#just a sudden idea i had that cropped up out of nowhere

[brandwhorestarscream]

He's really going to die this time

That's what Starscream thinks, the thoughts half-clouded behind the incessant tinnitus blocking everything else out. It had started about halfway through Megatron's tirade, when the heavy handed old gladiator had back handed him so hard he flew back and hit the wall with enough force he bounced forward onto the floor. The ringing in his audials had started then and soon after the sluggish pulsing of his spark joined it, and combined they were so loud he could barely hear his own thoughts when all was said and done.

...it's cold. It's wet. He hurts everywhere. He's bleeding in six... no, maybe seven places? His visual feed is corrupted with static. Seems something was shaken loose in his processor. His left optic is out, and the remaining right one won't stop flickering. It hurts.

The ceiling looks so far away. It's dark. How long has he been laying here? It feels like an eternity since he was thrown down onto the floor and Megatron finally stormed out, satisfied with his punishment. Time always passes sluggishly like this, and he's so, so tired. Exhausted, even. He can't muster the will or the strength to sit up, or even try to drag himself to the door. He doesn't know if he can. He can't feel his legs. Or his arms. Are they broken? It wouldn't be the first time his struts had snapped over the course of the war.

A wave of vertigo hits him even though he's laying down. It feels like the world has tilted at a 45° angle and now he's falling. Speckled colors dapple his vision and it begins to cloud over with darkness. Is he dying?

It feels like he's dying.

Panic jolts his spark then, because fragging pits what if he is dying?! No, no, not yet! He can't die yet! He's not ready, this can't be how he dies, alone and cold in a bloodied heap in the darkened command center, this can't be it!

Despite his desperation and straining he can't even lift his helm, and darkness swallows his vision. The falling sensation returns with a vengeance, and then... nothingness.

...

Starscream jolts awake and thrashes in panic as he flies into an upright position, chassis heaving as he gasps and heaves for air to cool his overheated frame. He's sticky and wet with condensation, and he grabs at his chest. His mind is racing along with his spark, and he barely has time to wonder what happened when the darkness is banished with a sudden flood of light.

He flinches back with a hiss of surprise, servos coming up to shield his optics. They're fluorescent, bright white, nothing like the somber violet of the Nemesis he's gotten used to.

"Rise and shine, Your Highness!"

That jars him. His helm jerks in the direction of the voice so quickly his neck cables nearly kink, and he's greeted by another seeker, quite a rare sight indeed. He's a cheerful bright green and blue, yellow optics set in a silver face and already bustling over toward him.

"Up and attem, time's a wastin'! Your bath is ready, and once you're clean I've got Finery doing your paint today--Prim's out sick, poor thing," he's talking a mile a minute and Starscream is nothing short of flabbergasted. Is- Is he hallucinating? Surely, he must be! Yes, that's it, he- he's in the medbay and is so doped up on medication he's having vivid hallucinations. The other mech keeps talking, completely unbothered by his slack-jawed expression as he opens up the bureau on the opposite side of the room. "-and then you've got breakfast with your parents and immediately after that you're scheduled for archery. Don't forget you've got a meeting with the House of Diplomacy and then a soiree with Lord Thundercracker, and you know how Lady Permafrost gets about tardiness so let's try to be on time today, hm? After that- come on, chop chop! Out of bed, come on! Up, up! We don't want to fall behind!"

"Wha-"

The stranger hurries over and all but throws the covers off of him--silver, imported silk by the looks of it, painfully familiar--before reaching to place something on his helm. A circlet retrieved from the bureau, that's what he had been doing. "Come on, Highness, you really shouldn't lollygag. Didn't you hear me? Your bath is already prepared, and-"

Wait! "Cloudbreaker...?!"

The busybody finally stops for a moment. "Yes, Your Highness?"

Starscream's spark starts hammering again, and he leans so far forward he nearly falls off the berth. "You're really Cloudbreaker?!"

"I- yes?" The other mech tilts his helm. "Who else would it be?"

He hadn't seen Cloudbreaker since the day before Vos fell. He died in the fall, as so, so many of them did. More than 90% of their population had perished in the massacre. His optics move on their own to examine the room, and his audials start ringing again.

It's his room. His room, his suite, from so long ago. There's all his shelves with all the things he's collected, his countless personal bookfiles and pretty trinkets and, Primus, he can spot one of his old, soft toys from when he was very small. He glances down at the berth and it's his berth, he's under his blanket, these are his fancy cushions and pillows. He reaches under one of them and, sure enough, an old, raggedy piece of cloth with his name embroidered on it, far too small to be used anymore but still so precious. Handmade and woven by his carrier, before he had even been born.

There's no way.

It- It isn't possible.

But...

He nearly trips over himself in his haste to get up, almost tangling himself in the berth's cushy mesh fabrics as he dashes for the window. It's not real. It can't be! He's hallucinating! But-

He throws the curtains open and bright, glorious sunlight streams in. Towers of white and gold and silver greet his optics, platforms and of all shapes and sizes stretching into the distance as far as he can see, all suspended in the air and flying amongst the clouds. He sees seekers by the hundreds, thousands, zooming through the skies and going about their days. He presses his servos to the glass, then his face, and tears well up and spill over before he can even think to stop them. He hears the city singing, the whistling wind rushing through the flying architecture making a unique symphony he hasn't heard in millions of years. It's so startlingly clear, so crisp, so real.

He sobs as he realizes just how beautiful Vos is, realizes how much of its' wonder he had forgotten, realizes how his memories had been dulled and diluted. He'd forgotten the breathtaking depths of the colors, he'd forgotten all the ways the light sparkled and shone off the buildings. He'd forgotten the distant sounds of their people going about their days, he'd forgotten this beautiful view.

"...Your H-"

"What time is it?!"

"Uh, well, it's nine-"

"No!" He whirls around and finds Cloudbreaker has approached him, and he grabs the other's face in his servos. Staring him down gravely as he demands, "Not just the time of day! What year?! What cycle, what lunar phase, what day, what time?! Down to the millisecond!"

Cloudbreaker rattles it all off, looking startled, and his spark jumps in his chassis. It feels like it's caught an updraft, suddenly elevated as a foreign sense of hope and elation tries to anchor within him.

There's still time! The bombing hasn't happened yet, and there's still time!

[wickedfreakho]

You and Eren just moved into the city. The streets are busy as cars rush by, trying to get absolutely nowhere, buildings stand tall and block out certain areas of sunlight.

It's fairly nice in the heart of the city. You've had a bit of city girl in you, having traveled to the city with your parents from a small town just a few miles away.

Eren on the other hand was from the country and lived on a farm with his parents. He rarely ever visited the city unless it was to get a surprise gift for mother's day or tools that his father needed when it came to harvesting crops.

You both decided to move to the city for better job opportunities, especially since you had plans to travel the world in the future. But for now, you guys had to focus on getting and saving up the money for that.

Eren worked at an environmental justice company that helped brainstorm ideas to fix climate change while fundraising and putting in the action. You worked as a nursing assistant at a local clinic close to your apartment.

You loved your job, your apartment, your life in the city. It was quite enjoyable, especially with Eren around. When you guys both came home from work in the later afternoon, all you guys wanted to do was cuddle and soak in each other presence.

The apartment was modest, nestled in a charming brick building that has seen generations come and go. The apartment wasn't too small or too big, but just right for the both of you. There were still cardboard boxes that needed to be unpacked such as old books, personal documents, photographs and decorative items; but the important things were set up.

Today, the both of you were unpacking the rest of everything so that your apartment could take a sense of home. Eren picked up the heavy cardboard box labeled "books" and carried them over to the large white shelf closest to the balcony of the apartment.

You on the other hand, pushed the box labeled "family photos" over to the same shelf. Eventually, organizing the two to blend the both of your backgrounds and start to create a unique tapestry in this new chapter of your lives.

"Oh I have something to show you by the way" Eren exclaimed all of a sudden, his eye sparkling. Curious, you followed him out to the small balcony that overlooked the city's skyline. Eren unveiled a series of potted plants he's been nurturing overtime. "I thought we could start a small garden here on the balcony..it's not much but it's a start"

Smiling like an idiot in love, you were so touched by the gesture as you stood closer to Eren. You never noticed this, so it was a shocking surprise. "I love it! It's so perfect, thank you Ren." You looked up at him then down to his lips. It's like he read your mind when he pulled you into a gentle kiss.

The softness of his lips against yours lightened your soul. The kiss conveyed all the unspoken words and emotions you shared. It was a kiss filled with warmth and promises. A silent pledge of love as your hearts synced with the rhythm of your shared, intimate moment.

BITCH I ATE THIS SO BADD LMFAOOO anyways it look me a fkn while to find the time to write this but i hope you guys enjoy it a little. lmk if there's any grammar mistakes that need to be fixed even though i proof read.

@ wickedfreakho , pls don't copy, translate, or repost my work without my permission babes <3.

[roses-for-rosalyn]

The Old Church Parking Lot

Look, I had an idea for a fic and all the sudden it was 4:00 am. I promise one day I'll write a fic where reader isn't a goddamn pillow princess, but today is not that day. Enjoy my darlings.

word count: 3k

minors dni pretty please 🔞

content warnings: Dealer! Ellie, innocent reader, friends to lovers, drug use 🍃, kissing, teasing, oral (r! receiving), fingering (r! receiving), reader being a pillow princess

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“You’re joking.” Ellie raises her eyebrows at you like she actually expects you to take it back. “You have been on this earth for 19 years and you haven’t smoked weed?” You shake your head. “Ever?” You can’t help but laugh, her stunned expression doesn’t leave her face. She won’t take her eyes off you despite the fact that she’s literally driving.

“Eyes on the fucking road Els Jesus.” She nods and hesitantly turns back to look at the street. “I just never had the chance I guess.” You shrug your shoulders. “Grew up in a small town, not many friends. We mostly just got drunk. It was easier, and less illegal.” You have no idea why this information shocks Ellie to her core, but there’s something else there, an excitement maybe? 

“We’re gonna fix that. Tonight. I’ll pick you up after work.” She was definitely excited and extremely eager. She pulls into your driveway and puts the car in park. 

“Oh yeah? And where are you gonna get it from, not exactly like there’s a store we can stop at.” 

Ellie looks straight ahead and tales a beat before she answers “I kind of…deal the stuff.” She still won’t look at you. “It’s a side gig type thing, helps me stay afloat.” You can’t say you're shocked. You haven’t known Ellie long, she was one of those friends that you kind of just started spending a shit ton of time with out of nowhere. She was still new to you even though it felt like you’d known her your whole life, you were still learning about each other slowly. 

“Ok that’s…incredibly convenient, but where do we go?” You were both home from college for the summer, hence living with your parents. Ellie turns to face you, she brings her hand up to her mouth and starts biting her nail in concentration. It was an incredibly cute little habit, you could see her brain working to find a solution. 

“We’ll sit in the old church parking lot, I can drive us home after.” 

“Works for me.” You shrug. “See you later I guess.” You smile at Ellie and she has this devilish smirk on her face like she knows something you don’t. 

“God I can’t wait.” Her voice was breathy and low, something you hadn’t heard before, but it was incredibly…attractive. You go to open the car door and step out onto your driveway. 

“See ya.” 

“Bye.” You shut the door and head inside, having no idea what you have just agreed to. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

You have tried on your entire closet at this point. You usually weren’t like this with Ellie, normally you couldn’t care less what you looked like, but something felt different between you two lately. The type of different where you felt like you needed to look good when you saw her. You’re not gonna dwell on it though, that would just make everything worse. 

You finally settle on just an old, cropped graphic tee and jeans. It’s something you wore all the time, unfortunately your whole wardrobe was strewn about your floor, so this was the best option. 

Jesus why were you nervous? Probably because you were about to do drugs for the first time. Definitely no other reason. 

You pass the time by doing your makeup. It always helps you relax, makes you feel good inside and out. Before you knew it Ellie was texting you she was on her way. She pulls into the driveway, her headlights lighting up your living room. You begin the trek out your front door to her car. It feels like it takes forever, you go through each motion as if you're moving through water. You finally get to her small car and open the passenger door. 

“Hey princess.” Ellie is smiling ear to ear, you’re not sure you’ve ever seen her this elated. 

“Hey.” You can’t help but laugh at her exaggerated expression. 

“You ready? You excited?” She’s still smiling, she looks fucking adorable, it’s ridiculous.

“Definitely not as excited as you clearly are.” You can’t help but be a little nervous trying something new, but you were trying it with someone you trusted. 

“We’re gonna have fun. Promise.” With that she turns up the music and pulls out of your driveway. 

On the way to the parking lot you and Ellie belt out 90s hits at the top of your lungs. The windows are down, the wind blowing on your face and through your hair. It almost completely gets rid of any nerves you had. You look over at Ellie, watching her exaggerated expressions and hand movements. She acts out the words in the song like she’s performing. You can’t help but smile at her ridiculousness.

You pull into the parking lot and Ellie turns the radio down. Her arm reaches over your lap to the glove box. Her arm faintly brushes your thighs as she opens it. She pulls out a little baggie with what you would assume are blunts in it. 

“These are pre-rolls. Normally you would have someone else test them out first. This shit could easily be laced with fentanyl, which can kill you. You don’t know where it comes from, you never touch it first.” She looks at you with a serious expression on her face. “Got it?” You nod vigorously, she is obviously in her element here, trying to teach you everything she knows to keep you safe. “Words princess, that’s the most important thing I’ll teach you tonight.”

“Yup, got it.” Why is this so incredibly hot? The way she wants to make sure you’re safe, she’s acting like a stern teacher and it's severely throwing you off. 

She smiles and then continues “But, since you’re getting it from me, and I know where this has been and where it’s from, we’re safe.” You smile and nod, appreciating the reassurance. She takes the preroll from the baggie and grabs a lighter from the console. 

“So you’ve never smoked anything before?” You shake your head “Ok so I’m gonna light this end,” She taps the tapered end of the roll, “You’re going to put your lips around it like a straw and inhale once to get it into your mouth, and then a second time to get it to your lungs.” 

“That made absolutely zero sense to me.” Ellie laughs, shaking her head. 

“You want me to go first, so you can watch?” Oh god yes. 

“Yeah, that might make it easier.” Ellie nods and brings the preroll to her lips. She lights it with her green gas station lighter and you watch her inhale as she puts the lighter back down. She exhales a cloud of smoke towards you and you are immediately turned on. Why did she have to make exhaling seductive? 

“Your turn.” She hands you the roll and you take it between two fingers. You bring it to your lips like Ellie said. Inhale once, twice. Fuck.

You immediately feel the smoke tickle your lungs and throat. You cough out the smoke rather than elegantly exhaling as Ellie did. God, it fucking burns. 

“Try to breathe through your nose babe, here I brought a water bottle for ya.” You immediately grab the water bottle, trading Ellie for the blunt, you eagerly gulp it down. The water sort of soothes the burn, your violent coughing turning into heavy breathing. 

“You didn’t warn me I’d have a fucking asthma attack.” You cough again while Ellie giggles at your pain. 

“I forgot. But I knew you wouldn’t die, plus the surprise on your face was kind of funny.” She takes another hit and passes it back to you. You try again, but a smaller breath this time. It doesn’t burn as much this time. 

“I also forgot to mention, like how this shit makes you feel. It’s different for everyone really.” You pass the preroll back to Ellie. “Mostly it just makes you relax, but some people get talkative, some get sleepy, and most people get incredibly hungry.” She pauses like she’s thinking of saying something but is holding back.

“What?” Ellie shakers her head.

“Nothing… I didn’t even know if I wanted to bring it up, but like it also can make everything feel incredibly good.” 

“What do you mean?” This seems like it’s going in a direction you and Ellie have never really gone before. Ellie would talk about her sexual ventures with other women on occasion, but you never really discussed anything in detail about yourselves. It’s not like you would have much to add with the sex stories anyways, you just listened to Ellie and nodded. You definitely did not have the experience she had.  

“Like it makes people touching you feel 100 times better.” She sighs and laughs “It basically makes most people horny.” She looks at you with a kind of sheepish look. You wouldn’t expect someone with as much experience as her being shy talking about this stuff. Was she… Blushing? It was hard to tell in the dark, you could have definitely imagined it. 

You start to feel a smile tug at your lips and a warmth slowly floods your body. “I think...it’s hitting.” You giggle at literally nothing, which makes Ellie giggle. “Feels really good.” You breathe out. You caress your own arm, testing Ellie’s knowledge. “Woah.”

“What?” Ellie’s smiling at you, she decided she likes how you act high. It’s probably one of the more adorable things she’s ever seen.

“Touching does feel weird.” You continue to caress your own arm, you can feel the warmth of your own hands grazing across the small hairs of your forearm and it tickles. 

“It’s usually other people touching you that feels weird, but whatever works for you over there.” You look at her and back at your arm.

“You touch me then.” You reach your arm out, eagerly inviting Ellie to come closer. 

“I can’t.” She looks down, taking the last hit from the blunt. She won’t meet your eyes.

“Why?” 

“If I start touching you I can’t guarantee I can stop.” She stops herself abruptly like the sentence was forced out of her. She puts out the blunt before finally looking up at you, her confession lingering in the air between you. She’s searching your eyes for any disgust or rejection. She finds none.

“I wouldn’t mind.” Ellie just looks at you, eyes wide with disbelief. You’re suddenly aware of how desperately your body is craving her touch. Your entire body ignites with a type of electricity, it courses through you causing your skin to become tingly. 

Using your sudden desperation as a sort of courage you climb over to straddle Ellie’s lap. You hold onto her shoulders to steady yourself and Ellie backs the seat as far away from the steering wheel as she can. She keeps looking at you with those wide eyes. She moves her hands to cup your face gently, like she’s convinced you'll disappear. She keeps searching your eyes, looking for any hint of hesitation and all she finds is pure hunger. 

She kisses you, her lips are so soft and warm you immediately relax. You move your hands from her shoulders and thread them into her hair and she kisses you harder. She uses her tongue to open up your mouth and you groan at the sensation. She moves her hands down under the hem of your shirt. She grabs your breasts and starts roughly massaging the soft skin. She pulls down one of the cups of your bra and starts teasing your nipple. She pinches it between her fingers and you moan into her mouth at the feeling. She stops the kiss to pull your shirt over your head and immediately continues as she throws your shirt into the passenger's seat. She moves her mouth down and encloses it around your nipple, you gasp at the feeling of her warm tongue sucking and circling your sensitive bud. The ache between your legs has become more noticeable, it’s demanding attention. You start grinding a bit on Ellies lap. The seam of your jeans is barely teasing your clit through your underwear. It was heavenly, but not enough. 

Ellie is trying to devour you. She moves her mouth from your breasts to your neck. Exploring with gentle kisses until she finds just the right spot. She nips and sucks until you're squirming on her lap uncontrollably. 

“Back seat.”  She breathes out. You nod vigorously and climb off her lap and awkwardly maneuver your way to the back seat. You lean up against the car door while Ellie adjusts her seat again to make room. It gives you a moment to breathe before she moves to straddle your waist and continues where she left off. She kisses between your breasts down your stomach, gently making a trail down your body with her lips. She’s so gentle and slow, the feeling of her soft lips on your body is driving you insane. 

She gets to the hem of your jeans and unbuttons them. This is where you start to realize you’re entering uncharted territory. You’re trying not to panic, but suddenly a breathy “Ellie,” Escapes from your swollen lips. She immediately pauses and looks up at you. She sees the slight nervousness in your expression and immediately understands.

“No one’s ever-” You don’t even know how to finish that sentence without embarrassing yourself. 

“I know,” Her face softens “We’ll go nice and slow, tell me when I need to stop okay?” 

“Okay.” You nod and Ellie continues unbuttoning your jeans. Nervous butterflies invade your stomach, despite your altered state. Ellie pulls the jeans off and throws them on the floor. She then takes off her flannel leaving her in a black tank top. Her biceps and veins are enhanced by the moonlight, You can see her muscles flex and move as she does. She moves down kissing along the hem of your panties before placing a kiss on your clit. The sight of her head between your thighs is enough to push the ache in your cunt to an unbearable level. She teases you over the fabric, rubbing her fingers up and down your slit slowly. She brushes her finger over your clit repeatedly and a desperate whine escapes from your mouth.

“I know princess, just a little longer.” Ellie is savoring you like you’re the last thing she’ll ever see. She places light kisses on your inner thighs as she continues to tease you. 

Finally she moves your panties to the side. She runs a finger from your entrance to your clit collecting the wetness that pooled between your legs. You can’t help but whimper, your clit feels ten times more sensitive than usual. Every time Ellie is near it the feeling reverberates through your entire body. She blows out a breath on your cunt and the feeling is heavenly. 

“Doing ok, pretty girl?” She looks up from between your legs and you have to resist squeezing them together at the sound of her voice. It was low and raspy, and every word sounded like honey. 

“Yes.” You nod, your eyes squeeze shut in frustration.

“Look at me.” Her voice was lower, demanding. “I’m gonna make you feel good, I promise.” And with that she lowers her mouth onto your bare cunt. She laps at your clit lightly, she moves her tongue in circles around it, continuing her teasing. She licks from your entrance up to your sensitive bud and begins sucking on it. Your hips immediately buck up towards Ellie’s mouth at the foreign feeling. You are moaning loudly and uncontrollably, you had no idea anything could ever feel this way. It’s almost too much. 

Ellie moves her finger to circle your wet hole, once you relax a little she starts to slowly push her finger into you. She makes sure to be slow and careful. 

“Ellie.” You whine out once curls her finger and hits just the right spot inside you. She continues sucking on your clit and slowly curling her finger inside of you. 

“God you're so tight, you gotta relax for me princess.” You try to focus on relaxing around her finger, once you do Ellie adds a second finger. Your cunt swallows it greedily and you whimper at the pressure of two of her slender fingers inside of you. She sucks at your clit even harder and you gasp out “Ellie please ‘s too much.” 

Ellie pauses for a moment “I know baby, you just have to breathe for me. Here, hold onto me.” She places one of your hands on her arm which is wrapped around your thigh. You do what she says and relax under her. You try to let your body melt into her. “That’s it, you’re doing so well for me.” 

She starts sucking lightly on your clit again. You impulsively use your other had to grab at her hair at the feeling. The pleasure in your stomach is starting to come to a high point, you’ve never felt this before. It was all consuming. Ellie is making little groaning sounds which vibrate through your body. You can feel her start fucking you harder, her fingers hitting that spongey spot inside of you at every thrust. Your back starts to arch while the pressure in your belly grows. Nothing has ever felt like this, it's building to a point so intense you almost start to worry.

“Els, what-” You barely get your question out before blinding pleasure takes over your body. You moan out Ellie's name loudly over and over as she continues to fuck you. It moves in waves, crashing through you causing you to buck your hip into Ellie's mouth and fingers over and over. You whimper and whine each time her fingers move in and out of you. She fucks you through the whole thing until you start squirming away. 

She pulls her fingers out of you and sucks them clean. You stare in disbelief, you didn’t even know someone could do that. Your arousal was covering her lips and chin, glistening. She crawls on top of you to kiss you and you can taste yourself on her tongue. If your limbs weren’t jelly that alone would be enough to make you want to do all of that again. 

“I am so glad you chose to get high with me, you have no idea.” Ellie’s smile is contagious. It has just registered you’ve never seen it like this, laying below her, it felt right. 

“Yea let’s do that again sometime soon.” You both laugh a little. Ellie lays her head on your chest and sighs. 

“Very soon.”

[bigfrozenfan-fanfics]

Chapter 81 - Things To Come

Links: Chapter overview, Character list, Map, Glossar Rating: M over all Publishing cycle: around every 2-3 weeks

Remarks: all my chapters contain carefully selected music tracks (try to use headphones). It’s your own decision if you want to use them or not while reading. The purpose is to musically support the respective mood of the plot. If you can please use a browser for reading (not the Tumblr app) due to the text formatting and music.

Three months later …

Spring had finally arrived in Arendelle, painting the landscape with a vibrant palette. The last snow in the lowlands and valleys had almost completely disappeared, revealing a carpet of green. The first harbingers of spring, especially Arendelle's landmark, the crocus in its various blossom colours, were in full bloom. It was the season of renewal, sprouting the first buds on the trees and dappling the hillside above the town with bright colours in the light of the morning sun. The citizens were delighted by the colourful little flowers in the planters outside their windows, which exuded their delicate fragrance, permeating the air throughout the city. It was still very chilly, but the sisters were already looking forward to this season and had the windows in the castle dining room wide open as they and Kristoff sat cosily together at breakfast.

          “It's barely spring and the work is already piling up on my desk again and I can hardly get out of the castle to enjoy the season to the full,” Anna lamented, her voice tinged with a hint of frustration, “Some of the farmers can't agree on anything regarding the new crops to sow and are arguing with each other. I wonder if that will ever stop?”

          “Well, sis, that sounds very familiar to me. There's never a dull moment when you're the queen. The work usually doesn't finish until late in the evening, as I'm sure you remember well from my time as queen, back in your current study,” Elsa said, her voice filled with shared understanding. Anna nodded, her eyes reflecting the bond and empathy between them.

          “Honey, I got an idea. I could go up to the farmland with Sven, maybe I can find a solution or two and help these farmers in their dilemma,” Kristoff suggested. “Then maybe we could undertake something together?”

          “That's sweet of you, darling,” said Anna, who was sitting right next to him, and gave him a peck on the cheek. “That will definitely help me and …”

          Out of nowhere, a sudden a gust of wind suddenly swept through the room, sending the sisters' hair flying. But it didn't stop there, because Elsa's long, golden braid lifted into the air and made it dance up and down.

          “Gale?” Anna asked in astonishment, “What are you doing here? Hello, my windy friend!”

          Elsa closed her eyes briefly and then said, “Not only is Gale here, Nokk has also just arrived and is waiting for me down at the little jetty. I can feel that I'm needed, Anna. He wants to take me to the north.”

          “Has something happened at the Northuldra?” her sister asked anxiously.

          “I don't think so, but I don't know for sure. The nature spirits don't talk to me the same way we talk to each other, instead it's always just feelings and images. But it's still easy for me to understand.”

          While her sister pondered this new information, Elsa fell into concentrated silence for a moment with her eyes closed. Anna now knew what the expression on her sister's face meant, that she was communicating mentally with the two nature spirits right now. Kristoff was also aware of Elsa's behaviour, which was still somewhat unusual. Then Elsa opened her eyes.

          “Ahtohallan needs me and I must answer the call, guys. I'll try to be back as soon as possible.”

          She stood up and the two others did the same.

          “We'll accompany you to the castle garden,” Anna said with an inviting sideways glance at Kristoff, who nodded, “I haven't seen Nokk for a few months.”

          A little later, as they stood side by side on the jetty, the water spirit rose majestically from the harbour basin and stepped onto the fresh, short grass with his typical elegance, but dripping wet. Elsa grabbed his head and rested her forehead against his in greeting. Instead of speaking, she thought her following words, “Hello, Nokk. I got the message and I'm ready for the journey.” In the next moment, she used her magic to make the watery nature spirit take on a more solid form and swung herself skilfully onto his back.

          “One day I'd like to ride it too,” said Anna, a little enviously, looking admiringly at the horse with Elsa on it in her spirit dress.

          “You will do that, sis, I promise. See you both soon, then.”

          “But please promise me not to do anything on your own if the worst comes to the worst, Elsa; we're here for you, as you know. Take good care of yourself!” Anna called after her as she turned Nokk round and rode off splashing. Elsa turned back once more and waved. Gale said goodbye in his typical manner and disappeared too. After that, everything was as if nothing had happened. Only a few guards on the southern rampart had been watching everything and were now watching Elsa on the fjord as she sped away at breathtaking speed.

