#like straight up it turns into me yelling about cyrus again.

[screechingfromthevoid]

I made myself mad thinking about Dorian and Cyrus again.

Do you think Cyrus knew? Do you think Cyrus knew that Dorian was in love with Orym? Because I don't think so.

I'll back up because there's a reason why this pisses me off.

Dorian and Cyrus were never super close. They'd beat the shit out of each other and then, what? Pretended like it didn't happen? Dorian has no positive things to say about his brother. Not even when he's compelled to help him.

Then Dorian, being the good and loyal brother that he is, helps Cyrus out. (After Cyrus ruins his life) They go on to travel together for months. In close quarters. This is probably the longest they've ever spent together.

And at the end of it Dorian says "I've known him my whole life. He's always been there. Now that he's gone, I can't imagine what he would want me to do."

Which means in all this time. In running for their lives together. They never got closer. They never truly got to know each other. Cyrus spent his entire life not knowing his brother for who he really was.

Part of that is on Dorian for not opening up to his brother. But can you blame him if his brother never made him feel like he could? I've already gone on about how Cyrus doesn't change throughout his time abroad.

So if Cyrus has not changed. He has not learned a lesson. Why in all the realms would Dorian tell his brother about himself? Dorian has been Brontë since the ball episode. Dorian slipped back into that role for the ball and could not come out (AH) until his brother was dead.

Because Cyrus never showed the capacity to accept Dorian for who he was. (Again i don't think it's fully just homophobia.) Dorian has always felt the need to hide who he was from his family. He always made himself small, because it was never about him. It was about Cyrus. The heir. Dorian shrunk himself and compartmentalized and put on an act all his life.

And his brother never noticed. His brother never asked why he felt the need to change his name. His brother never decided that as the older one, he should be the one taking care of Dorian. His brother never did anything to be a fucking leader like he was born to be.

SO it pisses me off that Cyrus didn't know that Dorian loves Orym. Because it pisses me off that they never bonded. They never got close. They never got over the way they grew up. Now he's dead and those things will never happen.

And I blame Cyrus for this because he never made the effort to prove to Dorian that he changed. Or that he cares enough about him to not care. Or made him feel safe enough to confide in him.

They're brothers for fucks sake. They should have more than blood that holds them together. But they don't. Because Dorian has been afraid of being who he is in front of his brother his entire life. And Cyrus was too stupid to fucking notice

[casspurrjoybell-28]

The Alpha's Addiction - Chapter 27b

*Warning Adult Content*

Betrothed - Part 2 - Koa

Morgan and I sit on the porch of the Packhouse, watching Cyrus play with Oliver in the grass.

They've been playing some sort of game of tag that Cyrus keeps letting my son win.

I chuckle as Oliver rolls in the grass, howling before Cyrus picks him up, slinging him playfully over his shoulder.

Oliver squeals in laughter while he kicks his legs and my heart fills with tenderness.

He's so happy with him.

They really could be mistaken for father and son.

"You're falling for him, aren't you?"

I turn to Morgan in shock, my mouth gaping.

"Excuse me?"

He smirks, teeth flashing deviously.

"So you are."

"What makes you so sure?" I retort with a scoff of disbelief, though I feel my face flush.

He pokes me in the shoulder teasingly.

"By the way you're been looking at him, hun."

"And just how am I looking at him?"

"Like you simultaneously want to kiss his face off and ride him."

"Morgan," I gasp, sitting forward in my chair and sending him an alarmed look.

He bursts out laughing.

"Oh, we're adults here. Don't tell me you don't want to get a little naughty with that absolute hunk of a man."

I curl my hands in my lap, realizing I can't exactly deny that accusation.

Not after what I let Cyrus do to me in the woods.

At my silence, Morgan's eyes widen.

"Wait, did you guys fuck?"

My jaw drops for the second time.

I would've never imagined this kind of vernacular coming out of the beta's mouth when I first met him.

"We didn't," I quickly counter.

"It sure seems like you did. Now that I think about it, Cyrus's been staring at you like he's... like he's damn near starving, all day."

I groan in embarrassment, putting my heads into my hands.

"Okay, we did.. stuff. But not all the way. I wasn't ready."

In more ways than one.

Don't get me wrong, it felt crazy good.

Out of this world good.

But aside from the fear of an Alpha penetrating me... I also got a heavy sense of guilt afterward.

I was never taught that Omegas should or even could feel pleasure during sex.

Our only role... wolves in my old pack told me... was to make sure an Alpha was satisfied.

My own comfort didn't matter.

So actually having an orgasm for the first time in my life came with a feeling of wrongness.

Like it was unnatural, even... dirty, that I let loose and begged for pleasure like that.

An alpha was serving me and not the other way around.

He was giving and I was taking.

It's pretty hard to get used to that, when every single sexual experience in my life up until now was painful and forced upon me and never centered around my own enjoyment.

"Go at your own pace," Morgan pats my shoulder.

"Xavier and I certainly haven't jumped straight into it."

I whip my head to look at him.

"Wait... but you've done... things?" my voice goes up in pitch at the end and I feel childish for avoiding saying any sexual words.

Morgan grins, mostly to himself as he twirls a strand of his white gold hair.

"I may have... sucked him off outside the tavern the other night."

I put my hands over my mouth.

"You naughty little..." I start to exclaim but then I hear Oliver's voice calling out for me.

"Mama... Mama..." he yells, and I look up to see him running naked towards me.

Morgan snorts in laughter and I frown in confusion.

My eyes widen in realization, taking in the scraps of his clothes hanging off his shoulders and ankles, a sure sign that what he says is truth.

He scrunches his face in concentration, closing his eyes as he attempts to will his wolf to the surface again but nothing happens.

He tries again, clenching his fists with effort but to no avail.

He lets out a huff, shoulders dropping.

"I swear, Mama. Cyrus saw. He was helping me to do it."

I should be happy. I mean, I am happy.

Oliver's growing up, as he should be.

But the problem is my baby shifted for the first time and I didn't get to see it.

I always thought that would be a special moment we'd share together.

I can't bring myself to look at Cyrus as he walks over.

Why am I being so insecure and petty?

It doesn't matter if someone else helped it happen.

Cyrus is an Alpha, after all, with much more shifting experience than me.

My advice to Oliver never worked.

"Mama, I'm cold," Oliver whines, shivering from being bare.

Cyrus chuckles, pulling off his jacket and draping it over my boy's shoulders.

When we turn in after a hefty session of congratulating my son, Oliver walking ahead with Morgan to the dining hall, I feel Cyrus's rough hand enclose around my own.

"Koa. Are you okay?"

I shrug.

"I'm fine," but I don't meet his gaze.

How is he always able to tell when something is off with me?

"Did you perhaps... see, er, did you see me talking to someone?"

I raise an eyebrow.

"What? No."

"Oh, well... if you did, I'd like you to know that it's strictly out of courtesy..."

"Cyrus, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm going inside."

I brush him off coldly, heading after the other two.

My wolf scolds me with a rough bark.. annoyed that we're turning our mate away like this.

Like we always do.

But what he doesn't realize is that I want to change myself even more than he does.

I want to be different.

[rafor]

Chapter 15 - Guardians - Part 1 - The Glitch

It was not a long wait. A dragon emerged from the entrance, enveloped in what looked like a whirlwind of flames. I wondered how it could withstand the fire that scorched its scales. It did not utter a word and headed straight for the exit. A moment later, another figure followed it. I had assumed it was some kind of assistant or servant, but it turned out to be a soothsayer. It scanned the surroundings and spotted me. I was the only one there, so it was not hard to guess.

“You must be Raphael, aren’t you?” it asked me.

“I suppose I am,” I answered.

“They’re waiting. Please come inside. Quick,” it said, leading me into the chamber.

There I saw five ancient dragons, two younger ones and two griffins, all of different elements and origins. They introduced themselves briefly, and I learned their names and kingdoms of origin. Sol, the fire dragon from the kingdom of the Everlasting Flame. Cyrus, the wind dragon from the kingdom of the Whispering Wind, was now ruled by Queen Freya. Erebus, the shadow dragon from the kingdom of the Hidden Shadows, had been exiled for some mysterious reason. Kryo, the ice dragon from the kingdom of the Frozen Crystal, where the Frozen Crystal was guarded. Taranis, an electric dragon from the kingdom of the Crashing Thunder, could summon lightning with a flick of his wing. Hydra, the water dragon. And Akira, the light dragon, was the only light dragon left in this world.

The griffins were both from Griffin’s Kingdom. One was Fulgor, a storm griffin who shared an element with Taranis. The other was Calida, a fire griffin whose element was weaker than average.

After they presented themselves and all that followed, I went to a library that explained more about the creatures of this world. It was a world of elements, where magic was commonplace and physics did not follow the rules of Earth. Each dragon could usually have one element, but some had none or more than one. Some elements were more common than others. Griffins could also have elements, and some were called phoenixes for their mastery of them. But they were not a separate species, just a rank for those who excelled.

The reason they summoned me there was to confirm my existence. They had heard of the prophecy, but not from Zeno. It was from the soothsayer. They wanted to talk to me and verify my identity. The guardians were skeptical of the prophecy. The soothsayer was adamant about it. One thing that I could never forget was how they tested my powers, which I still did not know how to use.

One of the griffins said, “Could you show us one of your powers?”

I shook my head sadly. “I can’t. I don’t even know if I still have powers. I even lost my wings, and now I’m questioning myself if I ever had them.”

He looked at me doubtfully and turned to Akira. “What do you say?”

She nodded firmly. “I can confirm that he is the one.”

The griffin snorted. “Give us proof, then.”

Akira glared at him and then beckoned me to come closer. “Raphael, could you come here for a moment?”

I glanced at everyone else, but no one objected. So I walked up to her, and she grabbed my arm. Before I could react, she slashed it with one of her sharp claws as if it were butter. I cried out in pain and shock.

“What the hell!? What’s wrong with you?” I yelled at her as blood spurted from my wound.

I backed away from her as fast as I could. She did not move an inch. She just licked her bloody claw and said calmly, “Don’t worry, it will be over soon. At least, I think.”

“What? It’s not…” I stammered as I looked at my arm in horror.

But then something strange happened. The blood on the floor began to evaporate into a white smoke that also covered my wound and hid it from view. The pain did not subside, but I felt something else happening inside my flesh: tendons reconnecting and skin regenerating. It was an awful sensation that lasted for less than a minute.

Then it stopped.

I looked at my arm again and saw no trace of injury or blood. It was as if nothing had happened at all.

The other griffin said sarcastically, “Great, now we believe you. We were hoping that maybe you were wrong. Damnit.”

Kryo spoke up solemnly: “Guess we've got work to do then, eheh.”

I had no idea what they were talking about. All I knew was that weird piece of poetry or prophecy that Zeno had recited, which meant everything and nothing at the same time. We've got work to do for what? The Dark Lord? What I saw was a soothsayer so messed up in her mind that she had to cut my arm to trigger a power that I did not even understand. And if that had not worked, I would probably still be bleeding.

I interrupted them: “Sorry, what are you all talking about? I might need a little update on that. May I know? Please?”

The update never came. Instead, I received a cold and quick reply: “We need to talk among ourselves privately. You should leave this room and wait outside.”

Akira protested, “No, I disagree. He should stay here. I need to talk with him.”

The other dragons sided with the griffin. The griffin suggested: “Then talk with him outside, and come back for updates when we call you.”

She insisted: “I must be here while you make your decisions. I’m the only one who saw this coming and can give you more information about it.”

She fell silent.

Erebus said kindly, “We won’t make any decisions without your approval first. Don’t worry. Now please go outside and ask him what you need, or you could just go to the next room and come back when we call you.”

We both did not say anything. I was afraid of the confusion and fear that was building up among them. I felt a strange sense of guilt, even though I had not done anything voluntarily. She gestured for me to follow her, and even though I was afraid of being alone with someone who had just hurt me and showed me how easily she could cut off one of my limbs, I did not have a choice.

[the-haunted-office]

[ @kamurocho-dreams / ▎▉▚▕▍▒  ????? ]

There's a glitching sound, a little crackle before bam, a form has suddenly spawned in the middle of the office. It's like a molten puddle of lava, the way it slowly spreads- but only moments later, it turns into a humanoid form. Skin forms briefly and soon after, hair, an employee uniform and it's number badge. The figure remains in darkness, blinded for a brief moment befire suddenly opening its newly formed eyes. It looks at its own hands- jolting back for a moment, seeing just how realistic it was. It doesn't feel like itself, but it's present enough to be able to have some form of physical form. The figure has never felt this way before- nor has it ever had its opportunity to resurface

Then, it looks around, finding itself in a familiar office- but in severe disrepair. Crumbling ceilings- even exposed beams and wires... the lights are broken. The human form feels lost, confused... and now severely worried.

No. Not their office. They'd never let it go like this.

"Thursday?" The form speaks, a slight distortion to its voice. Instinctively, it covers its mouth, a brief smile forming at the tips of their lips. They sound like themself again, if only they could stay this way, they'd happily take on their weird, not-human-but-human-enough form.

"Thursday! Cyrus!" They yell, making their way through the decrepit office. With every step, they watch the floor, making sure they don't trip on anything. "Hellooo! It's me!" The voice yells again. They know that their favourite duo were often in their control booth, normally Cyrus was always watching... so why was no one coming for them.

"Thursday! It's me! Elliot! Attorney at Law!"

Neither Narrator hears any of this, as both of them are currently up in their control booth fast asleep. Nearing the end of their lives, sleep is just about all they can do. It often takes someone physically shaking them to get them to wake up at this point.

Since the Narrators are out of commission, Stanley has taken it upon himself to patrol the office, to make sure no troublemakers get in. The last thing he wants is for one of their enemies to get in and take advantage of their moment of weakness and cause them more hurt than they are already going through.

Ghostday seems to be off somewhere else for the time being. Probably setting fire to one of the parts of the office that hasn't been set fire to yet.

That's probably for the best, if Stanley is honest.

He hears someone in the office now, calling out for his Narrators.

Now that's not necessarily abnormal in and of itself. But that paired with the fact that pretty much everyone in the offices knows by now that they are seriously ill and dying, most people would either go up to the control booth themselves (if they are a friend) or they'd be skulking around and Stanley would intercept them (if they are an enemy). So whoever this person is must not be aware of the situation itself, but they know the Narrators.

Interesting.

Stanley moves quickly to investigate, stepping straight through several walls and doors and objects in between to get to the source of the calls faster.

Soon he is stepping out of a wall nearby where Elliot is, and is surprised to see him there.

He almost laughs.

"Elliot," he says kindly and approaches the other man. "Didn't expect to see you again, so this is a nice surprise." He wants to stay and chat, catch up with him and all, but he also knows that Elliot isn't here to see him. "They're up in the control booth. I'll take you there. I know they’d love to see you."

If Elliot will follow him, Stanley will help him get up to the control booth, where both Narrators are still sleeping - Cyrus on his cot; Thursday under her desk.

[letarasstuff]

Minimal Loss - Maximal Stress

(A/N): This was requested by an anon and plays in the intern universe. It’s based on 4x3 “Mininal Loss”. I didn’t follow the exact plot, but the quint essence is there (you’ll see what I mean). I hope you enjoy it.

Summary: An intern goes along on a seemingly undangerous case with Emily and Spencer on a ranch under the lead of Benjamin Cyrus. What could go possibly wrong (well, everything ig)?

Warnings: Mentions of child abuse, guns, vomit, swear words, ususal Criminal Mind stuff

Wordcount: 2.9k

✨Masterlist✨ ________________________________

“Do you guys really think it’s a good idea to bring a child to an interview about child abuse?” Agent Lunde asks skeptically while steering the car towards the ranch, where the allegions originated from.

“(Y/N) is our intern and we thought she has to make some experience in the field and since this is the most peaceful case you can find within the BAU, it’s her opportunity”, Emily defends the team’s decision.

“Also, she is nearly the same age as the girls, so it’s easier for them to open up to her and she is incredibly bright, meaning she can help us deducing a profile”, Spencer adds. The teenager doesn’t acknowledge anything they say, too engrossed in listening to One Direction over her bluetooth earbuds.

Soon the quartet arrives at the Saptarian ranch. “I’m looking for Benjamin Cyrus.” “You found him”, answers the man, who sits in front of a chapel.

“He really is nicely placed. I feel like I looked like this in my math classes. I was like beautiful decoration, but had no use”, (Y/N) whispers to Emily. She in turn has a look of confusion on her face. “You aced math, you graduated with an A+ in it.” “Just because I have good grades doesn’t mean I’m not stupid. I mean, I’m educated, but stoopid.”

A little later she sits across from a blonde girl named Jessica, asking her questions about the 911 call. Her mother continuously steps into that conversation.

“Jessica, can you tell me, if anyone here were ever touched inappropriately?” “Is this really necessary? You are a child yourself, shouldn’t ask one of the other agents the questions?” Slowly the teenager’s patience is wearing down and Spencer can definitely see that from five meters away.

“Ma’am, with all due respect, but I’m perfectly capable of conducting this interview, if you stop interrupting me. I may be young, which doesn’t stand in my way of being an intern for CPS and still knowing my way around, so please step to me colleagues or something and let me do my job.” Hesitantly the mother gives the two girls their space.

As soon as she is out of earshot, Jessica begins to explain. “Nobody is touched in a way they shouldn’t be touched. Or is it wrong for a wife to share a bed with her husband.”

(Y/N) remembers Emily telling her to not judge anything anyone of the girls will say. But damn it, this girl is really hard not to judge.

“Wait wait wait. Let me get this straight: You are simping for that walking quote machine?” Okay, maybe she is judging. But just a little bit.

“If simping means deeply in love then yes, I am simping for Benjamin Cyrus, my husband.” At this point the other three agents get closer again. “Jessica, the state of Colorado demands parental consent. You aren’t married to him unles-'' The black haired woman cuts the young doctor off. “She did give consent.”

(Y/N) can barely contain the unsurprised “surprised” gasp leaving her mouth. But it would have been cut short nonetheless, since sudden gunfire erupted outside the school building.

Fairly quickly everybody is evacuated through the tunnels. As Cyrus tells the cult members to trust in god, the teenager turns to the agents. “This much to it’s safe for me here. Didn’t anybody check for weapons or something?” Flabbergasted because of the whole situation Spencer answers. “Yes, Garcia checked with the authorities and nothing was suspicious.”

Suddenly Lunde takes all the courage she has (maybe because a teenager she brought into this is in immediate danger like all the other kids) and goes up with the cult leader to speak to the shooting law enforcement officers. Shortly after the other three get the message of her death.

But they don’t have any time to think about her, since they all are shoved into the chapel.

While Cyrus holds a speech about trust in god in dangerous and trying times like this the BAU in Quantico learns about the shooting through the tv news report.

“HOTCH”, Morgan yells up to the Unit Chief’s office, probably giving everybody else a heart attack. Alarmed Aaron storms out into the bullpen followed by Rossi, who is attracted by the tumult. “Aren’t Prentiss and Reid on that ranch?” Derek asks, his eyebrows furrowing in worry.

Squinting at the screen, horror etches on the other agent’s face. “(Y/N) is also there”, he says, realizing that they sent a minor with zero field experience into a lava hot situation.

Suddenly the whole bullpen’s phones ring, which results in Hotch barking his first commands.

After a nightflight to Colorado the team sets up at the crime scene.

“Dave, I was appointed to determine the primary negotiator”, Aaron tells him after he pulls him to the side. “It makes sense. I trained most of the people here, if you want me I can give you a few recommendations.” But the Unit Chief shakes his head. “No, I want you to be the negotiator in this.”

Now it’s Rossi’s turn to shake his head. “Aaron, I can’t do it, I’m too emotionally involved.” “So are all of us and why should I take the student if I can have the teacher?” The older one sighs in resignation and accepts the offer. They don’t have the team nor reccourses for any mistakes in this.

As he goes to prepare for his task at hand, Hotch hears a man complaining loudly. “I demand to talk to know why I wasn't told that the FBI was sending undercover agents into the Saptarian ranch?” “The only thing you are in position to demand is a lawyer”, he says while stepping closer to the scene.

“Who the hell are you?” The man spits out into his direction. “I’m Aaron Hotchner, Unit Chief. I’m the guy who is gonna tell the Attorney General of the United States whether to charge you with obstructing a federal investigation or negligent homicide.” “You can’t talk to me like that”.

Upon closing the little bit of space between both of them, Aaron stares him down. “Get off my crime scene.” Just a few seconds of the intense and pissed Hotch Stare are enough to chase that man down to his car and go on his way to Coward Island.

Meanwhile the first contact is made, Emily and Spencer tell (Y/N) in hushed voices what the situation means. “There are three groups here. The leader, in this case Cyrus. The hard die hard believers, the goons of him, and the followers”, Spencer explains.

“In a case like this we go for minimal loss. We try to get as many of the followers out as possible, because the rest won’t give up as long as they can breathe. At first we go with one or two people, children mostly, then with smaller groups and in the end we get out as many of these people we can. Soon, there will be the first supply delivery from our team, but it’s gonna be bugged, which means we know they are listening. Understood?” Emily adds.

Aside from the knowledge that there is a great possibility that they won’t come out alive of this one, (Y/N) is pretty calm. “Honestly, it’s pretty extra here. I mean I can’t even, look at the walls and the whole pseudo decoration. Why would anybody choose this willingly? But yeah, I understand.” Seeing that these phrases are a kind of a coping mechanism, the two agents aren’t too concerned about her right now. I mean, of course they are pretty much on edge because they all are in a hostage situation, but since the teenager doesn’t seem to be on the verge of a breakdown she has to be fine.

“Is there anything you want to know?” The black haired woman asks, stroking the younger one’s hair out of her face. “No, not right now. This is anything but basic, but I’ll hit you up if something shoots into my mind.”

When Rossi comes in to hand make the first delivery, he looks beyond worried. It seems like he got years older in the span of the last 24 hours. As he glances through the rows of people, he subtly acknowledges their presence and well being.

“How do we know this will be nothing like Waco?” (Y/N) asks out of the blue as all the members get a cup of wine. Surprised Emily turns towards her. “You know about Waco?” “Duh? I told you, I’m educated. So, how do we kno-” “And together we drank the poison.” “Oh well, I guess we do now. It’s nearly iconic how bad his acting is.” Now both of the agents look confused at her.

“What? Didn’t I tell you that I was a theater kid? Also, his goons are writing the reactions down, so it’s just a test to know who to separate from the group and who not.” Even in a situation like this a girl in a red and black flannel over a white graphic tee - it is a Doctor Who Tardis - astounds them.

Not long after this, the three of them are shoved into a small room, which looks sort of like an office.

