#last animation i have for right now. hoping to make something bigger and longer <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[jaxieus]

Sca(r)red Boi

[that-0n3-shr00mi3-guy]

just now realizing that i had said that i would post the other two parts of my au on here and completely forgot... so imma do that now..

Part 2: Enter April!

Please keep in mind that the ages of the tots and April are: April: 5 years Raph: 4 years Donnie: 3 years Leo: 3 years Mikey: 2 years

Also, this part takes place several months after the initial mutation of the boys.

💚: A 5 year old April is wandering around the streets of New York, trying to find a place to take cover before the rain hits later that night. She had seen on a newspaper that it was going to rain soon, and she remembers hearing someone mention that it was going to rain tonight. She sees a pretty dark alleyway that doesn't appear to have anyone in it and decides to take cover there, hiding amongst the trash and under the trash bags, hoping they can cover her enough to make sure she doesn't get too wet. Then, she hears it, something shuffling nearby, a hiss and then some growling, and then it stops. Soon the hissing and growling is being shushed by someone she can only hear and not see.

🤍: "Shh Red..! You'll get us caught if you keep being noisy like that.." He sighed, turning towards the other three turtles on the ground, his tail curled around his legs as he crouched down and separated Blue and Purple so they would stop arguing while Orange was crawling around and playing with the trash he would find laying around.

Yoshi's ears twitched as he heard some of the trash bags shuffle and move when there was no wind as Red growled in the direction of a pile of trash bags that was bigger than the others. Hearing and seeing this, he stood in between Red and the pile of trash bags while the other three tots hid behind Red. Purple was hissing, Blue was hiding behind Purple, and Orange was in his shell in Blue's arms.

Yoshi growled at the pile of trash bags, every hair on his body standing on end as the bags continued to move around until one of them fell down and revealed a human child, she was quite dirty, her clothes were covered in dirt and grime, torn in some places more than others, and her very curly hair was just below her shoulders in length.

💚: April stared at Yoshi for a long while, not saying anything as he stared right back at her. Both of them started like that until Purple nearly jumped at April, hissing like a wild animal, at which point April realized she was staring at a giant rat man and four very strange looking turtles and she started to scream, both out of shock and fear. Yoshi quickly shushed her, hoping to get her to stop screaming before someone showed up, which wound up working when she stopped screaming and just stared at the five of them open-mouthed.

🤍: He stood there, and stared at her for only a moment longer before quickly saying "please don't tell anyone.." he had clasped his paws together and was basically begging her to not tell anyone about them.

"I don't have anyone to tell.. nobody listens to me anyways..." She had mumbled the last bit but he still heard all of it regardless, hearing this he stopped begging and stared at her for a moment, "where are your parents little one?" He asked her, crouching down so he was more eye-level with her.

Red had stopped growling when April stopped screaming, Purple was growling but at least he wasn't hissing, Blue seemed more comfortable but still stayed behind Purple, and Orange was out of his shell and staring at April. Yoshi took note of all of this as he talked with the young girl, learning that get name was April and that she didn't have any parents as they were gone, he wasn't sure if that meant that she was abandoned or if they were dead but he wasn't going to ask either way.

🧡: He stared at her, watching as the big rat man (they aren't calling him dad yet bc it's only been a few months) talked with the strange girl, she looked so interesting, but he could tell just based on the sounds coming from the others to not trust her just yet, so he waited... and waited... and waited. Until he got so bored he decided to ignore the desperate chirps from the others as he waddled/crawled over to April and stared up at her, his tiny tail wagging behind him when she looked down at him and waved, which he responded to by waving back at her.

💜: He watched Orange go towards the strange human and chirped at him, trying to get him to come back because it wasn't safe, he knew how to speak like the large rat man did, but when he was defensive or scared like this, he couldn't form any proper words and just chirped in desperation. He then watched in horror as the girl reached down and started to pick up Orange, to which Purple responded by charging over and biting her arm, refusing to let go until she put Orange back down.

💚: April cried out in pain as she looked at Purple and the small amounts of blood coming from her arm before she set Orange back down and backed away from Purple once he let go of her arm, wincing at the pain from the open wound. "Why did you bite me?!" She shouted, holding her arm, while trying to get it to stop bleeding as she glared at Purple, backing up further when he hissed at her before dragging Orange away and chirping at him, scolding him for going near the strange person.

💜: "Purple! Don't bite people!" Yoshi scolded quickly, Purple turning to him and growling, chirping while pointing at April and trying his hardest to communicate with Yoshi before growling in frustration at not being able to talk properly and sitting down while crossing his arms, he was very obviously pouting about being scolded even though he was just trying to protect Orange. His tail curled near his legs while he glared at the floor, growling whenever Orange or Red tried to get close to him, only relaxing slightly when Blue went over and comforted him.

🤍: "Are you alright April? I'm so sorry about him.. I'm still trying to teach them to not bite.." He crouched down near her and held out his paws, silently asking for her to put her arm in them so he could inspect the wound. "I'm okay.. I just wasn't expecting it.." She said, wordlessly complying and giving him her arm, flinching when he grabbed some antiseptic and put it on her arm where Purple bit before adding a bandaid. "Well, I'm glad you are alright.." He paused and thought for a moment, resting one of his paws on her arm over the bandaid before saying, "Would you like to stay with us? It's not very clean but it keeps us safe and out of the rain.." He looked up at her waiting for a response as she stared at him, her mouth hanging open again.

💚: She stood there for a while, thinking about it as Yoshi stood up to his full height and picked up the three youngest turtles, leaving Red on the ground since he was able to walk already. She watched him do this before finally deciding, "I think I'd like that.."

[bucketsofmonsters]

happy 21st!! i hope you have a wonderful day bc u deserve it! your writings are so brilliant and provide me much comfort <3

if ur still taking reqs (absolutely no pressure to fulfil this!), could i maybe ask for a little something where reader and subject 251 settles into domesticity?

Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!! Here's some domestic fluff for ya :)

You’d moved around a lot in the past few years. It was safer that way, especially right after you’d left. But now, as things settled down, so had you. 

You cracked open the door of your little cabin and called out, “Hey bud, I’m home,” despite the fact that you were fairly certain he had already been alerted to your presence. 

You didn’t see him but you knew he’d show up soon, he never kept you waiting for long.

You cleared some of the knicknacks off of the table to make yourself some room. Your house was full of the things. He’d become obsessed with collecting stuff. You couldn’t blame him for wanting things that were his own decorating his space after so long in that white room. Besides, it made it feel like a home.

On the newly created empty counter space, you dropped the grocery bags you had hanging on your arms and turned to see him watching you expectantly, having approached completely silently. He’d accidentally jumpscared you a few times when you’d started living together but now you were more accustomed to him just appearing behind you. 

“This should last you about a week,” you said, gesturing to the grocery bag that had the raw steaks in it. 

You knew it would last him longer. He was eating less of it than you knew he should be but you didn’t question where he was getting the rest from. Some questions you’d rather not know the answers to. And besides, you got a place near the woods for a reason.

Other than for hunting, he needed the space. There was nowhere else he could go without causing some massive freak outs and you wouldn’t keep him cooped up like he’s been for so many years. 

A yawn overtook you, the exhaustion hitting you as you arrived in the comfort of your home. 

You were always tired when you got home, work was too long and you could still feel some of the effects of working in the lab. Finding a job alone had been hard, you didn’t know what to put on your resume. “Took care of secret monsters for years?” It wasn’t exactly an easy sell.

He’d made it his own personal mission to take care of you the second you got home each day. 

You had a few mattresses pushed together on the floor that you collapsed onto. A massive bed was on your list of things to buy now that you had a home that felt at least semi-permanent but until then, this was the best you had. He was more than content with sleeping on the floor and you were rarely allowed to sleep on anything but him. 

Not that you were complaining, he was warmer and softer than any blanket you’d ever encountered before. 

Your eyes were closed but before long you felt him press his forehead to yours for a moment before pulling away. 

“Long day?” he asked.

“Just happy to be home.” you replied as you cracked your eyes open to watch him grab something off of the table. 

He dropped some warm bread into your lap before curling up next to you. 

He wasn’t great at making food but he tried his best. He was built for bigger actions, for running and hunting and not for dealing with ovens so it wasn’t the easiest. 

He always made sure you had something, though. Originally he’d started bringing you dead animals but he’d dropped that pretty quickly after noting your less than positive reactions. Even so, he was insistent on providing food for his mate, even if that meant having to learn how to use a microwave. 

As you started to get settled in, you realized your sleep-addled brain had forgotten another very important thing that was sitting in those bags. 

You jolted up and ran over, searching through them. 

“You’re never going to believe what I found,” you called back. 

His head quirked to the side curiously and you quickly hid the present behind your back. 

You lived in a pretty small town known for cryptid sightings. It was very convenient, a nice way to explain away any sightings that occurred. Besides, people claiming to have seen a monster in these woods happened a couple times a week, it raised significantly fewer alarm bells than a monster sighting anywhere else would. 

There were plenty of tourist traps and gift shops, mostly touting merchandise of bigfoot, a little mothman here and there, but on your trip to town today you’d found a few lone werewolf plushies that reminded you of someone. 

You pulled it from behind your back with a flourish. “Tada! It’s a little mini you!”

This did not seem to clear up any confusion. “Why do you need a small me?”

“For hugging, mainly. Besides, I think he’s cute. Well, I think you’re both cute.”

You couldn’t imagine cute was a word that many people had used for your wolf-man before but you meant it wholeheartedly. 

He laughed but you could tell he was a little flustered. “You’re ridiculous.”

You settled back into bed, curling around your new favorite stuffed animal as your monster curled around you. “Maybe. You still love me though.”

You felt the rumble of agreement in his chest as you nodded off, safe and content in his arms.

[otptings]

Flowers

☽ Requested; Yes

☽ Idol; Jungwon

☽Word Count; 3.3k+

☽ Genre; Hanahaki (lots of mentions for it) Friends to Lovers, slight Angst

☽ Warnings; Self deprecating thoughts, mentions of hanahaki disease, slight blood, lots of cringe flower metaphors

☽ Synopsis; Date night has been a monthly tradition since before Jungwon debuted in Enhypen. This is your first day out in months with Jungwon, but somethings different about this one. Is it the fact that he's an idol now, and all of your activities happen in empty establishments that have been bought out by his management, or is it your newly returning feelings for Jungwon that threatened to choke you out, causing dark violet flowers to spew out of your mouth at every interaction with him?

☽ A/n; The zoo I am describing for this is the Honolulu Zoo because that is the last one that I've been to, so if some of the animals aren't in Seoul than I apologize for that. Hope you enjoy this and sorry for taking so long on this request I had so many ideas of how to pull off the dates

You trusted Jungwon. It came easily like breathing, only a natural side effect developed effortlessly over 5 years of friendship. Days spent laughing and telling jokes, venting to each other about worries and stresses, studying for hours the night before tests. With someone as generous, and lovable as him it was easy to trust him with your life. He has also used this to his advantage, convincing you to do questionable things with a flash of his dimples. Like now, allowing him to lead you down the streets of Seoul while blindfolded. Completely at his mercy.

"Are we close? My feet are starting to hurt. We've been walking for hours." You whined as Jungwon pulled you around another corner. You've lost your sense of direction 4 turns ago, and he seemed to keep on going. "Why couldn't your manager just drive us the whole way? You had to have him stop super far from wherever you're taking me?" Jungwon just let out a laugh and gently squeezed your wrist. . His hand surrounding your wrist was comforting and grounding, a reminder that you were safe with him.

"We're almost there I promise. And if I would've done that it wouldn't have been a surprise now would it." You humphed knowing that Jungwon was stubborn when it came to things like this.

"You always do this. It's not fair, your ideas are always so much fancier than mine." Jungwon let out another laugh, and you didn't have to see him to know his expression. Eyes probably scrunched up, his dimples greeting the world as he laughed at my pain.

"It's not my fault that I love you so much. Plus I always want to do something special with you." Confusion flooded your mind while your heart skipped multiple beats at his words.

In the same sense of truth, feelings were natural too. Flowering in your chest with every sweet action he did, never wanting a reward for it just doing them because that's the kind of person he is. Packing extra food in his lunch box knowing your tendency to forget your own. Cupping your cheeks while he wiped away your tears, listening to you rant about your sorrows or broken hearts. Pulling you close to his chest afterwards, massaging the back of your head knowing how bad your headaches get after crying. Arms wrapped securely around you as he whispered calming words into your ear, a sense of security and comfort blanketing you while listening to his heart beat. Every gentle, caring and loving action made the flowers grow.

When Jungwon told you about his plan to audition for Be-Lift one part of you was selfish. You wanted him to stay, turn down the biggest opportunity of his lifetime, continue being only your Jungwon. That part was tiny however; and you squashed down those bitter feelings. You were absolutely ecstatic for him, having been the one to even push him towards the auditions. Stayed up hours at night to watch him practice, seeing his confidence grow tremendously the weeks leading to that fateful day.

When he got accepted you both celebrated the great news. His parents held a dinner in his honor, and his family sat around the table, congratulating him and his accomplishment. At first you were happy for him, overflowing with joy that your best friend had passed the biggest audition of his life. But as the day got closer you had to hide your heart break, smiling despite the tears you shed at night. Knowing that he was going to leave you soon.

The night before he left for I-Land was the hardest one, cuddling into his side while you laid in his bed. The last time in a while you would be in his room like this, only the two of you and the quiet of the night. You didn't sleep the whole night, only savoring the feeling of Jungwon holding you tightly, the last night of him being yours. Your best friend. Your first love.

Your Jungwon.

For the first time in 5 years you were apart for longer than a couple weeks. During this time the flowers started to wilt. You were grateful, ecstatic. Of course you missed Jungwon terribly, tuning in every Friday to support him. Eyes watering every time you watched him perform , pride prevailing over any negative emotions you could have as he confidently took the stage. When it was revealed he had made the debut team you had wailed, preening at your best friend's accomplishment knowing that his hard work paid off.

When Jungwon came home to visit your feelings were gone. You didn't feel the twisting in your chest when you hugged him, tucking your face into the crook of his neck as you both cried. Pulling away to look him in the face your heart didn't flutter at his smile, you only relished in the feeling that your best friend was back.

You thought your feelings had wilted into piles of dust and blown away. Not having seen him for months of course that'd be normal. You had thought your feelings were gone for good when you started to see him more frequently and they still hadn't returned.

You were wrong.

"Are you okay bugs?" Snapping out of your daze you realized that Jungwon was standing directly in front of you, one hand cupping your face and concern in his eyes. You nodded your head, cursing yourself for being getting so distracted.

"I'm fine bunny." His eyes scanned your face once before he leaned back, letting his hand linger.

"You know I just worry about you sometimes." Dropping his hand to his side he turned dramatically, switching the topic and gesturing at the box office in front of us. His manager was there waiting for us, underneath the gigantic sign for the zoo. "But I knew that you missed the zoo since we haven't gone in a long time. So I actually convinced management to rent it out for us for 2 hours."

Practically leaping into his arms you wrapped your arms around his neck, a huge smile spreading across your face. "Thank you thank you thank you!" Pulling away you saw his facial expression mimicking yours, dimples proudly on display and bunny teeth prominent.

"Come on, let's go." You giggled as you grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the gate. After getting your wrist bands - just for the experience - you downloaded the digital map and headed into the zoo ecstatic for your day with Jungwon.

♤♠︎♤

"Come on bugs, just look at the snake." You shook your head vehemently, trying to yank your hand free. His fingers only tightened around you wrist as he attempted to convince you to look at the giant snake in the glass enclosure merely 3 feet away from where you stood.

"Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Jungwon." You whined out his name, refusing his outrageous request.

Snakes were definitely a no for you. Especially a boa constrictor that can grow up to 13 ft long. The one they held in the exhibit was only 5 ft, but it could always become bigger. What would even need to get that big? Any animal that needs to be 5+ ft is a menace to society, and only here for evil. You'd already catered to Jungwon enough in this godforsaken reptile and amphibian section. The frogs were cute, absolutely adorable with their big glassy eyes, hanging on to the glass. Lizards weren't a big deal either, some of them over 3 ft long, lazing about their enclosure, enjoying the surprisingly warm Seoul day.

"Isn't this supposed to be a special day for me? Why would you make me see a stupid snake? They don't even have arms, that's so weird and creepy." Jungwon let out a laugh before pulling you over to him, a squeal leaving your lips as your back met his chest, and his arms wrapped around you. At the slightest display of affection you stopped fighting him, feeling the vines squeezing around your heart painfully, before he started to walk forward and you remembered where you were. Fighting for your life.

You tried to plant your feet in the ground to prevent Jungwon from forcing you to see the snake, but he only lifted your feet from the ground as you cursed the stupid Be:Lift gyms. His manager stared in amusement from the corner, his phone out to record the two of you and undoubtably show it to the rest of the members.

Another loud squeal left your mouth as Jungwon brought you right in front of the glass enclosure, the snake was sitting in the corner but slowly started moving towards the two of you, as if you had fascinated it. You turned your head, placing it in the crook of Jungwon's neck as you squeezed your eyes tight. Ignoring the fear that coursed through your body knowing that the snake was only separated by a thin layer of plexiglass.

"Bugs just look." You only shook your head, "I promise the snake won't hurt you as long as I'm here okay? You know I'll always protect you." Jungwon's soft voice cut through the fear, and you sighed knowing that you were falling into another one of his traps. You turned your head while taking a deep breath before opening your eyes, being met with the face of the snake.

With Jungwon's constant flow of reassurance in your ear you took a good look at the snake. The snake was against the glass, falling back down before slithering up again. Its eyes were wide open and almost looked like doe eyes, black and glassy as it stared at you. The scales were a pretty pastel yellow, mixed with white, resembling a banana cow. You were so distracted admiring the snake that you both jumped when his manager suggested you should get along, and walk further into the park. You felt your heart clench painfully as Jungwon stepped away from you, a blush running up his neck and spreading over his cheeks as he quickly walked to the next exhibit not bothering to wait for you.

♤♠︎♤

"I think this is the best friend date we've ever had." Jungwon spoke happily as you two walked out of the zoo gift shop, a red fox panda stuffed animal tucked safely in your arms. His treat since he refused to let you pull out your wallet and purchase it for yourself. You chose to ignore the flutter of your heart and rush of heat at the thought of this being a true date, your mind decidedly ignoring the word 'friend'. Your cheeks ached as you smiled. They've started to hurt after the amount of time spent joking and laughing while visiting the animals.

"It was. I really appreciated it. I've missed you, it's been so long since we've been able to hang out like this." Jungwon nodded in agreement, an uncharacteristically shy smile spreading across your face.

"Come on. The nights still not over, I have one more surprise for you." Jungwon tossed his arm over your shoulder as he led you to the car, excitement and surprise as you thought about what he could potentially still have planned.

Being ever the gentleman he opened the door for you, waiting until you were safely inside to close it and join you. His manager turned on the radio as he drove you two to the next destination.

"Don't tell me we're going to have to walk again? My feet are still dying from the zoo." Jungwon let out a laugh as he grabbed your hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of it as he intertwined your fingers.

"We won't have to walk too much I promise. Just sit back and relax, it shouldn't take too long to get there." You nodded your head before quickly looking out of the window, no longer able to ignore it.

The vines grew in your chest, clenching painfully around your heart, writhing and squeezing like a boa constrictor trying to capture its prey, crawling up your throat making you resist the urge to gag. Lungs filling with petals that swirled and fluttered around with every breath until there were too many, leaving no room to move around, just clumping together as breathes became sickly. Until you could no longer resist the urge to cough.

The sound of you hacking and gagging, the sight of a worried Jungwon when the first petal comes out. Dark violet petals fluttering out with every spasm of your lungs, some full flowers with stems still attacked, coated with a thin layer of maroon liquid, staining the pretty petals and tinging your pink sweater with spots of red, the bitter taste of the flowers mixing with copper. Your throat sore as the taste of bile rose alongside the rest of the petals, finally emptying your lungs. Filling the car until there was no room to hide from it, hide from your feelings. Hide from the predicament that you were in, feelings for you best friend, the rookie idol.

How could you be so stupid to believe that you could hide it? You were always so easily exposed to Jungwon. He knew you better than you knew yourself. What if he already knew and was just biding his time before he left you, the thought of your feelings disgusting him, being too much for him? He could surely find another best friend, one who wouldn't fall for him.

But could that ever happen? Someone not falling for him. It's easy to fall for his eyes, chocolate eyes that always saw right through you. That knew when you weren't feeling good and were trying to hide it. Dark unruly hair, never easily tamed but was so silky when you ran your fingers through it. Despite being called bunny he practically purred whenever you did it, causing your face to burn at the feelings that always resurfaced. Caring nature that assured he'd become the leader of his group, always wanting to care for everyone around him and make sure that they were happy.

You don't think it'd ever be possible for someone to not fall for him.

"Are you okay bugs?" You blinked realizing that the car door was open, Jungwon standing in front of you with the same concerned look that made you feel ashamed, and yet warmed.

Glancing around you realized you had imagined the coughing fit, drowning in the sea of your own emotions and being buried under a mountain of petals. It was all in your imagination, hanahaki didn't exist. How could it? If it existed you would surely be dead.

Shaking your head you waved off the question, unbuckling your seatbelt and quickly hoping out of the van.

"Of course. I'm perfectly fine, just feeling a little tired I guess. Must've gotten lost in my thoughts. Anyway, where are we?" Jungwon raised a brow at your rambling, knowing you only did it when you were nervous before choosing to ignore it and grabbing your hand again. You hoped he couldn't feel how sweaty your palms were, nerves taking over you at the realization your feelings and thoughts had run away from you again.

"Well I wanted to do something really special for you," You shook your head before cutting Jungwon off.

"The zoo was perfect Jungwon, you don't have to do anything else. Today was perfect already." Jungwon shushed you as he led you into the building, his manager staying behind. Leading you to the elevators he pressed a button before getting on, waiting for the doors to close behind the both of you before he continued to speak.

"You've supported me throughout this whole journey. Pushing me to audition when I was too nervous, and didn't think that I would make it. When I got accepted into I-Land you supported me even when I was leaving you in the middle of the school year, texted me every night to let me know that you were watching and were always rooting for me. Knowing how proud I was making you when the thought of me debuting wasn't official helped me work harder, and continue to push myself," He got cut off as the elevator dinged, signaling that you were at your floor. Jungwon pulled you off the elevator towards a set of stairs that led to a door labeled roof. Jungwon turned towards you, his face deathly serious causing you to get a lot nervous at the sudden sober move.

"Before we go out there I just wanted to tell you that I am grateful that you are in my life. I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without you, constantly supporting me throughout everything. You are what has pushed me this far bugs, and I love you. You're my best friend and I owe you so much for constantly being there." You smiled, ignoring the pain in your chest. Of course he'd only think of you as his best friend, there's no way he'd see you as anything else.

"Of course Jungwon. You can't put it all on me, you worked hard to get to where you are. I'm proud of you because you constantly push yourself, not because you've been successful. You'll always be my Jungwon even if you wouldn't debuted with Enhypen, and I would've always been proud of you." Red dusted over Jungwon's cheeks as he smiled shyly, before opening the roof door and pushing you in front of him.

You were left speechless at the sight in front of you. Blankets laid out over the ground, picnic baskets placed in the middle to prevent the wind from blowing them away. Pastel pink flowers spread out being blown lightly by the wind but not leaving the roof. Fairy lights spread out emitting a soft golden glow barely recognizable under the setting sun. Clouds flitting over the pink, and orange sky. Adding on to the beautiful aesthetic of the set up.

What truly had your attention was the rest of his members standing around the blankets, signs being held out at arm's length. Their various expressions showed excitement, minus Niki who tried to look emotionally detached from the situation but was bouncing on his toes, practically jumping.

From tomorrow,

I'll protect you

All Day and Night

Now Lean on Me

Will you go out with me Bugs?

Hot tears pricked at your eyes, a thick lump in your throat growing. All of their expressions morphed into worry, Niki had even stopped bouncing on his toes, Heeseung glanced at Jungwon slight panic evident in his face. A loud sob left your mouth as you turned around and threw yourself onto Jungwon, tossing your arms around his neck. A nervous laugh left his mouth as he slid his around your waist, holding you almost protectively.

Jungwon pulled away from you, bringing his hands to cup your cheeks, attempting to wipe the river of tears away.