          “Yes, you can get envious,” Kristoff admitted and put an arm around Anna's shoulders. “This connection between your sister and the nature spirits is truly remarkable. Nothing will happen to Elsa today; she is now back to how she was before, with all her memories and powers back. She'll be back soon, don't worry, darling.”

~~~

Elsa had rarely thought of Ahtohallan since she had decided to stay in Arendelle at her sister's side. But she was still the fifth Spirit, and since their enemies had all been defeated, the bridge between the magic of nature and the humans had been restored, with Anna on one side and herself on the other. Elsa therefore did not rule out the possibility that she would be on hand immediately should she be needed in the enchanted forest. Just not all the time and being separated from her sister. A lot had changed for her in the last few months and now she was eager to find out why Ahtohallan had summoned her.

          It had to be something important and Nokk hadn't told her, or rather couldn't show her in clear pictures. This was regularly the case when it came to matters concerning Ahtohallan itself, which didn't happen very often in the past. As expected, they did not ride to the upper beach near the Northuldra camp, but further north, directly towards the glacier.

          As soon as Nokk had dropped her off in front of the entrance and they both bowed briefly to each other as usual, she remembered the last time she had stood here completely naked and freezing to the bone. But that was because she had lost her powers or no longer knew how to use them. Everything was back to normal this time and the cold no longer bothered her. Furthermore, the path to the triangular entrance was now clear again and nothing stopped her from going inside.

          She entered the glacier and walked to the junction that ultimately led to the hall of memories. As always, the ice walls lit up before her and showed the way. She slid down the narrow corridor to the abyss, where the pilons she had created still towered. However, this time she didn't jump from one to the next to get to the other side, but created a narrow surface while still gliding along, which connected them all. She was over there in no time at all and entered the vestibule.

          Elsa hurried ahead and finally reached the Great Hall of Memories, which was still in darkness. She stepped onto the glowing surface with the symbol of the fifth spirit in the centre. At the same moment, the whole dome lit up and the image of her mother appeared on it, just as it had on the day of her appointment to the fifth spirit.

          “Mother!” cried Elsa in surprise and took a few steps closer.

          “Hello, my little snowflake. It's so nice to see you safe and sound again. A belated happy birthday to you too!”

          “Thank you very much, I'm very happy to see you too, Mama, but tell me, why don't you appear to me like last time and are only visible as an image on the dome instead?”

          “Well, we're not here in the intermediate world where our consciousness is directly connected. This is the real physical world and therefore the only way for me to communicate with you here. I am in direct contact with Ahtohallan today.” Elsa realised and nodded.

          “I see. So you are Ahtohallan's voice today and it wants to tell me something very important?”

          “Yes, Elsa, that's right. Ahtohallan has not yet been able to thank you for his liberation and, as you can imagine, has not been able to help you with the prophecy because of the magical wall of mist, as its connection to the world was cut off. You can therefore be sure of its great thanks and apologies, which also applies to Anna. It is pleased that you could fully regain your powers and memories and that Anna did everything in her power to help you. It also understands your promise to your sister to stay by her side in Arendelle.”

          “Thank you for that, but surely that wasn't the only reason I was here today, was it?”

          “Indeed, for Ahtohallan has a new mission for you as its fifth Spirit, Elsa. It is something extraordinary. To be honest, I'm very excited about what I'm about to tell you.”

          Elsa took a step closer, full of curiosity, and her nerves were now stretched to breaking point.

          “However, there is one thing you should know about Ahtohallan first. As you know, Ahtohallan was and still is a river of memories and the source of your magic. But there is more and that is why you were summoned.”

          ‘Here it comes’; Elsa thought to herself and clung to Iduna's lips.

          “Ahtohallan can not only see into the past, but also into the future and wants you to stay by Anna's side in Arendelle for the time being and support her in what will happen there in the near future.”

          “Something is going to happen in Arendelle? When? A new threat?” Elsa asked, worried about Anna and her friends.

          Iduna smiled sympathetically at her, “Not what you think, Elsa, nothing bad. Still, Anna will need you very much.”

          “But I'm not supposed to know exactly what's going to happen yet? Please, Mama, I need to know! Especially when it comes to my sister.”

          Iduna smiled sympathetically and nodded. “Perhaps it's better if I show you Ahtohallan's visions and explain what the images of the near and distant future are all about.”

          At the same moment, moving images appeared all over the high dome, showing scenes from different time periods and locations. Iduna explained exactly what was happening and her gaze on certain scenes helped Elsa to understand. Elsa stared at the visions open-mouthed in complete surprise and suddenly understood the deeper meaning behind them and why she was the only one who could help Anna. Ahtohallan had undoubtedly made the right decision and suddenly everything made a lot more sense. Elsa began to smile.

          “Thank you, Mama, for showing me the future. I now understand Ahtohallan's decision and I promise to take care of it in time.”

~~~

Elsa talked to Iduna for a while afterwards and asked many questions before letting Nokk take her to the upper beach. She had seen many more pictures of a future that showed her the events of the next two years, but had nothing to do with the other matter.

          The beach was not empty and she saw Joná and two other fishermen unloading their morning catch from the boats. Everyone watched her with wide eyes as she stepped down from Nokk, bowed to him and the mighty nature spirit dissolved into the sea immediately afterwards. She greeted Joná and asked him how things had gone with his fiancée. He told her enthusiastically that everything was fine and that he would finally be able to marry Ikka in autumn with her parents' approval. Joná could hardly wait and was visibly excited.

          When Elsa passed the weathered tree trunk a little later, she couldn't help but think of Honeymaren. She mumbled to herself as she thought back to her dream and imagined what Maren was doing, “I hope you're well, Maren. I'll see you again in six months' time.”

          Elsa took her time and when she smiled as she walked into the Northuldra camp, she was greeted happily by everyone. Many of the children noisily unringed her and asked her all sorts of questions. She was eventually invited to lunch and met Yelana at one of the campfires.

          “Hello, Elsa. I did not expect to see you today. You look very happy today, how come?”

          “Oh, I've just heard something exciting from Ahtohallan. It wants me to stay in Arendelle because of it.”

          “So it's finalised now and you're no longer planning to stay in the forest with us,” Yelana said a little sadly.

          “Yes, it is and I'm looking forward to it. But when I look around here and see the faces, I notice that your people are doing very well and everything is as it was before. That's good. But don't worry, of course I'll always come to visit and help immediately if something happens that requires the fifth spirit. Honeymaren will be back soon too and will take over your role, Yelana.”

          “Yes, that's true, but it was also good that I was here for the last few months and was able to experience the turn of the year with my people. We've discussed a lot of things since then.”

          “By the turn of the year, you probably mean the solstice, right? What did you do on that day?”

          “Exactly, and that was also your birthday, as I remember. Happy birthday to you. Well, we had a bonfire at our sieidi, we made offerings for a good future.”

          “You call the four monoliths a sieidi now?”

          “Since Alena, we now know the name for it, before it wasn't necessary and we only knew this one sacred place. But since the fifth monolith was uncovered, it has become something extraordinary. Alena is a noaidi and knows all the rituals like no other. She had told me all about sieidis before she left for the north and, above all, about the incredible number of other places with such a sacred site. There are many hundreds of them, can you believe it? The sieidis are everywhere in nature, in different regions and in the most diverse forms, as special stone formations or as old trees. To be honest, I've never given it more thought than necessary since I was young.”

          “That gives me an idea, especially because Ahtohallan knows your plan for the new meeting house in Arendelle and wants this building to be completed as soon as possible.”

          Yelana's jaw dropped. “Ahtohallan knows about my idea? That's …” She was at a loss for words and shook her head in amazement.

          “Yes, and there's even more. A good reason why we should talk about it in Arendelle soon.” Then Elsa grinned, “Which brings me to the next question, Yelana, because you were planning to return this month.”

          “You amaze me today, Elsa, but you're right. Until Honeymaren returns, I have chosen some of the oldest, wisest and most trusted persons in our community to take my place until that day. I was planning to leave for Arendelle in three days.”

          “Well, then I have a surprise for you, if you like at all, of course. That's entirely up to you.”

          “But now you've made me curious, and as you know, hardly anything can surprise me.”

          Elsa laughed and then asked bluntly, “Fancy riding back to Arendelle behind me on Nokk? I'll make sure he's not too fast for you.”

          “You would do that for me? Really? Nokk has helped some of our people cross a larger body of water from time to time, but none of us have ever ridden him. It would be the greatest honour and, to be honest, it would be a great dream come true for me at the end of my days!”

          “So it's a deal then, I'm glad. I can tell you more about the news on the way. When do we want to leave?”

          “I want to say goodbye and pack my few things. In the afternoon?”

          “Of course, Yelana. I'm also going to have a chat with your people, especially Ryder and Linnea. Honeymaren's brother might also have an exciting job in the future, but I'm not telling anyone yet.”

          Yelana paused for a moment and thought about what had been said. Then she looked round for a moment, leant over to Elsa and asked quietly, “Ahtohallan showed you the future? That's possible?”

          “I didn't know it until now either, Yelana, but it's true. But this must remain between us, yes? No one must know about it!”

          Yelana nodded thoughtfully and made a rarely used Northuldra gesture, indicating that her lips would remain sealed.

~~~

Another three months later …

Early summer in Arendelle brought visitors arriving on large ships. They were invited guests from the most distant kingdoms of Chatho, Eldora, Selinia, Zaria and even Yuwabe, who had set sail a little earlier in order to arrive in time for the big wedding. However, the date was still a whole week away, so Anna had to assume that they must have planned a stay in Arendelle.

          After Anna had greeted them personally, she ensured that all the delegates were accommodated correctly and provided with everything they needed in the castle. Most of them were already familiar with the capital from previous visits, while others had barely left the castle before their departure and were now able to explore the city and the surrounding area.

          Just two weeks earlier, Anna had been busy planning her wedding and reading many books about traditional wedding rituals. Most of them were about wealthy farmers who spared no effort to organise everything for the occasion and actually celebrated for up to seven days. Of course, everything was organised in a strictly regulated order and with the necessary seriousness behind the festivities.

          This would all be far too stressful for Anna and she didn't need to imitate it for a royal wedding. A formal monarchical wedding was strictly regulated, but nowhere near as exaggerated and extravagant as a wedding in the countryside, where the focus was on having fun. She read the journals to see how her royal predecessors had handled it. The further back she turned the pages, the stricter, but also the more boring it became. Sometimes she wondered whether the weddings of monarchs were done out of love at all and not purely for the purpose of forming a necessary alliance with other kingdoms.

          It had probably been the same between her grandfather and Rita, about which she could hardly find anything in the journals. One day Rita simply disappeared and was never seen again, that much Anna knew. Runeard was furious and banned everything that reminded him of her from the castle, even going so far as to impose draconian punishments on anyone who said a word about Rita or even mentioned her name. Anna was sure that her grandmother did not marry out of love, but was forced into it. She had been heartbroken about this throughout her life in Arendelle, as she later learnt from Peterssen's diary, which she read with Elsa. It also reminded her of certain terrible details in Runeard's notebook, which they had discovered in the secret room, and made her sad.

          It was extremely interesting to see what Lord Peterssen had witnessed back then and where he himself wanted and had to intervene. All for the good of the Crown, of course. He also wrote about Anna and Elsa's parents, but especially about her mother. He knew about her secret from the very beginning and had advised her, or rather forbidden her for the good of the kingdom, to ever speak about it, not even to King Agnarr.

          When Anna and Elsa were still little, their father had told them about the enchanted forest and his mysterious saviour. But he hadn't known about Iduna's secret, that she was a Northuldra and had saved him. Mama could have told everyone back then, the whole family. After all, she had sat on the bed that night when Papa told his epic story; Anna thought and sighed. But Iduna had kept quiet and most probably took the truth to her watery grave during the shipping accident.

          However, in the end, their parents' marriage was the complete opposite of any previous royal wedding and the sisters were delighted to read page after page of the diary and discover many an unknown secret. Mama and Papa had married out of deep love for each other and conventions about how and why had not mattered to them. Even the guests they invited were limited to Arendelles citizens. They had been closer to the people than any other royal couple before them.

          Anna was keen to emulate one of Arendelle's old traditions, namely raising the first Kransekake ring with Kristoff. Anna wanted at least the same number of rings to remain on the first one, if not one more. But that depended on chance.

          “And what will you do if you only lift a single ring?” Elsa had asked and she had only looked at her sister seriously and replied, “Then Kristoff will get a beating from me!”

          They laughed heartily at her joke, but Anna was serious about having more than one child. She hadn't yet decided on a name either, although she had been thinking about it for weeks.

          Anna leant back in her armchair and closed her eyes. If it was a girl, maybe she would name her after her mother, who knows, and if it was a boy then maybe … she just didn't know. Let Kristoff choose and I'll just say yes or no to it, she thought, putting the problem aside for now. There was still enough time for that.

~~~

Then the big day finally arrived and both Anna and Kristoff were more excited than ever. Kristoff had been practising dances for the ball for weeks and had taken every opportunity for dance lessons. He wanted his wedding to be perfect, had had his hair cut, his fingernails manicured and practised his oath over and over again for when he would walk down the aisle as Crown Prince of Arendelle with his beloved Anna by his side. The closer this hour approached, the more nervous he became.

          Anna, on the other hand, was not a bit nervous, because everything was finally in order, including her white wedding dress with the rose crown, from which hung the long, semi-sheer and delicate train with embroidered crocus. She also wore a sølje, a brooch made of silver. She stood in front of the large standing mirror and admired herself in Maren's latest masterpiece. She tidied her crown and an unruly strand of her loose hair. Then she nodded contentedly and thought about everything again.

          While Kristoff had chosen his friend Ryder as best man, for her it was Elsa, her sister and the only remaining member of the royal family besides herself. Kai would act as master of ceremonies for the celebrations afterwards and had already taken care of everything important in advance. The palace staff had been instructed and the two large halls had already been prepared for the onslaught of illustrious guests. Even the seating arrangements had already been organised and small signs had been placed at the place settings. There would also be enough ushers in livery for the delegates and special guests.

          As a large number of citizens were expected, the staff had set up tables in the castle courtyard along the covered walkways to the front and left of the castle, which would later be filled with all kinds of delicacies, cakes and drinks for the visitors during the celebrations and also offered enough space for gifts for the bridal couple. For the traditional ceremony after the wedding, a table with the large Krumkake would be located between the chapel and the castle entrance to minimise the distance for Anna and Kristoff and so that everyone could see it clearly.

          What else would there be to think about? Had she perhaps forgotten something? But nothing could be changed now anyway, she realised and took a deep breath as she looked at the smiling faces in the mirror, those of her maid and the bridesmaids standing behind her.

          Anna smiled contentedly and walked slowly towards the window to look down. Her dress rustled softly on the carpet.

          The town was bursting with visitors from near and far. The shopkeepers were undoubtedly doing the business of their lives. The streets and houses were a sea of flowers; there wasn't a single spot in Arendelle that wasn't decorated. A multitude of different ships were anchored in the harbour and even in the Arenfjord, adorned with the colourful flags and pennants of all kinds of countries and kingdoms. The fishing boats of Arendelle even had to make way for them and now bobbed moored at the end of the harbour.

          Anna was mesmerised as she looked down from the window and observed a vast throng of citizens, visitors and royal guards from the castle guard. “Kristoff, you wanted a big wedding? Now you're getting one!” she giggled softly to herself, trying to imagine his face when he saw that down there.

          This was their day! At last!

          Then the longcase clock behind her struck eleven o'clock in the morning and Anna turned round, beaming with joy. The time had come and it was time to go downstairs!

          Elin's proudly smiling face gazed back at her as the girl and the other two grabbed Anna's train and held it up. Elin had immediately asked Halima if she could be one of Queen Anna's bridesmaids as soon as Halima had told her about the custom. Anna had of course agreed and now bent down to Elin.

          “Elin, my dear, I have another special task for you when we all stand at the altar later. You are allowed to hold my bridal bouquet during the ceremony so that I have my hands free. Afterwards, you simply hand it back to me before we leave the chapel. Would you do that for me?”

          “Really? I can hold your bouquet?” Anna nodded with a smile. “I would love nothing more for you, Anna! You make me very happy, you know?”

          “Well then, it's settled. But we should go downstairs now, I'm sure everyone is already waiting for us.”

          When Anna opened the door, her sister was already standing in front of it, grinning at her from ear to ear. Olaf stood next to her and beamed at her excitedly.

          “Well, nervous or just happy?” asked Elsa.

          “Well, what do you think? Happy, of course!”

          “That pleases me, Anna. You look beautiful, by the way. Kristoff will be out of his boots when he sees you.”

          “Well, I hope he's wearing normal shoes this time,” laughed Anna.

          When they stepped out of the hallway onto the top of the stairs to the small hall, her groom was already waiting at the bottom with the bridal bouquet in his hand. Ryder next to him, in his Kofte festive attire, saw Anna first and immediately gave his mate a shove that made Kristoff look up, startled. His adoring look at her was priceless; Anna thought to herself and beamed at him.

          Kristoff was not only wearing normal shoes, as Anna had hoped, but also a full traditional bunad that was undoubtedly tailor-made for him. Over a white linen shirt with a wide collar, he wore a green woollen waistcoat with two rows of silver buttons. Over this was a double-breasted coat with as many silver buttons, knee breeches over white woollen stockings with colourful pompoms on each side, and black leather shoes with silver buckles. Finally, Kristoff also had a flat hat on his straw-blonde hair and the crocus symbol of Arendelle was embroidered on the lapel of his coat. Anna was very impressed and thought that Kristoff looked rather well dressed.

          As she walked down the last step beside him, she told him so.

          “And you look just fabulously beautiful,” he replied quietly, handing her the bouquet and admiring her from top to bottom. “I'd love to just kiss you to the ground right now,” he joked.

          Anna leant towards him and whispered with a grin, “Later, my darling, later.” They gazed into each other's eyes for seconds, enamoured.

          “Come on, you lovebirds, the wedding guests and Bishop Ulriksøn are already waiting in the chapel,” Elsa reminded them kindly but firmly and gave a wave to someone near the entrance.

          The bride and groom's faces flew around in surprise as the lilting notes of a Hardanger fiddle rang out and the musician began to play the traditional wedding march. Behind him they could see the crowded castle courtyard and every citizen there craned their necks to get a good view of the bride and groom.

          Anna wondered if this was her sister's idea, glanced round at her briefly and saw her nodding and winking with one eye. Anna had to laugh. Apparently Elsa had read the same book.

          Kristoff held out the crook of his arm for her to hook under and Anna immediately complied. The five of them, including Olaf, then walked down the wide staircase with measured steps and smiles and were greeted with applause.

          An alleyway formed among the many people, without any help from the castle guards. Flower children came running up, scattering white and purple crocus flowers on their way to the chapel as they followed the fiddler. The fiddler kept happily turning round to them as he played, while the audience started clapping to the beat and now singing the traditional rhyme. Their best men and Olaf hurried ahead

          Then they entered the packed chapel with all the delegates, invited guests and good friends of the bride and groom. The fiddler interrupted his playing. Instead, the choir took over and sang an equally traditional wedding song. They walked slowly towards the altar, where Bishop Ulriksøn was already waiting for them on the platform with a narrow, open book in his hands.

          Elsa and Olaf stood to his right, opposite Ryder on Kristoff's side. As the bride and groom were about to walk up the steps to the altar, Anna handed her bouquet to a beaming Elin, who, looking at the smiling faces around her, jumped up and down a few times in happiness and then looked back at Anna. Then it became quiet in the hall, the bridal couple had stopped and were now looking intently at the bishop.

          He looked first at his queen, then at Kristoff. His penetrating gaze lingered on him for seconds, then he looked back at Anna without saying a word. He blinked briefly, then raised an eyebrow questioningly, exchanged quick glances between the two and cleared his throat quietly.

          Anna looked over at her fiancé, puzzled, and then realised what the bishop was trying to tell her.

          She gave Kristoff a light kick and whispered to him, “Kristoff, your hat!”

          Kristoff startled in sudden realisation, said with a sheepish grin, “Oops …”, took off his hat and handed it to Ryder.

          Ansfrid Ulriksøn nodded in relief and began his lengthy speech from his book, which, in addition to the religious aspects, also dealt with the royal house of Arendelle and the bride and groom standing before him and their love for each other, until he finally came to the crucial part of the vows and closed his book. He handed it to his waiting young altar boy and said, “Please join hands now.” They turned to each other and did as he asked. Then he placed his own hand over it and spoke solemnly in a loud voice, “Kristoff Bjorgmann, will you take Queen Anna of Arendelle as your wife to live with her in holy matrimony, to love, honour and comfort her and to stand by her in sickness and in health for as long as you both shall live? So say “I do”.”

          After Kristoff had said the words, the bishop repeated the question to Anna and she also said “I do” without hesitation.

          The bishop released his hand and recited the usual marriage vow, starting with Kristoff, who not only repeated it word for word loudly and flawlessly, but also went down on one knee in front of Anna, looking at her enamoured but serious at the same time and placing his other hand over hers. Kristoff even went one step further and added his personal oath to Anna, adding a little more quietly, “You are my life, Anna. I will always be there for you, love you and - if necessary - defend you to the death with my life. I swear that to you!” He then stood up and a tear ran down Anna's cheek as it was her turn to repeat the bishop's words.

          “Now put on your rings and repeat after me …”

          In keeping with tradition, Kristoff and Anna slipped the rings from their left hands onto the ring fingers of their right hands and repeated the bishop's words simultaneously, “I give you this ring as a sign and pledge of our enduring loyalty and lasting love.”

          “Now join hands. By the power vested in me by the laws of the Kingdom of Arendelle, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss.”

          The moment Anna and Kristoff kissed and embraced, the audience rose to their feet and a standing ovation erupted, which spread out into the castle courtyard as soon as the sound reached the outside world. Everyone there immediately began to cheer loudly. Elsa, Olaf and Ryder were the first to congratulate the bride and groom and they hugged each other.

          Anna now looked at Elin and nodded to her. The little girl handed her the bouquet and immediately helped to hold up the train with the other two bridesmaids. As they stood outside, they let the remaining guests stream past them from the chapel and received congratulations from everyone.

          Anna's thoughts now turned to the Kransekake's rings, but first she had another tradition to fulfil. She wanted to throw the bridal bouquet, which one of the unmarried ladies was supposed to catch, thus promising a possible next wedding according to custom.

          She took a few steps forward and everyone made room for her, while Kai took care to guide the female guests in question behind Anna, at least those who wanted to. Anna turned round after them briefly and looked into their expectant faces. She also spotted Princess Mari among them, who looked a little apprehensive, but nevertheless stood by and surrendered to chance. When their eyes met, Anna smiled sympathetically at her. Then she turned around, closed her eyes and threw the bouquet in a high arc behind her.

          Everyone in the castle courtyard followed the trajectory eagerly and “oohs and aahs” could be heard. When the next round of applause could be heard, Anna turned round and saw Mari's stunned face as she held the bouquet in her hands in disbelief. Before looking round, she gave Anna a reproving look, but then laughed when she saw Francis' benevolent face in the crowd and her father, King Jonas, standing not far from him, smiling and applauding her. Finally, she approached Anna, who immediately embraced her.

          “Congratulations, Mari, you really did catch it.

          “It was well aimed of you, I just had to spread my hands.”

          “Oh no, just pure chance,” laughed Anna, but she wasn't so sure, as she was always very accurate when throwing snowballs and using a bow and arrow. But she was glad that it was Mari and no one else. She knew that Francis and she had become close and their strolls had become longer in the recent months.

          “But since we're on the subject and coincidence seems to have played a part … what do you think about accompanying us to Brinnon? The baron has offered to take us on his ship and provide an escort later. Kristoff and I will be there incognito for a fortnight on our honeymoon and he would like to take the opportunity to show us his country estate. Wouldn't that be a good opportunity for you to get to know Francis better?”

          “Well, I have to say, Anna, you're not a bit sly, are you?” They both laughed out loud and Anna could only shrug her shoulders with a grin.

          “I didn't mean it like that, of course, but I've noticed that you two seem to get on well. Francis is a real gentleman. He is handsome and charming, but that is not all, he has powerful connections not only in the royal house of Brinnon, but in their parliament as well, to boot. I think you two are a good match and if you think about it, a chance like this and a real baron on top of that is always better than a stupid, immature Westergaard prince you don't know at all, isn't it?”

          Mari was speechless, but realised that Anna was absolutely right and had also judged her interest in Fran quite well.

          “Let's both go over to the Kransekake table for the ceremony. Wish me luck, Mari,” Anna said without waiting for her answer and put her arm around Mari's shoulder in a companionable manner.

          Kristoff, Kai, Gerda and Olina were already standing there waiting and smiling at them. All the other onlookers made way for their queen and wished her good luck.

          Anna finally stood in front of the big cake, Kristoff right next to her. They were both smiling in great anticipation, although Anna had the impression that he was very nervous.

          “Nice and slow, darling,” she whispered to him as she placed her hand on the first ring and he did the same on the opposite side.

          They both took a deep breath and when she said “Now” they slowly lifted the smallest ring. The second ring moved and caught on the first, then they moved on. But just as it looked like it was going to be two Kransekake rings, it half detached and finally fell back onto the pile.

          Olina and Gerda called out the result almost simultaneously, so that everyone around them who didn't see it themselves knew that an heir to the throne had been predicted.

          Anna grimaced in disappointment for a split second, but immediately smiled again and everyone around her congratulated the bride and groom.

          “I'm sorry it wasn't two or more, darling,” Kristoff whispered to her.

          She nodded slightly, not letting on, and whispered back, “It's not your fault, darling. Apart from that, it's just a custom and the prediction often doesn't come true. Besides, we both make our own destiny, darling.”

          Then she turned round and exclaimed loudly, “Thank you for coming for our celebration. Let's get this party started! Have fun, everyone!”

~~~

It was planned and customary for a royal wedding that the celebrations would last three days and that the bride and groom would not only be present in the castle at all times, but would also be seen in the city on the third day at the latest.

          Tomorrow was also the second most crucial event after her coronation, which meant that Kristoff had to be elevated from commoner to noble status. Not only would he be officially presented as Crown Prince of Arendelle in front of all the dignitaries from the other kingdoms present, but he would also receive honours and a title. He also had to swear an oath to the crown and in front of all those present. In the future, Kristoff would be addressed as Royal Highness.

          Anna had to smile, because for him this also meant that the serious tough side of life was about to begin and with it a whole host of new duties. But she was sure that he would fulfil all the requirements needed - certainly not immediately, but definitely over the coming months and years.

          But first they would have a party, celebrate the wedding dance and have a lot of fun tonight.

~~~

The wedding celebrations lasted past midnight, but at some point Anna's feet started to ache from standing for so long. Kristoff kept asking her to dance, partly because he was keen to try out all the dances he had learnt with her and the other reason was because he felt a little uncomfortable at the table among all the guests and they were constantly being asked to kiss in the traditional way.

          The latter was Elsa's idea, which she had read about in one of Anna's books on old wedding customs. Not that Kristoff and Anna had anything against it, quite the opposite. His desire for Anna’s lips was like an everlasting flame, but the pressure to kiss in front of everyone started to be uncomfortable for them both. He preferred to be alone with his new wife for such intimacy and enjoy the rest of the evening with her dancing, twirling her around, and holding her close, enjoying every minute of their wedding celebration. Something that both had desired and wanted for many years.

          In the end, they were both relieved that most of the guests had finally gone to bed. This was also gratefully welcomed by the somewhat stressed castle staff. After saying goodbye to the last few remaining guests and they could finally go to sleep in their room and snuggle up together under the duvet. They were just too tired to do anything else, even though they really wanted to.

          Early in the morning, there were several knocks and when Anna finally said 'Come in' with sleepy eyes, Elsa entered the bedroom.

          “Good morning, you two,” she called cheerfully as she went to the window to let the bright and warm sunlight into the bed chamber.

          Kristoff grumbled as the morning sun shone directly on his face, turned round and snuggled up to Anna. By now she was sitting up in bed with the covers pulled up and yawning unroyally loudly. As usual, her long hair was all tousled.

          “Morning, Elsa, can’t we have just some minutes more of sleeping? I was having a pretty good dream,” she said and blinked at her sister with a grin.

          “Oh Anna, something never changes, even after being married …,” Elsa chuckled. “It's already eight o'clock on this beautiful sunny morning. Maybe that's why you should get up, because we have a full agenda today, as I'm sure you know, sis,” Elsa said with a playful tone, casting a knowing glance at Anna's newlywed husband.

          “Yep, that's it,” Anna sighed with a smile. “We'll be right down for breakfast.” She gently shook Kristoff and teased, “Come on, dreamy boy, time to get up!” Then, she carefully freed herself from his embrace to get dressed.

          Elsa only now realised that Anna was totally naked before her sister hurriedly disappeared behind the paravent. At the same time, Elsa’s face turned red, and she decided to flee the room before seeing her brother-in-law suddenly stand naked in front of her too.

          Elsa cleared her throat, “See you soon, I'll go ahead. Don’t be late.”

          “All right, sis, see you later … but it may be a while yet.”

          Elsa giggled softly and closed the door audibly behind her so that Kristoff could hear. But deep in her thoughts, she realized why Anna and Kristoff were exhausted after a very ardent night, just saying for herself: 'Newly married couple, I bet that that’s normal. At least Anna is happy.'