“Which one of you is it?” Cyrus asks. Confused Prentiss, Reid and the intern look at him. When nobody speaks up he pulls out his gun. “One of you is an FBI agent. So who is it?”

In the short silence he points his weapon at (Y/N). “Oof. Dude, what the fu-” “She is a child. The FBI doesn’t recruit children. But she is a good leverage. So, if neither of you reveals their identity, I will blow her brain out.” This is the final point for the teenager to slowly freak out.

“It’s me. I’m the FBI agent”, Emily confesses. Seeing the young girl with panic in her eyes sets something off in her. Roughly she is taken away by two big guys.

“No no no! This can’t be right. Nobody of us is from the feds. It’s not her, you stupid piece of boom-” With a swift motion of his gun Cyrus knocks her out.

“Damn, this is an annoying one. I don’t know how you can even take her seriously.”

(Y/N) wakes up half an hour later in the chapel draped over two stools with her head in Spencer’s lap. He strokes her hair while his mind is running non stop looking for a solution to this situation. A groan tells him that she is awake.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” The young doctor asks in a soft voice. “If good means your head feels like it’s dancing samba without me, then I’m good.”

He smiles. “We are going to get out here, soon. I convinced Cyrus that we are on his side. He also won’t hurt Emily any further. I saw her earlier, he held a speech. She is fine, just a bit roughen up.”

To lie to the girl like that feels wrong to Reid, but he can see signs of a concussion by her behavior and doesn’t want to worry her more than she already is.

Three o’clock rolls closer and closer, which makes both of them more nervous. Because of the lack of communication they don’t know the tactic the team will use to come in. They can only hope that they all come out alive and in one piece.

Since they are in the chapel, their attention is solely on the cult leader. They don’t even notice all the women and children leaving. As (Y/N) and Spencer spot Cyrus with the remote for detonating the explosives, she mumbles “Let’s get this bread”.

When the leader sees Spencer trying to convince one of the die hard believers that he has a choice to change his mind, he punches the young doctor so hard in the gut that even (Y/N), whose vision is slightly blurred, feels the pain he endures.

“Hey Cyrus”, she calls out, “TBH I think all the shit you are doing here didn’t pass my vibe check. Also, the whole system is pretty whack.”

“You are a child, you don’t know anything. If god doesn’t want me to do any of this, he would stop me.” As Cyrus cocks his gun towards Spencer, Derek runs in and shoots him in the chest twice.

(Y/N) crosses her arms over her chest, says “Ok, Boomer” and rolls her eyes.

“Are you ok, princess?” Morgan asks, going over to her and examining the wound on the side of her head. “Never felt better now that there are two Derek Morgans to protect me.” Concerned he goes to say something else, but is cut short by Spencer shouting “RUN!”.

A look behind them shows Jessica short circuiting upon her husband’s death and grabbing the remote.

When the explosion erupts, Emily looks terrified at the remains of the chapel.

“Morgan! Reid! (Y/N)!” She shouts, followed by the other members and their calls after the three. A certain fear captures every single one of them. If only one of them is- No. Nobody can go through this thought. They are going to be fine. They are alive and-

“Thank god”, JJ breathes as she spots three limping figures. They slowly approach the group of four. “EMILY!” The teenager shouts relieved, though a little loud for the proximity between them. “SPENCER WOULDN’T REALLY TELL ME HOW YOU ARE! YOU LOOK TERRIBLE! THANK HARRY STYLES YOU ARE FINE!” Yes, the explosion definitely messed all of their hearings up, since Morgan and Reid also speak with the same volume.

Emily hugs her. “I’m okay. But you need to get checked out.” But the teenager vehemently shakes her head as she hugs Aaron. “I DON’T NEED TO”, when she sees her teammate’s faces, she reduces her loudness. “I am ok. But Spencer, he got a good blow to his guts. I think the Queen in England even felt that vibe check.”

As Derek escorted the young doctor to one of the awaiting ambulances, JJ also gently stirs the girl in the same direction. “Just let a doctor look over your head, it looks like a nasty cut and believe me, you want to get this checked out, Honey.” “But Jayje-” She begins to complain, but gets cut off by bile rising up her throat. In the next moment (Y/N) kneels on the floor, letting out anything she got in her system over the course of the past few days.

“I think this is nothing your body should do, Bambi”, Rossi adds up. Unwillingly the intern goes with the blonde mother to the EMTs. They decide to have a doctor looking over her and getting her x-rays done at the hospital.

A few hours and uncountable complaints from (Y/N) later, the team is back on the jet on their way home. She thanked Emily in a heartfelt moment in the hospital shortly after she got pain killers, which made her loopy, for saving her life by putting her own on the line by exposing her identity. Even Prentiss had tears in her eyes as she saw the young and innocent girl so frayed by the just occured events.

Unusual for Rossi, he takes a seat on the sofa, petting his lap as (Y/N) sits beside him. With pleasure she lays her head onto it, cuddling closer into the fuzzy blanket she got from Morgan.

A few minutes into the flight, Rossi just got into describing the interviews he conducted with Ted Bundy, Aaron motions him to make space. David excuses himself with the reasoning of getting a cup of tea for her.

“I’m sorry”, Hotch says as he runs his hands through his youngest employee’s hair. He is careful to not mess with the bandage she has on the side of her head. Confused (Y/N) looks up to him. “What for?” “For sending you into a situation, where you got seriously hurt.”

This makes the girl sit up, though her world once again begins to spin. “Aaron Hotchner, I hope you don’t mean that. You nor anybody else knew that this was going to happen. You only wanted for me to get as much experience as possible while this internship lasts and I tell you, with that story I’ll go viral on TikTok. Just because I got a medium severe concussion and a wound, which hopefully will leave a badass scar, doesn’t mean you have to apologize. But you can do me one favor.” “Anything.” “When I fall asleep, please make sure I don’t choke on my own vomit. The doctor told me it could happen, that’s why I am not allowed to fall asleep unsupervised. But I haven’t slept in three days and I think I'm beginning to feel uncomfy because of that.”

Smiling softly Hotch nods and lets the teenager take her original place in his lap. Minutes later she is fast asleep. But one thing is certain: As soon as she wakes up and feels any better, she is going to tell everybody who wants to listen about the one time where she got blown up by a fifteen years old girl, who was married to a cult leader. And nobody is gonna believe her tea. Except for Penelope, who greets (Y/N) with a hug and the promise to never let her out of her eyesight.

All works:

@agentshortstacc

Criminal Minds:

@averyhotchner @mggsprettygirl

Spencer Reid:

@calm-and-doctor

[intothewickedwood]

Once Upon A Time In Wonderland Rewatch: 1x13 And They Lived...

Last episode of the rewatch! I’m so not ready to say goodbye to this.  

Why did Jafar’s eyes turn white but not Amara’s, I wonder.

He was gonna straight up kill Amara when she wasn’t looking!

Jafar went through all this so his father could love him all just to kill him straight afterwards. Just wow.

“You've done it my Lord. Your father is dead! No one shall ever question your powers again! Yes! Doesn't this please you my Lord?” Jafar: “Yeah. Yeah, it's great, it's great. I just thought it might make me feel less empty inside.”

They’ve peaced out. That’s what you get for being so dramatic, Jafar!

Can’t Amara heal Cyrus straight away?  

Run, Jabber!  

Uh oh, he’s not afraid of anything.  

Hey! Come on, now! Leave her alone!

I actually feel really sorry for her. She’s just gotta spend the rest of her presumably immortal life alone in the dark. I guess Jafar found out about her betrayal.

Cyrus is okay!  

Alice and Amara bonding is so sweet.

Oh, so she could see and hear when she was the snake staff.

Ana’s okay!

And of course Jafar only brought her back to play his sick games.

Same Will. This makes me sick. He’s got her under a love spell!  

Jafar doesn’t even have feelings for Ana. He just wants to get back at Will. He’s so extra omg.

Alice about Ana: “So we’re just going to give up on her!?” Bless Alice.  

But she’s not willing to risk losing Will forever either. Actual siblings.

Please don’t go to that freaking well! I’m not strong enough!

Go Alice, coming up with another clever plan!

Aww, Amara looks so happy about her son and Alice.  

Nice to know Amara approves of Cylice.

And some mother-son bonding!  

Holy crap! They came from nowhere!

Okay, this is epic!  

Go Alice!

Amara doesn’t mess about. That’s some powerful marrionetakinesis!

Oh no!

Alice went to straight up punch Jafar in the face lol.

Alice is so disturbed by Jafar and Ana making out. Freaking same! I’m so uncomfortable!

It seems Jafar has the power to change the past without physically going back in time. I wonder how that works, exactly.

You can’t make it so she never met Cyrus!

She would still have come to Wonderland, however.

Jafar: “You’ll be back in that awful place… England.” Hahahaha!!

Jafar, why are you like this. You’ve got what you wanted. Leave them alone! He wants to target each of them where it hurts most because he’s a little bitch.  

Get your hands off Alice!

Jafar: “Then perhaps you’re underestimating my power.” Alice: “No. You’re underestimating mine. The love that Cyrus and I have is more powerful than any magic.” I love that! She has such faith that their love will transcend any spell, even one that can change the past. I want to have faith in love like that and I will try to.

He’s seeking affection from Ana to reassure himself that he is loved but Alice is right, as long as he continues on this path, he will never know love.

Alice: “Real love... true love, cannot be destroyed. That is why you, Jafar, will never win.” You tell him, girl!  

Don’t tell him, Ana!  

That is a powerful love spell.

Oh Lord, please, not her! Not the Woman from the Well!!

Scarlet Queen tlk baby!!

Her spell is broken!

Lmao, Will walking right into the barrier. And Ana’s little laugh when he does that is adorabubble.

Crap! Almost didn’t look away in time!!

Why’s she gotta talk like that?  

Amara, please, you do not wanna live with that creepy ass woman forever!

I always thought she walked in. I forgot Jafar killed her, but she turned to water and that went in the well so now her and Nyx are roommates, and every time Amara takes too long in the shower, Nyx emerges from the plug hole and yells at her to “give me back me wataah.” And they’ve just gotta live like that for eternity. Amara screams every time she’s just chilling and that creepy ass monster crawls out of the floor. My worst nightmare.  

I have no idea what’s going on because I refuse to look at Nyx.

Don’t mess with her water Jafar! She’s very possessive about her water. I bet it’s sparkling and mango flavoured or something. There’s gotta be a reason she gets so angry about it getting taken.  

Alice: “You didn’t steal this water from me. You stole it from her.” Holy shiitake mushrooms!

Okay, gonna rewind because I don’t think Nyx was in that scene. God, I really hope she’s not.

Oh cool, Rabbit can use his portals to travel from place to place in Wonderland.

Omg! He freaking kicked Rabbit into the sky! Poor guy!  

Okay not looking again.

Yes! Jafar’s a genie. Good! But damn he was such a great villain.

Uh oh, everything Jafar did has been undone. I wonder why not everything that Amara did was undone. At least Cyrus is okay because nothing she did was.

Oh no, Ana!  

Give Will a freaking break! What a day he’s had.

Cyrus reunited with his brothers.

Will: “In the end she did the right thing, you know.” Alice: “Of course she did, ‘cause she loves you.” Supportive little sis is supportive.

Alice: “She (Nyx) said the Red Queen was meant to move on, but Anastasia, her path was meant to continue.” I like that. It was a symbolic death of the Red Queen but shown with a physical death.

It was nice of the Woman of the Well to give them some of her precious water. She’s still the most terrifying thing I’ve seen in my whole life, though.

She’s alive!

Scarlet Queen finally properly reunited!

Aww, her father actually looks happy for her.

Edwin: “And I want to thank you for proving to me that it was real.” Alice: “Wonderland?” Edwin: “Forgiveness.” And that’s what Wonderland is, a place of growth. Much like the characters in Into the Woods go into the woods and come out different but having learned valuable lessons, that’s what each of the characters from this show has done.  

I’m glad Alice and her father can move forward with their lives now. And I like to believe he becomes a good father to her.

Cylice wedding! Cylice wedding!

Such a pretty wedding and Alice looks beautiful in her dress.

I really like that dress. It’s gorgeous!  

And, of course, Rabbit is marrying them.

Aww, Alice’s little sister looks so happy. I hope they became close.

Will standing up to jokingly protest lmao!

For a second I thought I heard Jafar’s voice and nearly freaked out! Imagine Jafar just walking in, like, “Sorry I’m late.”

I’m going to die!! My babies are married!!

Anna’s so happy for them too!

Rabbit: “Many people have come and gone from Wonderland but only the most special ones discover what it’s truly about.” Alice: “Finding love.” Rabbit: “Finding yourself.” Gosh, I feel like I’ve been on such a journey with them.

Alice and Ana hugging. They’ve come so far!

Alice and Will looking back at each other and Alice running over to him to say goodbye again is my favourite thing ever. I have tears in my eyes! Their friendship is so beautiful!!  

There is so much unsaid in that hug. They’ve been through so much together.

Alice: “I just want to thank you so much for everything. Hold on to your heart this time, alright?” Will: “You hold onto yours.” This literally gives me chills. They care so much for each other. I adore Cylice and Scarlet Queen but my favourite relationship in this show will always be Alice and Will’s. Big bro and little sis forever.

I wonder how Will and Ana became the White King and Queen. Did they overthrow the original or was there never anyone in that position? I’m glad they restored Wonderland together.

Alice and Cyrus’ kid plays young Cruella as well.

Alice wrote Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland! Well, her own version. Awesome!

Look at their little family. Adorable!

Rabbit, please do not kidnap that child by leading her to Wonderland. She’s happy with her parents! Ah well, her Uncle Will and Auntie Ana will look after her.

I have loved this Wonderland adventure, as always. It is such an amazing and unique experience and I highly recommend watching if you haven’t already.  

And that’s it! I can’t believe it! I started this rewatch, beginning with the main show on April 6th 2019 and have written and posted my thoughts almost every weekend since. It’s been a wild ride and has been such a big and enjoyable part of my Saturday for over 3 years now. I’m gonna struggle to say goodbye to it. It’s felt like having someone really familiar to talk to and to express myself to. Thank you to everyone who’s interacted in any way with these rewatch posts over the years. I’ve loved seeing your input! I can’t believe it’s come to an end. I’m gonna really miss it but I’m glad I saw it all the way through. Ouat and Ouatiw will forever be amongst my favourite shows.

Next week or the week after, I’ll probably list my top 5 episodes of each season and Wonderland and then I’ll make a post linking all episode reactions.

Goodbye Ouat Rewatch. It’s been totally awesome.

[amor-immortalem]

The Lord of Fools and the Stubborn Commoner ch.6

Previous

A/N: in this chapter Mammon gets to experience the consequences of his actions

Taglist: @flare-love @ithinkimdekubutreallyimdenki @ice-icebaby

At her request, he immediately jumps off her. He didn’t realize- he only wanted to see more of her flustered reaction to him just simply leaning over her. Mammon didn’t think it would turn into this. He’s not that kind of guy.

But the look on Arella’s face- the fear in her eyes- says she thinks otherwise and now she taking off, running away again, but unlike last time he’s not letting her.

“Arella, wait! I-!”

“Stay away from me!” She shouts as she runs from him but Mammon is able to catch her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her much smaller frame flush against his body.

She screams as she struggles against him, clawing at his arm to get him to let go and Mammon covers her mouth with only panics her more.

“Arella, calm down.” His voice is quiet as they sink to the floor. “It was just a stupid joke. I wasn’t seriously gonna do anything to ya. I was just teasin’. I ain’t that kinda man. You’re safe.”

It takes her a minute to process what he said and when he thinks she’s calmed down enough, he lets her go. Moving to kneel in front of her, he’s not prepared for her fist connecting with his jaw in the way that it does.

“You asshole,” she seethes, “don’t you ever do that to me again!” Arella marches off, still absolutely fuming as she makes her way down the stairs while Mammon’s still on the floor, reeling from the blow he’d just received.

“Fuck… Guess what they say about short people is true… that one especially musta crawled straight out from hell, god damn. More importantly… why did I like that?”

*************

Arella’s in the kitchen rubbing her temples, trying desperately to appease the headache she got from getting so worked up about Mammon’s stupid little joke.

“My Lady, would you like me to draw you a bath?” A servant asks timidly, sensing her irritation.

“That would be lovely, thank you.” The black-haired woman sighs. “Afterwards would you mind making me some tea? I need something to calm me down from my… husband’s,” she says the word through gritted teeth, “ridiculous antics.”

“Of course, My Lady. It would be no trouble at all.”

“And if I may request one more thing from you, tell Mammon I’ll be sleeping in one of the guest rooms for the duration of our honeymoon.”

“Of course,”

*************

And that’s how the pair spent the rest of their honeymoon. Avoiding each other- well more like Arella was avoiding Mammon after that stunt he pulled. Now as they made their way back to the castle, Arella won’t even look Mammon’s way, ignoring him every time he sought her attention so they could talk.

They made it back to the Castle by late nightfall and Mammon has had enough of the silent treatment. As they make their way off the carriage, the white-haired man loops his arm around his wife’s waist and drags her away to their bedroom.

Arella struggled but didn’t yell as it was late and now that they were home, she didn’t want to wake Cyrus. Mammon let her go once they were in their room and he had the door shut. He leaned against it, crossing his arms as he waited for her to unload on him with another punch or more yelling. When she doesn’t speak, he takes the initiative.

“Look I’m sorry, Arella. I didn’t realize that you had been raped in the past. If I knew, i’da never played that stupid joke on ya.”

“You shouldn’t have done it regardless.” She glares at him. “It was tasteless and you scared the life out of me. I’ve already told you this, Mammon, you don’t get to do with me as you please. You don’t know half of the things I’ve had to do just to survive after my mother forced me fend for myself. You don’t know how many times a man whose felt entitled to my body has forced himself on me. And when you…” she takes a moment to breathe, “when you were leaning over me- essentially pinning me to that bed- I thought it was going to happen again…”

“I wasn’t,” his voice is soft as he approached her, “I ain’t the type of man who forces himself on women- ‘specially not his wife. If we ever get to that point in our relationship, it won’t be until ya gimme your consent ta do so.”

“I’m not so sure I can believe you,”

“Just place a little trust in me, ‘kay?”

“I can’t. Mammon you’re so much bigger and stronger than me that it wouldn’t take much for you to hold me down and down whatever you wanted with me. I feel like I can’t afford to let my guard down around you anymore.”

“What can I do to prove to ya I’m not gonna hurt ya, then?” He asks.

“I… I don’t know… all I know right now is that I’m scared and tired and I want to go to bed but I don’t want to sleep here with you either.”

“We have enough pillows in here that we could probably make a decent barrier to keep us apart until you feel safer. I know ya just said you don’t feel like ya can trust me right now, but at least sleep in here. We need ta keep up appearances’n that’s not gonna happen if we’re sleepin’ in different rooms. I promise I won’t touch ya unless I need ta wake ya up for somethin’.”

Arella gives him and uncertain look. He does look to be genuine with his words- actually remorseful for what he did- and he was right in a way. They couldn’t pretend like this if they were sleeping in separate rooms… Arella curses herself for being so nice- she really wants this to work out.

“Fine…. You get one more chance but that’s it. I’m going to get changed, just get those pillows in place.” Arella gathers up her nightgown and heads off to

“You got it.” Is all she hears as she trots off into the attached bathroom.

*************

Next

[dysfuctional-family]

The IRR Pt. 2

{After a raid on the Interdimentional Rainbow Rocket home base the villains and everyone who works for them has been captured by strange people in armor and masks. so far, no one has been seriously injured, but all of this could quickly change. Click below the cut to read.}

!!TW for mentions of religious themes!!

Giovanni was led down to the "Main Land", the largest room in the IRR, located on the ground level. Many people had been led to this area both staff and soldiers, and to think all of this ended just as quickly as it started. Makes you question how long these masked assailants had been in the base. As he walked he heard the ever so recognizable yelling of their resident angry Unovan. The Italian honestly couldn't even tell what he was saying right now. All he knew is that death threats were involved.

It didn't take long for each team leader to be picked out of the crowd and brought outside. There were dozens of ships stationed outside... they stood no chance.

"Разделите их. по одному на каждом корабле." On of the masked people ordered, the leader from the looks of things. Each leader was taken to an individual ship, separating them so they couldn't form ant plan of escape. With the leaders of th IRR captured half of the fleet took off while th rest stayed behind to discourage any resistance.

Giovanni was silent throughout the ride, only eyeing the people around him and the ship he was being transported in. It all looked very futuristic, even for his standards. Far beyond anything they could ever hope to create. The ship was sleek and clean, its dark grey metal shimmering in the light blue lights. Then he began to think. The leader spoke Russian, as far as he was aware the only region that had Russian as a language commonly spoken was Sinnoh. Thats when he began to worry, if this was some alternate version of Sinnoh, if it was a Sinnoh where Cyrus won and was now ruling... what was going to happen to him and his team.

Giovanni wasn't given any more thinking time because they had arrived to wherever their destination was. He finally decided to say something, looking to the person in armor next to him.

"Just what do you hope to accomplish by bringing me and my co-workers here?" He asked firmly. He was only given a glance of acknowledgment I return. They then began walking again. They seemed to be in a large city. Large towers of white stone stood taller than anything he'd ever seen, roads weaving between buildings in layers. All of the main hustle and bustle was farther away as they were in a more remote are. That or the area had been locked down for their arrival. He and the others were taken into this large domed building, religious imagery carved into the walls. Symbols such as Arceus' spikes, the creation trio, Arceus itself, holy scripture, prayers, etc. It was all very impressive really...

The interior was just as extravagant, stained glass showing the story of Arceus hatching and creating the gods, the birth of the universe, the banishing of Giritina, all pretty standard for a church of this size... but everything seemed to shift halfway through. A human figure, who he could only assume was Cyrus, appears to the world shrouded in darkness and captures the gods. He takes them and forces them to do his bidding, but instead of destroying the world and creating anew the gods' power seems to instead rush into Cyrus. Overwhelmed with power he lashed out, destroying everything around him and tearing holes into reality itself. In the aftermath there was only destruction and this orb of godly energy. At least, that's what Giovanni could gleam from his experience reading stain glass pictures in church.

Suddenly all of the leaders were stopped in front of an old man. a very old man. He turned to look at the group, distain in his sunken in eyes. He was adorned with a robe and beads of various colors, modified priest attire from the looks of it. He supported his weight on a cane as he slowly walked up to Giovanni, seemingly knowing who he was.

"Hmm, Giovanni. Of all the people to do something like this, you were the last I expected." The man then eyed the rest of the leaders, eyes widening as his eyes fell on Cyrus. He stood up a little more straight as he looked back to the confused mafia boss.

