trying to stay awake with the cool, older kids, I’d figure. Throughout the night I’d also learned the origins of my name–Olives– as well. I guess I’d told them to call me that to make them laugh. “Tiger” liked that idea and followed soon behind, and here we are. The wind slams against the creaking supports of the building, a loud howl and banging of something in the distance leaving me unphased. What a life to live.

The fire continues to spark underneath the stars, the collapsed ceiling and its rubble surrounding our little campsite. It’s quieter than it was even just an hour ago–James and Jas now both long asleep–and the crackling of the fire and an occasional bark of a coyote are more than enough white noise to help me sleep, though I can’t. Blame it on the anxiety building up for today’s plan, or on my efforts to be the last person to drift away, but I remain staring at the flames, my eyes slightly winced.

“Olives… Are we gonna be okay?” Tiger’s quiet voice pierces my thoughts and the sounds of desert bugs chirping outside the walls.

“Course we are.” I take a moment and glance at him across the fire. I need to stay strong. “We’re all gonna be alright.” We both alter our vision to look at the fire once again, and before silence can envelop our camp once more a voice chimes in yet again–though this time it’s mine.

“Hey. You know the story of how we all found each other?”

“Duhh,” Tiger’s voice raises an octave, “what a silly question!” I smile and lean forward a bit towards the flames, throwing another plank into the pit.

“Tell me.” After a moment he begins to protest.

“But Olives, you normally tell the story.. You know better, why do you–” before he can finish I stand and lift my chair, moving across the camp and placing myself next to him.

“I need to know that our story lives on.” Tiger looks at me worryingly, and doubt is placed all over his face. Shit. Does he even know what that means?

“I want to make sure you can tell the story to others,” I reassure him and ruffle his hair. He begins to refute once more, though I hush his arguments and wait.

“Please.”

Tiger rubs his face and slaps his cheeks–some kind of preparation, I guess–and begins his recital; a recitation of a story I told him yet I have no memory of. It starts slow, and he struggles with perspective, though the main gist gets across; he and Jas were fostered together before escaping. I don’t think he even remembers why. They found comfort in each other and slipped away in the night. James had lost his parents in a grocery store, similar to this one, and they’d never come back; accident or not, he’d never see them again. Me? I’d never delved into detail, but I despised my past and ran away. I guess some things never change. Tiger’s eyes water as the story continues, the buried pain rising to the surface. It’d been more than just us before. We’d lost people. Jeffrey had been hit by a car. A feral dog attacked Sam. But we live on in their honor, says Tiger. “You told me that.” The memories are hazy, but we all remember the train station, he exclaims; whether to die or to escape, no one can decide, but that’s where our lives changed. A variety of coin and change accompanied by some scrap and lint, in hopes of making something out of ourselves. That’s who we were. That’s what we are. Some poor fucking kids, man. The story continues–how we ended up in an alley, the lot of us nearly robbed, or how we got to the middle of the desert, trapped in a personal hell. The kids were convinced this place would be a haven, far from death and corruption. I remained unsure, though we packed what little we had and started the venture anyway. All the group had was each other, and as long as we were together, it’d end up okay. The story comes to an end and I wrap my arm around Tiger–he’s bawling silently– and I tell him that what he said was enough. I tell him that he did wonderful and I couldn’t have said it better myself. I can see hints of wisdom and intellect in him. He’ll be okay–I know it.

I wake up in a cold sweat–sunlight glaring through the blinds, spreading across the room. A room much too large for me. Oh, Christ. After a moment of terror my surroundings begin to make sense; I calm my breath and a small grin overtakes my face as the memories flood back. Some friends and I rented a cabin in the middle of god knows where for our graduation party. I live in my happy thoughts for a moment before I feel my stomach rumble. I push myself out of bed and yawn–everyone else must be outside already, doing whatever nonsense. Damn; I never understood how morning people function. As my legs dangle from the side of the mattress, my slippers fall around my feet and I swing open the blinds to see a beautiful scene of trees and nature, beyond the central view lay a lake. I leave the bedroom and move through the cabin to the kitchen, my stomach growling and my throat dry. As I traverse, the silence of the house is slightly off-putting; after being surrounded by a group of non-stop chatting for the past week, it’s strange being alone. I pull my phone from my pocket–damn, I forgot to charge it–and throw on some tunes. “Loti,” by Eidola plays straight off the bat, and man is it a banger. I sing my absolute heart out in the background of doing my tasks, covered in voice cracks and forgotten lyrics. Tossing open a few shelves I find the “Oreo-O’s” we packed–trust me, they’re great–and pour it into a bowl. We’re out of milk, but after grabbing one of the plastic spoons Chase decided to pack on the off-chance we’d need them, I go ahead and decide to eat it anyway, and fail to hit a high note as I take a seat on the front porch. The door slams behind me, causing the whole house to shake, and as I admire the surroundings the song ends and the backdrop falls silent. A pleasant breeze falls over me, sending chills through my t-shirt, and my hair flails with the wind. The chair rocks and time itself seems to stop as the forest encases me with its euphoria. This is the definition of peaceful, yet my prior smile soon falls into a neutral, unharming complexion, and a wave of sadness splashes over me. My inner monologue muses–soon all my memories will be just that: memories. My friends; my family; my life; they’ll all be gone. They’ll be gone forever. I hold my breath and close my eyes. It doesn’t matter how much I reminisce or let nostalgia get the better of me–the past is still the past. The multitudes of houses I’d transitioned between throughout my life–the abundance of friends and peers I’d left behind already. I remember my dad picking me up from school and trying his best to explain what a divorce is. And when I confessed to the first person I’d ever loved. The bitterness that followed and the hate I spread amongst my peers made me hate myself, and I remember how hard I worked to fix these mistakes. My eyes open and I wipe the tears building around them–I tried so hard not to cry during my edgy pre-teen years, and now years later these tears come freely. These memories aren’t nice–they’re horrible, actually–but they’re familiar. Fuck.

The night flies away as my eyelids fall, though in an instant the sun blazes before us all. Tick tock, says the morning sky. The time is here, and I am rightfully terrified. I quickly glance around the now dead fire, and the rest of the children are gone. Oh shit. I leap to my feet and glance around the warehouse; nobody’s visible. Christ–the worst possibilities flood my head as I dash into the main store. Everyone knows the plan. Everyone remembers the plan, right? As I enter the main store and run through what feels like the longest aisle in the world, the group are huddled before the window, just as before. A sigh of relief hits my stomach as I approach the three of them.

“What are we looking at?” They stay silent as I crouch down and glance out the window; two 4x4 trucks have pulled before the building, with dudes absolutely loaded walking across the front perimeter. What the fuck. What the fuck??? They brought an entire squadron and a stack of guns to kill four children? What the fuck did I miss? Oh, Christ–I didn’t prepare for this, but this is the hand we’ve been dealt.

“Jas. Tiger.” I lay my hands on the shoulder of each, “go to the shelves, you know what to do when I ring the alarm.” The two turn and look at me, fear in their eyes. “Now.” I raise my voice and give a stern look at the both of them. “We’re gonna be just fine, alright?” The two run off through the store into the warehouse, and James and I continue to monitor the group. The man who’d beat me yesterday is nowhere to be seen–not even man enough to kill four prepubescents himself–and his lackeys seem to be waiting. Waiting for the twelfth hour. My heartbeat rises to its prior state. Okay. I need to calm down. We can do this. I can do this. I tell James that everything is going to be okay and he needs to listen very carefully.

“We need to distract one of them. Get them away from the group.” I feel guilty asking for this much, especially of someone who’s quite literally half my age, but our options are running low. “Dis-tract” I say slowly, and he nods in understanding. As the men approach the door we both bolt through the aisles into the warehouse, and as the front entrance comes flying open, the group barely hindered by our barricades at all, James is stationed well at the end of the shelving units. This is it. I pull on one of our traps and it comes crashing to the ground, metal and wood and ceramic all collapsing on top of each other creating a gigantic boom. At least three men see me as I rush into the warehouse where our ambush will begin, and there I stay until they slowly enter our domain. They each have pistols, and with melee already not the best option for taking out an army, this is our only chance at overtaking one. Though my shooting is out of practice, If I could just grab it from his hands and take one out, or maybe form a deal, we might have a chance. One moves left, one forward, and one right. As the other two have their eyes focused on different matters, I toss a ball from an aisle on the right and roll into one of the shelving units, surrounding myself with empty boxes. Just as quickly as the ball hits the floor, the gunslinger jumps before the aisle it came from, his eyes locking onto James at the other end of the aisle. James quickly bolts out of sight, and as the man attempts to catch up I tighten the wire between both sides of the aisle and he falls; I quickly jump out of my box fort and my heart races. The gun that once felt impossible to reach drops next to him–right next to me. My instincts kick in as I throw myself towards the pistol, grasping it by its handle and pulling myself back to my feet. Holy shit. I stare at the barrel intently, and soon a sudden rage overcomes me. My heartbeat increases, and flashes of my past appear before me. The past of me? Of this Earth’s me? Christ, I remember being beat. I remember watching myself bleed. The grooves of the metal–the appearance of the derelict aluminum and old plastic of the rusty pistol–I feel anger. The gun falls into the background as my mind takes center stage. How many years, how many decades, have I spent serving this motherfucker? Son of a bitch I’m gonna fucking slaughter them. Killing children, you piece of shit? I pull up the gun; it feels powerful–heavy–in my young, naive, hands. The man’s eyes fall to mine and then to the barrel of the gun.

“Kid, wait–” Well before he can finish, well before he can even begin, his corpse falls to the ground, his own innards seeping into his clothes. A rush of energy surges through me, and another two shots go into a man dressed in red who’d been behind him. The blood oozes from everywhere; his bullet holes, his mouth, probably from his asshole too, though the color fits him perfectly. I turn to see another person through the shelves, a barrel already pointed at me. I drop to the ground as a shot flies over my head. Quickly pulling myself back up, I attempt to shoot at their leg, though I miss and the bullet ricochets across the aisle. Damn shit ass fuck. I’ve fired five shots and an average mag takes eight. I dash to the end of the shelves as more bullets fly through the building, the echoes of ringing and buzzing encompassing my ears. I pull myself together and pop a shot into a woman on my left–the only woman thus far, I may add, and run out of the warehouse. In front of me is James bobbing and weaving between checkout lanes as bullets fly past. What the hell is he doing out here? I lower my sights as a ginormous crash echoes throughout the building, and as I turn I see the dominoes begin to fall. Shelving units drop one after the other, slowly blocking the front of the warehouse from the back. A slight smile overtakes my face–can’t believe they actually fuckin’ did it–but concern soon fills me once again. I hear a yell from across the store and I duck to the checkout lanes, moving through the maze of grocery lines and checkouts until me and James are side by side.

“Shit dude, you good?” I begin to say, the both of us on the floor, pushed up against one of the lanes, as the already falling apart windows begin to shatter. Why the fuck are they shooting the windows? My eyes begin to water as the world around us collapses, my adrenaline and blood lust finally coming to an end.

“Oh my god.” I take a deep breath as I glance at James, us both breathing heavily, just barely keeping it together. “Oh Christ.” I take a glance around the checkout and see one walking towards us; our eyes make contact as I shoot once, only hitting the side of their pelvis. I duck back around and begin to panic, pulling the magazine from the holster to see the singular bullet that now remains. Glancing again at James I see in his eyes one thing: he’s counting on me now more than ever. I put both hands on the pistol and throw myself over the counter, though the man I shot is long gone, with his gun laying in a pool of blood in his rest. My eyes widen with surprise and I fall back. Not worth the risk. Not worth the fucking risk.

“C’mon, we gotta get the hell outta here,” I say in a panicked state. “This shit is over.” I grab his hand and rush us towards one of the blocked entrances, his silence scaring yet comforting my efforts. We threw about fifty fucking carts in front of this entrance in preparation for the attack, and I internally scream as we slowly push them from the doorway. We could practically be asking them to come kill us–the metal scraping and screeching against each other as all else falls silent. After a while we’ve removed about a dozen carts as I catch one gunner from the main entrance; my heart drops and my trepidation accelerates, the pistol not leaving my grip. Eventually we move enough of the carts to have a good amount of space around the door–enough to budge the bastard open. I grab one of the doors as James grabs the other, and as we pull, alas, we fall into the blazing desert sun. A breeze blows by, kicking dust and sand across the lot, and all that's audible is the howling of the wind. It’s peaceful–the sights of nature contrasting the ugly infrastructure of the asphalt and concrete. After a sigh of relief, and a quick glance to assure myself James hasn’t died, my first sight is that of the now three cars surrounding the front of the building. They needed reinforcements for this shit? A slight hint of pride hits me at our feat. Thank god we had some form of upper hand–we’d be fucked in any other sense. The second sight is that of the sun–my thirteen hours nearly blown away with the wind. Fuck. I begin to panic as I look back inside the building; no way in hell I’ll be able to salvage this, right? My chances are running low.

“Wh… what abawt tha othaws?” Yeah. What about the others? I grit my teeth as I face what the future may entail, and turn to face him. I’m gonna regret this, I think to myself as I struggle to take a breath.

“You- you point this, and pull that, okay?” I hold the pistol out towards James and stare him in the eyes as the gun sits between the two of us. His view slowly shifts from me to the handle, and a moment of silence overtakes us.

“Do that, and then the bad people will go away.”

A feeling of self loathing overtakes me. These innocent civilians had a chance before this. The audacity for me to drop in and override their lives. The audacity to abuse the trust I’d automatically been given, and to put their lives in danger. To drop this responsibility on top of them is irresponsible in of itself. I look away in shame; I don’t expect the poor kid to use it, but it would make me feel better. I’m selfish. I clench my fist as he reaches towards the gun, it finally leaving the palm of my hand in order to enter his.

“You are strong, and brave, and wonderful,” I say as I push his poofy hair out of his face, slight tears beginning to fall from his eyes.

“Stay here, and stay hidden. If I don’t return, then…” A slight pause strikes me as I point to the three cars at the entrance.

“Run.”

With that, my tiny, prepubescent body sprints back into the store. Past the registers and checkout lanes, past the dozens of now collapsed shelves, to finally where the gun layed. A small hint of relief strikes me as the sight of it hits my view, even though it now is drenched in the blood surrounding it. I quickly scoop it up out of the red pool and dash towards the other end of the store–to our meeting room. As I run I see the front entrance, two men with guns the size of my arm standing guard. Oh Christ, I mutter, quickly halting and dip into an aisle between the fallen shelves, now almost entirely collapsed and blocking the path to the other side. Fuck. I quickly drop to my stomach, throwing myself beneath it and giving in to the vulnerability–the slow crawl to my death. A minute passes. Then two. Three. I begin to panic as I approach the end. A pair of boots passes the aisle as I shuffle under the shelving, and after a moment I slowly pull myself to my feet, glancing towards my left at the owner of the boots–a man who’s now halfway across the store. A sigh of relief escapes me, and I run right, though our saferoom is nearly compromised. Across the hall I see two men attempting to shove the door down, slamming their grown bodies against it again and again. Do these assholes have no limits? No boundaries? Do they murder children on the daily? I fume as I approach, my anger only growing as the distance closes.

“Fuck this shit” I hear one of them scoff as he pulls an entire grenade from his hip–oh fuck. He holds the pin in place and glances at his friend; “you ready?” I swiftly toss the barrel of my gun up and put the force of my finger on the trigger, spamming it in a panic state, three shots entering each of them. The shots are loud–piercingly loud compared to my first seven. The boom of the shots fly across the building, and if I didn’t have to be fast before, the time to rush is now. Though as the two bodies fall to the floor, I realize I’m too late. A massive bang yells and screeches across the store, an explosion filling the hall with smoke and sparks; while the distance is far enough to not affect me too harshly, I cough from all the dust, and my ears ring even after what feels like minutes pass by. The sounds of the bullets pale in comparison. Uhg, fuck. I rub my eyes and pray that what’s behind the door remains alive, though as the fog exits, the following scene is… Oh my god. The corpses are gone–no, not vanished, but gone–unrecognizable. Body parts and blood and guts spew across the floor, the walls, and if the ceiling was any lower than it’d be splattered on that as well. I gag and look away, taking a moment to compose myself before turning to face reality once more. I feel my breath quiver–I go to cover my mouth out of instinct and am reminded of the blood-ridden gun I possess. Oh my god, oh my god. The gun falls to the floor, the drop activating the trigger, and a bullet flies past me into the distance. I stare at my hand, then back at the gore and mental scarring I’m facing, and then I freeze. No. I close my eyes to escape, though I see them there as well. My eyes flash open and I struggle to breath, but out of sheer will I push myself forward. The children deserve better. I can feel my legs shake out of desperation as I approach the door–it’s fallen completely off the frame, likely thrown into our safe room from the blast. Lord have mercy. Let them be okay. Lord please I beg. After pushing myself forward I take my first step on something not tile; my eyes squint and my mouth frowns, my body’s shaking has changed from shaking to starting to convulse, unable to even hold the weight of myself. I continue to step over limbs and innards and finally reach the door frame.

“Guys, we have to get the hell outta here,” I say pleadingly and weak as I enter the room, but soon I stop dead in my tracks. I… Holy shit, I… I take a step back in horror, my eyes widen and my arm reaching to the wall for support. Tiger sits shaking, eyes red, face swollen, with a bath of red laying on the floor in front of him. Jas hadn’t just been shot, she’d been mutilated. Fuck. The explosion couldn’t have done that, not with a wall between them. Oh Christ, this must’ve happened before. Tiger must’ve dragged her back inside and locked themselves in. Oh god. Oh my god. A flash of white appears before me–the world has already ended. I look away and inhale before rushing to Tiger and grabbing his shoulder. Tears drain from his eyes, his clothes covered in that of Jas’s guts… Jas’s nothing. He’s covered in Jas. I fall to one knee and stare at the side of his head, contemplating and accepting the reality.

“We’ll come back, but right now..” A glance of Jas catches my eye and I feel my face scrunch up before pulling Tiger’s head to look at mine. He stares and frowns, his face covered in tears and snot and his body covered in blood.

“I’m sorry.” I take his hand and pull him to his feet, Jas’s body dropping to the floor, lifeless and covered in bullet holes. I continue holding his hand as I pull us to the side of the doorway, and as I peek outside I see two men, nowhere near as traumatized as myself and Tiger, though still taken aback. Humans aren’t supposed to see this. I look back at Tiger and think of the shell he’ll be; the lifelessness he’ll feel; the trauma he’ll endure. Children aren’t supposed to see this. Nothing about this is right. I rub the back of Tiger’s hand as we stand, our backs to the wall. I’m terrified. I’m a coward. Maybe if I ran at the two guards at just the right moment, maybe if I hadn’t been a pussy and hadn’t dropped the gun, maybe if I never attempted to be the hero and just let these children’s lives continue on their own. I stare at Jas’s body–the blood from both her and the two corpses outside reaching for eachother in some twisted metaphor. Tiger’s crying amplifies as he follows my gaze. He’s bawling. It’s over. They know we’re here. I tighten my grip on him as I prepare for the inevitable, and as I hear the wet splashes of footsteps on blood, I look at Tiger for the last time, but he’s not there. Nobody’s there. I turn back towards the door frame and that’s gone too–oh god, no. My surroundings have shifted–changed–and as the afterimage of the previously gore-infested room fades, I’m faced with a new, harsh reality.

#creativewriters #creative writing #narration #webnovel

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ap-sadistics · 2 years ago

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under the cut is what i nicknamed my ninjago oni arc retrospective. which is an obscene amount of rambling, ALMOST ENTIRELY CRITICISM ABOUT NINJAGOS WRITING, spurred on by the said trilogy. i had so many thoughts about the oni arc i literally could not tweet it. its literally so much. and by so much i mean about 5000 words of complaining, yelling, a lot of thoughts. coming from a place of genuine care for the characters that are in this godforsaken show. this is the first time im talking about ninjago on tumblr. and considering how twitter is going down im might just like. start liveblogging the rest of ninjago on tumblr lol...... its been years since ive liveblogged on tumblr, man. i wont be fucklong posts like this tho probably

anyways when i say 5k words. i am not exaggerating. this is That Long. youve been warned. i never shut the fuck up. yeehaw lets go

⬇️

garmadon. this is all about garmadon. i realized something while watching s10. like clearly ive been discontent with his narrative or more accurately the way the narrative has been using him (note the word using. its a talking point that i will return to later.). but what ive realized is interesting. garmadon in s10 is actually the garmadon i wish i got in s1/s2. but im discontent with this garmadon anyways why?

its because. it was given to me. in such a. dissatisfying. way.. and its dissatisfying because..... the best opportunity to make him like this has been squandered in the first place. and theres not enough justification/proper justification to make garmadon the way he was in s10. THE FUCKING...... SEQUENCING OF HIS CHARACTER ARC... CAN IT REALLY BE CALLED A CHARACTER ARC WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SERIES OVERALL.......

its like... garmadon is a different character every season. in the pilots he was introduced as a sincerely menacing and evil threat and the only reason hes not is because he was trapped in the underworld or whatever but even then he was a threat threatening to be unleashed. someone dangerous. but then when you see him again in s1 hes like..... not.. that. the second impression of him that you get is that oh. hes not that evil actually. hes not so evil that he still loves his son. guess hes not that bad. and its like. okay so my personal opinion is that 1) a truly evil dad wouldnt even give a shit about his son and 2) okay so a villain being a caring parent CAN be an interesting and nuanced concept with depth (thinks about that one prozd vine) BUT the writers didnt actually make it that way and in fact they did it in a way that undermines the effectiveness of garmadons characters. the way they did it... just makes it feel..... inconsistent.

and on top of that, the writers loved making incompetent villains for comedic purposes and so like. they also decided to make garmadon that incompetent type in s1+2. THE VIBES GARMADON HAS IN THE PILOTS VS THE FIRST SEASONS ARE SO DIFFERENT..... and so... on seeing the type of character garmadon is in s9/s10... this guy who lost his love for his son... it just reminds me of the kind of guy i wish i gotten in s1 and 2. in s10 garmadon is an ally but its like. weird. because they turned him into a character whos entirely rational and practical because hes apathetic towards everyone. and thats not what s1/2 used to be. s1 garmadon was a fucking cartoony asshole lol..... so like... even if garmadon was stripped of all this goodness i cant see him being the guy he was in s10? like personality changes/amnesia doesnt work like that i feel. theres that. and then there the transition from s9->s10. s9 garmadon is like. oddly blank. suggestible. hes cold and cruel. hes a tower. hes menacing. i get how a freshly resurrected garmadon whos entirely evil maybe could result in this a little bit. but i cant see how garmadon in s9 suddenly changed to be the guy in s10. he straight up became a different villain. he became calculative and cunning. competent. also like. rational. like he understands that theres greater priorities to protect ninjago from a greater force. LIKE. DID S9 GARMADON EVEN HAVE A HIGHER LEVEL OF THOUGHT THAN "hm....... son....... brother........ take over ninjago....... true potential.... power..... destroy..... be evil........" LIKE. HES PRETTY GODDAMN SIMPLE AINT HE. IN S9. AND THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO TRANSITION TO MAKE HIM LIKE THE WAY HE IS IN S10 OTHER THAN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT. AND THAT WOULDNT PRODUCE A CHANGE IN CHARACTER LIKE THAT. GARMADONS CHARACTER IS ALL OVER THE PLACE OVER THE COURSE OF NINJAGO and this doesnt even address sensei garmadon. miss that dilf. anyways.

they brought garmadon back but its in such a way thats not compelling at all...... because they decide to forget about past established relationship dynamics. (ninjago can and will throw out past established narrative arcs bc they are inconvenient to them. because to the writers, past seasons have very little value in moving the present plot forward because they are completed. BECAUSE THE WRITERS ARENT CLEVER ENOUGH TO FIGURE OUT WAY TO HAVE CONSISTENCY AND CONTINUITY IN THEIR NARRATIVE AND ALSO INVENT NEW PLOT.)

like entirely its like lloyd past relationship dynamic with his dad never happened bc lloyd never feels in a way that would make sense for a guy who had a positive and yet EXTREMELY COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP with his father. like come on s4 finale???? the last time lloyd talked to his dad (when he fucking sacrificed himself LIKE HE GOT YEETED THROUGH A PORTAL AND “DIED”)...... they dont bring any of that back. none of the anticipated feelings. theres no emotional logic to the way lloyd feels about his dad coming back. either that or they dont show it nearly enough. like clearly lloyd eventually feels some sorta way about his dad being pure evil and an amnesiac. but I WANT EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE MAN. THEY DONT EVER SHOW IT IN A WAY THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE..... LIKE. SHOULDNT LLOYD WANT.... TO FIX HIS DAD? WHY DOESNT HE TRY. WHY DOESNT HE MISS THE GOOD FATHER-SON MENTOR-MENTEE RELATIONSHIP HE LAST HAD WITH HIS DAD? ALSO MAYBE A LITTLE BIT OF GUILT???? BC HE HAD HELPED SACRIFICE HIS DAD AND HE DAD WAS CANONICALLY DEAD? OR MISPLACED SELFBLAME FOR FAILING TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING TO BOTH HIS DAD AND FREAKING NINJAGO. FOR ANGST REASONS. IDK MAYBE THAT BIT IS A BIT CONTRIVED BUT IT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY THAT WAS THERE. I WANTED TO SEE LLOYD ACTUALLY TRY TO LIKE..... REACH OUT TO THE OLD GARMADON IN THIS HUSK OF HIS OLD MAN. I WANTED TO SEE AN ATTEMPT, A FRUITLESS ATTEMPT OF LLOYD TRYING TO GET HIS FATHER BACK. AND THEN DEVASTATION WHEN HE REALIZES HE FUCKING CANT!!!!!!!! THEY COULDVE MADE THIS SO MUCH MORE EMOTIONALLY COMPELLING. BY MAKING LLOYD THE ONE WHO NARRATIVELY CONNECTS THE OLD AND NEW GARMADON. LLOYD COULDVE BEEN A POINT OF COMPARISON TO GREATER EMPHASIZE HOW THE REVIVED GARMADON IS A DIFFERENT MAN. ill stop yelling now.

sighs. s9/10 is like...... considerably less compelling than s8 for this issue..... like not only are they bringing back lloyd+dad drama but also they dont put the right emotions in place for it to Be compelling. its missing so much for it to be... emotionally engaging..... it doesnt help that lloyd isnt my blorbo like they lose me so fucking hard after s8. s8 smacked. s8 smacked so hard and the follow up is disappointing. i was invested in lloyds character arc for once. harumis effect. im biased but im also right.

anyways this whole thing has been about garmadon but....... also i gotta say. its not a garmadon exclusive problem. this is def a clear symptom of a larger problem of ninjago. how ninjago approaches characters. which is that there is no show/character bible. not a single character has a character bible for the writers to follow. at most they have a single line. a single consistent characteristic. oh god are ninjas inconsistent.

you see its because the writers use characters as they see fit. theres so many times when they definitely decided on traits the characters should have that would be most convenient them to have in the moment. they see characters as tools to drive the plot forward, rather than having characters drive the narratives on their own. and thats BAD. because this way, characters dont have rules in how they behave. they dont have patterns. resulting in conflicting moments! have you ever heard of the phrase "characters write themselves?" well that happens when you have a solidly rounded character. you dont make the characters do what you want them to do. you write characters how you THINK they would behave. you write the situation. and they react accordingly to their characterization. its like a roleplay almost

anyways ninjago doesnt do that. ninjago is not character driven. so you end up with so much character inconsistency.

well im not saying the ninjas are like entirely inconsistent. theres is a general pattern they return to. the few basic traits the writers remember they have

like here. heres what *I* think are the only things that the **WRITERS** have truly set in stone for all the characters. this is not my personal observations and understanding of the characters but the way i think the writers see each character. im a guy who thinks characters are deeper than they are for the record.

jay: talks a lot/the jokester->annoying

nya: competent girl.

kai: arrogant/hot head (the latter is however inconsistent)

lloyd: leader (-_-💢)

zane: robot with that very specific speech style that indicates hes very smart and/or not human (robot.)

cole: CAKE.

and its evident that these characters are unequally fleshed out compared to one another. and im sorry this might be my bias goggles i have on which makes me automatically analyze the character im most invested in the sort out what their characteristics are but i think jay is arguable one of the most consistent characters. WELL. AT LEAST UP UNTIL I HAVE WATCHED. ive heard things about the studio change.... nya is also def arguably the most consistent. kai is a blorbo too but i know hes one of the less consistent ones and i have proof for this. lemme share a post by a showrunner. makes me so fucking mad.