          Three quarters of an hour later, the newlyweds finally entered the dining room. Elsa was already drinking her third cup of tea, but hadn't touched the food at the table because she wasn't hungry.

          Kristoff turned up for breakfast in his new dress uniform and Anna wore her royal gown with the train and crown on her head to match the occasion.

          “We're not really hungry, Elsa … after all the cake we ate yesterday,” said Anna, demonstratively holding a hand over her stomach.

          “I can understand that, but I'm not really hungry either. How about we head downstairs after you've had a cup of tea with me? The celebrations are going to continue in the afternoon. Our citizens brought so many presents in the form of cakes and biscuits yesterday that I'm starting to wonder who's going to enjoy them all,” Elsa giggled.

          Anna joined in with a laugh. “We've still got Mattias and Halima's wedding in two days' time, so their guests could also enjoy it.

          “Well, let's see … and who knows what other sweet desserts will be added today.”

          “By the way, have you seen all the presents our guests from faraway kingdoms have given us?”

          “Not yet, Anna, but we can have a look together this afternoon. I bet there are some really cool dresses in there, right?”

          Anna nodded, “I wonder if there will ever be a suitable opportunity to wear them?”

          Elsa gave her a playful wink and said, “Who knows… maybe you could try some of these on for your honeymoon. I'm pretty sure your husband will love the idea, don’t you think, Kristoff?” After taking the last sip of tea and standing up, her eyes were fixed on Kristoff with a grin. “Ready for your big moment, Kristoff?”

          He knew, of course, that he was to be officially presented as crown prince to the delegates and closest trading partners present today, and nodded cautiously. But he didn't know the exact procedure, if he was honest with himself. At the latest when his wife laid his new uniform on his bed earlier, he knew that it was not going to be a normal day. Afterward, he had to swear a public oath before the people of Arendelle.

          He hadn't wanted to research all these details in the Crown's records in the days before, and it hadn't occurred to him to ask Anna either. The anticipation and novelty of it all made him decide to embrace the surprise and maintain his composure for the occasion. It seemed like Anna sensed his apprehension and gave him a reassuring peck on the cheek while softly saying, “Don't worry, darling. You'll be fine.”

~~~

The small hall was almost empty, with the exception of a few servants who were already setting the table for lunch. The high doors to the throne room were closed and two castle guards stood on either side. It seemed that all the ceremony guests were already inside, which made Kristoff a little nervous.

          “Would you wait here for a moment, Kristoff?” Anna asked with a hand on his forearm. He nodded and she signaled to the guards, who promptly opened the doors for her and Elsa, then closed them again. Kristoff caught a glimpse of a few people holding glasses, looking towards the royal sisters. He also spotted the bishop's red bonnet. This sight puzzled him. Why was he there; Kristoff wondered.

          It was another fifteen minutes before one of the doors opened again and General Mattias came out.

          “Your Royal Highness, everything is ready. The Queen and the distinguished guests await you now. Please follow me,” he said with a bow.

          Why was Mattias suddenly so formal with him? He had been quite different before to me, Kristoff wondered, raising his eyebrows as he pondered while he followed him closely. The sound of closing doors added to the tense atmosphere. Further ahead, two dozen high-ranking guests from distant kingdoms stood with serious expressions, making the situation even more intense for Kristoff.

          Anna was seated regally on the throne, her hands folded composedly in her lap. Elsa stood at her left, while Bishop Ulriksøn stood at her right, holding a precious cushion with a few unrecognizable gold objects. Behind the bishop, additional items were on a chair, and a red silk cushion lay gracefully on the floor in front of the throne platform, seemingly intended for Kristoff. Kristoff pondered what awaited him on this significant day.

          Kristoff stopped right in front of it while Mattias now joined Elsa's side. Kristoff looked around and now recognised Yelana and the treasurer of the crown, all members of the royal council, which was still incomplete but nonetheless fully present. There was a tense silence and many turned their heads to the queen, who slowly rose and moved towards Kristoff. Kristoff had never seen this expression in Anna's eyes before.

          The gazes of the foreign diplomats and royal council members were locked on them as Anna glanced at him with solemnity and regal dignity in her eyes and then spoke solemnly, “Kristoff Bjorgmann, royal ice master and supplier, and now crown prince of the kingdom of Arendelle, please kneel before your queen and all present here to receive your honors and titles, to swear the sacred oath of fealty to the crown and to receive the blessing of the church.”

          Kristoff swallowed nervously as he knelt on the scarlet cushion before her.

          Anna accepted a ceremonial sword from Elsa and gently lowered the blade onto each of Kristoff's shoulders in turn, bestowing her recognition and promotion.

          “Rise now, Lord Kristoff of Arendelle, Aide-de-camp of the Royal House, Lord of the Valley of the Living Rock, Knight of the Order of the Crocus and Crown Prince of Arendelle.”

          Anna now had Bishop Ulriksøn hand over to her, one by one, what he had so far held ready. She first took a narrow golden crown from the pillow and placed it on Kristoff's head, a moment that filled her with pride. Then she slipped a signet ring with Arendelle's crocus symbol onto the index finger of his left hand, a gesture that made her heart swell with hope. Next, Mattias put a belt with a sword on him, a symbol of his new role, and Kristoff felt a mix of excitement and trepidation. Mattias then had a short royal cloak handed to him, a weight that he was ready to bear. and put it around Kristoff's shoulders. Finally, Anna put a sceptre in his right hand and the orb in his left, and Kristoff felt a surge of responsibility and determination.

          General Mattias, as a senior member of the royal council, now stood before him, unrolled a parchment and read out Arendelle's royal letters patent, which listed the crown prince's future titles and officially confirmed him in them after he had taken the oath.

          “Kristoff Bjorgmann, are you ready to swear the oath to the crown? Now take it before your Queen and the witnesses here present, and from this moment on you shall be addressed as Your Royal Highness.”

          With the moment finally arriving, Kristoff confidently recited the words he had diligently memorized. His heart pounded, but he took a deep breath and spoke loud and clear.

          “I, Kristoff Bjorgmann, solemnly swear that I will be faithful and loyal to Her Majesty Queen Anna of Arendelle, her heirs and successors. I promise to live and, if necessary, to die defending Her Majesty and the sovereignity of the Kingdom of Arendelle with all my heart. So help me God.”

          This was the sign for the bishop to pronounce his ecclesiastical blessing on him.

          Now Anna smiled and some of the dignitaries present applauded him. Kristoff, his disbelief slowly transforming into joy, couldn't quite believe it yet, but a stone had just fallen from his heart, because now it was official. He gave Anna a loving look.

          What was still missing was for him to appear before the people and officially recognize himself as crown prince. But first, the hall was buzzing with anticipation as everyone wanted to shake his hand and congratulate him.

          But it was Elsa, always one step ahead, who reached him first. Her hand on his shoulder, her eyes locked with his, she smiled and said, “Congratulations, brother-in-law. Welcome to the royal family!”

~~~

---

Remark: I hope you have enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a comment if you liked the story, I would be pleased to read your opinions, even criticisms. If you want to be tagged as soon I publish the next chapter please let me know, except you are already tagged :-)

Note: Sorry that i was late with this chapter but life came inbetween. This was the final chapter of "The Broken Bridge", which will be followed by the epilogue and my afterword in a few days.

Additional note: In the Norwegian tradition, the engagement and wedding rings are usually one and the same and made of gold. During the ceremony, the engagement ring is then transferred from the left hand to the ring finger of the right hand. I didn't realise this in chapters 61 and 62 and described it in the wrong way. It is now correctly described here.

The last two scenes have been a co-writing of me and my betareader HeinrichVSA, who helped me a lot on this topic, as an historian.

The last picture is my version of "The Accolade" and it took me two full days to create it. I hope you like it.

Tagging: @true--north @annaofthenorthernlights @dronning-formynder05

[hoshigray]

I had this idea for sukuna and i can't stop thinking about it

so it set in the 60s-70s

reader and sukuna are married but not from love

she just want to married to escape from her miserable house and he just wants a wife to clean and cook for him beacuse he works all the day in his Farm and butchery

after that things getting sweeter between them and they start to fall in love with each other

But one day reader discover that sukuna is serial killer and he traps his victims in the grave under the barn...

i know i make it a little long but i want to see your vision on thatt

Hmmm, 60s to 70s, ehh...hmmm, my mind went to a Texas Chaisaw Massacre situation, but not really, ya know?? Like, okay, I can imagine you and kuna sharing a home together in like the countryside where you stay and clean while he's out at the farm/butchery. Hmmm I can see reader finding like a buried foot by the crops when they're walking out in the fields one day and then trying to act quiet about it around Sukuna. Oh fuck poor reader, they prob won't know what to do bc like they live in the middle of nowhere, so the nearest police station is like 15 mins away 😣😣😣 and what if they're scared telling somebody and they end up being the next victim!?!? aww yikes poor thing, finding that shit out RIGHT as the two of you get all lovey-dovey w/ each other, ughhhh

And Sukuna will know when you're acting all funny around him. Like imagine you all like kinda quiet around him and flinching whenever he makes even a small move around you, acting all offish with him all of a sudden, like you did when you two first met 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 oh he's gonna get to the bottom of it. And when he does find out!!?? Oooof, I'm thinking like he pulls you aside and asks you what you saw. Of course you're scared shitless when he's confronting you, practically thinking of all the exit ways to get outta here. OOOOH WAIT WAIT!!! Omg what if Sukuna's possessive of you, and you try to get out but he shuts that down immediately and has you in the basement all tied up and tells you that you can't leave him, now that he's finally learned to love and treasures you like his sweet little thing!?!? 😱😱😱😱 phewwwwwww holy hell bro

[allthingsarmin]

nerd!armin x popular bimbo girl!reader?

the reader needs a tutor so she asks the smartest boy on campus and they have a “study session” in the library

Thank you for your request! I hope you like it! (ALSO: I’m so sorry this took so long to write omgmgg please forgive me) ~ I also would like to write a better version of this later. Though I'm in love with this prompt, I feel I didn't write the smut part that well.

Minors DNI! NSFW below the cut. Fem!Reader, FemBodied!Reader.

_________________________

At this point, Armin’s legs were burning, his heart racing and hands uncontrollably shaking, while you were practically out breath, your lungs tightening as you released yet another hearty laugh and not caring about the sweat running down your forehead. Neither you nor Armin expected to be running away from the librarian at 2am in the morning on the cold, campus sidewalk, your hair and makeup questionably messy and his shirt noticeably unbuttoned with hickeys staining his neck. However, the thrill of it all was something you didn’t know you both needed…

Earlier:

“Y/n?” Armin questioned, waving his sharpened pencil in front of your face. “Are you paying attention?” He awkwardly laughed as he scratched the back of his neck. You look up at him, battering your mascara-covered eyelashes at him. “Ahh… I have no idea what’s going on,” you sighed.

Armin wanted to bang his head against the library table. He knew it would be difficult teaching the ‘campus bimbo,’ but he didn’t know it would be this hard… yet there he was. 1am on a Thursday, the test tomorrow, and you still couldn’t grasp the basics of quadratic functions.

“Why don’t we take a break?” he suggested, loudly dropping his pencil on the table, leaning back in his chair, and adjusting his disheveled collar poking out of his blue sweater.

“Okay!” you giggled mindlessly, turning to face him in your chair as you twirled your hair in your fingers. “Even though I’ll probably fail the test tomorrow, thank you for teaching me!” you exclaimed, fiddling with your compact mirror and checking your dolled-up face.

Armin tensed up at your backhanded words. Pushing his hair back out of frustration, he cursed the fact he was wasting his time with such an ai-headed girl. “Y-you’re welcome,” he hastily said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Why didn’t he say no to your study session - if you could even call it a study session - ? Even though Armin was the school nerd, it’s no surprise to him that you came and asked him for help because, well… Everyone does that - always taking advantage of Armin - only talking to him because they want to use his neat, color-coded notes, only inviting him to parties so that he would later help them study.

You felt bad for Armin. Though you couldn’t deny he was way too uptight, everyone did make fun of him for every little thing; the way he dressed like a professor, how he was always so punctual, the way he was the first to raise his hand when the teacher asked a question, how he came extra prepared to class with extra pencils.

But being so close to him now, this was the first time you realized how handsome he actually was. His turquoise veins protruding from his soft, pale skin… his slender fingers gently holding his flashcards, his toned muscles peeking their way through his rolled up sleeves and making his clothes just a little tight, the sharpness of jawline contrasting with his kind, bright smile, the way his ocean blue eyes stared intently with such passion, and his thick, golden hair growing to his eyebrows, allowing his cute ears to shyly show themselves while his undercut beautifully shaped his face… he was beautiful.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” you suddenly asked.

Armin was taken aback by this question. No one had ever asked him this nor did any one seem to have any interest in his personal life whatsoever.

“No,” he paused, “I don’t have time for that stuff…” he trailed off. Armin never had a girlfriend, and thinking about it now, he never really had any crushes. He was way too busy keeping up with his grades, extra curricular activities, and student council. It would be practically impossible for him to keep such close relations with his kind of responsibilities, but that doesn’t mean he’s not lonely… his arms aching for someone to hold, his heart cold due the absence of warmth of a person he loves.

Armin didn’t bother asking you if you had a boyfriend. You were the most popular person on campus, partying with countless dudes every weekend, hanging out with a large group of girls at the mall nearly every day, your phone buzzing so much during class that your professor told you multiple times to turn it off, and you were pretty - your hair was always done in a pretty style, your makeup (though a bit slutty) always brought out the best features of your face, your nails were always painted, your skin was smooth and silky, and your perfume scent was addicting. Not only that but your clothes showed off your body so well; your skirt that was just a little short allowed people to see your cute panties when you bend over to pick something up, and your shirt that was barely even a shirt was always cropped above your waist and showed off your bouncy, plush cleavage… so of course you had a boyfriend. But even though Armin was an incredibly focused nerd, he couldn’t deny that your sweet smell, tight clothes, and lipstick-covered lips made him lustful.

“Too busy for that stuff?! Aren’t you lonely? It’s like you don’t even know how to have fun,” you chuckle, jokingly hitting his shoulder which happened to be really muscular underneath his sweater.

“Haha yeah,” he said, seemingly uninterested in where you were going with this.

“If you’re so busy, does that mean you don’t have time to masturbate?” you giggled, covering your plump mouth with your hand and fluttering your eyelashes at him.

Armin became extremely flustered as tints of red washed over his body in waves.

“W-what?” he stuttered. “Why are you asking me these questions? We are supposed to be studying!” he quietly shrieked, looking away to break eye contact with you and playing with the watch on his wrist.

“Haha, I am just joking. You’re such a nerdy boy, just want to make you blush,” you sincerely smiled.

“W-well I am a young college student, so obviously I - I do that from time to time thanks to p-porn,” he stammered.

“Woah woah wait. Someone as uptight and rigid as you watches porn?” you harshly laughed, genuinely shocked. You scooted your chair closer to him and leaned into his neck, your hot breath caressing his skin and your hair resting upon his shoulder. “What kind of porn does this nerd like to watch?” you inquired, widely grinning as you saw how embarrassed Armin had become.

On the inside, Armin was fuming, mostling frightened that he had gotten himself into an embarrassing loop with no escape that would most likely be gossiped about amongst the popular students, but mostly angry that some dumb, slutty bitch was wanting to pry into his personal life, not even appreciating the fact that he spent countless hours in the library helping you study to no avail because you couldn’t pay attention if your life depended on it… that this same dumb, slutty bitch was just getting her fun from teasing some nerd who is taken advantage of and forgotten by everyone… angry that you - with your pretty makeup, plump lips, short skirt, and overflowing cleavage - weren’t paying the price for your teasing.

Suddenly, Armin sat up in his chair, his muscles tensing through his clothes, and an aggravated look forming across his face, wrinkling his brows. He quickly takes a fistful of your hair and pulls you close to his face, allowing you to see the different shades of blue in his eyes and his soft, blond eyelashes. His innocent, geeky look is nowhere to be found on his face as he intensely stares into your eyes.

“It just so happens that this nerd likes to watch useless, empty-headed bimbos like you get their pussies abused,” he said, dominance seething from his teeth as his mint breath hits your face. Before you even have time to think, Armin unbuttons his slacks and practically forces your mouth on his hard, pretty cock.

Watching you gag and choke on his cock with saliva dribbling down your chin made him laugh. “You’re gonna have to be a little quieter, slut, we’re in a library remember?” he coos. He abruptly pulls you off his cock, taking in the sight of his lipstick-stained tip and the mascara tears streaming down your face. His treatment was so harsh and so sudden, making you miss the ‘nicer’ and ‘quieter’ Armin, but you couldn’t deny his sudden dominance made your aching cunt flood with arousal.

Before doing anything else, Armin scans the library, making sure no one is around. Grabbing your wrist, he forces you to sit on his lap, facing him on top of the library chair. Everything happened so quickly, barely even leaving you time to think, barely leaving you time to think that Armin was using your body to relieve his anger and frustration, not leaving you time to realize how sopping wet your needy cunt actually was.

Sitting atop his lap, he spreads your plush, soft thighs, exposing the fact that you didn’t wear any panties to this study session, causing Armin’s eyes to widen.

“I don’t know why I’m so surprised that a whore like you wouldn’t wear anything underneath your short skirt to our little ‘play date,’” he snickers. He leans close to your ear, softly biting your neck. “It’s almost like you were asking to be fucked by me.”

You don’t know what to say. Your mind is so empty, fuzzy, and shocked that the only thing you can do is comply when he demands that you ride his cock. Armin lets out a low groan from the bottom of his throat as your tight, warm pussy encloses his thick cock. You let a pathetic whimper as he begins to thrust up into you, and Armin gives you a glare, reaching up and tightening his hands around your throat. “Remember, you have to be quiet, or are you too dumb to remember that?” he sinisterly smiles.

Armin begins to harshly thrust into you as you wrap your arms around his neck, holding onto dear life as he deeply penetrates your spongy, sensitive walls. He slithers his slender hands into your shirt and starts toying with your nipples and pinching them when you’re being too loud.

Groping your ass, he whispers in your ear, “you know, I don’t even know why you’re in college… you’re so dumb. Why don’t you just drop out and be my little slut for when I come back after class, huh?” You sink your head into the crook of his neck, embarrassment coming over you at the same time as pleasure fills your walls when he tells you those mean words.

He grabs your hair, forcing you to look at him. Your hair is a tangled mess, your makeup completely smeared, and your eyebrows furrowed as your innocent-looking eyes beg for some type of release.

“F-fuck, you look so dirty,” he groans, leaning his head back.

“And you look like two students who are going to be in so much trouble…”

Both of you tense up and look behind you to find the librarian staring daggers into your souls.

Immediately, you hop off of Armin’s dick, gathering your things as he struggles to pull up his pants. Both of you at an ungodly speed bolt out of the library doors. Yeah, getting potentially banned from the library would suck, but maybe it was something you both needed. Armin needed to learn to loosen up, have some fun, and you needed to learn to take things seriously and maybe just put in a little more effort.

“Ya’know, it’s kind of late. We can go back to my dorm, and I can help you study for maybe another half hour… if you want,” Armin shyly asks as you both continue running down the sidewalk.

“What about the other half hour?” you questioned.

Armin’s face grows red. “We can finish… chemistry…”

[ramzawrites]

Prologue - Nature God!Reader - Learning how to fly

GN

Pairings: none

Characters included: DreamXD, Eret

Warnings: themes of abandonment

Series: Yes! Planned are at least two more chapters for now!

Summary: Y/N was a god. Just like their mother Demeter they are also responsible for nature, though Demeter neglected to teach them. So when their mother suddenly disappeared it was Y/N’s time to step up. Unfortunately DreamXD was there and his idea of teaching them on how to take care of the realm left them with more worry and fear.

Words count: 2322

Authors Note: Honestly I didn’t expect this to go this way! I wanted to jump straight into this but now I’m here with a prologue. I am only planning to write a few more chapters and this will mostly concentrate on Y/N talking with memebers of the dsmp and trying to give them a chance to heal. Even if all they can offer are words of encouragement. Maybe the others can do the same for them :]

This will probably end more open ended and is meant to be like a thing to write for me to explore characters and their pain when I feel like it

Special thanks to 🌱🌟 anon who let me use traits from his OC for the Reader!

The wind picked up. The flowers bending and pushing against Y/N’s body as they laid alone in the field. The petals softly petting the exposed skin. Caressing them and calming them down as choked sobs escaped their lips. The usual blooming flower crown on their head now brown and grey. All the color faded.

The sun was shining bright and yet the temperature suddenly dropped significantly. The air turning into a sorrowful howling. The leaves of the trees rustling, the sound of it crying out.

Something was wrong.

Something just vanished, no someone.

Someone important.

And Y/N felt it. It was like all the warmth in their body just disappeared. A hole in their heart. A love gone that should be there. Suddenly alone in a world that should yell out love to them. A world created for them but the soul of it just left.

Between the sobs, the cracking of the leaves and sound of the wind, there was a thud. Steps that scrunched up the grass and the few flowers that sadly grew in the wrong place.

The person who just appeared moved around Y/N. Standing next to them. His head moving above their body, casting a shadow on their face. Yet they refused to open their eyes and just kept on crying. Tears running down the side of the face into the grass. Breathing was difficult as they wept.

Y/N didn’t need to open their eyes to know who was standing above them. The aura alone gave them all the information they needed.

It was a cold aura, something foreign and yet it made them feel safe. Feel protected and seen.

There was only one with an aura like that. DreamXD. A fellow god. The only god Y/N knew besides their mother and themself.

“Y/N.” The End God spoke. His voice calm. Emotionless but with purpose. He wanted to talk.

Their body still shaking, Y/N sat up and begun rubbing the tears off their eyes. Opening them up to see DreamXD, his cracked porcelain face staring down at them at an angle. It surprised Y/N to see that his hood was down, which was a rarity for him.

“Uncle XD- I- She is-“

He nodded which stunned Y/N a bit. DreamXD wasn’t really experienced in emotions and the like but this felt, close. He sympathized.

“I know, Y/N. Demeter is- your mother is gone. Not dead but she will be gone for a while. I’m here to tell you that. I made her promise to tell you. To make sure you are alright. Teach you.”

For a moment Y/N just stared at their hands as they wrung them. Dropping them in their lap, tears still slipping down their cheeks. “I felt it.”

“I would be surprised if you hadn’t. It must feel horrible. The world, the nature already feels empty without Demeter but you must have felt it tenfold. I can see it on you.”

While Y/N suspected that DreamXD knew definitely more than he let on it also made them self-aware of their own situation. The flower crown on top of their head that decorated their hair was an extension of them. Their emotion on display via these flowers and right now they looked withered. Dead.

Y/N stood up in order to try to be more on the same eye level “What happened? Where is she? Where is my mother? Can I help her?”

It took a moment before DreamXD answered. It was difficult gauging what his thought process was even if Y/N was a fellow god, they always had problems with that. Demeter on the other hand could almost always tell what DreamXD was thinking about. Probably a result of them knowing each other for eons but Y/N only knew him for a few decades. They were a young god after all.

“She is-“ he paused “She is resting. After creating a miracle she never took the chance to rest. Now her body forced her to. Demeter will be back. It will take time but she will return.”

Apalled Y/N shook their head “What?! Uncle the realm needs her! Nature will wither without her! I need her! She is my mother! Why did she leave me alone! Why didn’t she tell me!”

While their first thoughts fell on the problem of; what happens to nature if the nature god disappears, their mind soon dove back on the fact that their mother was gone. Usually they were surrounded by her love but that just suddenly vanished and they didn’t know how to deal with the situation. Their mother was their everything.

For the first time in their life, they felt alone. Truly alone.

DreamXD shook his head “It was inevitable. That she didn’t tell you was her choice and I can’t say anything more about that but the realm will be fine. You are still here. A god like her. While she took on the responsibilities of caring for the realm on her own you two are connected. The powers she holds also flow through you. It is time you learn how to fly, little bird.”

Y/N’s hand flew towards their lower lip, nervously holding it between their fingers only to drop it again so they could talk “H-How? I’m sure you can feel it too! It’s empty! It’s like her soul left this place. She had such a good sense for everything. I don’t know what to do! I don’t have the same sense for the place that she had!”

They were rambling. This came out of nowhere. Demeter promised them that she would always be there for them. She promised to always be there and ease them into their shared responsibilities so how did it end up like this?

They just vanished without telling them anything. Just dropping them into the cold water and DreamXD probably knew everything but he wouldn’t tell Y/N and they knew they couldn’t get it out of him. He was known for being incredibly loyal and dutiful after all and if he promised Demeter not to tell Y/N then he won’t.

White hands came out of DreamXD’s cloak, moving slowly up and down as a sign for Y/N to calm down “You don’t have that sense yet because Demeter wanted to give you a life similar to that of a human. Therefore she neglected to teach you earlier in life and instead gave you a life close to that what she considered human.” There was some judgement in his voice “Now, the first thing you have to do is find a connection to the realm. The emptiness you feel? You have to fill that yourself.”

“How?”

“I think it is time you visited the place proper and not live in this pocket dimension created by your mother. Here, I’ll show you.”

He then stretched his hand out towards Y/N. It was weird having him here like this. Y/N liked him and saw him as their uncle but he was still a bit aloof at times. Whenever Y/N wanted to play games with him it took him a few moments until he understood what they wanted from him. But he was willing to learn and amuse them.

Y/N hesitated a bit before they put their hand into that of DreamXD’s but when they did they were a bit surprised with how warm they were.

DreamXD then used his free hand to open a portal up via a flourish of his hand. The portal seemed to be made out of liquid night sky. It moved and hummed full with energy.

That’s when it hit Y/N “I’m not ready. I can’t do this.”

“I’m sorry.”

And with that statement he just stepped through. His grip on Y/N strong and pulling them along into the cold liquid, if they liked it or not. They closed their eyes. Scared and still overwhelmed by the sudden emptiness their mother left behind.

It surprised them with how fast the coldness of the liquid passed. The emptiness that allowed them to travel between realms. They made it to the other side.

The birds sounded different. That was the first thing Y/N noticed before they opened their eyes. And as they stood there, eyes still closed DreamXD didn’t remove his hand. He held on.

After moments that felt like minutes Y/N opened up their eyes and looked around. The two stood on a mountain that gave them free view of what they would describe as a destroyed city. Holes as deep as they could be. Buildings half build and half destroyed. Remnants of places people obviously used to live in.

“What is that?” Y/N asked. Their voice weak and wavering. Either from nervousness or from the crying.

DreamXD turned to them “A place I have watched from time to time. Your mother too, though she watched more than she interacted. She was too busy with you to talk to them and here is the place where you will learn more about this world. The world we all help to keep up and protect. Our role as gods is to uphold the rules of this realm and sometimes sow seeds so it runs smoothly. We don’t sway the mortals. If they try to break our rules we will act but the mortals just live. That’s what they do.”

“I never- I don’t know what to do. Do I talk to them? How does that help me to connect with the nature? I don’t understand.”

“Look around. Demeter’s work is everywhere. The wood that their homes are built with. The crops that they need to survive. You can talk to them and see how they live and since your mother put so much emphasis on letting you live similar to them, maybe it will help you understand your mother better. I can help only so much. This is not my domain. It is somewhere else. Maybe I will see you one day there though I hope not.”

He wanted to remove his hand after his explanation but this time Y/N didn’t let go. Scared of him leaving. He was the only thing that was close to family.

“You can’t leave me. I wouldn’t even be able to go home. This is crazy!”

As a response DreamXD relaxed his hand and strengthened his grip again. His free hand went back into his cloak and came out with what looked like a green eye in his palm.

Y/N looked at it curiously and as DreamXD moved it closer to them they slowly moved their hand up to it. Their fingers carefully touching the cold, glassy looking eye. When DreamXD didn’t move the eye away from them, they carefully took it into theirs. Opening up their other hand to look and hold it between both of their hands.

“Put this on your clothes. This will let me see what you see. Hear what you hear. If you need me, call me.”

They just shook their head “Why? Why can’t you come with me? I’m scared, uncle.”

He sighed “I can’t really help you with this, besides, you are a god. There shouldn’t be a thing that can scare you. Your body and powers are that of a god but your mind is that of a human. Demeter tried raising you as one and it shows and she- She failed her own responsibilities and now we are here. I am sorry little bird but this is how you will learn to fly.”

Not even giving Y/N a chance to answer, he immediately moved his hand around and dove into the familiar black abyss that appeared. Y/N tried to follow him but the portal closed before they had the chance.