"I am Saturn. Former admin of Team Galactic now priest of the people." He explained, much to the surprise of everyone but Cyrus.

"So, you've brought us here for what? Spill so we can get out of here." Cyrus practically demanded in a tired manner. Saturn looked to Cyrus, his face growing agitated.

"Hm. Very well. Giovanni Sakaki, why have my people been going missing and monsters attacking the innocent who are just trying to survive?' Saturn asked as his tone slowly became more aggressive. It took a second for the question to register but as soon as it did Giovanni responded.

"If that's why you brought us here I believe we have a common enemy. We've had an encounter with the man you're looking for and my own people are beginning to disappear." He explained smoothly. Those words surprised Saturn. He stepped back for a moment to think, humming as he did. The leaders looked amongst themselves, questioning practically everything that was happening at the moment.

"If this is true, then we have are all in grave danger. These creatures have been attacking our people for months, far longer than you've been around. Perhaps we could help each other to defeat a common foe." Saturn explained, making Maxie recoil in seemingly fear.

"Wait. He's been here for months?" He fearfully questioned. "In my home universe, months was all it took for him to tear down an entire country..." That news shocked everyone. There was a moment of silence after that news, the dread and horror of just how much danger everyone was in finally sinking in.

Saturn looked to the soldiers who had brought the evil team leaders before him. He waved his hand, dismissing them. He paced for a moment, pondering. Just what did this man want of them? The redhead seemed to know who this man was. He'd have to get some information from him after this meeting is concluded.

"If what you say is true, we are all in far more danger than we thought. This man must be stopped, his sins against nature cannot be forgiven."

"Then we are agreed. Working together could give us both some better protection and understanding of the current situation." Giovanni added.

"indeed. Apologies for our initial impression, but I'm sure you understand the circumstances are dire. Giovanni, Maxie, I'd like to speak with to further about this. everyone else if free to leave and return to your ship."

[goldentournesol]

The Receptionist and The Profiler (Three)

Chapter Three: Minimal Loss

(Spencer Reid x f!Reader)

Series Masterlist

General Masterlist

A/N: as a heads up, a large part of this chapter is a flashback, separated by ~~~. angst of minimal loss, buckle up y’all it’s getting serious!

Some cases don’t require the whole team to go investigate. Sometimes a few members go out to consult on something and come right back. Apparently, a 911 call had been received from a 15 year old girl saying that a man was sexually assaulting her and other girls her age. The call came from inside a cult’s base and now Spencer and Emily were sent to the ranch to investigate the leader, Benjamin Cyrus. Y/N selfishly wanted to tell Hotch to send someone else in place of him, but she knew Spencer was the least intimidating of the bunch and so it made sense for him to go undercover as a child victim interview expert alongside Emily.

Y/N watched as JJ zoomed straight past her desk and stood behind Derek’s desk, “Morgan.” she said, flicking the volume button of the TV across the room, panic fighting its way through her voice.

Morgan and Y/N’s attention went straight to the news reporter on the TV, “--what is reportedly being called a routine questions and answers meeting by Colorado child services has turned into a violent and deadly standoff between Colorado authorities and a French religious group known as Separtatian sect. The raid--”

“JJ, that’s not the ranch Prentiss and Reid--” Morgan said, standing from his desk.

“They’re still inside.” JJ informed.

“HOTCH!” Morgan yelled across from the bullpen, sending panic and goosebumps to every nerve ending in Y/N’s body. All she could think was, not again, please, God, not again.

Suddenly, all the phones of the bullpen began ringing. Y/N was absolutely frozen in her seat, not even aware of the phone on her desk ringing its wire off. It was like the air was heavy and she couldn’t breathe. She was vaguely aware of JJ’s outline as she approached her and placed her hands on her shoulders.

“Y/N. Y/N!” JJ called out as if she’d been calling her name for hours already, for all she knew, she had. Y/N unexpectedly felt a salty bead of water enter her mouth through her lips, she was crying.

“JJ...not again, JJ.” She practically whimpered, shaking her head in disbelief. The blonde’s heart wrenched in her chest as she thought back to the events of Georgia.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. We’re on our way to him right now. We’re going to do our best to get them out. I need you to stay strong for me now, alright? The phone’s going to be ringing a lot, we need you here.” JJ attempted to comfort her and Y/N was quick to compose herself, nodding.

“Yes, yes, I know. I’ve got it.” She sniffled, rubbing her cheeks. JJ pulled her into a quick tight hug, well, as tight as she could with her growing belly between them. Y/N squeezed her tight, “You get him back to me safely, JJ.” She whispered and the blonde nodded before taking off with the rest of the team.

“Is she okay?” Morgan muttered to JJ as they speed walked out of the building, secretly wondering if that’s how friends should react to hostage situations.

“I’m not sure.” JJ answered honestly and the two shared a pointed look. 

It was no secret that there was something going on between Y/N and Reid, they knew they held intense feelings for each other, however the team decided to stay out of it...for the most part. Derek, on the other hand, was very good at not missing opportunities to mess with Reid and tease the hell out of him.

It took Spencer a while to get back on his feet, especially after Gideon had departed, but Y/N helped him every step of the way. She drove him to NA meetings whenever she could. She helped him take his mind of things when he was having cravings. She finally, finally agreed to learn how to play chess, even though she was positive she was destined to lose. She’ll never forget how excited he got when she’d offered.

~~~

“Wait--what?” Spencer stopped mid-sip from his morning coffee. The team hadn’t filed in yet, but he was hanging around her desk like he usually did when she told him.

“Yup, you heard me. I’ll let you finally teach me how to play.” Her eyes twinkled with playfulness and he could have sworn his heart swelled twice its size. He was aware that he was gaping at her, but for some reason he couldn’t stop. The thought of sitting across from her so closely and for so long as he tried to teach her the moves was enough to make him forget his words.

“Hello? Earth to Spencer?” She laughed, waving a hand in front of his face. He snapped out of it, blushing.

“Yes! Yes, I’ll teach you! We’re going to have so much fun!” He exclaimed, his face practically splitting in half from his grin. She was about to make a comment about how it wouldn’t be so fun to lose to him (the whole point of not wanting to learn it in the first place), but she decided the genuine excitement on his face was worth more than winning ever would be. 

~~~

She also remembered him practically fangirling to her over David Rossi’s books. He was so excited when the other founder of the BAU joined the team in place of Gideon. Of course, Spencer had read all his books and was more than ready to recite them to her if she wanted him to but she preferred to keep the crime and the gore at a minimum, preferring to hear about Victorian love stories and obscure children’s stories that are told in African villages she’d never heard of before. Rossi was a fairly nice man, much warmer than Gideon but was still somewhat cagey upon joining the team. She didn’t really blame him, he’d left the job only to come back to it years later and find a bunch of younger hotshot agents in the unit he created. At least Rossi took the time to learn her name and smile at her in the mornings. 

Sometimes he’d sit and watch the two interact from his office. He’d assumed they were together when he’d first joined the team, almost a year ago now. Seeing how they leaned into each other when they spoke and maintained such intense eye contact, it just made sense to him. That and the fact that he’d noticed the way Reid was so much more comfortable around her than he was with his team mates. He’d note the not-so-subtle lingering hand touches on arms and the way they chose not to move their knees away from each other if they bumped. But, most of all, what he thought was a dead giveaway, was the way they smiled at each other; they smiled with their whole faces. Spencer’s mood seemed to brighten around her and even though he hadn’t known the young genius for long, he knew that that was a good sign. If he hadn’t seen Y/N and Anderson getting in the same car together, he’d never have guessed that they were together, much less engaged. You don’t need to be a profiler to know what the longing glances across the bullpen meant, though. Or the sad eyes she gave him every time he left for a case. Or the hug she gave that was obviously tighter than anyone else’s when they came back.

Hopefully, he’ll come back this time.

Y/N was practically a mess at her desk after they all left. She was glad that Anderson was currently not around, then she remembered she should be wanting his presence. That is...assuming he brought her comfort. He didn’t. She took calls to try and distract herself from her panic but she found herself freaking out in between them. Her eyes traveled to the far corner of her desk where the book she was currently reading sat. She smiled as she saw the tassel fall from in between the pages of the book. The book felt heavy as she opened it, she slipped the bookmark from in between the pages, and pushed the book aside. The raised letters of her favorite poem felt familiar as her fingertips touched them. She touched the words as if they could seep into her bloodstream and finally calm her. She remembered the day he gave her the bookmark.

~~~

After years and years of participating in the office Secret Santa, Spencer finally got Y/N. He was overjoyed, in fact, he couldn’t wait to give her her gift. He had it meticulously planned out. He was ready. He poured out his heart and soul in a letter first (this took the longest). Turns out, confessing your undying love for someone wasn’t as easy as it looked on screen. With all the letters he’d written in his lifetime, he was positive this one would be no different. But, man, he couldn’t have been more wrong.

 Then, he made the bookmark. Store bought would never impress her. He struggled with finding the right kind of paper and the right kind of string for the tassel, but thankfully Garcia had his back. She even helped him laminate it so it could last, for years and years. The way he wanted to last with her. He printed the words of her favorite poem. One that he’d never forget, and not even because of his eidetic memory. He chose a shiny gold string to represent the strings of fate. He had told her once the ancient Greek myth of the Moirai, the three women responsible for fate. Although he’d gone in way too great of detail, she hung onto every word. He knew she’d remember the story whenever she saw the gold string. He hoped she might pick up on what he was trying to say.

That fate would always bring them together. 

That he knew that she was it for him, but if he wasn’t it for her, that’d be okay, too.

She’d also complained all too often about the nasty coffee at work, claiming that she wished she never tasted the “vile bean juice”. It was enough to shift her off of coffee completely, unless it was from the coffee shop on the corner of Spencer’s street (he took her there a lot and he liked to bring her her favorite drink in the mornings when he wasn’t rushing in). But she’d recently gotten into teas, and was annoyed at her teapot at home because she said it just tasted weird. So of course, he researched the best kind of teapot possible and hunted every single kitchenware store in DC down until he found it. She’s gonna love it.

To top it all off, he decided to get her a necklace. While looking for the teapot, a small silver necklace caught his eye in one of the shops. A small birthstone hung by two chains, he recognized it as her own, and it was perfect. 

He placed the gifts and the letter inside the teapot carefully and placed two pieces of tape to ensure the top doesn’t come off in the box before making his way to Garcia’s apartment. It was really no surprise she decided to host the Christmas party, considering her love of all things Christmas. He was buzzing with nervous energy as he set the gift box under the tree. He was the first to arrive, which meant he had to endure Garcia’s endless questions about the finished gift. She pried it all out of him, even the letter. Garcia was practically jumping up and down as he told her about the contents of the letter. He didn’t know he and Y/N were such a hot topic around the office. A few minutes later, the team flowed in, one by one. Y/N and Anderson were the last to arrive.

But something felt different as they entered the apartment. Her smile was brighter than usual and she seemed extra comfortable around her fiance. He thought maybe he was reading into it too much, but then even Emily noticed.

“Woah, Y/N! You look literally radiant, what’s going on?” She asked as the couple struggled to find places to sit. Anderson found a seat on the couch and offered her his lap. Spencer watched as she blushed and pursed her lips shyly, leaning into her fiancé as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Spencer practically had a nervous ugly green creature growing inside of him. He’s decided to name him Carl. Might as well name him, you know, since he seemed to be around a lot lately. He shifted in his seat a little, which made Morgan glance over at him.

“Well, we were going to wait until later to tell everyone, but I guess that’s the downside to being friends with profilers.” She laughed and shared a look with Anderson, whose hand was grasped tightly in hers. 

Spencer noticed her change in vocabulary, she said ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. He grew more and more nervous as the pause lengthened. He had to physically put his hands on his knees to keep them from bouncing.

“We finally set the date! Next August!” She exclaimed and Spencer’s heart absolutely combusted in the same exact moment. 

He immediately drowned out the cheers of congratulations and kisses on cheeks. The sinking feeling in his chest seemed to strive for more. More destruction. 

He was vaguely aware of Morgan grabbing his shoulder and giving him a pointed look, reminding him of his silence. Morgan felt bad for the kid, but didn’t want to embarrass Y/N. Spencer snapped out of his trance and swallowed heavily.

“Congratulations, guys.” He mustered a smile and she beamed at him.

“Thanks, Spence!” He barely registered it.

It was finally happening. 

The wedding. 

And he’d have to go.

And see her.

And smile at her like his heart hadn’t been ripped from his chest and placed at the altar for everyone to see as it beat for absolutely no reason.

Seriously, what was the point of his heart beating if it wasn’t beating for her?

Except, he knew it’ll always beat for her, even if she didn’t want it.

He’d have to watch her marry another man.

Watch as she walked away from him rather than toward him.

Everyone pretended not to look at Spencer but he could feel the glances anyway.

Oh no.

The letter.

The letter that was in the teapot under the tree! 

Spencer didn’t know his heart was capable of beating as fast as it was. He sent a panicked look to Penelope, hoping she’d get the message, but she was too busy coming up with wedding ideas. Spencer could feel panic oozing out of the pores of his skin. Morgan took him aside and into the kitchen.

“Kid, you alright?” Morgan asked, watching as his younger teammate squirmed in the kitchen.

“This is bad, Morgan. This is bad.” Spencer paced around the kitchen, hands in his hair.

“I know, kid, I know. But you need to calm down.” Morgan tried to reason with him.

“No, Morgan! You don’t understand!” Spencer whisper-yelled as he gripped his shoulders and Morgan saw his wild eyes, “You don’t understand! The letter!”

Morgan steadied Spencer, “Reid, breathe. What letter?”

“I’m her secret Santa. I wrote her a letter, Morgan. I wrote her a letter, a letter which contains very sensitive information that she cannot read right now--o-or ever!” Spencer’s hands flew to his hair again and Morgan had to think quickly.

“Okay, okay. I’ll help you, we need to think of a way to get the letter out of the box.”

“Morgan, it’s inside the teapot-- which is taped shut by the way-- inside the box, under the tree!” He flailed around nervously.

“Damn, man. Okay, just follow my lead. When she opens her gift, I’ll distract her and Anderson and you have to get that letter out.”

Spencer nodded and when they joined the rest of them outside, people were already opening their gifts, one by one. Spencer waited anxiously as she began to unwrap her gift.

“Oooh, I’m excited!” She said, carefully unwrapping the wrapping paper and opening the box, still seated on Anderson’s lap. She gasped, “It’s a teapot!” 

Spencer grimaced as he watched Morgan fake a trip and spill his drink all over Anderson’s shirt, getting some on Y/N’s back.

“Shit, man! I’m so sorry!” Morgan glanced at Spencer and Spencer jumped into action as the couple were distracted by the spilled drink. He quickly unstuck the tape on the teapot and lifted the lid enough to squeeze his hand through to remove the letter. He stashed it away in the pocket of his cardigan. In fact, he planned on burning it when he got home. He successfully restored the gift to how it was before they returned from the bathroom.

“No one says a word.” Reid warned the rest of the group, who were watching the whole debacle like it was a spectacle. They all undoubtedly figured out what was written in that letter, therefore they understood and nodded.

“Not a peep.” Garcia said, locking her lips with an imaginary key.

“Anyway! Now that that’s all sorted out. Back to the teapot.” Y/N came back to her gift and her seating arrangement.

“Um, you should...you should look inside. There’s um, bonus gifts.” Spencer was absolutely beet-red in the face. 

But Y/N knew the gift was from Spencer the second she saw the wrapping paper, which was full of adorable snowmen dressed in Christmas clothing. She grinned, remembering the argument between them which started by her telling him how cute she thought snowmen wearing clothes was and him getting frustrated trying to explain to her how snowmen wouldn’t need protection from the cold. She opened up the teapot and pulled out the bookmark. Spencer watched her eyes soften as they roamed over the words of her favorite poem. She toyed with the gold string of the bookmark as she reached into the pot again and pulled out the small pouch that contained the necklace. She pulled it out and gasped.

“Oh, Spencer, it’s all so perfect. Thank you.” She moved the gifts aside and wrapped him in a hug. Spencer stopped listening to the persistent ache in his chest as he hugged her back. He let all his senses be consumed by her, just temporarily. He found peace in that moment and he tried his hardest to hold onto that peace as he watched her fiancé clip the necklace onto her neck. 

Oh, what he’d give to be in Anderson’s place.

~~~

She smiled at the memory the bookmark brought. She found her fingers weaving themselves through the gold strings gingerly. That seemed to calm her nerves enough for now. Garcia had convinced her to go home finally after promising to call her and let her know if anything changed.

2 days.

It was 2 days before she heard any news. She had been cooped up with Garcia in her batcave for emotional support. Also she wanted to know about any advancements as soon as possible. Garcia and Y/N were currently watching a live feed from some news channel.

“Damn, how did he know there were FBI agents in there? Word travels--” Garcia began but the explosion on screen cut her off. Y/N stood up from her seat abruptly.

“What was that?! Garcia, was that the ranch?!” Y/N all but screamed with panic, “Penelope! Answer me!” Garcia’s stunned face was paired with teary eyes as she turned to look at Y/N. Garcia frantically called Hotch and Rossi, but no one answered.

“No, no, no. NO! This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening, Penelope. Are we sure Spencer and Emily were still inside?” Y/N’s voice wavered as she held her hands to her chest in disbelief. Garcia shrugged honestly and wordlessly.

“NO!” She began sobbing uncontrollably, falling to her knees, mumbling nearly incoherently, “I never got to tell him...I never got to tell him.” 

Garcia fell to the floor, holding the sobbing woman as best as she could without falling apart herself. Y/N gripped her tight as she felt the walls closing in on her. Her chest felt tight and she suddenly felt as if the air was ripped from her lungs. She could hear strangled sobs, but wasn’t even registering that they were her own.

It was too late.

She’d never see his smiling hazel eyes again. She’d never hear his hearty laugh once more. She never told him. She never told him how deeply her love for him ran. What was she waiting for? She’d waited too long. How utterly stupid of her. And now there’s no chance. He’s gone...he’s pulverized into bits and pieces--

The phone rang and Garcia leapt to it ungracefully, “Sir?! Reid and Prentiss--”

“They’re okay, Garcia. They made it out in time. With Morgan.” Hotch said sternly.

“Morgan was in there?!” Garcia screamed into the phone.

“Yeah, but I’m alright, babygirl, don’t you worry ‘bout me.” Morgan’s silky voice was heard from farther away. Garcia was about to reply when Y/N snatched the phone from her.

“Spencer?! Spence, are you there? Are you okay?!” She half-sobbed into the phone, not wanting her voice to give her away completely.

“Yes, yeah, I’m here. I’m alive.” Spencer choked out, relief flooding her system as she heard his voice. He was very much still alive and breathing, albeit with difficulty. Y/N didn’t register the rest of the conversation between Hotch and Garcia. She lay back in her seat and buried her face in her hands, trying to control her breathing. Garcia hung up and rested a kind hand onto her shoulder.

“Whew, that was a close one.” She said with a small smile. Y/N took her hands off her face and met with her warm eyes, “You know you’ll have to tell him eventually.” Y/N froze in her place again. She suddenly avoided her friend’s gaze. She was really hoping she hadn’t caught onto that. “It’s okay, pumpkin, we can all see it.”

She was right, oh my God, she was right.

“No, I don’t--I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re wrong, whatever you think you know, you’re wrong.” Y/N felt bad saying those words but there was nothing else she could do to protect herself. Garcia stayed silent, but gave her a look that shook Y/N at her very core.

Later, on the jet, Morgan took a seat next to Reid and stared at him intently before speaking.

“So, a little birdie tells me your girl was pretty heartbroken…” He trailed off, but not without an obvious wiggle of his dark brows.

“Morgan, for the last time, she is not ‘my girl’, she is engaged. She is very much someone else’s girl.” Reid rolled his eyes, attention going back to his book, although he tried to ignore the way his heart fluttered at the thought. He didn’t know if his heart was fluttering because of what Morgan called her, or because she was so torn up about the thought of him dying. He knew he shouldn’t ever feel good about someone else’s pain, but what did her pain mean?

“So what? Engaged ain’t married, pretty boy.” Morgan shrugged, saying it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Spencer shook his head at his friend.

Back in the bullpen, Y/N waited for their arrival ever so anxiously by the glass doors across from the elevator. She was rolling onto the balls of her feet and bouncing with anticipation. It didn’t even matter that it was half past 3 in the morning. She had to see him. 

The ding of the elevator was the most comforting noise she’d heard in about a week. There he was, way in the back of the elevator, lifting his gaze from the floor to meet with hers. They both broke into the largest grins they’ve ever seen. She practically pushed Morgan out of her speedy way as he stepped off the elevator and slammed into Spencer with enough force to knock the air out of the both of their chests. Spencer caught her gladly and spun her around, laughing.

“I thought I lost you.” Y/N whispered into the embrace.

“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.” Spencer replied softly into her hair.

The team all watched the reunion, adoration clear on their faces.

Emily was caught mumbling, “Damn, I wish I had someone to greet me like that after almost dying.” This, of course, resulted in a full blown bear hug from Garcia.

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[hongism]

mists of celeste ➻ sixteen

➻ pairing: ot8 x fem!reader ➻ genre: space au, pirate au, space pirate!ateez, angst, eventual smut ➻ Word Count: 10.7k ➻ Rating: M ➻ Warnings: language, violence, guns and weaponry, blood, knives, mild torture scene  ➻ summary: Sneaking aboard the ship of a renowned space pirate may not have been the best idea, but you’ll have to make do with what fate has handed to you

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mists of celeste act two ➻ part six

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Darkness swirls across your vision even as your eyelids flutter open. The air around you feels chilly and almost brittle, a sharp tension that you almost inhale as you breathe. You lift your head, noticing a dull ache in your muscles, and try to move your hands. You can’t, however. In fact, you can’t even move your arms. What feels like needles blossoms across your arms and wrists. You twist and writhe in attempts to figure out what the hell is going on, but panic is beginning to settle in and you still can see nothing thanks to whatever is over your eyes. Your legs are in a similar predicament; stuck in place with pain blossoming around your ankles when you try to yank them forward.

Something catches you by the hair and tugs back, and you nearly cry out from the sheer surprise but you can’t. You finally notice the bindings around your mouth as well, shoved between your teeth and pressing against your tongue every time you move it. You can see now, however, a blessing for sure. That is until you realize where you are and what is going on.

Your vision adjusts slowly, the minimal light in the room filtering in slowly, and you can make out a few silhouettes surroundings you. One stands directly in front of you, and you can’t make out who the hell it is until the person takes a step forward. Light from above casts crude shadows across her features, making her seem ten times harsher than the first time you saw her. Taskmaster Cara. You thrash against your bonds in attempts to get lose but it’s pointless. The Berserker toys with a small knife, the blade long and curved, and the only thing you feel in that moment is panic. She leans down when your glare hardens on her. A cruel smile plays at her lips, and she tilts her head to the side.