"These are happy tears right?" A weak smile spread across your lips, nodding slowly at him. Seeing his smile come back full force, dimples showing happily. Vines loosening around your heart for the first time in months, falling away as they disintegrated. Petals evaporating leaving behind only fresh air in your lungs, breathes flowing freely as you stared at Jungwon. Boba eyes staring back at you, only showing love. His thumbs stopped wiping as he leaned forward barely, glancing at your lips briefly.

"Can I kiss you?" You eagerly hummed, a soft yes being your answer.

Jungwon leaned forward, leaving space for you to back out if you were too overwhelmed. You met his lips, inciting cheers and groans from the members present, seeing their leader kissing his best friend. Your lips moved in sync, one more thing you guys did perfect together. You must admit, the taste of salt from your cheers, along with the dramatic cheers from his members did not make for the best first kiss experience. Especially for a first kiss that you had fantasized and imagined about for years.

Knowing that was only the first of many however, made it all the sweeter.

[ssscentral]

Traveller

Summary : Jung Hoseok loves you, regardless of what universe you’re in and he’s going to make sure to find you no matter what. Good thing you feel the same.

Pairing : Dimension Traveller!Jung Hoseok x Dimension Traveller!Reader

Genre : Fluff, Established Relationship!Au, Sci-Fi, Fantasy!Au, College!Au

Rating : PG13

Warnings : Swearing

Wc : 4.7k

Member : Hoebii || @hoebii

A/N : First of all, thank you @eatjeanjin and @kerikaaria for being my amazing betas! You’re what made this story even readable ukfhgj Second, HAPPY BIRTHDAY @moccahobi!!! ILYSM HOPE YOU HAVE A BLAST TODAY BB <3 I hope you like this fic, I literally crammed 12 prompts into this fic and made this hot mess in a few hours lmao so hope this isn’t too hard to read sksksksk. Love you lots Lil bean, happy birthday and thank you for existing, you’re such a precious bb, always there for everyone. You deserve the world, love <33 Also the time stamp for the text isn’t canon, so ignore the time!

-----------------

“You will be transported to a new dimension after spending one month in each of them for this experiment,” the animated voice crackled from the speakers. “The inhabitants in those universes will already have memories of you to help you blend in easily. You are to live a normal life during these experiments while making sure not to disclose your true identities for that may cause unnecessary complications.”

The voice kept going on about the experiment that you no longer had any interest in after the first few minutes. You fiddled with the necklace around your neck in boredom while you waited for the meeting to be adjourned. This wasn’t the first time you were going to travel between dimensions and you were sure it wouldn’t be the last, so having to sit through the same briefing over and over again felt completely useless and a waste of time. 

The only reason you even attended these were to get your files for the potential dimensions you may get sent to. The management really needed to get their shit in control and stop sending you to these places with little to no information. 

You understood that these experiments were to test out the stability and how each universe was doing after being created but it made no sense for the management to send out travellers blindly like they do, they could at least provide you with a little backstory for your character rather than a list of ’potential’ places. Even those weren’t certain and that made no sense! For an organisation that thrived to keep peace and regulation of all dimensions, their system was chaotic as fuck.

You only came out of your thoughts when you felt someone nudge your leg under the table. Glancing up from your necklace, your eyes met that of a cheeky looking Hoseok who was now pushing a little harder against your leg, now that he had your attention. 

‘Hi,’ he mouthed happily only for you to answer with a raised eyebrow. ‘I miss you,’ he mouthed again, jutting his lower lip out in a pout. You snorted at his antics, coughing to hide your smile when the sound caught the attention of those around you. 

It was only when they shifted their attention back to the screen at the end of the room to continue with the briefing that was ongoing, did you finally look back at Hoseok. Rolling your eyes, you grabbed a pen and tore a paper from the diary they provided for the meeting before hastily scribbling down something and sliding it to the man sitting in front of you.

‘We’re literally sitting in front of each other.’

Hoseok picked up the paper and quickly read the content on it before grabbing his own pen to write his answer down and passing it back to you.

‘But I can’t hold your hand right now :(‘

You bit your lip to stop the smile that was fighting to shine through when you saw his adorable handwriting under yours. How someone could be as endearing as Hoseok was beyond you, but you loved that about him.

Wordlessly, you pretended to pay attention to the briefing once more while you slid your hand towards Hoseok to let him hold your hand. You could feel the way his smile brightened when his fingers intertwined with yours, squeezing it gently.

You shook your head as you bit your lips harder to fight the smile that was now on your face when you squeezed his hand back.

-----------------

Walking out of the conference room, your hand was still engulfed by Hoseok’s bigger one. Your face was flushed in embarrassment as you walked out. It wasn’t because you were holding his hand, but rather the fact that he never let go after the meeting was over. So you had to walk from your seat to the end of the table with the said furniture in the middle of you as you walked. 

“If I didn’t love you as much as I do, I would’ve kicked your ass by now, just so you know,” you grumbled as you walked down the corridor towards your shared room. 

Hoseok laughed, his grip around your hand tightening as he bumped his shoulder with yours. “Good thing you love me then! It would be a nightmare to jump between dimensions with you otherwise.”

“Who said it’s still not a nightmare to have you as my partner?”

“Don’t be rude.”

“Make me,” you teased before quickly freeing your hand from his and running towards your destination.

“Come back here!”

-----------------

It was the day of action, as you liked to call it, the day when you were supposed to start experiments. 

“You ready?” Hoseok asked as he came to join you in the transport chamber.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Promise to find each other no matter what?” he asked while putting his pinky finger out, smiling at you.

You laughed as you wrapped yours around his. “Of course.”  

“I’ll see you around then.”

You only hummed in agreement before pressing the power button on the transport bracelet and the world went dark.

-----------------

You woke up to the blaring alarm of your phone, blindly looking for the device to turn the godforsaken sound off. When you failed to find it, you pushed yourself up from your bed to scan the area, getting more irked the longer the sound went on. 

Finally, your eyes landed on the black vibrating phone on the ground and you had half a mind to just stomp on the damn thing and break it. Picking it up, you harshly tapped on the stop button and sighed when the apartment went quiet, closing your eyes to bask in the peace. 

Wait. Apartment? 

Your eyes shot open again as you examined your surroundings, trying to decipher which universe you were in currently. The place seemed like any other average looking apartment in a bustling city. You unlocked your phone when you felt it vibrate in your hand, realising it was a text from someone saved as ‘Chicky Chimmy’. 

Opening the conversation, your confusion only grew at the text.

“I’m a student, huh?” You pondered as you grabbed a random outfit for the day along with what you assumed to be your books on the reading table in your room. You then proceeded to head down and out of your apartment. “Could’ve been worse.”

-----------------

Stepping out of the elevator, you saw your… friend impatiently leaning against his car looking at you with displeasure all over his face. You gave him a sheepish smile as you approached him, praying to whatever higher power that he says his name for one reason or another. From the previous conversations you had after taking some time to go through your phone, the two of you were supposed to be best friends so you weren’t in a position to ask his name.

“Y/N our class starts in 30 minutes and it takes 30 minutes to get there!”

“Hehe?”

He faced palm, moving to go around to the driver's seat. “Just get your cute butt inside.”

----------------

The moment Chimmy parked his car inside the university, he dashed out of the car with you close behind, panicking about how mad the professor was going to be for being late.

You almost bumped into him when he stopped in front of a classroom, shooting you a nervous glance before slowly stepping inside the class. The two of you couldn’t even get two steps in before the voice of the man teaching the class boomed across the room.

“Y/L/N Y/N and Park Jimin. Late again, I see?”

Again? How many times have we been late before? Jimin’s a cute name though, perfect for him. You smiled slightly at your thoughts before fixing your expression to be neutral before the professor could catch you. 

“We’re so sorry professor! This will be the last time!” Jimin pleaded, fidgeting on his spot.

“That’s what you said last time, Mr. Park,” the professor replied, looking unamused.

“Pro-”

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” A new voice joins, the person who barged in after the two of you hunched over and panting from surely having run to class.

“Mr. Jung Hoseok, I did not expect such tardiness from you.”

Hoseok! You felt your heart rate kick up just at the mention of his name. It’s not often the higher ups make it easy to find your partner but it seemed that they were feeling courteous this time.

Hoseok’s eyes met yours and he flashed you a giant smile, one that had his eyes turning into crescents before looking back at the professor with a dashin smile. “I’m sorry sir, it surely won’t happen again.”

The professor sighed, rolling his eyes when he looked back at Jimin and you before muttering, “That’s what they always say.” Shaking his head, the professor gave a small nod. “Go to your seats and don’t be late again. Especially the two of you, Miss Y/L/N and Mr. Park.”

Jimin bowed before grabbing your hand and dragging you to the back of the room, taking a seat and patting the one beside him urgently. Glancing at Hoseok one last time, you sat beside Jimin. 

You couldn’t help but pout at the sight of Hoseok sitting somewhere else and already interacting with the strangers around him as if he knew them for a long time. He was always a social butterfly but it was always shocking to see him get accustomed to new universes so easily.

“You look amazing today, just so you know,” Jimin whispered in your ear, his eyes trained on the board even as he spoke.

“Thanks.”

-----------------

It was lunch time and Jimin had basically dragged you to the cafe near the university, claiming that cheap and instant coffee was the only thing his body needed to go through the day. 

“Coffee is great and all but you need actual food too, you know,” you nagged Jimin as he downed his second cup of coffee in one sitting.

Placing the brown coffee cup down, Jimin raised his index finger as if giving a speech. “People need a lot of things, doesn’t mean they have it though.”

You gave Jimin an unimpressed look. “Stop trying to be a philosopher and get some food in you, tiny.”

“I’m literally taller than you.”

“I will fight you, Park Jimin.”

----------------

“I still don’t get why we need to do this,” you grumbled as you stretched your hands and legs.

“Because,” Jimin said, dribbling the orange basketball as he waited for you to finish. “Warming up is important before starting any exercise to decrease the chances of pulling a muscle or something.”

You snort at that, stretching one last time before dropping your hands. “You make it sound like I’m going to exercise.”

“Y/N we’re literally in PE class.”

“And?”

Jimin could only give you an unamused look before shaking his head in defeat, his newly dyed pink hair bouncing from his movement. 

-----------------

You were sitting in the library surrounded by textbooks for the upcoming exam when you felt someone pull out the chair in front of you and take a seat. Paying them no mind, you continued drowning yourself with new information from the book when you felt someone nudge your leg under the table.

You glanced up from the textbook in front of you to see none other than Jung Hoseok sitting in front of you with a smile. Just before you could shoot him a smile and delve into a conversation, your brain reminded you of the fact that it had been a week since you came to this dimension and this the first time he tried to come talk to you after seeing each other in that one class on day one. 

Scoffing, you looked back down at your book, ignoring the way he nudged your leg again to get your attention.

“Are you mad at me?” He finally asked when he realised that you were ignoring him.

“What do you think?”

“What did I dooooo?”

You slammed the pink covered book in your hand shut, looking him in the eye. “What did you do? Oh I don’t know, maybe because you basically ignored me for a week? Acted as if I don’t exist?”

Hoseok frowned, trying to take your hand in his but you moved away from him. “I’m sorry baby. I’ve just been so swamped with work. Did you know I’m the dance club leader and a part of the student council in this universe? I swear I would’ve come up to you earlier if I had the time!”

“I tried talking to you a few days back, you acted as if you didn’t even know me,” you replied, not being able to hide the hurt from your tone. “You didn’t seem busy then, you were just having lunch and laughing with your friends.” 

“Baby…”

You sighed, pushing away the chair and standing up. “Forget it, I’ll see you around, Hoseok.” Collecting your books, you gave Hoseok one last look before walking away.

-----------------

You were currently playing with the dog Jimin recently adopted on his couch when he plopped down beside you with snacks. You had come over for movie night but now you were more interested in playing with his dog than the movie.

“So you going to tell me why the Jung Hoseok has been following you around like a lovesick puppy for the past week?”

“No, because there’s nothing to say,” you replied, not paying much attention due to the energetic puppy that was jumping about on your lap.

Jimin groaned, placing the bowl of snack down on the coffee table and then taking the chocolate coloured labrador puppy away from you - much to your protest. “Stop playing with Doggo and give me the tea!”

“I still can’t believe you named your dog Doggo.”

“That is not the main topic of this conversation and you know it!”

You sighed, rolling your eyes so hard that your head hurt a little. “There’s nothing to say, Hoseok and I talked in the library when I was studying for the test and then had a little argument and I left.”

Jimin scoffed, his lips pulling into a pout as he crossed his arms. “That’s the weakest tea I’ve ever gotten. Give me the details! Since when do you two know each other enough to be having ‘fights’?”

“I-” you stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse. “We don’t! He just approached me in the library and I found him really annoying.”

Jimin gave you a skeptical look. “Y/N… You’ve had a crush on him for like a year now. You find him annoying?”

“Yes?” You answered, though it sounded more like a question. “What do you want me to say something like ‘Oh we’re actually dimension travellers and know each other from before and this is all just an experiment? Don’t be ridiculous!” You rambled, laughing nervously when you realised that you had basically just exposed yourself.

“Huh?”

“Listen! I liked him but he’s actually annoying, so that’s over.”  

“If you say so…” Jimin conceded hesitantly, still looking at you skeptically which now looked more concerned.

-----------------

You had successfully avoided Hoseok like the plague for almost the remainder of the time you had in this dimension. You knew what you were doing was petty and it really wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t come talk to you at first, but now you were in too deep to stop being petty. Not that it stopped Hoseok from trailing after you anytime he could, trying to get you to talk to him.

“Y/N, please stop!” You heard Hoseok call from behind you but you kept walking, ignoring him like you usually did. “Oh for fuck sake,” you heard him grumble before you felt someone grab you by your wrist and twirling you around for their lips to press against yours.

You were about to push them off when you realised that it was Hoseok who had kissed you, not a random person and you unconsciously melted into it. Your arms slithered around his neck to pull him closer as his hands wrapped around your waist to move closer to you too.

Breaking the kiss, Hoseok pressed his forehead against yours while looking you in the eyes. “It’s the last day here before we move on and who knows how long it’s going to take us to find each other there. Stop being mad, please?”

Not being able to help yourself, you placed a kiss on his nose, stepping away from him and smiling cheekily. “I’ll see you around, Hoseok.”

-----------------

“YOU KISSED HOSEOK IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE CORRIDOR! OH MY GOD I NEED THE DETAILS!” Jimin exclaimed when you met up with him after school. He was your ride home after all. 

You only laughed, your face flushed in embarrassment. “Uh huh, how about I tell you all about it tomorrow?”

“Promise?” He asked, looking at you in disappointment that he couldn’t get you to tell him everything right then.

You shook your head, looking away from him. “We’ll see.” 

No point in making a promise that you knew you couldn’t keep it. You were going to leave tonight, who knows if you’ll ever come back here or if he would ever remember you once you left.

-----------------

The next time you opened your eyes, you were underwater. At first, panic took over you from the possibility of you drowning. But when you opened your mouth, rather than feeling the water rushing in and suffocating you, you found out that you were completely fine.

“Huh?” You blurted out Your eyes widened when you realised that you could hear yourself clearly underwater too. Looking around, your eyes zeroed in on the shimmering tail that began from your waist down. “HUH?!”

You looked around only to see nothing but water, a few fish swam by you but that was about it. It wasn’t your first time in a fairytale universe but it was your first time being a mermaid. You wondered if Hoseok got transformed into some sort of mythical creature like you too. 

“Oh well, I hope he’s safe.”

-----------------

You didn’t know how much time passed but you were still blindly swimming around trying to find out where to go. You had breached the water at one point and sat on some rocks by a beach in true fairytale mermaid fashion but even then you found nothing of interest. You did get to sit and watch the clear blue waves peacefully for a while but that got boring after some time, too.

“I never thought I’d miss wearing sandals but here I am,” you sighed to yourself before jumping back into the water.

You were just about ready to give up and just sit on the sea bed when you saw a cave underwater. You couldn’t help but snort at how similar this felt to the fairytale ‘Little Mermaid’ you used to read when you were younger. All you needed was some evil old witch to be residing in there and a prince charming to drown some time soon so you could save him and lose your voice.

Having nothing better to do, you began swimming down to the cave to explore it when you felt someone grab you and drag you away from the cave entrance urgently. 

“What the fuck? What are you doing, let me go!” You exclaimed as you tried to wiggle free from your captor.

“Stop struggling, you’re going to get us caught by the hag!” A deep voice harshly whispered in your ear. 

The mention of a hag had you stop struggling. “Caught by the what now?”

You felt your captor loosen their grip around you, giving you the perfect chance to move away from them. You turned to come face to face with a beautiful man… er merman? 

“The hag? Evil sea witch out to get merfolks?” the man asked, looking at you incredulously at the fact that you seemingly had no idea as to who the hag was. “Are you new here? I haven’t seen you before.”

“I guess you could say that. I’ve been swimming for ages now and you’re the first creature I found,” you explained.

The man hummed, tapping his lips as he scanned you over before breaking out into a large boxy smile. “Well then, nice to meet you! I’m Taehyung, what’s your name?”

“Y/N.”

Taehyung gasped when he heard your name. “Y/N? As in Y/L/N Y/N?”

“Why do you know my name?” You asked cautiously. Fuck, were you supposed to know who he was? If that was the case then why were you transported away from them, also he didn’t seem to know you before you introduced yourself.

“Princess! Welcome!”

Excuse me, WHAT?! You choked on nothing. “Who?”

“You! Princess! Welcome!”

When you were thinking about this universe being a knock-off ‘Little Mermaid’ universe, you didn’t think that would be the right assumption. 

Not knowing how to act, you shot Taehyung an awkward smile, waving a little. “Thank you?”

“You have to meet the others! Let’s go, princess!” Taehyung exclaimed excitedly before grabbing your hand and swimming away from the cave.

-----------------

After Taehyung had brought you to others, you met 5 other mermen - each almost unimaginably beautiful. It was a pleasant surprise to see this dimension’s Jimin, he was just as sweet and excitable as the one before.

After the initial meet-up, you got to know that you were indeed the daughter of Triton - something that had you laughing at the absurdity for a good five minutes much to the confusion of others - and you were supposed to be visiting ‘your kingdom’ to get acquainted with everyone before your coronation and living here.

As Taehyung had escorted you to your room, you had joked that all you needed was a handsome man to drown so you could save him. Which, in hindsight may have been a very weird thing to say from the look Taehyung gave you. 

Currently, you were exploring the kingdom, asking people if they knew of anyone by the name Hoseok, only to end up with no clue as to where he might be. No one had any idea about Jung Hoseok and you were getting worried about not managing to find him.

Lost in your thoughts, you didn’t realise that you had left the premises of the city and wandered away. You stopped in your tracks when a giant shadow moved above you, completely leaving you in the dark. 

You looked up to see what blocked the sun when you realised you were directly underneath two ships, the sound of fighting barely audible under the water but present nevertheless. Curiosity getting the best of you, you cautiously swam up to peak above at what was going on, only to find that a full on war was ongoing between the two ships. 

“Damn, am I in a Grimm Brothers Fairytale or the Pirates of The Caribbean movie right now?”

You didn’t have much time to ponder, however, because you noticed someone eerily similar to Hoseok going overboard and you dove underwater for him.

“I swear if that’s actually Hoseok, I’m going to lose my mind.”

Catching the sinking body, you almost wanted to let him go so you could swim over and slam your head against a rock when you realised, it was indeed Hoseok. 

Muttering a few curses under your breath, you proceeded to drag Hoseok towards the beach close by to make sure he didn’t drown before you could give him a piece of your mind.

-----------------

Hoseok sat up abruptly, his nose, throat and eyes burning as he coughed violently. “Mother of bitch, that’s salty,” he spoke, his voice hoarse from almost drowning.

“Of course it is! What were you doing on a pirate ship?!” You exclaimed, hitting his thigh with your palm.

“Y/N?” He asked, his eyes widening when he realised that it was you in front of him.

“The one and only.”

“Oh thank goodness you’re alright!” Hoseok exclaimed, pulling you to his chest and resting his head on top of yours after placing a kiss there.

“You didn’t answer my question,” you said, your voice muffled by his chest from the way he held you close.

“Hm? What was your question?” He asked, letting you go to face you properly. 

“What were you doing on a pirate ship?” 

“Ah! I’m the captain!”

“What? Why don’t I get to be badass characters like you,” you whined looking away from him petulantly. 

“You don’t need a character to be badass, you’re a natural one!” He happily answered, grabbing your chin to make you face him. “You look beautiful baby, but how’d you find me?”

“Are you telling me that you didn’t notice this huge ass tail I have?”

Looking down at your words, his eyes widened, voice rising in pitch with his excitement. “Oh my god you have a tail! You’re a mermaid!”

“Gee? Am I?! Wow Hoseok, thank you for enlightening me!” You mocked his excitement. You didn’t want to act so short with him but the adrenaline running through your body after basically finding the one you love drowning had your brain going haywire.

“Are you mad at me again?”

“I don’t know, Hoseok. Am I?”

“You know I don’t choose the roles I get!”

You sighed, feeling guilty for the way you acted towards him. “I know, it’s just. At first I couldn’t find you anywhere and when I did, you were drowning and it just fucked me up. I know I was joking about how I’m Ariel from Little Mermaid and I need to save a drowning prince but this was not what I was expecting.”

Understanding as ever, Hoseok gave you a sad smile before pulling you back into his embrace again, running his hand through your hair in the way he knew you loved. “It’s okay, I understand. I’d be worried too if I were you, just don’t be mad at me, you know I hate it when you’re mad at me.”

“‘M sorry.”

“Can I have a kiss?” he asked after the two of you basked in each other’s warmth for a moment. 

You pulled back from him, scrunching your nose at him, feeling shy when you noticed how intensely he was looking at you. Grabbing the collar of the shirt he was wearing, you pulled him down for a kiss, pouring out all your emotions into it - from how much you cared for him to how sorry you were for the way you acted. You hoped that he would understand. 

Hoseok kissed you back with just as much emotion, pulling you close and smiling into the kiss. Breaking away from it, he gave you a blinding smile, one that had your heart melting like butter. 

“I love you,” you whispered, afraid that speaking any louder would make you break from all the emotions that were rushing through your heart.

“I love you too. I need to go now, can see my ship coming towards us.”

You nodded, not really processing his words, too busy staring at his gorgeous face. Hoseok realised the fact you didn’t pay attention to his words, making him smile wider. Waving a hand in front of your face, Hoseok chuckled when you seemed as if just coming out of a trance.

“Did you hear anything I just said?”

“Not really,” you shrugged.

Hoseok threw his head back in laughter. “I said, I can see my ship coming towards us as we speak so I reckon it’s time to leave, baby. I’ll make sure to come visit you here as much as I can in the time we’re here.”

“Promise?” You asked, offering your pinky to him as you looked at him through your lashes.

“Promise,” Hoseok answered, wrapping his finger around yours, giving you one last smile as he stood back up. 

“I’ll see you around, alright?”

“I’ll see you around.”

With that you swam back to the sea, waiting just out of sight to make sure that Hoseok was okay before actually leaving. 

You might travel to various places with no certainty of what you may face but one thing was for sure, you’d always find your way to Hoseok.

[retroellie]

If I Ever Were To Lose You

Summary: Y/N helps Ellie through a nightmare

A/N: This sucks ass and I’m sorry but enjoy <3

Warnings: Death, nightmares and talk about NSFW 

Word Count: 3K 

“Y/N?” Ellie called out. 

She frantically ran around the building, opening doors and breaking glass just to find you. She felt like she couldn’t breathe, she’s not sure what happened. All she knew was the knot in her stomach grew and you were gone. 

“Shit! Y/N WHERE ARE YOU?” She basically screamed out. 

Her heart beat grew louder, she swore it could pop right out of her chest. Door after door, she couldn’t find you. The emptiness of the building was terrifying, it felt lonely and especially since she didn’t know where you were. Worry and fear clouded her mind, she couldn’t lose you. 

She was beginning to lose hope, to finally accept defeat until she heard a strange growl coming from the last door down the hall. Her last bit of hope carried her down the hall. 

“Y/N” She shouted. 

She ran down the long hall that only seemed to get longer. Broken glass and unopened broken doors pasted by her, it seemed to go on forever. She came to a screeching stop when she reached the door, busting it open. 

“Y/n?” She asked once more. 

She looked around, her eyes adjusting to the sudden darkness. It was empty, the only sound was the creaking of a broken light, swinging in the light breeze sweeping through the room. She had lost hope, the last person she loved and cared for lost. 