FLUCTUATES?!?!? SURE PPL BEHAVIORS DEPEND ON THE SITUATION BUT LIKE COME ON. THERES SOME CONSISTENCY BENEATH IT SOMEWHERE ALWAYS. okay here. people arent Always consistent. but like. these are characters you know. there should be a reasoning why they behave differently from one situation to another you know? this answer is way too flippant of an answer, it infuriates me. LIKE. UGH IF THIS KINDA OF FLEXIBILITY WAS WRITTEN WITH INTENT AND PURPOSE THEN ITS GREAT!!! IT MEANS KAI IS A COMPLEX CHARACTER!!!! BUT YOU KNOW!!!!! IT ISNT LIKE THAT. KAI IS A FLEXIBLE CHARACTER BECAUSE THAT IS CONVENIENT FOR THE WRITERS BECAUSE IT MEANS THEYLL WRITE HIM IN ANY MEANS THE SITUATION CALLS FOR. THEY NEED HIM TO BE VOICE OF REASON THEYLL MAKE HIM THE VOICE OF REASON. THEY NEED HIM TO BE THE PARANOID GUY THEYLL MAKE HIM THE PARANOID GUY. THEY NEED HIM TO BE AN IDIOT THEYLL MAKE HIM AN IDIOT. they do the latter a lot and i really do enjoy it to be honest its like an incredible charm point to me how fucking stupid he is, i aDore him. ANYWAYS MY POINT IS KAI DOESNT HAVE CONSISTENCY...... if i rewatch ninjago i could fucking cite them better i like Remember the examples that have happened but not accurately when they happened. but i know im right about this.

also with the power of fan interpretation i can take his actions that he has done and rework them in a way that makes an actually cohesively rounded character. WORKING WITH WHAT I GOT. PUTTING THOUGHT INTO HIM MORE THAN THE WRITERS EVER HAVE. AND ILL DO THIS WITH ALL OF THEM. OR AT LEAST THE ONES I CARE ABOUT.

kai is rational and sometimes hes so fucking stupid and sometimes hes like both so like he burns rubber while staying in one place. that part of my interpretation of him thats important to me. s7 kai you think so damn much and yet you make absolutely no fucking progress in your thoughts its so fucking funny and iconic i LOVE YOU YOU FUCKING DUMBASS. i love your fucking arrogance and ego and how thats youre downfall most of the time i love this as youre character flaw. its good. and yet you can be sensible sometimes which makes me think there could be a leader in you if it wasnt for your massive shortcomings. and also i love when you go older brother mode....... if anyone in the team is an elder sibling its definitely kai. literally and also in terms of vibes. its comes with being an older brother.

anyways i dunno how that spiel happened kais isnt even my most favorite character, jay is. but he is second fav tho and also one of the guys who has a lot of inconsistencies. its late when im writing this section its truly a RAMBLE here

oh speaking of jay heres another evidence of ninjago writing for convenience and honestly its real character writing sin. the fact that they completely removed an entire character trait from him. they wrote out how hes an inventor. its literally confirmed by the showrunner THAT IT WAS A DECISION THAT THEY MADE. TO GET RID OF AN ENTIRE ESTABLISHED CHARACTER TRAIT. YOU CANT JUST DO THAT. THATS LITERALLY BAD WRITING. YOU CANT JUST DO THAT ITS BAD WRITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT SHOWS A BLATANT DISREGARD FOR HIS CHARACTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ITS NOT LIKE HE WAS BEING DEVELOPED PRE SHOW AND BEING WORKED OUT. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE WAS A MECHANIC FOR LITERALLY SEASONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND JUST BECAUSE THERES WERE “TOO MANY TECH PEOPLE” THEY WERE LIKE OH THATS TOO MANY WE DONT NEED THAT MANY WE GOTTA GET RID OR SOME WE HAVE TOO MANY! WHAT KIND OF?!?!?!? WHAT KIND OF FUCKING REASON IS THAT!??!?!????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ITS SHIT!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE THE SCIFI GENRES GONNA DO THEN. GOD. YOU CANT JUST DELETE TRAITS. ITS LITERALLY CARELESS WRITING. I HATE IT. AND ALSO TOTALLY UNNECESSARY.

theres a lot of things i could probably reference as evidence of how incredibly irresponsibly ninjago writes characters. they do it a lot. as a guy who love characters, this is hell. and yet i am still here. invested. because putting work into characters is a different kind of joy i guess. LOVE ANALYZING AND INTERPRETING CHARACTERS WHO ARENT THAT DEEP BUT THEY COULD BE. THEY COULD BE. man.

this was mostly a talk about garmadon and character writing huh. oni arc spurred all theses thoughts but it wasnt all necessarily about that hbdgsdk. hm.... i do have more thoughts though..... ive stated before s8 slapped and both s9 and 10 are weaker right? increasingly so like 10 is much weaker than 9. they drop the ball. its one part because of everything i stated above regarding garmadon and characters. its another part because s8 wasnt about dad drama for the fourth time. sure garmadon was part of the plot indirectly. but the conflict wasnt Between them. the plot in s8 was honestly partly a mystery due to the investigative nature for a part of it. and the whole not knowing who the leader was thing. the conflict was against the sons of garmadon. and then when the reveal happened it was between harumi and lloyd built on the lies harumi made. the conflict lloyd had was one that was a personal betrayal. lloyd had to confront that harumi wasnt the girl he liked. that everything he knew and experienced with harumi was a part of a facade. i love this conflict lloyd has because it turned internal AND IT WASNT ABOUT HIS DAD. S8 WAS REFRESHING FOR THIS REASON. LLOYDS CONFLICT DIDNT ENTIRELY HINGE ON HIS DAD OR BEING THE CHOSEN ONE. CONFLICT THAT WAS NEW INTERPERSONAL DRAMA WOW!!!! I LOVE IT. well of course its more complicated than that his dad is definitely a factor in that he is harumis motive.... but heres a thing.... garmadon wasnt involved to make this happen. hes dead. he didnt spur harumi to become a fucked up little girl herself. its all on her. her problem turned into lloyds problem. harumi being cause of conflict is a different kind of conflict that lloyd hasnt experienced before you know? well i guess its sorta similar to morros deal in the sense that lloyds identity made him a target for pain BUT WHATS DIFFERENT IS THAT HE LIKE HAS AGENCY THIS TIME. AM I MAKING SENSE? DO YOU GET ME? DESPITE GARMADON IS A PASSIVE PART OF THE CONFLICT ITS NOT ABOUT HIM. ITS DIFFERENT FROM S9 AND S10 YOU KNOW?

i feel like the last paragraph was really circuitous. like i think i made it 4 times longer than it needed to be. anyways thats that. but also i think s9 and 10 is weaker than s8 is because.... the villains are boring. the sons of garmadon was a fun antagonistic force. it was basically a motorcycle gang and cult. it was a pretty colorful gang! i love ultra violet especially!!! shes fucking unhinged. harumi is fucking nuts too. these villain had a fun thing going for them. now...... i get really weird... vibes from the dragon hunters..... like its kinda 😬 the way another worlds culture is presented? because the villains of this season is like..... basically an entire population of people. its not a minor group of humans. its basically all the humanoid residents of the realm. and theyre presented as vicious savages. am i alone in thinking this is bit kinda.... hm.... like eventually the show redeems itself and the group by having faith be the one wiser to what is going on (to show that Not Everyone Is Like This) and also eventually making the hunters realize they were living under a fascist regime (its highkey fascism right??). am i taking this too seriously for getting vague xenophobic vibes from this. im not saying that another worlds people all have to be pleasant and nice thats kinda unrealistic and also i do think that the first realm group needed to have an antagonistic force to light a fire under their ass. with the seasons theme i do think both groups of ninjas being “hunted” is fun concept and offers opportunity for parallels between them? its just. the presentation of the hostile group. leaves much to be desired. IVE SAID IT BEFORE A FEW WEEKS AGO AND I AM RIGHT ABOUT THAT ACTUALLY. THE DRAGON HUNTERS SHOULDVE BEEN COWBOY BOUNTY HUNTERS....... MAN. A WESTERN THEME COULDVE REALLY WORKED IN DUSTY ASS SETTING OF THE FIRST REALM. THE HARSHNESS OF THE DESOLATE LANDSCAPE. like instead of the villains being presented as savages i think it wouldve been better if they were more lawless and cutthroat. but like a different vibe of it. the western vibes. in my vision of it the reason why the boy would be hunted is because they did something stupid to get a hit on them lol. either that or a series misfortunate events and misunderstandings. tbh finding a way to make the conflict involve the golden dragon armor is hard so i havent thought about it. it doesnt help that it super doesnt fit into the setting/theme. highkey would be easier and like...... makes wus whole thing about something else. but idk what. fixing ninjago is hard work.

anyways desperado faith would be so sexy. cowboy versions of the dragon hunters would fucking smack. theres that

now the oni tho......... i sincerely think. the oni are the MOST BORING VILLAINOUS FACTION NINJAGO HAS EVER HAD. THEY ARE SO BORING THEYRE SO BORING!! NOT THAT MOST OF THE NINJAGO VILLAINS HAVE EVER BEEN VERY COMPLEX BUT GOD. THEY ARE. THE MOST SIMPLEST FORCE OF EVIL. EVER. THATS LITERALLY ALL THAT THEY ARE! THEYRE JUST LITERALLY A REPRESENTATION OF THE DARK EVIL~EVIL~ THATLL BRING ABOUT THE END OF THE WORLD. AND THATS IT. THATS IT! WHY DO THEY WANT TO EVEN. THEY ARE JUST DOING IT BC THEY WANNA. NO DEEPER EXPLANATION FOR WHAT THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY DO. WHERE THE HELL WERE THEY BEFORE THEY SUDDENLY APPEARED. WHY DID THEY DISAPPEAR FROM THE FIRST REALM AND WHY WERE THEY ABLE TO COME BACK WHEN THEY DID THROUGH THE CRYSTAL? theres almost no point in them being sentient even. they could literally be just monstrous beasts and That would be more interesting that what they are. bc at least if they are just monsters then their behaviors can be just easily handwaved. bc they would be animals. NOT SO FOR THE ONI AS ARE THO. NOT WHEN YOU HAVE?? MYSTAKE???? WHO IS AN ONI AND IS A CLEAR EXAMPLE THAT ONIS ARE A COMPLEX BEING. ninjago has Always been very reductive for their villains in that the ninja are Good and villains are Evil but GOD. THIS IS THE MOST REDUCTIVE THEYVE EVER BEEN. NO DEPTH! ABSOLUTELY NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! INFURIATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! even the skeleton in the pilots had more depth bc they had character traits at least. the trait was that they were stupid BUT IT WAS SOMETHING AT LEAST. also theyre allowed to be simple for comedy reasons. s10 was all serious plot. they dont have that excuse. they are so mind numbing dull i hate the fucking oni. i know ninjago has always seen good and evil as things that can be clearly cut which has always been like. *sighs*. BUT THIS TIME IT REALLY MAKES ME. WANNA. *CHOKES NINJAGO SHOW WRITERS* DO MORE THINKING, FUCKOS.

this is largely my skybound bias talking but the sky pirates was one of the most interesting villains to me. like nadakhan is a good villain. he sucks but also hes like. developed. hes also very threatening. hes an effectively written villain in regards to his villainy. he has all the motives and the personality and like the *gestures* the way he acts. im lacking the words for it. i bet if skybound wasnt written so abjectly misogynistic i would probably call him the best ninjago villain. unfortunately i have to take points off of him for that. i think undeliberate sexism is cheating for villains. the sexism in skybound is definitely 90% because its baked into the writers biases rather than the writers going “hey you know whats really evil? misogyny.” no they def didnt think that. also more than nadakhan i do think flintlocke is the more interesting guy tho. AT LEAST HE IS IN MY HEAD. WHERE ALL THE SKYBOUND THOUGHTS ARE BOUNCING AROUND.

beyond skybound i think pythor is ABSOLUTELY impeccable as a villain. I LOVE THAT GUY. HES GREAT. AND OF COURSE HARUMI. now i think truly harumi deserves the crown for this. morro is. wait. hang on i think im thinking about the potential morro had as a character rather than the character morro actually is. morro is woefully underdeveloped in reality but! HES STILL SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING THAN THE FUCKING ONI!!!!!! tho gotta be honest. i remember jack shit about the s2 villains. they were extremely unimpressionable. i still do think the oni are the most boring tho. also. what the fuck is that one dudes deal. the... overlord? *checks the wiki* (SPOILERS) WHAT THE FUCK HE COMES BACK IN CRYSTALIZED? also i entirely forgot he was in s3. all my homies hate s3 you cannot fault me for this. bitch got put into a box. he means nothing to me but the oni are still less interesting. nothing can change my mind about this. ALSO THE ONI NEVER EVEN SHAPESHIFTED. THAT MAKES ME SO MAD. AN ABILITY ALL THE ONIS HAVE BUT LICHERALLY ONLY MYSTAKE DOES IT. NINJAGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

is there anything else i want to complain about. probably but also i think that about covers it. s8>s9>>>>>s10. however s10>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>s3 still. like dont get me wrong. despite all my bashing s3 is still that bad. its just that as i wrote this i actually started feeling stronger about the way i did for the oni arc dfskhflsdhgiuth. its just like. its undeniable that the quality of the trilogy goes down each season no...? it started out So strong..... but it just gets weaker. its more apparent bc s8 was just that good. bring that quality baaaaaaack

WAIT. NO I DO STILL HAVE ANOTHER THING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT. I HATE THE WAY NINJAGO TREATS DEATH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! like along with characters the writers absolutely use death as a tool. they use is as either plot convenience or for cheap drama. like remember dr julian? they fucking killed him BETWEEN SEASONS BC THEY FELT LIKE DIDNT NEED HIM ANYMORE. JUST LIKE THAT! and i bet thats why they killed mystake off screen too. they looooove making shit happen off screen. i cant believe thats how they decided to write off mystake. the writers dont treat death with any respect. its such a disservice to mystakes character to just get rid of her character like that. like she did a lot. and i feel like. she couldve easily not died if the writers wanted her to. like. she was a fucking oni. they couldve writing her escaping. or at least shown us a nobler death rather than the implied shit that they did. god i was so confused whether or not they killed mystake in that first scene “confirmation” scene with skylor BECAUSE IT WAS SO VAGUE. bc honestly it could be easily interpreted that she was just subdued or captured. but no, turns out shes dead :/ damn ://// hate fucking writing like this

theres that. then theres the fake out deaths. that they did twice in s10. and like. it was so clearly a fake out............ bc you know ninjago is a that wont kill their main characters for good. they simply cant! but they try this shit anyways bc maybe theyll upset some naive kid thatll believe it!! that want their audience to FEEL THINGS so they gonna make it SEEM like they killed cole/lloyd. but the attempt is transparent as fuck. sure didnt get me thats for sure. you see death is indeed a thing that happens in ninjago. but its been shown multiple times that it doesnt stick. thats its either fake or the character will simply be brought back with a handwave (if they are important enough). exhibit: garmadon himself, zane, nya, cole (the fucking ghost thing like. hes a ghost but clearly hes not a true ghost. im not going deeper into this like the ghost thing IS A WHOLE NOTHER THING AND THIS RAMBLE IS OVER 4K WORDS LONG). ninjago is a show that has stripped death of all its meaningfulness. theres that one scene where they killed mr e onscreen too and literally they only did because mr e is a robot so they could get extra violent with him in order to show off this current garmadons brutality ://////. also its so fucking wack that they for reals sent lloyd to fucking ninjago heaven for a hot second. like lloyd was def going to survive that and they made him die for drama but its still wild to me you know? anyways death has no emotional impact value in this show. makes me wish that they just wont use it. not unless if its a death that actually matters and is a genuine threat that can happen to the characters that matter. man.

oh another thing i just remembered. you know how garmadon was on their ship in s10. i wish the writers had remember that literally happened before. or maybe they did but like the way the ninjas talk about it its like never happened and im like. aw man i wish we had a funny call back to that. too bad this show forgets to have continuity sometimes.

and SPEAKING OF WHICH, okay one last thing that been on my mind for fucking weeks, THE MURAL IN S10 SHOWING EVERY CONFLICT INCLUDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SKYBOUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BIG FUCKING GLARING CONTIUITY ERROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS SHOW HAS PLENTY OF THOSE BUT MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS THE MOST FLAGRANT ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JAY AND NYA DIDNT PAINT THAT. AND THOSE TWO ARE LITERALLY THE ONLY ONES WHO KNOW ABOUT NADAKHAN. NADAKHAN WAS NEVER RELEASED FROM THE TEAPOT SO NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT HIM!!!!! EVENTS OF SKYBOUND DIDNT FUCKING HAPPEN IN THIS TIMELINE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. anyways in GOES into the fanfic wishlist, a scene in which they didnt! paint skybound on that fucking wall and jay has some fucking Thoughts! and a !feeling! or two about that~!!!!!!! FIX IT FIC EXCEPT ITS FIXING A PLOTHOLE AND IS NOT THE TRADITIONAL FIXIT FIC IN WHICH EVENTS A WRITTEN TO BE BETTER :) but rather its a character study about jay. with optional trauma. maybe emotional turmoil may be not, the way the fic would depend entirely if theres a plot or not. at minimum jay needs to Feel A Way about it...... how nobody remembers the worst days of his life..... you know? i may brainstorm about this fanfic. i really want it. i may never get it. but i want it so bad. if anything should be written it should be this scene..................... SIGHS........

okay i think im finally out of thoughts for this oni arc retrospective that def extends beyond the oni arc. this ramble hit over 4.8k words by the point of this sentence. this took me literally over a month to write bc im busy with school work sdkjfhieurtghkdhflk. WHICH IM FUCKING MYSELF OVER WITH RIGHT NOW BC INSTEAD OF WORKING I DID THIS. but like. i need to accomplish something. even if the thing is entirely useless I NEED IT OUT OF MYSELF AND OFF! MY! PLATE!! JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!!!! HUZZAH TO AIRING OUT ALL MY GRIEVANCES WOO!!!!!! a total of two ppl will read this. and thats great. literally if theres more than two pp who make it to the end of this ill be fucking shocked because this is lterally almost 5000 words of complaining. lightly put it. criticism. anyways i have so much to say about ninjago, its fucking obscene. i feel like i wrote an essay even though it is very much not that, but the feeling make me feel like i need to write a conclusion for this all. conclusion? wish ninjago was a more tightly written show. and final final note? please fucking excuse any typing errors that have been made theres a very high chance i forgot words or wrote the wrong words and i am incapable of catching all of them i certain of this. i tried to read thru but this is like 5k now man. typing more increases the wordcount isnt that fucking crazy. anyways, thank you understanding,

and youre so epic for reading this beast of a review. i am very right and i will not hear otherwise thanks ;p

#the first paragraph use to be literally just over 1000 words long but i broke it up for dan #tho tbh. shit might have to be broken up more..... lol................#but i cant look at this anymore. ive been at it for too long. i need it OUT #maybe ill read for typos like a few days later #jem's miscellany #itll be really funny if i put this into the tag #and i kinda do wanna tag it for my blog organization sake.....#ill compromise with this #ninjago talk #idk if ill make a different tag later but for now. augh. hitting post. if theres errors then theres errors.#anyways im insane

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ch4nb4ng · 4 years ago

Text

Shine

Pairings: fem reader X hyunjin (a little bit of minho)

Warnings: oral sex, penetration, possible (?) harsh words (like rejection), masturbation

Word Count: 10.3k

A/N: i have not posted for a while and i do apologise ive had a lot of family stuff going on. this took me a while to write so i hope you enjoy it :)

The sudden arms around your waist took you by surprise as you scooped the ice cream from the tub to your glass.

“Hi y/n,” Hyunjin giggled, his muffled breath dancing across your neck. Your body froze, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Yes, he had always been this touchy feely kind of person, but the amount of flirtation had increased recently; it was frustrating.

He used to be this cute little boy, full of life and innocence. Short black hair that used to flop over his eyes, bare, pale skin; pretty much as plain as they come. Hyunjin always had such a gentle nature about him. He supported you in whatever you wanted to do and dream of. He was the dictionary definition of a best friend. His personality didn’t change, but other things began too, especially for you. You were high school sweethearts. Always at each other’s hip, studying together, hanging out together at parties, after school; wherever. You both got into the same college, deciding to live together. That was when things began to take a turn. From growing out his hair, dyeing it blonde, getting a lip ring (and multiple other piercings), and, not to mention the multitude of tattoos he started to get carved onto his body was making you feel a different way. Even the way he dressed. You wouldn’t be able to lose him if you went out; the clanging of the chains dangling from his hips and neck was impossible not to hear. He wasn’t the pure, wholesome boy you used to know, and that had become a very, very pressing problem for you.

“Heyyyyyy,” you gasped, breath heavy from the slight scare attack he gave you. Your eyes automatically gazing at the slightly exposed skin showing due to the unbuttoned first button on his loose shirt.

“Oh my god Hyunjin,” your eyes widened, pushing his clothing to the side, “you got another tattoo?”

“Yeah what do you think?”

You ignored his question, starting to analyse it heavenly. A large, striking dagger; god, that was sexy. Biting down on your bottom lip, you giggled, lightly tracing your finger across the outline.

“I do like it actually.”

You smiled, looking up at him. How were the two of you suddenly so close? A hand was resting on your hip, you couldn’t help but feel the heat rush to your face. God he was such a fucking flirt, it was so irritating. Like he loved to play with you; see how much of a reaction he could get from you. You were clearly wrapped around his finger. It wasn’t like he wasn’t intelligent either. He began to know his way around girls, you would be completely dumbfounded if he hadn’t yet worked out the feelings you had for him. You wouldn’t even think twice, but when he’s looking at you, like that, inches away from your lips, it was hypnotising, leaving you wanting more every time. The cocky smirk fell from his face, spinning away from you and dropping onto the couch to watch some tv. He looked at you, playfully smiling as he pat the empty area next to him, inviting you to sit with him. Unable to refuse, you scurried over, legs slightly pushed against his as he flicked through the channels for something to watch. A comfortable silence fell over the room as you rested your head on his shoulder, a lively hum escaping his lips at the gentle contact.

“Are you doing anything tonight y/n?”

“I was going to ask you actually, do you think you could help me with algebra prac tonight?”

That playful smirk returned to his face, making your stomach swoon. How could he not know the effect his mysterious look had on you? You tucked your hair behind your ears, abruptly standing up and walking to your room, shutting the door behind you. Hyunjin’s eyebrows furrowed at your shortness; it somehow began to make his heart hurt. Immediate panic came over him as he ran after you, gently knocking on your door.

“Y/n?”

No response.

“Y/n? Is everything okay?”

“Yes Hyunjin,” you reply, opening the door with a smile. A wave of relief flooded through Hyunjin seeing you happy. He wanted nothing but for you to be happy. It was when he became the happiest. If you showed him any sign of sadness or stress, he felt like he was losing his mind. You were his number one priority. Regardless if he had a million things going on, you being content was the only thing that had mattered.

You snapped him out of his thoughts, clicking in front of his face as you let him come to your room and take the seat next to you at your desk. Opening your book made his eyes automatically widen. You felt puzzled, beginning to stress slightly. If he didn’t know how to do it, how would you learn? Hyunjin was the only one who could actually get through to you when it came to understanding the multitude of theories you had to memorise. You felt your shoulders, which were previously tense, relax once he stood back up, letting his hands rest on you, thumbs digging slightly into your muscles as he began to analyse your work. A muffled whine escaped your lips at the feeling of his touch; so delicate, yet so rough. Tilting your head, you pushed your hair to the side; nothing more needed to be said. Hyunjin chuckled, enjoying your playful antics. His fingertips traveled across your skin, slowly reaching up to your neck. Rolling your head forward, you became limp. It was so exhausting putting up a facade in front of him. Just this one time, you could give into his touch.

“Y/n you’re so tight-”

“What?”

Your body froze. You weren’t sure if you had heard him correctly.

“Your muscles are so tight, is this really stressing you out?”

“Oh,” you replied, slightly relieved, “uhm, yeah it is. I honestly don't understand it at all.”

“Well we cannot work under these conditions,” he gasped, “get on your bed for me why don't you?”

You were flabbergasted.

“Y/n, get your mind out of the gutter,” he snickered, causing you to playfully hit his arm.

You followed his instructions, stomach pressed against the quilt of your bed. Your eyes were closed, slightly becoming patient at the way Hyunjin was taking his time with you.

“Are you ready for the best massage of your life?”

“Sure am Jinnie.”

You couldn’t stop the smile that was forming on your lips. The way Hyunjin climbed onto your bed, sitting on top of you, delicately moving your hair to make sure your back was exposed and bare to him. The way he was leaning down, lips almost pressing to your ear as his fingers began to sink into your skin. A small groan left your lips. Hyunjin had now grasped a good feeling of your body, knowing all the spots that were making you uptight. The temperature in the room was rising, whether you wanted to accept it or not. Your arousal was becoming apparent, core becoming hotter with each passing moment. Thumb digging into every place you longed for him. They began to travel, lingering under the edge of your shirt. It was obvious that Hyunjin’s only intentions were to make you feel better. You weren’t sure if it was the satisfactory chuckle that left his lips every two seconds, or the slight hard on that was becoming pressed against your thigh. Surely this was anything but innocent. Releasing the stress so he could help you with your homework. But the moans leaving your mouth was slowly but surely changing the atmosphere of the originally family friendly, helpful environment that was once created.

“Your hands feel so good,” you blurted out, quickly burying your face into the sheets. You couldn’t believe you had just said that out loud. Your heart began to race in anticipation, dying for Hyunjin to say literally anything.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he hummed, standing up. An almost whimper escaped your lips. Dabbing your fingers to your forehead, you gasped. You were already sweating. A blush creeping onto your face. If he could make you this hot from a playful massage, imagine what else he could do with those fingers.

Taking your previous position on your chair, your head was feeling dizzy. Hyunjin began to explain the equation, yet all you could think about was his hands wrapped around your neck, trickling down your sides and to your-

“So do you understand it now y/n, y/n?”

“Oh,” you looked up, avoiding his piercing gaze, “um, yeah, i do, thank you.”

“God,” he huffed, rolling his eyes, “you must be real tired huh?”

“What? No Im fine-”

“Let me tuck you into bed.”

“Into bed?”

“Yeah,” he grinned, walking over and pulling the sheets back, “you aren’t listening to me so I think you need to rest, come here.”

Unable to refuse him, you quickly hopped in. Your body was tense, waiting for Hyunjin to leave. But he didn’t. The feeling of his arms wrapping around your torso, muscular frame pressing into your back. Your muscles began to relax straight away, practically melting into him. God, he liked to make things hard for you.

“Let’s get some sleep, and we can go over this in the library, okay y/n?”

“Mhmm,” you hummed, all your senses shutting off for the night. The last thing you heard was his baby breaths, tickling the back of your neck

***

Your eyes were awake, feeling the dishevelled strands of hair sprawled across your face, bed sheets completely tangled. A slick smile spread across your face at the thoughts of last night's subtle, yet not so subtle actions. You slapped yourself across the face. Getting out of bed, you made your way to the kitchen, still drowsy from the good quality sleep, and company you had. Tensions were high all of yesterday, keeping you aroused for a prolonged period of time. Wanting to have some fun, you decided to change out of the clothes you were in, stripping off and wearing nothing but your silk robe as you made your way to the kitchen.

“Morning sleepy head,” Hyunjin smiled, taking his tongue in between his teeth as he began to look you up and down. One hand on the frying pan, the other leaning on the kitchen bench, “you tryna put on a show for me or what ?”

“Pfft,” you scoffed, joining him in leaning against the bench, “you wish Mr. Hwang.”

“Yeah uh, anyways,” he interjected, followed by a small cough, “i’m gonna have a shower and then we can head to the library.”

“Uh sure bub,” you smile, stealing a piece of toast from his plate, “I’ll go get ready and grab my stuff.”

Sending a wink Hyunjin’s way, you headed back to your room, collecting your thoughts and self together.

His jaw clenched as soon he saw your behind. A frustrated hand ran through his hair. “God,” he mumbled to himself. Quickly cleaning the frying pan, he headed to the shower, turning the water on, extra hot. Hands relying on the glass frame, he let the steaming droplets run down his body. Eyes closed, he began to think, hard, compartmentalising the many thoughts of you running through his mind. One hand began to trail down his neck, dragging down the center of his body. A small groan escaped his lips, letting his fingertips gently wrap around his base. The combination of water and steam filled his vision as he began to pump himself, images of your exposed body lying in front of him, having you all to himself. His grip became harder at thought, having you moan his name over and over, tongue dragging across his chest, marking the ink that practically covered him.

“Fuck,” he groaned, “y/n.”

Hyunjin stumbled backwards, letting his back dig into the sidewall as he threw his head back. Grabbing the soap, he held it above his head, letting it dangle across his length. He was already sensitive; the feeling of the cold liquid sending a shiver down his spine. Letting both of his hands now wrap around his cock, he made his own jaw drop. Images of his hands imprinted around your torso, completely manhandling you was making him dizzy. He wanted it, you, so bad.His thoughts were warped on a daily basis; they were all about you. All the times he thought about grabbing your waist, slamming you against the wall as he double pumped himself, jaw dropping open as his hips began to buck up. He was becoming desperate to touch you, to feel you under him. He wanted you squirming, begging for you. He just wanted to make you feel good.

“Ah fuck y/n, I’m cuming,” he whined, seeing his liquid cover the glass. He stood there for minutes, heavily panting as he came down from his high. Eyes wide open, head snapping forward, Hyunjin turned off the water, quickly dressing himself and heading out to the couch to wait for you.

***

“Do you get it now?”

“Yes,” you exclaimed, “finally, thank you Hyunjin.”

What felt like hours of studying was finally paying off. Having hyunjin as your teacher was another bonus of course. The subtle grazes against your leg, his small thumb rubbing circles on your back. You were surprised how your body never went into sensory overload. Hyunjin’s touch was delicate, yet so enticing. Like he knew exactly what he was doing to you. His daily entertainment; how flustered could he make you? You adjusted your posture, a nervous cough escaping your chest, making Hyunjin chuckle.

“y/n, are you okay?”

“Uh yeah,” you shrugged, “why wouldn’t I be?”

“You seem flustered?” he questioned, a hint of innocence in his tone. Placing each elbow on the table, he smirked, gaze strong on you,

“Am i turning you on right now?”

Face beginning to feel hot, you began to laugh, playfully hitting him to avert that fact that you actually were flustered.

“Hyunjin, dont be stupid!”

He began to laugh with you, making your heart hurt a little. You knew it was all fun and games for him and he was just mucking around. Most of the time you found it funny too, but there were moments where you wished that he was being serious; this was one of these moments.

“Hyunjin’s teaching skills are okay from what i’ve seen.”

A huge grin swiped your face as you saw Minho, Chan and Jisung approach your table.

“My favorite people,” you paused half way through the sentence, turning to Hyunjin, “how are you guys doing!”

“I’m doing great,” Chan winked, making you gag on the spot. The boys began an uproar of laughter, completely dying at the way you completely rejected him. He was always harmlessly playful with you; this was regular banter you shared.

“Anyways,” Minho interjected, “we are all doing good, studying of course, the usual. I wanna go out though.”

“Oh my god yes,” Jisung gasped, “that’s such a good idea!”

“We haven’t gone out in so long,” you sighed, “I’m down.”

All of the boys clapped. What felt like a stressful, exhausting energy became a peaceful, relaxing one. Going out clubbing with the boys was so much fun. Things sometimes went south, but nonetheless, when everyone’s drunk, everyone’s having fun.

“We just finished studying actually,” Jisung smiled, collecting his books and standing up, “if you guys are done we can go out for dinner tonight and then go out?”

“Oh um, I'm gonna study for a bit longer,” Hyunjin interjected, “and then I'll meet you guys out.”

Nodding in response, the rest of the boys got up, making their way back to their dorms. Minho remained seated.

“I-I’m gonna study for a bit longer as well. We can get something to eat and meet you guys later?”

You smiled at them; that was until you felt a heavy blow to your backside, causing half the students to turn and look at you.

“Hyunjin,” you whispered, “what the fuck was that for?”

Playing with your fingertips previously, Hyunjin wrapped his fingers around your wrist, pulling you back down, letting his ink covered fingertips sit on your neck,

“You know I'm just mucking around,” he whispered, moving closer to your ear, “were you thinking of something different?”

Pulling away from him, your eyes widened, playfully hitting him once more before grabbing your stuff and finally leaving.

Waiting for a cue of privacy, Minho coughed obnoxiously, steering Hyunjin’s gaze away from behind.

“So,” Minho began, “y/n looked real cute today all snuggled up against you.”

“Oh,” Hyunjin nervously chuckled, “i don't know what you're talking about.”