“Did you have a nice sleep?”

You couldn’t respond even if you wanted to but you settle for gritting your teeth around the gag between your lips. Your stare doesn’t waver or falter, but Cara is unamused by your show of defiance. She draws ever closer, the tip of her knife coming up to drag over your cheek. It’s not enough pressure to cut the skin but if you even breathe the wrong way she could cut into you with ease. You tilt your head back nonetheless, and Cara digs the blade a little deeper.

The skin stings as she drags the blade over it, and it burns like a papercut. Hot blood trickles down your cheek.

“Did you really think you were clever enough to escape me? Now you have nowhere to run. A mouse trapped for the cat to eat. Lucky for me, the bounty for you being delivered dead is still quite hefty. I’ll take your lifeless body to the military and rules the black seas. But–” Cara pauses and leans away from you with the same smirk blossoming on her lips “–not before I have a little fun.”

The woman pulls back without saying another word, standing up straight once more. She continues to twirl the knife in her hands and passes it from hand to hand as she drags her gaze over you. You twist a little in the chair you’re bound to. The blood from your cheek catches on your jawline and ceases its hot path down your face.

A laugh leaves her lips, and she turns away from you, obviously satisfied with her work already.

“Wake him up.” She jerks her head. You aren’t sure what she means by that, but upon looking past her tall form, you can see another limp form in a chair opposite you. They have bindings across their ankles, chest, and arms just like you do with a gag to match. A black hood masks their face, but something tells you that you don’t want to know who sits behind the material. A figure moves behind the person though, and the black hood is ripped out with no shortage of ferocity. Your blood runs cold. You don’t move but your body instinctually begins to trembles against the ropes around you.

It takes a moment for reality to settle in, but when it does, you begin thrashing against the bindings around you in a desperate attempt to get out. Before you know it, your eyes are stinging and burning with unshed tears because this has to be a nightmare, this can’t be real, and this sure as hell cannot be happening. There’s no way you’re here right now, and there’s no way that San is tied to the chair across from you.

He is still unconscious, although based on the look on Cara’s face that won’t last for long, and your suspicions are correct. The person behind San grabs a fistful of his hair and yanks him back.

“Wake the fuck up!” The man shouts into San’s ear, and San jerks back into a state of full consciousness. He groans as he wakes, the sound a bit muffled by the gag between his lips, and his head slumps forward again when the man behind him lets go of his hair.

“San, San, San. Aren’t you going to wake up to see this?” Cara clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth, turning back to you with a sinister look in her eyes. You tug at the ropes over your wrists. They’re tied too tight for you to wiggle out of, and you gnaw on the inside of your cheek when Cara approaches you with knife in hand again. She lifts the blade to your other cheek, toying with your skin without slicing it open. “Look here, Sannie. I have a surprise for you.”

San’s chin bobs a little then he pulls his head up. Eyes find yours in an instant. A second passes then San is jerking and writhing in his binds, yelling around the gag in his mouth. The sounds remain muffled and broken though, all ineffective and useless in the long run because Cara just keeps dragging the tip of the knife over your skin.

“Keep him still, Cyrus. He needs to see every second of this.”

The man behind San moves froward again and grabs his hair, forcing him to sit relatively still. It doesn’t stop San from thrashing and yelling through the gag. Cara throws her head back and lets a loud laugh loose. The sound echoes through the building, bouncing off the walls and ceiling until it rings in your ears.

“Come on, Sannie. It’s just like old times. Why aren’t you happy? Isn’t this fun?”

Cara pushes a lilt into her tone, motioning over to where you’re seated with the knife. Her laugh continues to ring as she draws closer to you and circles around the back of your chair.

“Don’t you remember how things used to be? How we used to play? The captain used to string people up like this for you all the time. Let you play God without consequence.”

Cara presses forward and her chin comes to rest on your shoulder. You prepare to slam your head against hers but the icy chill of the blade brushes over the skin of your throat. You freeze under the touch, eyes meeting San’s across the room. He looks ready to murder, and his body goes completely still just like yours.

“You deserve to see the consequences of your actions, Sannie. Coming here wasn’t just suicide. It was murder.” Cara shifts the knife just a little, but in your mind, it feels like much more. “Because now you aren’t going to be the only one to die. You will be the last to die, however, because I want you to watch every second of my torture on your little friend here.” The Berserker pauses to look at your face, bringing the knife up to drag over the cut already on your cheek. “I still remember your cruel methods, Sannie. Would you like to see them replicated on her now?”

San jerks upon hearing the words, straining against the ropes around him and struggling to no avail. Cara releases a dramatic gasp.

“Does she not know? Sannie, aren’t you proud of your past? Proud of all the pain you caused? Those cruel little methods you always used? Why can’t you tell her about your past?” Cara pushes the knife back down to your throat but this time she digs it a little bit deeper against your skin. You grit your teeth around the gag and squeeze your eyes shut as tight as possible. Your breathing has quickened too much in a short amount of time, and you’re fully aware that if it gets any worse then you’ll start to hyperventilate and that’s the last thing you need at the moment. It’s difficult to convince your body to shut up and listen to your mind’s desperate pleas to slow your breathing though; much more difficult than you anticipated.

You’ve been through shit like this before, Y/N. Just breathe. Been through worse actually. You’ll be fine now. Absolutely fine. Just focus on what’s important.

Your eyelids snap open and you look directly at San. Something is different this time. This time you aren’t alone. You’ve only ever been alone in the past, but now you aren’t. You didn’t have to look after someone else – nor did you want that responsibility – but seeing San struggling against the ropes and screaming around the gag… you need to get San out of here. You need to get him away, you have to, you have to keep him from ending up like you or worse.

Teeth sink into the tip of your tongue, and you inhale a deep breath. The pressure of the blade against your neck increases as you shift under Cara’s touch. Her other hand moves to your hair, locking in the strands and tugging your head back until you are eye level with San. You know that she’s trying to force you to look at San, but you don’t do what she wants. Instead, your gaze drifts around the building in search of any possible opens or escape routes. The Berserker behind you begins to speak to San again, giving you time to look around as best you can without irritating her.

“Cyrus, pull the gag off. I want to hear him beg.” The man does as asked, tugging the cloth until it falls loosely, and San spurs the movements on by spitting it out of his mouth as soon as he can.

“You fucking cunt, I’ll murder you if it’s the last thing I do. You won’t walk out of here alive, I will make sure of it because if you so much as hurt a single hair on her head, then I will draw out your miserable life until you’re the one begging for mercy.”

“Oh, ho, ho! Sannie, those are such big words. Almost like old times except with a lot more fury in them. That’s your weakness.” Cara tugs your hair more until it hurts, and you whimper behind the gag. “Big talk for someone tied to a chair without weapons and surrounded by a whole crew of bandits and pirates. You’ve gotten reckless beyond belief. And for what? For one criminal who is worth more money than you have ever seen in your life? You’ve gone soft.”

She clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth again. Her hand slides the knife further down and catches on your collarbone. With one quick motion, she slices the skin open, leaving a shallow cut. You hiss around the cloth between your teeth and bite down hard to keep from crying out. You shift your gaze to look over at San to gauge his expression. He thrashes in his chair, slamming his feet against the ground so hard that it causes his chair to tip backward. He knocks into the thug behind him, but the angle causes him to fall on his side. There isn’t any time for him to move before another pirate comes up on the side and presses a hefty boot on the side of San’s face. It keeps him stuck against the dirty floor, facing where you’re sitting. Cara’s demeaning laugh rings in your ears over and over.

She pulls the knife away from your chest, and as she moves it, you catch the sight of crimson on the blade. Cara’s eyes trail over the liquid with a cruel smirk. She grabs hold of your chin, stepping around you and leaning over so that you are eye level.

“You know… there’s an old Tibehken legend my mother used to tell me every night. With each life you take, the darker your blood becomes. The way to know if someone is truly evil is to cut them open and see if their blood runs black.” Her gaze shifts over to where San is lying on the floor. “Her blood is red, Sannie, which makes her an innocent. Even better for me because now I get to make you watch me take an innocent’s life. Because of you did. How dramatic.”

San writhes against the boot on top of him, shaking his head as best he can.

“Don’t. Don’t hurt her. God, please don’t hurt her. I’ll do anything. Yo-You can take me. T-Take me, torture me, use me as a weapon, kill me. Anything. Anything you want, Cara. Please. Please don’t hurt her. She doesn’t deserve this, she’s innocent. This has nothing to do with her. This is between you and me, please. Just let her go and don’t hurt her.” San’s voice is desperate and pleading, the small stutters in his tone only serving to cause your heart to plummet further. You try to shake your response, calling out behind the gag in attempts to tell him no. Cara hesitates. She twirls the knife again.

“That’s a hefty promise,” she mutters. The smirk never leaves her lips. “I can take that deal with ease though. No questions asked.”

You cry out again around the gag as though it will change her mind. She turns to you and yanks the cloth of your gag down to your neck. She stops there though, not moving to touch the ropes binding your body to the chair.

“All you want is for me not to hurt her?” Cara quirks a brow, then motions for someone to come to her side.

You don’t see it coming. A fist connects with the side of your head, and your vision blurs. You cry out at the sudden impact, the shock of it startling you more than the pain itself.

“Stop! You said we had a deal!” San shouts, thrashing against the ground.

“I’m doing exactly what you wanted, Sannie!” Cara laughs, lifting her hands above her head to accentuate her words. She passes the knife over to your new attacker. “I’m not hurting her. Not myself, at least. And that’s what you asked for.”

“You knew what I fucking meant!” San growls. “Yo–”

Whatever he was going to say next is cut off by a cry of pain falling from your lips. The knife drags over the other side of your collarbone, and you twist away from the blade to no avail.

“I’m going to fucking kill you. I’ll murder you, you wo–”

“You should behave,” Cara sighs, picking at one of her nails with little interest. “Otherwise, your cute little friend here is going to end up in strips because of all the cuts. This isn’t a negotiation. There are no terms I’ll accept. There is nothing you can do. This is torture, Sannie. You are going to sit there and watch every second of it. No begging will make it stop. Because thanks to you, I had to sit and watch man after man suffer at your hands. At the captain’s hands. Your hands doing what the captain asked. People who were my crewmates. The moment they faltered – even breathed the wrong way around the captain – who was it who was tasked to exact punishment after punishment?”

Silence greets her. The knife digs into your skin.

“Who was it who killed each and every single one of them, Sannie?”

A small cry of pain leaves you, growing louder and louder as your attacker pushes harder.

“I asked you a fucking question.”

The knife leaves your body, only to return seconds later with another shallow slice over your collarbone.

“Me! It was me!” San yells, voice breaking as he says the words.

“There we go. It was you. It was always you. But the one who had to haul away the bodies was me. I had to haul away the bodies of my comrades who did nothing wrong. Funny how they always called me the Taskmaster and yet you were the sadistic torturer. How fucking ironic, right? Well, now you get to taste it.”

Another shallow cut burning like fire across your skin.

“You get to know what that feels like and how badly it hurts,” Cara continues, admiring the work on your skin with a thin-lipped smile. “You get to watch it happen, Sannie, and not be able to do anything about it. Just like I did. And once she’s dead – once the sweet little Ghost is dead – you will get to haul her body off and live with the pain of reality. You get to turn her body into the military while I collect the prize money. Do you think that’s fair, Sannie?”

“N-No, fuc–fuck no! It’s not!” San refuses in a heartbeat. Cara reels on him, fists balling up at her sides

“Of fucking course it isn’t! Because it wasn’t fair when you did it to me. Why should it be fair to you?” Cara shifts and faces you once more. You take the opportunity to spat on her feet, making certain to hit her shoes when she steps closer to you. The action doesn’t please the woman in the slightest; she snatches her knife back from the man at your side. You merely taunt her by baring your neck to her, a flat expression and confidence in your eyes. No words tumble from your lips.

It isn’t a knife that hits you next. Rather, it is the back of Cara’s hand that smacks against your cut cheek with enough force to cause the chair to wobble under you.

“You are nothing but a cocky little shit who has no place in the universe,” she sneers.

“I learned that a long time ago, you bitch,” you hiss back. “You aren’t sharing any big news.”

As you speak the words, something clatters and a loud thud resounds from above you. Everyone halts and glances up at the ceiling. Cara and her men all look concerned beyond belief, but you can’t help but to laugh at their expressions. Frankly, you imagine that Hongjoong has finally caught up to you, although he’s quite a bit delayed at this rate.

“Out!” Cara orders, pointing towards the doors of the building with her knife. “All of you, get out there! Scope out the surroundings and figure out what the fuck is going on out there! Take care of it quickly, and if need be, leave no survivors. I don’t want to be fucking interrupted.”

All the men surrounding you and San file out of the building at her command, no hesitation in their steps. Their departure doesn’t provide any relief for the worry and anxiety bubbling in your gut. Cara wraps around the side of your chair then brings up a tall boot. She kicks you in the ribs, causing you to topple over and hit the floor in a similar position to San. Her hands grip the back of the chair. She drags you across the cold, dirty floor with little effort. She only stops when you’re about two feet from where San is positioned. As much as he tries to move, he can’t pull himself forward at all, leaving him stuck where he is while Cara puts you right where she wants you.

You feel utterly helpless. Unable to move and fight back, you can’t even find the heart to rile her up with your words. She places you directly across from San so that he can clearly see everything she does, then kneels down by your side to look over at the man. San doesn’t look back at her though; his eyes are on you and you alone, and you take it as an opportunity to mouth a few words to him through the panic.

It’s going to be okay.

You don’t know if it’s the truth, you don’t know how this will end, you know nothing at all except for the panic running through you. You can settle for the small white lie, however, only because it reassures you a little bit to mouth the words to San. He doesn’t respond and instead glances away to look up at Cara again as she walks around your form, but not before swallowing roughly. It’s enough acknowledgment for you to know that he saw what you said.

Cara swings the point of her boot into San’s gut. He groans from the contact, trying to curl into himself but he can’t thanks to the damn ropes around him. Her foot swings into his stomach again. All you can see is the way San’s chest heaves as he attempts to recover from the attacks.

“My men should’ve put you through more hell before bringing you here.” Cara releases a deep heave of breath then returns to your fallen body, toying with the knife as she smiles down at you. “Where to begin with this pretty little bird? Now that we’re all alone, we can have so much fun.” San’s eyes narrow on her, the emotion in them more nervous than angry or murderous now.

The knife breaks through your thigh. It cuts the fabric apart like it’s paper, as well as the skin underneath. She maintains the shallow pinpricks rather than deep cuts, and you suppose you ought to be grateful for that, but you know you won’t be grateful if she continues to do it. A hiss passes through your lips, and you look away from San so that he doesn’t have to see the pained expression on your face. Cara despises that movement though. She bends down to grip your chin.

“Fucking look at him or it’s his leg getting cut next,” she spits, stray saliva hitting your cheek. You let your cheek fall to the floor so that you can look at San again, too afraid that she will hurt San worse than you if you don’t listen.

“S-Stop,” San exhales, tone shaky and desperate even with one word. He continues with a bit of difficulty, licking the edges of his lips before talking again. “Yo-You don’t have to do this. We can – we can come to an agreement. Work something out, I know we can do something that wi–”

The knife slices through your leg again with harder force. You bite down hard on your lip to muffle the scream that nearly spills out.

“Please! P-Please, Cara, please, I–”

“There is nothing to discuss. I have made my decision and this is it.”

San squirms and tries to move across the floor again.

“You can torture me. Pl-Please. You can torture me as much as you want if you just let her go.”

“Are you fucking deaf, Sannie?” Cara laughs, the sound a disbelieving one. “This is your torture. I am torturing you by making you watch this. Every.” Another slice, lower than the last. “Single.” One more that intersects with the last. “Cut.” A third cut, this one vertical against your thigh. You bite down so hard on your lip that it draws blood. In that moment you dare to look over at San but regret it instantly.

His whole body trembles under the ropes, lip nearly quivering as tears spill from his eyes and fall over the bridge of his nose and to the floor.

“Please stop. J-Just stop, please – please stop this. I-I…” San trails off, unable to look up any longer. His chin falls to his chest. “I n-never did this to any of them. None of the crew. I - I didn’t want to be cruel. I just… I was only following orders, that’s all. I was only doing what I was told to do. I swear. I swear I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I really didn’t. I have nightmares about it every night, I-I never wanted to do it. You have to b-believe me.”

“You’ve lost the opportunity to explain whatever happened. What’s done is done. There is no apologizing or backtracking. There is no forgiveness. Don’t you understand that, Sannie?” Cara jams the knife into your thigh all of the sudden, ignoring her previous pattern of shallow cuts and burying a good quarter of the blade into your leg.

“O-Oh god,” you choke out, a large wave of nausea sweeping over you as you see the knife go into your leg.

“Y/N! Y/N, look at me. Please just look at me,” San pleads, and you pull yourself up to look him in the eye. The nausea is making you a bit dizzy, and San’s face swirls into three different ones until the wave passes over you. “It’s gonna be okay, Y/N. I promise. It’s okay. We’re gonna be okay.”

Cara huffs upon hearing San’s words. She jerks the knife and yanks it out of your leg harshly, leaving you to scream against your shoulder. The pain burns and throbs, coursing through your whole system until you can feel sweat beading on your brow.

“St-Stop! Cara, Cara, please!” San pleads again as you cry out. The Berserker doesn’t listen to a word he’s saying, the desperate pleas fall on deaf ears, and she leans over San.

“You’re having too much fun with this, Sannie. Too vocal. I should fix that.” Cara huffs a laugh, glancing over the knife before deciding to plunge it into San’s side. The knife buries all the way to the hilt in the patch up flesh just above his right hip. If you thought your screams of pain were bad, San’s is beyond comprehension. The sound of his screaming triggers something in you, flips a switch, and you lose the last bits of control you had over your emotions.

You don’t think twice before letting your abilities slip through, and you tug at the ropes behind your back while Cara is still bent over San. The effort of trying to use them causes your head to spin even more, but you muster up enough energy to push one wrist through the ropes. That’s all you need too, because you use that free hand to pull the other loose then tear at the ropes around your ankles. Cara is still preoccupied with San but she will notice your movements at any second.

Your heart pounds against the cage of your chest as you rush to pull yourself loose. Cara slowly pulls the blade out of San’s stomach, a sickening squelch resounding as blood pours forth, and she starts to stand up straight again. You twist the leftover rope around the palms of your hands and pounce on Cara’s back as best you can. You misjudge how much pain your leg is in though, and the searing fire that blossoms across your leg causes your jump to miss slightly. You don’t manage to get the rope over her head, so you settle for tossing it around her body and tangling her in the mess. It gives you just enough time to drag yourself over to San’s body, sliding behind him and pulling at the ropes around him.

San writhes in pain, unable to help you get the ropes off of his body, and Cara is nearly unraveled herself from your makeshift trap. Just as you tug his ankles free, Cara comes down on the two of you. She swings the knife down at San rather than at you. You don’t think, operating on instinct only, and your hand flies up to stop her attack from the side.

The side of the knife hits your hand. You ignore the blossoming pain that burns your palm; instead, you grip the weapon tighter and push back against her. Cara’s eyes go wide at the action and the deadly expression across your features. She stumbles backward in attempts to get away from you, but her feet catch on one of the loose ropes and she falls back to the floor. You squeeze the handle of the knife with your other hand and walk in her direction ever so slowly. The slow movements startle her further, causing the Berserker to scramble back as you draw closer.

“What the fuck are you?” She snarls. Your lips quirk upwards at her words. Your left foot drags along the ground as you pull yourself towards her. There is only adrenaline running through your veins, the pain is almost nonexistent, but you know that won’t last for long so you move as quickly as you can.

“I’m merely a ghost,” you huff out. “Here one minute and gone the next. Which is what is going to happen to you soon enough.”

You back her into a corner, her back hits a wall, and she has nowhere to go. You lunge forward and drive the knife she used on you and San into her shin. A cry of pain falls from her lips. The sound spurs you on, causing you to tilt your head to the side in question.

“What? Is this not a fun game for you? You were enjoying it so much not too long ago. Do you not enjoy it not?” You taunt as you twist the blade in her.

“Y-You’re a fucking – fucking psychopath.”

The smile returns to your lips. You pull the knife out of her leg with haste then move forward so that you can squat down in front of her.

“I’ve heard that before too,” you mutter as you twirl the knife in your grasp. The smile coating your lips dissipates. “But only by the people who deserve their fates.”

You cease your toying with the weapon and lift it high above your head, ready to send it cascading down into Cara’s chest. Just as your arm starts to come down, someone catches you by the wrist. You jerk to look over your shoulder. It’s San who stands behind you. San who has caught your hand with one of his own covered in blood. His other hand lingers over the wound in his side that is still bleeding quite profusely. There is a stagger to his breaths, chest shaky as he inhales and exhales, and a hunch to his back that shows how hard it is to hold himself up. Again, the sight of him in that state flips a switch in you.

It’s like someone has yanked a dark veil away from your eyes. Reality seeps back in and fills the cracks in your mind. In that moment, San is all you see and all you know. You drop the knife with a small gasp, unsure of what just came over you and caused you to lose control in such a way.

“D-Don’t kill he-her,” San says, lowering your arm to his side.

“Wh–”

You don’t need to finish the question because San releases you and stoops to pick up the knife you just dropped. He grips it tight, bloodied fingers sliding over the hilt without purchase.

“Turn around.”

“I-I… wh-why?” You stammer. Your feet carry you backward though, even though you mind questions it. Cara makes her presence known again and releases a weak laugh. She doesn’t move from her spot on the floor though, eyes tracking San with such scrutiny that you would crumble under that gaze.

“I should’ve known this would be my fate,” she murmurs. Her chin lifts a little. “Don’t be a coward when you do it, Sannie. If you’re going to kill me, then you should at least do it right and give me a proper sendoff.”

“Y/N, turn around.”

“I-I don’t need to though.”

San reels on you with sudden strength to his movements. You flinch at the sight of the emotion in his eyes and the quiver of his lower lip. You know it’s not from the exhaustion of the wound. That much is easy to see. He doesn’t want you to see him do it. After what Cara revealed and the shame that burned San’s words, you understand why. So, you respect his wishes, nod a few times, and pull back to turn around and face the opposite wall.

A few seconds of terse silence pass. You don’t even dare to breathe, just focusing on the adrenaline that is seeping out of your body and leaving pain in its wake. Then – a small gasp, a quick inhalation of air, and… nothing.