She pressed her back against the wall, trying to catch her breath but the lump in her throat choking her. She let out a few broken sobs, finally giving in. She had no one to be strong for, no one to love and be loved by. She had no one. 

“Ellie?” A voice called out

Ellies had shot up, she  recognized the voice from anywhere, she heard that phrase come out of your mouth many times. Either that was laughing it out or in broken sobs and gasp or even breathy moans. It was music to her ears. 

“Y/n” She gasped. She stood up, bringing you into the biggest hug she’s ever giving you. 

“Ellie..” You laughed. “You’re strangling me.” You joked, attempting to pull her off of you. 

“Sorry.” She chuckled, pulling away from you.”I-i just thought i lost you.” She wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve. 

She took a good look at you, you looked different. Your eyes were darker than normal and your skin looked almost like rubber, like you weren't real. 

“I’m sorry baby,” You started. “I saw a kitty, I had to go after it.” 

Ellies eyebrows knitted together in confusion, you were never that reckless no matter how much you loved animals. Something was off, you didn’t seem like yourself. 

“Y/n? Is something wrong?” She asked as she started to feel weird 

You just gave her a big smile, it was too big of a smile. Your skin started to droop, like it was falling off. Your smile got bigger and bigger until your skin started to crack, it was like a scene from a horror movie. Ellie backed up, not sure if she should run or not. 

“Everything is fine, my love.” Your voice echoing through the room, turning into almost a growl. 

Ellie slowly stepped back, terrified at the sight in front of her. Your skin began to fall off revealing cyst and bumps, your eyes had turned almost black, your skin turned a sickly grey color and a big bite mark on your neck was now seen. Ellie now realized what was happening, you had gotten bit and you're now tuning. She couldn’t save you. 

Her eyes started to burn and her heart had stopped for a minute, realizing her failure. You were Ellies most prized possession, She believed you were too good for this horrible world. You didn’t deserve to go out like this, bitten by one of those monsters and eventually a bullet between your eyes. 

She could've run but she didn’t want to leave you to die here by yourself, she wanted to die by your side. She knew you had already turned, there was no stopping it so she just watched as your skin cracked open and cyst formed on your soft skin. 

“I’m sorry.” Ellie whispered in defeat. “I couldn’t save you.” 

You didn’t even look like yourself at this point, you weren't yourself. She didn’t know if you were in there anymore or if you were trapped inside this monster's skin. You took a step closer, one foot after the other making your way to her. She just let you, she stood there completely frozen ready for her slow death. 

“You never deserved this Y/n.” She sobbed out, watching your every step. It was torture as you slowly limped to her. “You were always too good for this world, too good for me...”

You were inches away from her, arms reached out to grab her. She moved into your arms, wanting it to go faster. She looked into your cold dead eyes once more before closing hers, preparing herself for the pain. She was ready for it, ready to be consumed by the sweet release of death. 

She felt your hot breath on her neck, your short and panted breaths. You wrapped your hand around her throat before letting out a terrible screech, finally sinking your teeth into her neck. She let out a strangled scream, the pain hitting her hard and fast. 

It hurt so bad, she felt her heart pound in her ears. She grabbed onto your shoulders, the pain making her feel faint. The blood pumping out of the wound, she felt her body rush to the ground, she was moving in and out of consciousness. Her own throat strangling her, stealing her oxygen from her. Her eyes felt heavy and her brain fuzzy. Is this what death felt like, like your oxygen being stolen away from you. She let out a single breath and her heart stopped pumping. She laid there cold, dead and alone, just how she knew she would. 

-

-

Ellie's eyes shot open, her heart feeling like it was going to jump right out of her chest. She shot up, not being able to breath. She put a hand on her chest, feeling like she was having a heart attack, she gasped for air. She didn’t know where she was or if she was dead, nothing made sense to her. Until she felt a hand on her shoulder, She reached into her pocket grabbing her knife. She flung her body around holding the knife to the person. 

“ellie, hey! it’s okay.” The person whispered yelled. 

She saw who it was, it was you. Her body eased up when she saw it was you, her breath finally coming back to her. She dropped her knife and let out a big breath, a breath she didn’t even know she was holding in. 

“I’m sorry.” She choked out. 

You crawled over beside her, laying your head on her shoulder and rubbing soft circles on her back. That calmed her down a lot, her breathes were still coming out in short gasps. 

“It’s okay baby, you’re doing great.” You whispered encouraging words into her ear. “Just keep breathing for me, okay?” 

She did what you said, no longer having to fight for air. She didn’t know she was crying until she felt the wetness on her cheeks. She wiped the tears off her face, letting her body relax. 

“You’re okay baby.�� You whispered once more. “You're safe, nothings gonna hurt you.” 

She turned her head to look at you, you looked sleepy. She must have woken you up. Your hair was messy, the illumination of the fire brought out your slight eye bags. She thought your were the most beautiful woman she has ever seen, she was so in love with you she couldn’t even hide it sometimes. 

“I’m sorry I woke you.” She whispered. You just smiled, giving her a small kiss on the tip of the nose. 

“It’s fine, I was already awake because of Tommy's snores.” You giggled. 

Ellie looked over to see two shapeless blobs right next to them, That’s when everything came back to her. You guys had been on your rounds with Tommy and Joel  before it got too bad outside, the snow was physically hurting when they decided to just camp out at one of the lookouts. It was a nice cabin, it had a great view and a huge fireplace. 

“He does snore pretty loud.” Ellie jokes, putting a hand on your thigh. 

“Right! I've had to kick him so many times.” You grinned. 

Ellie chuckled, looking back over at you. You were staring back at her, with a soft expression on. Not even 5 minutes ago Ellie saw your skin fall off and you turn, now she was here with you. She was able to touch and hold you without you biting her face off. She held a hand up to caress your face, eventually pulling you into a kiss. 

You kissed back, it started off innocent. Her hands softly caressing your skin, yours running  through her hair comfortably. Then it became more passionate, like it was the last time you would be in the same room with each other. Ellies hand wandered under your shirt, her cold hands making you perk up. You gasped into the kiss, giggling because her hands were so cold. 

“Your hands are so cold.” You whispered, pulling away from her. Ellie just grinned, keeping her hands up your shirt.

“Your boobs are so warm though.” She joked, placing her cold hands on your bare boobs. 

The coldness of her hands made your yelp too loudly for your liking. She quickly removed a hand and covered your mouth. You both looked over at the sleeping men, they were both still passed out. She looked back over at you and laughed. 

“You're an asshole.” you said, pulling her hand away from your mouth. 

You shifted to lay down, your hair sprawled out on the pillow perfectly. You looked like an angel, the fire highlighting your face. If Tommy and Joel weren’t in the room Ellie would’ve pinned you down, pleasuring you until you couldn’t see straight but she had to behave. 

“You love me.” She replied, moving a hand to your bare thigh. 

“Yeah, right” You rolled your eyes. “Now come here, i’m cold.” 

You held your arms up hinting at her to lay with you. She chuckled, shifting to lay in between your legs, laying her head on your chest. She watched the fire dance, causing soft shadows on the walls. She finally had time to rerun her dream, what happened and how it felt like the ground below her got yanked out below her. 

“Y/n?” Ellie spoke softly. 

“Hmm.” You replied back. 

She felt your hand run through her hair, something that always put Ellie to sleep almost instantly. This time she doesn’t even know if she wanted to go back to sleep. 

“Please don’t leave me.” She sighed out. 

She felt your arms tighten around her, your heart and the heat of your embrace lulling her to sleep. 

“Ellie, baby.” You spoke, your voice making her move her head to look at you. “I’m not going to leave you, i don’t know what you dreamed of but i’m not going anywhere.” 

Ellie saw your eyes gloss over, either that was you about to cry or the lack of sleep you had gotten but the pure emotion in your voice and in your eyes made her believe you. 

“I just..” she started, hesitant of what to say. “i just don’t want you to get hurt or turn, if you were immune it wo...” 

“Ellie stop.” Your voice was stern but not stern enough to scare or embarrass her. “ I’m not planning on getting bit any time soon and even if i do it’s not your fault.” 

You pushed her hair out of her face, her puffy eyes watering once again. You knew about her immunity and how she went to the fireflies, you don’t know what went down there but you knew if there was a cure it wouldn’t have done much, people were still dicks in the old world and you knew they weren’t going to change all of a sudden. 

“This entire situation is not your fault, I know you want things to be different but they're not.” Your voice was still silky smooth to Ellie, no matter how stern you were trying to be. “I don't care about that right now though Ellie, you're here with me. You are all I need.” 

She nodded and turned her head back to the fire, she wanted to believe you but she couldn’t. She blames herself for a lot, but this was the one that made her break down every time. You felt the hurt she felt, you would give anything just to make her realize there was nothing she could do. 

“Plus people are assholes, i don’t think they deserve part of you inside them.” You attempted to lighten the mood and it worked. 

Ellie let out a stifled laugh, shaking her head. You chuckled along with her, closing your eyes. To say you were exhausted was an understatement. 

“I love you weirdo.” Ellie whispered, her eyes falling closed as well. 

“I love you too, asshole.” you replied. 

Ellie snuggled closer to you, hearing your soft heart beat drum in your chest. Your hand is still running through her hair, allowing her to feel safe and relax while she fell asleep. 

-

-

“Come on, wake up love birds.” A voice spoke, waking Ellie up from her slumber. She groaned as her eyes fluttered open, the sun peaking through the windows. 

“Come on, we gotta get back to Jackson.” The voice said again. 

Ellie looked over to see Tommy packing up his backpack. Joel was by the kitchen table, strumming his guitar strings. Ellie groaned once more, looking down at the still sleeping girl below her. 

“What time is it?” She asked, slowly getting up. 

“I don't know, 11 maybe 12.'' Tommy spoke. 

“Damn, we slept in.” Ellie gave a good stretch and stood up, causing you to turn over on your side

“You're gonna wake up sleeping beauty over there.” Tommy nodded over to you. 

Ellie looked over at you, you were still passed out. Your hair was covering your face and your hands were placed by your head. She grinned down at you and shook her head. 

“I’ll let her sleep for a little longer, she had a long night.” She replied, walking over to the table she laid her stuff on. 

She started packing her stuff up along with yours, she knew you would be too tired to do it. You didn’t sleep in often so she thought you could use the extra sleep. 

“Was that y’all talking last night?” Joel asked, putting down his guitar and putting his backpack on. 

“Yeah, sorry we didn’t mean to disturb you or anything.” She said, zipping her backpack up and moving on to yours 

“No it’s fine, I was dead to the world anyways. Just wondering.” Joel said.

Ellie nodded and went on with packing your bag up, she even folded your stuff up nicely. The two boys got ready for the small and cold trip, putting on layers and layers of clothes. You were still passed out, Ellie was dreading having to wake you up. You were so calm and peaceful when you slept. 

“Alright, you should wake her up. I’ll bring in the horses.” Tommy stated, throwing his backpack on. “Maria’s probably got the whole town looking for us.” He joked. 

He walked out the door, Joel following him but stopping in the doorway, turning to ellie. 

“I’m glad you're talking to someone.” Joel spoke, causing Ellie to look over at him. “You know, you're not holding stuff in. I'm glad, she’s a real nice girl” He finished. Ellie nodded, leaning on the table. She looked down at your jacket and smiled. 

“Yeah, she’s good.” She smiled, there was an awkward silence between them for a minute. 

She was glad Joel approved of you. She knew you and Joel got along well, you liked Joel real well but Ellie wasn’t sure if Joel was okay with you two being together, he was from the old world. It was different back then but that statement just confirmed he was okay with it. 

 “Well, I gotta go wake up the princess.” She chuckled. 

“Yeah, i’ll go help him with the horse.” Joel said. 

Ellie nodded as she watched him leave the house, looking down at your jacket again. She sighed knowing it was going to suck having to wake you up. She grabbed your jacket, making her way to where you were. Your chest rose and fell calmingly, it almost made ellie wanna crawl back into bed with you. 

She kneeled down and moved the hair from your face, bending down to pepper your face with soft kisses. You squirmed a bit, your eyes fluttering opened and seeing her. 

“Come on, we gotta get going.” Ellie spoke, giving her a peck on the lips. You stretched your body a bit before sighing. 

“Can’t yall just leave me here, i’ll walk back.” you joked. 

“Come on weirdo, you can attempt to sleep on the horse.” Ellie replied back. 

You rolled your eyes before sitting up, Ellie handed you your jacket. You slipped it on and stood up. Ellie went to go get your backpack but you pulled her into a hug. She didn’t refuse your hug, she melted into it. You stood on your tippy toes and kissed her, Ellie kissed back. The kiss was long and innocent before you pulled away. 

“Good morning to you too.” Ellie grinned. 

You laughed, pulling her into another kiss. This one was more passionate, it was the kind of kiss that left you breathless. 

“Okay come on you two, enough face eating. we’re ready” Tommy interrupted. 

You both laughed and Ellie pecked your lips one last time, loosening her hold on you. 

“To be continued.” She whispered. 

-

-

-

!Credits to gif owner!

[hunterguyveriv]

Injustice 3 Characters?........I’m hoping so!

So as of late, I've been hearing rumors that an Injustice 3 game is in the works. As much as I want all characters from both games to come back I think there are some characters whether they are DC characters that have yet to make an appearance, Crossover characters, or simply characters Warner Brothers has the movie rights to that I would love to see. This is my short list on who I would love to see in Injustice 3 if the rumors are indeed true as DLC characters.

DC Comics Characters: Abby Arcane - Current Avatar of the Rot: She could be an interesting addition to the Injustice cast if Swamp Thing and Poison Ivy return. I could see her dialogue with Swamp Thing being similar to Ollie & Dinah's and her dialogue with Ivy being more vicious towards because Swamp Thing's heart and soul has always been Abby's. Now I know, that they are no longer an item (regrettibly) but it has been proven in one of the recent Justice League Dark comics that they still have feelings for each other even though one is the Avatar of the Rot and the other is the Avatar of the Green

Anton Arcane - Rival Rot Avatar: If Abby is added for Swamp Thing then you have to have the one person who is their worst enemy. Dialogue between both him and Abby and him and Swamp Thing would be vicious and awesome. Even his dialogue with Ivy a hinted future Avatar of the Green from the New 52 Swamp Thing series. he could also be an invaluable ally to Superman to a point because in one of the tie-in crossover series to Injustice Superman obtained Rot-Creatures to protect his territory from magic.

Zuggernaut:  I admit I know little to nothing about this character, except that he appears to be a copy of the manga version of the last character in this short list (who was created in 1985) and think it would be nice to see both on screen together challenging each other on who the true Alien Bio-Weapon really is. Would also be kind of sweet to see him and Jaime’s Blue Beetle fight.

Animal Man: An ally to Alec Holland during the RotWorld saga, I think interactions with not Just Swamp Thing but Vixen, Cheetah, Ivy, Aquaman (who is literally the Avatar of the Blue - Water) would be interesting. More so if Abby Arcane and Anton Arcane are added to the game.

Crossover Characters:

Oroku Saki aka The Shredder: Come on now, like Swamp Thing and Anton Arcane, you can't add the Ninja Turtles without adding their greatest enemy the Shredder. If memory also serves me right from the Batman vs TMNT movie, Shredder was also someone who could go toe to toe with Batman in combat and beat him and had him on the ropes their second encounter. Depending on what continuity you follow Shredder has been known to take down aliens 3 times bigger and stronger than him. So him taking on someone like Superman and soundly beating in a game like Injustice wouldn’t be that much of a stretch.

He-Man and Teela: Let me be as blunt as blunt can be. This is NOT because of the new Kevin Smith series. This is because of the Injustice vs Masters of the Universe tie-in comics. Both He-Man and Teela in those comics proved they could fight not just Superman but with Bane and Wonder Woman also. Teela mortally wounded Wonder Woman (who was saved on Batman’s quick thinking) and was even called a Good Soldier by a bleeding out Wonder Woman and up until the power of Greyskull ran out, He-Man was going blow for blow with Superman. Teela also got the attention of Granny Goodness with her prowess of a fighter and considered.....”TRAINING”..... her to be an addition to her Furies.

But even the He-Man vs Teela dialogue could be prove to be rather interesting, especially if she is te Injustice vs MotU Teela who knows Prince Adam is He-Man, and could prove to be comical with others because she kind of gets jealous when Zatanna touches Adam’s chest-plate. 

Skeletor: But including He-Man and Teela, you have to include Skeletor who was plotting not just against Superman but also Darkseid all to gain access to Castle Greyskull even though it cost him his life in the end..... or did it?

But with the inclusion of He-Man, Teela, and Skeletor it also can open up the door for Hordak who in the Injustice vs Masters of the Universe forms his own version of a Red-Ring corps and took over Apokolips. The Hordak who like Darkseid is more than happy to commit genocide on hundreds of planets just for a whim. Which I know some will argue with his involvement you gotta have She-Ra - which I would agree, BUT Classic She-Ra. The same She-Ra who also had the title Desparda who had no qualms killing thousands in the name of Hordak and nearly killed her brother in the MotU: Eternity War saga which was also done by DC Comics. I know the She-Ra fans of the recent series will be upset with that, but lets be honest - for something that is dark and serious like Injustice, the new versions of Hordak and She-Ra just simply wouldn’t cut it. She-Ra and Teela matches and She-Ra and He-Man matches alone would be a nice add. Sibling Rivalry and two future Sister-in-Laws... “SPARRING.”

Guyver: I know, I know this is a wishful-thinking-pipe dream of a fan to a dying franchise. I know New Line Cinemas did the movies and Warner Brothers now own the rights to the Guyver movies, since I last checked or at least Guyver: Dark Hero (1994) which is the main reason I want to see Guyver crossover into Injustice. But I would love to see Guyver and Blue-Beetle (2 Alien War Machines) go at it and even even Guyver vs Zuggernaut. The dialogue alone along with their super attacks would be absolute gold!

Edit-Addons for DC Characters (6-25): Magog (Kingdom Come): If anyone by now isn’t familiar with Kingdom Come, it is an alternative to the Injustice Series. Instead of Superman killing Joker for Lois’ death it was Magog. When the aquittal of Magog forced Superman to go into a self imposed exile, Magog formed his own group of Super-humans and distributed his own ruthless form of justice upon those that his group fought culminating in the destruction of Kansas. The inclusion of his character could prove interesting because like Injustice the death of Lois at the hands of Joker and his deaths set into motion in both “universes” where the Justice League (who’s dangerously close to turning into the regime) and Batman’s allies fight.

Gog (The Kingdom): With the Multi-Verse in play from both games, the inclusion of this guy is a must! He started off as a normal man by the name of William who was one of the survivors of the Kansas Disaster caused by Magog, saw Superman as the as quite literally a Jesus Christ type figure. When Superman set him straight on things including the Kansas Disaster, William’s beliefs were shaken to the core and questioning his worth, in which the Phantom Stranger bestowed upon him all sorts of powers (powers of Zeus, Shazam, Oan, and a few others I believe). But with his beliefs shaken along with his worth and mental stability fractured, he used said abilities to go on a Superman killing spree throughout the multi-verse. He was so mad that he even went back in time and caused his own Kansas Disaster catching the attention of the present Superman/Wonder Woman/Batman. It took the combined might of the time Traveling Superman/Wonder Woman/Batman and some allies with the “present day” versions of themselves and “PD”-Superman piercing the veil of the multi-verse to completely defeat Gog. Seeing him fight Injustice-Superman alone would be worth his inclusion.

[valkyriesryde]

Release the Hounds {15/15}

Chapter 15: Get Down

Chapter Summary: The search continues for Hades in the mortal realm and on Olympus Thor must face the reality that his council will never be the same. The End. 

Word Count: 3,700ish

A/N: its been about three months since I wrote the last chapter and I’ve lost motivation to write, had depressive episodes, moved cities away from my family and spent countless hours writing and rewriting this chapter not wanting it to end. Thank you to everyone who read and will read this, your support will forever hold a dear place in my heart and I appreciate all of the messages I have received from the beginning of this story more than any of you will know. Here is the finale, I hope I did you all justice <3

“Harley, Peter, you two take to the south down the mountain, Rebecca will take to the skies and I’ll go west,” Natasha handed out the instructions for their search as if it were another battle plan. To her and everyone else there it was just that. Time was of the essence and if they left it too long there was a high chance that Hades was dead. 

From the amount of blood and gold on the snow in front of them, they didn’t have much time at all, and by how weak Harley was already feeling, he knew it was near. 

To the east was a cliff, Rebecca had already peered down and Natasha’s owl had done a closer inspection with no evidence of the queen of the Underworld. 

“Steve, you’ll go north into the woods, you’ll be stronger in the trees.” That was her last instruction before they parted ways. If one were to find Hades a flare would be sent into the sky that lit up the sky like the Star of Bethlehem. If they came into trouble, well, they’d have to figure that out when they came to that obstacle. 

It’s good to know what these gods were going up against, yes they were searching through a mountain range with a forest climbing its sides. But they were also in the middle of nowhere. There was no sign of human life for miles upon miles and that meant one of two things.

The first thing it meant was that this was a hunting ground at the best of times but unsurvivable for humans majority of the time, this was in the favour of the gods, it was the middle of winter, it was slim to none that they would come across a human while searching the land in this area.

The second thing it meant was that with the lack of humans came an abundance of other things. Animals filled the land, from the woods to the cliff faces. Predators like eagles, foxes and wolves hunted the land. Prey like small birds, rabbits and even goats lived as best they could. It was hard for any mortal animal to really thrive in these woods though. With no humans in this land it meant there were no demigods, no half and half’s to protect the preciousness of mortal life, so the supernatural, the monsters that were too rabid for the city roamed the land freely. 

The further Steve stepped into the woods the less connected with the mortal world he felt. Cerberus walked in front of him with his nose to the ground but he hadn’t picked up the scent of Hades yet, there were too many other smells. Smells that Cerberus liked, minotaurs, werewolves, even a griffin but too far away. 

Steve was on high alert, every noise, every rustle of leaves and breeze that blew past him caught his attention. He had to take it slow, a hunt, not a fight. Go too quickly and he could miss something, a sign, blood, a mark she could have made, anything. There was evidence of the beasts all around him, paw prints and scratches on tree trunks, leftover hunted prey left to the other animals in the woods but no sign of Hades. 

Hades sight was hazed. She couldn’t make out details around her as she reached out across the ground and felt the ground beneath her. Cold stone under her fingertips, sharp rocks up the side of the wall. She was in a cave, deep into it with little light around her, it wasn’t just the injuries that had taken her sight. 

There was no portal near her, she was too weak to make her own way to the underworld but she could feel the magic around her. She could feel the supernatural beings’ powers and strength more than the weakness that the mortal world put her through. But it wasn’t enough to help her move out of the cave herself. 

In the snow, in the middle of the forest, wolves stalked the trees. They kept watch and growled at any noise or critter that came close. It didn’t take much longer for Cerberus to smell the wolves. A scent that Cerberus was familiar with but not for years. 

It was getting cold and dark when they came to the small clearing at the front of the cave. Steve could almost sense the wolves stalking the area around him as they walked out of the tree line to be met with one lone wolf standing at the entrance. 

Cerberus immediately bowed to the wolf who’s fur was a crisp white like the snow beneath his paws. It stood side on but as it turned to bow down to both Steve and Cerberus, Steve caught a glimpse of something that made his skin crawl and his heart drop.

Gold. Soaked into his fur mixed with dark red in the matted fur. 

“Where is she?!” He choked out, trying to be strong even though his body was crippling with fear. The wolf was big, bigger than any he had seen before. It currently towered over both he and Cerberus, who was still bent down to the ground. It stood, looked at Steve and then turned back into the cave. Cerberus sat patiently in the snow now, he knew this wasn’t his place, he knew this pack, he was a part of this pack, he would do what the leader said. 

Steve however, he followed the white wolf into the cave, deeper and deeper until it stopped and stepped aside to show Steve the lost treasure he had been looking for. 

And there she was. 

And there he stood.

She could feel him, that same smell from the first time they met, fresh rain, pollen in the air, it stood out against the damp, the stone and the stench of death she knew was coming from herself. Maybe she wasn’t so much better than Demeter said. Maybe she deserved this. 

It took some time to convince the wolves to let him take Hades. She’d fallen back asleep soon after his arrival, not even acknowledging him, he wasn’t sure she actually knew he was here. The wolves were protective of their fallen angel. But Steve was able to convince them that he was her safety, he told them he would protect her, that he would take her home.