They felt absolutely alone beforehand but this? Stranded, alone and scared in a world they only heard stories from.

Y/N couldn’t help themself and dropped down on the ground. Once again crying. Tears streaming and in between sobs they yelled out for their mother and uncle. This felt so unfair. No, this was unfair!

Not only did their mother just disappear out of nowhere, dropping a huge responsibility in their lap but also DreamXD, whom they considered family as well, just stranded them out here.

Why? Why can’t they just continue living how they used to? Maybe Demeter would help them to work on their little home. Expand it or rearrange it. Together they would try to draw and laugh whenever something came out funny. Or Demeter would teach them everything and absolutely everything about a particular flower or animal.

Though Y/N’s favorite thing was always when Demeter would tell them of old stories of hers. Humans she has met over her lifetime. The humans that made her fall in love with the mortals so much. So much so that she gave her own child a human name and tried to give them a human life.

A god raised like a human. That was what Y/N was.

Overwhelmed by everything.

“Hey, are you alright? Can I help?” a deep voice suddenly appeared behind them.

When Y/N turned around their eyes fell on a person with fluffy hair and wearing sunglasses. A crown resting on the head. They also wore what Y/N suspected to be an old royal gown. It looked a bit dirty and battered. For some reason this made them sad. Instead of fear they felt sadness for the stranger though this soon switched back to fear when the person moved closer.

“I- I’m-“ Y/N begun to stutter out but their mind went blank.

Worried the human knelt down so they could see Y/N better and was on eye level.

“Hey, hey. It’s alright. I’m not going to do anything to you. What’s your name?” their voice was soothing. It also helped that they sounded genuine.

“Y/N. I’m- I don’t know where I am.”

“Nice to meet you, Y/N. My name is Eret and you are at the remains of what used to be L’Manberg.”

[dynyamight]

here’s a concept: deku, a farmer boy goes out to the Wild West and encounters a cowboy kacchan. deku teaches cowboy kacchan to plant corn and take care of chickens. they then become close. after that they marry and are known at the “maize buckaroo duo.”

(this is so random hshshshsh. but the idea just sparked outta nowhere ;33)

i offer you, farmer!deku x cowboy!bkg you give concept. i create fanfic. ;33 i luv this idea & ilysm

—

When Midoriya registers the fast, loud gallops outside, hitting and snapping down on the ground, he ceases his movement, before smiling hard.

The Monday morning has just started, and already there’s excitement in his chest. Those familiar sounds gave him the absolute flutters.

However, that excitement drops. Daisy huffs, back kicking at the milk bucket in an annoyed fit. Midoriya hurriedly picks it up, before all their shared, hard efforts were to go down the hay. Literally.

“Sorry, sorry!” Midoriya urges the cow, quickly smacking his wet hands on the folded towel on his knee. Then, resting a short calm palm on her snout, he whispers reassuringly, “You did amazing, today. Let’s get you back on the field.”

After setting the bucket aside, Midoriya takes the rope around Daisy in one hand, and lifts open the gate with the other. Together, they slowly make their way out of the stables, more or less. Daisy steps on Midoriya’s heels, hurrying him up.

However, stepping outside, Midoriya already knows to turn to his left, instead of his right at the gated grass field. From the sounds he heard inside, he bets on seeing Dynamite, first.

And, sure enough, turning around the corner of the stables, the proudful stallion meets his eyes, neighing a loud greeting over his way. Midoriya halts Daisy and offers a small wave back.

There’s a small jolt from Dynamite, before he starts walking, at a quick pace over towards Midoriya. Finally, that’s when Midoriya sees Bakugou, riding on the back of the horse, the finest, leather saddle equipped.

Midoriya shakes his head, smiling up. “Surprising to see you, so soon. It’s not even sunrise, Kacchan.”

“How fucking rude,” Bakugou clicks his tongue, before stopping Dynamite’s steps with a small pull. He tips his black, cowboy hat down, though barely. “Not even a damn ‘morning’ my way.”

“You’re never one for pleasantries, anyway.” Midoriya teases, pointing at his hat. “You didn’t do a full tip, you know.”

“Tch, you ain’t special.” Bakugou huffs, “Be grateful.”

Taking a few steps forward, Midoriya pats the side of Dynamite’s face. “Good morning, boy! How are you, on this fine early day?” He holds in the laugh, glancing at the scowl Bakugou sends his way.

Dynamite doesn’t give any cues of delight. But, by the way Midoriya feels the stallion lower his head, and press firmly against his hand, it’s not too far-fetched to assume he loves the touch.

On the other hand, Bakugou swats at Midoriya, face twisted in disgust. “Gross! I don’t want that fucking creature’s juices all over him.”

Behind Midoriya, Daisy stomps on the ground. ‘The field, remember?’ Midoriya imagines her quip. And, from the wagging of her tail, she’s losing her patience. Quickly.

“Yeah, yeah.” Bakugou sneers aloud, speaking directly at Daisy, “Say whatever you want. But, I ain’t wanting your spoiled cheese on my damn horse.”

“That’s not what she’s upset about.” Midoriya deadpans. “And, what? Can’t handle milk, out of all things?”

“Milk that came straight out of her tit.”

“Where else would it come from? Trees?”

“Whatever, I just don’t want that shit on my horse, for fuck’s sake.”

Though, they couldn’t argue anymore about it. With a strong force, Daisy begins to pull Midoriya away, forgoing staying another second away from her beloved grass.

Fortunately, for Midoriya’s heart, Bakugou cues Dynamite to follow, trailing right next to them. “Damn, she reminds me of my hag. So fucking dramatic.”

“Your hag?” Midoriya questions, tossing a curious head over. “Is she your dog?” He guesses.

“My mom.” Bakugou corrects, nonchalantly.

Midoriya supposes the open expression of shock wasn’t concealed well, because Bakugou lets out a laugh, turning away with a fist to his mouth. “You’re such a mama’s boy.” He snickers. It leaves Midoriya red in the face.

It’s just he would never call his mother anything, but an absolute blessing. He loves her, dearly.

The moment they step onto the wide, open area of the field, Daisy tosses her head, wanting the rope around her neck off. Hushing her quiet and still, Midoriya loosens off the knot, allowing the loop to widen, and finally, pulling it over her head, free.

As Daisy trots away, passing through the sheep and goats, Midoriya’s surprised to see Bakugou pulling himself off Dynamite. Landing smoothly on his feet, leather boots shiny with clean spurs, Bakugou fixes his hat, showcasing more of his face.

His red meets green. “Nice farm you got building.” He compliments. “An improvement from before.”

Midoriya nudges him, with a dull elbow jab. “Stop, It looks the same.”

“That ain’t true.” Bakugou firmly states. “Two months ago, this place had nothing.”

“Well, it’s still not enough to open a public business.” Midoriya sighs, readjusting the straps of his brown overalls. ”I might have to pull out another loan, in order to afford some harvest equipment for my corn.”

“Tch, that’s why you should join the rodeos.” Bakugou insists, crossing his arms to his chest. “It’s the easiest way to make money, here. Good money.”

Midoriya looks back at Bakugou, unimpressed. “Says the state champion.”

Dynamite snorts, conveniently in tune to Midoriya’s mock. It causes a slight reddening in Bakugou’s face. He quickly turns back to his horse, munching on the grass. “Shut it.”

“Anyways, I’ll find a way. Rodeo, or not.” Midoriya continues, yawning in between his words.

“Geez, where’s your damn etiquette.”

“Left it back home. With all my sins and exes.” Midoriya teases, outright. And, despite the smack over his head hurting, Midoriya can’t help, but laugh. “I’m serious!”

“You’re so annoying.” Bakugou grumbles, digging one of his spurs on the ground. “Bringing up stupid shit.”

Midoriya shrugs, still rubbing the back of head. “I promise you, I was a lady killer, where I’m from.”

“Killing those poor, innocent ladies with your bad breath.”

Immediately, Midoriya raises a hand over his mouth, puffing out an air. Though, all he can smell really, is Daisy.

God, did that mean his breath smells like Daisy? The cow?

Bakugou rolls his eyes. “Gullible Deku.” He simply states. “Your breath s’fine.”

Midoriya groans, and he tries to smack Bakugou back over the head. Though, Bakugou dodges his hand easily, leaning away.

“Making fun of a farmer on his own bought land, is an insult to his pride.” Midoriya huffs, taking back his hand.

“What are you going to do about it?” Bakugou mocks, a grin forming against his lips. “Make me work? Not a chance.”

With a lightbulb feeling running through his mind, Midoriya absolutely loves the off handed suggestion. “Actually, yes! You can help me feed the chickens!”

Turning his heels quickly, Midoriya smiles at the absolute panic in Bakugou’s voice. “Hah? What the— No, I’m not!”

“Yes, you are!” Midoriya sings aloud, taking quick steps towards the gate. “C’mon, hurry up, now! Leave Dynamite out on the grass!” He calls out, as he opens the gates, and goes into a full sprint out.

By the time he reaches the stables, goes to his feeding cabinet, shelves crowded with plastic containers and bags of nutrients for his livestock and crops, and grabs onto the chicken feed, Bakugou has begrudgingly made his way inside.

“It smells.” Bakugou complains.

“Suck it up.” Midoriya laughs, before taking a plastic bowl off the shelves and setting it down on the counter. He pours the feed inside. “I bet the rodeos smell just as bad.”

“They don’t.”

“Well, you’re being paid to say that.”

Bakugou walks over to him, standing by his side. He leans on the counter, as Midoriya lifts the feed bag back into the cabinet. “If they did, I wouldn’t do them.” Bakugou states, narrowing his eyes. “Simple as that.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Before Bakugou can insist otherwise, Midoriya pushes the bowl into his hands. He holds back a laugh, when Bakugou almost drops it completely. “Now, let’s head to the coop, shall we?”

Clicking his tongue, Bakugou grimaces. “S’too fucking early for this.”

“Hey, you’re the one who showed up.” Midoriya reminds him, as they walk to the back of the stables, where the clucks of the chickens resound louder. “Which, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s with the sudden visit? Forgot to buy eggs, from yesterday's pick up?”

“Does it matter?” Bakugou questions, instead.

That takes Midoriya aback. “I mean, not really. But, we never meet on the weekdays.” He admits softly. He takes a moment away, to crack open at the tall, wooden gate at the end of the hall.

The chickens weren’t too active, thankfully. Several of them are still sitting perched and hidden inside the coop. Otherwise, only a few were already walking around outside the coop, clucking aimlessly.

Midoriya feels Bakugou lean close to him. When he looks, he notices a chicken had passed by Bakugou’s boots, with no pay to mind. However, Bakugou was visibly losing his mind.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared.” Midoriya smiles.

Bakugou scowls, glaring right down at him. “They got bacteria. Sick motherfuckers.”

For a cowboy, Bakugou has a keen distaste for getting unnecessarily dirty. It never fails to surprise Midoriya. “Well, just wash your clothes when you get back home.”

“I got other shit to do after, you know.” Bakugou growls.

“Again,” Midoriya sighs, “You’re the one who chose to be here. I’m simply utilizing you.”

As Midoriya leads Bakugou over to the coop, he grumbles under his breath. “Gonna have to pull another loan, if you want me working for your ass.”

Rolling his eyes, he ignores the silly comment, and instead gestures at Bakugou to start throwing the feed at the nearby chickens, surrounding the coop. When he stares back, confused, Midoriya remembers the guy’s not a farmer in the slightest. “Start throwing the feed.”

Bakugou hurriedly starts tossing small amounts. “I knew that. Thought you were gonna say something else.”

It’s hard to imagine what else an open hand in air would mean, but nevertheless Midoriya doesn’t argue. The chickens awake are already bustling over, surrounding the dropped feed in seconds.

Taking a handful from the bowl, Midoriya kneels down, going close to the small crowd of chickens. He notices some of them quickly waddle over to him, instead of feed dropped on the ground. The few that come to him peck at his hand, and it floods warmth to Midoriya’s heart.

“They prefer off the hand, huh.” Bakugou comments above him.

“I would like to think that they like me, but sure.” In seconds, the feed’s all gone, and the chickens wait around him for more.

“You should kneel down, too.” Midoriya offers gently to Bakugou, making sure his voice doesn’t startle the creatures. “Feed them off your hand.”

There’s an obvious hesitation, before Bakugou gets low, kneeling next to Midoriya.

One of the chickens tries to reach into the bowl in hands, in which he pulls it away quickly. “I’m getting fucking attacked already.”

“They’re eager.” Midoriya insists.

Dipping his hand into the bowl, Bakugou raises a handful of his own. He whips his head to Midoriya, glaring. “If my hand bleeds, I demand a lawyer to prosecute you.”

They don’t even hurt that bad. Though, telling Bakugou that would probably have him second guess everything. Hence, Midoriya shakes his head. “You won’t.”

Within a few seconds of only impatient clucking surrounding them, Bakugou finally puts his hand out. In seconds, the chickens start to peck at his hand, picking up all the feed quickly.

Midoriya stares at Bakugou. He’s cursing them out, demanding them to stop pecking so hard, for fuck’s sake. And, despite the apparent discomfort from the first handful, Bakugou goes for another handful, offering his hand once more.

Again, the cussing ensues, but it’s still all Bakugou’s free will. He could have stopped at the first hand, but he didn’t. Instead, he’s still kneeling next to Midoriya, feeding these silly, rambunctious chickens.

When Bakugou definitely had better things to do.

“Why did you show up?” Midoriya asks once more, standing up. The chickens have already departed, as Bakugou had tossed the rest of the feed from the bowl, out in the open. “You only buy my products on Sunday’s.”

“Why do you keep asking.” Bakugou reflects back, opening the wooden gate open for Midoriya.

Midoriya steps in front of him, back inside the stables. Once inside, hearing the wooden gate close, he turns around, facing him. “You know, I’m not letting you off, without hearing what’s on your mind.” He softly smiles.

Bakugou stares back at him. And, for an odd moment, his eyes scan all over his face, jittering, until they cease. “You’re making this a big deal, Deku. Just wanted to check up on the farm.”

Ah, that does make sense. “Oh my— Then, why didn’t you say that earlier!" Midoriya laughs.

Bakugou shrugs. “Again, it’s not a big deal. Now, where’s the damn sink?”

Midoriya leads them back to the entrance of the stables, where the sink was, alongside various cleaning supplies perched on shelves. They wash their hands, in silence.

They don’t say much either, when they head back to the grass field, to pick up Dynamite. Though, Midoriya doesn’t mind the silence. Bakugou has a limit to his social battery, and Midoriya has grown to know when it’s time to give him his quiet and peace.

After Bakugou sits back up on Dynamite, and they walk back to the open road, around the corner of the stables, he slightly pulls the reins, causing the stallion to come to a stop. It causes Midoriya to look up, wondering if the cowboy forgot something, back in the stables.

Instead, there’s a slight flush in his cheeks. He coughs loudly, clearing nothing in his throat. “There’s a rodeo this Friday.”

Midoriya waits for the rest, but instead Bakugou says nothing else. “Oh, uh, okay? Will you be participating?”

“Yeah.” Bakugou simply utters.

Again, nothing else is said. “Well, I wish you the best of luck, then.” Midoriya offers, despite the confusion in his mind.

“Are you—” Bakugou stops, inaudibly grumbling under his breath. “I mean, the rodeo ain’t too far from here.”

“Oh!” Midoriya’s genuinely surprised, “Who would have thought? That’s a shocker.”

“Yeah. You could go, even.”

“I’m not joining rodeos. No matter how many times you demand.” Midoriya laughs.

“No, to watch.” Bakugou corrects, though the moment he slips the words, it suddenly causes his entire face to go red. “Fuck, I mean, you could watch. Other riders, and competitors, or whatever the fuck.”

Midoriya can’t seem to understand where Bakugou’s coming from. This cowboy wants him, a new residential farmer, to watch a rodeo. A rodeo, which he has never seen in his entire life.

Though, if Bakugou’s asking, Midoriya’s heart will always simply agree. “I’ll go watch, then.” He reassures him, “And, I guess I’ll cheer you on, if you’re any good.”

Bakugou’s face calms, though there’s still a stiffness in his shoulders. “Cool.”

Midoriya thinks he wants to say something more, but instead Bakugou brings his thighs closer to Dynamite, squeezing him slightly. Instantly, Dynamite starts trouting off.

Before he can call out, Bakugou looks back at him. “Starts at 7 in the afternoon! Don’t be fucking late!”

And, just with a small kick, Dynamite starts racing off on the road, Bakugou leaving Midoriya only with his thoughts.

There’s not a lot of information about the rodeo, though Midoriya knows he will most definitely ask around for the rest of the details. Essentially, it’s a nearby rodeo, that starts at 7PM. Surely, there are others in town that know where exactly is the event.

Midoriya can’t help, but drift his focus away from the rodeo, and back to Bakugou’s distant figure. Against the morning sunrise, he looks so cool.

But, a farmer like him, attracted to a cowboy like Bakugou, is so embarrassing.

[scxrsgxrd]

Halloween, Mickey style

For the lovely @grandpa-sweaters follower milestone🖤I truly cannot express how happy I am that you’re a part of this fandom and to be able to read the amazing content you put out!! This is my first long spooky piece, and I had a lot of fun with this writing challenge and getting into the Halloween spirit. I hope you can all enjoy some spooky!Mickey👻

WARNINGS: 18+, slight smut and some spooky goings-on!

They had been in the car for at least four hours, she surmised. Not that she was complaining, car journeys with Mickey were anything but tedious. His Halloween playlist was blasting in the car, with Mickey enthusiastically tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to the tune of ‘monster mash’, flashing his girl a large grin as he noticed her leg start to bounce to the rhythm of the chorus.

“I swear we passed that tree an hour ago.” Mickey’s playful expression dulled as he pushed his foot on the brakes, leaning over to the backseat to grab the pile of maps his father had bestowed them with when he heard news of their secluded weekend away.

“Do you know which one we need?” She peered over to look at the crinkled maps, feeling a pang in her stomach when she realised she had no idea where they were. Before waiting for Mickey to answer she grabbed her phone, letting out a quiet groan when she saw she had no cell reception.

“Uh...” Mickey’s brows furrowed as he turned one of the maps round in circles, bringing one of his forefingers up to his lips as he chewed on his fingernail anxiously.

“There’s no reception on either of our phones. How much gas do you have left?”

“An hour, give or take.” 

Mickey’s answer filled her with a dread she hadn’t felt in a long time. They were lost, with not enough to gas to return home, or to locate a gas station. She closed her eyed for a few seconds, trying to scramble up some kind of plan in her mind, which was proving quite difficult as ‘time warp’ was blasting out of the stereo. 

“Look, babe, it’s fine. If anything this is what we wanted, just us in the middle of nowhere.” Mickey leaned his hand across to tousle her hair and she let out the breath she had been holding. Mickey was right. They were alone for miles, with no phones to distract them.

“That backseat is looking pretty cosy, huh?” Mickey’s hand was now making its way down her chest, toying with the buttons on her dress as she felt a warmth between her legs.

In an instant they were both in the backseat, fumbling with jackets and belts in the limited space. Her back was pressed against the uncomfortable seats as her legs were wrapped around Mickey, who was trying his best to look sexy while wriggling his jeans and boxer shorts down to his ankles while hovering above her. She managed to hitch her dress up to her waist and kick off her woollen tights, shivering slightly as she felt the chill of the late October air hit her. 

“You’re so fucking sexy.” Mickey mumbled as he pressed his lips to her neck, his long fingers trailing up her thighs until they reached her panties. She instinctively arched her back as she felt him remove them, a move which he rewarded with pressing himself into her slowly.

Her nails dug into his t shirt as he began to rock his hips back and forth, hissing a string of curses into her ear as his hips rutted against hers. She could feel herself edging closer and closer to her release with each second, her walls starting to clench around Mickey’s cock when all of a sudden he leapt upwards, hitting his head off the roof of the car as his face went white.

“What the fuck.” His eyes were fixed out of the window, his nostrils flared as he went completely stiff.

“Mickey? What’s wrong?” She shuffled upwards and craned her head around as far as she could to look out of the window, seeing nothing but the setting sun and the dense field of crops behind their car.

“Someone was there.” Mickey’s voice trembled as he hoisted his jeans up, not taking his gaze off that same spot outside the car.

“Don’t mess around, it’s not funny.” Her lips pursed together as she pulled up her panties and tights, smoothing down the creases on her dress.

“I’m not, someone was there. Some old guy, staring right at me.” 

“It was probably nothing, it’s just because it’s that time of year, I told you not to stay up last night watching those horror movies.” As she climbed back into the front of the car Mickey still stayed knelt in the backseat, rooted to the spot as his eyes darted around the vast expanse surrounding them.

“Come on, Mick. If we drive along the road we might find a motel or something.” She rubbed his arm gently, slowly coaxing him into the drivers seat and turning the car engine back on.

As Mickey pressed the gas pedal, instead of going forwards, the car began to rock, making a screeching noise before going silent.

“No, please no.” Mickey’s finger’s shook against the wheel as his breathing began to quicken.

“Mickey, baby calm down. It’s alright.” She was about to lean over to kiss his cheek when she felt her blood turn cold. A glance in the rear-view mirror had confirmed Mickey’s earlier sighting. There was a man stood behind their car, face contorted with anger as he stared right back at her.

“Start the car. Try it again.” She yelled, hitting the lock as she watched the man approach her window. His fist hammered on the glass as she attempted to ignore it, her heart thudding against her chest as time after time, the car refused to move.

“You filthy delinquents. This is private land.” Both her and Mickey froze when the man finally spoke, his irate words somehow calming them both. He was just the land owner, probably a disgruntled farmer.

Mickey rolled the window an inch, gulping as he took in a deep breath.

“Sorry, mister. We’re lost and our car is stuck in something, we just need a mechanic and then we’ll be out of your hair.” Mickey’s words came tumbling out of his mouth, and the expression of the man outside the car seemed to soften slightly.

“No mechanic will come out at this hour, we’re in for a heck of a storm tonight.” They watched as he pointed toward the darkening clouds, chuckling as the first few droplets of rain started to land on the bonnet of their car, as if summoned by the imposing man who had caught them.

“I own the old farmhouse down the way. You two must’ve passed it on your way here. You better come with me if you want to survive.” Once again he chuckled, this time with slightly more rigour, gesturing for the two of them to exit their car and follow him as though this were a completely normal situation they had found themselves in on Halloween night.

When they reached the farmhouse she felt Mickey tugging on her arm, staring up nervously at the rickety, aged structure that was looming above them. Darkened, wilted vines had long since begun to scale each wall of the house, entwining themselves around every window so that was no view into the house, or out. However, what surrounded them was arguably worse. There was a vast swamp surrounding the house, filled with stagnant, oozing water that made Mickey’s girl pull the neckline of her dress over her nose.

“We can’t stay here, there’s probably gators in there” Mickey hissed in her ear, pulling her away from the edge of the swamp and toward the farmhouse.

“It’s fine, it’s just one night.” She whispered once she had regained her composure, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze and following the farm owner up the creaky, cobweb-bound stairs to the entrance of his home.

As he was turning his key in the lock, both he and Mickey’s girl instinctively turned on their heels as they heard a blood-curdling scream behind them, revealing a wiry old cat curling itself around Mickey’s legs.

“N’aw, that’s just ol’ Mr, Whiskers, he ain’t gonna do you no harm, boy.” The farmer let out a brisk tsking sound and scooped up the cat, shoving his shoulder against the door to open it and then gently placing the cat inside.

“Fucking cat.”

Mickey’s girl shot him a warning look as he brushed his hands down his jeans, wafting away clumps of hair Mr. Whiskers had left behind from his greeting.

“Now you two can take the guest room, straight up the stairs and onto your first right.” He held out the key to his guests, but quickly retracted it when Mickey landed his fingers on the rusted metal.

“I got rules in this house, and I don’t want you two thinkin’ you can do all your hanky panky in my sheets. Understood?”

Mickey gave him a curt nod and a wide, sarcastic smile, taking the key and his girlfriend’s hand as he led her to their room for the night. When she had put her bags down and perched on the edge of the bed, Mickey grabbed the chair that was in the corner of the room and propped it up against the old, rotting door.

“Mickey.”

“What? We don’t know this guy, I’m not taking any chances.” He held up his hands and kicked off his boots before jumping onto the bed, causing a loud, unnerving creaking sound to fill the room.

“You know, this never would’ve happened if you hadn’t insisted we use your dad’s maps.” She cocked her eyebrow, lying herself down next to Mickey with her head rested on his chest.

“Hey, we used to use those all the time when I was a kid, they only seemed to fail when you were here.” Mickey playfully poked her in the side, using his other arm to wrestle her beneath him as his lips moulded themselves against hers.

“Mmmm...”

“Mickey, I don’t think we should.” She tried her best to reprimand him, sucking in a deep breath as Mickey’s hands started to wander up her dress.

“Oh come on, he’s not gonna know.” 

“It just doesn’t feel right, not here.” 

Mickey nodded and placed a kiss on her nose before laying back down next to her, curling his arm over her shoulders as the rain outside started to lash against the wooden frame of the house from outside.

She could feel herself about to surrender to sleep when Mickey started to wriggle around on the bed next to her, tapping his fingers against the bedsheets and humming as he usually did when he needed to distract himself from something.

“What is it?” She leant up on her elbow and peered at Mickey through the darkness in the room, who was chewing in his bottom lip and fidgeting round even more frequently.

“I really gotta pee.”

“So go to the bathroom?”

“In this place? Are you kidding me? What I sit on the toilet and something either bites me on the ass or sucks me into the sewer?”

She couldn’t help but giggle, shaking her head after a few moments and letting out a sigh.

“So you’re just going to hold it until morning?”

“My Uncle Finch knew this guy who could re-absorb his pee into his body, maybe I could try that.” Mickey closed his eyes and held his breath, starting to count to what she could only assume was infinity as she felt herself begin to drop off into sleep once again.

Mickey had seemed to join her, as they both sat upright in a start as a bolt of lightening caused the whole house to shudder, and the chair that had jammed the door shut fell to the floor, but they were both frozen to the spot, neither one of them daring to move a muscle to prop it back up into place.

“Let’s go back to the car.” Mickey’s tone was desperate but she shook her head.

“We can’t, that swamp will have flooded by now and like you said, there’s probably gators surrounding every inch of the house.”

Mickey groaned and threw his head against the hard pillows of their bed, staring up at the damp spores of the ceiling as he willed the night to be over as quickly as possible. He bolted upright once more when he felt something fluffy glide across his feet, throwing himself onto the other side of the bed with a screech as a pair of iridescent eyes fixed on him.

“Mickey, it’s just the cat. I think he likes you.” His girl tried to suppress a giggle as the cat pounced onto Mickey’s legs and with a throaty purr, settled onto his lap.

“How did it get in here? The door is closed.”

“It doesn’t matter, try to get some rest.”

Reluctantly, Mickey petted the cat’s head who, satisfied, closed its eyes and fell into a slumber.

She didn’t remember falling back asleep, but when she woke there were voices outside their door, and the first few rays of the autumnal morning sunshine had begun to force themselves through the tiny gaps in the vines acting as armour across the window.

“Mickey. Mickey wake up.” She hissed, gently shaking the sleeping figure next to her, noticing that their furry visitor from the night before had all but disappeared, despite the door still remaining firmly closed.

“Huh? What?” Mickey murmured as he finally started to stir, rubbing his hands over his eyes as the voices from down the hallway started getting louder, until the doorknob began to turn, revealing two men dressed in full protective work-gear, clearly bemused by the sight before them.

“How did you two get in? This place has been condemned for years, storm last night tore down the whole East side of the house. Hell, you’re lucky you’re both still here.” One of the men cautiously looked around their room before stepping foot in, ensuring both of them were careful to exit the rickety bedroom.

“What do you mean? We ran out of gas and some farmer guy who owned the place said we could stay the night.” Mickey began to explain, pulling on his jacket and lacing up his boots.

Both of the construction workers looked at each other, their faces paling slightly as they cast their gaze back to the couple.

“You saw old Farmer Jones?”

“If that’s his name then, yeah.”

“Guys been dead for over a decade.”

“What?” Mickey and his girl responded in unison, their voices laced with equal parts confusion and terror.

“As the old legend has it, he spends every Halloween night wandering around his land with his cat, inviting people into his house to shelter them from the storm that happens every year. Guess you two were lucky, now that’s a story to tell your friends back home.” The guy chuckled and led both Mickey and his girl out of the house, leaving them at the side of the swamp as he called a mechanic for their car troubles.