You don’t turn around yet though. Something about the air feels odd and sacred, and if you turn around now, you would be disturbing that peace.

“May your journey to the next life treat you well, Taskmaster of The Eurydice,” San says in a quiet tone, only audible because of the silence in the building. A breath of hesitation then – “And may you rot in hell for all you’ve done.”

The words are spoken with a finality, like the ending line of a chapter in a book. San immediately begins to shuffle around. It leaves you to wonder what the hell he’s doing behind you, and as much as you want to turn around, you want to wait until he tells you it’s okay to do so. After a few minutes, San approaches you at last. He taps your arm, fingers brushing your elbow, and you twist to look at his face.

“It’s over…” He remains hunched from his wound and keeps a hand over it in efforts to halt the blood flow. You reach down to touch the hand there, but San pulls away from you in an instant. “Don’t. I-I – I don’t want you to touch me. Now that… now that you know what I did. Who I was. What kind of person I used to be. W-Who my captain made me to be. The th-things he made me do. I – the extent of my captain’s hold on me and how damn easy it was for me to do those horrible things. I don’t want you… I don’t want to taint you with that.”

“San…”

“I remember every single damn face from that crew,” he continues as though you didn’t speak at all. “I remember them all. I know them by heart. The ones I tortured and killed merely because my captain didn’t like the way something was done. The pure hatred I operated with: the reasoning that since they were awful and abused me, then it was okay to hurt them. I remember their faces. Their names. What they begged for in their last moments. Mercy… it was always mercy. I-I can’t get away from it no matter how hard I try. It’s in my dreams every fucking night.”

San stops to look back to where Cara’s body is. His jaw stutters as he look over there. Then he sinks to his knees and a pained sob tears through his chest. You slide down to join him, trying to ignore the sharp pain in your leg as you move and just focus on San and San alone. Despite his insistence that you don’t touch him, you reach out and place a bloodied hand over his thigh. He doesn’t stop you.

“It didn’t help,” he whispers, eyes stuck the hand that isn’t pressed to his stab wound. He flexes his fingers and curls them into a fist. “It was supposed to help but it didn’t. I-I… it didn’t do anything. Why does it hurt so fucking much? I-I should’ve – I’m the one who should’ve–”

You refuse to let him finish that sentence, a surge of panic rushing through your body as you hear the implications in his words. Your hand darts up to grip his shoulder tight.

“It gets worse before it gets better,” you respond. If it’s supposed to be encouraging, you think you’ve failed in every way because how the hell is that reassuring in the slightest. San apparently feels the same way because a scream rips through his lips, startling you with the volume and suddenness of the sound.

“I don’t want it to get better! I want it gone!”

“I’m sorry,” you murmur as you pull his body against yours. “I’m so sorry, San. I-I wish I knew. I wish I knew how to help but I don’t and I’m sorry for that.” Your left hand maintains its position on your thigh, squeezing tight around the injury there. You pull back a little to motion down at San’s wound. “I need to take care of that, San. I need to put pressure on it to keep it from bleeding out more. You – you don’t have the strength to maintain it, okay? Just let me, okay? Let me take care of it.”

San doesn’t seem to hear you, however, and even as you try to look him in the eye, his gaze is unfocused.

“You did well, Y/N,” he says. The words cause a spike of panic. “Remember that.”

It sounds too much like he’s saying goodbye. You can’t stand it, you can’t breathe, you can’t function. Everything bleeds into one blinding shade of white. You press San again.

“Let me take care of your wound, San. Please?”

His response is nothing again, and his body goes limp against yours. You can’t stop the strangled sob that leaves your lips. Your hands tremble as you lower San to the ground, placing him flat against it. You grab for his wrist and neck in a desperate attempt to find a pulse. Another sob leaves you as you find it, a rapid pace that is anything but normal. His skin is clammy and cold to the touch. You don’t know much about medicine or anything in that area, but they did teach you how to recognize the symptoms of shock during your military training. San has to be going into shock, but you have no clue how to stop it and halt the process.

Your head swims, spots filling the edge of your vision as you rush to get to the other side of San’s body where his wound resides. You can’t put proper pressure on both your leg and San’s wound; it’s either one or the other, and with a small cry of pain you choose to press against San’s abdomen instead of your thigh. There’s no telling how long you can hold this position, or how long it is until you pass out yourself, but your sheer willpower is the only thing keeping you going right now.

Noise resounds from outside the building. You pad around for your gun only to realize that you don’t have it. An exhausted sigh falls from your lips.

Is this really how I’m going to go out? A failure even on the brink of death?

Bright sunlight suddenly enters the warehouse, and you lift a hand from San’s stomach to block your eyes from the brightness. Three shadowy figures walk inside with arms out, no doubt holding guns. You swallow the lump in your throat – or at least try to – and prepare yourself for the worst.

“H-Holy fuck.”

The words don’t come from you or San, but the voice is familiar. It almost sounds like Seonghwa, and your assumptions are confirmed when the figure on the left rushes forward and comes into view. It is in fact Seonghwa, and you nearly cry from relief as he comes to kneel beside you. Hongjoong comes into view as well, but he moves straight past you to get to San. Seonghwa reaches out to you, holstering his gun, and pulls himself a bit closer to you. You make an attempt to speak but your jaw just stutters and nothing comes out. All you can do is stare at Seonghwa dumbly with your jaw hanging wide open.

“Shh, shh,” Seonghwa shushes as you make a strangled noise. “You did a good job, Y/N. You did well.”

You shake your head, the movements frantic and without cease until Seonghwa presses a hand against the wound on your thigh. He looks you dead in the eye.

“You did well, Y/N. You did what was asked of you and more.”

You can’t muster up the energy to respond with words so you just nod. Glancing past his shoulder, you catch sight of the third figure coming into view. It’s Mingi but he lingers several feet away without coming closer or saying anything. Hongjoong remains bent over San, his hands moving frantically over his bloodied wound.

“M–Mingi, come closer. I need your help.” The stutter in his tone doesn’t escape anyone’s notice. If you had more energy, you might care to think about it more, but as it is, you can’t tear your mind away from San’s state and your exhaustion.

You try to pull yourself up, but Seonghwa keeps you to the ground with the hand on your thigh.

“I’ll follow with Y/N. Just take care of San right now.”

Hongjoong nods as Mingi comes forward.

“We’ll get San to a clinic as fast as possible. You know the one.”

“San is a fighter. He’ll be okay,” Seonghwa reassures. Hongjoong musters up a grin but it holds little emotion in it.

“I know that, Lieutenant.” Mingi reaches Hongjoong’s side, towering over the captain as he stands next to him, then he moves to pick San up. There is a sense of defeat that fills your body as you watch the tall Berserker lifts San’s all too limp body with ease. The lingering pain of knowing that you could do nothing but watch as Cara hurt him, nothing as she attacked you, and even afterward you could do nothing but apologize for not knowing what to do. It leaves the bitter taste of failure in your mouth. You watch Mingi situate San in his arms, pressing a large hand over the wound that still pours blood, and Hongjoong leads them out of the warehouse. Seonghwa follows their movements with his eyes, only pulling back to look at you once they’re completely out of sight.

“When d-did you get he-here?” Your words slur together a little bit, and Seongwha cracks a small smile.

“Don’t exert yourself any more than you already have, okay?” He shifts you, and you let him lay you down on your back only for him to scoop you up with little effort. The arm under your knees slides up so he can press his palm over your wound. “Mingi and I arrived not too long ago. Hongjoong called us up to a rooftop. He said that both you and San disappeared around the same time. He didn’t see or hear it happen, but he assumed you’d been caught. Suppose he figured correctly.” Seonghwa grunts as he gets to his feet, hoisting you further up against him. He doesn’t move at the same breakneck pace that Hongjoong and Mingi had on their way out of the warehouse. “There’s a clinic that should be able to help you both relatively quickly. It’s not too far away if you can just hold out a little while longer.”

“I-I’m not sure…” You murmur as you bring an arm up around Seonghwa’s back. “I have a knack for getting hurt and passing out, I think.”

“I already don’t you to shush, did I not? Don’t try talking or you’ll make it worse.” Seonghwa glances over your face. “You get hurt because you’re reckless. You just the gun too quickly, lack patience, think with your heart and not your head. You pass out because you didn’t take the time to regain your strength after your arm was shot and you had the surgery. Your body can’t keep up the way it used to because of that.”

You want to retort but can’t find the energy to so you just grumble and roll your eyes instead. Seonghwa continues to speak but this time he returns to answering your first question.

“We dispatched of a group on top of the roof. One started falling so Mingi tried to grab him, but it caused a bunch of noise. More came out to see what was going on. It took us a while to finish them all off.” Seonghwa’s expression shifts, lips turning into a frown. “We could hear you… in the warehouse. Both you and San screaming.” His hold on you tightens a bit before he continues with more hesitance. “When it went quiet, I thought that meant th–”

“San is alive,” you interrupt, a desperate attempt to keep him from finishing that train of thought. “Don’t worry.”

Seonghwa bites his lower lip as he looks down at you, voice quiet when he decides to speak again.

“I was worried about you too.”

You opt not to respond. Even if you knew what to say, you couldn’t bring yourself to say it.

“Will you be okay if I run?” Seonghwa asks, hastening his pace a little before you answer.

“Y-Yea, go for it.”

Seonghwa breaks into a sprint as you give him permission. Despite his haste, it still isn’t quick enough to catch up to Hongjoong and Mingi, and you don’t even see their forms ahead of you in the streets. They must be moving much faster than Seonghwa to be that far ahead already. Given San’s state though, you don’t blame them.

San is all you can think about yourself. While there is the panic and worry over whether he’s okay and alive, there is more to it than that as well. You really know nothing about medical things; you can tell when a wound looks bad and that’s about the extent of your knowledge. You know two things about San’s wound: the knife went to the hilt in him, and there was an ungodly amount of blood. Cara didn’t just cut him up a little like she did with you. She went in full force with the intent to kill, and you’re worried that she may get what she wants postmortem.

You wish you had the energy to huff out a laugh, but you can barely manage to keep your head up at this point. You can never catch a break; there’s always something that you have to worry about. Always running, fleeing, fighting – you can’t even stop to breathe for two seconds before something else is happening. Part of you wonders how long it’s going to last, how long you have to keep running for. You could just go back home and live out the rest of your days there in the hopes that no one will find you, but there are too many memories tied to that place. Yet you want to rest. You’re so fucking tired of all this, and you just want to try having a calm life for once. You need to rest.

Seonghwa pulls you out of your thoughts by releasing a huff of air. You glance around as the regular hustle and bustle of the streets hits your ears. It’s a vaguely familiar sight, just enough for you to know that you’re back in the area you started in. Seonghwa slows his pace some and peels off to a side alleyway rather than pushing through the crowds. He wraps around the buildings with steady steps until you reach an unmarked door with a hanging sign above it. He doesn’t give you the chance to read the words on the sign, pushing into the building with his back.

An old man is the first to greet you, seated behind a rickety wooden desk with his chin to his chest. He glances up when you come in though.

“The primary doctor is busy with a patient who was just brought in,” he says when Seonghwa approaches the desk. “Our secondary doctor is treating someone with an illness right now, but you can wait around five minutes for her to be free.”

“Okay, thank you.” Seonghwa nods a few times then pulls back to carry you to a row of chairs on the opposite wall. He sets you down and eases you onto one of the chairs, hands cradling your elbows as you move. Rather than going to sit beside you though, he kneels in front of you and examines your thigh. He peels back the cut up fabric, soaked with crimson blood, and exposes your wounds to the air. The blood has stopped oozing so profusely, beginning to clot a little. You can barely see past the mess of crimson, but there are a total of five cuts on your leg. Seonghwa glances up, eyes landing on the cuts along your collarbone as well. He thumbs over the skin with a gentle touch and makes sure not to irritate them further. Then his eyes go to your cheek where the first cut is. His expression is unreadable as he pulls himself up and sits down beside you.

“What’s on your mind?” You ask, barely managing to smile. Seonghwa laughs a little, and the corners of his lips curl upwards.

“Oh, nothing much. Just thinking about the weather, of course.”

Your smile stretches a bit more at his joking comment.

“San is going to be okay, Y/N.”

“Y-Yea…” Your voice doesn’t sound confident though, and you don’t know if it’s because of how exhausted and drained you are or if it’s because of something else. Seonghwa doesn’t press you any further than that; your lack of engagement must be enough to deter him from talking more. He just places a hand on your right thigh and lets it rest against the bloodied fabric. The two of you sit in silence for a few minutes, eyes looking anywhere except at each other. You still can’t wrap your mind fully around reality. Everything that just happened just seems so unreal that you don’t want it to be real. The blood on your hands doesn’t go away, however, and neither does the dull ache in your chest.

A curtain to the right shifts all of a sudden, and Hongjoong and Mingi step out from behind it. Seonghwa’s hand on your thigh squeezes a little tighter as he looks over his captain’s dismal expression. Hongjoong ignores him, however, and comes to step in front of you. You brace yourself for the worst, gnawing on the inside of your lip while staring up at him in anticipation.

“You were reckless, careless, arrogant, foolish, and idiotic, among other things like disobedient, stupid, and childish.”

All you can do is nod in confirmation. He isn’t wrong in the slightest, neither was Seonghwa earlier when he called you out for similar things. Hongjoong sticks a hand out in front of you, exposing his forearm and palm to the ceiling. You don’t know what he’s expecting or what to do for many seconds. You blink between his arm and his face without speaking until a sigh falls from his lips.

“Just take it before I change my damn mind,” he grumbles. Realization dawns on you, and you reach out to clasp your bloody fingers around his forearm. He pulls you to your feet with that same grip. Your eyes meet. “Thank you for protecting and saving San, and for doing what I couldn’t do.”

You open your mouth to respond, but words don’t come out. Nor do you have the chance to come up with any sort of reply because a woman peeks out from behind another current beside the one Hongjoong and Mingi walked out of.

“I’m ready for the next patient!”

Seonghwa stands up with you, and you take that as your invitation to go over to the woman. His hand finds your lower back, ready to lift you into his arms again.

“I can walk fine on my own,” you mutter. Part of you doesn’t want to seem weak in front of Hongjoong now, especially since he just told you he somewhat respects you for what you did for San. Seonghwa isn’t affected by your comment though; he just laughs and lifts you regardless.

“You aren’t doing yourself any favors with that ego,” he says once you’re out of Hongjoong’s earshot. You press your lips into a frown but don’t say anything. Seonghwa takes you back to the doctor’s room. She motions towards a chair in the center of the room, and Seonghwa sets you down in it for her. You expect him to head out immediately and return to Hongjoong’s side, but instead, he lingers beside the chair, placing a hand on the back of it near your shoulder.

“Oh wow, quite a few cuts.” The doctor hums to herself and moves closer to you. She checks your cheek first then moves down to your collarbone. “These aren’t deep, but they’ll need just a little cleaning and dressing. Put some patches over them to keep them covered for the time being, but they should heal easy. Awkward places for certain, but easy to fix.”

She pulls back and moves for a counter, snagging a bottle of clear liquid and some white patches. You know it’s alcohol the second she uncorks the bottle and the scent hits you, but the sting of it against your skin draws a hiss from your lips. She continues to clean the cuts, then pulls out a roll of tape to dress the cuts further. Seonghwa’s hand slips down to your shoulder, squeezing it tight when you release another hiss of pain.

The doctor dips down to your thigh after securing the last gauze patch to your cheek. She peels back the cut fabric like Seonghwa did earlier, then another hum passes through her lips.

“I can’t really access the cuts too well with your pants on. Do you happen do have a spare set of pants around?” She asks the question with a smile playing at her lips, no doubt realizing the ridiculousness of it.

“N-No,” you answer with a similar smile of your own.

“We can get some,” Seonghwa interjects, pulling his hand back from your shoulder. “I mean, we were going to regardless because hers are a mess, but I can go now to get them. I’ll just estimate your size, if that’s okay.”

“Perfect, that would be great! I’m going to need a bit of help pulling these off first before you go, if you’d please–”

“I’m sure we can handle it,” you interrupt, smile growing shaky at the thought. Seonghwa nods in agreement immediately.

“I’ll be back shortly then.” He moves back to the curtain and disappears behind it, leaving you with the doctor.

“Let’s get you up first,” she says as she grabs hold of your elbows and pulls you to your feet. “Oh, your hand is cut too! I didn’t even notice it with all the blood. Here, let’s get you over to the sink and wash that off first.” She guides you over to the counter she was working at earlier, running hot water over your hands. You know that not all of it is your blood, that San’s blood is on your hands as well, and that not all of it is front the thin slice over your palm. The doctor pulls your hand out from under the water and towels it dry. You just watch her movements with little interest, squeezing your fingers around the white gauze she wraps around your palm. Once she pulls back, she motions down at your pants.

It’s difficult to do on your own, a painful process that has you ready to fall over by the end of it, but you manage to tug the pants off and expose the cuts along your thigh completely. You don’t wait for her to tell you to sit back down either and just do it on your own. The cuts look far worse than they did when you had your pants on, one much deeper than the other papercut-like ones around it. When the doctor presses her alcohol-covered pad over your leg, it hurts ten times worse than it did before. You fight through the pain by biting down on the tip of your tongue. Once the blood is all wiped away, the cuts don’t look nearly as bad as before, except for the one deeper one.

“A few minor cuts and one deeper one. You won’t need stitches or anything like that, but I will go ahead and do a skin adhesive liquid stitch just to be safe on that deeper cut. Then I’ll wrap you up in some gauze and put a little medicine there to fend off infection. Surgical tape  after to secure it in place, okay?”

“Sounds good,” you murmur as she begins to collect the supplies.

“Keep it clean and treat it often if you can! That’s the key to recovery.”

You watch her work with disinterested eyes. At this point, it doesn’t hurt much after that alcohol horror. The exhaustion is catching up to you with haste, and you mostly feel numb all over at this point. Everything is catching up on you actually, and you really want to find any bed available and sleep for days. Blinking down at your trembling fingers, you recall how you were able to use your abilities earlier but only after hearing San scream. You weren’t able to use them with Cara yesterday though when you were fighting for your own damn life, and you can’t reconcile why that’s the case. The only thing you are certain of is the fact that most of your exhaustion is stemming from the use of your powers because that’s always the thing that takes the most energy out of you.

The doctor before you seals the deep cut with the liquid stitches she spoke about then wraps up your thigh with more white gauze and secures it with several strips of surgical tape.

“As good as new, huh?” She jokes as she smiles up at you. You crack a smile yourself and nod in agreement. Seonghwa comes in just as she’s finishing up with the taping, a new pair of pants in hand. When the doctor leans away, you stand up to take them from him, and he meets you halfway.

“Thank you,” you mumble, not meeting his eyes as you take the clothes from him.

You’re determined to at least clothe yourself without help, but that proves to be too much for you as well and you stumble when you try to pull the pants up. Both the doctor and Seonghwa reach out to catch you, but Seonghwa reaches you first. He grabs hold of your arm and steadies you while you continue to pull the pants on with a grumbled “I’m fine” under your breath.

“Thank you for all your help.” You turn to the doctor who just smiles in response.

“Look after those cuts! You should heal up nicely without too much scarring if you keep an eye on them.”

Seonghwa’s hand returns to your lower back, but he doesn’t move to pick you up this time. He lets you walk out of the room on your own, staying close to your side just in case you stumble again. Hongjoong and Mingi are still in the lobby when you exit, perched in the chairs that you and Seonghwa were on earlier, and both men wear deadpan expressions as you pass by them. Seonghwa doesn’t stop to talk to Hongjoong; instead, he guides you out of the clinic and back into the streets of the city. You don’t question it, and there’s no need to because Seonghwa turns to explain it to you after the door snaps shut behind you.

“We’ll stay in the hotel for another night per Hongjoong’s orders. Just the two of us this time though. Hongjoong and Mingi will wait in the clinic for news on San.” Your expression must crumble because Seonghwa pats your back with the hand there. “I know you want to wait with them but you need rest. I want to wait too but taking care of you is my priority right now, whether you like it or not. You went through hell, Y/N.”

“Okay…” You mumbles, eyes darting away from Seonghwa’s concerned ones.

“He’ll be okay. I promise you that. San is a fighter, and he won’t let anything keep him down. Especially not something like this.” You can only nod in agreement with Seonghwa’s words without knowing for certain whether they’re true or not. Perhaps it’s a desperate need for some sense of comfort, but as Seonghwa guides you back to the hotel, you grab for his hand, awkwardly brushing over his thigh before his hand slips from your back to envelop yours with warmth. He threads his fingers through yours and squeezes tightly without stopping to ask why. The reason is clear enough.

His hand remains in yours all the way to the hotel, only pulling back to open the door for you to step through. Similar to the first time you were in here, you linger near the door as Seonghwa approaches the counter and talks with the man behind it. Your throat feels tight. Seonghwa is right in saying that you need the rest but so much worry nags at your gut that you don’t know if you’ll be able to get any whatsoever. Your thoughts are just full of San. San, San, San.

Seonghwa returns to your side, silently taking your hand in his again and pulling you towards the stairs. It’s that nagging sensation of failure and incapability that overwhelms you as he helps you climb the stairs. If you had done things right, San wouldn’t have gotten hurt. He wouldn’t have gotten caught. You wouldn’t have gotten caught either. You would’ve gotten to San before they did and talked him out of it. Kept him from doing something he would regret. Even with your warning, he still carried through with it, but you could have prevented it. You should have. Should have done better and worked harder to prevent it from happening.

You don’t feel the tears hit your cheeks. It’s Seonghwa who notices them first as you reach the top of the stairs, his hands flying up to cup your cheeks and brush the crystalline drops away with his thumbs. Still, he doesn’t speak, but that silence offers no reassurance in the slightest. He pulls you through the door of the first room on the left – the same one you stayed in the night before with San – and that makes it even harder to go inside. Your expression remains flat and blank as you cry, no sobs fall from your lips, it’s only the tears that fall against your will. Seonghwa continues to brush them away without complaint and he moves you to sit on the edge of the bed while he squats in front of you, hands never leaving your face. He’s speaking to you, offering reassurance and comfort, but every word goes in one ear and out the other. All you can think about it what San said to you right before passing out on top of you.

“You did well, Y/N. Remember that.”

Those words ring in your ears. The person you’ve been trying to save, the one who took the fall for you, the person this has all been for – the fighting, the running, the killing, the damn papers – he said the exact same thing before walking to his death before the King of Eros.