“There must be a doorway here?!” He said into the darkness but only stone walls surrounded him. “How am I meant to get her home?” He come all this way, he’d worked so hard this entire time to help her and the Underworld, and now? All of his work, all of the time he’d spent learning about her world when he could have spent it with her. His priorities were morphed to what he thought was right, putting her on the council. But what was right had nothing to do with her position, nothing to do with anyone else but her, she should have been his priority. 

She was too light in his arms as he picked her from the group. Her skin was cold, lacking of any sort of colour. The wolves stepped aside as he carried her out of the cave where Cerberus waited, now standing tall in his true form. Three heads, obsidian black fur and paws as big as Steve’s chest. 

“Take us home Cerberus?” He asked and the pet growled in response, kneeling as Steve placed Hades on his back and climbed up afterwards. “As fast as possible Spot.”

Cerberus bound towards the edge of the cliff, closer and closer until he jumped. Steve held Hades tight as they fell further and further until the depths below turned black and rimmed with gold.

Behind them, at the entrance to the cave the wolves ventured further into the woods again, their debt owed to the god who saved their youngest. Behind them, as they went out of sight, a birch tree sprout. Taller than any seen before in the mortal realm, leaves full and green in the middle of winter. A normal looking tree apart from its height to many but to those that knew, to Natasha and Rebecca as they saw it grow from the top of the mountain, to Peter and Harley who saw it tower over everything else, they knew what it meant. A new beginning was here and the Queen will be returned home. 

One Week Later

Thor stood overlooking Olympus from his balcony. It was filled with life and freedom, as if the past few months had never happened, as if his sister hadn’t been attacked and left for dead by someone he trusted, as if everyone was safe and things we normal.

“Funny how little they really know isn’t it?” Loki stood by his side, as he always had. The green and teal of his cloak reflecting in the sun overhead and against the snow on the ground. “Bucky has come full force today it seems,” he smiled.

“Its in celebration, she woke up today, she’s doing much better it seems. MJ has been by her side continuously to help the healing. She’ll be back to herself soon enough.” 

“Say her name would you Thor. What could go wrong if you say it here, no one is around.” Loki slithered behind Thor, his hands dropped onto his shoulders, “Hades.” He said into his ear. “Our darling sister, our first protector, the selfless one, the keeper of our secrets. Say her name in Olympus dear brother, shout it from the rooftops!” Loki leaned his back against the railing as Thor whispered her name and they felt the wind settle briefly around them.

“Hades is awake,” he said quietly, “Demeter is locked in her home and Hades will sit on the council. Are you happy?”

“I am, though I do wish you had given me the pleasure of tearing that godforsaken mother from earth apart myself but to each their own.” Loki smiled jokingly at Thor who let out a deep laugh back. Brothers, until the end of time. 

The air began to still in Olympus as the two stood overlooking it, the people in the streets and the market stood still, the bustling sound softened to a murmur that they could no longer hear. 

And when the brothers looked out at the steps of Olympus they saw the reason for the silence. First it was the black petals that floated through the air around her, the blackened path that dragged behind her cloak, turning to a gold pathway as the judges followed her in full adorned armour. Pietro in silver, a hero, Wanda in red, to remember the innocent, and Sam in black, for the monsters, his wings mixed with the colours of the judges and dripping gold for his queen as he walked a step behind the other two. One, two and three, they followed her on the gold plated path. A few steps behind them was the final member of her entourage, his armour held the most colour, blues and reds, pinks and greens and a shield on his back.

The queen walked with purpose, she didn’t look to the sides at the nymphs and olympians, she didn’t take in any of their judgements. Even though they murmured with gossip as they watched the son of Demeter follow his mother’s enemy. They whispered about how Hades had kidnapped Steve, how she had lured him with a flower so beautiful he couldn’t resist, others whispered about how it was Steve that turned his back from Demeter, that he was coerced by the judges to join the Underworld before the debate and they had poisoned his mind. Rumours ran hot in Olympus as the five continued to walk onwards towards the temple. 

Inside the temple was chaos. Thor and Loki moved quickly to the throne room where the rest of the Olympian gods were already waiting, having been summoned by Hades herself to meet. Something the brothers weren’t aware of until a nymph of Thor stopped him in the hallway and exclaimed as such.

The letters had appeared on their desks, their counter tops or bedside tables late last night and had been kept under wraps from all after the heat of the last few weeks.

The doors burst open before the council and Hades stepped into the room. The twelve gods sat in their seats and stood as she moved to stand in the centre, the judges stayed back, as did Steve, awaiting their next order.

One bowed to the queen, Ares, he kneeled as soon as she entered. No one knew what this meeting was about, no one knew why they were called and everyone feared the worst, especially with the absence of Demeter. Ares feared Hades’ wrath the most, he would have no part in this, he’d chosen his side and continued to be loyal to both Olympus as well as Hades. 

“Good morning all,” she smiled sweetly and bowed her head but none replied. 

Then the doors opened and in walked Thor and Loki. They moved to their thrones, side by side the biggest of all and at the forefront of the council, one empty on one side of Thor. Hades knelt, her entourage followed.

“What are you doing out of bed so soon?” Thor questioned as he sat, his voice seeped with disappointed.

“I’m fine brother, no need to worry,” she rolled her eyes lovingly at her brother and stood straight. “I’ve come to present my statement, and return what was taken.” 

Steve tried to protest, he had no idea this was what she was doing, he thought she was taking her rightful seat on the council. Sam glared in his direction, daring him to speak.

“You’ve already come home sister,” Loki said and Hades cocked an eyebrow at him. “May I?” He gestured to Thor who simply nodded his head. All of the olympian gods looked on confused, they all assumed the same, that she was here to give back Steve, they had no idea what was really going on. “Transparency is key it seems and we have learnt that the hard way here haven’t we? Hades I believe I speak for everyone here when I say we are pleased to honour your rightful place on the council beside us, this throne was and will always be yours if you wish to take it.”

“What of-?”

“She’s been banned from any council business.” Thor stood before the council as Loki sat back down, he slowly walked down the few steps to Hades. “Demeter’s views do not match that of the council, she no longer has Olympus or the mortals in her best interests, only herself. She’s been locked in her home, awaiting punishment.” He looked past Hades towards Steve with sorrow in his eyes, “we were to meet later today to discuss her punishment, but I’m glad you’re here, we can begin business. Now sit, judges, you may wait outside as is custom.” 

Hades followed Thor up the steps and so casually that it never felt out of place she sat, on the council of Olympus. 

“God of Spring,” Steve heard as he turned to walk out, “won’t you be sitting to speak for your domain?” Bucky smirked at his friend, inviting him to the seat beside him. 

Steve looked to the big three, to the other gods surrounding him, they were all waiting for his answer, waiting for him to sit where his mother once had. And of course, he would never keep them waiting long. 

“Are you sure about this?” She asked him at the rivers’ edge. He looked up to the gates as they glistened and moved, the flowers bloomed, the gold sparkled in the sun, the daffodils were scattered far and wide and he looked back to her. 

“My task isn’t done yet, if I’m to teach Olympians everything they need to know about the Underworld, I need to know everything myself.” He smiled at her, his Queen.

“You don’t have to do this Steve, I can get MJ to reverse the curse,” she was so unsure, with no one around she was always so much more vulnerable with him.

“I don’t want it to be broken, and even if it was it wouldn’t stop me from coming back any chance I could to see you.” A step closer, a whisper under his breath just for her. “The fates brought me to you-“

“That doesn’t mean you have to stay.”

“Would you be quiet,” he laughed and she shied away. “They are not why I want to stay,” a gently hand on her cheek, pushing a boundary they had unspokenly set for themselves. Never to succumb to the fates, to form their own opinions, to have their own conclusions. “I have to have you in my life.”

“And you in mine,” she gleamed and when he beamed back she thought Bucky had brought the sun down to the Underworld with how warm she felt.

“I have to collect some things from Bucky, but I’ll be back later tonight, I promise.” Steve turned to leave before she could even say goodbye but he stopped in his tracks at her voice.

“Take Cerberus! He’ll protect you where I can’t.” The dog shrinking to the Doberman he was familiar with by his side. 

Under the stars of the souls, painted in the skies of the Underworld by artists the God of Spring held the Queen of the Dead. He kissed her in front of the Gates of the Underworld, where their symbols were intertwined for eons before their paths even crossed, before either of them knew of the importance of each other. 

A kiss that was a promise, a see you soon, a please be safe. The two gods were never away from each other for long. When the God of Spring returned in the darkness later that night, when everything was sound asleep he walked into the home of Hades to find her still wide awake, sitting and watching over the gates, waiting for his return. He was welcomed with a small smile, a “you were gone too long” and tugs towards bed. 

The fates dropped him in the Underworld at her feet. They twisted and pulled at their strings together and bound, no knife or scissors could ever break them apart. All the gods knew, all those who were witnesses were well aware now and none feared they were wrong. The protector, had her own protection. 

That is the story of Hades and Persephone. Of love and betrayal. Of chosen family. Of new homes and realising ones worth. I don’t think I’m missing anything, they lived happily ever after and all that good stuff. Why are you still here? They kissed, isn’t that what you wanted?!

Oh 

I know what it is.

What punishment did the council decide on you ask? What consequence did Demeter face? 

It was winter in Olympus, the God of Spring returned to collect his belongings to go to his new home in the Underworld where he would spend each winter for the rest of time. But there was one step he had to make along the way. 

In the dead of the night Demeter sat at the gazebo that was once her son’s. She’d torn through the drawings and belongings she’d found there, they sat amongst the cold wood. Her tears had quietened as she began to accept her defeat and fall from power. As she did so the leaves began to move. 

She heard footsteps in the snow, crunching under the weight of whoever moved towards her. 

“Who goes?! No one is allowed in here show yourself!” She yelled into the darkness with no reply. 

Through the splitting wood of the gazebo behind her, flora began to grow. Vines, roses with thistle sharp as knives, asphodel in the corners. And at its centre Demeter saw the fruition of the prophecy she once thought she controlled. 

In the darkness of her garden, eyes shone through behind her. A man standing tall, his eyes a crisp blue, anger seething from them. Above him were three more sets of eyes, red, glaring at their prey.

No nymph could have this power, no member of Olympus par from the big three were allowed to step foot within this home anymore. She was to be locked away from all that she held so dear. But there were still pathways, there are always pathways even into a locked room. And he had found it. 

Demeter felt her breath shorten as it flowered, the daffodil, through the cracks of her son’s gazebo it flowered bright and tall in the night. And when she turned she saw the moon catch sight of the metal weapon in his hand. No nymph would feel her wrath again, no child would think they were less than loved in her presence ever again, no god would think they had no worth because of the poison that left her tongue. Because she would never be seen again. 

The eyes slipped back into the darkness and disappeared as if they were never there. He left the same way he came, through the cracks in the stone that the caves reached. Ironic that the place she feared most was just a doorway away from her home this entire time he thought as he left her fearing for her life. 

“The scythe will swing low,” he whispered as it closed behind him. The three headed dog by his side, back in the realm of the dead and moving towards the home on top of the hill as if he’d just popped down to the store. Now he was home.

“When the wind is still and the air is cold, the sun will shine in Hades. 

When what belongs is brought home the snow will fall.

It will crunch under the steps of the taken, it will slice through the heart of the fallen.

The harvest will not grow when spring is taken. 

But the daffodil will grow through the cracks of the grave

And the scythe will swing low.” 

The End 

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[missgarnet]

Baby Daddies Ch. 3

Pairing: ot7 x reader

Word count: 2.5k

Rating: pg13?

Genre: fluff, and a little bit of chaos

Summary:  So... no one tells you what to expect when you and your friends with benefits are about to have a child. (All plans are thrown out the window when your 7 closest friends find out they're going to become dads.)

Warnings: My own horrible sense of humor, pregnancy, Jin feels left out, and even more chaos

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Link to ao3

“You know, if you keep stealing my clothes I won’t have anything to wear. I’ll be forced to walk around the apartment completely nude.” Hoseok teased as he spotted you in another one of his shirts.

“Ooooh now that’s an offer I can hardly refuse. Comfy shirts and a handsome man strutting around my house without any clothes. If only he would make me breakfast too.”

“We could call the guys, see if one of them wants to get breakfast together.”

“Nah,” you said, trying to catch the toast before your overly excited toaster could throw it across the room this time. “They’ve all been so busy with work this week. I know you all said to call anytime, but you need to be taking care of yourselves too.”

Hobi started the coffee pot and sat down at the counter, going back into the routine the two of you had fallen into this last week. “Speaking of the other guys, when are you going to tell them? I know you said you wanted a little more time but they deserve to know too, we’re all in this together.”

“I know, I just don’t want to deal with everyone finding out all at once.I’m hanging out with Jimin and Tae tonight, I thought I should probably tell them next so they don’t have to hear it from Jungkook”

“Oooh, I almost forgot about your little date tonight!” Hoseok joked.

You huffed and rolled your eyes at this, ”It’s not a date, Tae finally got an offer from that gallery downtown. He just wanted to check out some of the other photography there to figure out how he wants to set everything up, and then we’re going back to their place to hangout.”

The words you were saying might have been more believable if you hadn’t started burying your face in your hands, trying to will away the heat of embarrassment. After all you were just friends, sure you were having a kid together now but that was it. All of you had slept together over the years, but it wasn’t like you were actually dating any of them. It wasn’t your place to go on dates with Jimin and Tae, or get jealous when one of your friends got a little too handsy with Jin.

Each of you adored one another more than anything, but that’s what friends are for. You’d be kidding yourself to think it was anything more. Hobi seemed to notice something was off, pulling you onto the couch with him as he turned on one of your favourite game shows.

Just as the two of you finally settled on the couch the door was thrown open by Jimin, “Surprise shawty!”

“I swear you’ve been around Jungkook too much again,” You said shaking your head as he strolled into your apartment with makeup bags tucked under his arm and a curling iron in his hand.

You trailed him to the little bathroom attached to your room, lifting yourself to sit on the counter as he started pulling the makeup brushes from their bag. The rest of the guys used to tease the two of you about taking so long to get ready, but you enjoyed the little routine you’d fallen into.

There was a comforting warmth in your chest as he helped you get ready and you were happy to bask in every moment of it, taking in the gentleness of him sweeping the makeup brushes across your skin, his sweet smile right in front of you as he played with one of the curls he just finished, the little furrow of his eyebrows as he tried to focus on getting your eyeliner perfect on the first try.

“Are you ready to go yet?” Taehyung called from the couch.

You glanced over at Jimin, still touching up his makeup in the mirror. “I’m not sure that I’m the one you should be asking. I just have to zip up my dress and then I’m good to go.”

“Hobi, could you give me a hand? I can’t reach the zipper.”

He moved your hair out of the way as he gently tugged the zipper up, but there was just one problem. “Y/N… the zipper’s not going any higher.”

It was one of your looser fitting dresses, you’d been hoping that the higher waistline would let you keep wearing it for a little while longer. Unfortunately the twins were getting bigger every day, which meant that you were too. This wouldn’t have been a problem if you’d have had any time to go shopping for your first set of maternity clothes. Most of your week had been spent wearing one of Hobi’s shirts or the hoodies you stole from Jungkook.

“Houston, we have a problem.” Tae and Jimin looked up as you said this, “None of my clothes are fitting and I can’t keep stealing clothes from you guys. I think it’d be easier if you guys just went without me this time”

Jimin hopped off the counter “Nope, you can borrow something from one of us for now and then we can go buy something for you to wear tonight.”

Before you could even argue you  noticed Tae already giving you puppy dog eyes,  “Please? It wouldn’t be the same without you, and we could have fun picking out clothes too.”

Needless to say the two of them easily suckered you into what was supposed to be a brief shopping trip. It was supposed to be a quick run, but the baby section was right next to the maternity clothes, and it couldn’t hurt to look. Everything was so cute and the three of you ended up going even deeper into the aisles looking at the cribs, stuffed animals, and baby blankets.

“It’s so cute.” Jimin said holding up the tiniest button up you’d ever seen. Tae was right next to him looking at another impossibly small pair of converse. The boys had been piling almost every adorable little baby thing they could find into the cart without you noticing until now.

Reaching into the cart you started picking up each piece on it’s own. There were onesies, dresses, and even little mittens. Everything just felt so tiny and fragile in your hands. “Guys, this is too much. It still feels too soon to be getting all this, they’re still really small and we don’t need all of it right away.”

“You’re right, we already have a lot of the basics anyway.” Tae said as if that were obvious.

“We do?”

“Yea,” Jimin added. “We’ve all ordered a couple things, but Jin and Namjoon have a small collection in the guest room right now.”

You picked up one of the onesies from the cart, tracing the two little elephants printed on the front. Were you really the only one who wasn’t prepared for all this? Maybe this was a sign, you still didn’t feel ready for all this but you had people who were. And that was enough for you to try. “What if we just get two of these, that way they can have matching outfits. Maybe we can come back and get two of the little bouncy chairs in a few months.”

It was hilarious to see the look on their faces once everything clicked. Jimin was trying to keep his makeup from smudging as he fought to hold back tears, and Tae was overjoyed as well, throwing his arms around you and pulling you into a tight embrace.

As the three of you were finally leaving the store with way more than you needed, you noticed Tae frowning as he typed out a message on his phone. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I was just asking Namjoon if we needed to start buying two of everything now.”

“Oh dear,” you muttered as you snatched your phone from your purse trying to get a hold of him before he saw Tae’s message. It wasn’t that you didn’t want him to know, you just felt like he deserved more than just a text from one of the guys.

Pausing for a moment you began to tap your foot chanting “pick up, pick up” over and over again. You were right about to hang up and try again as the ringing came to a halt. “Hey Namjoon, what are you doing right now?”

“I’m at the maknae’s. Why, what’s up?” He sounded out of breath and you swear you could hear Jungkook and Hobi shouting in the background.

Taking a deep breath you figured it’d be best to just rip off the bandaid and tell him as soon as possible. “I wanted to tell you in person, but then Tae texted and I felt like it would be better if I just called and told you myself. And I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but we’re having twins.”

It went silent for a second before you could hear him laughing through the phone, “You’re fine, Yoongi already told me after you three got back from your appointment. He wanted to know if there was anything we should be doing to help, and I just figured you’d bring it up whenever you were ready.”

“I’m sorry, I should have told you earlier. I promise I’ll get better at talking about all this.”

“What are they like? Do they have their dads’ good looks yet?”

“Not yet, but they have Jimin’s hands.” Glancing to the side you could see him trying to glare at you but failing to hold back a smile.

You didn’t realize they were leading you home until you were taking the elevator to the maknaes’ apartment, Taehyung pulling you through the door as Jimin carried the bags that he managed to sneak away from you. They set everything in the hall and rushed to meet the others in the living room.

As you rounded the corner you could see Jimin yelling at Jungkook again, “Ya! Why didn’t you tell us? I take care of you and you can’t even tell me that I’m about to be a dad of two.”

“How could you keep the twins all to yourself!” Tae jokingly complained as he flopped down onto Jungkook’s lap.

Hobi poked his head out from Jungkook’s room trying to see everyone, “what’s going on?”

Tae looked up and used the puppy eyes he knew none of you could resist as he pouted, “Kookie was keeping the twins all to himself and didn’t tell us about them.”

The face he was making was just too adorable for you to ignore, but before you were able to give him forehead kisses like you had hoped, Jin peeked out from the same room Hobi had come from. Had it been any other day, your eyes may have fallen to the hickeys on his chest, his belt hanging halfway off, or the way his shirt had missing buttons from being torn off by one of the guys. Instead your gaze fell to the saddened look on Jin’s face.

“Was I the only one you didn’t tell?”

The room was uncomfortable silent and you noticed Hobi awkwardly creeping his way back into Jungkook’s room. Jungkook finally broke the silence as he cleared his throat, “I’m just gonna give you guys some space.”

You looked up to see all three of the maknaes getting up to rush into Jungkook’s room and avoid the awkward situation they were leaving you in. “Jin, I’m so sorry.”

“No you’re not. None of you are. I’m the one who’s always been there taking care of all of you, and I’m always the one being left out.”

“That’s not true.”

He sighed and shook his head, “It is. Why do you think I’ve been at your place so much these last couple weeks? I just wanted to feel like I had a part in all of this. It was wrong of me to start betting on how far along you were, but I wasn’t trying to be mean. I just thought if you were a little further along then they might be just mine.”

“Jin, you are just as much a part of this as the rest of us. I didn’t mean to make you feel left out in any way.” You sat down on the couch, pulling him along with you.

He laid next to you and pulled you close to him, wrapping his arms around you and gently placing one hand on your stomach. “I just want to know that all of you are going to be okay. I know you don’t want to talk about everything right away, but you can’t just close me out. If I’m a part of this then I want to do this together as a family.”

“I know, I’m trying.” you said intertwining your hand with his. As much as the two of you like to joke around and bicker with each other, you could never stop caring about Jin. There was something about being wrapped up in his arms that always made you feel safe and cared for. “You know, there’s still a lot I don’t know about you either.”

“I am an open book, ask me anything.”

You knew that was true for the most part, Jin and you might constantly annoy one another but the two of you shared everything… well almost everything. “What’s that story you won’t let Joonie tell me.”

“Let me rephrase that. Ask me anything else.”

“I mean, if neither of you will tell me I could just ask Hobi.”

“There’s a reason we don’t talk about it. It might be the only secret that Hoseok can keep.”

“Come on, you already told me about the time you ran over two kids and almost broke your nose trying to sled with Joon. What’s so bad you can’t tell me, weren’t we best friends?”

“Yes, which is why I’m not telling you.”

“Ok, what about this? You tell me what happened, and if the twins are both boys you get to name one of them whatever you want.”

You hadn’t noticed the other boys leaving the room they were hiding in until Namjoon walked into the room and immediately sent Jin a warning look, “Don’t do it.”

Jin didn’t even hesitate as he blurted out, “A couple years ago Namjoon and I got married in Vegas!”

Everyone’s heads whipped towards the eldest man as he said that, the youngest of the group in shock and the older half already shaking their head or roaring with laughter. You however were wondering if you’d even heard that right, surely your best friend at the time wouldn’t get married without telling you. “You what now?”

Noticing everyone’s eyes on him, Jin’s face began to grow red as a tomato. “Remember when you went on vacation with the maknaes and the rest of us went to Vegas? Well, we met this guy dressed as Elvis, had a couple drinks, and played the slot machines. Next thing I know it’s two days later and I find a video of us getting married by a drag queen.”

“Jin, what the fuck?”

[visionsdiary]

It is tragic. The story. It did not have the outcome one would hope, there is no happily ever after just a story, a moment for a while where they existed, where their worlds collided and then burned in passion, in truth, and eventually ash then nothing.

~

She was to be crowned Queen though every bit of her screamed to run away. To beg on her knees to her mother to give her more time. More time, more experience. She wasn't ready, she couldn't be.

She doesn't have much of a choice, it's to happen in only 3 days, where she will be forced a responsibility she wants nothing to do with. She was indeed every bit of a coward for running, for hopping on her horse and racing through the tall trees of her homeland.

Where seasons are experienced its fullest. Where the mist is thick and the magic thrums through every tree, every rock, and river. She welcomed it the thrumming like drums of the music they'll play at festivals. She let her tears fall freely and her scream ring like thunder spoking all birds nearby.

How is she to run a kingdom? Her kingdom? She has yet to face battle. Yet to make treaties, yet to lead anything in her life, but she is expected to lead a kingdom when she can barely lead a rabbit to a trap.

Or barely see the one she led herself into. It wasn't meant for her in her defense. It was meant for something else, something she only heard about in stories from the sailors, stories from warriors who've traveled farther than the forest she has stuck to most of her life.

A dragon. They had gone extinct or so she was told. She has never seen one up close before. It was in a trap right next to hers tied up in a net that made the creature roar in fear. It was not as big as she thought one would be. It was bigger than her but not by much. Its scales were a pattern of circles, ombre of white and orange with thorns running down its back.

"What do we have here?"

A man caked in leather saunters toward her and the struggling dragon. His face was covered in rags only allowing her to see his eyes, dark and daring. How is she going to explain this one to her parents?

"It seems we've captured a slave," His hand reached through the hold gripping her chin and turning her side to side, "A beauty you are. I'm sure you'll catch a fine price."

Ripping from his hold she reared back and spat in his face.

"Ye might want to re-think this one. My father will tear you to piece."

"Is that right? And who are you?"