Mickey shoved his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath.

“I knew there was something fucked up about that cat.”

[jadedxrealityw]

-Chapstick- Pansy Parkinson x Female Reader

    ☼-☪-☼

   Kody: the lesbians have risen

  Request: pansy x reader where they are friends & reader loves chapsticks very much because chapped lips also the taste and the smell are cute ?? and then she has different variants of it. Pans could smell it sometimes when she purposely gets closer, got curious one time and asked for it and she casually gave it. One time Pans asked what flavour was the one on her lips right now because it's different from the usual??? and reader was like see for yourself and then they ki- IM SO GAY FOR PANSY PARKINSON - 💐

  House: Slytherin

  Possible Triggers / Warnings: lesbian power couple baby, cursing, y/n being a bottom, making out. 

    ☼-☪-☼

   since day one you had been best friends with Pansy Parkinson. Even in your small little friend group that consisted of Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, and Theodore Nott, you just gravitated towards Pansy more. Maybe it was because you were both girls or the fact that you had met her first.

   throughout your school years you and Pansy were like a power duo. Some were scared, some wanted your title, and the rest despised you both. Even with all the popularity you weren’t mean or cude to people who didn’t deserve it. Kill them with kindness is what you’d always say.

   around your 6th year is when you enveloped your slight chapstick addiction. You had noticed your lips become more flaking and chapped as you grew up so over the summer when you visited america you bought a pack with a variety of different flavors. 

   Pansy made fun of you at first because of how quickly you had started to buy more and more until you had a collection. After all the teasing you two developed a sort of game you could say. Anytime Pansy could smell the chapstick on you she would try and guess what scent it was.

   at first it was cute and friendly, but out of nowhere she would grab your face and bring it close to hers so she could smell the chapstick. It would be so sudden and make your stomach twist in a way you had never felt before, especially when she would send you a wink after she backed away. 

   after a lot of thinking and ‘therapy’ sessions with Theo you had come to the conclusion that you had fell for your best friend. It was very cheesy, but it was true. Pansy Parkinson had stolen your heart and you terrified at the power she held over you.

    ☼-☪-☼

   7th year

   you were practically running towards the field, hoping the outfit you chose would keep you warm enough in the nippy weather. You did not want to be late to Draco and Blaises quidditch match against Gryffindor. Of course you cheered on your friends, who wouldn’t?

   you began to climb up the stairs to make your way into the stands. Once you make it to the top you gaze through the crowd and spot the familiar black haired female leaning back to look up at the sky. She looked very focused on something in the sky.

   Pansy was wearing a large black sweater with some kind of white t-shirt sticking out from the bottom with matching black pants and shoes. She looked in casual clothes- in anything really. You make your way through the crowd, pushing past a couple people while mumbling ‘excuse me’ and such.

   you take a seat next to Pansy who looks back down to face you “Thought you weren’t gonna show. You look nice by the way” she comments and you shake your head. You were wearing a black crop with matching pants and a oversized navy blue hoodie. 

   your stomach twist like many times before. “Thanks” you reply before suddenly realizing you were missing a friend “Where’s Theo?” you ask. Pansy lifts up her hand to point in front of her. You follow her finger until you spot the back of Theos head “He wanted to be closer to watch Blaise”

   you nod once before you heard Lee Jordan begin the announcements.

    ☼-☪-☼

   while watching a breeze blew past you and towards Pansy. The Slytherin girls nose scrunched up as she smelled something, something fruity? (because your gay duh) She turns to look at you, brown eyes narrowed. You felt her eyes on you and face her “What?-” 

   Pansy grabs your face with both of her hands. You could feel the cold metal of the rings she wore against your cheek. Pansy leans in close, her nose centimeters from your mouth. You could hear her sniff as your face began to feel hot. 

   she was so close. The smell of hrt minty breath from her gum she had been chewing made everything in your body flare up. It was only a second, but felt like hours before she pulled away “Your wearing strawberry” Pansy had a cocky smirk on her face as she spoke, her hands slowly falling from your face

   you blink mindlessly as you reach into the packet of your jacket. You pull out the tube of strawberry chapstick. Pansy’s smirk only grows wider “Knew it, what's my prize?” she asked. Your face twist a bit. A prize? She had never asked for one before.

   “What do you want?”

   “A Kiss”

   your mouth opens a bit to speak, but you choke on your words instead. Pansy lets out a chuckle and turns to face forward again “I’m only kidding”

    ☼-☪-☼

   you were walking alongside Pansy, Theo, Draco and Blaise. You were all leaving the quidditch field and head back to the common room. Slytherin had won and the team was going out for butterbeer at the three broomsticks. Draco and Blaise had opted out saying they wanted to celebrate with close friends.

   just you guys, how sweet.

   “So- did Y/n and Pans. I flew past you guys and for a brief second and i swore i saw you guys making out” Draco spoke making Blaise and Theo laugh. “You guys were what now? I knew you were close, but no that close damn” Draco adds were made the boys laugh even harder.

   you roll your eyes playfully and walk behind behind Draco. He doesn’t see you as you wack the back of his head “Ow!” he exclaimed. Pansy chuckles “We were not making out by the way. I was smelling her chapstick” she explains. The boys nod and silence consumes you all after that.

   that is until Theo speaks up “That’s still gay”

    ☼-☪-☼

   you all spent the night together, talking, goofing around, and drinking firewhiskey. It was a fun idea at the time, but you all got wasted more than you’d like to admit. Your E/c eyes open slowly and your met with skin? You lift your head up, you were laying on top of Pansy.

   Y/n.exe has stopped working

   she was wearing her black flannel pants as well as her matching sports bra. Your heart might have stopped right then and there. You look down at what you were wearing and noticed you only had your undergarments and Pansy’s sweater that she had worn at the game. 

   before having time to freak the hell out you heard the black haired girl mumble under you “morning” she mumbles, her eyes opening slowly. You give her a half smile before sitting up “Um- how did- how did i end up here?” you ask. Pansy uses her elbows to prop herself up.

   she pushes her bangs from her face. They had began to grow over her eyes, but refused to cut them after you said you liked them longer. “You got a bit tipsy so i brought you here to rest. As well as those three” she says and points to the floor. You raise a brow and crawl to the edge of the bed.

   on the floor was Blaise and Theo cuddling on the ground. Cute. Draco was laying next to Blaise curled up in a ball with a blanket over him. Also cute. “Damn, i guess you played mom for a bit huh?” you joke, sitting back down on the bed. 

   Pansy shrugs her shoulders “You could say that. Your hug things in your sleep, did you know that?”

   “I’m sorry what?”

    ☼-☪-☼

   later in the day you were in your own dorm room studying for an exam in charms you had the next day. While writing down a few notes you heard your door open. You place the quill down and turn in your chair to see Pansy at the door. 

   she had on a black t-shirt with a sheer long sleeve one underneath, black pants with a white dragon that stopped above her ankles and black socks with checkered vans. Pansy had a plate of food in each hand “Theo told me you hadn’t eaten lunch yet so i brought you some.”

   “You look cute by the way” she adds with a wink

   you smile lightly and pat the chair next to yours “I’m guessing you came to eat with me as well?” you ask and she nods, taking a seat. She places the plate of food in front of you and places her down as well. Pansy began to move your textbooks around as you reached into the pocket off your black jeans.

   you pulled out your new chapstick ‘fruit punch’ and took off the cap. You smear it on your bottom lip before popping the cap back on and into your pocket while rubbing both your lips together to apply it evenly. Pansy smells something fruity again and smiles lightly.

   except for this smelt different. Way different. Nothing you had worn before.

   Pansy looks at you as you grab a fork with a amused smirk “New chapstick?” she asked. You noticed her playful tone. Turning in your sea you face Pansy “Maybe, maybe not” you say vaguely, shrugging your shoulders. Pansy rolls her eyes and faces you too.

   like last time she reaches up and grabs your face, pulling it close to hers. You hear her sniff just like before, but this time her eyebrows furrow “What the fuck is that?” she asks, making you laugh quietly “Can’t figure it out?” you tease. Her brown eyes narrow into a glare “Shut up” she hisses.

   what a baby

   Pansy stays like that for a couple seconds before exhaling loudly “What the hell is it” she grumbles. A risky idea popped into your mind in an instant. It was dumb, but you were so tired of just being friends with her. You were willing to risk it all in one question.

   “See for yourself then”

   you couldn’t really remember much between the the couple seconds of silence. All you remember is Pansy’s lips on your feverishly. She leaned into kiss you deeper, making you almost fall out the chair. She was not taking it slow in the slightest.

   As Pansy’s mouth moves against yours she leans down and uses her hands to scoop up your thighs. She lifts you up and you wrap your arms around her waist tightly, making Pansy let out a muffled noise. You felt a hard surface hit your back and assumed Pansy had leant you against the wall.

   Pansy ran her tongue against your bottom lip. You open your mouth slightly for her and Pansy’s tongue slipped into your mouth instantly. You felt a cold piece of metal on your tongue that connected to hers. It took you a second to process what it was.

   she had a tongue piercing

   “You have a tongue piercing?” you ask between hot kisses. You feel her smirk against your lips as one hand traces circles on your exposed stomach. She pulls away for a moment “Yeah. Problem?” she questions, panting slightly. You shake your head quickly “Nope- it’s just really hot”

    ☼-☪-☼

   an hour later

   “You owe me ten galleons” Draco spoke.

   Blaise groans and reaches into his pocket to dig out the money and place it in his hands “Yeah, yeah whatever” he grumbles.

   Theo smiles happily “I’m so happy for them!”

   Draco nods slowly “I’m pretty sure the whole house heard them though”

    ☼-☪-☼

   Taglist: @the--queen-of-hell @sonbelleame @dracosathenaeum @pxroxide-prinxcesss 

    ☼-☪-☼

   Kody- lesbian things lesbian things. Anyways request are open, peace.

[mammonshuman92]

- Watched - Pt.4

(Mammon x GN!MC)

** TW: swearing, kidnapping, religion, abuse, blood, death (if I missed any I do apologize!)

He smiled wickedly as he turned around, going back to the table he’d been at earlier and picked up the same knife he’d held to you when he kidnapped you. The only other weapons you could see on the table were a baton and a taser. There was also a thick book you could only assume was a bible and a large jar of water. The most concerning however, was the gas can, thick work gloves, and what looked a lot like a body bag.

“This may call for a more extensive purification.”

-

Your heartbeat quickened, breathing becoming slightly erratic. Your eyes widened at the scene laid out before you, but you tried your best to hold your resolve. 

Whatever he plans to do, even if this is where your time on this Earth comes to an end, you didn’t plan to give him the satisfaction of conforming to his insane, backwoods ideologies. For your most beloved demons, and the love of your life, you were ready to fight until the bitter end.

After leaving the coffee shop, Mammon made his way back to your house to come up with a plan. As he rushed back, he got a brilliant idea and immediately made a phone call. 

Given their status and connections, he was sure that at least a few of his brothers would be able to dig up info on this Alex dude and the ATA, however he couldn’t risk any of them finding out what was going on, for fear it’d get back to Lucifer, so he had to be extremely careful.

“Ugh, what do you want, Mammon? I’m in the middle of a raid right now.”

Levi seemed like the least likely to get too curious and ask questions, especially since Mammon was the one asking. No way would Levi want to end up being part of one of his usual schemes. And since he rarely comes out of his room or socializes with others, Levi was definitely the best one for the job. 

“I need a favor.” Mammon could hear the slight clacking sound of Levi’s controller in the background.

“Nope. No way. Your “favors” always end badly; for everyone involved. Goodbye.” He declined immediately, wanting to hang up and get back to his raid.

“Wait, Levi! It’s real important!” The second born begged. Levi could hear the desperation; the emotion in his brothers voice. His interest was piqued now, along with an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

“What is it?” He asked with a sigh, casting his controller aside.

“I need ya to dig into a group called the ATA.”

“ATA?”

“Yeah, it’s the “Anti Treaty Association”, they’re in the human world. And see if ya can find anythin’ on a guy named Alex who might be associated with ‘em.”

“Anti Treaty..? As in the peace treaty? Mammon, what did you-”

“I’ll explain everythin’ later, okay? Just.. please, Levi? I need ya to look into it.” The level of sheer desperation in Mammon’s voice was concerning, but he didn’t push the issue.

“Okay, okay. Hang on..” 

The sound of Levi’s fingers rapidly clicking across his keyboard flooded Mammon’s ears for the next few minutes.

“Okay, so the group was founded not long after the Devildom exchange program was formally announced. They started small but grew in number quickly; looks like mostly religious extremists. They hold protests at any event involving relations between our world and the human world. Let’s see..” Levi  went quiet for a few seconds as he scanned his monitor.

“It looks like some of the members have a clean record, aside from a couple parking tickets, but there are a few bad apples. Most of the charges consist of harassment, disorderly conduct and destruction of property, all of the incidents taking place at protests. All of them were first time offenders, and have stayed out of trouble since then.”

“Anythin’ about an Alex?”

“Hmm, nope. Do you have a last name maybe? Or literally any other info? I can’t do much with just a first name, especially a common one.”

“Umm, he drives a really old car and he works at a take out place as a delivery driver.” Mammon proceeded to give him the name of the restaurant.

Levi began tapping away on his keyboard again, scanning all the social medias and websites associated with the group and the take out place, looking for anything related to the clues Mammon gave him. Without much to go on, he wasn’t very hopeful and began to lose courage, then he finally got something.

“I got a hit on a few social media accounts related to the ATA. I was able to find some pictures with a crappy older model car in them that were taken at some of their protests a few months back, one of the pictures had a shot of the license plate. After doing a quick search of public record, the car came back as registered to a John A. Smith, who actually died a few years back..” 

Mammon sighed, feeling dejected. That information was all he had, and it may not have even been enough to be helpful.

“Wait..” Levi suddenly said, pulling Mammon from his thoughts.

“His obituary says he had one child; a son named John Smith Jr. I can’t find him on social media under that name, but if we assume the middle initial “A” stands for say, Alexander, then I may have something. I found an Alex Smith, and it’s honestly gotta be him. He’s a member of the official ATA group page, and several others like it. His profile picture has a crappy looking car in it, granted it’s mostly cropped out, but it looks a lot like the one I ran the license plate number on. I’m confident that this is your guy.”

Mammon felt like he could breathe a little easier. Another piece of the puzzle had, hopefully, come together.

“Where do I find him?”

“Not sure. His last location was near the middle of nowhere, but it hasn’t pinged anything for quite some time. I’ll send you the coordinates.”

“Thanks, Levi. I owe ya big time.”

“Yeah. Uh, Mammon? I know you said you’d tell me later, but is everything alright? You’ve never asked me to do something like this before. It kinda feels like you’re looking for someone..”

He waited for his brother to stutter out some kind of excuse to explain it away like he always did when he got himself into some kind of trouble, but he didn’t. Which only made more red flags pop up for Levi.

“If anyone asks, especially Lucifer, this never happened and ya haven’t heard from me, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay, Mammon..”

He didn’t like the feeling he had, the gut instinct and the hair that stood up on the back of his neck that told him something was seriously wrong.

After he hung up with his brother, he decided to dig a little deeper. He traced Mammon’s phone and found him at a location nearby the restaurant he’d had him research. His awful, suspicious feeling was confirmed when his brother’s location came back as one in the human world. A little extra digging of public land records and it pinged as your house. His heart sank as he thought about the urgency and desperation in his brother’s voice. 

He traced your phone, but it just showed the same location as Mammon. But, if you were there, why would he be so frantic? His stomach churned when he realized that there were only a few things that would cause Mammon such distress, and seeing as how he was apparently in the human world, at your house, desperate to find some random dude, it couldn’t be good. Whatever was going on definitely involved you. That thought alone made him sick to his stomach.

“I hope I’m wrong. Please be okay, MC.”

-

*bzzz* *bzzz*

Mammon opened the new text message from Levi, which contained the coordinates to Alex’s last known location.

“MC has gotta be somewhere near this location. If not, maybe I’ll be able to pick up their trail.” 

He was pacing around the living room, going over possible plans for his next move. Thankfully it would be dark soon and there was also a pretty big storm rolling in, which would provide the perfect cover for him to scout from the skies. Heavy wind and rain would make it nearly impossible to pick up your scent though.

He went into your bedroom to retrieve something of yours that would be heavy with your scent, like your favorite jacket or maybe a pillowcase. As he looked around the room, he spotted a strip of pictures shoved in the frame of the mirror on your dresser. A warm smile spread across his face.

It was of the two of you, not too long after you’d officially started dating. He remembered that particular day very well. You’d decided to walk the cobblestone streets of the Devildom, much like you often did together, but this was different. There wasn’t anymore of that “trying to pretend neither one of you had feelings for the other” junk. It was just..real. You were actually his. He reminisced about how warm your hand felt in his, the way his stomach erupted in butterflies when you looked at him with pure excitement after you’d stumbled upon the photo booth. The way you threw yourself at him, locking your lips onto his for the last picture; the shade of red your cheeks turned when you pulled apart.

That day was one of his favorite memories of you. You were so happy and full of life; looking at him with such excitement and love.

The haunting reality came creeping back in on him, sending his beautiful trip down memory lane, spiraling into despair. There he stood, alone in your bedroom, while you were gone. Taken, by some psychopath. His whole world, snatched right from underneath him as he sat down the hall.

The more he thought about it, the worse he felt. How could he? He should’ve been there. He shouldn’t have let you answer the door. He should’ve done something, anything. 

“I knew somethin’ didn’t feel right, and I should’ve listened to what my gut was tryin’ to tell me. This is all my fault..” He ran his finger over the pictures on the mirror, letting a few tears escape before aggressively wiping them away. 

“I will find ya, MC. And I promise that I’ll make ya safe again, I swear it.”

He felt a sudden vibration in the floor followed quickly by a deep rumble from outside.

The storm’s comin’. It’s time to move.

He grabbed the shirt you had worn the day before from the hamper and quickly smelled it to make sure your scent was strong enough. From the way it made his heart twist in agony, he was sure it would do just fine.

He shifted into demon form and headed straight for the door. With the approaching storm, it was dark enough now that he could fly and remain unseen. Since he was by himself and up against the unknown, having the element of surprise would come in handy.

“When I find that piece of shit, he’ll understand why I hold the rank of the second strongest of the Avatars.” He growled into the dark of the night as he stepped out onto the front porch.

With that, he shot up into the night sky, stealthy and silent.

-

“Extensive purification? Is that what the body bag is for?” You asked audaciously.

Naturally, you were scared. This mad man kidnapped you at your own damn house in broad daylight and drug you to what you could only assume was the middle of nowhere to tie you up and torture you. So yeah, you were pretty fucking wigged out to say the least.

But, did that mean you would back down? Let him know you were scared so he had the extra control over you? Make him feel like he was winning?

Absolutely not. You’d never give him the satisfaction. On the inside you were shaking, writhing in terror; begging for Mammon to come and save you. But on the outside? You were taking none of his shit, and playing zero games. If you were going to die here, you planned on going out as uncooperative as you could. Fuck him.

“Hopefully it won’t come to that.” He turned around to face you from where he’d been at his make shift work table, with the taser in his hand. He closed the gap between you, keeping his eyes locked on yours, and leaned down until he was just inches from your face. “The night is still young though.”

“Then why not just kill me now? Get it over with.”

“I want to cleanse you; save your soul.” He said, as if you were crazy for not grasping that concept.

“But why? Why are you so worried about my soul? You prodded.

“Because you have chosen to lay with demons and abandon your humanity.”

“And? Who I choose to love and spend time with isn’t yours, or anyone else’s business.” You snapped back.

“You see, that’s where you’re wrong. Your part in all this; the exchange program, being close with a bunch of high ranking demons; you as a human are committing the highest level of treason by aiding in the progression of uniting the realms. You are opening the door for corruption, chaos and sin to pollute our world.”

You laughed lightly in disbelief.

“When has our world ever been free of any of those things? Do you honestly think the Celestial Realm would be part of the treaty if He wasn’t on board with it? Stop blaming others because you’re close minded. Your blatant hatred for others is your fault, your sin. No one else’s.”

His face turned red and his expression changed into one of anger at the mention of Him. He stormed off toward the work table.

“And by the way, none of this-” You wiggled your fingers around as best as you could in an attempt to gesture around you, “is free of sin. Pretty sure He would frown upon this. Maybe even more so than my relationship with his sons.” You couldn’t help but smirk at your own jab.

He turned back to face you, bible in hand and quickly walked back to where you were hanging, and knelt down into your face again.

“It’s time to begin.” He said with sick, sadistic smile on his face; ignoring what you’d said.

With one quick movement, he lifted you off the giant hook your hand restraints hung from; letting go of you when you were a few feet from the ground, slightly knocking the wind out of you. Although you were being a little mouthy, you still felt pretty weak from being trapped inside that trunk. Not to mention that your shoulders were killing you from being suspended for so long.

He pulled you across the concrete floor by the hand restraint, stopping once he reached the stock tank. He opened up his bible and laid it on a little table near the side of the tank. He picked you up easily and climbed into the water. Even with as hot as it is, the water was frigid. It was only about four feet deep, but being restrained and unable to move freely, you would easily drown if Alex didn’t keep hold of you.

He stood at your side, facing you with his hands firmly grasping your arms right below your shoulders. He started reciting scripture from memory, glancing back at the open bible a few times for reference. He began to repeatedly dunk your head below the surface of the icy water. He recited the same passages over and over again, making it easier for you to figure out when to hold your breath. Although, a few times he seemed to hold you under a little too long, leaving you gasping for air when you returned to the surface.

When the never-ending baptizing finally did come to an end, he plucked from the water and returned you back to where you had been suspended. You were shivering uncontrollably and your head was pounding. No doubt from lack of oxygen after having to hold your breath, then gasp for air more times than you could possibly count. The added weight of your dripping wet clothes added to the searing pain in your shoulders.

He went over to the work table and grabbed the big jar of water you’d seen earlier. He dipped his fingers in it and flicked it at you whole reciting scripture. You assumed that it was holy water.

As you listened to him drone on and on, you found it hard to stay conscious. You haven’t really felt right since getting out of that scorching trunk; you most likely had heat exhaustion.

“Does being saved from eternal damnation bore you?”

“No, just you.” You replied weakly, looking up at him and trying to muster a smirk.

“Is that so?” He challenged.

He abruptly turned around and went back to the work table, returning a moment later sporting the thick work gloves you’d seen earlier, carrying the taser in his hand.

“Then I suppose we need to take it up a notch.”

-

Mammon went straight to the coordinates Levi sent him, but found nothing except dirt roads and cow pastures. Even from an aerial point of view there wasn’t much to see. After circling the area several times, he landed atop a tree in a densely wooded area. Although it was pretty dark out here in the middle of nowhere, far from civilization, he still couldn’t risk being seen as Alex could be watching; waiting for him to come for you.

“Where are ya, MC?” He quietly asked aloud, eyes continuing to scan the darkness that enveloped his surroundings.

With every passing minute his heart grew heavier, his chest tighter. It felt as if he couldn’t breathe properly. As cliche as it sounded, you were his literal heart; his entire world. 

Before you came to the Devildom, he thought he had it all figured out. Stealing and gambling, partying every night, spending money like there was no tomorrow, making shady deals with witches. He was living what he considered the luxurious life of a high roller and he couldn’t get enough of it.

Then you came along, and he was forced to be your guardian or sorts and look after you. It was such a pain. You made it harder for him to give Lucifer the slip so he could go on gambling binges and live up to his title. But, being the weak, magic-less human you were, you needed constant protection.

It didn’t take long before being your protector became something more than what he was ordered to do. He needed to be the one to watch over you, the poor helpless human. His human. As soon as he got a taste of what it felt like to be around you, he couldn’t get enough. He was hooked. 

Your smile and the sound of your laughter, the face you make when you’re concentrating or how you pooch your lips out when you’re getting irritated. The never ending kindness you showed him, especially when he was less than friendly at first. Even during those early days, just simply being near you brought him a sense of peace and warmth. The energy you radiated was intoxicating. Before he realized what was happening, he was a lost cause; completely wrapped around your finger.

If someone were to have told him he’d end up completely smitten with a human, he would’ve called them crazy. The Great Mammon would never waste his precious time on something that didn’t involve Grimm and how to obtain and/or spend it, much less a human. Smitten is precisely what he was though, to say the least. Not that it bothered him in the slightest.

He’s been around for thousands of years, and never once has his heart beat the way it does now. He’d always known love because of his siblings, and even the great loss of a loved one when Lilith died. While he would move mountains and do anything for his family, and even lay his life down for them, the way he felt about you was completely different. He would do all those things for you as well, and so much more. You knew him on a different level, a way no one else ever had in all his existence. 

Relationships were never really his thing. Sure, he’d had plenty of flings, but most of them only cared about what they could get out of being with the Avatar of Greed, not that it really bothered him. He pretty much only got involved with people when the bitter loneliness became too much to bear. Love isn’t typically something that happens for demons, not that he was looking for it anyway. But, sometimes it was nice to have someone to hold, to feel the warmth of another. Even if he didn’t remember their name. Not that they, or he for that matter, really cared.

Which is why he was so perplexed by the feelings you stirred up inside him. He was one of the strongest rulers of the underworld, who could probably have any succubus he wanted, so why was he becoming increasingly enthralled by you? A completely ordinary human. Or so he thought, anyway. No ordinary human would’ve been able to knock him off his feet the way you had. You were special. You made him feel.

You were kind, warm, headstrong and funny. You’d even put your own life in danger to save those who were much stronger than you, like that time with Beel and Luke in the underground tomb; not because you thought you would win the fight, but because it was the right thing to do. He’d never witnessed such bravery, such selflessness in a human. Especially not when it came to protecting a demon, someone who would be deemed unworthy of such an act simply because of what he was. This once weak, irrelevant human, was now one of the people he respected most. You’re undying love and kindness for others was one of the infinite things that made him fall for you.

He clutched your shirt tightly in his hand, bringing it up to his face and burying his nose into the fabric. He breathed in your scent, filling his lungs as much as he could. He needed to keep the smell fresh in his mind, in hopes of picking up your trail. Tears began to prick his eyes. All the memories of you were nearly too much to handle. He couldn’t lose you. He wouldn’t.

He had no idea what this freak had planned, but he knew it couldn’t be good. The clock was ticking. The more time that passed, the harder it would be to find you. He looked out into the night again, hoping to see anything that might point him in your direction, but there was nothing. The only sounds came from the cows in all the pastures around the area, and a very faint humming noise off in the distance. He couldn’t see any signs of the car or any other clues, but he refused to give up.

“Alright, MC. C’mon, talk to me. Where are ya?” He said, getting ready to take to the skies once more to scan the area. Then it hit him, sending a shiver down his spine. He whipped his head to the right, and breathed in deeply.

MC!!

He took another long breath in, to make sure he wasn’t imagining it. It was definitely your scent. It was very faint, and muddled with something else, iron maybe? But there was no doubt it was yours. Like a shot, he flew in the direction your scent was coming from. The incoming storm was making it hard to stay on the trail, but he was not going to lose it now. He was almost there. Almost to you. There’s no way he was backing down.

A minute or so later he could see the faint glow of a light in the distance. It looked like it was coming from a barn or something. Your scent was getting stronger and stronger as he closed in on the building.

That’s gotta be it!

He landed on top of the building with a thud; coming in a little faster than he intended thanks to the increasing intensity of the storm. He paused a moment, waiting to see if his brilliant entrance had caused any kind of movement. When he didn’t hear anything, he moved to the edge of the roof to have a look around. There was a lot of overgrowth around most of the building, and some spots in the roof seemed to give a little. If he wasn’t careful he might end up crashing through the ceiling. It wasn’t a barn, but more like a warehouse or something.

He walked the perimeter of the roof, looking over the side for any kind of clues. There was nothing out front, and the sides of the building were all overgrown with vines and other greenery. He peaked over the side of the roof near the back of the building and tensed. He could see the car that matched the description of Alex’s, hidden underneath loose foliage in what looked like a poor attempt to conceal it. 

I knew it He thought, his heart beginning to race.

He remembered seeing an industrial ventilation fan on the side of the building before he landed, and quietly rushed over to it, crouching down slightly on the maintenance access platform. 

By now, the storm was raging full force. The rain was coming down in sheets, the thunder booming as lightning lit up the night sky. The fan was pretty rusted but thanks to the thunder, he was able to crack open the slats slightly without being heard. The sight he was met with made his blood boil, prompting him to let out a guttural animalistic growl that rumbled deep in his chest. The iron smell mixed with your scent he’d smelled earlier, was blood. 