“You know,” Minho leaned closer to him, “I think i’m gonna ask her out.”

Hyunjin’s jaw clenched. A pang hit him at the base of his stomach.

“Oh,” Hyunjin mumbled, “since when have you been interested in y/n?”

“Uh, since she started hanging around us,” he scoffed, making Hyunjin's fingers curl into his palm, “I was just telling you because, well, you know, you’re the closest to her and incase you guys has something going on -”

“We don't.”

“Are you sure,” Minho questioned, slightly enjoying how easily he could rile him up, “say something now because if you don't, she’s gonna end up in my bed tonight-”

“I told you, there’s no problem. I'm gonna go back to my room and have a shower, do you want to come then we can go eat with y/n?”

Both boys were now standing, close together. The atmosphere had changed from playful to territorial very quickly. You could cut it with a knife.

“Sounds good to me. She’ll say no though, I know her too well.”

Hyunjin wanted to punch the extremely cocky smirk spreading across Minho’s face. It was no secret that Minho’s reputation with girls was, well, extensive. From one night stands, to threesomes, foursomes, you name it. There wasn’t one thing that this dude had not done. It made Hyunjin nervous. Seeing the way Minho treated other girls made his skin crawl. He didn’t want you to be just a number on his list. You were naive, Hyunjin knew that. He always knew that you always saw the best in people. It was one of the many things he adored about you, but in this current moment, it was making his heart sink. He wasn’t sure why; he wasn’t sure if it was jealousy or Minho’s arrogant agenda, but he was definitely feeling uneasy.

***

The usual ice droplets that soaked your body felt like fire. Hyunjin was always touchy feely, but the way he had been with you the past couple of days was affecting you so much more than it usually did. The thought alone made you feel lightheaded. A large sigh came as your body pressed up against the glass frame. Your frustration was growing, and you weren’t sure how much longer you could keep these Hyunjin fantasies in your head.

Stepping out of the shower, you wiped the fogginess sticking to the mirror. Pushing your hair back, you looked at yourself for what felt like a really long time. Nerves began to bundle in your stomach. Something about tonight was different. It began to feel a different way. Your chest jumped at the possibility of something finally happening with him.

“Pfft who am i kidding,” you yelled at yourself in the mirror, pushing your nose up against the foggy glass, “keep dreaming girl.”

Wrapping your towel around your naked torso, you walked out to the kitchen, finding a few snacks too much on. You had time to procrastinate getting ready. Turning on the tv, you happily munched away, enjoying your favorite show, Jane the virgin. The previous bundle of nerves dissipated as you let yourself sink into the couch. Going out with the boys was nothing out of the ordinary, but the tensions between you and Hyunjin felt the highest it had ever been. What was worse was that it wasn’t the first time that the atmosphere had been intense.

***

“Oooo,” Hyunjin yelled, quickly snatching your phone from your grasp, “who is this you're talking to now.”

“HYUNJIN IT’S NO ONE,” you screamed, standing up in front of him, “can you mind your business?”

The swipe across his hands to get your phone back failed, causing him to begin running around the apartment, simultaneously scrolling your messages. Sure you entertained other guys from time to time. However, none of them made you feel hot the way hyunjin did. It was practically impossible. Even looking at Hyunjin made you feel like exploding on the spot.

Following his charade of nonsense, frustration began to grow. Chasing him around the house was no easy task. He was fast and flexible. There was no way you would be able to catch him. Coming to a stand still, you sighed.

“Hyunjin please,” you whined, waiting for him to come out of hiding, “if you give me my phone back, i’ll tell you.”

A loud gasp left your lips when you felt him from behind. Hands pinned to your sides, Hyunjin used his force, pinning you against the wall adjacent to your previous stance. Sticking his lips out, he chuckled, blowing the hair that was covering his gently frustrated eyes burning down on you. Nerves were setting in, especially once his cocky smirk began to form on his yet to be touched lips. Letting a hand roam, your mind was becoming dizzy, unable to control what your body was doing. That could’ve explained how your fingertips were spread across his clean chest, nearly half the buttons on his shirt somehow were undone. Were they already like that? Did you do it? You weren’t able to comprehend the situation at hand.

“Y/n,” he paused, “baby. Why are you talking to other guys?”

You could feel the lump forming at your throat. Intimidation was creeping in, lingering the longer he kept his hungry eyes on you.

“W-what do you mean?”

“Come on,” Hyunjin huffed, swiftly dragging his fleshy thumb across your bottom lip, “you don't need other guys. I’m right here.”

***

“What do you wanna eat?”

Minho's presence was putting Hyunjin off guard. All of his thoughts led to you right now.

“Uh, I don't mind, it's up to you,” he mumbled. He could feel the blood running through his body becoming warmer with each passing second. Opening the door to the apartment made him nervous suddenly. Especially when he opened the door to you in nothing but a petite towel.

“Y/n?”

“Hey hyunjin-”

You spun around, tripping over the carpet in front of you.

“Oh.. Minho’s here too,” you stated, praying to the gods that you were still fully covered. Minho’s facial expressions conformed to those of concern as soon as your body hit the ground. Finger tips traveling to your legs, slowly up your arms, landing on your cheek.

“Holy shit y/n, are you okay?”

“Uh yeah,” you smiled, “I’m fine.”

Helping you up from the floor, Minho reciprocating the innocent smile. You sent a hard glare at Hyunjin after, causing hyunjin to huff, loud. Saying nothing, he walked straight out the fridge, finding any possible beer that was in sight, and, well, sculling it.

“Hyunjin,” you yelled, running over, one hand keeping your towel secure, the other hitting him on the back, “what are you doing? We haven’t even eaten yet!”

“What,” he hissed, making you uncomfortably step away, “are you my mom?”

“No,” you replied back harshly, eyebrows furrowing at the way he was speaking to you all of a sudden, “God, what’s with the sulky attitude?”

You reached passed, purposefully brushing your barely covered chest across his torso, reaching for a chocolate bar.

“Minho,” you called, keeping your gaze fixated up at Hyunjin, “do you wanna come help me pick an outfit for tonight?”

The question made Hyunjin crush the now empty beer can in his grip.

“Uh sure,” Minho answered, somewhat courteous about the interaction the two of you just had. He followed you to your room, looking forward to the way you were about to try on these outfits just for him.

“Okay so,” you began, “I have two,” you paused, making sure you were loud enough for the Hyunjin to hear, “you can sit here, and I'll go and quickly change into the first one.”

The look on Minho’s face was delectable. Like he was a kid in a candy store. Placing your fingers on his chest, you gave him a soft nudge, making him fall and lay back on your bed. You turned to your wardrobe, making sure to cautiously bend over and pick out the first outfit. You looked back at him as you walked out the door. The way he spread his legs right open, waiting in anticipation for you was fucking hot.

A sigh of relief escaped your chest as you closed the bathroom door, finally able to drop this irritating towel and put some actual clothes on. This moment gave you a minute of peace, thinking about what you were actually doing. Harmlessly playing around with Minho to make Hyunjin jealous. Would it even work? Usually it was something you would question and/or doubt. However, it did not matter right now. Whether it made him envious or not, you were sick of having hopes that something would happen. Minho was very attractive, and he had shown previous interest in you before. A little fun wouldn’t hurt right.

“Y/n?”

You rolled your eyes hearing Hyunjin’s voice and knocked at the door. Shimmying into your dress, you sighed, opening the door for him.

“What do you want?”

“Nothing,” he paused, hesitating, “I’m sorry for acting the way I did just before.”

You said nothing, instead, letting him walk in while you began to do your makeup.

“I just don’t understand why you think you can talk to me like that, especially in front of your friends?”

“Because, uh, well.”

You huffed at his hesitation to answer.

“Of course you don't kno-”

His actions spoke louder than words, as they were pinning you up against the glass shower frame. You could feel the magnitude of shivers fall through your spine, yet your skin felt hot, especially in the place he was touching you.

“I do know,” he answered, eyes burning. He sighed, running a frustrated hand through his blacked locks.

“What do you know,” you smirked, looking up at him, bringing a hand around his neck, “tell me.”

The intensity had never been so heavy. Standing there in dead silence, eyes pouring into each other. Inches apart. It could be so easy for you to just reach up and finally, maybe finally, let yourself experience the feeling of those damn lips brushing your wanting ones. You could picture how this ended in your head right now. Legs wrapped around his torso, lips tickling your neck. Hell, you could even somehow reach around and just turn the shower on, give you not only a reason to be naked, but another reason as to why this should happen; right here, right now.

“Y/n, are you okay,” Minho yelled, making you break away from Hyunjin, “you’ve been in there for a long time just to put some clothes on.”

Brushing yourself off, you left Hyunjin to himself, absolutely gobsmacked like nothing had ever happened. He could do nothing, but walk out and see you standing in front of his best friend. Dressing up for him. Showing off for him. Saying that it made Hyunjin’s blood boil was an understatement.

“Wow,” Minho hummed in approval, “spin around for me princess.”

You did as you were told, allowing his eyes to linger on your figure. All Hyunjin could do was just stand in the hallway, jaw dropped. His brain was ringing with anger. Storming off, all he could do was look into the fridge, quickly sipping on another beer can.

Finally stepping out of your room with Minho, Hyunjin huffed, barely paying attention to him. But when he saw you, he could feel the tent in his pants beginning to form. Tight black dress, long hair cascading down your shoulders. You looked perfect to him.

“Ready to go Hyunjin?”

He blinked a few times.

“Um, yeah I am.”

“Good,” you smirked, grabbing Minho's arms and wrapping them around your torso.

***

The music was blaring through the speaker system as you barely stood at the bar, chugging down the 5th round of shots Chan had bought for all of you.

“To friendship!” he yelled.

“Friendship,” you slurred in response, humming at the way the liquid burned your chest. It’s painful the first time, but after the 5th one, it's the fiery sensation that you want nothing more than to feel again. Everyone was loud and fun, having their time of life. Except for Hyunjin of course, silently sipping on his drink in the corner. You stumbled over to him, somewhat heavily slapping him on the shoulder.

“Hyunjin,” you smiled, feeling your eyes get smaller, “what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“But you aren't acting like the Hyunjin that I know.”

You pouted, digging your index fingers into his chest.

“Nothing,” he snapped, “I’m fine.”

His response made you pissed off to say the least. But giving him a good scolding or fighting him was not even worth your energy. Why was he being so sulky? He was the one who pushed you against any hard surface whenever he was mad. The one who teased you with massages, lingering gazes, sinful touches. The thoughts of those many moments became a sudden sensory overload. You hurried away, quickly grabbing Minho's wrist and dragging him to the dance floor.

“Dance with me,” you whispered, grabbing his wrist and placing them on your sides as you turned to face away from him. Closing your eyes, you let the music pour into you, head lying in the crook on Minho’s neck as you let your body explore him. The satisfactory groans that left his lips and slipped into your ears felt like paradise. It felt so good, feeling someone finally reciprocate their interest in you. His grip on you was strong, thumb digging into your sides as he pulled you close, letting you feel his hard on from behind you. A deep hum left your throat, making him smile against your lobe.

“Feeling okay baby?”

“Mmmm yeah,” you chuckled, “I can tell you are.”

The deepness in your voice made him spin around. You threw your head back in satisfaction, allowing his lips to cover your neck in delicate, feverish kisses. Wrapping your arms around his neck made him chuckle, allowing him to pull you even closer than before. He wasn’t shy, that’s for sure. You shivered, feeling the hard grip he had on your left thigh, hooking it around and lifting your leg around him. You looked up at him, seeing the darkness pooling behind his eyes as he told you to jump, allowing him to carry you. Your hands were in the air, completely loose and carefree as you continued to sway to the beat of the music. This was the first time you had felt so light. Everything felt so easy at this moment. Minho was giving you the attention you had been craving from Hyunjin for so long. You looked down at him, the previous dark facade long gone as he looked up at you with nothing but joy and admiration present. It made you smile.

“Y/n,” he yelled, bringing you back to his level, “let’s go sit at the bar, I want to ask you something.”

You didn’t complain, trailing him out of the human traffic of the bar. ‘Of course,’ you muttered to yourself, seeing the only two available stools being right next to hyunjin and some random girl that he was feeling up under the table. You rolled your eyes; of course he was entertaining someone else. You ignored him, putting a gentle hand on Minho's thigh.

“Did you say something?”

“Yeah,” he grinned, “did you want another drink?”

“Oh uhm, can you just get me some water please?”

“A-anything for you baby.”

You couldn’t help but giggle, not noticing till now how sloshed he really was. The two of you sat in comfortable silence, patiently waiting for the drinks he had ordered. You let your fingers linger on him, drawing sloppy lines along his inner thigh.

“So,” he began, taking a sip of his drink in between speech, “there’s actually something I wanted to ask you.”

“You did say this from what I recall,” you laughed, scratching your head with your index finger; an attempt at acting puzzled in front of him.

“Yes,” he smirked, placing a hand on the outer edge of your knee, “I wanted to ask if you wanted to go out on a date with me next week?”

His question knocked the alcohol right out of your system, completely sobering you up. You fixed your posture, slight panic settling into your body at his sudden question. It was just fun, wasn’t it? Just using him to make Hyunjin jealous?

“Um wow,” you gasped, unsure what to say, “this is, well, um, I don't really know what to say.”

“What do you mean?”

Small dribbles of sweat began tapping on your forehead. Pushing your hair behind your ear, you lifted your hand, placing it apologetically over his.

“Minho,” you empathetically smiled, “I think that’s so sweet of you.”

You paused, quickly seeing the way the grin on his face began to turn down.

“And don't get me wrong, you’re a great guy and you have been nothing but sweet to me. But, I, well, I have feelings for someone else.”

The look on his face made you devastated. The hurt was evident in his eyes. Minho grabbed his drink, taking a big swig from it.

“Please say something,” you pleaded, beginning to feel uncomfortable from the painful silence.

“It’s fine.”

Heart beat beginning to race, you could feel it; the sudden change in atmosphere between the two of you.

“It is? Okay good because-”

“It’s fine because I was joking.”

A heavy pang hit you in the chest. Did you even hear him correctly?

“What?”

He looked up at you, a slight chuckle came from him.

“Oh, you thought I was being serious?”

He grabbed you by the wrist, picking it up and pushing it off of him.

“You weren’t being serious?”

“Of course not,” he snapped, “you think I would wanna be with you?”

“Well why would you ask me out if you didn’t feel that way?”

He took another swig.

“Yeah well whatever, it’s a mistake. I can barely even look at you.”

You stood up, blood beginning to boil now.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

He rolled his eyes, following you and standing over you.

“Do I have to spell it out for you? I wouldn’t go near you with a ten foot poll. Let alone fuck you? Pfft, your dreaming girl; good luck with that.”

You felt dizzy, unable to comprehend what Minho had just said to you. ‘What a dick’ you thought, before lifting your hand and slapping him across the face. You could feel the tear prick your eyes. You just wanted to fall, break down on the spot. No one had ever said such hurtful things to you before. Hyunjin turned around as soon as he heard the sound. You didn’t want to look at him. You were fuming. Minho just stood there, laughing at you.

“Listen here,” you snapped, “I get that you’re upset that your advances didn’t work, but you have no fucking right to say that to me, or anyone, ever again. Unless you apologise, I never want to speak to you ever again.”

And with that, you picked yourself up, and walked out of there, alone.

***

You couldn’t feel anything but the painful throb in the back of your head as you rose out of bed. Taking your phone off the charger you gasped, seeing the multiple missed calls Hyunjin had left you last night. You threw your phone back onto your bed, sheepishly making your way to the kitchen.

“Hey babes.”

You looked up to see a dishevelled Hyunjin waiting for you at the bench. You tried to smile at him, hide the pain of what Minho had said to you last night. Your heart was hurting, so bad. It was hard not to believe what he had said to you. You just wanted to run into Hyunjin's arms, let him whisper sweet nothings and tell you everything was okay; but you knew that if that happened, you would never let him go.

“Morning,” you mumbled, turning your back to him as you turned on the coffee machine, “how are you feeling this morning?”

“Yeah I'm good,” he mumbled back slowly making his way over to you. You sighed, a sharp inhale as you felt his arms wrap you from behind. Luckily, his head was resting on your back; he wasn’t able to see the impulsive tears slip from your eyes.

“Are you feeling okay after last night?”

Your heart sank. Humiliation was settling in; he had heard exactly what he said. It felt like you couldn't breathe. You were gasping for air. Hyunjin grabbed your waist, spinning you around, encompassing you in his embrace. He could feel you. The way your body sobbed against him. Hands against your chest, head curled into his neck. Holding it in was impossible, especially from Hyunjin. He knew you like the back of his hand.

“My angel,” he whimpered, cupping your cheeks and looking down at you, “I’m so sorry about what happened last night. I want you to know that none of what he said is true. You are such a beautiful person inside and out, and you didn't deserve that.”

You finally fixed your gaze back onto him. You had never seen such softness to his eyes before. You felt yourself giving yourself to him. Vulnerability glowing in your heart as you felt yourself slipping away. His touch on you became stronger, hypnotising almost. Your hands found their way onto his body, unsafely creeping under his shirt and messily being dragged across his stomach. The front he attempted to put on was priceless; you could feel his body tensing underneath your corrupt touch.

“y/n,” he paused, slowly taking his hand from your body that he so desperately dreamed about, “I have to, uh, go to class, but we can talk about this when I get back.”

Hyunjin sloppily grabbed his back and stumbled out the door, leaving you utterly speechless. It was the first time you could sense his nerves from something you did. A frustrated sigh left your lips. Nails digging into your palms, you stormed to your room, slamming the door behind you.

“God,” you growled, aggressively falling onto your bed. Your eyelids suddenly felt heavy, but your mind was nonstop.

The possibilities of finally having him was on a constant loop. The way his pupils changed when he looked at you. The shiver you could feel when you touched him. The ideas of what could have happened if Hyunjin didn’t leave was driving you up the wall. His voice played in your head, as if he was right next to you, whispering the praising words you longed to hear. A moan slipped from your lips, hands now sliding down the sides of your body as your mind became more vivid. The ache between your legs becomes stronger with each drawn out breath. You chuckled, replacing the ache with the thought of Hyunjin's tongue. You sat up, quickly stripping down to under garments. You took a quick look at yourself in the mirror; leaving you feeling anything but delirious.

You bit down on your bottom lip, letting your hands roam once more. Feeling the heat dance across your cheeks, you giggled, making yourself nervous at the thought of his summery breath cascade down your neck, blonde tips to follow. It’s like he was an island of fantasy and desire. All you could do was touch yourself. Letting your fingertips under the hem of your panties and into your folds. A sigh of relief slipping as you felt your legs become weak, falling back once more at the already immense pleasure you got from yourself. This was your way to reach the destination. The island of fantasy; desire; Hyunjin. Your stomach tensed at his name. The smile on your face could not be wiped off at any moment. Eyes closed, you could finally picture it. Hyunjin standing over you, a sadistic yet admirable facial expression hijacking his features, wishing that his lips were on your clit instead of your fingers.

“Baby,” you groaned, “Hyunjin, touch me.”

The slight cringe entering your mind at the way your voice broke at his name. ‘God how pathetic,’ you thought to yourself. He wasn’t even there and the effect he had on you was that strong. You continued your playful assault, teasing yourself at your entrance. Index finger gently prodding, you became dizzy. You were already close. The cause as to why was unknown. Were you really that good at touching yourself? Definitely not, the manifestation of every single thought of him was coming together, almost becoming overwhelming.

“Hyunjin,” you choked, “I just want to be such a good girl for you. Please let me-”

“You wanna be a good girl for me, don't you baby?”

Your neck snapped, eyes widening at hyunjin staring down at you.

“H-hyunjin,’ you stuttered, grabbing your pillow and covering yourself, “I c-can explain, I-”

“Shut the fuck up,” he retorted. He said nothing, tucking his hair behind his ear as he began to undo the buttons on his shirt. There was nothing you could do, but, well, stare. You propped yourself onto your elbows, feeling him wrap his arms around your torso, gently pressing your lips to every inch of his skin marked in ink. Hyunjin’s gaze was strong, never leaving your eyes as his smirk grew wider. Things were moving slow, way too slow for both of your liking.

“You like what you see?”

“Please,” you scoffed, leaning your chin onto his stomach, “it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

The look in his face was priceless. Smirk rapidly dissipating from his lips; he was pissed. It was obvious. Jaw clenched, tightly gripped fists. Something you had never seen before on him. You looked down, noticing the purple covering his knuckles. You grabbed his hand, panic settling in you.

“Hyunjin what the fuck happened are you okay?”

He said nothing, ripping his hand from your grip and dropping to his knees. The smirk obviously returned at the way your legs involuntarily spread for him.

“Oh, this,” he questioned, flexing them out in front of you, “this is what happens what you’re a fucking dick to my princess.”

His fingertips traced your hem, violently teasing you. You lifted your hips, attempting to have

Hyunjin’s fingers ‘accidentally’ slip over your clothed core. But he chuckled, hooking his arms around your legs and pushing them down, giving you no room to squirm. He chuckled; the level of power he had over you was something he had dreamt of. He began to chuckle; he couldn’t help it.

“Fuck y/n,” he groaned, snaking one hand from under your leg and onto your panties, sending a noticeable shiver down your legs, “you dont know how many times i’ve dreamt of this. Seeing you like this, all hot and bothered under me.”

You couldn’t help but groan at his words, feeling the edge of his middle finger press against your hidden clit.

“Fuck,” you mumbled, already on the brim of feeling overwhelmed.

“Am I making you too hot baby,” he pouted, increasing the pressure on your soft spot, “you like how I talk dirty like that about you?”

“Mhm,” is all you could manage to stumble out. Your body began to squirm, making Hyunjin smile at you. His hand trailed on your folds, gently travelling back to your hem of what felt like suffocating clothing covering your heat. Muffling groans escaped your lips, frustrated at how slowly he took them off. The way his pupils dilated was like a kid in a candy store. Tucking his hair behind his ear, he inched closer, lips moments away from having him where you needed the most. You let your eyes flutter shut, anticipating the moment you had been waiting for. Confusion hit when you felt hands balancing on either side of you, soulful kisses trailing up the center of your body until you opened your eyes, seeing his regard fixated, looking down into yours. You felt like a feather, his body hovered over you as he leaned closer, finally connecting his lips to yours. It was sloppily, lips out of time and teeth clashing. Not the kiss you expected, but you couldn't complain. Hyunjin slipped his tongue into your mouth, tongues colliding as he erupted a delirious fire inside of you. Your bodies began to collide, passions electrifying, lighting up the room as his hands wrapped around your hips, thumb kneading at your bones as your hands dug into his neck. Things were going slow before, but there were no more concerns about the pace now. Hyunjin’s lips were always nice to look at, but the way they felt was a whole different story. The cloud-like texture of them was making your head move in nothing but circles. You were in heaven, already thinking about how they would feel against your skin in other places you had become desperate fir. Such thoughts were interrupted when you felt him leaving your lips, sucking hard on your bottom lip. His eyes lingered on you, chest heaving, breath heavy as he lifted you up, tossing your, compared to his, small frame. A look of innocence played on your feature as Hyunjin pinned both of your hands above your head.

“Hyunjin what are you doi-”

“Shhh baby,” he hissed, crawling back to face level, tilting his head to reach your ear, “don't move okay, I’m gonna make you feel so good,” he paused, pressing a kiss to your lobe, “just like the million times I imagined it.”

A satisfied whine left your lips as Hyunjin created a new trail, stopping at your neck. You wrapped a hand around his neck, wanting to push his lips into your skin more.

“Uh uh baby,” he chuckled, pinning your hands back to the ordered position, “be a good girl and keep them up there for me won't you?”

“Yes sir” you mumbled, a low hum of approval heard from him. He continued his savoury touches, harshly sucking on any skin above your chest that was left unmarked. His fervent touches were making you increase in sensitivity with each moment passing. A hand hooked around your back, effortlessly unclasping your bra and letting your breasts become exposed.

“Fuck,” he sighed, hunger increasing, “has anyone ever told you that you were made like a piece of fucking art?”

The compliment made you blush, hard. No one had ever said such complimentary things before.

“Uhm, no,” you whispered, scared that someone would hear you. Hyunjin frowned, eyes becoming hard as he looked up at you.

“No one’s ever told you that before,” he huffed, sticking his tongue out in front of your left nipple.

“No,” you inhaled, fear engaged as Hyunjin’s shift in demeanour appeared.

“That makes me so fucking mad,” he growled, attaching his lips to your nipple, “you’re the sexiest fucking girl ive ever seen y/n.”

A choked whine left your lips at his words, and his tongue trapped around you, hands flicking the other.

“Fuck Hyunjin I-”

“Unfuckable,” he interjected, “how can you be when you fucking look like a piece of fucking art?”

He refused to rest. His fingers began to trail, teasingly grazing your sides as he let them travel, stopping right on top of where you wanted him the most.

“I had to add to the artwork that is you baby.”

He had now lowered himself back to his starting position. On his knees, lips in line with your pussy as he let a finger slips between your folds, your stomach jolting with electricity at the light, yet tantalising feeling he gave you.

“The marks all over your chest,” he puffed, almost like he was out of breath from just looking at you, “they are nothing but little flowers I added to a beautiful canvas.”

You could barely think about what he was saying as he pushed the finger into your entrance, a high pitched mewl coming from your chest as he began to pump.

“God Hyunjin-”

“Tell me princess,” he interrupted, adding another finger, “tell me all the dirty things you’ve wanted me to do to you.”

“Fuck,” you groaned. The cocky smirk on Hyunjin’s face, lips slightly agape,”there’s so many times when I have thought about you.”

“Tell me baby,” he groaned, letting his breath tickle the skin on your inner thigh.

“In the shower, on the kitchen bench, the couch in the living room. You doing me from behind, on top, letting me ride you,” you moaned, “but this, right now, this is my favorite.”

A grunt of thrill left his lips, an attempt and analysing the many thoughts you had about him made him feel completely justified. On the brink of pure anger, you thrusted forward, barely feeling the impact of his lips on your folds.

“Shhh,” he whispered, curling his fingers, forcing you to lay still, “let me allow your fantasy to become a reality.”

A loud groan left your chest as Hyunjin finally allowed his tongue to plunge into you, harshly grazing your clit. The feeling made your body jolt, jaw fully lax as he your gave yourself to him. Hands running straight into his hair, you gasped, seeing him notice the way you constantly push the front strands his blonde locks behind his ears.

“Fuck,” he mumbled against you, quickly sitting up, “this fucking hair is too long.”

Your legs shut, too weak to keep them open as Hyunjin frustratedly fisted his hair and teethed the string off his wrist, wrapping his hair into a high ponytail, front pieces gently left out, sprawling across his glistening face. As soon as he looked down, he couldn’t help but chuckle. Manhandling your delicate thighs, he bit down on his lips, aggressively spreading them open to regain his access to your sweet spot.

“Already so weak are we?”

You couldn’t help but feel humiliated as he kept his gaze on you, unforgivingly, letting his tongue rapidly circle around your clit.

“Oh my god,” you managed to stagger out, another hum of approval entering your heat, vibrating and spreading to the rest of your body. God he was so good at this. Always making you feel good. Like you were the number one princess in the best castle. Even if it wasn’t sex, Hyunjin always found a way to make you feel better. But this. This was a whole new level of pleasure.

“Mhmm,” he grunted, replacing his tongue with a finger from his opposite hand, “how close are you baby?”

The clench around his fingers was enough, Hyunjin slightly amused. The combinations of the multitude of fingers and his extremely rough tongue on your clit was sending you to another dimension.

“Far out I knew I was good at this, but baby, you’re so easy to make cum.”

“N-no im not,” you whined, Hyunjin throwing his head pack in pure joy.

“It’s okay baby,” he cooed, picking up the pace of his fingers, “you don't have to put on a front for me.”

“Hyunjin c-cum,” you gasped, barely able to strangle anything out of your lips, “g-gon-na c-cum.”

“Yeah? You’re gonna cum for me?”

“Yeah.”

“You wanna cum for me baby?”

“Y-yeah I do.”

“Come on baby,” he growled, “cum for me like the good girl you are.”

His words couldn’t help but send you over the edge, strangled echoes of pleasure filling the room as he continued his pleasurable assault, loving the way your hips convulsed against his overstimulation.

“Fucking hell,” you cried, pushing his fingers out of you, “you made me cum so hard Hyunjin.”

He smiled, crawling back onto your bed, towering over you once more.

“There’s nothing else I want to do in this world apart from make you feel good baby.”

You couldn’t help but giggle, leaning into his lips to taste your sweet filled juices glistening his chin. The kiss was gentle, soothing from the intense orgasm you had just come down from. He created another trail, tongue dragging across your neck and back down to your chest, pressing an arousing kiss in between your breasts.

“I can't help it,” he smirked, “I just want to wanna mark you all over, let Minho know that you’re mine.”

His words made you feel light headed. Mine? Usually something like that made you wanna throw up. But the way Hyunjin said it, with so much hunger and vice, it was like you became bound to him. Anything he wanted to do with you would be impossible to say no.

“Then f-fuck me,” you mumbled.

“What was that?”

You slipped from underneath him, turning him around and pushing him onto the bed, hands firmly placed against his chest as you climbed on top of him. Hyunjin’s eyes became full. Full of fire, lust, hunger, anger. He played it cool at first, but now, now he was desperate. You let your hands now travel his body, one hand tracing the outline of his abs, the other behind you, palming his rapidly hardening cock.

“Fuck me like you own me, Like you want everyone to know I’m yours.”

The words were enough to send him into a craze. He quickly rid himself of the draw string, keeping a tight grip on his sweats, pushing down his pants to his knees. It came to your surprise when he had nothing else on, leaving him to follow your pursuit of complete nakedness. You lifted your hips off of his stomach, readjusting to let your clit sit on top of his pulsating cock that was lying flat against his stomach. A sharp inhale came from his chest, absolutely frothing at the way you rubbed your wetness against him.

“Fuck you’re so wet still,” Hyunjin chuckled, a deep grunt escaping leaving him.

“You like that?” You smirked, biting down on your bottom lip.

“Yeah baby,” he moaned, hands gripping your ass, giving you a soft blow. His hands were soft, icy, goosebumps becoming visible as you leaned back, gripping the base of his cock. the air was becoming desperate, and so were you. If you had a cent for every time you thought about this very moment, you’d be riding him in the royal palace.

A wave of goosebumps charged onto your skin as you lifted your hips. Hyunjin’s hands scattered over your ass, he helped guide you, excruciatingly slowly as your hand kept him still, allowing his cock to become buried inside of you. A groan of relief escaped each other’s lips as your walls became stretched, body feeling numb already. He was a big boy, causing your head to fall onto his chest. you needed time to adjust to the slight ache his length gave you, but you weren’t complaining. As soon as you bounced up and off of him, you felt as if your hole was whimpering, already desperate for him to be back inside of you. you continued with a light bounce, barely fitting any of him inside of you.