✧✧✧ a/n: jfc cal 10.7k?!??! i know i know i pulled a fast one on you guys and hit the pedal so hard we’re gassing it okay?! also this chapter is a bit intense for sure and full of stuff and information and hints and easter eggs and all that but omg i hope you guys like it, i think it’s been the one i enjoyed writing the most so far mostly because i am sO excited to write the next part after this that im losing my mind skldfjlkdsfj anyway let me know what you think and all those juicy theories !!!

taglist: @faeriewoobin​ @sugarrimajins​ @atinyinwonderland​ @2504-life @lil7bluedragon @sparklychangbin​ @jeong-uwu​ @jeonartemis​ @anothershorthuman​ @xxbluestrifexx​ @yayhei​ @haotheheckk​ @noonawriter​

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

[sapphosclown]

Treat You Better - Tyrus AU

Part XIV: i guess we carried each other

Cyrus and TJ present their history project.

Masterlist

———

———

Cyrus was woken up by his alarm, a pleasant scene where birds are chirping quietly in the background and a soft melody crescendos into a lovely morning song.

It absolutely infuriated him.

Nothing against birds or happy music, but it’s 6am and Cyrus has been studying for midterms all week and and now he has to present a project with the guy who is mad at him for whatever unknown reason and quite frankly, Cyrus didn’t want to leave his bed ever again.

The memory of his and TJ’s rehearsal on Monday has been haunting him all week. Andi and Buffy said not to worry about it so he’s really been trying not to, but he can’t.

He misses how it used to be. TJ was always so open and talkative during their study sessions even Cyrus was rude and dismissive. He made Cyrus laugh anyways, made him feel relaxed. It didn’t feel like a school project, it just felt like hanging out with a friend. And now that he can enjoy that atmosphere, it’s taken away from him. Because of course it is.

Cyrus begrudgingly got out of bed and threw on his clothes before going to brush his teeth.

He got to school 15 minutes before the first exam period and saw Andi and Buffy in their usual spots and Jonah sitting on the table across from Buffy in the cafeteria.

“Hey, Cyrus!” Jonah smiled wide at him and held his hand up for a high five to which Cyrus responded with a weak tap as he slid into his seat.

“C'mon man you can do better than that.” Jonah said disapprovingly as he held his hand over to Buffy who slapped his hand without even looking.

“I’m sorry, I’m so tired today.” Cyrus groaned, rubbing his eyes.

“Good thing I got a present for you,” Buffy sang as she slid an iced coffee across the table to him.

He looked at the coffee and back to buddy, eyes wide. “I love you.” He deadpanned, causing his friends to laugh.

“Today’s our last day and then it’s winter break, you got this!” Jonah nudged his shoulder gently.

“I think he’s just not excited for today in particular.” Andi replied, breaking apart each syllable of “particular”.

“Why, what’s happening today?” Jonah asked.

“He has his presentation with TJ today.” Buffy whispered loudly to Jonah.

“Oh.” Jonah whispered loudly back.

“You guys are so subtle.” Andi mimicked their voices.

“Whatever. I’ll be fine. Can we talk about something else?” Cyrus dismissed and took a sip of his coffee.

That lit up something in Buffy. “Oh yeah! Andi, tell him.”

“OH YEAH! Cyrus, you know how I was gonna ask Amber for her number?” She said excitedly.

“I do. Did you chicken out?” Cyrus teased, taking another sip of his drink.

Andi glared at him. “No.” she said quickly before shifting her eyes to the ceiling. “Well, I didn’t really get a chance BECAUSE SHE ASKED ME FIRST!”

Cyrus smiled at Buffy. “Called it.” He whispered loudly. Andi hit his arm playfully as he giggled and flinched away.

“Whatever. I still don’t know if she’s—”

“She is.” Jonah interjected.

Everyone turned to him with confused expressions.

“How do you know?” Andi asked.

“She told me. She doesn’t try to keep it a secret, did you not see the rainbow pin on her bag? Or the rainbow sticker on her name tag?” Jonah explained.

Buffy snorted.

“No I saw— She told you?” Andi asked again, still very lost.

“Yeah we’re friends.”

“Not the development I expected but a good one nonetheless.” Buffy joked to Cyrus.

“Since when?” Andi yelled.

“A while now. Our moms are friends and we have a lot in common. She told me she was gay like 2 years ago, I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out.” Jonah replied.

Andi stared at him.

“You knew her this whole time, and didn’t think to say anything?”

“I didn’t realize she was the girl you were madly in love with.”

Buffy snorted again.

“I AM NOT IN LOVE W—” Andi got cut off by the 5 minute warning bell and Buffy Cyrus and Jonah all started grabbing their bags to head to class. Andi stares at Jonah, grabbing her own bag. “We’re finishing this conversation later Beck.” She threatened before walking away.

Jonah looked at Cyrus with fear in his eyes.

“Don’t look at me man!”

“What did I do!” Jonah laughed as he and Cyrus headed to their first exam.

***

The good news is Cyrus had English for his first exam to distract him from his impending doom. The bad news is English is is over and now he has to go to history.

Under regular circumstances he’d be glad that his teacher is taking these presentations for their midterm grades, but he’s kind of too busy cursing whatever god is out there controlling his life to worry about his grade.

Cyrus subconsciously walked ever so slightly slower to his history classroom, knowing it doesn’t actually make a difference to what’s gonna happen but it’s worth a shot. Turns out it kind of worked, but in the worst way possible.

Cyrus got to the room at the exact same time as TJ and they practically ran each other over trying to get through the door at the same time.

“Hey, what the hell— Cyrus!” TJ said much louder than he probably meant to.

Cyrus stood at him in shock for a second. Of course he thought to himself. “Um, sorry I wasn’t paying attention.” He forced a smile and walked into class as TJ called after him.

“Wait, Cyrus—” TJ said, taking a seat next to him. “Can... Can we talk?”

Cyrus opened his mouth to respond but the only sound that came was from the bell signaling clad to start. Cyrus looked to the front of the room where their teacher had already started talking.

“Alright, we don’t really have time to waste so, look for you and your partners names on the board. If each presentation is 3-5 minutes we should have some time leftover to watch a quarter of a movie. Sound good?”

The class mumbled in content agreement.

“Great. If you and your partner feel like you’d like to go over your work one more time, you can practice in the hall QUIETLY, while the group before you is presenting. Alright, first up—”

And so Cyrus spent the first 15 minutes of class sitting awkwardly next to TJ as they kept looking over at each other in what was supposed to be sneaky glances but they’re kind of bad at being subtle and make contact almost every time. Eventually the people before then stand up to present and TJ turns to Cyrus.

“Hey, can we—” He whispered pointing to the hallway. Cyrus pressed his lips in a straight line attempting an awkward smile and grabbed his bag, TJ following him suite.

TJ quietly closed the door behind them and turned around.

He took a deep breath. “Um— I just wanted to apologize for how I acted the other day.”

Cyrus shifted a bit. “Okay...”

They stood in silence for a beat.

“So...”

“That was it.”

“Have you ever heard an apology? Like ever?” Cyrus tried to joke but he knew it came off more bitter than he meant it to.

“I’m sorry, you’re right.”

“So you’ve apologized for not apologizing, but you still haven’t apologized.” Cyrus stated.

“Has anyone ever told you you’re hard to apologize to?” TJ retorted.

“No, actually. This would be a first.” TJ smiled at that.

“Okay. I’m sorry for how i acted the other day. That wasn’t fair to you. I guess I just thought that if I pretended like I didn’t care it’d make things easier but I was... very wrong.”

“Yeah. No kidding.” Cyrus snorted.

TJ looked at his shoes and Cyrus stared at him. “It’s okay. I mean, I guess I understand where you were coming from but it still kind of sucked. I thought you hated me.” Cyrus said.

“I know. I’m sorry.” TJ said again.

Cyrus nodded.

A soft smiled tugged at TJ’s lips before he tore his eyes to his notebook. “Um, good job on your section by the way, I don’t get a chance to say it but yeah. Not that I thought you’d do a bad job or anything because you’re really smart and I’m actually surprised you stuck with me as your partner because—”

“Thanks, TJ.” Cyrus cut off his rambling, laughing quietly. “You did a really good job too. And you pretty much nailed all the dates too so, congratulations.”

“Ha, thanks.” TJ clearly didn’t believe him.

“Seriously Teej,” Cyrus took a step forward and put his hand on the other boys shoulder. “You should be proud of yourself.”

Cyrus saw TJ’s cheeks turning a light shade of pink s he felt his own face burn a little. If nothing else, one thing hadn’t changed— TJ still had the prettiest eyes Cyrus has ever seen.

They were interrupted by the door opening and their teachers face popped through. “You boys are up!” He whispered enthusiastically before slipping back into the room.

The boys looked at each other a again and laughed awkwardly, both still extreme shades of red but pretending they weren’t.

Their presentation actually went pretty smoothly. The biggest issue they ran into was stuttering every here and there, but this was already ten million times better than their practice run had been. Both of them quickly melted into their dynamic and everything else came pretty naturally and they were done in about 3 and a half minutes. The class snapped quietly (as to not disturb the other classes) and they both sat down, continuing the rest of class “sneaking” looks at each other and smiling when they made eye contact every time.

***

Cyrus stared at his phone while his friends talked around him at Andi’s locker. It started with Andi scolding Jonah for not being her wingman earlier on but Cyrus lost tack pretty quickly as his mind wandered back to TJ.

He was staring at his contact in his phone and debating on sending a text. On one hand, he wasn’t entirely sure where they stood now. Were they friends again? Were they just school acquaintances again? They weren’t project partners anymore so should he keep TJ’s phone number? Cyrus could already feel that he was about to drive himself crazy and just pushed aside all his thoughts and typed out a message.

Cyrus: good job on the project today!! all things considered i think we did pretty well :)

Cyrus shuts off his phone and puts it back in his pocket as he tried to ignore the part of his brain screaming at him. He heard about 3 words in the conversation unfolding before him before he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He yanked his phone back out and read the message in the screen

TJ: thanks :) i can’t take too much credit tho, you definitely carried me the whole way through

Cyrus: you’re simply incorrect. you carried me

TJ: i guess that means we carried each other then huh

Cyrus: i guess it does

“Oooooooooo, who ya textin?” Buffy sang, poking at Cyrus’s arm.

“No one!” He tried to say but the smile on his face begged to differ.

“So did you and TJ make up then?” Andi asked.

“Yeah. We talked before the presentation and it helped.” Cyrus blushed harder.

“You should invite him to the spoon with us!” Jonah proposed.

Cyrus looked at all his friends. “Really? Are you guys sure its okay?”

“Of course! Andi’s invited Amber, who’s one more gonna hurt!” Buffy replied.

“Okay...” Cyrus turned back to his phone, his friends watching him intently. Cyrus stood still and cleared his throat aggressively. Catching the hint they all turn back to their own little conversation.

“So, words amirite?” He hears Andi say.

Cyrus: my friends and i are getting some celebratory end of semester shakes at the spoon, if you’re not doing anything you can join, if you want

He clicked his phone off again pretending like nothing was happening because technically, nothing was happening. He invited his friend to get milkshakes with his friends, big whoop. Except everyone had gone silent again and was staring at Cyrus.

“What we’re you saying about words, Andi?”

“Oh, uh—”

Their fake conversation quickly turned into a very real and heated debate about phonetics which Cyrus had invested himself in hoping to forget about the fact that a full minute and a half has already passed and he still hasn’t heard anything back.

Another minute passes and Cyrus was just about ready to call it quits when he felt his pocket buzz.

TJ: sounds fun :) i’ll meet you guys there?

Cyrus: cool :)

They get to the Spoon and see Amber sitting the the largest corner booth in her normal people clothes. She stands up and waves them over with a smile on her face.

“I already ordered some baby taters but I wasn’t sure what milkshakes you guys wanted because I can never remember who likes what.” Amber said nervously as everyone took their seat.

“That’s ok. There’s one more joining us so we’ll order when he gets here.” Jonah reassured her.

“Oh, who is it?”

As if on que, the door rang as TJ stepped inside and scanned the room, and then waving excitedly when he sees Cyrus.

“You’re joking.” Amber laughs in disbelief and stands up again, making eye contact with TJ who’s face drops like hers before they both start laughing hysterically leaving everyone feeling confused and kind of left out.

“Wait... that’s...” TJ laughed before Amber shushed him.

“I didn’t realize you were talking about...” Amber started before TJ shushed her.

“Hey, what’s going on...” Buffy whispered to the two of them.

“Oh, um, Cyrus remember when I told you I have a sister—” TJ said simply, gesturing towards Amber.

Amber turned to Cyrus and smiled and waved weakly.

“No way.” Buffy said to no one in particular as she smiled widely. She was gonna have a field day with this.

Jonah looked like he was about to pee his pants trying not to laugh and Cyrus and Andi were completely stunned and just stared at each other for a second before also laughing, the rest of the group doing the same.

“I hate it here.” Amber joked as she sat down next to Andi.

“I’ve literally never been happier in my life.” Buffy laughed as she moved so TJ could sit next to Cyrus.

“Jonah, why didn’t you tell them?” Amber yelled at him.

“I THOUGHT THEY HAD FIGURED IT OUT! Cyrus has been to your house multiple times how did you not know!” Jonah yelled back.

They dissolved into more playful yelling and despite being way too loud for this little diner, Cyrus still felt happier than he had all year.

A waiter came over after they had quieted down and took their orders. Everyone started talking about something but Cyrus had noticed that TJ’s pinky was touching his own and that was all he could focus on. It was the lightest touch and yet if felt like his skin was on fire. As if that wasn’t enough, TJ must have noticed it too, because he looped his finger over Cyrus’s, making Cyrus’s face heat up involuntarily and he hoped no one had noticed. When Cyrus didn’t move away, TJ carefully flipped his hand over and intertwined the rest of their fingers. Cyrus looked at him but TJ had gone back into the conversation. Cyrus smiled at him and then tuned back in himself.

He never wanted this to end.

He was happy.

———

———

previous // next

a/n: happy boys for today me thinks 😌 the angst is finally dying down and there’s i think gonna be two more chapters (excluding the epilogue) and our boys are gonna get the happy ending they deserve but for now, they hold hands under the table at the spoon and enjoy the company of their friends. ALSO I WAS LOOSING MY MIND WRITING THE PART WHERE W TJ AND AMBER OH MY GOD i hope you enjoyed lmao

also i’m updating my tag list to make sure the notifications are getting sent and if you want to be added or taken off just lmk!!

tag list:

@secretly-of-course @abg-blah @maybeldontwantheaven @thebisexualweirdo @randomsmilingpotatoes @iam-johnlocked @ohnoitsamistake18 @im-mormon-and-not-straight @unrequitedambi @marriedtobigfoot @fairygclds @c-ristopher @tylercamebackyes @tyrus-is-canon @craftyceleb @ana-lana-ding-dong @dancinglifeboat

[fletchphoenix]

Change Of Plans

Chapter 3 of Hugo’s story - I’m thinking this is just the main 7k storyline but from Hugo’s (kinda) perspective! Hope you enjoy!

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

Hugo groaned as Olivia rolled on the pillow beside his head, pushing the mechanical rodent away before immediately groaning in pain at the throbbing feeling in his shoulder. The hell was that? Oh. Yeah. Bullet wound. Mumbling, he pushed himself into a sitting position and flexed the metallic fingers of his prosthetic arm, glancing down at it and frowning at the reminder of his past.

He’d only just left the orphanage in town, not wanting to stay there and rot after he’d been tossed back and forth between orphanages and foster homes and just being abandoned each time by people. In his defence, he’d been needing parts to fix Olivia and the guy at the stall had his back turned - he really thought it would be an easy steal. Just get what he needed and go to his alley and fix Olivia.

But of course life was never that simple for Hugo, was it?

The guy had caught him, grabbing his arm and slicing it clean off until it was nothing but a bloody stump that cut off at his elbow. He was just a kid too - only just turned ten when the incident had happened, though that was the day he’d met Donella and been taken in by her. She’d done a lot for him, creating the prosthetic and training him in self defence, though it didn’t change or erase the memories that he was haunted with.

Hugo sighed softly, his hand sliding over his bedside table and picking up a few spheres full of alchemical compounds. After obtaining the spheres, he pressed a little button on the side of his prosthetic, a section popping up before he slid them into it and pressed it down gently to secure them in their hiding place. 

Rising to his feet, Hugo changed into his clothes and stretched out, grumbling in pain as he, once again, hurt his shoulder. He pushed his glasses up his nose and reached out to take his hair tie, tying his hair back into a ponytail and heading towards the door. 

Donella had said there was a mission for him, though he really wasn’t sure what she wanted. Hopefully it was just a short mission.

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

It was not a short mission.

After an extensive explanation on her previous studies, which Hugo had almost fallen asleep in the middle of, she revealed where he was headed. Koto, aka one of his least favourite places to be, only topped by Ingvarr and the security there. Damn, Koto was terrible, and now Donella had doomed him to go there and make sure this..random child didn’t try to steal some ‘ancient totem’ because her ‘livelihood and career depended on it’. 

He sat on a roof silently, watching as the two boys weaved through people in a crowd towards a rather large lion statue, the smaller of the two babbling and seemingly annoying the taller one. Hugo’s head tilted slightly as he examined the taller boy, leaning forward slightly with a satisfied grin. He was kinda cute if he was being honest, the way he was trying to calm down the younger boy mesmerising Hugo in a way that he couldn’t describe. Hugo could tell from afar that he had buck teeth as well, a smile creeping its way onto Hugo’s face as he watched him awkwardly smile and talk to different stall owners. He genuinely looked happy to be there.

So naive.

The smaller boy beside him seemed very overexcited, pretty much jumping like a puppy and wondering at his side. If he didn’t know any better, he’d assume the pair were mentor and mentee, not just some people who met on a farm out of desperation. Hugo silently watched as they turned a corner and went out of sight, obscured by one of the red, paper lanterns that hung from rope across the city. 

“Shit. Well Olivia, looks like we’ve gotta scavenge, sweetheart.” Hugo sighed, exasperated as he carefully made his way down from the roof and shifted in between bodies stuck in a crowd, Olivia squeaking from her place in his pocket. He felt like he’d travelled through endless crowds trying to track down the pair, though he couldn’t find them whatsoever. Curse his targets being small. A groan left his lips as he moved to the sidelines, a hand running through his fringe. Why did he even say yes to this job in the first place? He could’ve just said-

“Okay I think the entrance is here.” A voice echoed down an alleyway, Hugo slipping into it and positioning himself behind a wall as he watched the two younger boys press a few buttons and head down a staircase hidden underneath the statue. His job just got a whole lot easier, the blonde sneaking over after a few minutes and heading down the staircase. 

This was about to be the easiest job in his life.

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

Hugo easily stepped through the trials, the two boys providing him a clear path to his goal. It was almost heavenly, being able to do what Donella wanted so easily. His eyes studied the room he was in as he strolled through it, ears trained to listen out for any traps that might be situated in the room.

The space itself was..rather pretty. Red pillars rose to the equally red ceiling of the cavern, seemingly carved out from the earth itself, which was plausible considering how far down he was under the ground. Emerald dragons curled up the dragons, with golden details at the top and on the walls surrounding him. He smiled smugly as he strutted past them, his hand wrapping around it.

“Hey! That belongs to us!” The same voice from earlier exclaimed, Hugo turning his head to meet the blue eyes of the pretty boy from earlier, the grin on his face widening. This day couldn’t get any better - upon a closer inspection of the teen’s face, he could see all the little freckles that decorated it and made tiny constellations across his cheeks. 

“Yeah, we earned it!” the shorter boy complained, Hugo paying him no mind as he lifted the totem to his face and studied it. There was an abundance of little intricate details that decorated the totem, notably a little fire symbol in the centre and a slight reddish tint to the wood and overall design of the totem.

“Huh, weird. Cause I’m sort of the one who’s holding it...so I feel like that sort of means that it belongs to me-” He began before being rudely interrupted by the pretty boy, his wooden staff pointed out at the blonde as his face twisted into an expression of anger and resentment towards the man. It wasn’t a good look on him.

“No way! We completed the trial, not you! Whoever you are..Hand over the totem!” he yelled as the smaller boy fished into his pocket to point a red tube over at Hugo. So they wanted to do this the hard way, huh? Well, that sucked. He really wanted the pretty boy to be less confrontational, but when does anything in his life go right at this point?

“I like your magic wand. S’pretty!” He declared simply before glancing over at the smaller child with a smile. “Ooh! And some fireworks! How fun! But, you two are adorable,” He shot a wink to the taller of the pair, smirking at his discomfort in pleasure, “but I’m on a schedule, so..” And with that, he raised his prosthetic, ejecting a sulfur-infused stink bomb from its chamber in his arm and rushing away under the blue smoke as the two boys coughed and wheezed.

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

“You shoulda seen their faces, Cyrus! It was hilarious!” He laughed as the stronger, stoic man ushered him towards his boss’ tent.  “Geez, couldn’t ya be a bit softer on a poor little orphan boy?” Hugo complained, Cyrus rolling his eyes and resorting to (quite literally) shoving the boy through the entrance and straight into his boss. “Hey Don. Got your glorified wood.”

“What took you so long? I thought I said it was a fast assignment.” Donella, as optimistic as ever, picked up the totem and examined it closely, something resembling a smile taking its place on her face before she glanced at the blonde again. “I’m waiting.”

“Oh yeah.” Hugo began, folding his arms and stretching. “Well, there were these two kids who were doing the weird little tasks in the room. One of ‘em was a tiny kid. Seemed local to the area and acted like a dog. And there was one with this long ass staff, a book and a blue streak in his hair.” His boss’ head shot up at that, her breath hitching for just a moment, though it was almost unnoticeable because of the noise outside the tent from her henchmen. “Ma’am?”

“Ulla’s boy.” She whispered under her breath as a hand raised to thread through her hair, Hugo’s eyebrow raising in confusion at the sudden change in atmosphere, before his boss raised her head with a smug expression.

“You’ve had a change in assignment. I want you to become...acquainted with those boys and finish the trials with them. Then, when you’re done, report back to me with all the totems. I’ll be willing to give you a generous raise in pay when you’re through. Enough to get you to the higher tiers of Pittsford. So. What do you say?” She grinned before pausing. “Hugo.” 

Hugo stood in silence for a second as he raised his eyebrow at Donella skeptically. She was offering all he ever wanted. A home in the higher tiers of Pittsford, money, a life of luxury, and judging by the look in her eyes, she was being one hundred percent serious. But could he risk being away for that long with kids who have the potential to figure out he’s lying to them? “You aren’t kidding are you?” He saw a nod from his peripheral vision and a sigh passed through his lips. “See ya later then, boss. Don’t miss me too much.” He muttered as he left the tent, totem in hand and bag swung over his shoulder. Brilliant. Now he had to convince these kids that they could trust him.