"Princess Merida of DunBroch,"

He reared back and laughed. "Looks like we are in the presence of Royalty fellas," Laughter surrounds her on all sides. There were more than she first believed, or maybe the laughter just echoed off the trees. This thought was soon disregarded as men stepped from the treeline one by one. Yep defiantly more.

"I-I'm serious. You wouldn't want a kingdom on you do you?"

"They'll have to find us first." She trembled.

That was only a few months ago and now she sat in this cage, skinny, starved but her fire simmered under the surface. She will escape. She must. The dragon that was trapped with her grumbled, catching the piece of fish Merida snuck from the guards.

She pets her scaly friend, who purred in response. "Don't worry Sylva. We'll get out of here I swear it."

Their cages were right next to each other. An only arm's length away from each other, Sylva was the only friend she had here. An ally she was happy to have. It was night and they still sailed toward the sanctuary as it was called. In other cages many other dragons stayed locked up, barely fed.

Though she felt bad for them it wasn't the time to think of anyone else. She gets her and her friend out first and maybe if she could gather the firepower she'll return and free the rest. The guards light the last of the lanterns, taking their stations around the ship.

"In an hour or so they'll nod off to sleep."

She was only allowed out as entertainment. Her singing is what saved her so far and she served the ones who took her before she was locked up once more but her plan was sent the moment they gave her access to their water and wine.

"I put your venom in their drinks, just enough to put them to sleep, and then we'll be home free." She was hopeful and when the hour had passed she took her sharp piece of metal that broke off from her cage. She had sharpened in the past few months and hoped this would work.

She picked at the lock, jiggling it side to side, up and down until she heard a click and the cage door squeaked open. She celebrated dancing and jumping with silent whispers of triumph. She then went to unlock her dragon's cage when she heard a noise.

She paused, pressing herself against the other side of the cage, and watched as a man wielding a flaming sword crept by the cages of the dragons. He was covered in what she assumed was armor, a fabric she's never seen before. His hand rose and made signals to no one she could see.

She watched in wonder as they let out the dragons and they flew off. She backed away as the man got closer to her dragon's cage hitting a stray bowl. It rolled, tumbled down some stairs alerting the man. He sneaked past the cage and she looked around for any weapon.

Her eyes landed on one of the spears they used on the dragons and picked it up. It was heavier than she thought but it didn't matter she needs to fight.

"D-Don't ye come any closer."

He paused for a moment, his sword still drawn and still on fire. She wondered what she must look like. Dirty, torn, and starved. Disgusting. It made her confidence waiver, her mother would have thrown a fit if she was here, appearance is part of ruling she'd say.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"I heard that before" She shuddered at the memory. Truly men were vile pigs taking what they wanted without a care in the world.

"Chief!" Someone whispered.

He held out a hand stopping his companions in their tracks.

Though she'd never admitted it she trembled, once again outnumbered, and wondered if this group could be any less dangerous than the one she'd been sailing with. He stabbed the sword into the ground, the fire remains just on the sword.

'Does he have magic?' She wandered. If he did then it made sense why he stop the others. He doesn't need them to kill her.

She swung the spear in a warning. "I swear if ye come any closer, I'll cut ya."

He puts his hands up in surrender for a moment she thought he mocked her but he raised them higher to his helmet. He took it off and she was met with green eyes.

He was tall, slender. His auburn hair swayed and she could see the braids in the back. She looked down at his leg and saw that he was missing one, or half of one. It reminded her of her father. Her father. Tears weld up in her eyes. She's going home even if it means getting past this stranger.

Resolve hardened she didn't let the tears spill though she was sure he could see them.

"Hey," His voice was soft as if he was trying to tame a wild animal. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"You can't promise me that nor will I believe it." She looks around for an escape. She could swim, take their boat since they must have come from somewhere. Then they will have to deal with this pack of beasts instead of her. Or- Sylva.

She looked to the sky wondering if her friend left, she was no longer in her cage. His friends made sure of that but she's still unable to spot them in the sky.

"Hiccup, we have to hurry." One perked up. Merida looked to her right where one of them was sleeping only feet away, he began to stir and grumble. His friend was right.

"We can't just leave her here." He whispered back.

He turned back to Merida. "Come with us. I promise we'll take you home." He held his hand out. An offering, an extension. More men started to stir, waking up and realizing they'd been robbed.

"Hey!" One shouted. They were found out.

Them or him. She looked back up to the sky and whistled. Nothing. Her chest squeezed at the betrayal but she understood all the same. She looked back to the green eye man and sighed.

"Don't touch me." She warned before hitting the guard that ran after her. He flew overboard screaming as he fell into the water.

The man grabbed his sword putting back on his mask.

With them, she fled and it was that decision that started the sewing of their story.

Their tragedy.

[colorseeingchick]

Oh Baby! A series (Sugawara x Fem!Reader)

Summary: Sugawara loves to play-hide-and-seek with your nieces and nephews, almost as much as he loves them. But this usually light game has real stakes when you, your brother, and your sister-in-law decide to get involved. What does Suga win in this special game? 

Warnings: Fluffy fluff, mentions of pregnancy 

Word Count: 4k

A/N: I have severe baby fever and time is a construct. This is on the longer end but I think its worth it :) Hope y’all enjoy! <3

Tired. That was the only possible way you could describe the way your husband looked as he stepped through the door of your brother’s home. His tie loose and shirt half untucked- he radiated exhaustion. But right here and right now, there’s something important that’s about to occur. And Sugawara Koushi would be at its forefront. 

“This is for you, Koushi-ojisan.” Your eldest niece, Tsubaki, bowed as she offered a folded piece of paper to your husband, who froze in the process of sluggishly sliding on his house slippers.

Suga shot you and your sister-in-law a questioning glance as he hesitantly received the piece of paper. Your sister-in-law feigned an innocent look, and you just shrugged your shoulders, pushing yourself to hold back your mischievous smirk. 

“Ne, what is this Tsubaki-chan?” The initial tiredness that had weighed down on his face had receded, being replaced with a burning curiosity and loving smile. 

“It’s to make our game of hide-and-seek more fun. You’ll play with us today, right Ojisan?” Tsubaki shyly smiled at her uncle, a plea subtly being communicated through her gaze. 

Of course he would play with his nieces and nephews. Even if he wanted to say no (which, obviously, he would never do), how could he ever reject those eyes? 

You and Suga had been married for quite a few years now, but you had been together for a long time before that. Soon after you two started dating, Suga had become best friends with your older brother. Moreover, you were very close with your brother’s girlfriend as well. So the four of you were inseparable. 

That continued into your married lives. You and Suga would invite over your brother and his wife once a week on Friday, spending the time to go out to restaurants, do game nights, or just watch movies. However, as time went on, the family dynamic shifted as your brother had his first child. And then the next one. They were now up to 4 kids, the oldest being 7 years old, the youngest at 2. Double dates became Ghibli Studio binges and babysitting time. 

Not that either of you minded, though. Your nieces and nephews were all angels, and you and Suga both loved caring for children. You and Suga had been trying for kids of your own for a while, but for the longest time, things didn’t seem to be in your favor. Suga knew that you felt responsible and that it weighed down on you, so he always kept his spirits high for you both. But you knew your beloved husband too well- he wanted a baby as badly as you, if not more. 

“Of course I’ll play with you guys,” Suga ruffled her hair, tightly holding the paper in his other hand. 

“I’m assuming Sumire-chan, Fumio-chan, and Mizu-chan are already hiding then?” He asked, glancing around the room to see if he could see any poorly hidden heads or tiny movements. 

“Y-yes...When you find them make sure you ask them for their papers, okay?” Before Suga could answer, she quickly turned around and scurried to the kitchen and grabbed her father’s leg, tugging on the fabric. “Did I do okay Otou-san?” She whispers quietly. 

Her father gives her a big smile and nods, patting her head. A hint of a smile pulls up at your lips as well. Tsubaki was the oldest of the group, and such a good older sister to her siblings, but she was yours and Suga’s lil princess. When you asked the kids to help you out when you arrived at the house that day, she was the most enthusiastic about making her Ojisan happy. 

Suga opened the folded piece of paper in his hands, very curious as to what this was all about. On the white piece of paper, in his niece’s bubbly and straight handwriting, was written:

 “for giving us another.”

His eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, and his head instinctively tilted. That told him absolutely nothing. But he could conclude that there was some bigger message. They were all too small to come up with something like a scavenger hunt/hide-and-seek game, so he knew it was the doing of the three suspicious-looking adults watching him intently. 

What are you all planning? Suga asked with his eyes, eye contact jumping between all three of you. Hide and seek was the kids’ tradition with Suga. Without fail, they would beg him to play EVERY Friday when you guys came over. And without fail, he would always agree. It was his game with the kids. But it seems like the adults had a hand in the game this time around. It was a competition with them, too. Alright then, game on.

Now, there are some things you have to know about this household’s version of hide and seek. The kids have numbered them as rules and made a nice little poster to go along with them, that way everyone would know them. 

Rule 1! Suga Oji-san will always be the first one to seek. 

Because, for some reason, Suga Oji-san was also a master hide-and-seeker, there was an extra rule when he was seeking. 

Rule 2! When Suga Oji-san is seeking, he has to do it in 15 minutes, or else we win!!

“Tsubaki-chan!~ when does my time start?” He calls out to the little girl, but his eyes are trained on you. 

Tsubaki looks up to her father because she forgot to keep track (oops). 

“You’re down a minute, Koushi,” your brother responds, leaning against the table in the kitchen. 

“You know, if you don’t find all the kids in that time, you may not get all the pieces of paper,” your sister-in-law chimed in, teasingly, at which you chuckled. 

Suga quirked an eyebrow, his competitive spirit really getting riled up now. “Tsubaki-chan, are you gonna come help me find the others?” He put his bag down by the door itself and started to quickly move towards the stairs. 

Rule 3! Once found, you have to help the seeker find the other hiders. 

Tsubaki scurried back to her Oji-san, happily (but quietly) saying, “Let’s go find Sumire-chan and Fumio-chan,” as she pulled his hand, leading him up the stairs. 

Suga knew that he genuinely couldn’t lose this time around. Sure, he could usually find the kids easily because they rotated through the same spots, but he always made a spectacle of trying to find them, loudly expressing how lost he was. Sometimes he would even lose on purpose. But not today, knowing that the adults would hold to their word of not letting him see the last piece of paper if he wasn’t in time. Sumire, first on the list of kids to find, had also gotten better at hiding now that she was older, and Suga wouldn’t be surprised if her father helped her find a new hiding space.

“Ne, Tsubaki-chan, do you know if Sumire-chan is hiding in the spare guest bedroom?” 

“Oh uh, I-I don’t know…” she pushed up her glasses and tugged on her sweater. 

He’s taking that as a yes. “Let’s go check.” 

Usually, she hid under the bed or burrowed beneath a pile of pillows that sat by the headboard, but she was in neither location. Suga pursed his lips, hands falling to his hips. “Sumire-chan is almost always in this room! But I can’t find her anywhere. She must be a master hider, I swear,” he proclaims, leaning against the wall. The closet door that was mostly closed didn’t mask the muffled giggle that carried in the air. 

“Tsubaki-chan, is that a… monster in the closet?” He gasps dramatically, as he pushes the door open slightly, just in case Sumire was behind the door. The giggling from the closet mixed with Tsubaki’s as they found Suga Oji-chan’s commentary hilarious. 

There, hiding in the corner of the closet with spare pillows and stuffed animals covering everything but her face, Sumire was now giggling uncontrollably. 

“I’m not a monster, Oji-san~~~!” 

“You’re right,” Suga responds as he pulls the pillows and stuffed toys off her body, pulling her arms lightly to help her stand up, “you’re Sumire-chan!” he cheers, pulling her into a hug, which she joyously returns. 

“Sumire!” Tsubaki whisper shouts. “The paper!” 

“Oh! Oji-san take this~!” she pulls the piece of paper out from her overall’s front pocket and holds it up to him. 

Suga takes the paper and opens it to read- 

“Thank you” 

-written in neat cursive, resembling his sister-in-law’s writing. 

“For giving us another” and “thank you.” Yeah, I still have no idea what this means. He just has to find the other two pieces, then. No point in overthinking. 

“Tsubaki-chan, did Otou-san give you the timer to carry?” 

Yes, there is an official stopwatch they carry for this game. That’s how seriously they take hide and seek. 

“Mmhm! You have 8 minutes left, Oji-san.” 

“No time to waste, huh? Ok, let’s go find Fumio-chan then.” He slides the pieces of paper into his pocket and offered his hands for the little girls to hold, although Sumire opted to just hold his two fingers instead- it was easier for her smol hands (I love when children do that 🥺💖). 

As you put your mug into the sink while carrying out conversations with your brother, you watch Suga and the two little girls descend from the stairs, their tiny hands gently clasped in Suga’s. As they reach the bottom they dash to your brother, leaning against his legs. Suga makes eye contact with you and smirks lightly, his competitive spirit shining through. 

“Found Sumire, hmm?” You taunt, knowing that he took a little longer than usual. This game that usually had no stakes had insanely high stakes, which Suga had no cognizance of, so you try to be as unassuming as possible. 

“I did!” He taunts back, but his eyes drop to her and his voice softens. “She did a good job hiding, though.” You turn just in time to see her whole face light up. Your heart bursts at the sight. You both would die for these kids. From when Tsubaki was born to Mizu’s first steps, you and Suga had been there to see a lot of it and raise them in part.

“The next target is Fumio. But I have no idea where he is!!” Raising his voice at the last part, he looks around dramatically, eliciting a giggle from the two little girls. 

Fumio is almost always in the kitchen- during hide and seek and even outside the bounds of the game (baby loves food). Suga monologues, opening the pantry and turning on the lights. 

Would he go somewhere entirely different to throw me off? 

Well, no. The point of the game IS for Suga to win (this time around). 

So where is he? 

The girls let out another round of giggles when Suga opens the fridge to look for Fumio, and you and your brother can’t help but chuckle as well. 

“Ne, Ni-san,” Suga calls to your brother. “Can you give me a hint to where Fumio-chan might be?” 

“I don’t know,” he pulls his mug away from his face. “Do you think I should help Oji-san?” He looks down at his girls.

Little Sumire nods her head aggressively and Tsubaki quietly responds, “Yes!” 

“Koushi-kun. You remember when Fumio was like, 2 and would crawl everywhere?” your brother starts.

How could any of you forget? The kid ended up hiding unintentionally in all the worst places. Underneath desks, behind the couch, inside the dishwasher- it was endless. But there was one place above all he loved to hide…

Suga’s eyes met your brother’s, lighting up with understanding. 

“Fumio loves helping put away the dishes, right Tsubaki-chan?” Suga walks around to the other side of the kitchen, where you were now standing next to all the cupboards filled with cooking pots. 

“But sometimes he puts himself away, with the pots, too.” He was right. Fumio would put a pot away and push it all the way to the back of the cabinet, only to crawl in after it. How he found the spot comfy, none of you understood. But it made for some very cute photos. 

“Fumio thinks he’s a pot!” Sumire chimes in. 

“So I should check where all the pots are, shouldn’t I?” With that, Suga opens the (already slightly open) cabinet, to reveal a little boy with his hands over his mouth (concealing giggles) and a pot on his head. Suga smiles and lifts the 3-year-old out of the cabinet, pot sliding down and covering the child’s eyes. 

“Look! Fumio-chan is a pothead!!” Sumire cries out. 

All three of you burst out laughing, your brother almost spitting out his hot chocolate. 

“Su-Sumire-chan don’t say that okay? It means something different,” you try and talk without dissolving into giggles again.

“Hmm? But he has a pot on his head. What else could it mean?” She looked extremely confused and you couldn’t even fault her for it. 

“You’ll find out when you’re older,” your brother’s classic way of shutting down unwanted topics (for now). 

Fumio, on the other hand, was just glad to be in his uncle’s arms, surrounded by his favorite pots. 

“Oji-san, here!” Fumio giggled as he held the piece of paper up above his head with both hands. Suga pulled the boy against his body, opting to hold him with his left arm, while receiving and reading the piece of paper with his right. 

“To play with”

-was all that was written on the small piece, this time clearly in your brother’s handwriting. 

“Thank you for giving us another… to play with.” Suga’s hand goes slack as his eyebrows furrow in thought. What did I give them to play with? Did I buy them a toy recently? Was I supposed to buy them something!? 

The little boy in Suga’s hand notes the pensive look his Oji-san had-- leading to the boy’s decision to poke his Oji-san’s face, right on his beauty mark. “You have to find Mizu-chan!!” He cries, his smol finger gently pressing into Suga’s cheek. 

Your brother gently tilts the watch in Tsubaki’s hands. “2 minutes, Koushi.” 

“2 minutes!” A lot more time actually elapsed than he expected. “Let’s go find Mizu-chan then! Come on, Tsubaki-chan, Sumire-chan!” 

Suga hands Fumio over to you, taking the pot off his head and placing it on the table. He reaches his hands out to the girls again, both of whom accept gladly. And with that, he bounds back into the living room where your sister-in-law still waits. 

“One minute, Oji-san!” Sumire calls out this time, genuinely concerned her uncle won’t make it in time. 

But there’s another unspoken rule that’s been accepted by all the participants that ensures Suga’s success. 

Rule 4! The baby gets to be found last. 

Mizu was just 2 years old. He didn’t understand the concept of winning or losing. He just liked it when other people played with him. But the older kids did understand winning. And just like Suga, they were quite competitive. This rule was made to teach them that being nice to those who can’t play as much (like a baby) is more important than winning. 

With this stipulation, Mizu consistently hid in the same spot for every single game. Without fail, in the small woven basket used to house all the family blankets, the baby boy would sit in silence, his mom right next to him on the couch it lays adjacent to. 

Suga was gonna draw it out, though. If it's not a show for the kids, then was there really a point? 

You and your brother (who now had his turn at holding Fumio) watched as Suga ran behind the TV, searched beneath the table, and moved pillows on the couch searching for the baby of the family. 

“30 seconds!” 

“I have no idea where Mizu is! What should I do?” 

Sumire’s face is flushed with worry and excitement as she runs up to him and grabs his hand with both of her own, pulling him towards the blankie basket. “Oji-san! He hides here usually! Hurry before time runs out!” 

You sit down onto the arm of the couch as Suga stares at the woven basket. 

“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2…” 

“Found you!!!” Suga pulls the cover of the basket away, triggering an endless stream of baby giggles from little 2-year-old Mizu. Suga picks up Mizu and his stuffed bear that he had been clinging onto. 

“Oji-san wins!!” Sumire jumps up and down, hopping onto her mother’s lap. Tsubaki opts to sit on the floor, ready to watch what was to come. At this point, you and your brother are also sitting on the couch, your anxiousness raising in your belly. 

“So where’s that last piece of paper….” Suga scans the baby for any pockets when he realizes it's tucked into the ribbon around the neck of the bear in his hands. 

“I’ll take him,” your sister in law says as she gently puts Sumire on the side, grabbing Mizu from Suga before sitting down again. 

Suga slides the slip of paper out from the bear’s ribbon and sits onto his knees, retrieving the other pieces of paper from his pockets. 

“Ready for the big reveal?” He asked the kids in tone of voice, but the adults through eye contact. Although he had no doubts all the adults already knew the message. 

Tsubaki nodded in agreement while Fumio’s eyes were trained on his Oji-san. Sumire was fidgety. 

“Alright! So it says, ‘Thank you...’ ‘for giving us…’” he places the little slips onto the floor, leaving a gap for the 3rd piece. “...Something ‘to play with.’ Let’s see what I gave you guys to play with.” The final piece was now being flipped over in his fingers. He was killing himself with the suspense. “Thank you for giving us another-” he drops the last piece into line with the others, “-FRIEND… to play with…”  

Though the words came out of Suga’s mouth, he didn’t process what they had meant right away. For once, the fun and playful Koushi oji-san had dropped his usual playful demeanor for one of complete shock. 

A...a friend? 

Your nerves were now skyrocketing as you felt your brother squeeze your arm in a calm and reassuring manner. You get up, arms hugging yourself as you slowly approach Suga, who was dumb struck on the floor. 

But before you could speak, Tsubaki spoke up, scooching towards Suga, tugging on his arm sleeve.

“Oji-san, remember when I asked you if you and Y/N Oba-san had any babies I could be friends with, and you told me we would have to wait a while?” Suga’s eyes moved to the little girl, wide in surprise. In honesty, her words caught you and your brother off guard as well. 

She remembered that? It was a conversation from around when Fumio was a few months old, and you and Suga had been trying so hard for a child then. She asked Suga if she could play with your kids, somehow convinced that you guys were hiding your own children from meeting her. It crushed you both internally, but you had smiled as Suga told her “Oba-san and I don’t have any friends for you now. But I promise we will give you another friend to play with as soon as we can! You might have to wait for a while though.” He had ruffled her hair and smiled, but it was pained. Though she was young and didn’t understand why, she knew that what she had said had hurt Koushi oji-san, one of her favorite people. You assumed your sister-in-law had told her to just not ask you or Suga about it again, but you never assumed she actually held onto the memory. 

Suga just looked at Tsubaki, waiting for her to continue. 

“... well… Oba-san said that she has a baby in her tummy… and that when it comes out we can be friends… so we wanted to say thank you for keeping your promise, Oji-san.” 

Everything goes still. Even the small children sitting in the room, Mizu now sleeping on his mother’s shoulder while Fumio and Sumire hugged each other, aware of the frozen air... 

...until Suga lets out a shuttered breath. You look at him, watching tears stream down his eyes, and you exhale a breath you didn’t know you had been holding. 

“Yes, Tsubaki-chan, I told you we would keep our promise,” he jumps up, pulling her into a hug and spinning her around. She starts laughing and he laughs too. Before you know it your body starts shaking from giggles and tears that can’t help but escape you. You can hear your sister-in-law crying as well, and feel your brother’s arm pull you into a hug, a bright smile plastered across his face. 

Your sister-in-law had come with you to your doctor’s appointment 3 weeks prior to confirm the pregnancy. However, you wanted to hold off on telling Suga just to increase the chances of the pregnancy carrying through. You couldn’t bear the thought of telling him only to lose the baby mid pregnancy- that would absolutely crush him. So while waiting, you decided to come up with a fun way to tell him, getting your nieces and nephews in on the plan in the process. Although your brother and sister had known, neither had really processed the information. And neither had you. Not until this moment. 

Suga put Tsubaki down and approached you, face completely tear-stained and smile bright as the sun. You always somehow got lost in his beautiful features, and now you felt lost in the happiness radiating off of him. You let him engulf you in his arms, kissing your forehead while his tears rolled onto your face. 

“We finally did it, love.” He whispers. 

You push your face into his button-up shirt, inhaling his cologne and the reminiscent smell of detergent.

“We did,” you murmur against him. 

“Wait, Oji-san and Oba-san are gonna have a baby?!” You hear a surprised Sumire ask loudly. Evidently, she had been a bit out of the loop and Tsubaki one-san had to fill her in a bit. 

“Yes, Sumi, we are having a baby,” you respond, turning your head to look at her but not letting go of Suga. 

You watch the realization dawn on her, turning to Fumio. “Fumio there’s another baby coming!” She jumps up and down once more, spreading her excitement to the little boy who starts clapping and jumping with her. 

“Ba-by! Ba-by! Ba-by!” the two cheer while Tsubaki tries to shush them, Mizu still fast asleep. 

“Alright you two, shhh! Time for dinner. You can cheer more after dinner,” your sister-in-law chides as she heads to the kitchen. 

“Who’s ready for some ramen?” 

“Ra-men! Ra-men!”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once dinner was over, a movie was watched, the children were put to bed, and dishes put away, you and Suga say bye to your brother and sister-in-law. 

“Goodnight Ni-chan!” you say as you watch him close the door. 

“Night Y/N-chan, Koushi-kun.” He waves a final goodbye. 

As you approach the passenger side of the car, you feel a hand lightly tug your wrist. You turn around to have Suga wrap his one arm around you while guiding your face to his as he gives you a slow and loving kiss. As you pull away, Suga buries his face into the crook of your neck, his smile pressed against your skin. 

“We’ve waited for so long, Y/N… and now it’s finally happened.” 

You pet his hair and snuggle against his head. “I know, Koushi. And it will be wonderful. You’re going to be the best dad out there.” 

“And you’re gonna be a wonderful mom.”

You both stand there for a minute, bodies warm in each other’s embrace and hearts warm in the realization of your shared dream. 

“But you know, our baby’s gonna be really lucky,” you giggle. 