“Fuck,” he mumbled, tightening his grip on you, “go deeper.”

You did as you were told, increasing the intensity, sitting back up and letting your hips freely roll onto him. Your mouth became heavily agape, an open invitation for Hyunjin to shove his fingers inside. your eyes became closed, fingers wrapped around his wrist as you lapped his digits with thick saliva. The way you effortlessly took his heavenly inked fingers made his head spin.

“you’re such a good girl,” he smirked in between throwing his head back, “i bet Minho would be fucking dying for this kinda treatment.”

The mention of his name was a slight bruise to your ego; nonetheless, it simultaneously gave you motivation, determination to prove what he had been missing out on this whole time. How he would dangle girls in front of your face at any moment. How he teased you to no end almost every single day. Everything was coming out, and it was completely out of your control.

“Far out Hyunjin,” you hissed, ripping his fingers from your mouth, “why are you so obsessed with Minho right now?”

“Because,” he grunted, wrapping his saturated fingers around your neck, “he fucking pissed me off last night, and this morning.”

The sudden connection in your brain became apparent. All thoughts leading to the possibility of Hyunjin punching him made you lose control. So much control that you couldn't recall hyunjin flipping your over, his figure menacingly towering over you as he began to thrust.

“I fuck you so much better than Minho could,” he grunted again, left thumb gently attacking your left nipple, “dont you think?”

You could barely respond. Nothing but a suffocating moan spilled from your throat as his grip on you became tighter. You were on the brink of actually losing your mind. The way Hyunjin filled you up was just, well, indescribable. He just continued, letting the now continuous beads of condensation from his forehead spread across your stomach.

“Say it,” he growled, a slight punishment created at the way he left nothing but the tip of him inside of you, “tell me i'm better than him.”

“Fuck,” you whined, attempting to sink your hips further down his length. But hyunjin knew better; he was one step ahead. Your desperate, pathetic attempt of getting out of your retribution was nothing but a joke to him.

Hyunjin scoffed, “I know you want me to fill you up again, but I need to know.”

His voice was the deepest you had ever heard him speak. The hand that was previously wrapped around your neck had escaped, a tremble that was clear as crystal running down your torso at the feeling of the multitude of Hyunjin’s ice cold rings dragging across your skin.

“You-you’re better than h-him,” you stuttered, trying to gain your previously hindered consciousness from his strop grip, “better than Minho.”

The words alone made him groan. He sure did like to tease you, but even he couldn't keep it up. Your voice became electrifying in his mind, igniting him as rammed his cock back into you; no hesitation. His pace was unforgiving. The lewd sound of skin slapping filling the room at a sound that exceeded the maximum level of decibels an individual could take.

“That’s right I am,” hyunjin moaned, “that fucking piece of shit.”

Your head rolled from side to side, a hand violently gripping your bed sheet. Like your mind went numb, your senses could only follow. Nothing but the scent of Hyunjin’s heat occupying your nose, the sound of skin slapping filling your ears, and your vision hypnotised by the darkness that pooled behind his eyes.

“Mhm fucking hell baby,” you groaned, arching your back, “i can feel myself getting close.”

“Tell me baby,” he chucked, bringing his thumb dangerously close to your clit. You brought your fingertips high, gripping his wrist before he could make a decision that you know would make you fall off the edge and into the black hole that would be your orgasm.

“What is it baby,” he whined, tone laced with concern, “scared that you’re gonna cum already?”

“Yes,” you blurred out, “just a little longer please.”

“And why should i?”

All you could feel was your eyes locking shut, fingers spreading you open and touching any every sensitive skin he could get his hand on. He had transformed into satan. hard thrusts and a heavy hand; you could feel yourself clenching around him as he sadistically chuckled, satisfied by the pleasuring torturing spell he had you under.

“Fuck,” you gasped out, the sound of your voice tainted as your body lunges forward with each thrust, “i’m gonna fucking cum.”

“Hh come on baby,” Hyunjin grumbled, “just a little longer for me now why don’t you?”

“Just f-for you,” you giggled, noticing the way Hyunjin heart was practically about to leap out of his chest. He was working hard to make you feel good; even if you couldn’t tell from the shimmering black ink spread across his chest and down his torso.

“Baby are you gonna cum?”

Your throat had become empty, completely forgetful of how to speak and use your words. The continuous and uncontrollable clenching was satisfactory enough to give him the answer he needed.

“y/n, are you gonna cum with me?”

“Please,” you whined, “cum in me, I'm begging you.”

Your words were more than enough. You hummed in satisfaction as you felt yourself slip over, feeling the warmth of his liquid inside of you. His body collapsed, falling next to you as he watched you sit up, enjoying the views of his viscosity spill out of you. You let a finger fall down, picking it up and tasting him. His jaw dropped at what he thought to be such a ludicrous act.

“Wow,” you smirked, letting your tongue sloppily wrap around your finger, “you taste so good.”

Hyunjin threw his head back on your bed, ripping out his ponytail and running his hands through it.

“far out y/n, you don’t know how many times i’ve thought about you saying that to me.”

#i hope this is ok #feeling nervous #im not sure how i feel about it #hyunjin #hwang hyunjin #hwang hyunjin smut #hyunjin smut #hyunjin x reader #stray kids smut #stray kids fic #kpop #kpop smut

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ferociousqueak · 4 years ago

Note

Daffodil or Iris for Dess, pretty please?

So, this one is Iris, though I do plan to do one for Daffodil too. But I’ve thought a lot about how the Vallum Blast would affect Dess, being from Vallum herself. Thank you for the prompt and enjoy :D

You can also read it on AO3!

valor: (n) strength of mind or spirit that enables a person to encounter danger with firmness: personal bravery

***

News of the Vallum Blast was on a constant loop on every station. Everywhere she looked, Dess found another reminder, another devastating image that left her cold and nauseated.

She hadn’t been home since . . . well, home was too strong a word, but Vallum had been her family’s hearth since the city’s founding, long before even the Unification War. She could’ve had her arm amputated and it would hurt less than seeing a crater of rubble and ruin in the place where she grew up, the place where her family . . .

Within hours of the news, Executor Chellick issued carte blanche leave to anyone in C-Sec with ties to Taetrus. To grieve. To search for loved ones. To fight.

A transport carrying volunteers would leave in two hours. With priority traffic clearance and a relay already on the edge of the Mactare system, Dess could be there inside a day.

“You’re going?” Han asked. Anyone else might’ve missed the strained note of panic kept in check in her voice, but for Dess it rang like an alarm bell.

Grabbing an old footlocker—dusty from disuse, kept all these years from nostalgia rather than out of some expected need—from the hall closet was a convenient excuse for Dess to avoid looking at Han. “I have to.”

“No, you don’t,” Han said, her voice hardening from panic to defiance. “The Hierarchy has plenty of soldiers they can throw into that meat grinder. You don’t have to be one of them.”

Dess moved into the bedroom and started gathering her clothes to fold compactly into her bag. A couple decades might have passed since she’d served, but old habits died hard. “It’s not like that,” she said. “As a volunteer, I’ll be behind the frontline most of the time and—”

“What frontline, Odessus!” Han wasn’t one to raise her voice, and the sound of it made Dess grow still. “They flew a goddamn spaceship at the whole fucking planet!”

“I know.” Dess’s heart pounded hard against her chest, but she kept her eyes on the task in front of her.

“People were already dead before the fucking thing even made impact!”

“I know.” Dad . . . Mom . . . Hadrian?

“They can do it again, and you wouldn’t even—”

“I know, Hannah!” Dess snapped, a high keen threatening in her throat. Finally, she turned her full attention on Han, anger and grief tearing at her voice. “I know they can do it again. Right now, it’s my family who’s gone, and tomorrow it could be someone else’s. I can’t just do nothing and let that happen. Again.”

“And if you go, I’ll lose my family!” Tears streamed from Han’s eyes, but she still held onto her defiance. “I can’t do that again. Not after Alli. Not you. I can’t—”

All the anger went out of Dess, and she reached for Han, pulling her close until Dess could press her brow to Han’s. “You’re not going to lose me. I promise. But I need to do this. My family, my parents, everyone, they’re—”

Her voice finally broke and her shoulders trembled under the weight of her grief. She could feel Han sob, something she hoped she’d never have to feel again after the news of . . . of Alchera had reached them.

Han put her arms around Dess. “I know,” she said, her voice watery. “But I’m going to hold you to that promise. If you die over there, I’ll kill you.”

Dess huffed a short laugh. Her subvocals vibrated all on their own, even without her prompting. I love you, too.

The impact crater—centered on where the Radiatum, the main parliamentary building, had stood—was five kilometers in diameter, but the devastation rippled so much farther. Evidence of the destruction saturated the landscape.

Turians of all ages were wrapped in bloodied gauze and hooked to IV cocktails to clot internal bleeding, fight infection, and replace fluids they’d lost—and they’d been the lucky ones on the outskirts of the city, hit by the shockwave rather than the blast itself.

The streets, or what was left of them, were lit by twisted, still-glowing metal rather than streetlamps.

What had been proud, tall buildings were now jagged, hollowed-out skeletons.

Vehicles lay on the street crumpled to a fraction of their original size.

A jaundiced, apocalyptic glow from the fallout hung over the city day and night.

The acrid malodor of burned flesh, drying blood, and still-living bodies turning sceptic was a constant companion, even with the protective equipment she lugged from one pile of rubble to the next.

Ash and wisps of curling smoke threatened to claw down her throat should she even consider removing her air filter.

She’d gotten straight to work when she arrived. From the moment her boots hit the tarmac of the landing pad, she’d had her assignment and her chain of command. Search and rescue. Lieutenant Araxus. Bunk 347, shift 2.

There’d been only enough time to kick her footlocker into place before she joined a squad of six to take on their section of the grid. After nine hours, they’d cleared two square kilometers and not a single living body. She’d had enough energy to wait for her bunkmate to rouse and vacate the cot before falling down, every muscle and tendon finally failing her.

As her eyes closed and she tried to ignore the instinct to reach for a soft, warm body beside her, the day’s work floated into her mind like sewage water from a blocked pipe. The unrecognizable bodies. The pieces of bodies. The places where bodies had clearly been but nothing salvageable remained. They’d taken genetic samples where they could—she wondered just how many people were too obliterated even for that—so their families could have some closure and might find rest in knowing what happened.

Ravaka didn’t.

After a week, the search and rescue operations were reclassified as search and recovery. If there had been any survivors, the chances of them still being alive were vanishingly slim. While a part of Ravaka was gutted to think there was no one left to help, another part of her whispered relief.

No more hope meant more no more disappointment.

No more ticking clock meant no more exhausting pace.

No more lives to save meant no more families to fail.

Finally free to turn off her emotions altogether, Ravaka spent her days picking through rubble, documenting the bodies she found in quiet numbness. She knew it would need to be addressed eventually, but for the moment at least, the levees holding back her own grief and trauma were tall and strong and doubly reinforced.

“You must have some kind of leave, right?” Dess could hear the strain in Han’s voice, however much she was clearly trying to suppress it. “You’re a volunteer, they can’t keep you forever.”

Dess scratched her mandible, considering how to respond. “I . . . don’t think we have the same understanding of volunteering. My job here isn’t done yet.”

Han let out a long sigh, cut short by an audible swallow and small hitch in her voice. “I know. I just worry. I miss you.”

When they disconnected, she lay back and scrubbed her hands over her face. Somewhere in the barracks, someone was taken by a coughing fit. Dess wondered idly how she would hide it from Han during their calls when she eventually began coughing too. It wasn’t an unexpected risk working in a disaster zone like this one. Even with the air filters and the decontamination chambers at the entrance of the prefab barracks, the particulates in the air were very fine and tenacious. Things would get worse for everyone for some time before they got better for anyone.

She closed her eyes, hoping to get some rest, possibly some shallow sleep before she would have to relinquish her bunk to one of its other occupants. Her mind had only begun to drift when a sudden uproar outside snapped her back to attention.

As others rose from their bunks around her, she knew she hadn’t imagined it. The sound swelled when someone opened the door to the outside. Grabbing her mask, Ravaka hurried toward the commotion.

The crowd seemed to swarm toward the camp’s medical center. As the sound turned to cheers, Ravaka’s heart thumped hard against her chest. Was it . . .

Her wrist buzzed with a priority message. A low orange glow lit the crowd around her as others checked the same alert.

BREAKING: Survivor of Vallum Blast recovered after 10 days beneath the rubble. This is a developing story. Check back for more details later.

A grainy, low-quality video showed a crew of turian volunteers in a chain pulling a juvenile, who couldn’t have been more than eight years old, from the debris field and placing her on the ground to check her vitals before transferring her to a gurney. She was clearly emaciated—her plates, still soft with youth, hung loose against her hide, her remaining down was matted and gray, and she didn’t have the strength to hold her mandibles against her jaws—but she was alive and responsive.

Despite the swirling ash and smoke, despite the air filled with death and despair, Dess felt herself breathe easy for the first time since she’d heard the news of the blast.

Things might still get worse, but they’d found someone. Alive. There was hope.

#hows about a meme thingy #Mass Effect #Odessus Ravaka #Hannah Shepard #my fic #and now i have basically a whole other long fic pretty much plotted #because that's exactly what i need #THANKS A LOT CLIO #i hope you liked it :D #ferocious replies #servantofclio

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drawing079 · 5 years ago

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Exception On Line 129

Chapter 5: Not So Strange

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

A Human AU SCP-079 x SCP-682 Fanfic

Warnings: Violence, Alcoholism, Brain damage/trauma, Police brutality

Description: Zero is a reclusive computer science major, floating by in college with the help of vodka by his side. His only human interaction seems to be from his distant father, who abandoned him as a child but now is trying to make a bit of effort to be back in his life. And after a failed virus he sends to a Cray supercomputer gets exposed, he is forced to pay for the consequences of his cyber crimes in more ways than one.

During an unnecessarily violent arrest, he suffers a brain injury and anterograde amnesia, damaging his short-term memory. But during his time detained, he meets a violent man with an infamous short-temper, who takes a surprising interest in him.

(Read it here on Ao3 or continue below)

Exception On Line 129: Not So Stranger

By the time the sedatives have wore off, the prying nurses and noisy cops were long gone. They had originally wanted to question Zero, and so did his doctor, in order to gauge the extent of his head trauma; but all parties concerned were informed he was incompetent for questioning due to his sedation, and deflected until tomorrow to pester him later.

And incompetent indeed; when everyone had left, Numin had attempted to ask how he felt, only to get a slurred ‘what’ back at him, to which he assumed it was best to wait for Zero to be back in a sober clear mind before attempting conversation again.

Sometime in the afternoon Zero slipped under, falling asleep in the same position looking up at the ceiling, with the only indication of sleep being the closure of his eyes, and his already slow heartbeat growing even further apart in tempo on the beep of the heart monitor.

By the evening of that day, when he awoke, his head was finally clear enough to think straight, and the headache was fainter as it ricocheted inside his skull.

Shifting, the most movement he’s made since morning, Zero sat up in a daze, blinking blankly around the bright fluorescent room. Outside he noticed it was dark behind the paper-thin blinds, yet the unnatural lighting in the hospital room kept the room too bright for it to feel like evening. An uncomfortable discrepancy, especially considering how he had fallen asleep during daylight with only a hazy recollection of the day, only serving to further his ongoing confusion.

“Lucid now?” A familiar voice pried, surprisingly gentle, despite the unhidden harsh edge it innately carried. Turning to face the voice, a bit delayed in his reaction due to the lingering effects of the sedation, Zero faced the stranger in the bed beside his own.

When he met his eyes to the other man’s soft green ones, a sudden intrusion of memories flooded in.

His roommate. Zero couldn’t recall his name, but he felt fondly in his recognition of him, even though their interactions were hazy to retrieve.

Actually, not hazy; they were basically absent. All he knew was that this man was one he was familiar and friendly with.

“Barely lucid… god, my head feels like cotton.” He groaned, bringing his hand up to rub his temple, only to find the texture of soft gauze at his fingertips, bits of it snagging at his short jagged nails. “I… I was asleep for a while, but we met earlier today, right?”

The green hue of his roommate’s eyes darkened, in a melancholic transition that somehow made his next words seem despondent. “Yes, we’ve met. Do you remember me, Zero?”

The pressure to take away that undying anguish in his expression made Zero stressed to probe his memories for an answer that would sate his roommate.

“I remember… you… wrote something on my hand, I think?” Not even confident in his own foggy recollection, Zero knit his brow at the other man, as if silently asking for confirmation.

The other man let out a short sigh, almost in relief but not quite there just yet, at the sign of even a sliver of working memory in Zero’s head.

“Yes, I wrote my name down so you wouldn’t forget. The nurse put your IV back in but it should still be visible.”

Tilting his head down at his hand for confirmation, surely enough he found a name printed on the back of his palm in neat lettering, alongside his IV line buried deep into a superficial vein.

“Numin. Oh, that name does ring some bells.”

His roommate chuckled, albeit still tensed in the manner. “It should. You needed to be reminded of it quite a few times.”

With a couple blinks, Zero tore his eyes off the print on his hand to look up at Numin. “It’s weird, it feels like I met you years ago. Like the memories are so far back in my head that I have to focus to try and retrieve them. Did I really just meet you today? We didn’t have, like, a class together or anything?”

He ended his inquiry with a little cock of his head to the right, like an honest signal of innocent curiosity, and Numin consciously wondered if he was trying to be a little cute on purpose.

He stopped that thought right in its trail, though; since when does he think of others as cute?

“This morning, when you woke up for the first time since your accident, we met,” he hesitated, just slightly, remembering bitterly how badly Zero took this information last time, “you’ve been in a coma for several days now.”

Although there was an undeniable widening of Zero’s eyes in surprise, it quickly waned, as if the knowledge had awoken within him the fact he had heard that before. Nevertheless, his heart did start skipping a beat faster on the heart rate monitor, and Numin noticed Zero began biting his lower lip. Centered both above his top lip and below his bottom were two pierced holes, so Numin deduced that he must’ve had a habit of biting a lower lip piercing; although, regardless of its presence, Zero seemed to chew his lip anyway. Made Numin wonder if at some point he just got it pierced to have something to bite at.

“Ah. Yeah, I think I remember something about that.”

In his palm, Zero had a handful of his bedding’s blanket gripped tight, anxiously holding onto anything that could ground him. A sore pang clawed in Numin’s chest; he wished he could go over there again. Almost yearningly, he tugged gently at the handcuffs keeping him in place, a deep inner part of him imploring himself to just break it off again like last time.

“Is there anything else you remember?” Prying in order to keep his thoughts from getting him in more trouble, Numin looked back up to face Zero. He was sitting off the edge of his bed, fist still full of his paperthin hospital blanket, looking up in almost a bit of a daze. Numin couldn’t tell if it was because he was lost in thought trying to remember the events from earlier today, or if the Valium was still lingering a bit in his system. Nevertheless, it was enough of a daze to leave him oblivious to the slight drop of his hospital gown off one of his shoulders, exposing his collar bone, as well as a small written tattoo beneath it. In black lettering, it marked: ‘Print (“Hello World”)’, a basic one-line computer program, leading Numin to infer he must know how to code.

Although placid, the exposed skin had that word bubbling back up into Numin’s mind again. Cute.

Was his face just hot or is he now blushing over the visible collarbone and that tattoo?

“I remember, you were talking to me, but I can’t recall what about,” Zero finally spoke up, breaking Numin’s distraction on his slightly exposed shoulder, and with his headspace back to reality Zero absentmindedly tugged his gown’s collar back up, none the wiser that Numin was growing red in the cheeks as he stared at it.

As if to compose himself and continue on as if he wasn’t lost tracing his eyes on that soft skin beneath Zero’s gown, Numin swallowed, continuing the conversation.

“We talked about a handful of things. None of them come to mind?”

Blinking thrice, Zero looked down from the ceiling back at him. “Maybe, I don’t know…”

Awkwardly, his fumbled with the slack of blanket in his hand, crumpling it anxiously. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but… did you say something about being gay?”

Startled, Numin let out an unexpected laugh, amused as Zero’s bashfulness to address it.

“Bisexual, but yeah. You got the gist of it.” And, almost teasingly, he added, “Seems like you made that information top priority to recall. Are you always that good at remembering sexual orientations, or am I just special?”

Adding fuel to the fire of Zero’s embarrassment, now he was the one blushing. However, keeping his usual front, he managed to bite back with his own quip, despite the rouge color of his face betraying his actual thoughts.

“I don’t often forget when an interesting man tells me he likes men.” As if in an effort to divert the subject matter, he continued, “besides that… I think I remember you being here?”

He made a pat to the side of the mattress, on the bed where Numin had sat with him during his anxiety attack. And although he didn’t remember too clearly the details to which Numin was beside him, Zero does recall a warming comfort. Even if the actual memory was absent, it left a fond afterglow, and even through the frightening awareness of his amnesia he felt the sentiment they must’ve held.

“I was. Got in quite the bit of trouble, too.” Numin agreed, with a sigh, dejectedly giving his handcuffs another clank. As if maybe they’ll just phase through the bar if he moved them enough.

Regardless, they were symbolic anyways. If Numin wanted to keep out of anymore trouble at this point, he’ll have to allow the cops to have their illusion of control over him.

Even if that’s all it was. An illusion.

“If… if it’s proper to ask, what are you here for?” Meekly, Zero gestured vaguely at the hospital room around him. He’s never been detained before himself, and he wasn’t too sure if it was an appropriate question to ask.

But instead, Numin offered a little shrug, nonchalant.

“Shot in the forearm. Very minor surgery to remove the shards, but it didn’t do any major damage.”

The casualness of his tone threw Zero off, and he gave the other man a noticeable wide-eyed look.

“You were shot!?”

The shock in his tone made Numin chuckle. The cavalier nature he had about his injury was unnatural, like violence was something he found ordinary and injury was something he found unthreatening.

“Yeah, cop tried handcuffing me, so I stabbed him in the stomach,” at that, he made a gesture to with his free hand towards his own abdomen, lightly tapping below his ribs as if to indicate where the cop had taken his knife before continuing, “but the bastard was able to reach for his gun and got a shot in before I knocked it out of his hand.”

Still appalled, Zero blinked thrice in bewilderment, as if trying to process the exact capabilities Numin had. The energy he had was commanding and all-consuming, and it seemed he was way more than just a front in that regard.

“What... happened to him?” Zero barely managed to get out on the border of a whisper, quiet in almost a careful way, in case this was a question that could provoke a negative reaction.

Hearing the breathless nature of his question, Numin drew a toothy and predatory smile. The look of it almost seemed like he was reminiscing on fond memories, but his green eyes were festering with a darkness that betrayed a more sadistic delight to his face.

“Dead. I shouldn’t have even let him live long enough to get a shot in. Disgusting little maggot...” the last part of his sentence road his vocals on almost a growl, with each word dripping with abhorrence.

It sent a chilling shiver down Zero’s spine.

Aggression and violence wasn’t a surprise from his roommate, not in the slightest considering his demeanor. But something about the idea of actually killing someone, taking a life and having no regret, was absolutely bone-chilling.

There was a soft voice in the back of Zero’s head, warning him if his acquaintance with this man was dangerous. It begged him to withdraw from the conversation, to stop entertaining his roommate lest he accidentally got on his bad side. However, there was an even louder voice fighting that reasoning, and drawing him to continue.

It was at first terrifying to learn Numin had murdered someone. A deep, unsettling seed of knowledge that is now embedded into Zero’s brain, and it felt like he was watering the seed with every passing moment he dwelled on that unnerving idea. And as with any seed, it grew, and changed, and the more Zero thought about it the more his feelings about it were fuzzier than originally anticipated.

And after dwelling on it for a few moments, Zero can’t exactly lie that the idea wasn’t now also alluring, interesting in a way he can’t describe. Like a mixture of morbid curiosity to know more, with the knowledge it was bad to be interested but undeniably being drawn to it nonetheless.

His roommate had murdered someone.

And somehow, he wasn’t afraid of Numin for it.

“Is that what you’re in trouble for? Stabbing a cop to death?”

As if intrigued by Zero’s lack of fear, instead finding just shock and interest, Numin narrowed his eyes curiously, holding his dark smile. But it was no longer in glee to his lurid memories, instead it was in growing fascination for Zero’s interest.

“He was arresting me for something else, but his death is added onto my charges at the moment. However, my civil defender said something about being able to claim he shot me first and I stabbed in self-defense, but that’ll be a tough story to sell.” There was a taste of annoyance in his tone, as if reluctant to peddle the idea of being shot first before stabbing the cop. As if it strangled his pride too much for his liking, that he would allow another to harm him first.

Or, perhaps, that he would allow another to dare harm him at all.

“Wait, so he was already arresting you for a different crime at the time?” Suddenly, as if the thought of more charges was an alien concept, Zero’s eyes noticeably widened at his revitalized surprise.

Unbeknownst to him, it left another doe-eyed astonished look on his face— albeit still probably due to the lingering drug— that had a bit of warmth suddenly rising to Numin’s cheeks again, subtly but still nonetheless present through a hazy rouge ghosting his complexion.

Cute. He couldn’t tell if he hated himself for thinking that word at all or if the feeling was just frustration from yet again noticing how attractive he thought Zero was. Either way, the surfacing of that word bothered him.

Numin hadn’t the slightest clue why he couldn’t quite shake the idea from his train of thought. The idea that Zero was being cute right now.

“Yeah. I was being arrested for a separate murder charge at the time, so I thought, hell, what’s another?” Although there was a jesting tone in his voice meant to convey a bit of humor, the tension he was carrying found itself laced among his words and inwoven with his expression. Tension only aggravated by the newfound evasiveness Numin’s eyes took on.

Zero noticed the reddish hue on his roommate’s face now. A quick smirk rose onto his lips before he stifled it, killing it as fast as it was born— he’ll pretend he doesn’t notice, but he’s well aware that Numin knows he definitely did.

“Makes sense. What’s one when you can have two.” Despite the topic at hand currently being murder victims, Zero continued with a cadence that was surprisingly cavalier. Guess when someone is noticeably blushing and growing a bit hot and bothered when they’re speaking to him it really takes the fear out of talking to someone with possible murder charges. After all, a cold hard murderer showing a bit of sheepishness like a nervous teenager talking to their classroom crush?

Oh, dare Zero even think— it might be a bit attractive.

Someone so calloused and violent, coming undone ever so slightly in his presence. Even if the undoneness was painted in just a faint blush of attraction on the other’s face, or slight tenseness in their words.

It made Zero feel a bit special, in a way.

“Two? Ah, I forget how many, but it’s well over two.” Although still collecting himself a bit, breaking his eyes back down to his handcuffs as if to hide the unspoken redness in his face, Numin’s voice composed itself with his next line, as if more thought would distract him from that word he kept trying to ignore whenever he looked at Zero. “Definitely more than two, it’s maybe… Maybe around a dozen or so? Although however many I’m charged with is beyond me. I’m certain the cops aren’t aware of all of them.”

The shock momentarily got to Zero for a split second, just at the sheer number. Or perhaps the shock was over Numin not even knowing the exact count; both were equally something to raise his brow in surprise at.

“Damn. Well, spoiler alert, I’m not here for murder myself.” After saying so, the memory of the officer pounding at his apartment door over an arrest warrant bubbled up into his consciousness, giving him an involuntary shiver when it popped at the surface.

Like old film flickering in his head with how vague and out of focus the memories were, he felt it more so than saw it.

Pain zipping up and down his back as he was knocked to the floor. Frail legs desperately kicking to keep the officer off of him. Hard boot connecting with his temple once, and the world darkening as everything slips away for a split moment into sheer pain and confusion. The second kick he doesn’t remember, but only assumes must’ve hit him after those memories cut short, hitting a blank wall as the world around was stolen away from him.

Unexpectedly, he noticed his mouth was a bit drier than a moment before.

“Come to think of it… I-I’m not all too sure what I’m arrested for, exactly.”

There was an unsteady shake in those words. Numin felt that deep part in his chest ache for him again, and without even thinking there was an audible jingle as he tugged the handcuffs yearningly again, subconscious desire turning into subtle action.

He wished he wasn’t confined.

“You can’t remember?” Softly, despite the gruffness of his voice, Numin verbally acknowledged Zero’s amnesia again.

Giving a weak half-hearted shrug, Zero blinked twice blankly, as if his eyes were focused on an absent memory. Or, at least the spaces where a memory may have been.

“I don’t know if I can’t remember or if I never knew in the first place. It’s weird, but somehow… even when I think I forgot something, I have the feeling that the information was once there.” A couple more blinks calibrated his eyes back to the dull hospital room around him, before continuing. “Like I noticed that I can’t recall your name again. Although for certain, I’m sure I’ve been told it more than once.”

The start of a weak and curious frown ghosted Numin’s lips. “Do you remember where to find it?”

There was another nervous bite on his bottom lip from Zero. Hesitant, as if taking a fifty-fifty shot at where he could possibly find his roommate’s name, he shakily raised his hand and checked the back of it.

And sure enough, confirming his hunch, there was a name in neat lettering there.

“Ah, the name Numin does ring a bell.”

His roommate chuckled deeply. “You said that last time.”

Tossing a perked brow up at him, Zero narrowed his eyes playfully.

“Well, then… let’s hope this time it’s louder bells.”

He ended his own retort with a slight chuckle of his own, almost distracted enough to not notice when the door opened for a nurse to hurry in. Numin recognized him as the one who injected the Valium into Zero’s veins this morning, and the viridescent hue of his eyes turned stygian and dark in bitter spite towards a particularly guilty party who Numin saw at blame for this morning’s fiasco.

“Oh-- Mr. Novem, I didn’t expect you up.” Tense, perhaps giving a few cautious glances at Numin to ensure he was still properly restrained, the nurse made his way for Zero’s bedside, only to have his patient narrow his eyes at him in distrust and sit up tensely in his bed, body language insinuating that his memory still recalled the face of who injected Valium into his veins earlier today.

Or perhaps, it was less of the memory of who Anderson was, and more of the innate emotion that seeing him evoked. Not a name, nor face, nor even incriminating action to seed a taste of discontent on Zero’s tongue when he saw the man; rather, it was a raw and visceral recoil, like how one would instinctively recoil from a bee’s sting before they had even realized they have stepped upon one.

Simply put, it was a knee-jerk reaction, memoryless by nature. Yet, the reaction his mind and body naturally had towards the nurse told Zero enough of the story; he was not a friend, nor was he one to be trusted.