Anger like he’d never felt before burned deep inside his very being worse than the raging storm around him, truly making his demon side come out. He never had any intentions of letting this psycho walk away from this, but now it was going to be a lot less humane. The witch’s words came rushing back to him.

‘Bring me the heart of a mammal, not of our world, that thrives on malice and sadism. If you cannot fulfill your end of the deal, I will place a curse on you until the ends of eternity that will make everything of value you come in contact with turn to ash.’

Mammon smiled viciously. Looks like he’d be able to fulfill his end of the bargain with the witch after all.

-

The “cleansing” quickly shifted from that of something considered somewhat normal, to something very far from it. Nothing about it could be considered holy anymore.

“Are you going to denounce your demonic pacts and sinful ways and conform?”

You lifted your head weakly to glare at him, “Never.” You snarled between staggered breaths. His face twisted in anger.

Blow after blow landed on your weak, fragile body. You spit out yet another mouthful of blood, the wet sounds echoing in the large room as it splattered onto the floor. Needless to say, you were in pretty bad shape.

Blood ran down your face from a laceration on your brow bone. Your lip was busted pretty bad and you had at least a few cuts inside your mouth from your teeth puncturing the skin on your cheeks and lips. You assumed you had some ribs that were at least cracked seeing as it had become pretty painful to breathe. All the spots he tased you in burned like fire, no doubt blistering up badly. He’d held it in the same spot for so long that you could smell your own hair and flesh burning.

There wasn’t much you could do in the way of fighting back, but you sure tried like hell in the beginning. But now you were way too weak, barely even able to scream out in pain. You’d already come to terms with the fact that you probably wouldn’t make it out of here. The reality of never seeing Mammon again swarmed you, tearing away the last bit of resolve you had left. You forced yourself to remember all the time you’d spent with him, making sure he was the only thing you thought of as you began to slowly depart from this world.

You would forever be grateful for the time you had with him and all the amazing memories you were able to make. Movie nights, staying up too late talking and laughing, trying and failing to hide from Lucifer after pranking him.

The way his too big of a hand completely engulfed yours, the way he looked at you when you were both all dressed up for some fancy party at the Demon Lord’s castle and how much he tried to hide his face so you couldn’t see his blush while he held you close on the dance floor.

Sneaking into each other’s beds when one of you had a nightmare, the way his body felt against yours when he cuddled you; his warmth and smell. The way he tried to hide his enormous smile and pink cheeks when you’d gush like a groupie over his newest spread in a magazine.

The time he was a flustered, stuttering mess for three entire days in the beginning of your relationship, unable to hear your name or see you without turning various shades of red because every time he did, flashbacks of loving you for the first time just days before came rushing back to him.

Those intimate moments were your favorite, for more reasons than the obvious. You got to see him in a different light. He was still his usual goofy, lighthearted, prankster self, but he was so much more than that too. He was so sweet it could make your teeth rot. He was gentle, slow. You could feel the love leave him, his heart pouring over into yours. There were always stars in his eyes; pure adoration. Something you could never quite grasp; how someone who had seen the literal heavens could look at a normal human like you in such a way; with such breathtaking awe.

You always felt like you didn’t deserve to be loved by someone as amazing as Mammon, but you would always be eternally thankful. In such a short time he’d brought so much happiness and light to your life. As happy as those memories were, you wished more than anything that you’d get the chance to make more, but sadly it didn’t look that way.

As Alex was coming in to land another blow, a loud thump could be heard from above you; his fist stopped in the air a few feet from your face.

“What was that?” He questioned to himself quietly. He stayed silent for a moment as he listened for more noise, but there was nothing. “Must’ve been thunder.” He shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back to you, pulling the taser from his pocket.

“It really is a shame that you refuse to comply.” He said as he jabbed it into your ribs, causing you to use what little fire was left in you to cry out in pain. “You really were a fine specimen, until you wasted yourself on demons.” Another jab of the taser, this time on your thigh.

You choked out a weak, raspy laugh. “And I’d do it again, a million times over you sadistic, psychotic freak.” You spat, voice breaking. He reared his hand back to hit you, but was interrupted by another loud noise, this time near the entrance. 

He turned toward the sound and decided to check it out this time, picking the knife up from the table on his way. He was only gone for a few minutes, but you were grateful for the break. As much as you didn’t want to give up, your body just couldn’t take much more.

He slithered back through the entrance, soaked from the down pouring rain and complaining about hearing things.

“If you didn’t have a guilty conscience, you wouldn’t be so paranoid.” You said between several pained breaths. Your voice was small and frail, but you still managed to lace some venom in your words. He snarled, storming toward you and sticking the knife under your chin, lifting your head up to look at him. You used what energy you had left to glare at him.

“It’s too bad really, that even in your darkest moments, your last moments, what’s-his-name wasn’t here to save you.” He snickered, tracing the knife from your chin to your jugular, applying just enough pressure along the way to coax out a small line of blood.

“That’d be The Great Mammon to you, human.”

Alex whipped around toward the entrance at the sudden voice, the color draining from his face as a look of sheer terror washed over him.

“M-Mammon?” You choked out, a massive lump forming in your throat. You looked around Alex, the most beautiful yet terrifying thing coming into your field of vision.

It really was him.

Seeing him in demon form was nothing new to you by now. However, the look on his face was something you’d definitely never seen before. It almost looked as if there was an aura around him; a definite shift in atmosphere at his presence. His natural sin was Greed, but right now he embodied Wrath. 

It was so easy for you to forget that he really was a demon, as you’d never seen him in such a state before. The sight of him now; raw, malevolent power seeping from him, the low guttural growl, emitting such a heavy, nightmarish presence. He was scary. Even to you.

“MC..” There was pain in his voice; his face distorting in agony when he looked at you.

He charged forward, only making it a few steps before Alex swooped in. He got behind you, reaching around and keeping the knife at your throat; Mammon froze.

“Not another step.” Alex warned. “I have no qualms with spilling the blood of a traitorous demon whore that turned their back on the human race.”

Mammon stared at him blankly for a moment, then burst into laughter. It wasn’t his normal, happy laugh. It was dark, and oozed ill intent. He turned his attention to you once more, his expression softening just enough to not utterly terrify you.

“MC, do you trust me?”

“Since my first day in the Devildom.” You smiled fragilely, noticing the way his mouth briefly tugged up at the corner when your words reached him. He locked his eyes on Alex once again, dark expression returning.

“Close your eyes. No matter what you hear, don’t open them.” He instructed as he slightly crouched, getting into an attack stance; you nodded in agreement, doing as he said.

You could hear Alex huff behind you. “I will slit their throat, or did you hear what I said you filthy, abomina-”

He was silenced mid sentence by a sudden impact that jostled you slightly where you hung. You could hear gasping breaths and Mammon’s same sadistic laughter as earlier, followed by several ear splitting cracks and tearing sounds as Alex screamed out in pain; wet, squelching noises and heavy thuds rang through the room as several things hit the floor. It went on like this for several minutes, until the screams finally ceased.

You pretty well knew just by the sounds, that you were finally free; that psycho would never be able to hurt you again. 

Moments later, you were lifted off the large hook and being cradled gently in arms that you knew all too well. Mammon sank to the floor, his wings wrapping around you protectively, shielding you from the gore you didn’t need to see.

“MC..” He whispered, tears running down his cheeks as his eyes scanned over your frail, broken body.

As much as you wanted to savor the moment of finally being safe, once again in the arms of your demon, the reunion would have to wait. You had been through so much and your body couldn’t take any more. You began to fade in and out of consciousness, no longer able to hold on.

“MC..? MC! Stay with me! Please, please hold on just a little longer.” He begged, his voice cracking as he patted his hand against your cheek gently. You tired to put a hand on his cheek to soothe him, but your arm fell limp halfway to his face as you lost the fight to stay awake. You heard him yell your name a few times as you drifted, his voice fading away slowly.

-

What is that infernal noise?

You had suddenly become hyper aware of an out-of-the-ordinary noise somewhere close by. An alarm clock perhaps? No, it was more of a beeping sound than a shrill ringing.

You lazily opened your eyes, immediately regretting it and squinting them shut because of a blinding white light that was shining in your face. You blinked several times as you tried to adjust.

As you scanned the room slowly, it started to look as if you were in one of the rooms in the Demon Lord’s castle, but it appeared to be set up as a hospital room of sorts. The blinding light was coming from one of the big lights they use at the dentist office. You soon discovered that the beeping noise you’d been hearing was actually one of several monitors you were hooked up to. 

Everything started to fall into place and make sense, memories coming back of the events that brought you here. The monitor closest to you started to sound an alarm, indicating your heart rate had picked up and your blood pressure was rising. Seconds later the door flew open, a figure rushing into the room.

“MC.” He said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Barbatos moved to your bedside and silenced the alarms, opting to check your vitals himself.

“How do you feel?” He asked, pressing his index and middle fingers to the underside of your wrist, checking your heart rate.

“Fine, I guess?”

“You guess?” He repeated, taking a small light from his pocket and shining it in your eyes, checking the dilation of your pupils.

If you remembered correctly, which you’re very sure you did, your injuries were extensive. There’s no way you could forget that level of pain. You felt tired, kind of groggy from sleep, but there was no pain.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“About three days.”

Three days?! You thought to yourself, a little shocked.

That’s still not nearly enough time for your wounds to heal. You must have looked as confused as you felt, prompting and explanation from Barbatos.

“Your injuries were rather extensive, so Mammon brought you here after rescuing you. Lord Diavolo had the best doctors in the Devildom tend to you with magic. Although they healed you perfectly, you weren’t showing any signs of waking up just yet, so we decided to keep you here to monitor your condition.” You nodded along in understanding as he spoke.

He placed the light back in his pocket and moved away from the bed. “I shall notify Lord Diavolo and the others that you have awakened. Please excuse me.” He said as he bowed, then left the room.

You sat up in the bed and criss crossed your legs, careful not pull out your IV or tangle any of the wires to the other monitors. You let out a long, heavy sigh. Before you could be consumed by your thoughts of all the memories of the last few days, the door to your room flung open once more. This time, it was the one person you wanted to see most.

“MC!” He shouted, voice cracking with emotion. Mammon crossed the room in an instant and sat in front of you on the bed.

“Are you okay? Do ya feel any pain?” He asked frantically, his eyes scanning your face then darting to the monitors, hands hovering over you as if he wanted to help but was unsure how. You grabbed his hand, intertwining your fingers in his. It seemed to calm him a little.

“I’m okay.” You assured him. Although you’d been put through the wringer, you felt so at peace. Not only were you in the safest place in the entire Devildom, but the one thing that threatened your peace of mind, was now no longer a problem.

“I-I uh, I was scared.. that I was too late. That ya weren’t gonna wake up, that I’d...that I’d lost ya..” He confessed, voice catching in his throat as tears fell from his eyes. He carefully scooped you up and held you in his lap, holding you as close as he was able to with all the wires and such. You sat up a little and snaked your arms around his neck, pressing your lips firmly to his.

While you were held captive, you had been so sure that you’d never get a moment like this with Mammon ever again. You were happy beyond words to be back in his embrace once again with his lips on yours. Smelling his wonderful scent, and feeling his warmth on your skin.

After a few minutes of your lips moving in synchronization, he broke the kiss, and pulled back to look you in the eye. A serious expression washing over his face. “MC, I’m sorry I didn’t-”

You held up your hand to stop him, “No, Mammon. You’re not going to blame yourself. I won’t let you. Everything that happened was his fault, not yours or anyone else’s. He was sick in the head, with a twisted ideology.”

He nodded, “I know, I know. It’s just..” He shook his head as he tried to choke back more tears that threatened to spill. You knew exactly what was running through his mind.

“Mammon, there is no one else in the three realms I’d rather trust with my protection, than you. As a matter of fact, there’s no else that can even compare to you in my eyes. As I already said, none of this, none of it, is your fault and I’ve never once thought it was. I love you, Mammon and there’s no one else I’d rather entrust my life with, or spend it with for that matter.” You placed your hand on his cheek and smiled at him, tears now streaking your cheeks. He leaned into your touch, his hand resting lightly on top of yours for a moment before pulling your hand away and placing several light kisses on your palm. 

Barbatos returned soon after, with a doctor in tow. Once they unhooked you from all the monitors and removed your IV, Mammon took you back to the House of Lamentation where everyone was awaiting your return.

It felt so good to be back. The HOL was technically your second home, but nowhere has ever felt more like home than here in the Devildom, surrounded by all your favorite people. And thanks to Lord Diavolo extending your stay until further notice, you were on cloud nine.

Although all your physical wounds were gone, the mental ones were sure to stick around for awhile. You expected as much though, having gone though quite a traumatic experience. Although, it made it a little easier knowing that Alex would never again be an issue.

It was clear that his soul wouldn’t be fit for the Celestial Realm, and you had fears of him being reincarnated in the Devildom and finding you once again. But, Mammon quickly laid those fears to rest, informing you of what he’d done that night after getting you safely to the Demon Lord’s castle.

He said he preformed some kind of ritual that ensured Alex wouldn’t be reincarnated anywhere; his soul having been wiped from the worlds. As if he’d never existed. He also mentioned something about Alex helping him to fulfill his end of a bargain with a witch. He didn’t really go into detail about the whole thing, but assured you that everything would be fine, so you didn’t push the issue. He’s a high ranking demon, after all. This surely isn’t his first rodeo. You were just ready to start the healing process and put an end to this awful chapter in life.

And with Mammon by your side; loving you, protecting you, helping you heal; you couldn’t think of a better way to begin such a beautiful new chapter.

~ fin ~

[amberwild420]

one step back, two steps forward (pt. 1)

Masterlist

Paris, the city of love

 Since the return of Lila the liar, Marinette has been feeling the downhill ride of the life at its fullest. Sure she threatened her to take away her friends and to make her life as miserable as possible but Marinette knew that there is no way that her friends who had known her longer can believe such ridiculous lies.

  Well…….that’s what she thought.

  She overestimated her friends or rather her ex-friends.

  They not only left her behind, but she also become a bully, thief, a cheater and an overall bad person.

  Like what?

 Now not only is she alone sitting in the last but she has to be bullied and humiliated because apparently she is bullying and making fun of the sweet innocent Lila.

  Like what?

  And Adrien. Oh sweet naïve Adrian just let her keep quiet. He said he had her back but when she realized how coward and spineless he was, her crush on him was gone like wind. And to add insult to injury, she may or may not have accidently found out that he was also chat noir.

  Like what?

  And not to forget miss bustier. Oh sweet miss bustier, she seriously need to take lessons on how to deal with bullies or she should choose a better profession. Because if she preached about setting a good example one more time she will do something that future Marinette would  regret.

  And Alya her supposed best friend just left her as soon as her blog rating went up because of a certain liar. Well and that she has always been brash but became quite temperamental after Lila trapped her in her web of lies. She tried, he really tried but she had no chance. Nino and Kim who knew her from childhood took the word from a liar. And max. Oh the smart max who made an AI with emotions had believed that a napkin can gouge his eyes out even when he was wearing glasses.

  Like what?!

  Thankfully she didn’t had to deal with Chloe these days. Well she was rather quieter these days. Not talking or taunting to anyone. Well a good thing that came from all this. She didn’t think she could actually bear two ways trouble right now.

  She had to deal with the akuma at 4 am and chat was nowhere as always. But she was thankful that he didn’t came. It was not like he was being helpful anyway.

 Miss bustier was late and Lila was spinning another tale of her adventure. She wanted to tune out the chatter but the door opened and miss bustier walked in with a girl. She was wearing a pink crop top with blue jeans and white sneakers.

Pale skin, long black hair that framed her face and yellow green eyes that looked at them with such an intensity that Marinette felt her hand twitching towards her sketchpad. She had so many ideas all of the sudden, she need to jolt it down.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Class meet Kaylan. She will be joining us for the rest of the year. Make her feel welcomed.

Irritating and incompetent.

The only words that echoed her mind when she met her teacher. Caline Bustier has no control over class. Like how the hell she can tame students with this idealistic temperament. Kayla knew she was right when she entered the class. When her teacher turned to her expectedly, she decided to be polite and introduced herself.

My name is Kaylan fox. I moved from New York City recently. It’s nice to meet you. 

It was just then a girl with sausage hair talking loudly.

Oh New York! It reminds me when I met Tylor swift last summer. She even gave me her new album with her autograph because she felt I deserve it when I accidently gave her the idea for her song.

 Is she serious? That is just an outrageous claim. There’s no way anyone would believe that.

 That’s so cool Lila.

 Yeah! You have to give me all the deeds.

 I wish I could meet her one time.

 The hell? They actually believed that?!

 Are you kidding? You’re actually believing that?

 She couldn’t help but speak up. There is no way like no way anyone even the most stupid person could believe that.

 The girl with sausage then suddenly burst into tears.

 Why do you say that? Are you that jealous?

Excuse moi?

 The effect was immediate. The class apart from the girl in the pig tails started consoling the girl.

 How could you be so mean?

 You made Lila cry.

 You’re so horrible like that Mari trash.

 Kaylan felt her eye twitching. Like what is actually going on? Did she cross the time space and came to a new universe that had people stupider than her expected level?

She looked at the teacher but was even more surprised when she was giving a look to the girl in the pigtails that said “stop them”.

 So incompetent. So fucking incompetent!

The class glared at the new girl who dare to talk but shivered at her bone chilling return glare. Like hell she would let some brats push her around. She trained, tired herself to bones to be stronger than that scum, there is no way she can let some skinny kids take her down.

I actually don’t care about what people are talking about but I do care when they name drop the celebrities.

The silence broke when a dark skinned girl with glasses stood up showing her fiery temper.

 How can you be so sure? Where is your proof?

 Raising her eyebrow, Kaylan pulled her phone from the pocket and typed. Then she started reading out loud.

(it’s a fake news, I just winged it myself so no need to correct it. it’s fanfiction.)

Tylor Swift seen in Hawaii this summer. Many fans have been theorizing she may be here for her new album. But the claims haven’t stand corrected still since then haven’t seen anyone from our usual cast. It seems like that Tylor is on a vacation. Sorry fans.’

And this is the news article from the last year summer. You were saying.

  She deadpanned at the girls who looked lost.

The sausage haired girl looked livid. With a cold smirk she leaned into the sausage haired girl.

 Hon. You’re so fake that even china would deny they ever made you. But to have some people follow you, I’ll give that much of a credit.

 Saying so she made her way to the last where the girl with pig tails was sitting. On the bench beside was a blond who looked at her from the corner of the eye but looked forward when miss bustier started her lesson, a bit flustered.

 Hi! I’m Marinette. Class representative.

Kaylan.

  I must say that was nice. You know, to see that someone can actually look through her lies.

 You know she was lying and didn’t tell them?

 Before she could stop, words pour out of her mouth. Marinette winced, so did she.

 Sorry, that came out rude.

 No it’s not a problem. They just don’t believe me at all.

 I can see why.

  Before they could talk anymore, miss Bustier interrupted them.

Kaylan, please focus in the class.

 I do have my focus in the class. But it seems like you don’t, considering that the sausage hair and  miss tabloid is still talking rather loudly and you just pointed me out instead.

A certain glint passed her eyes before a smirk made her way to her lips. The expression on her face made several people shiver.

 We don’t want some extra nasty rumor spreading in the school about what happens in the class. Now do we.

  The way Kaylan said that made many people shiver.

Marinette sighed in relief. she suddenly felt like having a safety amulet. 

Marinette felt badly for thinking like this but from the time her friends had left her she felt unsafe all the time. So this was a good feeling.

maybe she should treat her with best pastries. she really had a good feeling about today.

Its definitely a good day.

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[omgsomeonesomewhereonearth]

your eyes look like coming home

The five times Patton asks Janus to marry him. 

Moceit, childhood best friends to lovers💙💛

Content Warnings: alcohol, light angst

Aaa this is my first fic in a million years or something. It’s kind of short and maybe not my best work, but I’m honestly just happy to have written something lol - hope you enjoy!

AO3 Link

The first time Patton asks Janus to marry him, it’s a dare.

“Hi! Do you wanna be married?”

Janus stares blankly at the nervous-looking kid in front of him, fiddling with the sleeves of his grubby school cardigan as he stared back at Janus, through large, almost owlish glasses.

He’s confused for a second, then he looks over the kid’s shoulder, and sees the familiarly smug faces in the background, smirking and whispering like they’ve just seen something very funny.

He looks back at the kid – he’s new, just joined last week. Named Patrick or something. He didn’t seem like he’d be involved with the mean kids, with his big, nervous brown eyes and fidgety behaviour. His soft, round face holds a nervous grin as he looks earnestly back at Janus, who’s now glaring exclusively back at the ones watching them

“Why?” he finds himself saying, instead of no.

The boy – Peter? – flushes a little, looking at his feet.

“Um – well -I it’s er, it’s the game.” He gives the explanation like he’s asking a question, prodding the playground floor with his scuffed trainers. “We’re playing, they said – er, I need to find someone to say yes and marry me – but it’s just pretend though – and um, so…”

Ah, so they were both being made fun of.

“They don’t want to play with me.”

The boy’s face falls instantly. “Why not?” he asks, tilting his head to one side. Janus glances at the group, still smirking superiorly at him and – Paul?

“Because.” He snaps, not entirely unkindly, “Go find someone else to ask, or they won’t want to play with you either.”

The boy looks crestfallen for a second, but a look of determination overtakes his face, small mouth forming into a thin, angry line.

“Then I don’t want to play with them.” He declares with a toss of his curly head, sitting himself down next to Janus on the playground floor.

The flock immediately stops smirking, muttering furiously to one another.

“That’s not a good idea…”

“Don’t care.” The boy thrusts a small, chubby hand out at him. “I’m Patton.”

 ---

 The second time, it’s a joke, but also a promise.

They’re sitting on opposite ends of Patton’s cramped twin bed, doing everything but the homework they wanted to meet up to solve, and Janus is pretending he’s not all too aware of their feet just barely touching each other.

“Hey, do you remember that time I asked if you would marry me?” Patton giggles, a sudden mischievous look taking over his face, dimples popping in and out as he looks back at Janus.

“Oh, you mean the first thing you ever said to me?” Janus replies airily, swelling with pride as Patton laughs even harder, scrunching his nose up in delight.

“You know, you never gave me an answer.”

Janus’s heart skips a beat. No it doesn’t, shut up .

His laugh is carefully nonchalant as he replies, “What do you mean?”

“Well, you never said! Would you marry me or not?” Patton laughs, “You’ve kinda left me hanging for years, if you think about it.”

He’s joking. This is a bit, Janus knows that. it doesn’t stop his traitorous heart from beating just that much faster as he smirks back.

“Sure, why not?”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Certainly, in like fifty years when we’re both old and lonely and we’re the only ones who can stand each other.”

He doesn’t believe it, obviously. He knows that he and Patton will always be together, but he doesn’t believe for a second that Patton won’t find someone, with his unbearable kind heart and his wide, honest eyes, and whoever it was would be damn lucky.

Patton laughs in delight at his response. “Ha! Sounds like a plan! Ooh – hold on!”

And then he’s jumping off the bed, going to rummage in his desk drawers.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Celebrating our engagement properly! Be patient!”

And then he’s kneeling next to the bed, smiling cheekily up at Janus, a length of pale blue ribbon in his hand.

“What is that?”

“Shut up, I don’t have a ring.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Hand!”

So, Patton ties the ribbon in a neat bow on Janus’ ring finger and kisses it quick before leaning back to gaze at him in satisfaction.

“There. Now you’re stuck with me no matter what.”

Janus doesn’t tell him that was going to happen regardless.

  ---

 Neither of them likes to talk about the third time.

Janus shoves his way past the teeming crowd of drunk dancers, craning his neck to spot a crop of dark curls or a pastel jumper. Goddamnit .

He wasn’t supposed to leave Patton’s side, he had suggested coming out here tonight as a way of cheering Patton up, and it had been working, until he had walked in, complete with brand new attractive arm candy, and…

Fuck.

He finally finds him out in the empty garden, clutching a beer can that looks to be mostly empty, staring blankly at the sky. He’s not actively crying, but as Janus walks over, he can make out the tear tracks on his face even in the dark.

So he’s definitely seen them.

“Patton?”

“Hey, Janus.” His voice is subdued, and there’s a slight slur to the words.

“I’m so sorry, Pat,” He starts, “If I’d known he’d be here...”

“It’s ‘kay Jan, ‘m fine,” Patton reassures in a way that is not reassuring at all. His smile doesn’t reach his eyes and it’s painfully brittle, like it might shatter into a thousand pieces any minute. Recently, Janus has seen that smile a few too many times for his liking.

“Patton, no.” he replies firmly, but gently, “You’re drunk and heartbroken, and I’m at least partially responsible for that. I’m going to take you home.”

But drunk Patton is somehow even more stubborn than sober Patton can be at times, and he shakes his head resolutely.

“Janus, no.” he pouts, “ ‘m not that drunk, an’ ‘m not…not sad, an’ I don’t wanna go home.” He nods clumsily, having made his point, and then proceeds to stare blankly at the sky again.

Janus sighs.

“Well, then I’m drunk. And sad. And I need someone to take me home.”

Ever more attentive to other’s needs than his own, that gets Patton’s attention, the beautiful idiot that he is. Slowly, he nods and clambers to his feet, gripping Janus’ hand.

Neither of them drives, and Patton’s place is closer, so Janus walks them there, Patton clinging firmly to his side every step of the way. Janus can’t tell if it’s for balance or comfort.

When he gets them both inside the flat, Patton’s first words are, “Don’t leave.”

He gazes up at Janus with red-rimmed eyes, “I don’t like bein’ here alone.”

Janus’s heart aches at that, and he nods. He’d always found it hard to say know to Patton, especially when he’s like this, and especially when he asks for so little as it is.

Similarly, he can’t bring himself to refuse Patton’s beseeching gaze when he tucks him in and moves to sleep on the couch. So, a few moments later finds them in bed together, Janus staring at the ceiling and wondering how Patton can’t hear his heartbeat. They’ve shared a bed before, of course. But not in a long time. Certainly not since Patton started seeing him .

“I saw them, you know.”

He does know. “Really?”

“Mm. D’you think he loves him?”

Janus sighs, “I don’t know, Patton.”

“D’you think he loved me?” Patton’s voice is so soft, so resigned, so plaintive that Janus damn near breaks.

“You know I can’t answer that, Patton.”

“Sometimes I think he didn’t.” Patton admits matter-of-factly, “I tried so, so, hard, but he just didn’t. Ever. I wonder if anyone ever really will.”

There’s a scrap of faded blue ribbon tied on the end of Janus’ keyring that answers that question, but Janus doesn’t bring it up. He doesn’t have to.

“You know I know you’re not really drunk. Or sad.” Patton turns to look at him, his eyes gentle and frank.

“Yeah?”

“You’re jus’ lookin’ out for me. Like you always do. D’you remember that time I said we should get married when we’re all old an’ stuff?”

He doesn’t trust himself to speak. “Hmm.”

Patton smiles wanly. “I wish we could jus’ do that now. We’d jus’ have each other an’ it wouldn’ matter if no one loves me ‘cause I’ve got you.”

Their faces are inches apart and Janus has never wanted anything more than he wants to kiss Patton right now, to kiss his tears away and tell him he’d never be alone, because Janus wouldn’t let him – but he can’t. For a variety of reasons.

“Go to sleep, Patton.”

  ---

 The fourth time, it comes out of nowhere.

It’s two – three? Some godforsaken hour of the morning and Janus has work tomorrow.

And for some reason, his delightful boyfriend has decided that it is a perfect time to be awake and shuffling around to sit up in bed, and turn his bedside lamp on.

“Janus?” he whispers his name like he thinks it might break in his mouth, and God, Janus loves him, but he needs him to shut up and go to sleep right the hell now. He doesn’t move or open his eyes, lying with his face half buried in his pillow despite feeling Patton’s gaze on his back.

“Janus, sweetie?” he whispers again, “Are you awake?”

“… No. ”

“I’m sleeping. Can’t hear you. Zzzzz…”

Patton huffs out  a soft laugh. “I think we should get married.”

Janus stiffens. What? They’d barely been dating two months, they hadn’t even talked about marriage – at least, since they’d been dating. He had no idea it was on Patton’s mind, how long had he…

And more importantly, why was he bringing it up now?

Apparently taking his stunned silence to be outright rejection, Patton tries to backtrack quickly.