Suga pulls away to look at your face. “Why is that?” 

You put a hand on your stomach.

 “Baby is going to have a lot of wonderful friends to play with, always.”

[keelywolfe]

FIC: The Rose and the Thorn: Chapter 20 (Mafia AU)

Summary: Time for truth or consequences.

Tags: Spicyhoney, Cherryberry, Mafia AU, Flower Shop AU, Violence, First Meetings, Attempted Sexual Assault

Warning:  Heads up, let me add a warning here for attempted sexual assault and violence.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19

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Read Chapter 20 on AO3

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Read it here!

~~*~~

The rest of the drive back to the club was in silence and that suited Rus just fine. If were possible, he would be happier if he never spoke to Red again. The only sounds in that opulent, stifling car were the hum of the tires on the road, the gentle rattle of the glasses stored on top of the mini-fridge, and the long, slow exhale of cigar smoke throughout the entire, unbearable ride.

It seemed to take ages to get back to the dust bowl and Rus wondered dully where exactly Blaze’s house was. The only possibility was one of the Human districts; he should’ve guessed that before, considering there were certainly no houses that luxurious in their neighborhood. A mansion sitting amongst the local shacks would have stuck out like a single pristine apple in a rotten orchard.

He didn’t even know Monsters were allowed to live in the Human side of town. Certainly they’d had to fill out a lot of paperwork and paid plenty of fees to simply open their shop. Enough money probably greased plenty of wheels, no matter whose pocket carried it, and what did it mean that the Fell brothers chose not to take that route. That they still lived above their garish strip club, those elegant rooms built both by and atop the gaudy neon that housed the dancers.

Maybe it was only because it was safer to live with other Monsters, especially with the all the wards and security measures. Sure didn’t seem like Blaze had a similar setup, not if Red waltzed right in to—

Rus winced, forcing his meandering thoughts elsewhere. It was easier than he might have assumed. A glance through the tinted windows showed adult bookshops and scantily-clad Monsters standing on street corners, waiting for the first trick of the night. He’d been gone for most of the day, Rus realized, and tried not to think of his brother and how terrified he must be. They’d be together again soon enough, hopefully forever, and Blue’s worries would be at an end.

The club was up ahead and soon the car was making that hairpin turn into the parking garage, down to where Edge took him the first time he’d come here. Could it possibly be only a few days ago? In less than a week his life was turned utterly upside-down. The last time that happened he was fresh from the Underground and still naively excited to see the sun.

Sometimes he wished he could go back to that blissful ignorance. If he’d known what was waiting for them on the surface, he might’ve sat for longer in the first rays of sunshine.

The driver pulled into an empty spot in the garage, hopping out to open the car door for them. Red didn’t move, only waved a hand at the open door, his rings gleaming mellowly in the harsh overhead lights.

“head on in,” Red said, “dog’ll take ya upstairs.”

“they’ll take me to edge?” Rus blurted, already breaking his mental vow not to speak to Red again. He lifted his chin defiantly. “i want to see edge.”

“said they would, didn’t i? i keep my promises.” The moment the words were spoken, a certain realization fell across Red’s face. A reminder of promises very recently broken, tinted with a dangerous hint of aggravation that threatened to flare into something worse. Rus bit his tongue and said nothing, even as that look faded into simple weariness. Red heaved a sigh and hooked a thumb at the door. “just follow the fucking dog.”

This time, Rus did as he was told.

He followed the Dog to the elevator, their long, whip-thin tail barely wavering as they walked. Rus swallowed down both his urge to ask to see his brother first and his guilt for not doing so. If he saw Blue before Edge, he’d either lose his nerve or simply let his brother persuade him into staying. They’d end up back home, back to the bouquets and the customers with the last pages of this story left unfinished.

That wasn’t gonna work, not this time. Rus needed an ending, a resolution to this daydream gone nightmare. He couldn’t let it hang over him, he needed this if he was ever going to sleep through the night again, and he didn’t know how to make his brother understand. So, this time he’d go the route of begging forgiveness rather than asking permission, and get that ending, however it came. They were far past happily ever after or even a miserable wish to be left unscathed. All he could hope for now was a finish.

The elevator ride was in awkward silence and in the hallways, the door the Dog led him to was a familiar one, although the two other Dogs stationed outside it were not. The Dog who’d led him upstairs said nothing, only nodded to the others, and one of them turned to the keypad, inputting numbers, then gestured to the door.

Rus took a deep breath, let it out, then opened the door and stepped inside.

The door barely shut behind him before Rus stopped, taking in the room in shock. Gone was the coldly elegant bedroom of before, this room was savaged as if by a wild animal. The sofas were overturned, their cushions gutted, spilling foam and bent springs onto the floor. The side tables were splintered, the bookshelves lined with gaps and tattered pages were underfoot everywhere. Even the walls weren’t unscathed; holes dotted the drywall, from fists or bone attacks, he couldn’t tell, crumbling plaster and glass crunching beneath Rus’s shoes.

Standing in the center of the ruins, his back to the door, was Edge. He looked untouched by the wreckage around him, not a speck of dust on his clothes or a wrinkle in his trousers, the unmoving eye in the middle of the hurricane. One might think he’d stumbled across the damages the same as Rus if it weren’t for his hands. They were clenched at his sides, the broad phalanges smeared with filth and marrow, the joints still lit brilliantly with magic. He was facing the bed where it sat still untouched by the storm as if contemplating directing his wrath on it as well.

Rus picked his careful way through the detritus towards him. There was nothing silent about it, not with everything littering the floor underfoot. Edge must know he was there, but he didn’t turn around, and eventually Rus ventured, softly, “edge?”

At the sound of his name, Edge hunched over as if struck, ducking his head. Through gritted teeth, he said, “My brother did not tell me his intentions.”

“i know.” He did, didn’t even have to think that hard about it. There was nothing trustworthy about this situation, not in this place and certainly not Red, but he trusted Edge. Edge would never have allowed him to be used as bait.

Edge nodded and still did not turn around. His fists tightened, his joints creaking audibly. From his damaged knuckles, a droplet of marrow fell to the floor, splashing red against the crumbling plaster. “I wasn’t allowed to join him to bring you back. He thought it best if I stayed here. He seemed to think my attachment would make me,” he hesitated, then spat out, “reckless.”

It would have, Rus realized with a sense of dawning realization. He’d seen it himself, hadn’t he? The slow change in Edge, from calm and unruffled after the shooting at the shop to this, a winding path downward path in his temperament that led to the wreckage of his room.

If he’d gone after Blaze carelessly, then it might be his dust littering the floor of that horrible bedroom, and what did it say about Rus that he abruptly understood Red’s position a bit better. For him, protecting Rus was certainly a side benefit, but the one he wanted to protect was his brother, and could Rus blame him for that?

Maybe it would be better for Edge for them to be apart as well.

Edge shifted his weight, glass crunching beneath his expensive shoes and Rus abruptly made a choice.

“come here,” he said decisively, and took Edge by the arm. He pulled him along unresistingly to the bathroom. Inside, he flicked on the light and the sudden bright glare against ceramic made Rus wince, but he persisted, pulling Edge to the sink.

Rus hopped up to sit on the countertop and turned on the water, fussing with the faucets. When it was warm but not too hot, he lifted Edge’s hands into the stream. Rus wet his own hands and with a little squirt from soap pump, rubbed them together until they dripped with suds. As gently as he could, he washed Edge’s hands until the water ran clear, making sure to get between his knuckles and into the joints. When he was done, he dried them cautiously with a towel before inspecting them for damage. There were a few hairline cracks, nothing too terrible, and he easily healed them, his own fingertips glowing a soft green. Edge didn’t offer a word of protest, only following Rus’s guiding touch, obeying his quiet murmurs and allowing himself to be moved like a doll.

It was only when Rus was finished, still cradling Edge’s larger hands in his own, that Edge spoke again, his voice echoing in the enclosed space of the bathroom.

“So it’s over.”

“i think so.” Rus said. He didn’t look up from Edge’s hands, rubbing a thumb over the bones of his wrist as he checked for any more cracks. They were so delicate, such thin bones leading to strong, broad hands. Hands that had surely done awful things, but that had always touched him with such care. Even when he’d been angry, Edge never hurt him, never forced, unlike some others. “blaze is…gone.”

“I wasn’t speaking of Blaze.”

Yeah. Rus knew that too, couldn’t pretend that he didn’t, and for all that Edge was so very much bigger than him, Rus felt as if he was the protector as he said, gently. “i can’t stay. i don’t belong here.”

Edge’s eye lights flared, briefly filling his sockets with glowing crimson. “And if I refuse to let you go?”

Perhaps once that belligerence would have frightened Rus, but no more.

“is that really what you want?” Rus countered. He gestured at the room around them and beyond. “to cage me up in here? let me wilt away behind these walls. my body might survive it, but can you say the same about my soul?”

Those broad shoulders sagged, Edge bracing his forearms against the sink as he hunched over. He spread his hands, staring at the scarred white bones, the hidden cracks barely healed. “Flowers need sunlight,” Edge murmured, though he seemed to be speaking more to himself than Rus.

It was the truth, they both knew it, and still, tears stung Rus’s sockets, salt thickness forming on the back of his tongue. “yes. but please, give me this much. one night with you, that’s all i’m asking. please.”

Edge finally lifted his chin look at him and the bleakness on his face made those tears overflow. He reached out and ran a trembling finger down Rus’s cheekbone, tracing their damp path as he said, hoarsely, "What have I done to you, little flower shop?"

"nothing,” Rus whispered, “none of this was your fault."

"No?” Edge shook his head. “I’m not so certain. By my very presence, I took you from your roses and dragged you into the ugliness of my world. Not my intention, perhaps, but it was certainly my fault."

“then i don’t care,” Rus said. He leaned into the fingertips still pressed to his cheekbone, yearning into that soft touch.

"You don't need to do this,” Edge told him. Crimson eye lights searched Rus’s face and he wondered at what they saw, “You don't owe me anything, rose petal."

"i know. this isn't about debts this is…" goodbye, Rus didn’t, couldn't, say. Some part of him still wished he could go back in time, back to blissful ignorance, or barring that, to simply forget. Neither was possible and instead, so he'd take what he could get and live with it. "this is what i want. just once?"

As an answer, Edge surged forward to lift Rus into his arms, carrying him back into the other room to the bed. He settled Rus onto the soft comforter and he lay there, watching as Edge stripped off his jacket and cast aside his tie before unbuttoning his shirt.

He ignored the solid thud of what could only be the shoulder harness of his gun hitting the floor.

He left his shirt on, hanging open, and Rus caught a glimpse of the broad, scarred bones of his ribcage before Edge went to work on his clothes. He stripped Rus bare, with a reverence that didn’t allow embarrassment any footing. With only a hint of shyness, he lay naked on the bed, his slim bones exposed to the heady, crimson eye lights roving eagerly over him.

Instead of moving on top of him, Edge lay at his side, the coarser material of his trousers abrading gently against the outside of Rus’s femur. His breath was warm against Rus’s skull as he murmured, “What have you done?

“huh?” Rus managed dazedly. He was more focused on the warmth of the body against him, fingertips gently grazing his collarbone, tracing the delicate line of it to his sternum.

“You’ve been with someone else?” Edge prompted. There was no jealousy, only gentle urging for an answer.

“i…yes. i’m not a virgin.” Rus barely managed to keep down his defensiveness. The truth was he wasn’t far from one, but there wasn’t any point in bringing that up now.

Edge only let out a thoughtful hum. “No? I’ve taken so much from you, ripped you from your life. Some would think it unfair for me to have your body as well.”

After everything it was damned frustrated to think Edge might be having doubts. “even if i’m giving it?”

“Especially if you’re giving it.” Edge let out a last sigh, “But I’m greedy enough to take it.”

A large hand cupped Rus’s cheekbone, turning his face and then a hot mouth was on his own, a kiss filled with both gentleness and naked hunger.

In all his daydreams and imaginings, he’d never expected it to be like this. Almost more of a dream of its own, and lost in the depths of those kisses, Rus could hardly tell which way was up. Edge moved as if defying the laws of physics, one moment his mouth was on Rus’s and another, it was moving down his ribcage, his tongue investigating sensitive crevices and delicate joints.

Rus couldn’t move, whatever pretense he’d hoped to give that he had at least some experience was lost. Honestly, how was he supposed to focus when Edge was sliding down between his legs, investigating where Rus’s magic formed wet and ready between his legs. His hands curled under Rus’s hips, lifting him effortlessly as his mouth grazed soft folds, his tongue sliding out to investigate. Rus cried out, his heels digging into the mattress as he arched up, struggling against Edge’s unrelenting grip with another choked moan.

“Oh, oh, please,” he whimpered. His hands scrabbled at Edge’s skull, unable to find purchase, and then there was nothing he could say. He could only cry out, low and garbled, as his pleasure peaked.

He fell back weakly, his sprawling legs pushed further apart by Edge crawling up between them. He didn’t know when Edge stripped away the last of his own clothes and couldn’t be bothered to solve the mystery. Edge’s mouth was on his own again and this time his tongue was sweetened with the flavor of Rus’s pleasure. Heat rose in his cheekbones, but Rus didn’t shy from the taste, letting Edge share it with him in kiss after kiss.

Between them, he could feel the heavy, hot length of Edge’s cock and he reached down boldly to curl his hand around it, stroking curiously. Edge made a low, shuddering sound, his breath puffing against Rus’s shoulder as he reached down to stop him. He didn’t draw Rus’s hand away, only guided it, both of them moving together until the damp tip of the shaft was prodding at Rus’s entrance, still damp from Edge’s mouth.

Edge lowered his head, not to take a kiss, but to whisper against Rus’s mouth. “Can I, flower shop? Can I have you?”

“yes,” Rus gasped out, but even now on the cusp, he managed to add, “for tonight. have me.”

The sound Edge made was both yearning and betrayed, his hips shifting as he pushed abruptly inside, filling Rus with a single, hard thrust.

“oh, fuck! that’s…that…so much!” Rus squeaked out, grabbing at Edge’s shoulders. Not to stop him, as if he could, only to cling, he felt as if he didn’t hold on, he might fly off without even the benefit of a teleport. He felt achingly full, his thighs spread wide by Edge between them and his cock so deep inside him, thick and unmoving.

Above him, Edge groaned, pressing his mouth to Rus’s cheekbone to rasp out, “I’m sorry, flower shop, I didn’t mean—”

Rus interrupted him with a hiss, both hands dropping down to claw desperately at Edge’s hips, “don’t apologize, just move!” His weight was too much for Rus to shift and he could only rock his hips up uselessly, barely moving the shaft inside him.

Then Edge did move, withdrawing until Rus felt wrong and empty inside, only to fill him again with another deep thrust. Gentler than Rus expected or even wanted, but there was no room for protests. He could only cling to Edge as he found a rhythm, both of them finding it together, moving as one as Edge thrust slowly inside him and Rus followed.

The wet sounds of their bodies meeting coupled with the low creak of the bed, the headboard thumping lightly against the wall, and Rus listened to the song of it, listened to Edge breathing heavily above him. It was getting hard to think, everything was going soft and blurry around him, pleasure rising, but Rus tried. He wanted to remember every moment of this, wanted to be able to take it out later, to replay it in his mind, a dream that should never have been coming to life.

All too soon, the speed of their movements increased, their breathing shifting to quick-quick blurts and even as Rus dug his fingers into Edge’s hips, trying to hold back, the light went golden behind his eyes as he cried out and came. Deep inside, he could feel the hot pulse of Edge coming inside him, wet and wonderful and perfect as he shuddered in Rus’s arms, groaning out his name in a single, ruined sound.

Even in the throes of orgasm, Edge was careful to brace his weight on his elbows, sagging only briefly down onto Rus. When Edge shifted to roll to the side, Rus refused to let him go. He wrapped arms and legs around him, clinging hard until Edge subsided even as he still tried to keep the bulk of his weight from crushing Rus into the mattress.

“Let go, flower shop,” Edge murmured after a long moment, nuzzling gently at Rus’s chin, “I’ll hurt you.”

“not yet,” Rus whispered back. Not yet. The night wasn’t over, he still had until morning and he meant to make use of every minute of it.

tbc

[tripleaxeldiaz]

maybe one day i’ll fly next to you

chapter 3/8

read on ao3

start from the beginning

The two weeks before Skate America breeze by, every hour filled with skating or conditioning or trying not to creep on message boards to see what people are predicting for the season. Buck feels good, the best he’s ever felt this early on. He tries to reign it in, that voice in his head reminding him that he could still lose it all at any moment, but it’s muffled and quiet and easy to ignore.

He’s also been seeing more of Eddie, now that he knows he’s not the douchebag he always assumed he was. They condition together, watch each other's jumping passes and offer tips, even take their lunch break together, talking about everything skating and some non skating things too. It’s easy and nice and the best parts of Buck’s days, if he’s honest. He maybe always thinks about talking to Eddie, picking his brain for his thoughts on various skaters’ programs, watching him laugh with his whole body at some snarky comment Buck makes about someone’s horrible choice in costume. Buck likes the way he laughs, likes the way he feels a little warmer when he makes him laugh.

He should have known this brief bubble of happiness would be popped sooner rather than later.

The day before they leave, he and Maddie get an email — an email — from their mother, inviting them to dinner while they’re in town for the competition. To say Buck’s surprised would be an understatement.

“How’d they even find out it’s in Reading this year? Did you tell them?”

Maddie rolls her eyes, stabbing her salad with a little more force than necessary. “I haven’t spoken to them in longer than you have, so no. They’ve probably seen ads or something.”

“We could lie, tell them Bobby’s really strict about non-skating things during competitions?”

“Sure, but then they might just call Bobby on their own and blow our whole cover.”

“We could tell them we’re sick? Food poisoning? Then miraculously get better?”

“If that didn’t work when you tried to get out of taking your SAT, I don’t think it’ll work this time, either.”

“I wasn’t even planning on going to college, why did I—” Buck huffs as Maddie shakes her head at him sympathetically.

There’s really no way for them to get out of this.

The thing is, their parents aren’t bad people — a doctor and a PR manager who are on every non-profit board in the county, volunteer at the local animal shelter, and donate plenty of money to plenty of charities. As parents, though, they somehow manage an interesting balance of using their children’s successes for their own bragging rights and making them feel like they’re always just shy of good enough. They supported them growing up, sure, paid their way through lessons and competitions before endorsements started coming in, but it always felt like it was serving their own clout more than helping Buck and Maddie follow their dreams. When they moved out to LA, it was easy to distance themselves, rescheduling calls indefinitely until their parents eventually just stopped trying. 

The last time Buck talked to them was right after his leg surgery — they called under the guise of “checking in on him”, but spent most of the call figuring out the quickest way to get him back to practice, offering to pay for extra surgeries and PT to speed up the process. He’s sure they thought they were helping, but it felt more like they were eager for him to get back to winning medals so they could tell their friends about it. 

As much as he loves to win, it’s not the same when someone else is pushing you more than you’re pushing yourself. 

He sighs again, slumping down in his chair. He hadn’t been nervous at all about Skate America, but now the itch of self doubt has made a home right under his skin, and it wasn’t even for a skating reason. Maddie reaches across the table to grab his wrist, squeezing lightly. 

“It’ll be two hours max, then we’ll make an excuse about early practice and leave. It won’t be that bad.”

Buck nods, turning back to his lunch, suddenly not hungry as his stomach continues to churn.

~~~~~~~~~~

He didn’t expect to get this nostalgic, but the familiar drive toward Reading and the Sovereign Center (Santander Arena now, because capitalism is a prison) fills him with jittery excitement and a weird sense of calm, just like it did when he was a kid competing in the regional circuit. The arena was a palace compared to their rink in Hershey, and it always made him want to skate well enough to be worthy of the ice there. It’s where he won his first medal ever, his first gold, his first trip to Nationals, and would hopefully now serve as a stepping stone once again, this time leading him towards Beijing.

Eddie’s lounging on his bed, shirtless and flipping channels, when Buck gets to their room. It wasn’t a surprise this time — they’d requested to room together anyway — but seeing Eddie like this, soft and relaxed and somehow at home in a hotel room, makes Buck’s heart flip a little bit. 

Buck’s heart has been flipping a lot around Eddie, and making him think about stupid things like kissing him and how his abs would feel under his fingertips and how he’d prefer his eggs in the morning. It’s taking up a lot of real estate in his brain, and it’s going to get even worse now that they’re sleeping 10 feet away from each other, he’s sure.

That doesn’t stop him from sneaking glances at Eddie while he unpacks. Just to get it out of his system so he can focus. 

It’s fine.

He can totally handle this.

~~~~~~~~~~

Skata America is a much bigger deal than ACI — more cameras, more interviews, more people watching in the stands and on TV. That should mean it’s all more intimidating, too, but Buck is thriving under the lights and camera lenses. This will be the first real chance to show people — not just skating people, but everyone — what he can do, and the anticipation of how it will be received buzzes through him constantly. That buzz practically dictates his every move through practices and his short, finally ceasing as he hits his final pose. It’s quickly replaced by elation — he knows he nailed everything, he knows the resounding applause is deserved.

He knows he’s in first place before they even announce his score.

When they do, he’s right, and he’s thrilled, but there’s also a pang of disappointment, because the margin is tight — only three points between him and Eddie in second. Bobby hands him his protocols in the green room, and his stomach clenches when he sees that his step sequence and his sit spin were downgraded to level threes. His brain starts spinning, mentally combing through every revolution and edge to figure out where the hell he fucked up, when he feels a warm, solid hand on his shoulder. He looks up and sees Eddie, but instead of pity like he expected (or gloating like he feared), he just sees understanding in his eyes, maybe even a hint of the same irritation he’s feeling.

“They screwed me over too, my camel should have had a plus three GOE at least.” Eddie says, squeezing Buck’s shoulder. Somehow, he’s already feeling better.

“I bet it was the French judge, he’s always been a conniving bastard.”

“We could take him out, we have time before tomorrow.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Buck says, as Eddie offers his hand and pulls him up to stand. He tries not to miss the warmth when he lets go.

“For what it’s worth,” Eddie says quietly as they make their way around skaters and coaches in the hallway toward the press room, “I think you should be at least 10 points ahead, if not more. You were something else out there.”

Buck can’t make his brain come up with a proper response by the time they take their seats on the makeshift stage in front of the reports, so all he can do is smile and hope it comes across as totally chill and not as dopey as it feels.

Eddie smiles back, and Buck thinks he’s beautiful.

The presser goes just as expected — a few questions lobbed at the Candian skater currently in third, more for Buck since he’s in first, but the most still go to Eddie. Being the favorite for Olympic gold doesn’t go away after half a competition, and the reporters are rabid as ever. Buck’s seen Eddie’s press routine — the humble charm and gracious smiles, cracking jokes like he’s talking to friends and not a bunch of strangers with tape recorders. He’d spent years mentally rolling his eyes at what he thought was the fakeness of it all, but after getting closer to Eddie, he knows that’s just how Eddie is. Kind and patient, actively listening to what people are saying, taking his time to form thoughtful answers. 

But whatever’s happening now is not the Eddie he knows — his laughs are forced and almost too loud, his smile is tight and boarding on a grimace. He keeps fidgeting with his credentials and the sleeve of his Team USA zip-up, eyes darting around like he’s charting his path to get out of the room as fast as possible once they’re done. 

He’s nervous. Buck doesn’t think he’s ever seen him nervous, at least not like this, and it’s honestly a little unsettling. So much so that all Buck wants to do is fix it, bring the light back to Eddie’s eyes, bleed the tension out of his shoulders.

There’s probably not an easy way to do that while answering questions about his performance.

He waits until he sees the “wrap it up” signal from the event worker off to the side, the next reporter giving one last question to the Canadian skater. He doesn’t think about it too hard, just stretches his leg a little to the right, slowly, until he and Eddie are ankle to ankle. It’s not much, but Eddie still looks over at him, first confused and then grateful, a small, real smile on his face, his shoulders falling away from his ears.

Eddie’s quiet on the ride back to the hotel, but he looks calmer, listening to everyone else talk about their events and what could happen tomorrow during free skates. He’s still jittery though, leg bouncing as he sits next to Buck on the bus. Whatever was bothering him during interviews is clearly still lingering, and Buck has to fight the urge to reach out and calm his shaking with a hand on his knee. 

They make it back to their room, door barely clicking in place behind them, before Buck breaks.