“Yeah, I’m sure you would’ve liked not dealing with me for a few more hours, huh?” Leveled as to not betray enough defiance that could warrant another injection, Zero hissed at the nurse ever so begrudgingly.

A few flecks of guilt surfaced in the nurse’s soft umber eyes, uncensored and uninhibited. They gave his patient a genuine look of remorse that both Numin and Zero were surprised to see.

“My apologies for this morning. Things were, um, out of hand… in more ways than one.” Despite him reaching for Zero’s chart and making a few routine recordings of heart rate and alertness, the actions seemed more methodical and habitual rather than cold. “You had sustained quite a bit of damage from your arrest. Your coma was expected to last much longer, and finding you awake and lucid in addition to your roommate being unrestrained probably wasn’t the best atmosphere. The sedation was a tragic necessity to get things under control.”

Audibly in the background, Numin scoffed. But, perhaps in a more complacent state of mind considering his physical circumstances, Zero leaned more towards the believability of Anderson’s words— at least, if only noticeable by the slight release of tension knitting his brow in distaste.

He decided to entertain that the nurse was being truthful. At least, because he had no memories to contradict Anderson’s story of how this morning went.

“How long was I out for?” Inquiring through a hesitant tone, as if to attempt to gauge how serious the nurse actually was on his remorse, Zero pried for some answers.

Or, at least he tried to, if Numin didn’t interject almost immediately.

“A few days. I told you earlier already.” As if they were the only two in the room, Numin shot Zero a stern look, conveying a level of seriousness and intimidation in the darkness of his eyes that wasn’t quite there a moment before in their lighthearted words. And, nestled in the shadows of that darkness was a condensation to the nurse; he wasn’t even going to grace the guilty party with recognition, instead speaking only to Zero.

“A-ah, so have I been… under arrest? I’m not handcuffed to the bed like he is.” Words feeling thick and off balance on his tongue, Zero stuttered them out gracelessly, but not out of meekness to the nurse’s presence; he was instead nervous from the obvious cue from Numin that he wasn’t to continue addressing the nurse.

And, without even looking in his direction, Zero could feel the cold darkness in Numin’s eyes bearing down on him, festering in what the best case scenario is frustration, and worse case anger.

Noting the atmosphere himself, the nurse seemed meek to pique up. It took a few moments before he could muster to.

“You’re temporarily detained, not technically arrested. Your injuries and coma seemed severe enough to not warrant restraints, but if you pose a danger to others or a risk of escape—“ he made a curt yet polite nod towards Numin, signaling his example, “— then, you may also be handcuffed as well.”

“Ah. Makes sense. Guess I’m not complaining, then.” Zero replied back, albeit without complete presence in his own words. There was an obvious distraction hovering over his cadence, perhaps a voice inside him asking if the questions were worth Numin’s irate stare burning through his skin.

“It’s for the better. Honestly, if I’m being level with you, your charges might even be dropped.” Continuing the conversation between short scribbles and readings he was recording, Anderson’s nerves seemed to have ironed out a bit. Perhaps the reality of Numin being confined was comforting. Perhaps the irate glances being the most hostility he was expressing reassured him.

Zero could only guess the nurse has seen him in quite a rage state to be so initially cautious.

“Dropped? Dropped how? Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what my charges even are.” His words were strained, their delivery being just a bit faster than his previous reply, exposing his underlying urge to hear what he was actually arrested over.

Anderson peaked an eyebrow in slight surprise, looking over his clipboard of vitals and notes at his patient.

“You were charged with cyber crimes for breaching the Cray Incorporation’s computers. I don’t know the details, but I’ve been told it’s not exactly a grave offense,” there was a gentleness in his eyes, softening a bit in sympathy, “but, due to the brutality of your arrest and the injuries you sustain, I’m no lawyer but… I don’t exactly see the charges going through.”

A short catch of his breath exposed Zero’s relief and surprise— he honestly didn’t even register his hack as major enough to even be noticed, let alone criminalized.

“Finally, some words from you that have actual meaning: you’re no lawyer. So why don’t you stop talking to him and stringing him along on these guideless assumptions?” Sharply, like the irritation towards Zero was being snuffed out and instead ignited onto Anderson, Numin diverted his attention.

Zero blinked, taken aback but also secretly relieved he was no longer under those threatening eyes.

“I-I’m just saying, that’s what it looks like at the moment. Were you even aware of his charges, Mr. Belua?” Without much confidence underlying his reply, Anderson noticeably tightened his grip on Zero’s chart sheepishly. Nevertheless, his dominant hand still continued their short and purposeful scribbles, as if to hide the idea his nerves around Numin may be preoccupying him.

The restrained, dangerous man chuckled. Zero has never heard someone laugh with both darkness and irritation enveloped together, intertwining in an unnerving way as to coax goosebumps from those who heard. Surely enough, confirming with a quick glance, some bumps were already decorating Zero’s exposed forearms.

“Doesn’t matter what he was charged with. I knew it wasn’t a violent crime, that’s for sure.” Giving his chained fist a quick pound against the bed’s side rail to rattle his handcuffs, Numin made both a show of his aggression and a show of his containment. Nevertheless, there was a bit of a sadistic gleam in his eyes that Zero saw, a noticeable delight Numin took when the poor nurse jumped at his threateningly loud hit against the side rail.

“You know, those handcuffs aren't just for my protection-- they’re for his, as well.” Anderson gestured to Zero, pen still in hand as he pointed, before turning to said patient. “I’m sure for your consideration, you might want to hear he’s a danger to his roommates. He put his last one in the ICU.”

“Don’t you dare!” Numin growled, straightening up in his bed but unable to do anything more than yank threateningly at his cuffs.

“W-what are you talking about?” Zero squeaked back at Anderson, almost meekly at the news.

“I’m talking about why he was put with you. We put him with a comatose patient on purpose… He kept breaking out of his restraints and assaulting the other ones.”

“Because they were disgusting! I couldn’t stand to listen to anything that came out of their worthless mouths!” Numin nearly shouted back, seething with so much irate that it dripped off each syllable like venom. His unshackled hand came down to grab the side rail that he was cuffed to, tightening around the metal in a white-knuckled grip, and he gave another violent shake that sounded close to breaking it. The jarring noise of it made Anderson drop his chart, recoiling with a startled step back.

“Mr.Belua, calm yourself or I’ll have to call in the head nurse.”

“You want me fucking calm!? Then get out of here! I’ll rip your tongue out if you wanna stay and keep talking!” Like an animal in a cage, he thrashed savagely, clanging the handcuffs around in his fit. The bed rattled with it, loud and unnerving, hinting his threat was going to be fulfilled if Anderson dared stay any longer.

Even though the words weren’t even directed at him, Zero found himself curling up nervously, tucking his knees under his chin and holding onto his legs like a surrogate security blanket. Whether between the room’s atmosphere or his surfacing anxiety, the wound on his head throbbed deep with his heart rate, fast and heavy. The air was getting too thick to breath in smoothly.

Weirdly enough, that tone and anger reminded him of his father.

Even the nurse seemed shaken. His eyes only parted off Numin to make a glance at his clipboard and pen on the floor, rethinking his decision to aggravate such an infamous patient. Although it only took a few mere seconds, the racy thoughts in his head to finish his rounds and leave this room was apparent on his face. A few beads of sweat made a constellation of fear on his brow, and rather than make a deal out of this and call in the head nurse, he decided to pretend this didn’t happen.

After all, if worse comes to worse, he didn’t want Numin breaking loose; Anderson already knew he could. And he didn’t want to be the guilty party who had provoked him.

Without much other words, Anderson gave a sorry glance at Zero, before reaching for the chart on the ground. After hastily clipping on the pen and returning it to Zero’s bed post, he turned heel and left, stumbling slightly in his hurry and shutting the door quickly behind him.

It took Zero a few moments before he realized his body was shaking.

He could hear Numin’s quick, frustrated breaths from across the room. Almost like the breathing of a wolf about to growl. Like an impending attack was coming, that maybe if he stayed still and quiet he could avoid. Meekly, Zero slouched into himself, as if trying to not be there.

He’s used to not being there. He’s used to trying to pretend not to exist. If his dad has taught him anything, it was that.

Numin didn’t say a word. Just kept breathing, deep and upset. Angered.

Zero wanted to remember something about his roommate to trust. To fall back on as reassurance that this man wouldn’t vent his anger upon him now that the nurse is gone.

But aided by his anxiety, his memories all seemed distant and fuzzy.

His head was pounding.

All he could feel right now was fear for him. It felt like his father across the room. It felt like that was the last time he had been sober and so afraid of someone before.

“Zero. Are you okay there?”

It was Numin speaking, anger still laced in those words but concern still surfacing. Yet it wasn’t his voice Zero heard.

It was his father’s.

“Say something. P-pl…” hesitating, as if reluctant to cede his pride, the voice dropped an octave lower before continuing, “p-please, just say something, Zero.”

It sounded like his father’s voice. Not him, not Numin-- It was his father.

The memories burned in his head, blistering with the searing pain of his headache. He can’t remember this roommate. For whatever reason, in this godforsaken bright white room, he only remembers his father.

A few sparse tears beaded his lashes, barely held back from rolling down his hot red face.

“Please… I-I didn’t mean to scare you, just… Just tell me you’re okay, Zero.”

The words didn’t even register.

Zero was already gone.

#scp #SCP Foundation #SCP 682 #scp 079 #scp 079 x scp 682 #human au #human scp 079 #human scp 682 #human 079 #Human 682 #scp containment breach #scp fandom #scp fanfiction

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slo-liveblog · 4 years ago

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hmm, that’s a good question! i know you probably just mean “how did you feel about that scene because normally you don’t like ashe”, which could probably be answered in a sentence or two, but im going to go into excruciating detail about this anyway.

i guess the exciting thing about the star-shaped carrots scene was how completely out of left field it was for ashe. of course, it’s not like him performing nice, cutesy acts of courtesy for the rest of the group is anything new. that’s his default- when he’s not out to murder them, of course. but for one thing, his overzealous kindness... usually only extends to claire? i could be wrong but he really only seems to go out of his way to make claire specifically happy, probably because of how he mentions that she’s gullible and could easily be strung along to his benefit if he earns her trust. he did interact with leon before, and the way they got along well was definitely interesting, but it was only for like one scene and really only extended to showing they had some chemistry as conversation partners. so suddenly, when we’re pretty safely accustomed to how ashe acts- cheery, nosy, talkative and kind (even more so with claire) when he’s manipulating someone, then erratic and violent when he shows his true colors- he completely flips the script. as ive mentioned a lot, his reactions to leon’s breakdowns are almost uncanny compared to the way im used to seeing him behave. it immediately begs the question of why? what could make him act so completely differently, as if he’s lost and no longer in control of the situation, because of leon of all people? of course, it quickly becomes apparent that it’s because leon reminds him of his sick sister, but that raises even MORE points of interest.

i think the biggest elephant in the room for me personally is, leon and claire... are very similar. like, there’s definitely a line being drawn between ashe and wilardo VS claire and leon (sirius is a whole other story but that’s for another post) in terms of their priorities and what they’re willing to do for their goals. leon and claire are both constantly chastised for being easily fooled, naïve, softhearted, small minded, etc. etc.

so we see ashe completely fall apart over leon being sick, right. the important thing about the star shaped carrots is that ashe didn’t do it intentionally, unlike most of his kind gestures that seem to be done specifically to earn people’s trust. of course, we don’t have an internal monologue for ashe during that part of the scene so we can’t know for sure, but judging by everything else going on (his expressions, his flashes of memories of lilia, he’s clearly distracted when he’s talking, how he realizes later that he didn’t even get info out of leon when he talked to him) i think it’s safe to assume he was being genuine when he said he was distracted and only did it out of habit. so a question that popped into my mind was what if CLAIRE, who’s very similar to leon, were to get sick? like, what kind of batshit reaction would he have to THAT? and would he still be able to kill someone that reminded him so strongly of his sister? but then, there’s another alarming thought right there- we ALREADY know that claire probably reminds him at least a little bit of his sister. the kaleidoscope scene... and how he is reminded very strongly of his sister, but then immediately recommends they give it to claire.... sure is something. the biggest difference between claire and lilia that we know at this point, maybe something that’s genuinely made him feel more comfortable with killing her, is her health. she’s active, fit, and fully capable of taking care of herself- probably traits that allow him to distance himself from her to some degree, but i do think there could certainly be the angle of “this is what lilia could have been like if she’d had the chance” if the game wanted to take it there. not sure if it will though. but i definitely believe her kind, innocent personality contributes to why he’s so nice to her. whether it’s conscious or not, i don’t believe anymore that it’s solely for the purposes of manipulation, for a whole host of reasons.

so now we have reason to believe that claire could resemble lilia, at least in ashe’s eyes (throwback to when i thought they were the same person lol), and the main factor separating them is that claire is incredibly tough and healthy. but then... ashe kills her. so it’s like... he can’t be completely distancing himself from this. we KNOW he has the capacity to recognize the similarities between other people and his family members, that they’re living their own lives with their own goals and aspirations, and then still decide that his family’s lives are worth more. he’s trading claires life to give lilia the things she has now. but it’s not even just passing recognition of that fact now, because ashe is having a full blown emotional reaction to leon. and the idea of that eventually rippling out to how he views claire is... a lot. like, it makes me think of wilardo- he recognizes that his wish, aspirations and life aren’t inherently more important than anyone else’s. he apologizes to claire when he kills her, because he knows he’s making a conscious choice to prioritize what he wants above someone else’s life, and thus robbing claire of her own chance to get what she wants out of life. but honestly, i still don’t think ashe is quite there yet, let alone far enough down that thought process to actually decide not to kill anyone. he’s probably very firmly rooted in the belief that whats he’s doing is worth the sacrifice of others, so im not sure if i actually expect his hesitance with leon to bleed into the actions he takes. we might have to wait for his conclusion to see that hesitation fully realized, to go beyond an inconvenience and into straight up self doubt. but the humanization is there and super fucked up to see happening to a character that’s been almost entirely unflinching in his goals so far.

so uh, i guess in short, the star shaped carrots scene caught me completely off guard and makes me super interested to see where they go with the ideas they’re setting up. it made ashe easier to connect to, definitely. and it’s also just a fucking cute and heartbreaking interaction between two characters i was really excited to see talk more

#i just have Lots of feelings about the direction theyre taking with ashe and leon okay...#witchs heart #slo talks #slo lbs bonus stage #ashe #leon #snowdrop34

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jakkwrites · 5 years ago

Text

Nightmare

Hi again! I’m back with another Fallen Hero fic! Some soft chargestep content for the soul ;D Enjoy!

You open your eyes to find Ortega at your side, one hand gingerly clasping yours, the other trailing through your hair. Her brow is creased with concern and she mutters something you can't catch, the drugs in your system preventing your from feeling your injuries are muddling your senses too. There's an IV in your other arm, no doubt the source of the drugs. "It's good to see you awake," she smiles. "'S good t' see you," you mumble, your lips curling upwards into a huge, stupid grin. She's beautiful, even while disheveled and vaguely blurry. Your head feels like it's full of cotton balls and your limbs feel heavy. But Julia is here, so everything's okay.

Ortega rolls her eyes and shakes her head, "And you still have your priorities sorted."

"Always do." She chuckles, the sound makes your heart sing, and she leans down to kiss your cheek. When she straightens up again, her smile seems to fade a little. "Visitor hours are almost over," she explains. "I'll have to leave soon." Normally, the idea being alone in a hospital might make you anxious. Right now, you're so out of it that it's a wonder you're still awake. "You'll come back tomorrow?" "Of course. No way I'd leave you here by yourself, Jackie." "Okay," you murmur. The urge to close your eyes and drift off has been growing stronger, ever since you woke. Ortega seems to notice this, "Why don't you go back to sleep and get some more rest?" "I... Probably should," you agree reluctantly. She kisses you again, fixing your blanket so you're tucked in nice and tight. "G'night." "Goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow." You close your eyes as she rises to her feet, about ready to fall asleep when something occurs to you. "Oh, Julia..." you begin, looking towards the door. Your blood runs cold when you realize the room has changed. It's gotten smaller. The fluorescent lighting remains the same, but the plastic chair that Ortega occupied mere moments ago has vanished. In its place stands a table with a tray full of surgical instruments and syringes. The IV is gone as well. You try to sit up, terror gripping your heart, but find yourself bound to the bars of the bed by white cuffs. No. No, this can't be... Heart racing and mouth dry as sandpaper, you fight with your restraints. Maybe you can wiggle out of them. As long as no one comes along, you should be- "Ah, you're awake." Your voice won't work, your body won't respond, you're paralyzed with terror. You want to scream but you can't, only able to watch, unblinking, as Andrelina approaches. Not her. Anyone but her. Her and- "It's been quite some time, 09. Let's hope we don't have to play this game a third time, hm?" You can barely hear her over your own heartbeat in your ears. No no no no-

No!" You scream as you awaken, practically launching yourself out of bed. You land on your hands and knees on carpet. Not hardwood. This isn't my room. This isn't my room. Where am I? You're too far deep in panic to think straight, scrambling to your feet. Get out. Go. Go. You have to get out of here. Wherever here is, if it isn't home, if it isn't familiar then it's a threat. How could you have been so careless to fall asleep somewhere other than home? "Jack, wait!" A hand catches your wrist and you flinch, very nearly summoning your flames to deal with the threat, whirling around to find- Ortega, halfway out of bed. The blanket tossed aside, your pillow on the floor by your feet. You remember now; this isn't your room because it's hers. You decided to stay the night. And look where it got you. She keeps her grip on your arm, leaning to turn in the bedside lamp. "J-Julia, I-I-" you fumble for words, your breath coming in short, sharp bursts. You flinch at the brightness, staring down at the floor. Your vision is blurred and it's a fight to keep from bursting into tears on the spot. "I h-have to go, I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." "No way you're leaving now." Her voice is soft. "Especially not like this. C'mere." She pulls you back towards the bed, into an embrace. You resist, trying to pull away. You're not sure you can handle physical contact in this state. But she's undeterred and only tightens her grip on you, holding you close to her chest. "It's okay," she whispers. "You're safe with me." You want to laugh. You aren't safe anywhere, with anyone. It was a mistake even coming over tonight. But... Part of you wants to stay. Stay, and be held by her. Stay wrapped in her warm embrace where you do feel... a little safer. The decision is made for you when the floodgates open and the tears start to fall. You sob hard, your body quivering. "It's okay, Jackie. I've got you." You bury your face in her shoulder, muffling your cries somewhat. Ortega presses a kiss to your temple, holding you as tight as ever. How long has it been since she last had to do this for you? Both too long and not long enough. You've missed having someone to comfort you on the bad nights. At the same time, you always felt bad for keeping her up in the middle of the night. Even now, you're still torn, but she doesn't seem keen on letting go anytime soon. So instead, you curl up against her, drinking in her warmth and soft words as you cry. Finally, finally, it's quiet. You are quiet, save for the occasional shuddering gasp. Your head and chest ache, and you're shaking like a leaf. "Do you want to talk about it?" Ortega asks. "N-No," you shake your head. She releases you, allowing you to sit up. You perch on the edge of the bed, rubbing at your eyes and trying to clean yourself up with the sleeve of your sweater. Julia joins you, resting one hand on your knee. A reminder. She's here. You're here, in the present. You're a little surprised that she remembers how to ground you still. "I-" You pause, clearing your throat. You need a minute alone - and something better than a sleeve to clean yourself up with. You rise to your feet, "I'll just be a minute..." "Hey." This time Ortega catches your hand, and you look back at her. "Don't go running off on me. Please?" "I won't." You squeeze her hand lightly, trying for a smile. "Promise." You slip out of her room and into the bathroom. Leaving hadn't occurred to you - well, it hadn't after you calmed down. It's so tempting to disappear into the night and run home, back to your comfort zone. But you promised you wouldn't, so you won't. You splash some water on your face, wiping it dry with a towel, and look at yourself in the mirror. You look like shit. Dark bags hang under your eyes, which are still red and puffy. Your hair is sticking up in every direction, wilder than usual. That probably has less to do with the state of perpetual exhaustion you're in and more to do with the fact that you just rolled out of bed. You yawn, your eyes glazing over as you stare at your slouched form. You're not certain there's a point in going back to bed - you'll either wake up exhausted anyways or wake up Ortega again. Maybe you'll take the couch so she can get some rest... You exit the bathroom, flicking off the light as you go. She's still seated on the edge of the bed when you return, no doubt waiting for you. The bed itself has mostly been put back together; the blanket is no longer dangling off the mattress and your pillow has been returned to its rightful place. Ortega looks relieved to see you - she must've thought you were going to leave. You can't blame her for thinking that way. You did too. "Feeling any better?" "A-A little." You nod, not quite meeting her gaze. You rub the back of your neck awkwardly, "Sorry for... all that." "Don't worry about it," she waves her hands dismissively. "But, I-" "Jack." Ortega cuts you off, her voice firm. "It's not a big deal. I don't mind taking care of you... Especially when you let me." Your cheeks heat up and you stare at the floor. "I-I appreciate it." You don't have the courage to say more. It was like a breath of fresh air, having her there to hold you and help you calm down. You appreciate it more than she might realize. More than you can express out loud. "You ready to come back to bed?" She beckons to you, patting the bed. You're sorely tempted. Tempted to crawl into bed, under the covers, into her arms, and rest. But you shouldn't. "I was thinking of going and crashing on the couch so you could get back to sleep without having to deal with..." You vaguely gesture at yourself. Her expression softens. "Love-" Your heart skips several beats. "I just told you don't mind taking care of you." She stands, crossing over to you, taking your hand in hers and cupping your cheek, lightly tilting your head to meet her gaze. "Come back to bed," she whispers, her lips just barely brushing yours. You pull her closer, closing the distance between the two of you, and your lips meet. She's the first to break away, yawning. She wraps her arms around your waist and rests her head on your chest, closing her eyes. You return the embrace, resting your chin atop her head. You love being like this. The rare moments when touching and being touched are both bearable are the ones you savor the most. "Jack," she murmurs. "Yes?" "Let's go back to sleep." It's with very little reluctance when you finally agree. She's clearly tired, and you don't want to cause more work for her so late in the night. And... Maybe you're being just a little selfish. You mostly want to curl up with her, stay huddled up in her arms... and to keep this brief feeling of *safety*. The two of you climb back into bed together, nestling in each other's arms. After you lean over to turn the lamp off, Ortega pulls the blanket up over both of you and shifts closer. "Goodnight, Jack." She kisses the tip of your nose. "G'night, Julia," you stammer, cheeks heating up and grateful that she can't see your expression in the dark. You settle in and close your eyes. You must be more tired than you realize; it only takes a moment before you drift off to sleep.

#fallen hero: rebirth #fallen hero: retribution #julia ortega #chargestep #sidestep!jack #not overly soft in the beginning but yknow ;D

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abysskeeper · 5 years ago

Note

Otpop trick reacting to him wearing the electrocution belt

Sometimes secret pasts collide when you and your definitely-more-than-friends-but-certainly-not-lovers partner go deal with a planet being eaten. SOR AU, or SOR AU adjacent. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@trafuris

“Clever, Little Thief.”

Her hand shook, causing a slight tremor in her lightsaber as the possessed Jedi master fell to the ground. She felt more than saw Vitiate’s presence leave the three people she had just fought as they took their dying breathes. It was a momentary reprieve from his overwhelming presence on Ziost, but she couldn’t afford taking a full breath away from his suffocating aura. The feeling of lives being lost wasn’t much better than the feeling of him smothering their existence, it was simply a different kind of pain.

“He’s gone…” the Jedi at her feet mumbled, “I can…I can finally…”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered as she felt the last of his life fading. There was no time to mourn for him though, she could already feel Vitiate returning, more pawns he was stifling that she could just faintly feel screaming from under him. “May you rest well with the Force.”

The moment that morning when Theron called her requesting help in Imperial space, Trick had an inkling her day was suddenly about to get a whole lot worse. What Theron had rushed to explain wasn’t promising, civilians and slaves being fired upon for no reason, an entire SIS team gone dark, and the potential for this being the Emperor’s next move. The abrupt end to the call with nothing but echoing blaster fire in the background was only further confirmation of the hell she was about to enter into. Her head was already swimming when she shifted her ship into hyperdrive to get to Ziost, planning out a list of priorities and strategies for her to address the moment she set foot on the planet.

The instant she stepped foot on Ziost’s orbital station however, none of it mattered. Nothing could have prepared her for the utter sense of wrongness, the increasing emptiness, that the planet was emanating, and any plan she had made was immediately tossed to the wayside. She had been in a lot of bad situations before, she had gotten out of even more of them, but this was something else altogether. There was no planning for this, there might not even be an explanation for what this was.

The unease she felt only increased by how easy it had been for her to move through the orbital station. No one stopped her, no one questioned her, no one even seemed to spare her, a Jedi on the orbital station for Ziost, a glance as she strode through the area towards what appeared to be an unused transport shuttle. It was only exacerbated further when she took the shuttle and landed, and she could understand why no one had stopped her.

The planet was…lifeless. The feeling grew stronger and stronger as she moved closer to the surface, and now that she was on it, the feeling nearly enveloped her. Empty. Suffocating. A part of her burned. She could sense some people here and there, civilians and unpossessed soldiers. Lana was a bright spot even for being Sith. Theron she could sense faintly, which was a relief to know that at least he made it alive. But the overwhelming presence of Vitiate was…sickening. Aside from those few people she could sense, it was only him. Only the Emperor smothering or extinguishing everything else on the planet. Possessing everything to do his bidding. She looked down again at the two Imperial soldiers and the master Jedi she had just fought and killed.

This was depraved.

She heaved a sigh and stood up when the sound of footsteps behind her echoed through the building. She had allowed Vitiate’s next set of pawns to close in on her, there was no sense in trying to hide from them. But as she turned around to face them, she only watched as they were cut down by a lightsaber and blaster fire.

“Lana, Tavon,” she breathed a sigh of relief, a momentary true sense of reprieve from the madness that was going on around them.

She was glad that they were already on the planet, in some regards. She had considered opening a line of communication to at least one of them after Theron had contacted her, but between the urgency of the situation and the fact they were both Imperial, she hadn’t. Any information she could have given them probably would’ve been redundant at that point, though perhaps their information would’ve better prepared her for what she was about to get herself into. It didn’t matter now, she was just happy to see the two of them here and alright. Especially him. Tavon was a quiet spot in the Force, hard to detect even as he was standing in front of her. His presence was calming to the madness around them.

It was a short-lived feeling of relief.

“So my senses were correct,” Lana commented, eyeing her with a wary gaze for a few moments, “It really is you. You shouldn’t be here, Trick.”

“Did Theron send you?” Tavon asked, tone far less accusatory than Lana’s.

“What?” she asked, slightly surprised they already knew. “Yes, I got a call from Theron,” Trick confirmed taking only a moment to switch her attention back to everything at hand, “Not a very elucidating one though. Something about Ziost and the Emperor. I figured if nothing else, I could be of assistance,” she looked between them, “What the hell is going on here?”

“Vitiate,” Lana answered simply. Straight to the point, as usual. “The only information we truly have is what you have already witnessed. He is taking control of an increasing number of Sith and Imperial soldiers. His ultimate goal appears to be accumulating power. The more he kills, the stronger his presence becomes on Ziost.” She sighed and looked behind her into the expanse of Ziost before looking at Tavon, then back to Trick. Her immediate standoffishness seemed to fade with the realization the Jedi meant no harm, “Evacuations and stemming the bloodshed are our top priorities.”

“For me being someone who shouldn’t be here, you are quite forthcoming with information,” she quipped.

“It is in our best interest to accept assistance, no matter the form it comes in,” Tavon answered for her.

She looked between them again for a moment and didn’t miss the hint of unease with the Sith. So it was his idea then, that made sense. “Understandable,” Trick agreed with a nod. The answers were appreciated, and though they were no means what she wanted to hear, it was about what she expected. She glanced back at the bodies on the floor and swallowed the lump forming in her throat, “Ok, so me notwithstanding…why are the Jedi here?”

“Every Jedi currently on Ziost is thanks to Theron,” Tavon said, “That Jedi you fought was part of an SIS taskforce he apparently sent. The Sixth Line. A relative nuisance at the moment to the idea of ‘stemming the bloodshed.’”

“The Sixth Line?” she asked, unsure why she thought they would have any more information than she would. Jedi part of an SIS taskforce? Jedi that she didn’t know about? It just kept getting better.

“A group of Jedi that adhere to their own addendum of a sixth line of the Jedi Code, hence their name,” a new voice explained, as another man in an Imperial uniform joined them, “’There is no contemplation, there is only duty.’ Quite a noble and useful belief so long as you are not fighting against them.”

“Theron, what did you do?” she muttered, groaning as she tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling.

“That’s exactly what we would like to know,” Lana remarked, “Trick, this is Agent Kovach. Kovach, this is the former ally we were talking about.”

“A pleasure,” the man nodded at her and immediately turned back to Lana, “I’m sorry to intrude, Minister, but the probes we sent into the wrecked ship showed no one on board. And you have several calls waiting for you across the planet.”

“Minister?” Trick asked, but her eyes flicked to Tavon. He was already looking back at her calm…no, guarded. It was a subtle difference, but she could see it. Whatever this new position for Lana entailed, he was none too happy about it. She was curious, but now was certainly not the time.

“Yes,” Lana said and offered no further information. She clicked her communicator on and listened for a few moments before clicking it off again. “I am needed everywhere at once—” Trick felt a bit of sympathy and understanding at that, “—I trust that you two can handle yourselves out here?” she asked, looking to Tavon and then to Trick, “You did commendable work on Rishi and Yavin IV.”

“We can,” Tavon affirmed.

“We can but…” Trick agreed and looked at Lana, “Are you…safe…here?”

“If you are wondering if Vitiate can take possession of me, rest assured he has already tried and I have warded him off. He has given up for the time being,” Lana said, a ghost of a triumphant smirk on her face. It was a small victory given the greater war occurring right now. “I would suggest being more concerned with yourself. The Light Side alone clearly is not enough to fend him off.”

The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind since she landed on Ziost, but she supposed it was a valid concern. She glanced back at the Jedi master on the ground. To the outside world, she would be susceptible. But Vitiate hadn’t even tried since she’d been on Ziost…or if he had, he failed to the point she didn’t even notice an attempt. She doubted the latter, he knew he couldn’t control her, his new nickname for her confirmed it. Little Thief. A part of her still burned, but it was no danger. She was trying her best to ignore it altogether.

Not that anyone else knew that. Not that it was important now either.

“I have my ways, I’ll be fine,” Trick said and turned back to Lana, “Go.”