It didn’t take him long to find the pair wandering through the forest aimlessly, carefully slipping in behind them. “Hey.” He began, a puff of smoke in his face as some kind of vial was thrown to the floor and a cloud of smoke filled his vision. He coughed and tried to move, glancing down at his feet. Some kind of pink goo kept him stationary as the pretty boy paced around him and looked him up and down. “Like what you see?” he chuckled at the flush on the boy’s face before the staff was raised to press against his throat. “Relax, goggles. I haven’t got any traps on me. Just wanted to return this with a proposal.”

Hugo reached into his bag to present the totem, the raven haired boy immediately trying to swipe for it before Hugo raised it above his head. “Ah ah ah! Patience. Me and the totem are a package deal. Let me come with you and get the rest of the totems.”

The trio stood in silence for a second before the taller boy spoke up. “Why should we trust you? And why the sudden change in heart?” He questioned, an eyebrow raised and lowering the staff a little, the wood now knocking against Hugo’s orange-tinted glasses that hung around his neck. Good. He was letting his guard down.

“Because i’m devilishly handsome, and I saw you two little helpless children and decided that I couldn’t leave two kids to suffer through such...strenuous trials.” Hugo glanced up to see two unimpressed faces staring back at him, letting out a frustrated sigh. “I felt bad and thought you needed someone to stop you from getting robbed. Oh, and the name’s Hugo. Don’t wear it out.”

The two boys locked eyes, silently debating for a few seconds, before finally the older relented and sprinkled a solution over the goo that covered the blonde’s feet. “I’m Varian.” He stated as he stood back up, “And the small one is Yong. Try anything and we’re taking the totems and leaving you in the nearest kingdom, is that clear?”

“Crystal.” Hugo replied as he began to walk forward. “Cmon then! We have some totems to collect!” he declared, a grin on his face at the sheer stupidity of the two teens and how easy this mission was gonna be.

His dream was finally coming true.

[goldenfawnwriting]

Im Not Enough

A/N: Basing this one off the song July by Noah Cyrus, it’s what inspired me and I also painted a watercolor postcard to the song of Tsukki so thats what this is all about lmao

I’ve been holding my breath

I’ve been counting to ten 

Over something you said 

I’ve been holding back tears

While you’re throwing back beers

I’m alone in bed

You tossed and turned in bed, you couldn’t sleep if it saved your life. You were just too stressed. Tsukki never failed to upset you some days, he just had this way of picking up on your mood and finding the words to make it even worse. He attacked all of your weak spots and you honestly couldn’t tell why he was even with you anymore. You wondered why he hadn’t broken up with you, since he obviously couldn’t stand you.

It had been a week of straight torment everyday. You knew he was stressed with upcoming exams and volleyball prelims but you had tried your best to make it better. You gave him your notes, to which he said were worthless coming from you, you didn’t pay attention anyway. That one hurt. Then you made him fresh strawberries and pudding as a snack before he left for his game. He told you it was too sweet before a game and that he didn’t like it anyway.

You know I, I’m afraid of change

Guess that’s why we stay the same

You wiped tears away. It was nearly midnight. you picked up your phone from your bedside table, tapping against the screen to wonder if Tsukki was still awake. He probably was, he usually stayed up late studying but, did you really want to bother him? Would that be a mistake? You sent the text anyway.  

20 minutes later you hadn’t gotten a reply only a notification saying he had read it. With that, you concluded that he didn’t want to be bothered. You decided to text him again anyway.

So tell me to leave, 

I’ll pack my bags, get on the road

find someone who loves you better than I do

Darling, I know

Cause you remind me everyday I’m not enough

But I still stay

‘Tsukki we need to talk.’

You sent. He took a minute, before you got a ping as he replied.

‘About what.”

He replied. You sighed before beginning to type.

‘you don’t care for me anymore tsukki. I can’t do this anymore. It feels like you hate me anymore and I can’t do anything right.’

He took a while to reply before there was another ping.

‘I don’t hate you.’

Thats all he had for you. All he had to say.

Feels like a lost cause

just trying to get by, while we’re dying inside

I’ve done a lot of things wrong

loving you being one

But I can’t move on

‘You don’t love me either’

You retorted. It took him awhile again.

‘I do.”

‘you don’t act like it’

You were crying at this point, tears silently slipping down your cheeks. You wiped them away with your sleeve but Tsukki didn’t reply.

When you saw him at school the next day you didn’t meet him at his locker before class like you usually did every morning. It always seemed to bother him anyway, so you skipped it. You didn’t notice as you made your way to homeroom but, his eyes followed you all the way down the hallway until you turned into your classroom. He didn’t understand why you didn’t meet him at his locker. You always did. Even if he complained you always were there, every morning.

Were you really that upset? He wondered if there was something else wrong. Did something happen that you weren’t telling him about? Was someone bothering you? Was someone saying something to you?

He was going to go to your class and see you before the day started but he didn’t want to bother you. Maybe you needed space, then you’d talk to him at lunch. You two always sat together so surely he’d see you.

But when lunch rolled around you didn’t meet him at your usual spot on the roof. He sat on the bench and didn't even eat. He was too busy waiting for you to remember he had food.

You know I, I’m afraid of change

Guess thats why we stay the same

He found you in the front courtyard, talking to a girl he didn’t know. Maybe it was one of your friends but he never took the time to actually know them. 

“Y/n.”

He called. You gave him a look, your eyes glazed over, your face straight, like you were void of emotion at all. It was like you didn’t know him or something.

“Did you need something?”

You asked, your tone stabbing him in the gut. It was like you were inconvenienced by his presence. Like he just interrupted something incredibly more important. 

“U-uh ya..”

The friend walked away, giving him a weird look. He was majorly confused. 

So tell me to leave,

I’ll pack my bags, get on the road

find someone who loves you better than I do

Darling, I know

Cause you remind me everyday I’m not enough

But I still stay

If you want me to leave, then tell me to leave

And baby I’ll go

He really wasn’t sure what to say.

“Why didn’t you come for lunch? You didn’t even see me this morning.”

You sighed, like you were annoyed. 

“Oh, you wanted me to?”

He didn’t know how to reply.

“Well... You’re still coming to practice right?”

He asked. You turned away, picking up your things from the bench by the tree.

“I don't know, I’m kinda busy after school.”

You mumbled, starting to walk away from him. 

“Y-Y/n, you always come to-”

“I’m busy Tsukishima.”

He went silent at the use of his full name. What were they, strangers? There was definitely something up with you.

You remind me every day 

I’m not enough but I still stay 

He skipped practice for the first time ever after school. Instead he walked you home, letting himself in after you. He greeted your mother who just shot him a sad look before following you into your room and shutting the door behind you. 

“You never skip practice.”

You pointed out emotionlessly. He stood by the door as you sat at your desk silently. 

“Y/N what’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been acting different-”

You finally broke, your anger seeping into your words.

“Different? That’s weird huh?”

He gave you a weird look. What was with the sarcasm?

“Yes..”

He mumbled. He didn’t know how to reply.

“I guess you don’t like being treated the same way you treat me. Nonchalance, annoyance, like you aren’t worth my time.”

“I-I dont-”

“Don’t start.”

He recognized the words he had said to you many times. Don't start. It always shut you down before you got a word out.

“Don’t be like that Y/N-”

“I’m trying to study Tsukishima.”

“Stop calling me that!”

“It’s your name.”

“You don’t call me that though.”

You rolled your eyes, his signature move when dealing with you. He felt his throat closing up and tears pricking his eyes but he swallowed them, refusing to acknowledge his fear. 

“I’m done chasing after you. I’ve done quite enough of that already. If you don’t want to be bothered by me then you won’t be.”

You choked out. He knew this was hurting you just as much as it was him.

“N-no, I don’t want you to stop-”

“Then act like you like me! Act like I’m not a nuisance! I’m done feeding your ego! I’m so done feeding your god complex!”

You yelled. He flinched. You had never yelled at him before, you never yelled at all before.

“G-god complex?”

“You go around acting like I’m just a stupid girl with a crush that annoys the shit out of you! Like you don’t want me around, like you hate me! No one can even tell we’re dating Tsukishima! If anything they would assume I’m hopelessly devoted to you and you’re just fed up!”

“I’m not fed up...”

He whimpered.

“Then act like it. Or leave me the hell alone.”

You growled, glaring at him with tears brimming your eyes. He wanted to go to you, to hug you but, he didn’t know if that’s what you needed or not. He’d never seen you like this. He went out on a limb anyway, pulling you into his arms, sitting down on your bed and pulling you into his lap. You shoved your face into his jacket, sobbing. 

He didn’t realize he was so cold to you, you always seemed happy about everything, he didn’t even know it bothered you. He sat his head against yours, holding you tight as you cried. One hand moved to take his glasses off and wipe a tear from his eyes as he silently let a few slip by. He would never let you know though. 

Another moment went by before he lifted your chin, pressing a kiss against your lips. He could feel your tears running down onto your lips and he pushed even more passion into the kiss. He heard the little squeak come from you as he pulled you as close as he could, kissing you harder. It was as if he wanted all of his emotions to be said in that one kiss. His hand holding the back of your neck, his other arm wrapped around you tightly. 

He would never come so close to losing you again. 

[omgjasminesimone]

Cordonian Arrangement

NSFW. From this Ask

Word Count: 2000

“Your Majesty, Lord Fierro is here to see you.” The page informs Queen Julia Rosario.

She tries to stifle her excitement, nodding curtly to the page. “He may enter.”

The page opens the door, bowing deeply for the former King Regent.

Hunter’s eyes immediately go straight to Julia. Somehow, she’s become even more beautiful in the three months she’s been away from Cordonia. He bows deeply. “You sent for me, your Majesty?” He greets formally.

Julia smiles at him briefly before her gaze flickers back to her page. “You may leave us now.”

The page nods, bowing to his Queen and then to his Lord before closing the heavy oak doors behind him, leaving them alone.

Julia immediately jumps off the throne and runs into Hunter’s arms, hugging him tightly. “I missed you so much Hunter.” She reveals, voice wavering with emotion.

Hunter grips her chin, forcing her face to upturn so he can kiss her. She hums appreciatively as he deepens the kiss, tongue tangling around her’s.

His hands drop to her waist, pulling her flush against him. Her hands wander over his chest, into his hair, down towards his groin.

Eventually, he manages to tear himself away. They’re both breathing heavily. “How was your honeymoon?” Hunter tries to ask conversationally, but his jealousy sneaks through.

Julia regards him warily. She’s unused to a jealous Hunter. At the wedding, which he was of course expected to attend, she watched how he clenched his fists when the priest asked if anyone wanted to object. She saw the dark look in his eyes when she and her King, Theo Gunther of Auvernal, left the festivities to much fanfare to consummate their marriage.

She’d always thought that Hunter would take her virginity. That Hunter would be King, and she’d be his mistress. But that’s just not how things worked out.

“The honeymoon was fine. It was more a work trip than a vacation, but Cordonia finally has strong foreign alliances, bolstered by the joining together of Cordonia and Auvernal.” She replies.

“And how is your husband?” Hunter bitterly spits out that last word. It’s honestly offensive. Theo Gunther, middle aged and practically morbidly obese, married to his Julia.

Julia tugs at his shirt, and he reflexively lifts his arms so she can pull it over his head. “Hunter, I don’t want to talk about my husband. Besides to say that he agreed to a Cordonian arrangement.” Then, she kisses him, slowly, and passionately, as she continues to undress him.

Once he’s nude, Julia looks him over appreciatively. Even flaccid, he’s much bigger than her husband. She wonders if that will even fit inside of her, a flush rising to her cheeks. She’ll definitely try. She’s been dreaming of this for months.

Hunter steps to her, turning her around and quickly and efficiently undoing her many buttons and laces until her dress and undergarments slip to the floor and she is bare before him.

He has sorely missed this sight, being deprived of it since his fantasy room at Theodosia’s party.

Julia shuffles slightly as her nerves flare at his inspection. “So where-“

He interrupts, “Sit on your throne, Your Majesty.”

“You don’t have to call me that, you know.” Julia informs him as she follows his directions, sitting on the cushioned throne.

He kneels before her, opening her legs with a gentle grip on her knees. “But you’re the Queen. And I’m just a Lord. It’s only proper.”

If he’s being honest with himself, that’s something else he’s jealous about. The change in their stations. Queen Kendra promised this to him. This throne. This castle. The power. And it was all ripped away from him, and handed to a scribe.

He internally chastises himself. Better her than Renza, or Cyrus.

All sense of propriety disappears when he buries his head between her legs, licking languidly.

She falls back in the throne with a loud moan, opening her legs as wide as she can to keep these amazing sensations coming.

Her hand fists roughly into his hair as waves of intense pleasure wash over her as he continues to expertly perform. He can tell she’s close, so he stops, pulling away to kiss the inside of her thigh.

“Hunter.” She whines at being left unsatisfied.

“Be patient. I want to draw it out.” Hunter reveals. He kisses the inside of her other thigh. “Does your husband ever take care of you like this?”

Julia shakes her head no. With her husband, it’s strictly about his pleasure, and conceiving an heir. She’s never had an orgasm, and it’s always missionary.

Hunter dives back in, licking and sucking as Julia gasps out whimpers, and his name. He adds a finger, and then two, continuing to lap at her sex with his talented tongue.

This time when her hand fists into his hair, he doubles down, sucking as she falls over the edge, boneless in her throne.

He stands as she recovers from the force of that first orgasm. She’s never experienced anything like that. Hunter strokes himself as he watches the rise and fall of her breasts, her skin flush.

“Stand up.” He orders his monarch, and she happily relinquishes control to him. He takes her seat, soaking in the high of sitting on the throne for a brief moment. Then, he pats his lap. “Come here.”

She starts to straddle him, face to face, but he shakes his head. “Turn around beautiful.”

Julia re-positions herself so her back is to his chest. She can feel his erection at her entrance. He slowly guides himself into her as she sits, letting out a low groan at the sensation.

Hunter gives her time to adjust, placing kisses to her shoulders. “Are you okay?” He questions.

Julia nods, turning her head so she can kiss him. She turns back to the front, placing her hands on the armrests of the throne as she slowly lifts and lowers herself, gradually increasing her pace until she’s bouncing.

Hunter grips her hips, quickening her pace as he slams into her.

“Oh my god.” Julia murmurs mindlessly, eyes rolling back into her head at the sensation.

One of Hunter’s hands leaves her hip to grasp roughly at her breast. “Does your husband fuck you this good?” He growls into her ear.

Julia emphatically shakes her head no. “Only you Hunter.” She promises, tears welling in her eyes. It hurts, but it’s a good hurt.

She cries out as she comes again, toes curling before she goes limp. Hunter supports her, placing gentle kisses to her neck as his hands gently rub over her stomach, down her thighs. She can feel that he’s still hard inside of her. He wasn’t kidding about drawing this out.

“Can you stand, My Lady?”

Julia thinks she can, so she tentatively gets up from his lap.

Hunter stands after her. He gestures to the plush rug at their feet. “Hands and knees.” He instructs.

Julia gets onto her hands and knees, body buzzing with anticipation. Hunter gets behind her, erection pressing into her, but not where she expected.

He leans over her, pressing a gentle kiss to her back. “Has your husband ever taken you like this?” He murmurs, brushing her hair to one side.

“No.” Julia whispers, nervous now.

He kisses her back again, arm coming up to softly caress the small of her back. “May I?”

Julia gives an almost imperceptible nod, and Hunter slowly, very slowly, pushes just the tip into her. He’s coated in the juices from her last orgasm, so he’s lubricated, but because he’s so big it still hurts.

“Are you okay love?” Hunter questions, noticing the strain on her face.

“No, it hurts.” Julia admits.

Hunter immediately pulls out. Rubbing her back gently. “Then we don’t have to do that.” He reassures. “Wait here beautiful.”

Hunter heads back to his clothes. He draws a handkerchief from his pants pocket, and then approaches a water jug a maid left on the table. He cleans himself off with the dampened handkerchief. He comes back to her, cleaning her up as well.

When he’s done, Julia lays down on her back on the rug, tugging Hunter down on top of her. He chuckles at her enthusiasm, kissing her gently as he enters her after waiting for her nod of permission.

Although this is a position she’s used to, it’s very different with Hunter versus her husband.

With her husband, she avoids eye contact, thinks about the Auvernalese troops and protection their union has brought to Cordonia, and prays she doesn’t get pregnant.

But she loves Hunter. And as he pushes in and out of her, kissing her softly from time to time, whispering affirmations and I love yous, she realizes this is the difference between sex and making love.

He’s being so gentle now. Too gentle in her opinion. “Faster Hunter, harder.” Julia pleads, lifting her hips to spur him on.

Hunter smirks, and suddenly he’s thrown her legs over his shoulders and has her bent in half, pounding into her.

“Yes, that feels so good.” Julia praises, her head failing back into the rug.

“You feel incredible Julia.” Hunter returns, feeling himself getting close to his orgasm, sweat beading on his forehead from the exertion.

He adds a thumb, rubbing at her clit as he continues to roughly pound into her, the sounds of their skin slapping and moans and groans growing louder.

“Hunter!” Julia yells out as her walls clench around him, her strongest orgasm yet overwhelming her.

Her orgasm drives him to release as well. “Julia…” he groans as he spills into her in one long spurt.

Hunter collapses on top of her, not having the energy to even pull out of her for a moment.

After a few moments of rest, Hunter pulls out and rolls off of her, wrapping an arm around her to pull her to his side. He drops a kiss to her forehead. “I’m so in love with you Julia.”

Julia smiles, hugging his waist. “I love you too.”

The comfortable silence is eventually broken by Julia. “You shouldn’t have done that. You came inside of me.” She has promised Theo she and Hunter would be discreet. Having her boyfriend’s baby would not qualify as discreet.

Hunter sighs. He knows he should have pulled out, he was intending to, but then in the moment, looking into the eyes of the woman he loves, he couldn’t. He wanted to claim her as his, and he as her’s. A living embodiment of their love.

“No one would dare question the paternity of your child, Your Majesty. They would all assume the child is your husband’s. He would assume so too.” Hunter insists.

Julia raises a brow. “And you would be okay with that? With another man raising your child?”

Hunter’s jaw clenches as he looks away. He would certainly not be okay with that.

Julia draws him into a long lingering kiss. “It’s ok. I’m not at the most fertile part of my cycle, so it should be fine.”

“You’re tracking your cycle? You want to have his heir?” Hunter questions, bitterly.

“No, I want to not have his heir. I avoid sex with him when I’m at my most fertile.” Julia reveals.

“But you have to have an heir. What’s your plan Julia? Why did you marry him?”

He’s been wondering since the engagement. There were certainly better suitors, younger, more attractive. Some had equally alluring alliance attributes. He couldn’t understand why she chose Theo.

“My foreign intelligence officer informed me that Theo is dying. The Auvernalese don’t know. That’s why he’s so desperate for an heir. But if I’m widowed without an heir, I can remarry anyone I choose, and I inherit Auvernal and their military.” Julia reveals.

“Anyone you choose?” Hunter repeats, hopefully, after absorbing that for a moment.

Julia smiles before she nods. “Anyone I choose.” She repeats, kissing him gently.

…

..

.

taglist: @kinggliam​ @choicesgremlin​ @debramcg1106​ @desiree-0816​ @cora-nova​ @anxious-arliah @flyawayboo​ @cordoniasmost​ @princess-geek @fifteenskies15​ @silverofdreams​ @queen-kamilah​ @ohsnapitzlovehacker​ @marvellifeforever​ @choicesarehard​ @zaffrenotes​

[folktalesandmythsandlegends]

Seleme and Dionysus

So one day Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods, visited Earth and he saw a drop-dead beautiful woman named Semele. Zeus is all like "I have to have her" because Zeus can't control himself. Ever. So he changes his appearance so Hera, his wife and Queen of the Olympians won't find out and keeps it a secret. So Semele and Zeus start to see each other, and everything is great, until Hera finds out about this. Hera, being the jealous wife/sister of Zeus decides that her honor is ruined, and she's so angry that she's out for blood. She has to destroy Semele at all costs. So she disguises herself as a mortal woman. Not just any mortal woman, she is a handmaiden to Semele herself. Hera becomes BFF's with Semele. She does her hair and nails and helps pick out her outfits and likes all her selfies. Of course, Hera is one of the few Olympians who actually thinks about what to do and had formulated a plan. She wanted all the details on Zeus and Semele's relationship.

 So one day while doing each other’s nails Hera asks Semele, “Do you think your boyfriend actually loves you? I heard a rumor he was actually Zeus, is that true?” 

So thinking that they are great friends Semele says, "Listen, Zeus totally loves me. He loves me so much that he promised to do whatever I ask of him to do. He even played that Ain't No Mountain High Enough song for me and it was so romantic. I guess you could say it's pretty serious." 

Hera thinks to herself "Yes! My totally evil plan to defeat Semele and get back at Zeus is going to be better than I thought! I am so awesome and beautiful." So she goes back to Semele and says that if Zeus would do anything for her she should ask him to show off all his awesomeness, the same way he did when he was dating, Hera. And Semele thinks it’s a great idea. 

So Zeus comes by later and is like "Hey babe, how's it going?"

So Semele says everything is great. So later when they are going on a romantic date at the local drive-in movie theatre Semele says "Hey, do you remember that sacred oath you said about doing anything I ask you?"

And he's all like "Sure I remember. What do you want? Do you want to be Queen of Greece? Or more servants and money?" And she says "No. I want to see all your awesomeness the exact same way you did with Hera." Zeus doesn't want to, but because he promised her, he agreed to show off all his power and awesomeness. He has strobe lights, a disco ball, a fog machine, confetti, there was loud music playing in the background. It was too much awesomeness for Semele so she screamed, burst into flame, and died. Zeus knew he was her baby Daddy though so he grabbed the baby she was six months pregnant with, and sewed him into his thigh to hide him from Hera. So Dionysus grows and when it's time for him to be born, Zeus took out the stitches. He then called Hermes over and said "Hera's going to be so ticked if she finds out Dionysus is still alive. So take him to his Aunt Ino and her husband. And to make sure he is super protected makes him look like a girl." Hermes is like "Kay." And does what Zeus said.

Eventually, Hera finds out that Dionysus survived, and she is super ticked. Like ten times as ticked as Zeus thought she would be. She was so ticked that she made Ino and her husband totally crazy. So Zeus took Dionysus and made him a goat. He gave goat Dionysus to some Asian nymphs to take care of, but Hera found him again and made him crazy times 10. So Dionysus is walking around all over the Mediterranean world in places like Egypt and Syria doing these awful crimes like murder and theft when he runs into Rhea, a great goddess, in Phrygia and she makes Dionysus better and forgave him for the bad things he did. She made him the leader of her cult and gave him oriental clothes and an ivy wreath to wear. And he did wear it and never changed. Ever. He taught everyone how to make wine from grapes and how to farm with yolk and ox. People joined his cult, and everyone was happy.