“I know, I know, it’s not been very long and I totally understand if you don’t want to because it’s too soon.” Janus feels a gentle hand rest itself on the blanket right above his shoulder, “I wasn’t really thinking of it either, but I couldn’t sleep just now and I couldn’t stop thinking, you know, about us, and you remember when we were kids, and all that stuff we always joked about, and how even though we’ve not been dating that long we’ve been together basically forever.”

He trails off, giggling self-consciously.

“And then you did something really cute in your sleep, you like, cuddled up to me and it hit me now I don’t think I ever want this to end.”

Janus finally sits up and faces the love of his life, who is looking back at him with a gaze that can only be described as besotted.

“I really love you, Janus. I want to be married to you.”

With a small, knowing smile, Janus leans forward and cups Patton’s face in his hands.

“Patton. Angel. Darling. Light of my life. I love you too.”

“I…”

“…And that is why I categorically refuse to let you propose to me while you’re wearing your Winnie the Pooh pyjamas. Please let me sleep now, and I promise I will say yes no matter how you ask me next.” And with that, Janus places a kiss on the end of his boyfriend’s nose, turns around, and falls asleep.

  ---

 The fifth time is more or less perfect.

Well, he says more or less. Patton is perfect, in a neatly pressed pastel button-down, his curls bouncing in the gentle spring breeze despite all his valiant efforts to tame it.

Janus has made an effort to look his best as well, having had a feeling something special was coming. He hadn’t mentioned it of course, but with the way Patton had been jumping up and down in his seat as he drove them here, the way he had insisted on planning every aspect of this date himself – well.

Suffice to say his future husband had never been the best at keeping secrets.

The location Patton’s picked had certainly been perfect, atop a lush green hill with the kind of majestic cherry blossom tree you only see in romantic movies, pink blossoms practically dripping off its branches as they swayed in the wind, and beautiful rolling hills all around.

What isn’t perfect is when the two of them finally get comfortable on the hilltop, and Janus leaning against the wide tree trunk while Patton gets to unpacking the picnic he’s put together so meticulously, and it starts raining, almost instantaneously.

“I checked the forecast like three times, it was supposed to be clear skies!” Patton whines back in the car once they’ve finished packing up their things and run to safety, watching the light drips of rain get slowly heavier.

“I’m sorry dearest, I suppose the universe just doesn’t want this date to be.” Janus chuckles wryly, as he hands Patton’s dried glasses back to him.

“Eff the universe,” Patton grumbles, glaring adorably at the raindrop speckled windshield.

So, they play old love songs on the car music player and drink champagne and tuck into entirely too cute bite-sized picnic foods and talk and laugh and playfully flirt and point out constellations formed by the raindrops on the glass, and eventually, Patton stops pouting.

The conversation has slowly wound down and they’re quietly enjoying each other's company when he turns to Janus, taking a deep breath.

“God knows I’ve never been able to keep anything from you.”

“Why, whatever could you be talking about, my dearest?”

“…So, this probably isn’t a surprise to you in the least.”

Patton reaches into the picnic basket and pulls out a small box. It’s a pale yellow, tied in in blue ribbon.

“You’re my best friend, Janus,” his hands are steady, but his voice is already wavering, “You’ve always been here, my whole life, whether I need someone to help, or to talk to, or even just to cry at. I’ve loved you in so many different ways.”

Janus feels tears pricking at his eyes and blinks them away quickly; he refuses to miss a second of this, he wants the image of Patton’s earnest, loving face to be clear as day in his mind when he looks back on this whenever.

“..And I don’t ever want us to stop loving each other, so, hopefully for the last time ever, will you marry me?”

He laughs breathlessly and takes the box, delicately undoing the ribbon. It’s a cupcake.

A tiny, perfect cupcake with frilly blue icing, a golden ring in the shape of the tiniest coiled snake in the world, embedded in the icing.

“Do you like it?” Patton asks hopefully.

Janus surges forward to kiss his fiancé for the very first time.

Taglist: @ent-is-undecisive @disney-princess-patton

[tendertenebrosity]

Illiam and Helis on the road! Close sequel to here and here.  Masterpost for these characters is here. Mostly just some conversation and worldbuilding today; stay tuned for part 2!

Taglist:  @castielamigos-whump-side-blog, @doglover82; @top-hat-aye; @burtlederp; @just-a-raccoon-with-wifi   @thesleepysnapdragon @whump-cravings

Helis knew, from the conversations they had overheard at Illiam’s heel, that today they would pass into the south of Rosdan, the part the Toraldan army hadn’t taken yet. If they hadn’t, they probably wouldn’t have been able to guess; the countryside was the same as it had been for the past few days. Heavily forested hills, a dirt road that wound side-to-side between their peaks like the track made by a snake. The ground was rocky, any snow long since trodden into black sludge peppered liberally with gravel. Helis had an impressive bruise on the underside of their foot from trying to make their way through it, and the little downy feathers on their ankles hadn’t been either white or downy in days.  

“We have quite a large ravine to cross next,”  Illiam commented. “The town is just over the bridge; we should be able to see both once we’re around this next bend in the road.”

Helis made a wordless hum of acknowledgment. They wouldn’t be stopping for the night in this town; they might pause so that people could mill about, make a mess and maybe have another urgent, terse meeting. Or they might not. Helis supposed they’d be glad for a chance to stretch their legs.

The thick pine forest on some of these hills was a lot like the country that they’d spent a few weeks camping in with Reed. Had it been this tiring, going up and down the hills? Not for Helis, but maybe for Reed it had been. He’d never complained.

“I built some bridges, you know,” Illiam remarked.  

Helis blinked, roused from their reverie. “What?”

“Bridges. You know, big structures, usually made of wood or stone, they allow you to get over bodies of water… ”

Helis hunched their shoulders. Yes, very funny. “You… built bridges? Why?” It wasn’t something they’d ever considered him doing. It seemed… beneath him, or at least that he ought to think it was beneath him. They didn’t remember him ever showing the slightest interest in that kind of thing before.

“It’s the kind of thing I’ve been working on, the last few years,” Illiam explained. “Not just bridges, but… large engineering work. Repairing dams, roads. You usually do that with magic in Crestmead, don’t you?”

“Sometimes,” Helis said. Their friend Diamand had taken a job in that direction; another scholarship student, like them, he’d chosen to go into government service in construction. “It’s usually done with teams of mages…”

“It’s not been used much here,” Illiam said. “Most things like that in the North are built the old-fashioned way. Bricks and mortar and a lot of peasants with shovels. It can be difficult and dangerous work, not to mention slow. I had seen a lot of… interesting things done in the South, and I wanted to try and replicate them. Not just structures, either - I still wonder if I could get some of your irrigation and wind shelter techniques to work with our farms.” He paused. “You came from a farm, didn’t you?”

“Yeees…” Helis wasn’t sure whether to be surprised he remembered, or brace themself for him to say something derogatory. “We didn’t use any magic, though. I think you’re talking about bigger places than ours…”

He barely seemed to be listening. “I imagine the climate to the south is better, so you probably didn’t need much help. The land to the west of our holdings is harsh, and crop failures are common. It would make a big difference if I could increase yield even a little bit.” He sighed. “Bridges proved easier, at least to start with. Of course, I was somewhat hampered by the fact that, as you say, I don’t have a trained team. I only have myself. So a lot of the techniques needed… adjusting.”

Despite themselves, Helis found themself a little interested. “That’s a bit more than just an ‘adjustment’,” they said. “You’re trying to do the work of, what - four to six people by yourself?”

“Mm,” he said, dismissive.

“That sounds… dangerous,” Helis said. They’d had to design the kind of spells Illiam was talking about as part of their course; they couldn’t imagine trying to handle that much magic, in that many different moving parts, at once. It was overambitious to the point of being irresponsible.

Then again, in light of his current project, they shouldn’t be surprised.

“Oh, maybe if you don’t know what you’re doing,” Illiam said, airily. They could practically picture the smug tilt of his chin as he said it. “I had it down pretty well by the third attempt. Besides, it was unavoidable. Even if I’d managed to get four or five mages together, there’s no guarantee they’d have been able to work together in that way. It’s not a common skill here.”

Helis’ brow wrinkled. “But… I’ve seen other mages here, in the army ranks.” Mostly men, a scattering of women, their uniform marked out with a red scarf or sash or hat. The common soldiers deferred to them, but nowhere near as much as they did to Illiam. Helis had seem them performing heat spells, wind spells, stick-fast spells - the kinds of minor workings any large group of people needed.  Are they mages or not? they wanted to ask. Why ‘if’ you get four or five people? Aren’t they trained properly?

He hummed thoughtfully. “Yes, but the… culture, I suppose you’d say… amongst mages is different here. Much less collaborative. Much less standardised. A Northern sorceror works alone, or maybe with an apprentice or two if they’re inclined to that sort of thing.”

“Oh.”

“There’s nothing like the Academy here, or even the sort of smaller schools that teach people to read and write in Crestmead,” Illiam explained. “I learned my Northern magic from my master, Karlin, who learned it from his, and so on. I started when I was nine - that’s pretty normal. He didn’t have a second apprentice while teaching me, but I understand he often did. Some masters can get a bit… stingy, paranoid. They don’t like to share their knowledge too freely. Karlin was never like that.”

“Oh. You… always did seem like you knew a bit already, in the first semester,” Helis admitted.

Illiam was silent, just a beat longer than usual. “You could say that,” he said. “You know, I - ”

He cut himself off - the hands that had been fairly slack on the reins in front of Helis were suddenly moving, pulling the horse up to a sudden stop.

They had just rounded the curve of the hillside. As Illiam had said, they could look down and see the bridge - miles ahead of them yet, a squat and sturdy structure made from the same grey stone as the cliffs it straddled. The riverbed was a long way down.

They couldn’t see much of the town, though, because it and the forest to the east were obscured by a thick dark plume of smoke.

The soldiers in front of them were clogging the road, the whole unit that had been ahead of Illiam’s horse, pulled to an unplanned halt. Raised voices and curses reached Helis’ ears; people were pointing at the smoke, barking orders, shoving the people ahead or behind them.

“This town was supposed to be secured!” someone was insisting, harsh and strident. “Lord Garnier sent - ”

As the army milled, disorganised, there was a sharp whistle, thinned out by distance and followed by a crack. The light that flashed in the forest beyond the town was tinged pale blue, obviously magical in origin. People in the army flinched and swore as more clouds of dust and smoke rose up. As they watched, aghast, a wedge of stone split away from the cliff face and tumbled down into the ravine with a crash.

Illiam hissed wordlessly under his breath, and tapped Helis - more of a shove, really - on the shoulder.

"You’re getting off,” he said abruptly.

“What?”

“Get off the horse, lackwit, move!”

Helis let go of their grip on the saddle and drew their knees up slightly, uncertain of what to do next. Illiam lifted them unceremoniously around the waist, and they swung their leg awkwardly over the horse’s neck. They made it to the ground in an awkward, flapping fall, their legs nearly giving way under them.

The horse stamped and sidled back and forth, rolling one dark eye as Helis stumbled back. Illiam gathered up his reins. He didn’t even look down at Helis.

“Go back and wait with the rest of the camp followers,” he said, his voice raised over the commotion. “Do not come and find me. Do not cause problems.”

He kicked the horse into motion. Helis shielded their eyes from the dirt he threw up; they could hear him yelling something at the soldiers down the slope. By the time they had collected themself, the crowd of soldiers had parted to allow Illiam and his horse to canter down the hill in the direction of the smoking town.

“Well, now what?” Helis asked aloud, to nobody in particular. They watched the figure of Illiam and his horse, dramatic black cloak flapping, until it was out of sight. Helis didn’t know much about war magic. But they had a hazy, uneasy idea how much damage a single magic-user could wreak against an undefended force. Was he going to fight? Or did he think the battle needed him in command? It still seemed unbelievable to Helis, that men twice their age, generals and leaders, actually took orders from Illiam, who wasn’t any older than Helis themself.

The crowd of soldiers was forming up into some kind of order in his wake, the person who’d been yelling about Lord Garnier unloading a series of profanities and insults on everybody in earshot.

The wagons and the rest of the army had been following Illiam and the advance party, much slower on the hilly ground. Helis had no idea how far away they might be.

They sighed, picked a rock out from between their toes, and set off back the way they’d come.

[nooneelsecomesclose17]

Though winds of change are blowing wild and free - Part 3

Final part of this one. Don't panic, there's another instalment to the series coming soon where it'll all hopefully be sorted out.

I'm playing very fast and loose with the law here so basically nothing is true to life...just go with it.

(AO3 link)

Day 253

It’s a boiling hot day when they think their luck has run out. Aaron’s bent over a car, swearing under his breath and Robert’s filling in some paperwork for one he’s just finished as well as admiring his husband hard at work when he sees it.

“Aaron.” He’s whispering although there’s no one else around except the boss who’s in the office upstairs. Aaron looks up straight away, probably because he called him by his actual name. They use the names on the passports they’ve got here, but in his fright he’d slipped up.

“What?” He nods to the two policeman up the road who are heading their way. “Shit.”

“What do we do?” He knows the odds are tiny that they’re here for him but he can’t take the chance. He wants to laugh hysterically. It’s been so long they’d almost forgotten and now the reminder is right in front of them.

“You go out the back, just as if you were on a break.” He’s making a show of handing him a car part as if they’re just chatting even though his eyes haven’t left them. “Don’t go home, just in case. Go down to the rock, where we went last week, near the river. I’ll come find you.”

“Are you sure?” He doesn’t want to leave him here on his own, feels a bit cowardly to just go, but then Aaron’s nudging him.

“Yeah. Go on. It’s probably nothing but…Go.”

He thinks he makes it look casual enough, slipping out of the back door checking around before he breaks into a run towards the river.

He doesn’t stop until he reaches the little crop of rocks they’d discovered on a walk the week before. It was a good place to sit and they’d enjoyed the peace, as well as the shade from the unrelenting sun. Now he couldn’t relax, eyes darting everywhere.

Ever since his wobble a few months before they’ve been doing so much better, trying to act less like fugitives by hiding out in the cottage all the time, trying to get out and explore the area without drawing too much attention to themselves. Maybe they hadn’t been successful enough and someone had recognised him. He’d grown his hair a little, it was more like when he’d returned to Emmerdale now, although Aaron insisted it was styled a lot better than it had been back then. As Robert had told him it couldn’t have been that bad if he’d fancied him could it. He’d even considered growing a beard but the peals of laughter Aaron had gone into had put him off that idea. Maybe the hair wasn’t enough, maybe one of the tourists that seemed to fill the pretty little village had recognised him.

He’s worked himself up into a proper panic when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

It feels like an absolute age before he turns, slumping back on himself seeing it's Aaron. Still he checks for police, can't quite get his heart to stop thumping. It feels as though it's louder than the river rushing by.

"It's ok. They were looking for stolen cars," He shakes his head, sure he heard wrong. "It's ok, you're fine." Aaron's rubbing his back, holding him close and finally he's breathing slower, doesn't feel like he's about to pass out any longer.

"Stolen cars?"

"Yeah. That's all."

It starts all of a sudden, he doesn't know why but he's laughing, he's laughing so hard he falls back on the rock he's sat on, pulling Aaron with him kissing him like there's no tomorrow.

"I thought...thought that was it.”

"Me too." He sits up looking down at him. "I called Cain when they'd gone, thought I'd see if anything had happened."

"And?" They'd stayed out of contact since Aaron had got no reply from his Mum at Christmas, partly on purpose, partly because they didn't miss home so much if they kept out of touch.

"He didn't say much, but he reckons something is up, some copper hanging round Harriet. I don't think it's about us, he would've said, but it was weird."

"Cain is weird."

"Shut up!"

"So, what now? Back to work?"

"Got the rest of the day off. Told Paul you were ill. So we can do what we want."

"Just stay here a minute." Aaron settles back down in his arms. "You were so calm. I would've...no I did panic. If one day we as have to run I don't know if I'll be any use at all.”

"Yes you will. Ever wonder where your sweater is. The red one? Or your old jeans."

"Uh....Yeah."

"There's a bag n the car. With some of our stuff. Just in case…Just in case our luck ever runs out."

“You think it will?'

"Sometimes. But then I just remember that we've already had more time than we would've had if we'd stayed."

"Yeah."

"We've made it this far...no reason we won't keep making it."

"When did you become so calm?"

“Honestly? Getting out of the village feels like there’s a weight off me. I realise now I spent too much time worrying about other people, what they think or trying to be there for everyone. I miss them, but the obvious aside I’m really enjoying it just being us.”

“It’s not just me then? We seemed to spend so much time fighting over really stupid stuff, or getting dragged into Dingle family meetings over something that had nothing to do with us. Here it’s just you and me. The only thing I’d change is Seb being here.” He feels Aaron’s nod more than sees it. He’s been on the verge of calling Rebecca a few times since they’ve been here just to ask how he is or speak to him, but he’s always stopped himself. It’s too risky. However much it hurts they can’t see him. Really it’s the only thing he regrets about leaving. Once upon a time he would’ve hated himself for dragging Aaron from his family, and maybe he does a little, but their actions and the change in Aaron now they’re out from under the gaze makes it all worth it.

Day 365

Aaron’s on his way back from his daily run when he sees a strange car pull into the small drive at the front of the cottage. He couldn’t make out the driver from the distance and he speeds up the last few metres to see who it could be. They don’t know anyone here except the next door neighbours who welcomed them when they first moved in and since have kept to the odd wave here and there, and their boss and he knows it’s not him because he just passed the garage.

They’d made it a year. Some days he couldn’t quite believe they’d done it. Not just that, they’d made a life for themselves here. Oh they might keep themselves to themselves still but they had made the most of their time together and he could honestly say it had been the best year of their life together. Now he couldn’t help but wonder if it was about to end.

He just stands there as they start getting out of the car, hand on his phone in his pocket ready to call Robert or do something if he needs to, but with a sigh of relief he recognises the first person out of the car. Cain. Followed by Victoria. The third person is someone he doesn’t recognise but he knows Cain wouldn’t lead them into trouble.

He watches for a minute, as they stare at the cottage. He guesses Robert’s not indoors else he’d be outside already. He usually watches for him to come back from his run, old habits dying hard even here.

“Not today thank you.” He speaks when he’s not far from them, enjoying the way Vic jumps in surprise. She looks great though, she’s grown out her hair again and it’s back to being blonde. He’s still curious as to why they’re here and who this stranger is but he just enjoys the hug she’s giving him. He realises he’s missed her more than he’d thought. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Is it Mum?”

“Fancied a little break, nothing’s wrong, and your Mother doesn’t know we’re here.” Cain answers for her. “We need to talk."

“Right, and who’s this?”

“This is Ethan. He’s a friend. Is Robert here?”

“Somewhere.” He’s still a little on edge, he’s not planning on letting them near Robert until he’s warned him though. “I’ll find him. You lot stay out here until I call ya.”

“Aaron, come on.” He hasn’t missed that little whine Vic gets in her voice when she’s not getting her own way. Robert has the same one but it’s a lot more endearing in him.

“No. I’m not ambushing him like this, so you can just wait five damn minutes Vic.”

“There’s someone else you should see before you do.” Cain’s leaning in the car as he speaks and when he backs out Aaron feels as if he’s been punched in the gut, because in his arms is Seb. Older and a lot bigger but it’s his cheeky little monkey, and he’s here, in front of him. “Like I said, we need to talk.”

“Right, in that case you definitely need to stay here until I’ve spoken to Robert.” He glares at them all as he passes, only stopping to brush a hand through a sleeping Seb’s hair.

He lets himself in the door, turning to check they’re staying where he’s told them before going looking for Robert. He’s nowhere to be found until he looks out of the kitchen window and he sees him out in the back garden. He rolls his eyes fondly. One of the first things he’d done when the house had been decorated was set about a veg patch. It hadn’t really come to much this first year but he’d lovingly tended it and if the only edible thing they’d managed to grow was carrots he didn’t care.

“You do know it’s freezing out here don’t you?”

“Just tidying, that’s all. Were you talking to someone?” He straightens up, wiping the dirt off his hands.

“Er, yeah. There are some people here.” He sees the panic and kicks himself, “No it’s fine. It’s Cain, and Vic as well as an Ethan who I don’t know but clearly they do.”

“Where are they?”

“Told ‘em to stay outside until I’d spoken to you.” He shrugs and Robert just grins at him.

“Well that’s kind of rude.”

He shrugs again, he wasn’t thinking of them when he’d said it. “I wasn’t letting them in until I checked with you. There’s one other thing…they’ve got Seb with them.”

“What?” That stops Robert in his tracks and he looks a mix of excited and apprehensive. “Bring them in. I’m fine…really.”

He needs a shower from his run but it’ll have to wait. Whatever they have to say is obviously big, otherwise Cain wouldn’t have come all this way. He was the only one other than his Mum that had a way to contact them.

After they’re inside he can’t help giving them all a warning look, because he might be on edge but he can tell that Robert’s on the verge of panic, the unknown reason for the visit and why they’ve brought Seb making it all worse.

Robert doesn’t even speak, he just lifts a now awake Seb out of his sister’s arms, holding him close, whispering something the rest of them can’t hear. Suddenly all he wants is to be just the three of them.

“Cain, kitchen’s through there, how about you make a cuppa.” He stares his uncle down until he moves, ushering Vic and Ethan out of the room. Nothing is going to be explained while Robert’s still enraptured with Seb and they don’t need them for that.

“He called me Dada, Aaron.” He’s in awe and Aaron wants to cry because he shouldn’t be, he shouldn’t have to be happy that his son remembers him. “He remembers.”

“Course he does. Hey mate, what about me, remember me?” He gets a sleepy nod and arms reaching out for a cuddle and he takes him, holding him close like Robert had. He weighs so much more in his arms now, but it’s a reassuring weight and he doesn’t want to let him go. “There we are. So, first trip to France bug, how was it hmm? Did you give Uncle Cain hell? I hope so.”

“What do you think they want?” He shrugs, part of him doesn’t want to find out. It feels like their well constructed bubble has just been burst and he’s afraid of what’s next.

“Only one way to find out. Here, take him back, I’m all sweaty.”

“Go shower.” He raises his eyebrows at him. “What? I’m not above making them wait. Besides I’ve got a year of cuddles to make up for.”

“Fine. I won’t be long.”

He takes the quickest shower possible, feeling much better after and then they’re all sat around their kitchen table. It’s a bit of a squeeze but he’s sat right next to Robert, one as a united front, the other so he’s close to Seb.

“Right, what’s all this about? You’ve come here with no warning, with a perfect stranger, so it better be for a damn good reason.”

“Can’t we just want to see you?” Vic asks, looking put out at his bluntness.

“You, yeah. But Cain knows better.”

“There’ve been some things happening that…” This Ethan starts speaking but Aaron just holds his hand up.

“I don’t even know you are.”

“Do you always have to be so rude Aaron? We’re here to help you if you’d just listen.”

“Vic, pack it in. We’ve spent the last year looking at every stranger twice just in case so you just turning up with someone we don’t know is a good enough reason to be a little rude.” Robert shifts Seb on his lap so he can grab Aaron’s hand, holding on tight, grounding the both of them.

“He’s a solicitor. He’s been working on your case.” Cain takes over, and Aaron can see he’s fed up with all the drama and it makes him want to laugh. “There’ve been some…developments in your case.”

“What kind of developments? He died. That’s pretty hard to change.”

“Just tell us what’s changed, get to the point, the details can come later.”

“Right. Well, Harriet’s been involved with this DI, and he’s turned out to be corrupt.”

“And?”

“Seems like he knows he’s in trouble and he’s taking everyone else down with him, including DS Wise.” Aaron just sits there stunned. As much as he’d come to blame him for Robert’s predicament, he wouldn’t for one minute have thought he’d be corrupt. “Which is in turn putting various convictions in doubt.”

“Including yours Rob.” Vic’s sitting forward all eager, expression changing when Robert doesn’t immediately appear happy. “You can come home.”

[yandearest]

May The Odds Be Ever in Your Favor (Hoseok x Reader Hunger Games AU) Chapter 2: Training Day

Summary - Living in District 4 you never thought you would have to worry about being selected for the Hunger Games. With a training centre right near the dock of the houseboat you lived and fished from, your district was known for volunteers who trained their whole lives for a shot at glory and riches. But at age 18, your name is called and no girls volunteer to take your place. Your devastation is answered when Kim Namjoon volunteers for the males shortly after. Tall, muscular, highly intelligent and charming, the years of diligent preparation have bestowed Namjoon with the expectation of being the next District 4 champion after Finnick Odair last won 3 years ago.

Fishing for a living has granted you skills with a knife but, as your mentor Finnick is quick to describe, your beautiful face may well be your best asset.

Upon arrival in the Capitol you are quickly faced with the reality that Namjoon may not even be the biggest danger inside the Arena. Especially when you capture the obsessive attention of District 2′s own volunteer, and killing machine, Jung Hoseok. Hope soon fades from ‘survival’ to ‘the mercy of a painless death’ but Hoseok certainly has other plans.

Pairing - Hoseok x (fem)Reader

Genre - thriller, angst, yandere

Word Count 7.2K

Warnings - [in later chapters] major character death, graphic depictions of violence, swearing, obsession, dubcon-smut (smut will be marked so reading is optional), gore, unrealistically beautiful oc because I’m a sucker for that shitty trope and want to live vicariously through my writing (sue me)

The following is a dark fic featuring a yandere character, violence, obsession, and coercion. By no means does writing about this in a fictional setting condone any of those behaviours, much like Stephen King writing horror doesn’t mean he approves of psychotic killers in reality. Please avoid reading if any of these warnings makes you uncomfortable.

Previous Chapter: 1

Cross posted on A03 so people can subscribe for updates/notifications

Training began the following morning at 10am, although when you woke for breakfast at 8 Namjoon was nowhere to be found in your living quarters. Finnick informed you that Namjoon had left to begin early as you elected for a bowl of cereal instead of the array of foods presented on the dining table. To anyone else the spread of pancakes, syrup, pastries, bagels, bacon, eggs, sausages and other delicacies you weren’t even familiar with would have appeared mouth watering. But in your state it all just looked like cardboard. You didn’t trust yourself to be able to keep anything down but knew you had to at least eat something so you wouldn’t pass out later.

You tried to make the most of the one on one time with Finnick, listening as he talked about the range of stations that would be inside the gym. For the most part he seemed to suggest being a shadow to the rest of the careers, “play along and act dumb so they think you trust them and are too stupid to make plans for yourself”. Your best bet of survival relied entirely on them underestimating you and you being able to correctly time when to stab them in the back (literally) before they disposed of you.

Once you finished barely eating, you dressed in the capitol provided athletic wear; a fitted black T shirt with decorative panels of silver and gold along the sides and the number 4 emblazoned on your sleeves, along with a pair of just-below-knee-length black leggings that also featured the same silver and gold design as a strip on the sides. After tightly lacing up your sneakers, and tying your hair into a high ponytail, you took the elevator from the floor of your living quarter down to the basement where the gym was located.

You had no idea what you were expecting, perhaps something similar to the warehouse gym back in 4, but the spacious room that you arrived in was definitely not it. To start with, despite being under ground beneath an apartment complex, it looked like it could easily fit at least five warehouses inside the space. There were so many stations set up you wondered how it would be humanly possible to even attempt all of them within your three-day time limit. There were more weapons here than you had ever seen in your entire life combined; what appeared to be a parkour racing course, a rope climb, fire making equipment, a knotting station, something that looked like a paint set up, a tablet with symbols (what use that was supposed to bring you had no idea) and many other things you weren’t sure of. A large digital clock was mounted in the middle of the wall at the back, near a rock climbing wall, displaying the time as 9:45AM. You tried to swallow down your nerves as you scanned across the room looking for Namjoon. You found him easily at the weight section, bench pressing a large barbell you didn’t care enough to read the weight on. It seemed like a pretty basic scare tactic of trying to intimidate the other districts with his strength, but it didn’t have any impact on you because you were already aware.

“What’s muscles over there trying to prove?” a sudden voice at your side caused you to start, whipping your head to see Krystal next to you. She didn’t quite smile but there was an amused look to her eyes and a little quirk to the corner of her mouth.

“Holy shit please don’t sneak up on me like that in the arena, I will literally die of a heart attack” you exhaled with an awkward laugh at the end.

“Wouldn’t be the most painful way to die in there,” Krystal retorted with a shrug. She looked different compared to last night, but you supposed you could say the same for everyone if you compared them in an elaborate costumer to their gym wear. Her sleek black hair had been braided into two French plaits down the back of her head and secured into twin buns on the bottom.