Lana nodded and turned on her heels, heading off to wherever she was called to next. Kovach followed close behind, leaving her with Tavon. It was better that way, honestly, probably what they both preferred. It was definitely what she preferred at least, they’d done better work together, alone, than with the whole group. Neither could explain it, but there was a synergy to their methods. They worked well together and had yet to hold each other back.

“You’ve been quiet,” Trick quipped, but she could see a subtle shift in his demeanor as Lana walked away. He seemed less on edge, ever so slightly. Given the circumstances and what they were about to trek back into, she couldn’t blame him, but it was ironic that he was more relaxed now with a Jedi than when he was in the presence of a Sith and another Imperial agent. She supposed she should be flattered.

“Lana explained the Force nonsense better than I could,” Tavon answered, and a small smirk hitched up one corner of his lips, “You probably understand it better than I do too.”

“Force nonsense is what I do best, unfortunately,” she sighed and stared out the opening of the building they were taking shelter in. The small talk and being caught up to speed were nice distractions, they had dulled the chaos and yawning emptiness that flooded her senses, but with the impending need to go back out there she could feel the disgust and desperation starting to rise in her throat again. “But even I don’t know how to deal with something like this,” she muttered.

“We deal with it by stopping Vitiate,” Tavon said and reached out, gently laying a hand on her shoulder. It only took a rudimentary understanding of the Force to know how and why she was so affected by this. “We have a plan, and honestly I am glad you are here to help with it.”

Trick shook her head and turned her attention towards him, “What can I do? How can I help?”

“Our first objective is getting to the armory and sealing it, once that is done we will discuss from there,” he answered.

She raised a brow, “That doesn’t seem like much of a plan.”

“I do not…necessarily agree with the objectives beyond that,” Tavon admitted, “Removing the planet’s defense system does not appear to be the best idea. And while we know Theron is planetside, I have no intention of capturing him should we encounter him.”

“Glad to know you’re willing to commit small acts of treason for us,” Trick teased.

“As I said, it is in our best interest to take all the help we can get. Given the status of the situation, I would simply prefer your help to leaving capable hands locked up somewhere, it’s only logical,” he shrugged. After a pause, he sighed and gave a small smile, “I am glad he was able to contact you though. I would rather do this with you than anyone else here, your assistance is appreciated.”

Trick gave a small smile in return, “You know I’ll do what I can.” She wasn’t really sure how much that was though, if anything at all. Everything seemed too far gone already, a lost cause. But then, what good were they if they didn’t at least try? She shook her head of the thought and moved back to the objective at hand. “As for the defense systems…that is certainly an…interesting take,” she agreed and shrugged, “Though I guess it would remove more weapons from getting into Vitiate’s hands. Or from a panicked public’s hands.”

“Which is why it is something to discuss once we are done with the armory,” he agreed, “If we die before then, it will all be moot anyways.”

“Comforting,” she deadpanned, but returned his wry smile with one of her own. She sighed again, smile slipping as she looked back outside to the rest of Ziost. There was no point in wasting anymore time, but another question suddenly popped into her head at the thought of going out there. “What about you? Are you safe?” she asked.

“What?”

“Lana said she’s already fought off Vitiate. I have my methods to the point I’m pretty sure he didn’t even try. But what about you?” she clarified, “Force sensitivity or lack thereof doesn’t really seem to be a factor in his possessing…so are you safe from it?”

Tavon let out a laugh under his breath and nodded, “Shockingly, I do have my own methods too.”

“I suppose it isn’t that surprising, considering it’s you,” Trick said, “But still. Good.” Wary eyes trailed back to the assault going on outside as another thought crossed her. “How…confident would you say you are in your methods?” she asked.

“Fairly,” he said, “Enough to know Vitiate shouldn’t be a problem. Why?”

“Look, I—” she paused and sighed, unsure of how to ask what she wanted to. Really, she didn’t know in full what she wanted or if it was something he could even fulfill. But she needed something out there. Someone close she could tether herself to in the otherwise expanding emptiness Vitiate was creating. “—I know you don’t have vital signs. And I know you aren’t particularly fond of the Force and all of its nonsense. But could you…try to be present to it right now? I don’t know if that’s something you could do, I’ve never exactly lived without the Force, but if you can I just need…it would just be appreciated, is all.”

Tavon looked over her once or twice, taking in her appearance. He hadn’t seen much faze the Jedi in front of him, and that spoke to a lot considering they had fought a reanimated man and stopped his plot to annihilate an entire planet. But now…well, they were fighting a reanimated man to stop his plot of annihilating an entire planet, but it was different. The methods were different, and it was apparent Trick was frazzled, even more so than Lana. He couldn’t help but wonder if the atmosphere was downright hurting her.

It wouldn’t hurt to try and acquiesce her request, would it? He was confident in his abilities to keep Vitiate out, and relatively comfortable Vitiate hadn’t bothered looking at him anyways. It was probably one of the few times being completely Force blind was beneficial regarding a Sith’s interest.

“Only for you,” he agreed.

In any other situation, Trick would’ve been flustered by his declaration. She doubted it was a simple task to try to stay open to the Force as it was, let alone in such a discordant place as Ziost currently was. That he was willing to do it at all spoke volumes, that he was only willing to do it for her benefit even more so. But now, all she could feel was relief as she essentially clutched to him with what sense she could.

He was an odd spot in the Force, with no vitals and an incredibly limited sense of it to begin with, but for the moment it didn’t matter. He was there, he was alive, and he wasn’t under Vitiate’s control. It was small, but it was enough to center herself on against the onslaught of the growing void outside.

“Thank you,” she breathed. She opened her eyes, not even realizing she had closed them to seek him out, and met his gaze, “Thank you,” she said again and nodded towards the door, “I guess there’s no point in wasting anymore time.”

The armory was secure, and after an exchange between Tav and Lana, she was only left with even more questions. Minister of Sith Intelligence, that’s what her title meant. No wonder he wasn’t pleased to be around her. Trick preferred to stay out of it, she had when they were first talking between themselves, but now that they were off to take the planetary defense systems offline, she needed something again. His presence alone was doing a lot, but the silence felt deafening in the face of the yawning chasm of Ziost. And even then, despite that he had been willing to let her latch onto him, something was bugging her about Tavon too.

There was a small, nagging sensation that hit her spine and crawled up to the back of her mind every so often. It was better than Vitiate and Ziost, but it was starting to drive her mad too.

“Sooooooo…?” Trick asked as they stepped back outside. She paused for a second to sense what was around them. Vitiate of course, he was somehow everywhere and nowhere all at once. But there was some distance between them and anyone else. They would likely have to fight again before reaching the defense systems, but not anytime in the immediate future. With that confirmed, she strode next to Tavon and looked at him expectantly.

“So?” he asked in return.

“Lana Beniko, Minister of Sith Intelligence?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said, but the clenching of his jaw was obvious.

“I take it that happened soon after Yavin IV?” she continued to press. She was trying to get details as much as she was trying to just get him to talk about it. And as much as she was trying to use it as a distraction.

“Yes.”

Trick sighed, “And how is she doing?”

“She is—” he hesitated, choosing his words carefully, unsure how she would take to his true feelings on the matter. Despite their philosophical differences on the Force, the two appeared to have made an unlikely pair of friends. And despite her asking, she already seemed to know the answer to her own question, “—Making decisions.”

She snorted and rolled her eyes, “I should hope. Tell me, are you trying to put on a united Imperial front for my sake…or because it’s what’s expected?” she asked and she saw the slightest hint of a smirk on his face, “I don’t know if you noticed, but it’s kind of apparent she’s in over her head here. It’s also kind of apparent there are better suited individuals to fill that position.”

“You are correct,” Tavon agreed, “She’s undertrained, unprepared, and unqualified for the position.”

“Wow,” she chuckled and then immediately paused. There was that sensation again, ending in the feeling of…almost like electricity tingling the back of her mind. She stared at his retreating back for a moment before shaking her head and snapping out of it. “I didn’t think it would be that easy to get you to admit how you really feel,” she said, trying to play off her moment of hesitation. Her attention was caught though. It was definitely coming from him, now she just needed to figure out what it was.

“What is the point of continuing to hide it? You already knew what I believed,” he shrugged. He looked her over as she caught up with him and a brow rose, “Unless that is not what you were trying to imply?”

“No no, it is,” she nodded, “I’m just surprised you are that upfront, is all. I’m sorry, for what it’s worth. The Sith seem to have an annoying habit of inserting themselves where they don’t belong.”

Tavon blew out a breath in agreement. “I have voiced my displeasure over the situation to no avail,” he admitted. His gaze returned to what was ahead of him and his expression hardened, “Such is the Empire’s hierarchy.”

Trick frowned as he spoke. “You know it doesn’t have to be that way, right?” she asked and smirked when he returned his attention to her, “Offer’s still open to join the SIS. You like Theron well enough, he’d vouch for you, and Jedi don’t interfere there.” It was a joke that started on Yavin IV, she knew he’d never leave, but it was fun to remind him.

Tavon scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Except when they do, apparently.”

“The Sixth Line…” she sighed and frowned again, “Given that even the Council didn’t have any information on the Sixth Line leads me to believe they were very highly trained by the SIS alone. They don’t count.” The skeptical look he gave her as he motioned towards her made her pout. “Oh come on! I don’t count either. I was only called in after it was apparent that this was—"

There it was again. Trick froze in her tracks as she felt another jolt. It wasn’t the best idea to stop, Vitiate was on the move as much as they were, but feeling the jolt rattle through her skull again and finally identifying the source of it left her feet rooted to the ground. “Y-your belt?”

“What?” Tavon asked, turning around to look at her.

“Your belt?” she asked again, “It’s…shocking you?” That’s what the jolt was, a sense of pain from a dull, electric shock.

“Yes,” he nodded, completely unconcerned by this revelation.

“W-why?!”

He thought the answer was obvious, “I told you, I have my ways for dealing with Vitiate. Or any intruder of such means, really.”

“By shocking yourself with an electrobelt?!” Trick exclaimed, “That’s ridiculous!”

“I wouldn’t call it ridiculous,” he said and smirked at the timing, “Shocking, perhaps, but not ridiculous.”

She scowled when she felt another jolt hit her…him. “This isn’t funny!”

“I found that to be quite humorous,” he disagreed, “Besides, this hardly warrants such a reaction. It isn’t the most unheard of practice for such things.” He crossed his arms and frowned at her, studying her again, trying to glean if this was something more. It really shouldn’t be that surprising this was what he was doing. It was a simple means by which to force out any unwanted intruders perhaps, but it was effective. He had grown comfortable relying on it, at the very least.

It truly was hardly a concern, he had grown so used to it that he barely felt it anymore. Trick, on the other hand, was a concern. It had been obvious since they found each other on Ziost that her emotional state wasn’t the best. He had thought having an objective and moving through the planet had been helping her, she at least appeared to have calmed down. Now though…now he could feel his worry growing again.

“Are you alright?” he asked, eyes warily looking over her for any greater changes.

“I’m fine,” she scoffed and shouldered off the notion he was implying, “But there has to be a better way for you to do this.”

And logically, Trick knew that was false. She knew it shouldn’t have been that big of a deal. It was one of the less intricate and more effective ways to prevent possessions, especially for those without any Force tricks up their sleeves. It only made sense that he would be using it here, but logic didn’t prevent the revulsion from lodging itself in her throat. Not at him, not for using it, but at the piece of clothing itself. At what it did.

Maybe it was the current situation on Ziost that distracted her enough from it, but she understood now why the sensation kept nagging at her. Cutting at her and demanding to be recognized. It was a familiar type of pain, different in its location and intensity, but familiar all the same. He didn’t have to be hurting himself like this here, no matter how dull it was. No one deserved that, to be relentlessly shocked, voluntarily or otherwise. She knew what that was like, knew the annoyance, the pain, the…the burning and the ache left over…and the fact he felt the need to willingly submit himself to it only made it all the more horrifying and…and that was the problem, wasn’t it?

Parts of her had been burning since she stepped foot on Ziost, but this was the first time her neck burned in years.

“There just has to be a better way for you to do this,” she repeated quietly and took a step closer to him. She felt another jolt and reached her hand out to him. Her fingers curled before she actually touched him, but he could feel the sensation of her healing alleviating the pain of the latest shock.

Tavon watched quietly as she clearly struggled with something that was beyond him. Yet his worry still started fading. She was still her, that much was apparent by the fact she felt the need to heal him over something so minor, but something altogether different had taken hold of her concern. When the last of the sensation of her Force healing dissipated, he took her hand gently and, when she unclenched it, entwined their fingers. He hoped it served as much as a gesture to show he was fine as it served as another grounding point for her. “If the alternative is possession, I would much prefer the shock.”

“The alternative doesn’t have to be possession,” she insisted. She looked down at their hands and sighed, trying to will away the bit of nausea in the pit of her gut. This was too much, way too much for one day. “I don’t know if you have to do anything at all.”

“Unfortunately I do not have the same strengths as you…or even Lana in that regard,” he responded.

“I don’t believe that,” she said, and she didn’t. She knew him, she knew what he was capable of. He didn’t need to be reliant on this. “I’ve seen you, I’d like to think I know you well enough. That sort of strength doesn’t require the Force, it only needs…” She cut herself off when she felt his hand squeeze hers and looked back up to be met with an unreadable expression on his face.

“Your faith in me is appreciated, but misplaced—” It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t even necessarily a warning, but something in his tone and in his eyes told Trick to stop pushing. Her words of protest died on her lips, even as her horror urged her to keep going. He truly believed he needed this. “—If I weren’t trying to help you, perhaps I would consider, but even then—”

She recoiled, her eyes widening as she took a step back from him. If he had started this because of her…kriff. She would never be able to forgive herself. “If this is because I asked…you should’ve just told me! I can manage without you.”

“…But even then I would still desire to use it for my own peace of mind,” he finished, “Quite literally. Besides, I am more concerned for your current state anyways, this has the potential to affect you much more than it does me.”

“I’m…” Trick stopped herself before saying she was fine. She knew she wasn’t fine, and he knew she wasn’t fine. The mess she had found here had affected her too much at the start for her to more appropriately respond to it. And that only set the precedent for her to be unable to temper herself when she was blindsided with the shock belt. “I have dealt with Vitiate’s power before. Though it was to a far less tangible degree, I know how to manage.”

Tavon raised a brow, “Your ‘ways’ don’t exactly seem to be working out for your emotional wellbeing.”

“You try feeling a planet full of people being controlled, or killed and having their essence consumed,” she retorted, “And then finding out your f-friend is shocking himself to keep himself sane! That isn’t any side effects from the Force or Vitiate, that’s empathy and exhaustion. My Force nonsense for dealing with Vitiate attempting to possess me is working perfectly.”

He sighed and nodded, acquiescing to her point, “Very well. You still do not seem to be handling this the best, however,” he pointed out and flashed her a dry smile, “Enough that you would freak out over a man doing what is necessary to survive.”

“That’s not the Force either that’s…” she trailed off, unsure how to finish that sentence. They were two completely separate issues, and while she could explain Ziost just fine, there was no direct way to explain her issue with the electrobelt. Not any way that didn’t lead to more questions that she definitely didn’t want to answer nor that they had the time to be discussing anyways. Her outburst here had already caused them to waste enough time as it was. “I’m so tired of feeling pain,” Trick chose instead, which technically wasn’t a lie either.

“In that case, you chose to lean on the wrong person,” Tavon said, wry smile returning, “If it helps any, I’ve grown accustomed to it.”

Her stomach twisted at the thought he’d been doing this long enough to grow accustomed. But then…she’d felt something similar on Yavin IV hadn’t she? Fainter when she wasn’t focusing on him, but it had been present. Kriffing hell. “Hardly,” she said and sighed in resignation.

It didn’t help knowing that at all, but what could she do? He wasn’t going to stop just because she asked, and it’s not like she could rightfully ask anyways. Not here, not on Ziost at least. It was a practical means for protecting himself, and she had asked him to potentially open himself up to be even more of a target. Something she wished she could rescind and knew he wouldn’t let her rescind anyways. Tav was doing what he had to, she just…didn’t like the method or the necessity. “…But I know I can’t ask you to just take it off. That wouldn’t be fair, no matter how much I dislike it.”

He stood staring at her for a few moments in silence, letting the relief over her acquiescing to his wish settle him. She still was unsettled though, that much was apparent by the look in her eye and uncomfortable shift of her feet, but he didn’t really know what else he could do to reassure her. He couldn’t understand her reason for being this upset to begin with. All he could think to do was reach out and take her hand again, “You understand that I am alright, correct?”

Trick swallowed against the lump in her throat. It wasn’t that she thought he wasn’t alright…but she wasn’t sure if he was alright either. She didn’t know what to think or believe or feel anymore, all she knew was that she was in no way prepared for the hell this day launched her into. And that maybe she should take Tav at his word. It was unsettling to her how unperturbed he was by the whole thing, but he truly did appear alright…and not possessed, which was most important. And his presence was still helping her, however much she might’ve wished it wasn’t now.

Finally she nodded, but said nothing, fearing that if she opened her mouth again, another outburst would fall out. They still had an objective to complete, and she knew there was still quite a bit of work to be done before they could even start considering their overall mission complete, let alone successful. She had wasted enough time as it was, she wasn’t looking to lose any more. She also wasn’t looking to dwell on it anymore either, not that anything on Ziost was a better option at the moment. Their desire to stop Vitiate was all that mattered, she could at least stay focused on that.

She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly through her nose, reciting the Jedi Code silently in her head in an attempt to force even a semblance of herself back under control. With that, she opened her eyes and looked at him for a moment before giving his hand a squeeze and resuming their trek, “Just…when this is all over, let me take a look at your back—” she responded finally. It was the least she could offer, “—I know a thing or two about electrical burns.”

The last part had slipped out. Trick could feel his eyes on her as she went around him, but she didn’t look back. It was better to just let him come to the natural conclusion that she was referring to Force lightning coming from the Sith. And while the scars on her neck still burned, she knew they were more than hidden enough that he wouldn’t see them.

Kriff, was Theron getting an earful when they found him.

#don't mind me #this gets a read more because it's 10 pages and nearly 6k end me #I'm just tired enough to lose inhibitions and stop being nitpicky over it #but still have enough self-control to not write all of ziost like I almost did #it's fine #I'm fine #I did this to myself #sometimes things just appear on my dash #tav #otp(op)#my writing #trafuris #catch me out here shoving every jedi consular headcanon I have in this ever #I'm fiiiiiiine

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imperiusv · 5 years ago

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IV - Raging, This is the End

I loved that vacation on the sea just you and me, i always wanted to go to that place with someone since I was a child, it was really special to me and i loved that you enjoyed it , food was shit tho and it wasn’t as good as I remembered, but well worth it with you. After/before that i quit my job to study for the exams, i knew shitty days were coming and they were, but I had to do that, there was no other way, that job was a dead-end , draining my energy and abilities and opportunities, I had to graduate, I knew this would fuck us money wise and relationship wise, I would be way more needy,angry and would probably lead straight down the rabbit hole , but I had to do it. In those days it was really hard for me, as you weren’t understanding at all , showed zero patience towards me and generally made me feel ever worse, that’s how i knew you weren’t the right for me , you just weren’t there for me, like you kept doubting me for everything, like doing business or having kids, that time when your period was really late, this drove me so far away from you, i was really disappointed and stopped loving you so much, i think that was the moment i started losing you for real, step by step,slowly over the course of an year. We went to Hamburg to visit my family that was nice , really thoughtful of you, I will go soon again, as i haven’t seen them ever since. Rome was good too, just that thing with the black guys was horrible, at that moment i didn’t realize what had happened, I was just so disgusted that i wanted to get away from them, I didn’t see that you got hurt or felt like that and do regret it to this day, its one of the things i really messed up.There we had a good time , we should have done more fun stuff, but i guess i was in a different mentality back then.That surprise i made for your birthday , i really put so much effort into it, I was thinking like stuff from our shared past and to make a trip down memory lane, i hope you didn’t sell the necklace, i see that you still wear the bracelet, I am happy that you do. The weekend getaway for our anniversary was nice, we should have done that way more often, i kinda regret now that i didn’t get my shit together to get a driving license, but i was just fucking worried how am i gonna cope with money and having a car, again the fucking money thing, i realize now how much of a problem not having enough money is , it gives you stress, makes you worry about a lot of stuff, stops you from doing things and prevents you from enjoying yourself, which adds up slowly over time and generates even more shit ,arguments and bad vibes. Slowly i was getting my shit together, i had graduated , my fucking internship was almost over , i was going to job interviews, which were all really bad,it was really draining on and when i finally thought i was gonna get shit done for good, like get a good law job,getting a driving license, fix my relationship with you, at which time it was already apparent to me that there was a problem i had been ignoring for quite some time and we were slipping and finally do what i thought i wanted to do and be happy,of course not even one of those things came to fruition ,everything came crashing down again .The whole driving test was rigged, they fucked me in the ass for money, over complicating absolutely everything, you being less and less understanding,cold and distant and increasingly more toxic and what hit the worse was the realization of post graduate life that, you wont make any money and your life will be shit, thank you for studying for 6 long years , here is less money than a fucking cleaning lady, but yeah it says MR LAW in front of your name, shit i was gonna even be a detective, good thing i didn’t go down that path or how you were telling me to go for lawyer and we will manage with your salary and scraps from my dad, fuck what a shit show that would have been. You have no idea how shitty it was looking for a job and getting shit from interviewers and going on about ridiculous job offers, because you and my dad were pressuring me, praise the Emperor I didn’t let that shit get to me, which was the difference between us , that i never listened to my parents, even though you always made fun of me about being a little bitch and listening to my dad, nope, I am not you and I really really really hated how dependent on your parents opinions you were , how you made so much efforts to please them , although you thought you didn’t , you did a lot. Every time you went there for the holidays i would get pissed, because i wanted quality time with you, not to go to my fucking town and listen to my dad and his dumb as wife bullshits , it just drained me so much, being away from you, I should have embraced it and be happy for the alone time, but instead i missed you, which only shows how much I truly loved you. Standing in the cold in the frozen wind I’m leaving you behind but it’s not the end No, no, no Walking on a plane as I hold my breath It’s gonna be weeks till I breathe again How can someone not get depressed after so much shit coming their way, now when i look back I can’t blame myself that much for being like that, I mean i still blame me of course, I should have handled it better, but definitely i look with more kindness on myself going back over this period of my life, Nobody , literally nobody understood me, not even my dad, brother, friends , not even you, it was horrible , funny thing is now my friends are going through the same shit and my brother kinda is as well and they see , but back then no one even tried or made an effort, it was just nagging and bullshit and putting more and more pressure on me in a moment that i needed support and understanding.So in this shitstorm a trip with your parents was the last thing on my mind, but i could not go, you would go crazy and they would be offended, probably it would have been way better if i had not came. I really tried with them, I still can’t figure out why they never liked me. Maybe they knew i was a bad match for you and you had to keep it up with me or God knows why, it doesn’t even matter anymore of course, like most things.I was annoyed by them in that moment,but i was annoyed by everyone and everything you knew that and i still kept face and behaved, I helped them, i was useful and nice, except for groping your ass and fucking you like crazy, but WTF you were my girl, of course i would do that, Jesus fucking Christ, this was/is so fucking ridiculous.Slowly over those months i could feel you slipping completely, you started to disrespect me a lot and slowly i went from your top priority, lol like that ever was true, to bottom line priority, you would prioritize time with your dumb ass bitch friends than spend time with me,the most absurd thing was that we would have fights that we don’t do anything and go anything, but so convenient, you would work on the weekends, the next one you would have lectures, the third one you would go see your mamma, and the 4th one in the month , you would be meh, lets go eat pizza, I’m tired and i wanna rest, which for me was okay , i loved taking you to restaurants, not the same five places of course, we could have tried more stuff, but every week we went out , the problem was you were bitching we don’t do shit and it was your fucking fault and i don’t blame you, i was bad company at the time , its normal to not wanting to spend time together, sadly i needed time alone, we should have split then, until i figure my shit out, that was the only way , but i was too weak to leave you, too desperate to hold on to our dying toxic relationship ,but If i had left you back then , we would still be together, how paradoxical that is, but it is God honest truth, but I’m glad that did not happen, because we would end up having kids or getting married and one day i would wake up and be like what the fuck is going on with my life and why am I with this women, who is clearly not worthy of me, as cmon you never were, not just looks and intelligence, but also your behavior , character and vibe, you are unstable , unreliable and untrustworthy and very volatile ,not someone who would want to have kids and build a future together for sure, good for some time,yes you were not right for me at all , but let me get that CRYSTAL CLEAR that doesn’t change the FACT that i loved you more than anything. Everybody around you was hating me , of course you would start to do the same ,for their own selfish reasons, your boss, he was jealous of me, the fat fucker, that i would get that ass every night and he can’t see his dick from his fat belly, but i didn’t give a damn about that porker, i have no idea why you thought i was jealous of him or whatever, an absurd notion. Back then i didn’t think you could fall so low like you are now, but to be honest you always had an affinity for gross disgusting guys , e.g Romane, Lazslo , that guy you used to date before, most of your male friends, I do believe they made you feel better and more secure, because you felt better than them and you did not have to put so much effort in it or worry about it , or feel bad and be willing to work for it. I saw that pattern even back then and from your conversations with your mom , I think you were raised like that as well, to be mediocre and settle for less , just so you don’t get burned by the fire, which is really sad, but hey , its only your life choices, so who cares. My step brother’s prom came and it was like a really weird spin of fate, two years before that was my brother’s prom and we were so happy ,not pretending, this time around, we just looked happy in the photos and were pretending that everything was okay, which all my family noticed, sadly except for me , but to be honest i knew where we were headed , I just didn’t want to accept it , I used to talk with my dumb ass friend from my town over the phone, going on at great length , how much you are not for me and how much better it would be if we split, but i still had hope that we might get over this and things will be different , that you are different and I am not right, its only a temporary thing and so on and so on, what a fool for you and your love I was. After that your behavior grew increasingly erratic, you would pick fights with me for the slightest of things, complain about everything, nag and blab all the time. I was so worried at that time for securing employment and my upcoming last exam , that i scarcely took notice of said behavior , which for the time was the exact thing i should have done, but as my mind cleared i focused on the things you were saying and complaining about, which was my complete downfall, trying logic and reason with you, when obviously you were doing it on purpose or perhaps you weren’t ,but it came from your deep underneath your consciousness, in a way to force me to leave you , because you could not do it yourself. Those last months were horrible, constant bickering and fighting , i was gonna give you a meme - toxic is good , toxic is great , but we split before i managed to send it. This was quite visible and from the time we spend together or more correctly we did not, you would be at work or drinking with your slut friends , who more than anything wanted you to be single, it’s not normal for your girlfriend to get drunk, especially when she know she has a drinking problem, lol that was joke. But yeah it wasn’t normal that you would go out at noon to drink with you friends and come home at ten , knowing that this is our only free day we should rather spend it together doing something just the two us or with other people,but us together, that was my problem, not you drinking with your friends or in generally getting wasted, problem at the time of course, as I needed you, now if i was in the same situation it wouldn’t be a problem , i would just do the same with my friends or dump your disrespectful ass, you have no idea how low my tolerance for bullshit has become, if you think i was bad before, you should look at me now, I am perfectly aware of who I am, my self worth and self imagine, I am not gonna let anyone, let one some dumb ass bitch fuck with me or walk over me, its either my way or the fucking highway, you wanna be part of my life, my good vibes and self amusement mindset, have a good time, then you must contribute , you must bring something good to the table as well, if not , okay , good luck out there and hope you find what you are looking for. This has been my mindset lately and it has worked wonders for my mental state and happiness. No one cares about that tho , so lets move on to the action part- APOCALYPSE Ever since i started working ,I was hoping things were gonna go improve and we might pull through , but nah, you were already set on breaking up and looking for another guy , that better looking guy from your work that split with his girl didn’t go for you, because he probably saw what you were and you took a liking into gorrila joe , he does look like a monkey to be honest or Mr. disgusting like we like to call him, he was giving you free attention, validating you and boosting your fragile ego and you decided why would you bother with me when you can have this wimp in your legs and walk over him , why try hard when you can go easy and let go of yourself and just give him the only thing you had of value, hidden between your legs. I remember when i met him for the first time, how he looked frightened, we were still together, he knew i knew what was up, but i did not believe you would fall so low and just disregarded him , i mean cmon this guy was so fucking disgusting, how could you even... Just before the end you would go into the most ridiculously arguments , like why i don’t want friends, it was none of your business and i have friends, i just didn’t seem them because of you , you would bitch and moan if I did and generally hated them and other stupid things you would fight with me, i knew the end was coming, as this shit has happened before with another , just a short explanation here, the moment we split she started writing me , sending me cringy snapchats videos of her, for the sole reason i can’t record them or SS , with stupid quesitons how are you doing and so on , my friends said i should fuck her to make you feel bad, but that whore was absolutely disgusting to me, i only entertained the idea of talking with her to get the old photos that got deleted, THAT WAS THE ONLY REASON, she was so insignificant and inconsequential to me that i wouldn’t even care if she would come butt ass naked to my doorstep begging for cock, i would laugh and go to the gym, she appeared again in this story 6 months later, but thats or the last chapter, if she is reading this by any chance , just fuck off, you are a bad memory i erased long ago, like some dumb school project that you did ages ago, exactly can’t remember, doesn’t matter fuck off. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, we went to that nice Italian restaurant and the whole time you were complaining and bitching about stuff , you made an effort not to agree with anything , i don’t want here i don’t want there, stupidity and disrespected pilled up with shit. I finally decided to act, so when we went home i confronted you and asked whats up, you were afraid again to tell me, didn’t have the courage to step up and say the truth , so you gave me the bullshit idk if we should be together, this was the defining moment , I showed you the door and told you to fuck off, you started crying and this was my biggest failure and mistake, that i thought you were different, i felt really bad and sorry for you and said to myself this is my girl i should try to fix it, but no dumbass , it was already unfixable and way too broken for me to repair, the only way this shit was gonna go down my way was if i had dumped you as i first told you to pack you stuff and leave,but my feelings for you again got the better of me . You picked the perfect moment for that of course, i was sick and was feverish , I couldn’t think straight at all , if i was okay , things would have been different and i wouldn’t have been that broken, but yeah my mistake again for putting my faith in you. You lied to me that you love me and said we will work things out, a blatant lie , knowing that you were gonna pack your shit and vanish the day after that , as you do best. And the most disgusting thing was that you were still making plans with me to go to Greece and on a holiday, using for the last time, before we go our separate ways, maybe your guilt got in the way or me pushing you too hard, otherwise you would have stayed for longer with me and God forbid , if we stayed together until the winter, stop me from coming here or we could have pushed through and made it ,who knows, Praise the Emperor that things went the way the did, for me to see you as the person you really are, not that perfect image i had of you.