“Are you okay?” he asks. Eddie freezes in front of him, half turned around like he was about to ask Buck something before he steamrolled over him. “You seemed stressed during the presser and on the ride back, and I just...wanted to make sure you’re good.”

Eddie looks stunned for a second before letting out a breath, hand rubbing over his face. “I knew this would happen, you know? The extra attention. It happened after Pyeongchang and the bronze medal, but it died down eventually. I thought I’d have more time to mentally prepare for it again, I guess.” He shakes his head, hand falling to his side as he shrugs his shoulders helplessly. “Today was just a lot.”

Buck nods, patting Eddie’s arm in understanding because he gets it. Most of the time he basks in any form of attention, but some days the lights are too hot and the voices are too loud and faking a smile through it is impossible. The one Buck sees now is real though, he knows it, and he’s happy to see Eddie relaxing now that they’re away from the vultures.

“Well, lucky for you, I’ll be out of your hair tonight, so you’ll have plenty of time to yourself,” Buck says, crossing the room to his bed, digging through his bag for his dinner clothes.

“Where are you going?” Eddie asks, and when Buck looks back at him as he heads to the bathroom to change, he swears he looks disappointed, briefly, before it shifts to confusion. “We don’t have any team stuff tonight, right?”

“Nah, Maddie and I got suckered into dinner with our parents.”

“Are Buckley family dinners always black tie affairs?” he asks when Buck comes back in slacks and a white button down, struggling to knot his tie. 

“No, but they told us to dress nicely, so we’re probably going to some fancy restaurant downtown. Knowing them, we’ll also be dragged to some party one of their friends is having that’s conveniently close by.”

He groans in frustration when his tie comes out crooked again, and Eddie laughs, taking pity on him and coming to do it himself. Buck tries to keep cool, willing his cheeks not to turn red, but it’s hard when he can feel Eddie’s breath on his chin, feel his fingers run across his collarbones, and he’s so close, if he just leaned in— 

“Sounds like it wouldn’t be the first time.”

Buck sighs through his nose. “I love my parents, they’re just...better from a distance.”

Eddie winces in what looks like sympathy, smoothing Buck’s tie and the front of his shirt as he finishes. Buck misses the motion as soon as it’s gone.

“Maybe they’ll prove you wrong this time,” Eddie says.

Buck rolls his eyes at that, but can’t help a small part of him desperately hoping that Eddie will be right.

~~~~~~~~~~

Eddie is so wrong.

Not only is there a party, it’s a party at their parent’s house, which is in full swing by the time Buck and Maddie pull up in their Lyft. Their mother opens the door, hair up, dress immaculate, lipstick-stained wine glass perched precariously in her hand.

“Evan! Maddie! Come in, so glad you could join us!” She kisses both their cheeks and hugs them quickly before taking their hands and dragging them deeper into the house. There are people everywhere, some faces Buck remembers and some new ones. There are waiters milling around too, passing bacon wrapped figs and mini bruschetta, and Buck feels his stomach rumble.

“So I guess we’re not doing dinner, huh Mom?” Buck asks, trying to keep the sarcasm to a minimum. Judging by the look Maddie gives him, he’s not doing a great job.

Their mother, of course, doesn’t bat an eye. “Sorry, sweetheart. We didn’t realize we were double booked, and we’d already moved this party once. There’s plenty of food in the kitchen though, you can eat after I’ve introduced you to some people. Everyone’s so excited to hear about how you’re doing. Philip, there you are!” Buck spots his father too, a head above the crowd, tie loose and cheeks flushed. He shakes Buck’s hand firmly, kisses Maddie on the top of her head, and is gone in an instant when someone beckons him towards the bar set up on the back wall of the living room.

“Nice to see you, too. We’re doing fine, thanks for asking!” Buck says under his breath before their mother is whisking them away again. 

They spend the next hour flitting between couples — the Whiteheads, the Culls, the Carters, and a bunch of others he can’t differentiate — getting whiplash from their mother’s flipping between actual praise and backhanded compliments.

“Evan’s one of the top skaters in the country, though not as highly ranked as he was before his accident. We’re hoping he’ll be back up there by the time the Olympics roll around so he’ll make the team.”

“Maddie’s been with her partner for about three years now, right darling? They don’t have as many golds as she had with Doug, but they do skate well together.”

“Yes, that skater from Japan is very good Rebecca, you’re right! Evan, do you know him? Maybe he can give you some pointers about your edges going into your spins? I know you struggle with those.”

On and on and on, Buck and Maddie barely able to get a word in. They see their father only a few times, and each time he’s gone as quickly as he comes, pulled away by colleagues or board members or whoever it is they’re entertaining tonight. Buck is exhausted, and not just because it’s been a long day already, but from having to keep up the good natured laughs and graciousness when he doesn’t even feel like a person. He feels more like a trophy, being shuttled from room to room to be admired for a while before being shoved into a closet where no one can see you. Because that’s exactly what’s going to happen — their parents will tout them around for the night, send them back to the hotel, and not speak to them again until they need something.

Buck really forgot just how small this big house can make him feel.

Eventually, he breaks away, making an excuse about needing the restroom before quietly sneaking up the back staircase to the second floor. Maddie finds him 15 minutes later, sliding down to sit next to him in the guest room closet.

“Old habits die hard, I guess,” she says, and Buck smiles weakly. He hid in here a lot when he was a kid, sometimes with Maddie and sometimes alone. When it was all too much — the pressure from their parents or his coach or himself — this is where he came to quiet his brain. The darkness and the smell of the cedar chest full of their mother’s old sweaters was comforting, and it wrapped around him like a blanket until he could breathe again. 

“None of their habits have died, that’s for sure,” he says. “Is it sad that I thought they would?”

“It’s not sad to hope for better. It’s just hard when all that hope is for nothing.”

Buck sighs, head thumping against the wall. Maddie threads her arm through his and rests her head on his shoulder. They sit like that for a while, quiet, both in their own heads, though he’s sure Maddie is thinking about and wishing for the same things he is. 

He shifts eventually, head resting on top of hers. “Can we go yet? We could probably sneak out the back door. If they haven’t come looking for us yet, they definitely won’t notice.”

“Should we just go back to the hotel? It’s only 8:30.”

“What else are we gonna do?”

Maddie types furiously on her phone for a minute. “Chim, Hen, and May are down to hang out. And WhirlyDome is open until midnight.”

“That place is still around?”

“Apparently, and they have half price appetizers after 9.”

The thought of mozzarella sticks and onion rings makes his stomach growl loudly again. “Alright, let’s do it. But I’m inviting Eddie too.”

Maddie just smirks at him, getting up and out of the closet before he has a chance to ask what the look was for. 

It would just be rude not to invite him.

And maybe part of Buck wishes he had stayed in with Eddie tonight from the start.

[to: Eddie] tonight sucked. we’re going to play whirlyball and eat fried food. u in?

[from: Eddie] ????? What the hell is whirlyball?

[to: Eddie] omg now u HAVE to come. meet us here in half an hour

He sends the address and does not smile like an idiot when Eddie says he’ll see him soon.

~~~~~~~~~~

“So it’s...bumper cars?”

“Bumper cars plus lacrosse plus basketball, kind of. It’s super fun and only a little dangerous.”

“Can I watch for a bit first?”

“Sorry Eds, first timers have to play. You’ll be fine, I promise.”

Eddie still looks skeptical as they get ready for the next game, carefully sitting in the car and picking up his scoop. 

A bell rings and the cars come to life, rumbling around the room as everyone starts scrambling for the ball. It takes about 30 seconds for Eddie to get the hang of steering, and by the end of the first game, no one would ever guess he’d never played before. He leads their team to three victories in a row, laughing and cheering loudly along with everyone else, like he hadn’t been overwhelmed with anxiety just a few hours earlier. Something warms in Buck at the thought that he helped with that smile, and it’s a feeling he thinks he could get used to, a job he wouldn’t mind having if it meant Eddie was this happy more often than not.

Despite it all — despite good friends and good food and the feeling of Eddie’s shoulder pressed against his, Buck still feels the tendrils of doubt and panic floating around him. They’re bad enough during competitions normally, but pair them with what happened at his parents’ house — being reminded of how he’ll never live up to their lofty image of him, even if he does make it to Beijing — and everything just feels dark and cold, and he doesn’t think his lungs are working properly. He leaves the table, says he’s going to the bathroom, but ends up outside instead. WhirlyDome is in the older half of a shopping center in downtown Hershey, and the outside has been renovated since he was last here, now featuring an elaborate fountain surrounded by benches and newly paved pathways to the other stores. He sinks down on the nearest bench, the cool October air grounding him, making it easier to think, easier to try and smash down all these swirling emotions he’s trying not to feel.

Eddie finds him there, sits down next to him on the bench without saying anything. They stay in companionable silence, watching the fountain dance and the people bustle back and forth across the plaza, getting last minute shopping in before the stores close.

“I’m sorry dinner sucked,” Eddie says eventually, quiet and sincere. 

Buck shrugs. “I knew it would. Just got my hopes up too high that things would be different.”

Eddie nods, eyes drifting back to the fountain. Now that they’re alone and the excitement from the games is gone, he can see the slightly weary lines of Eddie’s shoulders, see how he’s still curling in on himself, like he’s trying to escape into his own body.

“How are you?” Buck asks, knocking his knee against Eddie’s gently. “I know this isn’t exactly a quiet night in.”

“I’m alright. Better than I would be, thanks to you.”

“What did I do?”

Eddie’s staring at the ground, but his cheeks are flushing pink, and Buck wants to reach out and feel the heat of them under his fingertips.

“You were there,” he says. “I’m usually alone when I start feeling like that, and nothing makes it better. But I wasn’t alone this time.”

I don’t want you to be alone, Buck thinks, and these thoughts he’s been having — about Eddie, about being with Eddie — are getting louder and louder and harder to ignore. Especially now, when it’s just the two of them, and Eddie’s eyes are sparkling like gems under the street lights. 

It’s almost hilarious that barely six weeks ago, and for 10 very long years, he could hardly stand the sight of him.

Eddie finally looks up from the ground, facing Buck, and they’re so much closer than he thought they were. He can count every eyelash, smell his cologne, watch his eyes trace over Buck’s face, from his eye to his lips and back again.

Buck doesn’t even realize he’s leaning in until his vision starts to blur, and he stops short. He tries to move back slowly, casually, but then firm hands are cupping his jaw, pulling him forward until soft lips meet his own. There’s no fireworks, no angels singing, just warm molasses in his veins, spreading to every part of him until he’s so warm he’s certain he must be glowing. His hands twist into Eddie’s jacket, pulling him as close as possible until he’s practically in his lap. They move to his shirt, feeling the abs he’s been thinking about for weeks now, and he almost melts right to the ground at the sound Eddie sighs into his mouth. 

He’s not sure how long they kiss, but it doesn’t feel like long enough by the time they come up for air. He doesn’t go far, still close enough to feel Eddie’s breath fan across his lips, but he’s not sure what to do now. He wants to know what this means (if it means anything at all), he wants to know what Eddie’s thinking, he wants to memorize the way Eddie tastes and feel his abs for real.

His phone buzzes in his pocket, making them both jump. It’s a text from Maddie, telling him they’re car is here and asking where the hell they went. He looks back at Eddie, still so close, and swallows down the urge to kiss him again and tell his friends to leave them here.

“We should— we have to go,” he says, gesturing toward the parking lot. Eddie’s eyes are flitting over his face again, unreadable but still bright. He nods finally, standing up and offering his hand to Buck. He can’t fight the smile or the blush that he feels, so he doesn’t, taking Eddie’s hand to help him stand. They stay put for a minute, until Eddie squeezes his hand and drops it, smiling that soft smile again as he turns away. 

Buck smiles himself, still full of warmth and lips still tingling, before following Eddie to the car.

~~~~~~~~~~

The ride back is quiet, everyone tired and settling back into the competition mindset they were able to let go of for a few hours. Buck feels it too, already running step sequences in his head again, but he keeps getting distracted. Eddie’s sitting next to him in the back seat of the Lyft, head tipped back and eyes closed, looking at peace for the first time all day. Buck tries to stop, tries to keep his focus, but his eyes keep drifting back to Eddie’s jaw, the cut of his cheekbones, the stubble shadowing his cheeks. It’s hard to remember what edges he’s supposed to hit tomorrow when he keeps thinking about how that stubble felt under his lips.

They silently make their way back to their room, and Buck knows they need to talk. He’s trying to figure out where the hell to start as he turns on the light in the small entryway, illuminating everything in a light that feels too harsh for whatever is currently simmering between them. Eddie’s right behind him when he turns around, looking just as unsure as Buck feels. It’s comforting, them being on the same page, but Buck hates that he’s responsible for making Eddie feel like this.

He can’t figure out where to start, mouth opening and closing like a fish as he tries to figure out what to say. Eddie takes pity on him eventually, reaching for his hand again.

“Let’s talk tomorrow?” he asks. “After free skates.”

It’s an out that Buck is more than willing to take. Not that he doesn’t want to talk, he just...can’t. Not right now. So he nods, squeezing Eddie’s hand in thanks. He goes to pull away, but Eddie’s grip stays firm.

“It wasn’t nothing to me,” he says, tilting his head until Buck meets his eye. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing or what it meant for you, but it was something for me.”

Buck’s doesn’t know what to do with that, either. He wants to kiss Eddie again and he wants to run far away from him and he wants to skate, but he can’t until the morning. So he just nods again, and it seems to be enough. Eddie nods back, finally dropping his hand as he heads into the bathroom and shuts the door. 

Buck doesn’t bother waiting for his turn, just strips out of his dress clothes and crawls into bed. He falls asleep fast, dreams of brown eyes and triple axels — taking off, rising, and falling, falling, falling…

~~~~~~~~~~

He knows he’s falling before his ass hits the ice.

It was inevitably, really — he felt like he was fighting himself through the entire program, trying to keep it from completely unraveling. He knows that to anyone else, any casual fan and even some analysts, he looked good, strong, put together right until the end. But he knows that this isn’t his best. And this fall is definitely going to cost him.

He recovers quickly, finishing the rest of the program as close to perfectly as he can manage. He smiles and bows, waves to his friends in the stands, tries to pretend like he’s okay with knowing that he’s definitely not winning this gold. 

It’s his own fault. He’d let his parents worm their way into his brain again, amplifying the self doubt that was already lingering, making him second guess every move, even the things he knows are good. Pair that with the fact that he can’t stop thinking about Eddie — not just the kiss, but his smile as he took the ice, his effortless jumps — and it was a miracle he only fell once.

He takes silver, four points behind Eddie’s gold. The fact that it was that fall that did him in stings worse than anything.

At the medal ceremony, he catches Eddie’s eye for the first time all day on the podium, and surprises himself with the genuine smile he gives him. It’s certainly not Eddie’s fault, what happened today — he didn’t ask to take up most of Buck’s thoughts, Buck let that happen. And if he keeps letting it happen, he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to skate clean again.

He knows they still need to talk, and he knows exactly what he needs to say, but he really doesn’t want to say it. 

Luckily, he doesn’t have to say anything right away. Eddie disappears after the presser and doesn’t join him and May in the stands for the free dance. Buck tries to ignore the empty seat next to him, but it’s harder than usual.

They have a late flight back to LA, and Eddie’s already packed but the time Buck makes it back to the room. They stand across from each other in the entryway, just like last night, but the tension in the air feels wary under Buck’s skin instead of hopeful.

“You were amazing today,” Buck blurts out, not at all how he wanted to start this conversation. It’s worth it, though, for the smile and blush he gets from Eddie.

“Thanks,” he says, eyes on the floor. “So were you.”

Jesus, just tell him, Buck thinks, and he squares his shoulders like he’s preparing for a fight.

“It was something for me, too,” he says softly. “Yesterday, it— it definitely wasn’t nothing.”

Eddie looks at him, waiting, and Buck hesitates.

He really, really doesn’t want to say it.

“But?” Eddie prompts, because of course he knows there’s more.

“But,” Buck sighs. “But I can’t— We should wait. Until after the Olympics. I don’t think either of us want to be too distracted before then, and I don’t know if you know this, but you are very...very distracting.” Eddie snorts and rolls his eyes, and Buck lets his gaze rake over Eddie from top to bottom, distracting himself for just a little bit longer.

“You’re right,” Eddie says quietly. “Let’s wait. And I’ll try and be less distracting, so I can keep kicking your ass fair and square.”

“Oh really?” Buck laughs, and Eddie’s laughing too, and it feels good and normal and Buck doesn’t want it to stop. But it has to. Because as much as Buck wants to dive deeper into this...whatever this is with Eddie, he wants to win more. Not much more (which is a thought he never expected to have about anyone), but definitely more. 

And if anyone in the world understands that feeling, it’s Eddie.

There’s a knock on the door, Bobby giving them a 15 minute warning before they’re supposed to head to the airport. Buck moves to head toward his things so he can pack, but Eddie grabs his arm before he can go too far. His eyes look soft and sad and hopeful and a million other things Buck is feeling too, and he just wants to drown in them, in this moment, before he has to go back out into the world, alone.

Eddie leans forward, softly kissing Buck’s cheek, lingering in his space before he heads out of the room, door quietly shutting behind him.

[nomtterwhere]

silent treatment || marco peña x reader

request: @mansaaay requested “Jealous or mad marco which leads to silent treatment?”

summary: a friendly game on a rainy day gone bad

warnings: not much, gets a little spicy towards the end, but no smut

word count: 2203

you and marco are in his room, you sitting in the chair at his desk and him sitting up on his bed. you had planned on going to the river today to have a picnic, but when you woke up that morning it was downpouring. it was supposed to rain for a while, so the two of you had just been hanging out at marco’s house, trying to figure out ways to keep yourselves occupied until it stopped.

“time!” you call out as the timer on your phone went off.

you open your eyes and look at your picture, laughing out loud.

“marco, i am genuinely so sorry about this.” you manage through your laughter.

“oh god, not again.”

one of the games you had come up with was like pictionary, except harder. each of you picked a card with an object on it and you had to draw a picture of that object with your eyes closed in thirty seconds. then you showed it to each other and if the other person could guess what it was, they got a point.

the game had proven to be harder than you had originally thought, considering you have been playing for almost an hour and the score was only 3 to 5. (a lot of that time was spent guessing and then fighting over who got the point) you were winning, of course.

you hold yours up and marco’s eyes widen. “um...” he tilts his head, as if that’ll help. “a sailboat?”

you shake your head, turning the paper and looking at it yourself. “are you kidding me? that looks nothing like a sailboat.”

“it doesn’t look like much of anything!” he exclaims. “hang on, bring it here.”

you get up and walk over to his bed, sitting cross legged in front of him and hold out the picture to him.

he takes it from you, holding it closer and starts laughing. “y/n, what the actual hell.”

you feign offense even though you knew it was terrible. “i did my best! come on, you have two more guesses, make good use of them.”

“okay,” he squints. “is it a plane?”

you give him a look. “are you even trying?”

“i am! it’s not my fault you suck at drawing!” he ducks as you swing a pillow at his head and gives you a smile.

“okay, okay.” he lays the paper down in front of him and studies it, his hands folded underneath his chin.

you roll your eyes, knowing he was only doing so to mock you.

“a car!” he says, looking up at you.

you shake your head, holding up your card. “it’s a tractor!” you take your picture from him, holding it up. “see, these are the wheels and see how the front is bigger than the back? i really don’t see how you got sailboat from this.”

“why is that even an option?” marco complains. “car, tractor, is there really a difference? they both have wheels.”

you softly pat his cheek. “don’t be a sore loser. now come on, let’s see yours.”

he groans. “mine is too easy.” but he hands it over nonetheless.

you smile, looking at the obvious depiction on the piece of paper. “a dog!”

“absolutely unfair. how come you get to guess all the easy ones and i get ones like tractor and velociraptor?”

you laugh at him. “because the universe knows what it wants. and what it wants is for me to win.”

“or because you’re cheating.” he says, raising an eyebrow.

you let out a dramatic gasp, placing a hand over your heart. “how dare you accuse me of such a crime? i would never.”

“you know, now that i think about it. you were the one to pick the cards for each round.” marco speculates, collecting the sheets of paper spread out on his bed.

he walks over to the trash bin in his room, dumping the papers inside.

“i hope you’re going to put those in the recycling bin later.” you say as he comes back over to you.

“yes, of course. i just don’t feel like going downstairs right now.” he wraps his arms around your waist and wiggles his way into your embrace.

you lean back on the bed, adjusting so his body was on top of yours, your arms around his shoulders.

he buried his head in your stomach, placing soft kisses on the exposed skin from where your shirt had ridden up.

you ran your fingers along his bare back, tracing a random pattern as you went. every once in a while, you would lightly scratch his skin, then gently rub it with your thumb and listen as he sighed against your stomach.

“you wanna play another round?” you say after a while.

“are you gonna cheat this time?” marco’s response came muffled.

you run a hand through his hair, tugging slightly. “you can pick out the cards for us if it’ll make you feel better.”

he picks his head up with a grin. “then let’s do it.” he reaches up and you lean down, giving him a quick kiss.

he whines when you pull away and tightens his arms around your center.

“i’m gonna need a longer kiss than that if you want to get up.” he closes his eyes again.

you laugh, but cup his cheeks and bring him in for a longer kiss. he hums against your lips, clearly pleased as he slips his tongue in. your mouths moved together in a familiar rhythm, slowly, as if trying to memorize each other. and you get that feeling you always do when you kiss him, a constant reminder of how much you love him. that is, until:

“still a cheater.” he mumbles against your lips.

“oh, shut up.” you push at his shoulders until he releases you, falling into his back beside you as he laughs.

you get up and grab the box with the object cards on them, bringing it over to marco.

“alright, let’s do this.” you toss it onto the bed.

“this is how someone who doesn’t cheat do it, for future reference.” he says, making a big show of putting a hand over his eyes and reaching into the box with his other arm.

he pulls out two cards and hands one to you with a grin.

“this is the last one. whoever wins this round wins the whole game.”

you watch as he sits up, glancing at his own card. “you’re just saying that because you’re losing.”

he looks up at you with a shrug. “whatever my reasons are, the terms still stand.”

you go back to his desk, grabbing a pen and two sheets of paper, handing marco one of the sheets. you decide to stay on the floor, not wanting to walk back to his desk.

“can you set the timer?” you situate yourself on the ground, laying in your stomach.

“yup.” marco’s voice came from above you.

you take this opportunity to finally glance at your card and grin when you see ‘giraffe.’ no matter how great you did, there was no way that was going to be the word that would pop into his head.

“okay, i’m ready!”

“alright...go!” he says and you close your eyes and start drawing.

and contrary to what others may think, you really did try. you thought you got the outline of the giraffe down and maybe messed up a little on the spots. but when the thirty seconds were up and you looked at your drawing, you couldn’t even tell if it was an animal.

you laugh aloud and marco groans, knowing what that sound means.

“you are definitely doing this on purpose, no one is this bad at drawing.” he says when he sees your finished product.

“hey! i tried really hard!” you defend your terrible drawing.

but he was right, it did look like you were cheating considering how awful the majority of your drawings came out.

marco shakes his head and looks up at you. “i have no idea, just tell me.”

you smile up at him from the floor. “you don’t even want to guess?”

guessing by the look he gave you, you were going to go with no.

“it’s a giraffe!”

he stares at you and then looks at your drawing, then back at you. “you’re kidding.”

“alright well let’s see yours then, picasso.” you hold out your hand for his drawing.

you study it for a moment, whatever it is, it’s big. he has one big circle as an outline and you could tell he tried to draw details inside of it but you couldn’t tell what they were supposed to be.

but you saw some squiggles drawn on the sides and assumed it was meant to be water so:

“a whale?” you guess and marco grins.

“nope.”

he looked so smug even though you still had two guesses left. and you were determined wipe that look of of his face.

you turn your attention a back to the picture, looking at the shape once again. it had to be something under water, unless those lines he drew were just to throw you off. you look at the circles drawn and realize they’re meant to be windows.

“is it a submarine?” you look up with a smile.

marco’s jaw drops and he grabs the paper from your hand.

“how on earth did you guess that? in what world does anyone ever guess submarine?”

you take the paper back from him. “uh, when the drawing looks like a submarine.” you hold up the drawing. “i win!”

“you cheated.” marco laid back down on his bed, folding an arm over his eyes.

“i did not. you even picked the cards, there was no way i could have known yours.” he didn’t respond. “marco?” still no response.

you stand up from the floor, gathering the papers you used and tossing them out. you look over at marco who is still laying on his bed, completely silent.