“Touché,” you agreed but quickly moved to shift the topic away from you dying. “To answer your question Namjoon’s probably trying to intimidate some kids into thinking he’s going to bench press them to death.”

Krystal gave an amused hum before gesturing towards her fellow district mate Yoongi who was lazily sitting against the wall nearby. Training hadn’t even started yet and he looked like he’d much rather be asleep. It was hard to think of him as the confidently spoken cape wearing tribute from yesterday when he was now slumped against a wall. If anything he looked quite adorable.

“We just got here, have you seen 2?”

“No, I just got here myself, Namjoon came early to get extra training in”

You looked around the warehouse again trying to spot a familiar head of copper hair or Athena’s cropped blonde pixie cut but couldn’t see either of them for now.

“If he wants to wear himself out before we even get into the arena that’s his business, but if he pulls a muscle or drops a barbell on his head, I’m not carrying him,” Krystal muttered as Namjoon grunted lifting his weights up a final time before slamming them back on the rack.

“Agreed.” You murmured whilst Namjoon finally spotted you were here and nodded towards you and District 1 in recognition, before walking over. Krystal and yourself both gave half hearted waves in reply, Yoongi looked like he had actually fallen asleep and didn’t do anything.

“Hey,” Namjoon greeted wiping his forehead on his shirt sleeve and taking a drink from his water bottle. As much as you had made light of his workout before the fact he was barely out of breath after lifting more than twice your body weight was pretty intimidating. “Have you seen 2 yet?” You were about to tell him what you had just told Krystal when a raspy voice spoke from behind you

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear.”

Turning around you saw Hoseok and Athena walking out from where the elevators were nearby. Athena looked almost unrecognizable in comparison to her warrior outfit and smoky make up from the night before. Her short hair was pushed back with a headband and her face much rounder. She was definitely shorter without her heeled shoes and her body type much curvier than what her costume showed. Whilst Athena, Yoongi and Krystal all looked softer without their costumes and make up Hoseok somehow still managed to radiate the same aura from the tribute parade. His form fitting T-shirt and pants (in the same design as everyone else’s) accentuate his lithe build. The tights he wore showcase the definition of his calves and thighs, along with how long his legs were. The definition of his abs could be seen through the black shirt and his biceps were on display. It appeared he didn’t need any bronzing powder or contouring make-up to sharpen his facial features; his high nose and cheekbones were still just as prominent and his jawline just as sharp. He ran a hand through his hair, which was disheveled from not being styled, but somehow still managed to look good anyway.

When you make the mistake of looking into his eyes you can see that there was definitely no make up involved in the intensity of his stare from yesterday, it’s still just as unnerving this morning. The corner of his lip pulls up into a smirk as he sees you assessing his appearance and he has no shame running his eyes over your body.

“Nice of you to show up,” Namjoon grunted, clearly not impressed with the way Hoseok was staring at you again.

“Relax we’ve still got five minutes until we’re officially mean to start” Athena said as she stops beside Namjoon. She strikes up a conversation to try and distract him like Hoseok had told her to do. Why exactly she was following his instructions she didn’t really know, but she didn’t particularly care to upset him at this point so she simply played along. Namjoon was easy enough to engage, all she did was ask him what he had been doing to work up a sweat and he immediately leapt into a description of the circuit he had been training.

Hoseok moved to take the spot between Athena and yourself.

“Morning love,” he whispered under his breath, touching your elbow gently and leaning down slightly in a way that’s only intended for you to hear. You shudder at the feeling of his warm breath ghosting against the shell of your ear and curse your body for it’s unconscious reaction.

He pulls his hand away just as quickly, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention, but wishes he could maintain some form of physical contact. ‘There’ll be plenty of time for that in the arena,’ Hoseok assures himself watching as your cheeks flush that same rose color they did last night. He can’t explain why, but something so simple as your blush makes him feel ecstatic. Oh the things he would do to you to see what else makes you flush that pretty color for him again.

“Hey,” you reply, trying not to break the eye contact out of fear it could be taken as a sign of weakness. He’s tall so you need to look up, but you’re not that short either so it’s not a high angle. You’d estimate the top of your head reaching around his nose if you had to guess.

“I’ve been dying to ask this since seeing you yesterday, but what is an angel like you doing at these games?” his voice is still low, but not as quiet as before, as Namjoon continues to elaborate on his morning work out whilst Athena pretends to care.

“Uh same reason nearly everyone else here is, my name got pulled out the bowl,” you tried to casually respond with a shrug but knew the devastation would have been showing in your eyes. There were some things you just weren’t capable of hiding, and your fear at your situation and imminent death was one of those things. “And you?”

Hoseok frowns and you wonder if you somehow said something wrong but then he softly shakes his head.

“Volunteer,” he states and you swallow with a nod, unconsciously shifting backwards a little. His very appearance is lethal so it really shouldn’t be a surprise at all that he’s signed himself up to slaughter people like you, just the same way Namjoon had.

“Right, I mean you’re a career,” you shrug again looking across at Krystal, Athena, and Yoongi, wondering if they were volunteers too.

“Hey,” his hand was back on your elbow again, he didn’t give a shit if the others saw him. The feelings he was already experiencing towards you had just been intensified immeasurably by the fact you were innocent in these games. He didn’t know how to possibly describe it; all he knew was that from all the words that existed, in all of the languages in the history of mankind, there would never be a way to explain it.

He saw the tremble in your body whenever he looked at you, the shudder earlier when his breath met your ear, surely you had to feel something towards him too. There was no possible way that these emotions he was experiencing could be contained in just one body, you had to be sharing this experience. Was this a ‘soulmate’ that he had only read of before in passing regarding outdated literature? He had never been the kind to believe in fate before, as far as he had trained his whole life to believe, his only destiny was to win the games and bring honor to his family. But as you stood before him, for only the second time in his life, he just knew that you had been preordained for him.

At his age of eighteen he had experienced love in some capacity before, his parents, his sister, a few close friends and a couple of girlfriends here and there but none of those emotional connections compared to you. Surely you would feel the same way about him too, but of course as the poor reaped tribute that you were, you were too afraid to be able to focus on him right now. He was furious you were even here, how dare none of the other female trainees from 4 volunteer to save your precious existence. How cruel the forces of the universe were, for gifting him with an angel only for her to be so close yet still so out of reach. These intense emotions were far too much for one person to ever experience alone, so somehow he must be possessing part of your emotions for him, because you weren’t capable of focusing on anything more than survival right now. His poor defenseless angel, how much you needed him right now.

That must be it. A trial from beyond these games where he would have to earn not just this victory but a way to make you experience your love. There had to be a reason why you were here, it’s because it was for him to prove himself worthy of you. Oh how he wishes you could have met outside, after his victory tour when he went to 4 and he could just pick you from the crowd and make you his. But that would’ve been too simple. Yes, a love like this only came once in a lifetime, he was certain, and he would need to move heaven and earth to somehow save himself and you. But there had to be a reason that the universe had put you together right at this very moment. There had to be a way for him to save you both, and he knew he would kill anyone and everyone who got in his way.

“I promised you last night, I won’t hurt you, and I meant it,” he said, squeezing your elbow – not tight enough to hurt – as if trying to implore you to believe him. His hand felt warm and his hold was firm, shooting a tingling sensation down your spine. You tried to suppress the physical affect his touch was having on you, knowing nothing good could possibly come out of any attraction. You hated just how strongly your body was reacting to him, wondering why the hell he was trying to flirt before he would inevitably try to kill you, and why your body was liking it. But even though you were a tribute, ultimately you were still only human.

“Hoseok, you literally volunteered to kill me, it’s fine,” you began as a small voice internally added ‘well it’s not fine really but that’s besides the point’. A look you couldn’t read flashed in Hoseok’s eyes and he opened his mouth to say something, but you continued on before he could speak.

“I’ve seen enough of these games to know how the career pack works. I’ll help you guys and when it comes down to the end I’ll just try as hard as I can. There’s only one winner and look at you,” your eyes were on his torso because you couldn’t bring yourself to maintain the eye contact as you spoke. The outline of his pectorals and abs that were visible through the fabric of his shirt, compared to your barely toned figure in comparison, did all the speaking in that regard anyway. Looking down at his grip on your elbow, you could see how the fingers on his large hand nearly wrapped all the way around your arm. His own biceps would easily be twice the size of yours.

“Look at Namjoon,” you subtly gestured to your much larger district-mate, “and then look at me.” You weren’t exactly unfit, all the years of physical labor from working on your family’s boat had helped give you some muscle definition, but it was nothing compared to a trained killer.

“You don’t have to lie to me.”

“I’m not lyi-”

Hoseok’s objection was cut off by an announcement coming from the other side of the room. It was now 10 am and everyone had to attend a briefing in regards to how training worked. Hoseok scowled at the interruption before quickly dropping your arm to avoid suspicion from the others.

“This isn’t over,” he whispered, as you followed with the others to where a dark skinned woman stood in the center of the room. She introduced herself as Atala and ran through the basics of how the next three days would work. Her commentary about dehydration and infection being as much of a danger in the arena as the weapons was particularly interesting to, you wondered if Namjoon had spent as much time on his survival skills as he did on his fighting in the old warehouse back at 4. You doubted it. You also noticed a window on the wall that your back had been facing when you entered the room, where a room of mostly men in suits with eccentric beards and wild colored hair styles were sitting on lounges. Atala introduced them as the game makers who were here to observe, sending a shiver of disgust throughout your body.

Before being allowed to focus on the stations of your choice there was a tribute wide assessment on four of the obstacles: Monkey bars, a fire making station, a memory game (which explained what that strange tablet thing was) and a one on one physical combat match with a Capital trainer. The monkey bars were first and tributes were to perform in the order of their district numbers. You were mildly surprised by how Yoongi went from appearing lethargic to swinging across the bars with ease, but as a career it wasn’t entirely unexpected. Krystal and Athena both had no trouble and Hoseok flew across the rungs twice as fast as the others. You swallowed a nervous lump in your throat when your turn came, feeling the pressure of being in a career district and having all eyes focused on you. Upper body strength had never been your strong point, and you knew the furthest you would probably be able to get was around the half way mark. The girl from 3 had struggled and fallen off nearly immediately but you still didn’t want to fail, especially not with Namjoon breathing down your neck behind you. Back at home you had needed to climb around the boat before in order to make repairs, which suddenly gave you an idea.

Jumping up to reach the bar, you used the momentum to swing your legs through and up onto the next bar in front. Hooking your ankles under you pulled your legs through the gap until you were hanging by your knees. With your weight now more evenly distributed you were able to pull yourself up and awkwardly climb over so you were then on top of the bars. From there you tried not to look down at the long fall onto the thin mat below and crawled your way to the other end before lowering yourself back down when you reached the other side.

“Unconventional, but effective” the person who was responsible for measuring the times and taking notes muttered as they scribbled down something on their clipboard.

“Not bad, spaghetti arms” Athena nodded her approval, her own arm muscles were probably close to the same size as Yoongi’s.

“Gotta know your own strengths and weaknesses,” you smiled back with a shrug. Your time was much slower than the others – Namjoon racing across the other side in a speed to rival Hoseok, right after you were done – but it was still better than not even being able to complete the course at all.

The other assessments were pretty much non eventful with predictable results. You performed decently in comparison to other reaped tributes but were definitely lacking compared to the rest of the careers. You could also detect a bit of rivalry beginning to brew between Namjoon and Hoseok as they tried to one up the other. Hoseok was the faster of the two to light a fire but Namjoon was quicker in being able to solve the memory puzzle. Both of them landed ‘lethal blow’ scores against the capital trainer in their sparring match (you had managed to land a simulated hit of the heel of your hand to the capital trainer’s nose which had counted as an ‘incapacitated blow’ – not a bad score).

With the mandatory grading over you were then given individual feedback along with suggestions on recommended training stations before breaking for lunch. After all the exercise you couldn’t help but feel much hungrier than you had before during breakfast, and helped yourself to a sandwich, along with an apple and a bottle of water from the provided catering. The feedback had been handed out on a card, in order of the district number, before you were dismissed for lunch, and you didn’t pay attention to where 1 and 2 had walked off to. Wanting to be alone anyway you walked around a corridor into an empty hallway and took a seat on the floor against the wall. Leaning back, you raised your knees and rested your elbows on your legs as you scanned across your feedback card. You noted there weren’t any grades or scores, but merely recordings of the time it took for you to complete the activity and a short written assessment next to each. At the bottom were the suggestions for which areas to focus on over the remaining days.

Your evaluation had described you as ‘a dark horse’. The Capital had picked up on the career’s alliance and noted that you were the physically weakest of the six members, however they gave you commendation for unconventional problem solving during the monkey bars. The primary suggestion was focusing on weapons based training in order to stand a chance of survival when the time came for the careers to turn against one another. There was also a suggestion to train more on agility based exercises that played to your existing skills, rather that bothering with weights or physical strength stations that would be impossible to build in such a short time.

“How did you go?”

The sudden voice and presence at your side, whilst you were intently focused on reading your card, caused you to jump and nearly swallow your last mouthful of sandwich down the wrong way. You managed to just catch it with an awkward choke, reaching for your bottle of water to swallow it down properly. To your absolute humiliation, you looked up to see Hoseok standing above you with an amused look on his face.

“Uh, fine I guess,” you muttered, fiddling with the card in your hand as he sat down beside you. “You?”

“As expected,” was all he replied with. You nodded awkwardly. You had seen him perform before you in all of the tasks and sail through each of them with ease. ‘As expected,’ meant nothing less than perfection for him. You couldn’t help but wonder if your death was going to be by his hand, and if that would just be ‘as expected’ for him as well.

“Let me see your card.”

You opened your mouth to protest, but the words were caught in your throat (much like your previous mouthful of sandwich) as Hoseok easily pinched your card out from your fingertips and passed you his along the carpet in return. Frowning, you picked his up, to at least pretend it was a mutual exchange.

“Did you swap cards with the others?” you asked, wondering why he was interested in your report. You skim read across his, finding commentary about Hoseok’s speed, skill and lethality, along with a note stating him as a lead contender, nothing that you weren’t already aware of.

“Nope,” Hoseok dismissed, lips pursed as he read your card much slower.

You frowned at this, passing his card across the floor and reaching over to try and grab yours back, only for Hoseok to lazily lean to the side away from you, with a hint of an amused smile. You let an annoyed huff of air out.

“So why are you reading mine then?”

At this Hoseok paused to raise an eyebrow and make eye contact with you over the top of your card in his hands.

“Because I don’t care about the others.”

He found the stunned look of confusion on your face to be absolutely adorable.

“But…” you paused, not even knowing what to say. Shouldn’t he at least care for his own district mate? Granted you didn’t care much for Namjoon but you were at least somewhat going along with him for the sake of presenting a cohesive alliance. And if he didn’t care about the alliance then what was he doing here with you? The implication of his statement was quite clear that he somehow cared about you, so what had you possibly done to warrant his apparent attention.

“Why?” was all you could eventually ask.

He lowered your card to the floor and slid it back towards you, leaning across with it. You predictably reached to pick your card back up and he instantly took the opportunity to put his hand over yours. You flinched and attempted to pull back, but his grip only tightened, forcing your hand to remain below his much larger one.

Your pulse began to rapidly accelerate. You knew he couldn’t harm you, not until you were in the arena. But to be alone and so easily caught and toyed with, by someone much more powerful than you, was frightening. You looked up from his hand to his handsome face, trying not to tremble as Hoseok stared back with a lazy smirk in place. The thumb on his hand over yours was softly stroking the skin around your wrist and you could swear your heart was pounding so fast he had to be able to feel your erratic pulse.

“Because I need you to be with me at the end.” His husky voice was a low murmur, as he leaned in closer again. Your hand remained clasped tightly below his 

“So you can have an easy kill, because I’m weaker than the others?” you frown, knowing your assessment would have told him as much. But Hoseok was quick with a denial.

“No.”

“Then why?” You pushed, growing frustrated with his indirect answers and your hand still trapped in his. Hoseok only tilted his head to the side and released a sigh, looking highly amused.

“Don’t you trust me? You know I’ve promised not to hurt you darling,” his low voice grew quieter still, barely above a whisper, causing you to lean in so you could hear him better.

“Darling?” You balked at the endearment. Whatever answer you could possibly imagine coming out of Hoseok, it definitely wasn’t that. “Hoseok I don’t know what kind of game your playi-”

“You’re not a game to me.” He cut you off before you could even finish your sentence. Undeterred you rushed to speak again.

“But we’re literally in The Hunger Games and one of us is going to have to kill the other. And you and I both know how much easier it would be for you to kill me, than the other way around.”

“Oh so you find the thought of killing me unbearable?”

He quirked his eyebrow with a smirk and again you tried to yank your hand back in annoyance, but he only moved his grip further up to clasp tightly around your wrist. His long fingers easily wrapped all the way around, as he then pulled your arm back towards him, causing your upper body to lean further forward. Unconsciously you let out a breathless whimper in shock, your faces now so close you could feel his breath fanning across the side of your cheek.

“I… I don’t even know how I can kill anybody. You’re the volunteer here and clearly the better fighter between us so you would easily kill me in a final two,” you whispered, trying to turn your head away from his, only for the side of your face to press against the wall.

“Oh but darling you’re wrong, to kill you would be to kill myself.”

The hand that wasn’t pinning your wrist to the ground moved to cradle the side of your face, his fingers threading into your hair and thumb running along the top of your cheekbone.

“Hoseok, stop.” You raised your free hand to push against his chest, but he was solid as a rock and didn’t even budge. Instead he only curled his torso in towards you, pinning you in place against his body and the wall. You whimpered in fear, eyes scanning the hallway trying to find a way out, only for Hoseok to press his nose against your temple and lips to the shell of your ear.

“You may not even know it yourself but I can feel it in your pulse how your heart calls for me. Every beat I feel beneath my fingertip sings to my own, that already belongs to you. If you were to die, my heart would have no need to beat without the one it beats for.”

His deep voice was a seductive purr as his breath against your ear sent a shiver throughout your entire body. His hold on your face forced you to look back into his eyes once more, which held the same intense passion you had seen in them last night.

“How c-can you even say something like that, it hasn’t even been a day s-since we met?” you choked as you felt tears beginning to sting in your eyes.

“Because I felt it the second I laid my eyes on you, and seeing you again this morning only made me feel a hundred times stronger.

“Please stop, I’m going to be dead in a week so can you please just not turn my life into some sick joke,” it was all you could do to beg as the first tear spilled from the corner of your eye, his thumb below easily wiping it away.

“I’m. Not. Joking,” he hissed, each word punctuated by his fingers burying into your hair and clenching tightly at the roots, causing you to gasp as more tears spilled out.

“You’re hurting me,” you whimpered, the hand on his chest reaching up to try and pull at his hand that was holding onto a fist full of your hair. His grip instantly released, his hand moving to grab onto yours and thread his fingers in between your own, before squeezing tightly.

“Not as much as you hurt me whenever you try to deny me,” he retorted, pulling your hand to his lips to place a kiss upon the back.

“What do I possibly gain from a game perspective to choose you as my final partner? You said it yourself that you’re the weakest so that means I’ll need to protect you from the other four when the alliance turns. And believe me princess, I will. I’ll slaughter every one of them in cold blood. I’ll snap the neck of anyone who so much as harms a single hair upon your head. I’m going to kill them all for you baby, and I’ll make you watch so you can see just far how far I’ll go for you.”

“Why are you doing this to me?” you whispered brokenly, tears spilling freely from your eyes now.

“Because,” Hoseok dropped your hand to grab ahold of your chin as his lips moved in closer. When he spoke you could feel them brushing against yours “you’re mine.”

But before Hoseok could firmly press his lips to yours in the kiss he longed for, a sudden shout broke the atmosphere he had worked so hard to build.

“YN!”

You never thought you’d be relieved to hear the sound of Namjoon’s angry voice barking in your direction, but his appearance around the corner and into the hallway caused you to exhale a long breath you didn’t even know you were holding.

“What are you both doing here?” Namjoon growled, angrily striding towards you as Yoongi, Krystal, and Athena followed behind him.

Hoseok, who had his back turned to their direction, scowled in anger at the disruption, before quickly masking his face to a neutral expression. The sudden change in demeanour causing you to flinch.

“I found this one here having a bit of a breakdown over her report card,” Hoseok said, lazily getting to his feet and shooting you a wink as your jaw dropped in shock at his smooth and blatant lie.

“No! I- I…” You immediately went to protest only for the words to be caught in your throat. It would just be Hoseok’s word against your own. And who would believe you? His words were so insane you could barely even believe what he had just been saying.

“It’s ok YN,” he purred, as the others walked over towards you. You angrily got to your feet wiping your eyes, not wanting to be a crying mess on the floor in front of the whole group. “I was just telling her there’s no need to worry. First day freak outs can happen to the best of us.”

“I’m fine,” you scowled, crossing your arms and glaring at the floor and seeing the damned report card laying on the carpet.

“I just wanted some time to myself and if anything having someone around only made it worse” you bit back.

“Very well then,” Hoseok smirked raising his arms in a mock surrender gesture and waving his hands theatrically. “Excuse me for trying to be a good teammate.”

“I didn-” before you could rip into him, you were interrupted by another.

“Can you all give me one minute to talk to my district partner,” Namjoon grunted at the others. He didn’t bother waiting for an answer, grabbing a hold of the top of your arm and dragging you further back up the hallway. You didn’t know what was worse between him bossing you around since the train ride or Hoseok’s crazy confession, but what you did know was that if anyone else tried to manhandle you again you were going to take your chances on your own in the arena. It had only been one day and you were rapidly growing sick of this alliance. You’d rather die with dignity on your own than be dragged around like a dog’s chew toy.

“Let me go,” you hissed, when you were far away enough not to be overheard, grabbing his hand and ripping it off your arm. Namjoon just rolled his eyes before staring down at you from his tall height.

“What the fuck was that about?” he asked.

For a moment you breathed a sigh of relief. Trying to convince Athena or District 1 about Hoseok losing his mind would be one thing, but Namjoon was your own team mate. You vaguely knew each other from growing up in the same town. Maybe he might actually believe you. Glancing back to the others you saw them chatting amongst themselves, Krystal was now holding your report card and Yoongi gave a dismissive shrug to something Athena had just said. As if sensing your gaze, Hoseok glanced across to make eye contact. The corner of his lip curled up and he cocked his eyebrow smugly as if to say ‘go on and tell him, see if he believes you’. You scowled at him before turning back to Namjoon and grabbing a hold of his arm (missing the way Hoseok’s nose twitched in annoyance at you initiating the physical contact with another man).

“Namjoon, please, you have to believe me,” you began, instantly lowering your voice as you squeezed his bicep imploringly – your hand didn’t even wrap halfway around the much stronger boy’s arm.

“What happened?” he asked bluntly, eyebrows narrowing into a frown.

So you told him. Speaking as quietly as possible and trying to rush through the details as fast as you could, you hurriedly told him about how Hoseok had found you alone and stolen your card, before pinning you against the wall, claiming you were his, and threatening to kill all the others. You finished by telling him how it was only through the rest of the group showing up when they did, that had stopped Hoseok from kissing you.

“It was humiliating,” you hissed out, trying to choke down the lump in your throat that had built up as you were recalling what happened.

“I don’t want to be in the career pack anymore, I can’t do it, not with him.”

You looked up at Namjoon, begging him with your eyes to believe what you had just said.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?”

You dropped his arm and visibly recoiled as if his words had physically hit you. As far as you were concerned he may as well have.

“Some pretty boy spouts some Romeo and Juliet bullshit so you want to leave the best chance either of us have for surviving this thing? How can you actually be that stupid?!”

You were fuming. How dare he just dismiss what had happened to you like that. You had taken a leap of faith, hoping that as your own team mate he would believe you, and instead he had virtually spat in your face as a response.

“I’m not stupid Namjoon!” You sneered. “The one year my name gets called out is the one year no girls volunteer because they knew that you were going to. If the girls who have spent their whole lives training know they can’t beat you, how the fuck do you think I feel right now? Maybe it’s easier for you because you’ve actually got a chance in these games, but I’m going to die. And none of this is my choice, you actually chose to be here! You were the one who said on the train that you wanted us to join the career pack, so I did! And now I’m the one being harassed, not you! Stop treating me like a child because I’m not just a pawn you can tell what to do until you decide to kill me.”

“If you don’t want to be treated like a child then stop acting like a pathetic fool over the first boy to give you some attention. Do you think your pretty little face is somehow special enough for Hoseok to actually fall in love with at first sight?”

“Of course not!”

“You should be thanking me for pulling your head back in from whatever deluded little fantasy he’s trying to spin. Are you that stupid you can’t tell he’s just trying to divide us so you want to work with him instead of me by the time we get to the end game? At the very least you and I know each other and I guarantee you, in that arena it’s better the devil you know”

You wanted to point out how you were the one to tell him about Hoseok, and clearly were trying to work with Namjoon instead, only for him to berate you, but logic was out the window by this stage.

“Is it? Cause it sounds to me like you’re just keeping me around until you decide to break my neck when it’s convenient for you,” you snapped instead.

“That’s how alliances work sweetheart. You watch my back in the pack to make sure 1 or 2 don’t just slit my throat in my sleep. I drag your ungrateful ass around and make sure you aren’t taken out by some amateur who wouldn’t know the difference between a liver and an intestine. Is that how you want to die? Bleeding out for hours after being stabbed by an untrained idiot and spending your final moments in agony? Would you rather die by someone beating your head in with a rock because that’s the only weapon they know how to use? Let’s see how beautiful you are with your skull smashed in huh. Or do you want to go from starvation or hypothermia because you’re lost and all alone?”

You were absolutely stunned. He was expecting you to just follow him around the arena like a little puppy, where the only incentive for doing so would be his definition of a merciful death? Before you could tell him where he could shove his alliance, your argument was cut off by the approaching voice of Athena.

“I don’t know what kind of little lover’s quarrel you two have got going on here” you could swear you heard a warning growl from Hoseok “but get your shit together. We can’t have infighting in the alliance, especially before we even get into the arena. You,” a point at Namjoon, “stop treating her like shit. And you,” a point at you, “Stop looking like you’re about to cry. You’re a career for fuck sake, a cold blooded killer. Even though you’re obviously not, you at least need to look like one to scare off the other tributes otherwise you’re going to be the lowest hanging fruit they try and pick off first.”

You stared blankly back as Athena kept talking. The other tributes. You had been so preoccupied thinking about Hoseok and Namjoon’s cruelty, you hadn’t even considered your position without them. By now you were established as a career in the eyes of 18 other tributes, regardless of if you wanted to be one or not. From the past years of the games you knew that the other districts would take any opportunity they could to eliminate a career that somehow wound up on their own.

You were completely and utterly ruined no matter what direction you chose to go.

“Hoseok, Namjoon, you two are coming with me to the obstacle course run for a few hours. We need to do some teamwork after you two had your little dick measuring contest before in the graded courses. You two need to do something to make it look like you’re unified because right now because that’s something other tributes can exploit. Krystal, YN, and Yoongi will go to the rope tying station so YN can help us with knots and show off that she’s actually needed in our alliance to the others”

Namjoon nodded curtly whilst Hoseok clearly looked more annoyed at the idea of being split from you and having to work with the Namjoon. However, he quickly covered his expression and nodded as well. Athena gave each of them a shove on the shoulder to get them moving and they walked off out the hallway and back into the training compound.

You took a deep breath, grateful to have a break from either of their presence before looking between Yoongi and Krystal. They didn’t seem particularly interested in you, their sharp eyes and beautiful features were relaxed into a neutral expression that only suggested boredom. That was perfectly fine with you. As a fisherman’s daughter you were indeed well versed in knots and grateful for the reprise which would allow you to spend some time on something you were actually confident with.

“Alright, show me where the knotting station is”

Note: This story was originally a one shot in my mind and has now reached a planned 6 chapters. Aha. I suck.

Ideally I wanted the 'before the games' section to just be one chapter, but found it was starting to get too long after this reached over 7000 words and I still have the other training days, final assessment/grade out of 12 and the interviews with Caesar to cover (those will be in the next chapter, with the games starting in the update after)

The concept of the assessment came from the 1st movie where Atala (the woman who does that ‘in 2 weeks most of you will be dead’ speech in the training centre) mentions a mandatory assessment, so I just worked with an idea from that.

This chapter hopefully showcases more of Hoseok's Yandere nature along with establishing just how much or a horrible character Namjoon is (I swear I'll do a better fic of Namjoon as the lead soon).