Well most everyone. This dude named Lycurgus, a King of Thrace did not like Dionysus' cult so he didn't let Dionysus sit with him at the plastic’s table, and imprisoned his followers. Dionysus did not like that, so he made Lycurgus so crazy he thought his son was a grapevine that needed pruning, and he murdered his son by chopping off his arms and legs. So the moment Lycurgus' son died he realized what he had done. But Dionysus was not done. He made all of Thrace barren for such a long time that Lycurgus went to go see an oracle. The King was all like "I must have ticked off Dionysus a lot. What do I need to do to make Thrace lush again?" The oracle responded, "You need to die, idiot." So because the king didn't want to die he tried to keep it a secret. And naturally, because it was a secret, everybody in the kingdom found out and they all killed him. It was a mass meeting of 1-800-choke dat hoe. 

So then Dionysus went to Thebes, and a profit told the King Pentheus that if he had to do all the religious rites for Dionysus. If he didn't, then all the mothers would tear their children's arms and legs off and decorate the woods with the limbs. Pentheus' own mother would kill him that way. But Pentheus didn't believe him. So Dionysus arrives, and the party doesn’t start till he walks in. So everyone in Thebes is having a party and doing the Dionysus cult thing, and King Pentheus gets word of that. Now Pentheus is really angry. He goes around yelling at everyone and saying that he thought Thebes would have had to be taken by force of an army. “It would at least be more honorable than this!” 

So he’s ticked off and demands that Dionysus be captured to determine if he is a fake. But Pentheus’ bros tried to change his mind, but it just made Pentheus even angrier. So his guards went out to try to find Dionysus, but they couldn’t find him because everyone, EVERYONE was too turnt, so they grabbed one of Dionysus’ priests because the guards were afraid to return to the king empty-handed. 

So Pentheus roasts Dionysus in front of the priest when the priest decides to tell Pentheus the story of how he met Dionysus. 

“It’s like this.” He said. “I was a pirate on a ship when the ship got stuck? So me and my crew spent the night and the next morning we woke up and we were thirsty so we went to go look for water, right? So then this dude wearing purple just shows up on the beach! So my crew got together without me and said “dudes I think this guy is a Prince! We could make a fortune if we sold him!” Right? So they go ashore and this guy is high or turnt, or almost asleep so it should have been easy to chain him right? Wrong! No matter how they tried to put the chains on they kept falling off. They were seriously tripped up by this. But somehow they got him on our boat, and I saw him and was like “This guy looks like a god, and that thing with the chains, he has to be a god.” So then I was yelling at my crew like “Dudes, this guy is a god for real for real! He even looks like a god, and you can’t see that? You might have captured Zeus, or his bro Poseidon, or Zeus’ son Apollo, fools! We can’t take him, ya’ll are trippin,” but my captain was like “Nah bro, you’re crazy just make like Miley Cyrus and Do Your Thing, and we’ll deal with this guy. This dude is rich, not immortal, but the gods must have sent him here to make us rich, you know what I’m saying?” 

“So right then the dude wakes up, and is like “Where am I, how did I get here?” But the captain was like “You can hitch a ride with us. Where do you want to go?” So the dude said, “My home is on the island of Naxos.” So the captain was like “Lit, we’ll take you there.” But I knew that this fool was lying, so I didn’t do my job. So the captain made someone else steer the ship. So we are sailing when Purple dude says “Wait we’re not heading towards Naxos! How could you? I came out to have a good time and honestly, I’m feeling so attacked right now.” Then the ship stopped right there, like no movement, like it was dead. So we’re sitting there when suddenly homie points to the sail because there is a grapevine growing, but with vines of ivy growing and a bunch of other fruit and everything was getting covered and then it started to smell sweet, and the deck started to get covered in wine, and everyone was terrified, I mean terrified. We all looked at the purple dude who was really angry. He had on a wreath of ivy and grapes and was shaking a pole called a thyrsi that was covered in ivy and grapevines. Then all these animals appeared out of nowhere by his feet. Like a lynx a tiger and a panther. Then Yogi bear showed up and he was angry, and the dude was too. So he changed into this huge lion and killed the captain. So now everyone is running around trying to find a way to get away, ‘cuz this was some messed up stuff. They were tearing away vines to try to get to the oars that wouldn’t move, when their hands turned to fins, straight up! So they are all trying to jump overboard now, and as soon as they hit the water, BOOM! They were dolphins, for real! Nineteen of my bros became nineteen dolphins. So the young dude turns back into himself and was like “You’re cool, so I saved you. By the way I’m the son of Zeus, Dionysus.” So that was that, and since then me and my Immortal bro Dionysus are tight. And we get more mortal followers all the time, straight up.” 

Pentheus was ticked off. “YOU CAN’T SIT WITH US! Take him away and beat him up, then kill him for that stupid story!” 

So the guards were preparing his torture and saying to each other that they needed to let him go, when suddenly there was an earthquake, and the door opened and the chains fell and the priest walked out with a fog machine blowing smoke behind him. So the guards ran up to Pentheus and told him what happened. And Pentheus was like “Am I the only one that can do things the right way?” So he goes out and starts stalking Dionysus and all his followers on Facebook and Twitter, and Tumblr, and Pinterest, etc. He wants to know how Dionysus gets all his followers and friends. So he is looking at the likes and spying on them in a tree because he had gotten so mad at hearing the hysteric songs and shrill screams. He keeps looking and watching, trying to figure out how to defeat this “boy” when his mother sees him in the tree. She gets so mad at the fact that he is spying on all Dionysus’ followers and watching them do their rites and rituals that she takes out her iStone 11 and calls her friends to help her chase this boar that is destroying the land. So Pentheus runs like a mad man, but the women are so much faster and they catch him and cut off his hands. Pentheus starts to yell out to his mother in a desperate attempt for her to recognize him, but just like Lycurgus before her, she didn’t recognize her own son. He begged her, but she said the last words Pentheus ever heard. “This trophy of the hunt is mine!”  So she cut off his head and put it on a thyrsus and scattered his body everywhere. Later at the party, she realized what she did and showed everyone. They were so afraid, but Dionysus had taken over their kingdom and everyone was happy. Well except for Hera who was angry that Dionysus could turn people to dolphins and make mothers and fathers kill their own children. Everywhere he went she tried to stop him by punishing everyone else, but she never directly punished Dionysus. Dionysus continued on his road trip to get more followers. He even went back to Naxos and married a girl named Ariadne. On one of the last of his travels, he went down into a Burning Ring of Fire, also known as Hades, or the underworld. In the underworld, he found his mother Semele, who he renamed Thyone. He brought her up to Mt. Olympus to live happily ever after. 

The version of this myth was taken from Mythology and You: Classical Mythology and Its Relevance To Today’s World by Donna Rosenberg and Sorelle Baker

Notes

Some versions of the myth cite Semele as a princess of Thebes, some not only say she was a princess but the daughter of the founders of Thebes, Cadmus, Prince of Thrace brother to Europa, and Harmonia, who was the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. A scholarly analysis of another version says Semele could have been a priestess. 

In other versions of the myth, after the “second birth” of Dionysus, instead of giving Dionysus to Ino and her husband, Zeus had Hermes give him to the nymphs of Nysa where he stayed until manhood. Another version says Dionysus was given to Ino and her younger sister Argave who eventually betrayed Dionysus. Ino was punished, most likely by Zeus, by making her go mad and jumping into the sea with her own son where they were saved by the sea nymphs and stayed forever helping sailors.

In another version of this myth, when Dionysus made his way to Thrace, Lycurgus still opposed the worship Dionysus was leading, insulted, and set out to capture Dionysus. However, Dionysus retreated to the ocean only to return later and defeat Lycurgus. As punishment, Dionysus  imprisoned him in a cave until he went mad and realized Dionysus was a god whence Zeus struck Lycurgus blind. Lycurgus died soon after.

Almost every version talkies about the pirates who captured Dionysus, but it varies on how. One version says that Dionysus hired the Pirates after retreating to the ocean from Lycurgus and coming up on the wrong side. Other versions say he was taken while conscience and cocky and others say he was fast asleep when captured. One aspect that remains consistent is the fact that Dionysus was going to be used to get money either via ransom or sold into slavery in Egypt or other lands and at least one person objected to this arguing he might be a god. All versions have Dionysus making the sailors go bonkers.

The “Asian Nymphs” are most likely from Persia or Asia Minor which is modern day Turkey. This is my own educated guess based on the idea that, according to the myth, he wandered in that region.

Some versions have Dionysus travel as far as India.

After leaving Nysa a version of the Myth has him travel to Crete to grant Midas’ wish to turn everything he touches to gold. Chronologically, I am uncertain as to when Dionysus granted Midas’ wish, but the myth of King Midas does have Dionysus grant the wish. 

Naxos, Thrace, Thebes, and Phrygia are not close together and on a map this is clearly seen. Ultimately, this was the reason I choose to start my Greek Myths with this story. We can see the sphere of influence that the Hellenic world had on the the surrounding area and get a better idea on how large the Hellenic area is even if the majority of the myth only takes place in the Aegean.

Yellow-Thrace

Red- Thebes

Purple- Naxos

Blue- Phrygia (slightly more south east than placed but unable to be seen from the above map.)

Sources Referenced

D’aularies’ Book Of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’aularie’s

Mythology And You: Classical Mythology and Its Relevance To Today’s World by Donna Rosenberg and Sorelle Baker

Mythology: Timeless Tales Of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton

Tales Of The Greek Heroes by Roger Lancelyn Green

[dociousunderdog]

The three times Jonah was a third wheel and the one time he wasn’t

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Jonah loved his friends, that was a fact nobody dared question. He would do anything for them and he loved spending time with them.

But then they all got into relationships.

And although the others assured Jonah they didn’t mind him hanging around with them, he could tell that whenever he was around just two of them, they wished he wasn’t.

“Always the bridesmaid never the bride.” Buffy commented once on his relationship status while he hung out with her and Marty at The Spoon.

“I don’t mind that, it’s fun being single.” He commented with a smile before grabbing a baby tater from the basket in the centre of the table.

“Sure, tell yourself that, Beck.” Marty chuckled as he sat back down next to Buffy after getting up to grab her extra napkins.

“I’m not lonely!” Jonah defended himself, but it sounded slightly too whiney and came out sounding like a lie. Buffy and Marty both gave the same look that said ‘Sure’. “Really I’m not! I only always hang out with you guys because you invite me and I don’t want to be rude, I’m not afraid to be alone.” Jonah said lowly before reaching for another tater.

“Can I ask you a question though, Beck? Something that’s been on my mind since you started being a third wheel all the time.” Marty said nonchalantly mocking his friend. Marty, Jonah, and TJ have become very good friends since TJ started dating Cyrus and Marty started dating Buffy. They’re friends call them the ‘Dumbass Trio’ because they always come up with the dumbest shit to pass their time with. Jonah shot Marty a glare before imploring him to continue. “Who is it worse to be a third wheel with? Like whose the most ‘lovey-dovey lost in their own world oh hi Jonah when did you get here?’ When you’re around them?” He paused to take a bite from one of Buffy’s fries that he stole without thinking. “Because I bet it’s Cyrus and TJ, they never take their hands off each other even when we’re all hanging out together.”

“Nah it’s probably Amber and Andi. Andi never shuts up about Amber and rambles on and on about kissing her for hours I bet when they’re together that’s literally all they do.” Buffy rolled her eyes fondly before looking over to Jonah expectantly.

“Well it’s definitely not you guys.” He laughed and they shrugged in agreement. While Buffy and Marty loved each other and loved being together, their relationship had always been built on banter and playful mocking, therefore PDA and such wasn’t high on their priorities list even after becoming official. “I’d say it’s probably Cyrus and TJ. There have been times where they invited me to hang out and everything was fine but then I’d go to the bathroom and come back to find them making out.” Jonah shuttered playfully at the thought. He didn’t think it was gross, he actually thought it was cute, but he was in a rather good mood that day and decided to be a little playful.

“But Amber and Andi are pretty bad too. They stare into each other’s eyes for extended periods of time and try to hold conversations with me when they do it which always end up something like ‘yeah you’re right ‘Introducing Me’ is the best song from the Camp Rock franchise and oh my god did you know Amber has flecks of green in her eyes when you look at them just right?’” Jonah recounted while doing his very best Andi voice (which was basically just him raising the pitch of his own voice). “It’s cute though, same with Teej and Cy.” He sighed looking down at his hands.

“Sorry did you say something?” Marty said in fake confusion while never looking away from Buffy earning him a light kick to his leg under the table.

||

It was game night. A tradition usually shared by the Dumbass Trio, but tonight was different. Tonight Marty made one-on-one plans with Buffy so it was going to be just TJ and Jonah. Jonah suggested cancelling but TJ refused and said they could still have fun just the two of them. The plan was to hang out at TJ’s house and play Smash Brothers. Jonah arrived at TJ’s house and was greeted by Amber who looked rather dolled up so he assumed she was going on a date with Andi somewhere. “Hey Jonah, TJ and Cyrus are in the living room getting the Switch set up.” She smiled and he nodded before stepping into the house.

“Cyrus is here?” Jonah didn’t mind, he just didn’t know. Amber nodded before grabbing her car keys from a bowl by the door and yelling out that she was leaving. Jonah walked through the house into the living room where he was immediately faced with TJ on his knees in front of Cyrus who was sitting on the couch, TJ playfully crouched over Cyrus, slightly pinning him to the couch, both laughing wildly.

“Am I interrupting?” Jonah smiled, wiggling his eyebrows as he did so even though no one was looking at him.

“Of course not.” Cyrus smiled up at him as he lightly shoved TJ off of him. “We’re glad you’re here!” He jumped off the couch to give Jonah a bro hug greeting. Jonah then plopped himself down on the end of the couch Cyrus hadn’t been on before he walked in. Cyrus sat back down where he was before and TJ sat in front of him on the floor.

“Ready?” TJ asked after giving Cyrus and Jonah controllers. They started playing and everything was fine. Occasionally in between matches Jonah would steal a glance over at TJ and Cyrus to see TJ fondly laying his head back onto Cyrus’s lap while Cyrus played with his hair. The game continued in much the same way until the dreaded moment approached them. After slurping down about 3 cans of cola it was finally the time for Jonah to excuse himself to go to the bathroom. Leaving the room while hanging out with TJ and Cyrus was a bit of a gamble. When you returned they were either in the same position waiting for you to get back, have somehow gotten even closer than they previously had been, or on occasion would be straight up making out. Jonah excused himself to the bathroom, knowing full well where it is from all the time he’s spent in the Kippen house from when he was dating Amber to all his hang outs with the Dumbass Trio. When he was done he slinked around the corner to peak at his friends before fully walking back into the room so as not to interrupt a private moment or anything.

He peered his head around the corner and sure enough saw TJ had moved up onto the couch and was kissing Cyrus. Jonah felt an odd feeling he never really had before and he couldn’t quite name it. Was it jealousy? Perhaps but not because he had a crush on either TJ or Cyrus, but more so jealous of the relationship as a whole. He wished he could have someone he cared for who cared for him like how TJ and Cyrus cared for each other. He sighed before fully walking into the room, attempting to make some kind of noise so as to alert his friends that he was there. “I’m back.” He said, feeling overly awkward when they pulled away and looked up at him.

“Sorry.” TJ said before shuffling his way back down to the floor in front of Cyrus. “Ready to play more?” TJ asked.

“Actually I’m kinda tired, I think I’m just gonna head out.” Jonah said. It wasn’t a total lie, as his recent revelation that he wasn’t as super ok with being single as he thought he was had tuckered him out. “You two have fun though.” He said before heading towards the door, “Not too much fun though!” He yelled at them from the door and he could hear TJ’s hearty laugh boom through the residence in response.

|||

Jonah sat down at a random table in The Spoon and waited for his friends to show up. It was one of those days when they were all seven going to hang out together and Jonah was excited, he loved spending time with his friends. A few minutes pass and Jonah heard a bell ring above the door, he turned to see who it was and it was Amber and Andi. He waved them down and they came over to his table and sat down across from him.

“Nobody else is here yet?” Andi asked and Jonah shook his head.

“No, not yet.” He shrugged, not thinking anything of it.

“And looks like never.” Amber said before showing her phone to the other two revealing texts from Cyrus.

Cyrus: We’re so sorry guys, we forgot about our plans to all hang out today and TJ, Marty, Buffy, and I are going on a double-date.

Cyrus: We’ll make it up to you!

Cyrus: We promise!

Jonah let out a sigh before the waitress approached their table to take their order and Jonah smiled up at them as he ordered. Amber, being a co-worker and good friend to her could see she was falling for Jonah’s charms and that sparked a curiosity in her she needed answered. “So, are you still single Jonah?” She asked casually after the waitress had walked away.

“Ambs, don’t put him on the spot like that.” Andi whispered into Amber’s ear although she was well aware he could probably still hear them as they were sitting literally right across from him.

“Yes, Amber, I’m still single, why are you asking?” He cocked a brow at her and she shrugged.

“No real reason I suppose.” Jonah gave her a look she knew all too well. “Alright it’s just you can charm people so easily. Literally half the people in here would probably kill to date you.” She said before reaching her arm around Andi and pulling her close.

“So?” Jonah never understood subtlety, it’s not his specialty.

“So, why don’t you date someone?” She said simply only to be smacked on her arm by her girlfriend.

“Stop, he’ll date again if he wants to.” Andi reprimanded.

“There is a part of me who wants to try the relationship thing again.” Jonah sighed and it was now Andi’s turn to cock a brow at him.

“Oh really? Any reason?” Andi asked before taking a long swig of her milkshake before passing it over to Amber so she could do the same. It always amazed Jonah how she could change on the dime like that.

“There may or may not be someone I’ve been interested in getting to know better.” He mumbled and both of the girls’ eyes opened wider. “Also I miss all the cute stuff, like hand holding and cuddling and little kisses goodbye.” He suddenly felt embarrassingly aware of the fact that the things he was describing were coming from his past relationships with the girls sitting in front of him. “Never mind, what are you two gonna do today?” He shrugged and tried to change the subject.

“You can’t just drop that truth bomb on us and expect us to ignore it, Jonah!” Andi said with her eyes so wide Jonah was worried they might fall out of her head. “Who is it? How long have you known them? Do I know them?” Andi questioned, this time her girlfriend was the one having to corral her.

“Slow your roll, like you said, don’t put him on the spot like that.” Amber calmed her down by gently running a hand through her short hair.

The food then arrived and suddenly all of Jonah’s anxious feelings were channeled into his hunger. “Oh yay foods here, let’s eat!” He said hoping his change in tone wouldn’t be suspicious. It was but the girls ignored it and also began eating.

+1

All of them finally together, what Jonah had wanted for a while. They were all seven chilling out in Cyrus’s basement, laying around on couches, drinking soda, eating junk food, playing ping pong, anything they wanted. It was like a mini party just for them.

“Cyrus can I ask you a question?” Jonah asked pulling Cyrus aside. Cyrus nodded to let him know to continue before taking a sip from TJ’s soda he was holding for him while he, quote unquote ‘beat Marty’s pathetic ass in ping pong’. “Is it ok if I invited someone else?”

“Absolutely! Just let me know and I’ll tell my mom to bring them down here when they get here.” Cyrus smiled and Jonah smiled back at him. Jonah had to admit he was freaking out a bit. He hadn’t told anyone except for Amber and Andi that he was even thinking of getting into another relationship, what will they all think if he’s just suddenly in one? That he was faking it to avoid being the eternal third wheel? That he rushed into it to avoid being the eternal third wheel? He didn’t know but he was sure it would always come back around to him being the damn eternal third wheel. Jonah shot them a text message and let Cyrus know they were on their way. ‘It’s now or never, Beck.’ Jonah thought to himself.

“Guys I have something I want to tell you.” Jonah said loudly to get all of his friends’ attention. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at him, confused. “I’m seeing someone.” Jonah said bluntly and all his friends began smiling, TJ and Marty even jokingly cheering like he had just won a big prize or something.

“When can we meet them?” Andi called out happily.

“You already have.” Said a familiar voice as they walked down the stairs into the basement. They walked right up to Jonah and grabbed his hand before giving him a peck on the lips as a greeting. Everyone, except Marty and TJ, gawked at the pair.

“Wait who is that?” Marty asked and TJ shrugged.

“I’m Walker, Jonah’s boyfriend.” Walker smiled and Jonah felt a nervous jolt through him at that word. He didn’t like labels and Walker knew that, but Jonah also knew that it was the easiest way to sum up what they were to each other so he let it slide.

“And Andi And Buffy’s ex-boyfriend!” Amber exclaimed and Andi blushed.

“We never technically dated.” Andi commented.

“Did he ever date my boyfriend?” TJ asked bluntly and Cyrus shook his head. “Oh then I have no problems, welcome to the group, dude.”

“Yeah but he’s my girlfriend’s ex so I don’t know if I feel the same way.” Marty huffed only to have Buffy walk over and wrap her arms around him.

“If it makes you feel better I broke up with him because I had feelings for you.” She smiled up at him and he blushed.

“Alright I have no problems either, welcome, bro.” Marty smiled and the group laughed.

They all dispersed and went back to doing whatever they were doing. Jonah let out a relived sigh, happy his friends took it so well.

“I told you the world wouldn’t end if we told people about us.” Walker joked before swinging their intertwined fingers.

“I know, I know.” Jonah joked back before looking directly into Walker’s eyes and continuing “Thank you for coming and being there for me.” Jonah smiled seriously and Walker responded by leaning down and kissing him. They kissed for who knows how long until they heard a whoop and jumped back in surprise.

“I guess we have the answer to whose the most lovey-dovey couple, eh?” Marty joked and Jonah rolled his eyes.

“Nah TJ and Cyrus are still worse!” Jonah countered with a smile.

“No we’re not! We have the common courtesy to wait until you leave the room to make out, you and Walker just did that right in front of everyone!” TJ said back with a playful smile.

Andi rolled her eyes before speaking up, “Ok can we go back to just hanging out before the Dumbass Trio start fist fighting over who gets more action?”

“Yeah especially since it would all be wrong because that title clearly goes to us.” Amber added while wrapping an arm around a now blushing Andi’s shoulders.

The group shared a laugh before doing as Andi suggested and going back to just chilling with the people they hold dearest. Jonah smiled contently as he rested his head on Walker’s shoulder while sitting next to him on the couch. “I like not being the third wheel.” He whispered and Walker smiled.

“I like it too.” He leaned down to press a kiss to Jonah’s head.