We finally arrive to that day 29 of August, from the morning i knew something wasn’t right I could sense you, even thought , the last night we slept together i just knew this was it, I could feel it , i asked to leave work earlier and headed home ,but it was already too late as i entered the door my heart fell andwhat happened after that I will cover in the last chapter of your story.

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chokeonmydickgrayson · 6 years ago

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Headcanon #13

How the Batfam would react on your birthday

Dick:

You hate your birthday immensely. It’s just another ordinary day of the year, so much so that most people tended to forget it was your birthday all together, everyone except Dick.

He’d make the entire day about what you want, what you needs, and what you desire. He’d start your birthday morning off by allowing you to sleep in, he leaving the bed so not to disturb you. God knows you could sleep for days if left alone. On his way out of the room he’d brush your hair from your forehead and press his lips lightly to your temple before leaving. Your body would be appreciative as you flounder yourself around on the bed enjoying the newly opened territory for your arms and legs to spread out creating a starfish effect.

He’d spend the morning cooking a fresh stack of fluffy and light chocolate chip pancakes, topped with your favorite type of syrup and a dollop of whipped cream, one singular birthday candle of your favorite color place dead center. The plate didn’t look the nicest, nor did it look appetizing but he did do his best and after all it was always the thought that counts.

Once done cooking you breakfast there would be a mess of dishes in the sink, along with a sticky mess of eggs flour and syrup on the counters, which he claims he’ll clean late. (Most likely you’d end up cleaning most of it. Dick would probably give you a not so helpful hand however. He’d probably be more interest in slapping your rear end with a twisted towel and playfully nibbling your cheeks, but that was a later issue.) He’d bring a tray into bedroom, it holding the pancakes as well as a glass of orange juice and a birthday card. “Babe....babe....baby!....Y/N!” Youre eyes would flash open at the sound of your name, your body snapping straight up as you clutch at your chest in panic. “What? What’s wrong?...” you’d pant short of breath from the terror you’d just endored. He’d smile and sneak his lips right up against yours, spreading as much love and passion as he could through the kiss, your lips making a quiet pop as he pulled away and placed the tray on your lap. “happy birthday baby, I’ve semi successfully made you breakfast in bed. I’m sorry they look a little sloppy” he’d nervously laugh rubbing his neck. “I uh, I was trying to shape them like little hearts but clearly that didn’t work, so they’re uh more like little butts....” you’d probably snort and laugh at the comparison you definitely seeing what he means. Your non dominant hand would reach for his hand as you ate away at the pancakes every so often holding the fork up for him to share. They honestly really were delicious despite their looks. You smile and gently tap the bedding next to you motioning for him to sit. He willingly oblige and set himself down next to you.

After breakfast was done, he would gather your favorite movies and games and hook everything up in the bedroom. You two would spend all day laughing and cuddling (though after you defeated him in Mario Kart by throwing that turtle shell at him, your relationship was slightly wounded, but not enough to stop the festivities.)

During the movies things between you and Dick would heat up, his fingers dancing at the mouth of your pants before sliding down them, making for one very large distraction. You probably wouldn’t even focus on the movie from that point on. The rest of the day would consist of you two participating in a series of on again off again sexual activities. It would be perfect, the exact birthday you’d want. To spend time with someone who loves you. You’d appreciate all the little efforts Dick went through to make this day special for you.

Jason:

You would dread opening your eyes. Every year when your birthday rolled around you did your absolute best to ignore it, you wouldn’t even bring it up to anyone. In fact you avoided most people because you didn’t wanna hear the phony well wishes and the fake insincere “happy birthdays!”. You’d try to take some advantages of your special day however, maybe by trying to catch some extra Z’s or by attempting to stay in bed all day, nothing too over the top.

So when Jason wakes you up early by wrapping those thick muscular arms around your waist while those strong rough palms of his traveling up your torso to caress and hug the curves of your chest, your slightly unamused. You would just want some rest. You’d give out a soft groan, to which he’d lean himself into your ear while his hand traveled down the insides of your arms to land itself into your palms, his fingers treading around your own as he whispered “sorry baby I didn’t mean to wake you....I just wanted to be the first one wish MY girl a happy birthday.”

Your heart would stop in your chest your hand squeezing his tightly, almost annoyed that he knew. How did he fucking know it was your birthday? You’d never told him “who told you? I wanna know so i can rip their tongue out through their nostrils” you’d growl out to which he’d be highly confused. His hand would release from yours his arms opening so he could easily reposition your bodies so you would face him. Those deadly blue eyes of his would lock on with yours and scan every inch of them. “I found the information by myself thank you very much. Come on Y/N, you think I woulda let some woman I don’t know for shit into my bed? I know the sayings keep your friends close enemies closer but for fucks sake babe I’m not trying to get myself offed. A lot of people in this town want me dead, I had to make sure you weren’t one of em’. I did some snooping and I found out your birthday....I didn’t think you’d have a god damn fucking fit about it.” You’d sigh and collapse your body into his, your nose rubbing softly against his jawline you inhaling his scent before placing soft kisses along his neck. “I....don’t really like to celebrate my birthday alright? Ive got some jacked up memories locked away nice and tight in this loon bin up here, and I’m not quite ready to set them free.” Your arms would move to seek comfort around his torso, giving him a gentle squeeze.

Truthfully Jason would understand, he couldn’t disagree about that whole high priority list of shitty birthdays and top level disappointment they brought. He’d wrap his arms securely around you, his legs spreading apart to consume your body between them, he pressing kisses to your temple. “Well, I guess there goes my big plan for today out the windows” Youd feel almost guilty for throwing such a fit. It was clear Jay had something planned for the two of you....”What cockamamie shit fest did you have in store for today Jay” you’d sighe reluctantly. You should at least hear him out if your gonna shoot the man down. He clicked his tongue against his teeth sucking down a breath in aggravation “well i WAS gonna take you down to Eddies where we met and I WAS buy you a few birthday beers, and maybe recreate the night we met...but hey ya don’t wann celebrate your birthday fine by me” he huffed out his voice starting to draw softer as he finished his sentences. He’d gotten himself caught up in reliving that night. Best day of his life....you tried to hustle him for money and when he attempted to take it back you nearly broke his god damn nose. It was the hottest fucking thing ever. He ended up buying you a drink, and after a few of them you ended up back at his place, naked with him in bed. Ever since then he’s been hooked on you in every way. Just everything about you, your attitude, your determination, your guts, and especially that right hook of yours turned his knees weak and capture his heart. “We’ll just sit here and you can fucking pout one out for all I care. Excuse my ass for trying to be a good boyfriend”

Riddled with guilt you’d let your finger tips ghost over the sides of his neck, your hands moving to his rest on his cheeks as you pulled him closely stealing a soft kiss from him. That all sounded like the best birthday you could ever wished for. You press yourself into the kiss turning the intensity up, humming as you feel the sensation of his hands grip onto your waist. He’d lock your hips together, causing you to break the kiss with a disappointed sigh, fingers gently rubbing against his stubble “I guess where going to the bar for my birthday.....but if you start singing, I’m gonna slap your lips right off your face and I’m leaving you there”

Tim:

Truthfully you’d almost wanna avoid Tim, you knew he’d most likely figured out your birthday by this point in your relationship. How couldn’t he have? He was the smartest man you’d ever met and one hell of a great detective. Figuring out your birthday for him must of been child’s play. You’d sigh and strech yourself out shuffling your way to the kitchen where’d you’d find a plate of scrambled eggs (Tims speciality. Honestly it was the only thing he knew how to make. Everything else ended in a gelatinous molten mess that requires an emergency team to extinguish). He’d smile and look up at you “hey babe, I made us some breakfast...i call it le scrambled eggo and le orange juice!” He grin attempting (and failing) some weird cross between a French and Italian accent, complete with equally failing hand gestures. You’d give a snort and gently nudge his side with a giggle, though this wasn’t particularly out of the ordinary. He made breakfast for you two virtually every morning, (well every morning that you didn’t mind eating eggs) had he not figured out your birthday?

You continue to go through your daily routines together, the entire ordeal seeming very.....ordinary? There was no sense of suprise, nothing that struck you as special....just an ordinary day? You can’t help but feel a little saddened by it, though genuinely what did you expect your birthday was always a defeated reflection of just how well things always turned out for you.

You’d grumble to yourself while your body pressed into his on the couch, you two watching a bit of television together. He’d sling his arms around the back of the couch, one arm moving to slide around your shoulder. His hands would begin to gently message and rub the exposed flesh of your upper arm as his lips would move in to press against yours. Honestly a little hurt by his inability to figure out your birthday, (petty yes, but god damn it was your birthday and regardless of if you liked it or not he should have at least figured out it was your birthday and wished well beings today.) Your shoulders scrunch and you turn your head away from Tim. Instantly his chest aches as he looks at you with those broken puppy eyes, he having nothing but confusion written across those strong handsome facial features. “Hey what was that about? Did I do something wrong?...” You’d shake your head and push his arm off of your shoulder. A pout would press its way firmly across to lips sagging the corners of your mouth down. “Tim do know what to day is?” He’d look at you with a raised brow, most likely thinking you were having some crazy mood swing. “Moooonday?..”

You’d roll your eyes and gather yourself from the couch, storming off to the bedroom slamming the door shut behind you. All you wanted was to just curl up and cry at this point, though you were unsure as to why you cared so much about this whole not figuring out your birthday deal. It’s not like you liked your birthday. You’d let your back slump against the door with a single upset sigh. Tim would immediately chase after you, hands moving to twist the door knob and shove the door open. “y/n can you just talk to me instead of storming away please? I’ll take full responsibility for whatever it is I’ve done, I’m an asshole, I’m a dirt bag I’m some other third thing girls scream when they’re made at their boyfriends-“ to which you’d cut him off by screaming “dick!” He’d huff and cross his arms “did Dick do something to upset you? I’ll kill him, I’m pretty sure Bruce likes me more anyway. I’m sure I could get Batman to stall police commissioner Gordon and that’ll take the heat off of me for a while and give me time to get us outta Gotham-“ You’d groan and swing the door open, your eyes glossed with a layer of tears “Dick didn’t do anything wrong! I’m calling you a dick because you didn’t....you didn’t wish me a happy birthday. I know I didn’t tell you but, I just...I don’t know I figured-“

He’d cut you off lips pressing against yours to silence your hysterics starting. “I did know....I knew today was your birthday, but I acted like I didn’t know.” You almost feel the anger boiling with in you as you shove him away, he sensing your anger. With wide eyes he’d hold his hands up quickly trying to explain “I didn’t say anything to you because I also know you don’t like your birthday babe! I didn’t want to make a big deal of it...” His hands would move to yours he locking your grips together as he pulled you closer “I didn’t honesty mean to hurt your feelings, you know I’d never do that intentionally....I’m sorry I fucked up. I shoulda said something at least. I was just going to keep things light and casual today, make it like every other day. Let me make this up to you? I know today was a giant swing and a miss, but what if we salvage the rest of tonight...” His lips would move to suction against your neck, palms releasing yours to ghost gently around to your back side “and in the morning well redo the entire day, I’m talking breakfast in bed, maybe something birthday-ish like a muffin, then I’ll take you out into town for dinner and a movie. Afterwords we can head down town to your favorite store and I’ll let you pick out whatever you want....”

You smile at the idea, lips parting to let a soft gasp pass your lips as his hands press into your rear, fingers gently digging into the meat and lifting your cheek. Your body would move instinctively into his palms your lips hovering above his own now you whispering out a single “please...” before allowing your body to fold into his touch. He’d hum and lift you into his arms wrapping your legs around his waist easily carrying you to the bedroom. You can damn sure bet that he made true on that promise. He lavished your body until you begged him for mercy, and when morning came did the best to recreate the perfect day he should have done in the first place. God why were women so complicated, next year he was just gonna ask you what you wanted.

Bruce:

He’d wake you up nice and early, his lips moving to take your earlobe between them. He’d gently suck at the flesh, hands moving to run tenderly across your body’s natural curvature he whispering into your ear with that deep gruffy morning voice of his “hmm happy birthday darling...I’ve got a lot planned for today. We gotta get a move on though it’s time to get up. I want to take your for brunch and afterwords we need to make a stop at Wayne Tower. I’ve gotta pick up something from my office.” Groggily you’d roll yourself over to face him, your hands blindly searching to hold his face, thumbs brushing the quickly growing morning stubble that scuffed his cheeks. “Hm...it’s my birthday Mr. Wayne, don’t you think I should decide what we do?” you all but pur, lower body moving to press against his. Your toes would gently brush against his shins as you move to slip your leg between his. He’d let out a soft hum, hands falling to your thigh, hooking it up closer on his hip. Those big palms of his would rub gently at the underside of your thigh he softly patting the area. “Ordinarily I’d let you have your way, but we need to get a move on things. I promised Lucious I wouldn’t be by the office to late, he has somewhere to be tonight” This response would warrant an aggravated sigh as you threw your head back with a pout. He’d give a chuckle gently pressing kisses to the exposed part of your neck just under your chin. “You can have your way all you want tonight Y/N. Trust me, if our schedule wasn’t so air tight today, I would stay here in this bed with you all day”

Reluctantly you’d manage an agreement to go along with the daily schedule. Now you were grumpy because you had to get dressed for brunch and because you have to stop at Wayne tower. (You knew “going to Wayne Tower to see Lucious” meant he had to play Batman for a while. Sometimes you hated that stupid cowl.) Brunch with Bruce Wayne meant this was most likely not a place where jeans and your typical choice in shirt were acceptable. No for this place a beautiful black floral maxi dress would do. It’d drape your body, a slit clean up the side just about to mid thigh. The sleeves would be short, just capping the tops of your shoulders. Your wrist would be decorated with silver bracelets including the stunning white gold charm bracelet Bruce got you for your anniversary last year. You cherished it, not because of its monetary value, but because of the way he locked it onto your wrist and kissed the top of your hand whispering “I don’t know what I would do without you. I love you to the ends of this world and back Y/N.” You sigh at the memory.

You’d play along and accompany Bruce to brunch. Admittedly you weren’t too upset seeing as to how delicious everything was and hey, who could be against alcohol in the morning? You two managed to kill off a few hours of your day at brunch the time being 3 in the afternoon. The car pulled up to Wayne Towers, he moving to open your door. “I promise we’ll be quick, then we can go home. I think Al’s making your favorite for dinner tonight” he’d laugh. You two would make it to his office, you surprised. To your surprise he wasn’t stretching the truth when he said it would be a quick trip to Wayne tower. Lucious would smile and give you hug, extending a very happy birthday from the Fox family. You’d smile and accept. It’s taken about an hour for the entire meeting between the two, Bruce smiling back at you as he extended a hand out for you. “Come on we’ve gotta get home, Alfreds asking where we are” he hummed.

You two would arrive home after about another hour, for some reason Bruce had decided to take the longer route home than normal, though you didn’t think much of it. You were mesmerized by the hold of his hand on yours and the way his thumbs gently grazed your knuckles. By the time you two would pull up to the Manor it’s be around 5. All you wanted to do was go upstairs change out of this god forsaken dress and rip Bruce out of that tantalizingly tight pink button up he wore (he matching the flowers on your dress) and make your way with him just as you intended to this morning. When you open the door you begin to pull your hair out of a pony tail, your fingers releasing the elastic hair tie sending it flying across the room as your body flinched in shock at the massive change in volume as everyone in the house screamed “SUPRISE!” You look around heart racing out of your chest, Damian holding a camera to your face “I don’t know father, I think she looks more terrified than surprised.” He’d say half heartedly throwing the camera at Dick. The boys would smile and one by one come over and press a kiss to your cheek and give you a hug “happy birthday Y/N” of course Dick being the brown nose he is would smile and hit you with the “You don’t look a day over 20” to which Tim would interject with “ah, 21. Hey a girls gotta be able to drink at least.” At first you’d be a little furious at the party but at second glance you thought it was sweet. Bruce’s boys, Al, Lucious and his family. All your friends and loved ones in one spot. You’d give a smile and lean in close to Bruce softly kissing at his cheek “you didn’t have to go through all this trouble baby, I would have been fine with a romantic night in bed together” to which he’d smile and coil an arm around your waist and chuckle “don’t worry after cake and once Lucious and the boys all leave I’m yours, you can for lack of better terms ride me until one of us breaks” he whisper with a wink.

#batman #bruce wayne #dick grayson #damian wayne #jason todd #nightwing #red hood #red robin #robin #tim drake #bruce wayne x reader #dick grayson x reader #tim drake x reader #jason todd x reader

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comicteaparty · 5 years ago

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May 20th-May 26th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from May 20th, 2019 to May 26th, 2019. The chat focused on Soul’s Journey by Sophie Pfrötzschner.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Soul’s Journey by Sophie Pfrötzschner~! (https://soulsjourney.gerritianchronicles.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until May 26th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. How do you feel about Anrak’s decision to flee from his arranged marriage? What do you think Anrak intended to do overall with the feat? Also, do you think there is anything else in the letter he left that might reveal more information?

AshAngelV

Favorite scenes are so hard to chose. 2. I think it's understandable, but I also don't think he intended to just run away. I think he meant to look for another solution to the problem. And there may be. We've also not seen what was in the letter he addressed to his father.

keii4ii

^ Yeah, I don't think he ran away to live out the rest of his life hiding in the wilderness. That said, I also don't think he had a solid plan on finding another solution. Maybe he thought about starting by investigating those destroyed villages near the borders?

AshAngelV

That would be a bad idea. He could get killed trying.

keii4ii

I can see him being like "oh I'll be careful"

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. What do you think will happen to Anrak once he reaches the Kiroja mountains? Will he and Kanar be able to undo the binding? If so, how will it happen? Is Anrak in danger from this in some way do you think, or will it be a smooth process?

AshAngelV

3. Probably Namide. She's kind, and selfless, as well as being cute and cuddly. I also really like Anastasia, though we don't see much of her. She's smart, grounded, and has more than a little fire.(edited)

4. I'm not sure how it'll go, but it will most definitely not be smooth. Clearly there are sinister forces at work, but it's hard to say what their goal is or even who they're allied with.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. What do you think Vivianne is attempting to accomplish by teaming up with Itami? Also, why do you think she approached Ana, and what role might Ana have to play in dealing with whatever Vivianne is planning?

AshAngelV

5. I really like the transformation pages with all the glowy magics. 6. I think she wants out of this arrangement as much as Anrak does. And I think her reasons for approaching Ana are mostly what she said: she's looking for allies and the fact that Ana isn't from this country gives her a unique perspective, though her motives might be more sinister than typical courtly drama. Ana's smart, I don't think she'll let anything slip like Vivi might hope and she's observant enough to pick up on things Vivi might wish she missed.(edited)

RebelVampire

1) My favorite scene is now that scene where Anrak and Sincato have a heart to heart. For me this really took what had been established for the characters and kind of flipped it on its head. You've got Anrak who is accepting help and admitting he needs it, then you've got Sincato who for once is kind of slightly chill even if hes being Sincato about it. This was a scene that really changed my perspective on the characters, and I have to appreciate that. 2) Honestly I think Anrak just wanted to embrace the last vestiges of freedom. I don't think he intended to run away forever, but to just try and find some alternative or at least find some way to feel less like a marriageable pawn. Granted, I do agree with the other characters it might not have been the best time. As for the letter, I do think there is stuff we haven't seen yet. But more in the ways of we don't have the full context of what was exactly written. And the way the characters' read it isn't the way Anrak meant it.

3) Jack cause Jack is getting all the short sticks right now. Plus I feel like Jack is the only person in this story so far who doesn't have some hidden motivation. He just honestly wants to find Anrak, help the country, and go home to his wife where he can be happy and have a family. 4) Bad stuff. I actually think they'll get there only to find out that Kanar doesn't know wtf she's doing and the unbinding isn't as straight forward as she wishes. Cause I get the vibe that Kanar is overconfident. Thus, Anrak will despair cause it will seem like his quest is in vain, but they'll have to do the spiritual side quest first. I do feel like Kanar isn't telling Anrak about the process. Like maybe it'll kill him cause what does she care if Anrak lives or dies XD

RebelVampire

5) Gotta go with this page for fave illustration http://soulsjourney.gerritianchronicles.com/comic/159 that top panel just is so utterly atmospheric and it gives me chills while at the time making me fearful for anrak's safety. It's got that beautiful one two punch that really just adds a mood to the story. 6) Honestly, at this point I get the impression that Vivianne has been sent by her country not to marry Anrak but to assassinate him. But Vivianne is like "eww i dun wanna and i dont think i can" so she teamed up with itami so itami can do her dirty work. I think the reason she approached Ana is partly cause she's using Ana to improve her position in court but also for the reason she said: shes a stranger in a new country and would like someone to talk to about that. cause even if she is evil, that's gotta be lonely.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. Whose side do you think Itami is actually on in regards to the current people in the story? What is Itami’s ultimate goal, and who do you think might get the most hurt by those goals?

AshAngelV

7. Ana and Jack because they're cute, have great chemistry, and are the only thing going right in this comic world. Everything else is going to pot. 8. I think Itami is on his own side or in league with Kanar. I expect Anrak will be hurt the most by them.

keii4ii

7. I really liked the earlier scene of Anrak and Jack interacting. They know they can be honest with each other, and they genuinely want to have each other's back, even amidst multiple (sometimes conflicting) priorities. There's almost a mentor/mentee-like aspect to their relationship. I appreciate seeing that. Not every positive close-range relationship has to be 100.0% equal! In this case, the (slight) imbalance doesn't hurt their bond. It just is.

RebelVampire

7) Probably Anrak and Kanar. Kanar is kind of the most immediate threat to Anrak imo, so it always makes any of their interactions extremely tense. It's hard to really make a call one way or another on whether Kanar even likes Anrak enough to not screw him over. But I liked this on edge feeling cause it's just so different than any other relationship in the comic. 8) Itemi is on Itami's side. I strongly believe that Itami is both out to get a real human body and then get vengence on just basically the entire world. So while everyone thinks nah, Itami is on my side, nope. Itami is just lying in wait to stab everyone in the back and everyone is gonna gasp in surprise.

AshAngelV

I must be the only one that likes warm fuzzies.

Desnik

what are you talking about, warm fuzzies are great

AshAngelV

Lol Just commenting on Rebel's talking about the Anrak/Kanar tension being cool and I'm all Ana/Jack are so cute and I love them.

Desnik

haha, just being randomly supportive!

AshAngelV

Yay fellow warm fuzzy lover.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. What is your personal interpretation of Kanar’s past given the flashback? Do you think she’s really going to help Anrak, or will she betray him at the end? What do you think she’ll do once free?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. What do you see happening in regards to Sincato and Namide’s roles in the story, especially when it comes to helping Anrak? What about Jack? How might he help or hurt Anrak in his quest?

RebelVampire

9) ive really enjoyed the work done on the backgrounds. theres no shyness away from it and every scene feels decently filled and like the characters are actually in the world. gotta appreciate good backgrounds <3 10) Kanar was in love, her lover died, she tried to resurrect him, whoops now they have no human forms. I 100% think Kanar is gonna betray Anrak. I do not believe she gives a single damn about whether Anrak lives or dies. The only reason shes helping is she doesn't want to be dead herself. As for once she's free, probably try to bring her dead lover back again and make things 1000% times worse. 11) i think this comic's strength is probably the sort of gray character writing. like theres no character i think is 100% evil. but even the "good" guys like anrak are going around making some hard to forgive mistakes. and i like that sort of thing. really i like the entire premise of this comic is kind of that a character screwed up big time. it adds the right amount of imperfection to human portrayal. 12) I feel theyre gonna help him get to the mountains all the way and ya know, make sure he doesnt die. I think along the way Sincato and Anrak will bond though past all odds and come to a mutual understanding as they both care about namide. As for Jack, I feel like he's gonna figure out Anrak is the wolf and help him at some point. IDK how, but they keep bumping into each other enough it'll keep happening. And I think he'll help Anrak for sure...if only as an extortion to get Anrak to come back and not let their country fall to war.

keii4ii

^ Yeah! I'm also super looking forward to what will happen with/between Sincato and Anrak. I really like Sincato; not everyone can be a Namide, and someone's gotta keep the priorities straight for the whole group. Not saying he's perfect (I agree with Rebel that this comic has good grey writing), but he seems like someone Anrak at this point in time could learn from.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. At the end, do you think Anrak will regain his human form? If he does so, will he be able to stop the looming war? What will it take to prevent the war if so?

RebelVampire

13) Jack and Anrak reuniting in the sense Jack knows it's Anrak, regardless of the circumstances. That's gonna be some tense, A+ drama right there, and I really just want to see how Jack is gonna deal with everything that's going on with Anrak. 14) Yes I do think Anrak will regain his human form eventually after a lot of trials and tribulations and probably betrayals. As for the war, I think he'll stop it more indirectly than directly. cause i think even if he married vivianne, that wouldnt do crap. and i think somehow the supernatural junk that happens during his journey will weed out a surprise catalyst for the war that anrak's quest will remove from the picture.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Soul’s Journey this week! Please also give a special thank you to Sophie Pfrötzschner for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Soul’s Journey, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://soulsjourney.gerritianchronicles.com/

Sophie’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/sophiepf

Sophie’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiepf_

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic disucssion #book club #bookclub #webcomic bookclub #webcomic book club #comic tea party #ctp #soul's journey #sophie proftzschner

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dreamss-of-boston · 6 years ago

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Rise - ch2

Sonya’s first expedition.

hello! this chapter was hella fun to write, cuz ive never really written too much action before and it was interesting describing everything. i hope i was able to write down what i was visualizing accurately so that it makes sense lmfao. i hope u all enjoy!! thank u for reading love u bye

-the expedition-

link on AO3! https://archiveofourown.org/works/16998978/chapters/40117439#workskin

The Survey Corps thundered out of the gate, spilling out into the wide expanse of Titan territory. Sonya would have been lost in the throng of soldiers if it weren't for her squad leader-- Moblit Berner-- to guide them to the right position. Sonya couldn't help but gaze up at the blue sky, dusted with clouds and uninterrupted by the off-white walls which usually surrounded her vision. No, out here, there was merely sky and Earth, meeting at one single point.

“Eyes front, soldier!” Peter yelled at Sonya sharply, and she turned in annoyance to see him smiling cheekily. “We don't want you running into any trees, now, do we?”

They rode on. This particular mission was intended to be a quick one: they were to enter the forest, gather supplies left there by the previous squad members, and leave. It seemed simple enough, but the supplies were in an area of thick forestry, and the only reason they got there in the first place was because the previous Commander had attempted to set up a safe-house there. A ‘safe-house’ in titan territory seemed like a very obviously stupid idea to Sonya, but apparently the Corps had made it their top priority to establish one before she had joined.

A red flare went off to her left, and another, and another. She felt immense fear rise in her throat, and she and Anna locked panicked eyes next to each other. Peter noticed this, and actually didn’t make a joke out of it.

“Hey, it’s okay! Look, we’re totally avoiding them.” He nodded to the green flare that was now ahead of them, pointing in the new direction which the Corps were slowly turning in. Peter gave a reassuring smile to Sonya and Anna. “We’ll be okay! We’re in one of the safest parts of the formation.”

And on they rode. There were some red flares here and there, but the Commander’s green flare would always guide the formation to safety. Eventually, Sonya felt a sort of rhythm within herself, and felt part of a whole-- like how she felt standing among her soldiers as they were accepted into the Survey Corps that night.

“Heads up!” Moblit called from the front of their squad. “Once we get close enough to a tree, deploy ODM gear and follow my orders.”

Slowly but surely, the corps were approaching the forest line and Sonya began to feel a little more at ease. She eased Chuck to a stop, and gave him a little pat before she dismounted and whisked herself up into a tree beside Moblit, Peter, and Anna.

“Well done.” Moblit said, and pointed to the other Corps soldiers ascending to tree branches not too far away from them. “Our job, for now, is to guard the entrance to the forest while the other half of the formation enter and gather the supplies.”

“Oh, so we-- we’re actually gonna kill some titans today?” Peter said.

“Pray you don’t have to.” Moblit said grimly. “Spread out so that we cover more area.”

Sonya grabbed Anna’s hand and gave it a squeeze-- the poor girl was trembling. Anna breathed in sharply at the contact, and attempted to smile at Sonya.

“Look at the sky, Anna.” Sonya nodded to the clouds. “Isn’t it beautiful out?”

Anna looked up, and that seemed to distract her a bit. She gave a little nod, and with that, Sonya glided to another tree branch, a bit closer to the ground. She could still see Chuck, and it was of some comfort knowing that the titans had no interest in eating her horse. At least Chuck would make it out okay. She stood alert, scanning the horizon for any sign of titans-- and just like every soldier there, she waited.

[-]

The waiting seemed to last forever-- even Moblit was getting restless. He kept glancing back, as if he were expecting to see the others exiting any time now.

“Captain,” Sonya called, “would you like me to relay a message to the teams inside?”

“Yeah,” Peter responded before Moblit got a chance, “tell them to hurry it up!”

“Wagner.” Moblit said sharply, shooting him a glare. “As for you, Romanova, yes-- I suppose you could. Ask them if they require assistance. Take Weber with you.” He gestured to Anna. “And be quick about it.”

“Yes, sir!” Sonya and Anna barked, and off they went, whirring into the trees.

Sonya had to admit-- it was very freeing using her ODM gear in the forest with no goal of slaughtering a wooden titan, without any officers barking at her to straighten her posture.

“Check this out!” She called to Anna, and used the momentum she had built to launch herself into a backflip-- she clumsily regained balance, causing Anna to laugh as they continued onward.

“How much farther in?” Anna asked.

“Can’t be that far--” Sonya began, but stopped cold as she saw the bottom half of a Survey Corps members’ body hanging limply over a low tree branch. Sticky red blood was oozing out of the exposed guts, and Sonya almost slammed into a tree if she didn’t stop herself in time. Anna had stopped, too-- the two girls looked at each other, panic-stricken and sick.

“What…” Anna whispered.

“I don’t know.” Sonya felt a sort of gear shift in her brain as she looked away from the soldiers’ body. A static-filled numbness took over. “We need to keep going-- but let’s get higher up.”

Anna nodded, and they continued. Sonya was right-- it wasn’t much farther until they reached the rest of the Corps, who were all perched high above their goal, staring down in terror. Sonya almost smacked into one of the soldiers from her training-- Alfonse Gunther.

“Watch it!” He cried. “Wait-- what are you doing here?”

“We came to see what was happening…” Sonya mumbled, although looking below told her everything. There they were: about ten or fifteen titans, standing among the wrecked safe house, staring up at the Corps with dead, hungry eyes.