“so now you’re not talking to me?” nothing.

“you are such a child, you know that?” he only shifts of his bed.

“this is how children act. they don’t get their way and they throw a little fit just like this.” you gesture towards him.

he lifts his arm to glance at you for a moment and the places it back on his face, ignoring you once again.

you knew he could hold out for a while when he got like this, but you were already bored and wanted to be bored together. and you couldn’t do that if he was ignoring you. so you decided to speed up the process.

“marco.” you test the waters and he still doesn’t respond. “mar-co.” you sing song, walking towards the bed.

you sit next to him, leaning forward to try and peek underneath his arm. “marco, my love.”

he didn’t move but you saw the smile forming on his face and knew you were breaking him. so you take it a step further.

you get on top of him, straddling his waist and placing your hands on his bare chest. you trail your fingers down his chest, purposefully tracing his abs painstakingly slow.

marco lets out a groan, his hands move to grip your thighs, holding on to you tightly.

he opens his eyes and grins at you, shaking his head. “you play dirty.”

you drop a kiss on his chest. “according to you, it’s the only way i know how to play.”

he shakes his head and moves so he’s sitting up against his headboard, holding you in his lap. he leans forward, ducking his head into the crook of your neck.

“that’s because you were cheating. there is no reasonable excuse for how you messed up so much.” he says, as he trails his lips up and down your neck.

“i was blindfolded!” you say, then gasp as he nips at your skin.

one hand goes to the back his neck as he continues to tease your skin, a tingling feeling spreading through your body.

“yeah, so was i. and yet you managed to guess 7 of mine.” he murmurs and then looks at you, smiles, and kisses your lips.

he pulls you closer by the backs of your thighs, then moves his hands to your lower back, fingers creeping underneath your shirt.

you sigh as you feel his hand flatten against your bare back, then curl around to grab your waist. he squeezes lightly and you laugh into his mouth, your next kiss swallowing the sound.

“i’m still mad at you, you know.” he mumbles in between kisses.

you grin, pulling back for a moment. you rub your hands across his broad shoulders, watching as his eyes shut in relaxation.

“i’m sorry, baby. what can i do to make it up to you?”

his eyes open, and you can see them sparkle with mischief. he flips the two fo you over so he’s hovering above you and brings his lips right by your ear.

“oh, i have a few ideas.” he whispers before capturing your lips in another kiss.

alright, so maybe the silent treatment wasn’t such a bad thing...

taglist: @devilishdior @write-from-the-heart @shherlxck @minnyvees @lover1307 @sonnyalice @caro1115 @psg-for-life @mansaaay @thebookwormlife

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

FP//The Midnight Club (part 4)

hey! thats right, after the long awaited return, its back!!! and because i feel so terrible about leaving it for so long, the rest of the series is written too (and edited!!!), it just needs posting. anyway, i hope you like it!! and i hope it was worth the wait. seriously, thank you for being so patient, i love you all. (part 3)

In movies, Saturday detention always looks fun. Sneaking around, pouring your heart out to people you see everyday but know next to nothing about and making new life long friends. In reality, its spent doing a whole load of nothing.

You rest your chin in your hand and stare at the blank board ahead. You were the second one here, after Penelope Blossom and as soon as you walked through the door she sent you a disapproving look.

You and Penelope get on almost as well as you and Alice. She’s an annoying teachers pet that likes to write you up when she catches you and FP so much as holding hands.

The seat you chose when you got hear was a good one, near the back and away from Penelope. But then the rest of the your classmates turned up and suddenly you found yourself sat between FP and Alice, both of which were trying to kill each other with just looks. 

“Leave me alone FP.” You whisper. It’s the third time he’s tried to talk to you since he got here, and every time you’ve told him to go away. It seems finally he gets the hint and huffs loudly before leaning back in his chair.

You glance behind you to see Alice already looking at you and you send her a small, unsure smile. She just scoffs and looks down at her gloved hands, leaving you to stare at the top of her head.

“Welcome...to Saturday Detention.” Principal Featherhead’s loud but tired voice draws your attention the front of the class again and you force yourself to try and listen to whatever’s he’s droning on about, but in the 2 seconds its taken for him to let out a breath, you’ve tuned out.

It’s weird when the closest thing you have to a friend is Alice Smith. The rest are just acquaintances...and FP, who right now could be dead for all you care. You’re still not over last night. 

There’s clearly something going on between him and Alice, the more you think of it, the more it makes sense. And you’ve thought about it a lot, all of last night in fact. 

Your boyfriend knocked up Alice Smith...and then you. It makes you wonder if anybody else is expecting, you could make a little football team at this rate. 

It’s bad enough having Saturday detention, but it’s even worse that he’s here, especially when you’re running on less than an hours sleep. 

It’s just one Saturday. Eight hours, seven people with nothing in common.

Well, almost nothing.

The bad girl

“Alice Smith?”

The rebelling Catholic

“Hermione Gomez?”

The teachers pet

“Penelope Blossom?”

The artist athlete

“Fred Andrews?”

The political animal

“Sierra Samuels?”

The good girl

“Y/n Y/ln?”

And the ladies man

“Forsythe Pendleton Jones, Jr?”

You piece together the reasons everyone’s here. Alice and Penelope are here for fighting, something Alice told you about in detail last night, despite you wanting to sit in silence and watch Winona and Johnny fall in love. But you will admit...she did deserve it. 

Sierra and Hermione are probably here because they were in the bathroom just before you left, so they got caught in a wrong place, one time thing like you. The friend that you’re covering for isn’t even here, instead she’s probably in bed, or at Pop’s while you’re sat here taking the fall for her. 

Fred and FP were caught streaking, which was funny at the time. Seeing FP and Fred run down the corridor with no clothes on was a sight, made even funnier by Principal Featherstone catching them. But now you just want to slap the smirk that seems to permanently reside on FP’s face off. You have never hoped he has a hangover more.

“While you’re here today you will not talk.” Featherhead starts while making his way around the desks, handing out paper as he goes and you have to hold in a sigh. “You will not play” He says and snatches Fred’s drumsticks away, making the boy huff quietly and sit up straighter. “You will not move. I don’t even want you to breathe.”

“Charming.” Alice mutters and you stifle a laugh. Sierra clears her throat and everyone looks at her.

“Yes?”

“What if we have to pee?” She asks.

“You hold it, Miss Samuels. And at the end of the day, you will deliver a 1000-word essay as to why you’re here today.” He replies and you all let out a collective groan. “I will be right down the hall, in my office, all day long...cause I have nothing better to do.”

The clock reads 11am, meaning you’ve only been here for two hours and they’ve been the longest two hours of your life. Staring at the blank sheet of paper in front of you for so long has made your vision go weird so you  focus on the clock instead. You know why you’re here, ‘caught smoking’ is what you’ll have to write, despite the fact you were just holding it. But how are you supposed to stretch that into 1000 words?

A scratching behind you distracts you from your thoughts making you look behind you. Alice sits on the windowsill with a knife in her hand as she scratches against the wood.

“Dude, can you not?” Fred asks annoyed and she stops abruptly.

“Dude? Can you bite me?” She retorts. Fred rolls his eyes before turning back around.

“Oh, my God. Shh.” Penelope says loudly and now its your turn to roll your eyes.

“Psst. Sierra.” A different voice is a welcome distraction for all of you and everyone looks at the door, hoping and praying that its something exciting.

Tom Keller peeks his head round the door, a smile growing on his face when he spots Sierra and she quickly stands up, making her way towards him.

“Sit down. We’ll get in trouble.” Penelope scolds but Sierra ignores her.

“Tommy.” She smiles and the two of them kiss. Your eyes widen at the sight and you hear a few muffled gasps from the other students.

“Brought you some sustenance.” He says and waves a paper bag at her. She smiles again and grabs the bag from him, holding it close to her chest.

“Thank you.”

“I love you. I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

“Okay.” She nods and kisses him again before he leaves as quickly as he came.

“Sierra?” Fred is the first to break the stunned silence. “You and Tom Keller?” She nods and he lets out a short laugh. “Guys we’ve been going to the same school since kindergarten. How do we not know anything about each other?”

“We’re not friends. Cliques don’t cross pollinate.” Penelope replies. “Haven’t you seen Heathers?”

“Well, we’ve got six or more hours to kill, and no one to impress. How about a round of Secrets and Sins?” Sierra says, a small twinkle in her eyes as she looks at each you.

You gulp and share a look with the rest of the group, yours and Alice’s lingering for a little longer than the rest.

Sierra is the first to sit down, an excited smile on her face as she watches the rest of you reluctantly sit. Fred’s next, and then Hermione who sits beside him. Penelope sits on the other side of Sierra, FP sits next to Fred and you sit beside him, making sure to put a good amount of distance in between you. Alice is the last to sit, doing it as dramatically as she can and earning an eye roll from Sierra and FP.

“I’ll start!” Sierra says. “Tommy and I have been secretly dating for a few months now.” She admits.  

“Why secretly?” Hermione asks.

“Our parents don’t want their children dating someone so...different. To use their euphemism of choice.” She replies, the previous happy smile is long gone. It’s replaced by sadness and she looks at the old, faded carpet, trying hard not to think too much of it. 

“My mom’s all up in my relationships, too.” Hermione adds. “You know Hiram Lodge?”

“Uh, yes.” Fred replies and a few of you giggle at his response. “Dude is ripped.”

“And a petty criminal.” Penelope mutters.

“He’s a self starter who provides for his family.” She defends. “But to my mom, he’s a scrub. ‘Thats the way to to the American Dream, mija.’ But what dream? She cleans hotel rooms in that stupid Five Seasons, 16 hours a day. Hiram’s got the right idea. Get out of Riverdale. No matter what you have to do.”

“Yeah.” Fred starts. “Except...Riverdale’s not the problem. Me? I wanna stay here my whole life.” He says making Sierra laugh and you shake your head. You can’t think of anything worse. 

Although now, you just might be stuck here. You’re destined to live in a crappy trailer, barely keeping it together and watching your friends move on with their lives. Oh god, the thought alone makes you want to cry and throw up all at the same time and you let out a shaky breath. Your hand automatically moves to your stomach as you try to slow your breathing. 

“Are you okay?” Fred asks and you force yourself to look at him, faking a smile and quickly dropping your hand to your thigh.

“Yeah, I’m good.” You nod. FP moves to hold your hand but you quickly pull it away, sending him a scowl and he quickly retracts his hand back. Fred notices of course, but decides to stay out of it, instead looking at the old carpet. Alice rolls her eyes at the two of you and looks straight at Fred. 

“Is that how longs its gonna take you to decide between music or baseball?” She asks and Fred flips her off.

“Our minor league is solid. And we’re close enough to the city to play music gigs. This towns got it all. Could even see myself running for mayor one day.” He says, and he’s the only person in this room that you believe could actually do that.

Fred Andrews is something different. He’s friendly to everyone, no matter where they come from or what they are. He’s somebody you wish you could be more like, and you can see him changing the world someday.

“Ugh. Nightmare job.” Sierra huffs. “Why not shoot for something bigger? You can do all those things in a real metropolis.”

“Yeah. Except look after my dad. He’s sick. Real sick. And he took care of me my whole life, so, now it’s my turn.” He replies, his expression saddening and a frown appears on your own face. Tears well behind your eyes and one rolls down your cheek. It lands on your hand and your curse your hormones for making you cry.

FP reaches out again but you just shuffle further away from him, wiping your tears as you go and he lets out an annoyed sigh.

Hermione places a comforting hand on Fred’s knee and he looks at it for a few seconds, seemingly getting lost in his thoughts for a while before quickly changing the subject.

“Alice, you’re up. What’s your deepest, darkest secret?”

The tension in the room shifts. Penelope, Sierra and Hermione share a look and you watch as FP and Alice glance at each other.  

“Um...”

“Lets skip her.” You interrupt and she sends you a glare.

“I don’t need your pity Y/n.”

“Alice just tell them about the time you lit a dumpster on fire on the southside” FP says bored.

“Wait, that was you?” You ask, earning a few confused looks from the rest of the group. You remember that fire, it caused quite the rage on the Southside because the serpents thought it was a rival gang seeing as though it was right outside of the Wyrm. “...FP told me.” You add quietly.

“Why don’t you tell them that you actually live in Sunnyside Trailer Park?” She replies and for a second you freeze, thinking she’s talking about you.

“I thought you lived on Elm Street.” Penelope says shocked and you realize she was actually talking to FP.

“Yeah, of course. Because it’s what Forsythe wants you to believe. You parade around the school in your varsity jacket like a Northsider. You even got yourself a northside girlfriend to help you fit in.” She says and looks at you. “But don’t kid yourself. You’ll never escape the Southside. You’re gonna end up just like your dad.”

“Alice.” You warn. He may have pissed you off, gotten you and some other girl pregnant, but he is not his father. He never will be and you feel yourself jumping to his defense quicker than you probably would have liked.

“Downing six-packs in your double-wide.” She continues, staring straight at him.

“Maybe, but I’m not gonna hit my kid. Not like my old man hits me.” He replies and looks at you, his eyes glancing at your stomach for a split second before looking back at her. The group goes silent, no one daring to look at each other and even you avoid eye contact with him.

“Oh really? Which one?” She laughs and you quickly look up. Everyone looks up surprised, but before they can question anything Alice storms out, slamming the door behind her.

Its quiet for a few minutes, before FP takes a deep breath and continues his story.

“I told him I didn’t wanna join his gang. That I wanted to be the first Jones to go to college. He didn’t like that.” He holds up his broken wrist. He hates the way they’re looking at him, like he’s broken, like he’s a victim. But he feels better when he feels your hand resting on top of his. “I guess he sort of got what he wanted. It looks like I won’t be going anyway.” He whispers the last part, turning his hand over and holding yours as best as he can.

“Okay. I guess I’m next.” Penelope interrupts the moment you’re having but you don’t let go. Instead you shuffle closer to him, you’re still pissed, beyond pissed even, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve a hug. “Fair is fair. The Blossoms. They’re...terrible people.”

“But, Penelope, you’re a Blossom.” Hermione replies confused.

“No, I’m not. Not really. I grew up at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy orphanage.”

“Oh, my God, Penelope. That place has like, violated every humanitarian code.” Sierra says.

“When I was eight, the Blossom’s came and asked to see all the red-headed children. The next thing I knew, I was leaving with them. I was so excited. I very quickly realized this was not an altruistic adoption. I was being groomed. To first be Clifford’s sister. Then, eventually, his life companion. Every second away from that house, even today, is a relief.”

“Why are you still living there?” You ask, genuinely curious as to why she would stay there.

“They’re my family.” She replies.

“That’s not family. It’s basically incest. It’s disgusting.” Hermione adds.

“At least I’m not cleaning other people’s toilets like your mom.” Penelope argues and Hermione stares at her annoyed, trying to think of an insult.

“Well, at least she has class. She’s not stealing child brides out of orphanages.” She spits and Penelope gasps.

The two of them start fighting and you hear Fred and Sierra complain before moving to separate them. FP stands and helps you up, quickly moving you out of the way and you end up backing into something much worse that an accidental punch. 

“Congratulations. You all just upped your sentence from Saturday detention...to four.”

[rrickgrrimes8]

Normality is Death

Chapter Two ~ My Current Existence

masterlist

My eyes darted across the room as I woke, rather abruptly, in a cold searing sweat. The whole room was matted in darkness and the lantern I had lit the night before had not soon gone out. I sighed hopelessly and pushed myself out of bed sliding my combat boots on as I did. I looked outside to see the break of dawn just highlighting the horizon - it's early then I concluded. I stretched and yawned as I left my room locking the door right after - just to be safe. 

A lot has happened since Mom, Shane and Carl left me in the forest that day, too much has happened really. It's been around 3 months since I last saw my family and although I'd like to stay hopeful, I can't shake the feeling that they're dead or hurt in some way. But regardless I need to forget them. They left me. End off - period. My family abandoned me and I have to live knowing that and they have to live knowing that they played a hand in what they think was my death. I know it sounds cold, brutal even but I tried, I really did. I looked for them everywhere. I did everything a 14-year-old girl could possibly do in a world like this and I almost died countless times trying. So I gave up. I gave up not only to protect myself but because I realised that they probably wouldn't be looking for me. Hell, they think I'm dead right? 

Since everything happened in Atlanta the government had been completely radio silent. Lots of people think it's because there's no one left to send a signal. I, however, believe that that's extremely morbid and I guess I'm still holding out hope that someone will swoop in and save us all. It sounds very fairy tale I get that. It's just I'm a 14-year-old girl and I'm so sick of this world already. To the point where I couldn't even think about living any longer in a world like this. 

Sometime during the second month of what people like to call the turning, I met some people. They took me in gave me food, a shelter, some water. Basically, they gave me essential shit I was definitely lacking. Something they also did was train me. I'm not the best, but I do have pretty basic training in hand to hand combat, the basic workings of a gun (thanks to my father mostly) and I'm pretty good with melee weapons. They protected me is what I'm saying. They are my new family - a better family I could ever ask for. 

Our camp consists of 2 houses, housing 4 or 5 people in each. Mitchell, our leader, oversees any newcomers and basically keeps law and order around here. I met them after getting trapped in Atlanta and getting cornered by a dozen or so biters. Mitchell and a few others came in and massacred all of the living dead and took me in.

"Yoohoo! Jacey get your ass up it's your turn to hunt!" my friend, Addie, shouted rudely to me as I walked down the stairs. 

"Jeez Addie, I'm coming don't get ya panties in a twist," I teased nudging her shoulder once I got close enough. She had her usual skinny jeans and a grey tank top on but her hair was styled in a pair of small buns rather than her usually high pony. 

At my reply, her eyebrows furrowed and her usually bright and beautiful eyes closed before sighing. "Do not jeez me, woman, you've got shit to do you're slacking!" she exclaimed practically pushing me out the door and into the burning sun. I promptly lifted my hands to cover my eyes from the brightness. 

"Oh my lord, I know it's your thing to be this emo vampire goth girl who only stays in her room away from people, civilization and oh how could I forget the sun. but this is ridiculous it ain't even bright out." Addie joked forcing my arm down making me embrace the scorching heat. 

"You call this civilization? If so you've got a warped definition" I said picking up a knife and gun from the armoury. 

"Just go before I get even more sick of you, Jace," Addie laughed as I rolled my eyes, gave her the finger and strutted away sassily. "And you be careful kid Mitchell went out yesterday and there were more biters then usual. He thinks a herd might pass through so don't use your gun and you know don't die?" She said almost seriously which was incredibly out of style for her but nevertheless, I smiled and walked off into the woods. 

She was right about the number of biters. After only being out an hour I've seen 16 in our woods alone and I haven't even ventured out in the city yet, which is notoriously worse but I only really have to go to Atlanta if we're desperate. I had only picked up 2 squirrels so far I guessed that the movement of the herd could be driving some of the bigger animals away, which sucks because once I tell Mitchell he's just gonna want me to go into Atlanta to gather supplies. I mentally groaned and sat down against some tree, wishing things were different. 

"Looky what we have here gentlemen." A husky voice called out from the shadows. I instantly stood up and gathered my findings and unsheathed my machete. 

"What the hell do you want?" I stood my ground as I saw a group of maybe 5 guys come closer. 

"Ooh she's sassy," the guy who looked to be the leader teased, "always liked a girl with a little spunk in her as long as she learns to shut up when daddy needs some pleasing." I could've thrown up right then and there if not for the guard I needed to keep up. 

"You're fucking disgusting," I stated unforgivingly, earning some laughs from the group. 

"You really are quite confident aren't ya?" I stayed quiet as he stepped forward, "I can always give you a lesson or two about respect and I mean clothing's optional." 

"How about you shut the fuck up before you really piss me off," I said calmly still showing my anger. 

The man in front of me however got furious over my words and brought his hand down to my cheek. I fell to the ground at the impact, "I told you to learn some fucking respect little girl." 

"And I said to shut the fuck up you creepy bastard," I got my machete out and cut into the guy's leg not giving any warning before punching him in the face, sending him towards the ground, "But you know speaking about respect. How about you learn some fucking respect for me or you know all of my gender?" I more ordered then questioned while striking the guy in the face again. "And next time, asshole, watch your tone when you speak to a woman," I smiled sweetly at him before marching off into the opposite direction. 

"Oh and if I see anyone of you anywhere around here, I'll chop each and every single one of your dicks off."

I arrived back home later that night after hunting another squirrel and a rabbit on top of my earlier findings. 

"So whatcha get for us tonight babydoll?" Mitchell said after seeing me walk up. Mitchell was a 25-year-old now-former English teacher who somehow became our leader. He wasn't extraordinarily brave nor was he an elite strategist but he was a good mentor, who had people that trust him - those people including me. 

"Just some squirrel and a rabbit nothin' special." Mitchell nodded as I started to walk away, "Any trouble?" 

I span around to him before saying, "always." Mitchell gave me an unimpressed look before taking my hunt and walking away. 

"Why am I not surprised?" he laughs while passing most of our group towards the fire. "Anything serious?" I shook my head before sitting on the rough log placed next to the heat. 

"Jus' some jackasses who thought they could take me. Guess I taught them a lesson in respect." Once again Mitchell laughed and sat next to me. 

"I know I don't need to tell you this every time you go out but you've got to be careful, okay? Your safety is my top priority and I know you hate to hear it but you're only a kid. And kids can get hurt pretty easily especially in this sort of life and I'd hate to see that happen to you." Mitchell wrapped his arm around me in a brotherly sort of way as I nodded. I understand he just wanted to help regardless of how much I hate to be called a kid. 

"I'm smart Mitchy. I'm not just some dumb kid. Plus haven't you heard I'm kind of undefeatable. Nothin can kill me," I boasted standing up and heading away from the majority of our group and back to my room. Before I left I saw Mitchell smiling then going off to talk to someone else.

I entered my room lighting a candle straight away and then dropping my bag. As soon as I entered all I could smell was the stenched of sweat and gore. I honestly don't think I've ever gone this long without a shower and I miss it so goddamn much. I miss so many things. I miss deodorant, a warm bed, fast food, soda and not to mention my mom's famous spaghetti bolognese. Just because I wasn't a fan of the woman does not mean I cannot love the food because damn she could cook. The only thing she couldn’t master, however, was pancakes but that didn’t stop her from trying. I smiled slightly reminiscing of the family meals we would have whenever we got the chance. We would all sit around the table talking, eating and just enjoying being around each other. But now they're gone so that's not going to happen anytime soon for me.

"What are you doing, Grimes?" Addie asked pulling me out of my trance.

"Nothin'," I spoke shortly before lying down onto my bed. 

"Don't seem like nothing. Talk to me, love." She walked over and sat next to me taking her hand into mine. 

"M' okay," I reassured her before closing my eyes. I felt Addie shift closer to me still holding my hand causing me to smile. 

Addie was the only other teenager in this group so we bonded pretty quickly despite her being 2 years older, "You don't have to be okay, Jacey." I couldn't help but shudder at her words - the same words I heard from Shane the day it happened. 

"Don't say that, please." I hadn't even realised the quiver in my voice before Addie sat up, bringing me with her. 

"Hey, it's okay, I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you," The brunette girl said to me. 

"It's not you i-it's jus'-" I couldn't finish my sentence before I started to sob. Memories of that night haunted me. I lost so much and so did everyone else but I couldn't understand how they were so okay with it. I lost my home, my dad, my family and my childhood all in one night. And I'm so sick of trying to be okay with that. "I just miss them so much." I finished while getting devoured by Addie's arms. I could hear her softly singing in my ear in order to calm me down and it soon did. I relaxed into her arms after a few minutes but neither of us made any indication that we were going to depart. 

"Who did you lose?" She asked gently. 

"Everyone," I could feel myself beginning to cry again but I pushed it away - I couldn't be weak any longer. 

"I'm sorry, Jacey. I hate seeing you like this. I wish I could take your pain away." 

I hummed shakily before looking up into her brown eyes, "Then do it." With that, she leaned in. Slowly I started to prepare myself to meet her lips but it never came. 

She pulled away from me and stood up, "We can't do this."

I sat up as well but remained seated on the bed, "Why?" She gave me no answer and just looked out of the window. "Addie, please, just tell me why not? For christ sakes, the world has ended. We've got nothing else to lose." 

"It's wrong," She said simply yet with so much emotion and left the room.

I felt the tears begin to return and I just let them fall.

"It's wrong."

That's all it took to break me -  2 words. 

"She's right."