“They just came out of nowhere!” Alfonse said. “They got my brother… They got Hans…” His voice broke off, and he didn’t say anything more.

“We can’t leave now that they’ve seen us-- they’ll just follow and that’ll send them straight to the rest of the Corps.” Edith Gutherie, a veteran soldier, said grimly. She had her blades out and ready, and yet she made no move on the titans. She glared up at a branch occupied by Commander Erwin and Captain Levi. “They haven’t given us orders yet… They’re scared to risk lives unnecessarily. After the last mission… we lost too many soldiers. We can’t afford to lose more until the next round of recruits come in.”

“Then why did we go on this mission in the first place?!” Ernst Klauffman, another new recruit, shrieked. “Why did we come out here and risk all these lives, huh?!”

“There’s eight months food and water down there, soldier!” Edith snapped. “In case you haven’t noticed, food is becoming scarcer by the day, and financial support for the Corps is at an all-time low. If you want to eat and keep your position in your comfortable living quarters, I suggest you keep quiet and follow orders.”

Sonya said nothing, she only stared at Captain Levi and Commander Erwin. They were stoic as usual, never allowing their inner emotions to betray their outward appearance. She glanced at the soldiers around her, all clearly waiting for any sort of command, and turned to glare back at Commander Erwin.

“Commander!” She yelled sharply, and both he and Levi turned their piercing gazes on her. Now that she had their attention-- and everyone else’s, for that matter, she grew suddenly self-conscious. Was it right of her to yell like that? Nevermind-- forget it, now is not the time to think about it. “Orders?”

Commander Erwin paused. “The plan,” he called, “is this. There are a total of fifteen titans of the 10-meter class below us. Therefor, fifteen veteran soldiers will be tasked with taking them out.” He listed the names of the soldiers, including Captain Levi and Edith Gutherie. “However, we cannot risk killing them while they are around our supplies, for we risk them damaging all of the food and water when they fall. Half of you all will join the fifteen veteran soldiers by working as a group to lure the titans away from the supplies. The other half of you will join me in descending, packing our supplies on our carts, and exiting the forest. Once the titans are slain, the rest of you will join us outside the forest, and we retreat.”

The soldiers all nodded-- Sonya felt herself tense up, and instinctively unsheathed her blades.

“You don’t need to do that-- you can count on us.” Edith said with a little smile.

“I’m sure I can count on you,” Sonya said grimly, “but I’d rather prepare for the worst.”

And so the plan was set in motion. The scouts divvied themselves up, with Anna being part of the group to retrieve supplies and Sonya to lure the titans away. The soldiers began their move, but the titans still seemed intent on watching the others, staying still in the trees.

“Drop lower!” Captain Levi commanded, and reluctantly, the troops descended a few branches. Still, the titans did not seem to notice or care.

“Are they abnormals?” Edith wondered aloud.

Sonya gritted her teeth-- and without thinking, she swooped down, swinging directly in front of one of the titan’s monstrous eyes. That caught its attention. It turned towards her with a sickening grin, and sluggishly began to reach for her.

“Sonya!” Anna screamed, just as Sonya pulled herself up, using an excessive amount of gas on the way. She clumsily perched in a tree, and watched with satisfaction as the titans began to turn their attention on her and the other soldiers.

“Good work, Sonya!” Edith called, and the other soldiers followed suit, dropping to Sonya’s level as the titans began to trudge their way away from the supplies.

Sonya caught Anna’s gaze high up in the trees, and for her sake, she flashed her a confident thumbs-up. Inwardly, her heart was racing and her limbs felt hollow. She was sure that she was going to throw up at any moment, but she pushed on, following behind the soldiers.

“We’ll get them surrounded in that clearing up ahead,” Captain Levi called, gesturing to a sunlit absence of trees in front of them.

And so the soldiers went-- swooping right by the titans noses, narrowly missing their giant hands, until they reached the clearing.

Captain Levi, Edith, and the other thirteen veteran soldiers took their places in the branches as the titans stumbled right into their trap. Some of the other soldiers had followed Sonya’s idea and stood with their swords unsheathed, just in case.

“Now!” Captain Levi commanded, and the soldiers whizzed forward, slicing and spinning with rapid movements. Sonya was impressed by Captain Levi especially-- he seemed to literally be flying, a focused concentration of death for titans. The veteran soldiers made quick work, luckily-- all except for one.

“Captain!!” One of the soldiers-- Klaus Vernon-- screeched. He was trapped in the grip of a titan, one with brown hair and a permanent frown. It’s monstrous jaw gaped open, bringing Klaus right up to its slimy tongue.

Captain Levi grunted, pushing off of the titan he had just slaughtered, and swung around to the back of the titan gripping Klaus. Before the titan could bring its jaws down to crush Klaus, Levi dealt the finishing blow, and Klaus was released from its grip. As he fell, Edith swooped in to catch him and bring him to safety on a branch.

Levi wiped some blood off of his cheek with a grimace as steam fizzled off of his cloak.

“Move back to the supplies.” He ordered, and so they went.

When the troops made it back to the supplies, they had made pretty fast progress on loading everything on to the carts.

“Any casualties?” Commander Erwin asked Levi as he joined him.

“Klaus got grabbed by a titan, but otherwise no.” Levi reported.

Sonya went to join Anna, who was on the fringes of the supply yard, loading food on to the carts. Now that danger was relatively gone, she was brimming with excitement to tell Anna about seeing the veterans in action. Before she made it to Anna, though, something made her stop cold.

Behind her friend, shrouded in the shadows of the trees, there was something glistening-- something moving. Sonya’s breath caught in her throat-- was that…?

“Anna!” She shrieked, but it was too late. A monstrous hand was reaching towards her friend, and it was moving much faster than the titans Sonya had just seen. Anna looked behind her, and screamed just as fingers wrapped around her arms, pinning them to her torso, and she was lifted off the ground. Anna kicked and screamed, and as the titan brought itself up to reveal itself, it was too late.

The five-meter titan brought Anna into its mouth head-first, and snapped her body in half as its jaws closed.

Sonya’s feet were glued to the floor-- no one was closer to this situation than her, and all she had done was watch her friend get eaten. The crunching of Anna’s bones rung in Sonya’s ears, and as the crouching titan turned its hungry eyes towards her, she felt a gear shift in her brain once more.

Numb and angry, Sonya charged straight at the titan. She could hear the other soldiers yelling at her to stop distantly, and as she leapt from the ground, deploying her gear to swing around and behind the titan, her unsheathed blades and the nape of its neck were all that she chose to focus on. As she made her way behind the titan, she readied herself, attaching her wire to its neck and bringing herself forward.

Using all of her strength, she made the cut she had made a hundred times before-- while cutting through flesh felt much different than cutting through leather, the result was the same. The titan fell, with Anna’s blood staining its mouth, and Sonya held on to it on the ride down.

Steam surrounded her as the body began to decompose-- she detached herself from the corpse, and stumbled onto solid ground. At the edges of her vision, she could see the soldiers running up to her to see if she was hurt, other soldiers deploying ODM and whisking off into the trees. Sonya paid them no mind. She fell on all fours, and retched onto the forest floor.

#attack on titan #fanfiction #levi x original character #levi x oc #levi x reader #snk #aot #levi ackerman

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boarix · 6 years ago

Text

Wraith in the Ruins: A Fallout 4 Story Part IV

Concussive Fracture

Trigger warnings: canon violence, language, gun & drug use. Suggestive/mature content

Game spoilers!

Bloody Mess Warning!

Nick Valentine was hyperventilating. Catching sight of his former body, coupled with the intense, overwhelming emotions that permeated the room, he found the simple act of breathing to be immeasurably difficult. He would have fallen as soon as he stood up from the memory lounger had Hancock not caught him. Wraith produced a paper bag, seemingly from nowhere and passed it to them with instructions to, “just breathe”.

Nearly everyone in the room was crying: Wraith, Hancock, Ellie and even Valentine himself. Clearly uncomfortable Dr. Amari excused herself politely.

Standing against the wall, Deacon and MacCready remained dry-eyed. The former merc called out his congratulations, even though the whole affair was rather unsettling to him. Seeing as how the crying, hugging and all around back slapping didn’t seem to be winding down, he found a chair to plop in and tried not to look too impatient. The angle afforded him a rare look at Deacon’s eyes and he was surprised to see the high level of anxiety they held. The fact that he was directing it all straight at Wraith made MacCready’s hackles rise. Something was wrong.

Before MacCready could raise a fuss Hancock waved his arms to gain everyone’s attention and began trying to herd the group to the stairs. He had a special dinner planned in honor of Valentines first ever meal and was obviously excited. As they passed him, MacCready could see that Valentine and Ellie were holding hands. Fingers interlocked, it appeared very intimate. Deciding to let it go for now, he afforded them a smile and gave the detective a pat on the back of his own.

Sniffling, Wraith stopped in front of Deacon and gave him a grateful smile, “Thank you for this. Really. I know what it involves… what this means.”

“Hang back a second.” Deacon’s tone was all business.

Giving Deacon a dirty look, Hancock was inclined to tell him to piss off but moved on when Wraith gently touched his shoulder. As he passed MacCready he hooked an arm through one of his, “C’mon, little brother, the spooks need a whisper session.”

“Your guy did an amazing job on Val’s face. It still looks like him, but with… ya know, more skin.”

“If anyone is deserving, it’s good ol’ Synth Nick.” Deacon’s smile abruptly vanished and he removed his sunglasses, “I have to talk to you about the Gunners. You know that they started to recruit raiders to pad their numbers? Well, it’s beginning to back-fire on them. You have been destroying their leadership and things are… chaotic to say the least.”

“Not to sound narcissistic, but I’ve been doing that on purpose. I figure if things get bad enough they might want to play nice and try and see if the grass is greener on the Minutemen side of things.”

“Oh, things are bad that’s for sure! They’re running low on ammo, food… everything but chems. They can’t raid your settlements without being annihilated thanks to Daddy Danse and all his baby dragons… Uh, let’s agree that I never said ‘Daddy Danse’.”

“Ha! Not a chance! And it’s ‘Dragoon’ not ‘dragon’.”

“Right, ‘Drag Race Danse’, got it. All joking aside, the place is a powder keg. Clans are beginning to form and they are doing a lot of in-fighting and cannibalizing.” He shuddered in revulsion.

“How is it you are so well informed?” Her eyes grew wide as the realization hit her, “Wait… don’t tell me you went to the Plaza? Deacon! You can’t do that! You are far too important to the Railroad to be running interference for me. Not that I don’t appreciate the information and warning. Well… maybe I’ll go and drop in; be the lit match, so to speak.”

“No!” Deacon reached out and grabbed her arms; driven by his urgency to make uncharacteristic physical contact, “You are the one thing they all agree on!” Giving her a little shake, he tried to drive his point home, “The clan that claims your head will establish itself as the leader. Your death has become the priority of the entire Gunner nation!”

“So what else is new?”

“This isn’t like it was before… the Gunners… had rules and followed orders. They wouldn’t have come at you without measuring acceptable loss. Now, it’s a free-for-all.”

“What would you have me do?”

“Stay here. Stay in Goodneighbor.” He gripped her arms tighter as she shook her head, “Hancock can protect you here. Hell, you know he would love to have you and MacCready all to himself.”

She gently but firmly removed herself from his grasp, “You want me to hide. No, I’m sorry but I can’t just abandon my settlements like that. I have so many projects going… Plus, Shaun is still in Sanctuary and I really should spend more time with him.”

“You have Codsworth, Curie, Dogmeat and Danse all there with him. Strong, Cait and th’ Hounds are at the Rocket… you know Shaun will be safe. You know the further he is from you the safer he is!”

Wraith let her pride and anger override any amount of self-preservation, “Let them come at me! I’ll rip them to pieces and feed em to Strong!” Her eyes burned with a berserker’s fire and she flexed her hands menacingly, “I’m not going to hide from them and I won’t let them destroy everything I’ve built.”

“The general doesn’t FIGHT ON THE FRONT LINES!” Spittle flew as panic drove him to anger. Feeling the blood burning in his cheeks, he knew he had to be as red as Wraith was. He realized yelling at her would never work, so after several deep breaths, Deacon tried one last time to appeal to her sense of reason, “That’s part of it; you are the sole reason the Commonwealth is on an up-swing. If you were to be killed now…”

Waving her hand dismissively, Wraith cut him off, “I have already considered that and have contingencies in place in the event of my death. There is a whole file cabinet in Sanctuary filled with plans and ideas, resource allocation… a will if you will.” She tried a smile out on him for the sake of the play on words, but apparently he wasn’t up for smiles, “Everything will move forward just fine if I buy it. It won’t matter in the grand scheme of things.”

Deacon put his sunglasses back on and motioned for her to precede him up the stairs. Then softly, almost whispering, “It’ll matter to me.”

A few days later Hancock, MacCready and Wraith were all jogging to Sanctuary via Graygarden. Someone had alerted the Minuteman to a potential attack by the Rust Devils and Wraith had agreed to look into it. Although lacking a unit from the Heavy Dragoons, Graygarden was positively bristling with turrets of various lethalities. She found it unlikely that the Devils would be that stupid, but still, a threat was a threat.

The addition of Hancock was a surprise and Wraith suspected that there had been a, “Keep Wraith Alive in Spite of Herself” meeting between her friends. She didn’t mind as it was rare the three of them got to spend this much time together. She enjoyed listening to the two men’s easy banter and especially loved it when Hancock would try to fluster the younger man with his innuendo and blatant flirting. MacCready’s reactions varied on his moods and he would sometimes flirt back. On those occasions Wraith was left feeling… warm.

As the trio moved along and the conversation lapsed into comfortable silence, she found herself watching how the two men moved: MacCready had an easy, loping gait that reminded her of a lanky wolf and Hancock had the smooth grace of a hunting cat. Both men had incredible endurance and she knew for a fact that Mac could run the entire length of the Commonwealth without breaking stride, (as long as it wasn’t raining). Her thoughts took a slight deviation as she imagined other ways their endurance might benefit her.

Stop it, Wraith. Imagine how red your face is right now… god forbid Hancock asks me… or looks at me… Just, stop it.

Once in Graygarden, Supervisor White seemed surprised by the offer of aid, “There have been no Devils skulking around here Daaarrrrling!”

Unconvinced, Wraith and her boys hung out snacking on mutfruit for a time. Finally giving up, they left with only an hour or so of daylight left. MacCready grumbled about running through the night but Wraith only smiled blithely at him.

As if the weather had read Wraith’s earlier thoughts, storm clouds began building just as the sun lowered on the horizon. MacCready’s standard “rain whine” kicked in, “… and we’ll be even more miserable…”

“Christ, little brother! Are you a cat or what?”

“It’s fine, guys. It’s dark anyway so let’s just find a place to stop.”

The two men exchanged a look, “Are you sure that’s wise, sister? There isn’t much out here at the moment.”

Wraith waved his concerns away, “There’s an armored truck just on the other side of this ridge. It’ll be cozy but should do the trick.”

After a cold dinner Hancock volunteered to take first watch but Wraith objected, “You guys never wake me up for my shift!”

“Ok, I’ll make you a deal. If you actually fall asleep, I promise I’ll wake MacCready up for his shift. But you are on three, you feel me?”

Putting her hand on MacCready’s chest and looking him right in the eye, Wraith made sure there could be no misunderstanding, “You wake me up.”

The closeness and physical contact sent a flutter of butterflies through MacCready’s guts, “Yeah. Sure.” The fluttering intensified as she gave his chest a pat before climbing into her bed-roll.

Hancock watched the interaction with a wolf-like grin.

The night passed uneventfully with the rain stopping around midnight. MacCready dutifully if not reluctantly woke Wraith for the third watch. Exiting the truck she found the cool, pre-dawn air to be more refreshing than the fitful sleep she had.

Just as the first light of the sun was casting a pink glow to the sky, she felt eyes on her. She tried to tell herself that it was just Deacon’s infectious paranoia, especially since there wasn’t anything showing up on her Pip-Boy.

It might be radstag or one of those unfortunate-looking crows….

Deciding to trust her instinct rather than technology she reentered the truck to wake the boys. She placed a gentle hand on Hancock’s shoulder and he was instantly awake, “It’s okay, I just have a bad feeling is all. Wake Mac up I’m going back outside.”

If she had meant gently she didn’t specify so Hancock smacked him across the face with his bed-roll.

“The shit?!”

“Awwww! You did a swear! I’m tellin’.”

“Nice… real mature.”

“Hot damn, MacCready! Is that for me? You really shouldn’t have.”

“Well, who sez it’s for you?”

“As the sexiest individual in the truck…”

“Ha!”

As much as she was enjoying their back-and-forth, she was also prickling with ominous foreboding, which caused her to shush them more harshly than she meant to, “Quiet! Hancock, go do a wide sweep. Mac, you stay by the truck and both of you stay low.”

As Hancock crept off through the tall grass and scrub, Wraith pulled MacCready to her to whisper in his ear, “I’m going hunting. You stay in cover! You hear me? I don’t know how many there are, so stay the fuck down!”

With her hand on the back of his neck and mouth just brushing his cheek, despite the danger they were in, MacCready felt the flicker of heat growing in his stomach, “Okay boss, I’m in the grass.” As she melted away into the early dawn gloom, he whispered to himself, “Goddamn she’s scary.”

Hancock encountered them first, south of the ridge. Had the Gunners sniped him from the high-ground they might have had a chance. As it was, the 5 person group, equipped mainly for melee, would find themselves staggeringly deficient against the ghoul.

At least one of them had a powerfist…

Hancock rushed the powerfist wielder, who surprised by how quickly the ghoul closed the distance, took a step backward, placing all his weight on one leg. At the last second Hancock dropped and with one hand, drove the heel of his palm into the Gunner’s locked knee buckling it. As the Gunner fell forward Hancock’s other hand reached for his throat, crushing it easily. Smoothly using his opponent’s momentum, he popped the dying man’s body up and over his own, throwing it onto one of his comrades.

Spinning away to his left, Hancock’s right arm flicked out and a small throwing knife suddenly bloomed from a 3rd Gunner’s throat. Appearing to have almost precognitive reflexes, Hancock easily caught the baseball bat as his 4th opponent swung for his head. Trapping the bat under his arm he then drove his palm into the Gunner’s locked elbow, causing it to bend in the opposite direction that nature intended. A quick knife flash across the throat ended her agonized scream.

A shot rang out and Hancock imagined he could feel the rush of air as the bullet narrowly missed his face. He threw yet another knife as a distraction as he rushed her, twisting her arm down and pushing a knife through her hand, pinning it to her own haunch. Picking up her dropped pipe-pistol he shot her point blank in the face.

All this before the last Gunner even got out from under his dead companion’s body. The last thing he saw was Hancock’s smiling face.

MacCready heard the reverberating crack of the pistol, “Hancock…” He very much disliked how he couldn’t see either of his two best friends. Then, higher up the hill to the north he saw a brief flash of light: the sun reflecting off of a scope.

Wraith had 3 kills of her own at this time, all in total silence. However, her 4th target somehow perceived her at the last second and the two rose out of cover, grappling.

Wraith didn’t see the sniper. Wraith was going to be shot. Wraith was going to die.

“No…”

What happened next appeared to Wraith as though in slow motion, as if she had taken a hit of Jet.

MacCready rose from cover, his focus trained solely on the threat to Wraith. Pulling his trigger, he killed the sniper. At the same moment, to his left, an unseen Gunner assassin rose from cover and shot the young man in the head from only 6 feet away. As his head snapped back, a spray of blood fountained through the air like a nightmare rainbow. Then MacCready’s body crumpled into the grass.

“NOOOOGGGGAAAAARRRRGGHHHHHHHHAAAAA!”

Hancock was retrieving his knives and grumbling aloud how hard it was to, “find good dance partners these days…” when he heard Wraith’s agonized scream. It ripped through him and left him clutching his chest above his heart, “No. No. No. No!”

Wraith was beating someone to death with a human arm. Most likely it was the arm’s former owner. Covered head to toe in blood and worse, she was roaring incoherently. Hancock rushed to her side yelling her name. She turned and raised her macabre club above her head, preparing to swing it at him.

Recognition flashed across her berserk maddened face and she began sobbing and gesturing with the limb as if it were a pointer, “He was right here! I saw him! Where is he?”

Taking the arm from her, Hancock flung it away, “Wraith, is any of this your blood?”

“I can’t find him. He was just here!”

“Sister, are you hurt? Where the fuck is MacCready?” In his fear and panic he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her none too gently.

She looked up at him with a face so lost in child-like fear it broke his heart, “They shot him, John. I saw him die. But now… now I can’t find… his body.”

Hancock stood in complete shock, “You can’t… his…?”

“He fell right here. Oh… oh God…”

Letting go of her shoulders, Hancock closed his eyes. He didn’t want to look for MacCready’s dead body.

If there’s no… then he can’t be gone.

“Wraith, if he was… if he was dead he would be here. The dead don’t move themselves around and you’ve ripped apart everyone else here that could have moved him, right?” Hancock took a deep shuddering breath, “He must have gotten up and went for better cover; it probably wasn’t a kill-shot.” He saw a faint glimmer of hope spark in her eyes.

Oh please, please let me be right!

Calling his name, they each went in opposite directions. Wraith found his hat and was disheartened by how blood-soaked it was. The two rifle bullets he kept in the brim were missing and she was overcome by a completely irrational need to find them. Palming through the tall grass she almost didn’t hear Hancock calling for her. Gripping his hat to her chest she ran to the ghoul’s waving form, terrified at what she might see.

MacCready was walking north. His steps where stumbling and feral-like. The entire left side of his face and head was covered in blood and it was running freely down his neck. Dragging his rifle behind him, his arm was bent at a weird angle. He looked like a zombie.

Unlike a zombie, and somehow even more disturbing than his appearance, was his halting and rambling running commentary, “Save… her. Not this time. NooooOOOOOO!”

Chocking back sobs, Wraith ran and stood in front of him. Grabbing him by the shoulders she tried to get him to halt his march. He tried to side-step around her and would have fallen, but once again Hancock was there to catch a dear friend.

MacCready continued to push against Wraith with surprising strength and was almost dragging Hancock behind him, talking the entire time, “I can’t… not again… ALONE! Noooooo. I’m not going to let her die this time. I’ll fuCKING KILL ALLL YOU MOTHER FUCKING SONS OF COCKS!”

Hancock was unwilling to throw him bodily to the ground but was finding it impossible to stop him gently. It was as if he had developed super mutant strength, “What the hell is wrong with him?!”

“He’s concussed… it looks like the bullet ricocheted… I can’t see! We have to get him to sit down.”

“Hey, little brother, it’s okay…”

“No! I have to sAVE WRAITH! FUCK YOU!”

“I’m right here, Mac! You saved me.”

Bringing his rifle to bear, he was actively fighting them now, “Nooooo. She can’t die! Not again. She don’t see…”

Letting go Wraith took a deep breath in and in her loudest “momma” voice told him off, “Robert Joseph MacCready! Sit your MOTHER FUCKING ASS DOWN!”

MacCready dropped to his knees like a stone. Looking up at her with a shocked, hurt expression his lip quivered, “You yelled at me.” He turned to Hancock, “she said ‘fuck’!”

“She sure did, little brother. She means business, so you better mind her.”

“Well, okay.”

Pulling his matted, blood-soaked hair away from the wound, she could see a significant gash, down to bone, just above his ear. “I’ll treat the laceration and stop the bleeding, but we need to get him back to Goodneighbor; back to Dr. Amari. I don’t know the first thing about brain injury.”

MacCready was staring at Hancock with a confused look, “Hey, you look just like Hancock used to.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah. He’s like, my favorite guy. He’s so good but he doesn’t think so. He’s always helping annoying people. If it wasn’t for him giving me a chance when no one else would I’d never met Wraith. She saved my son. I love her, but I’m pretty sure she’s in love with Hancock.”

Blushing furiously, Wraith refused to look at Hancock, “He’s still moving around too much. Would you hold him please?”

“Sure thing, sister.” Easing MacCready back onto his butt, Hancock wrapped his arms around him from his right side, “Hold still, little brother.”

Sighing, MacCready leaned his head back onto Hancock’s chest, which put his head at a perfect angle to Wraith, “Hancock calls me that too. Sometimes it pisses me off but then I like it sometimes. This is really nice. You know, you remind me a lot of Hancock.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“I miss Lucy,” MacCready’s cerulean eyes filled with tears, “she was my wife before she died.” Suddenly very still, his eyes locked onto Wraith’s light green ones with such intensity that she stopped her work and leaned back from him, “Lucy?” His arms shot up out of Hancock’s embrace and he cradled Wraith’s face in his hands. He pulled her to him in a deeply passionate kiss.

Hancock made a strange sound, as if he’d been hit in the stomach with a powerfist.

Pulling away, Wraith was as red as a tato, “No, Mac. I’m Wraith, not Lucy.” Standing up she turned her back to the two men, trying to get herself under control, “We should go. We need to get him to Amari fast. We can take turns carrying him and we need to keep him awake.”

“I’ve got him.” Hancock’s tone was annoyed, “C’mon, little brother, time for a piggy-back ride.”

“Oh cool! Fun!”

“Now I know yer concussed…”

Wraith was repacking her field med kit, “Okay, you can have first turn, but I assure you I can carry him. Plus I have Buffout if I need it.”

“I said I’ve got him!” Hancock snapped at her, “It’s bad enough you took him in the first place.”

The trip back to Goodneighbor was awkward to say the least. Wraith couldn’t understand Hancock’s sudden mood change. He had never been the jealous type before.

It’s not like there is really anything to be jealous of, is there? Who is he mad about? Is he mad that Mac kissed me? Clearly he’s not in his right mind! What the fuck does he mean by me ‘taking him’? He thinks I stole Mac?

They did their best to keep MacCready awake by asking him questions about whatever confused and random events he was babbling on about. He kept combining Lucy and Wraith into one person. Worse still was when he would actively fight against Hancock so he could return to save Wraith.

In desperation, she turned on the radio and suggested that MacCready sing along. It wasn’t working until Hancock started to sing, Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall, then, MacCready immediately stopped struggling and was listening with rapt attention to the ghoul’s voice.

Amari seemed optimistic, “There is nothing I can give him, but I believe with proper rest he will be himself again. I would strongly suggest he stays here under observation for the next few days, however.”

Hancock told Wraith to go and clean the gore off of herself in Irma’s shower, “You’ll freak him out if he wakes up, I mean really wakes up, and sees you looking like a mutant’s meat bag.”

Irma was more than happy to lend Wraith her shower as well as a (surprisingly tame) dress to change into. As she stepped off the landing, she could see Hancock had just finished getting MacCready changed. Lacking any real hospital gowns, he had put him in a pair of pajama bottoms and a bathrobe.

The silence was leaden and uncomfortable. Hancock felt compelled to do what he felt was necessary, but it would be one of the hardest things he had ever done.

Jesus; look at her! She’s fucking adorable in a dress! She looks so tired and sad… It’s best though. It’s best for them. I’m… I’m in their way.

“Well, I hope you’re happy.” He could see her confusion and that his words had already hurt her, “Deacon tried to warn you. He told you and yet, here we are.”

“I’m sorry, Hancock. I thought I had it under control. I guess I’ve been feeling invincible lately.”

“You may be but what about the rest of us?” He drew his hand through the air above MacCready’s unconscious form like he was showing off a new car, “How about the kid here? Does he look invincible to you?”

Fight back, Wraith.

Sniffling she hung her head, abashed, “You’re right. I should have seen through the false Graygarden report. They knew exactly where we would be… I should have left him here with you in Goodneighbor.”

Fight back, Wraith.

Hancock snorted, “You would have been killed. This idiot clearly is in love with you; what would your death do to him?”

Fight back… please…

“Do you care what the consequences of your actions are? Do you give a fuck about any of us?!”

That did it.

“What the fuck!?” She stabbed a finger at his chest, forcing him a step backward, “How could you even fucking ask me that? All that I’ve done has been for all of you!” Throwing her hands out wide she gestured emphatically, “I’ve practically rebuilt the entire fucking Commonwealth for you!”

“Yes, that’s right, Queen Fucking Wraith.” He turned away from her and headed for the stairs, “Well I’m done. I’m not going to follow you around, watching you killing yourself and anyone dumb enough to be with you!”

She followed him to the landing, hands out palms up, her body asking questions that she couldn’t articulate, “Are you running from me, John McDonough?”

Hancock stopped for a second on the first floor landing. With his back to her, Wraith couldn’t see how much pain he was in. Then, squaring his shoulders, he left her standing in the stairwell, tears on her cheeks.

“Wraith?” Whipping around she could see MacCready standing in the basement doorway. Arms out to either side, he was using the doorframe to hold himself upright. He had removed the bathrobe and was shivering. “What happened to me? I feel really sick. Where’s Hancock?”

“Oh, Mac, you shouldn’t be standing.” Wiping her face hurriedly, she ducked under his arm and led him back to the clinic bed. “You got shot saving my stupid ass.”

“Oh… yeah?” He was reluctant to let her go, wrapping both his arms around her. “You’re so tiny without all your stuff on. You smell good. Are you wearing a dress? You look so cute!”

“Thanks, kid.” She carefully disentangled herself from his hug and eased him down on the bed, “And you… you are still loopy. Don’t move too fast or you’ll barf.”

“Ugh! Why do you call me ‘kid’ all the time? I’m adult! And I have a freaking kid of my own!”

“I imagine it’s for the same reason that Hancock calls you ‘little brother’.”

“Where is he?” MacCready straightened up in alarm and winced at the sudden movement.

“He’s fine. He will… be back before you know it.” The lie was easier at that moment. She would tell him everything later.

Well… maybe not everything…

Even back under the blanket, MacCready was still shivering, “It’s kinda cold down here.”

“It’s because you took the robe off.” She went and picked it up off the floor and offered it back to him.

He shook his head, wincing, “I don’t like the way it wraps around my legs.”

“I’ll see if I can find another blanket.”

MacCready caught her hand as she moved away, “Would you… lay down with me?”

Wraith’s mind was a swirling mass of emotions as MacCready snuggled up to her.

“This is nice. I should get shot more often. You smell nice.”

“So I’ve been told.”

Thank you for reading! Like what you read? Looking for more? Please see the master-link in my tags: Wraith in the Ruins. I’ll also be reblogging it from time to time. As always any questions/comments/concerns my ask is open. =^..^=

#wraith in the ruins #deacon #fallout deacon #fallout deacon fanfic #maccready #rj maccready #maccready fanfic #nick valentine #hancock #john hancock #fallout hancock fanfic #fallout #fallout 4 #fallout 4 fanfic

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