#luckily none of the prompts are about time management

[xanadontit]

My brother sent me some college essays to look at and uhhhh I was not prepared for what he wrote about our dad.

Edit: I should probably clarify that nothing he wrote was a surprise (oh dad is emotionally stunted? no shit) or especially upsetting. It was just kind of wild to see the kid write it out, all matter of fact.

[teddy06writes]

Whumptober Day 21 - Aaron Hotchner

Aaron Hotchner x gn!autistic!reader

Prompt: "You haven't done anything wrong."

Trigger Warnings: None

Summary: After a particularly long day, you find yourself overwhelmed and unsure. Luckily Aaron is there to help you calm down, no matter how much you protest.

You had been laying on the floor of the living room for some time now, listening to music playing softly from where you had abandoned your phone on the coffee table.

You didn't even hear the front door open, or realize Aaron had entered the room until he was practically right next to you, looking down at your with a puzzled face.

You blinked, glancing at the clock on the wall behind him, "I didn't realize it was already time..."

"I got out a little early today," Slowly he shrugged off his jacket, and sat down on the floor beside you, "Are you alright sweetheart?"

"Weird day..." You thought for a moment, searching for the right words to put to the feeling, "I'm all.... jumbled up and tired."

"Is there anything I can do?"

You bit your lip, suddenly finding yourself drowning in the same overwhelming feeling that had presented itself to you at every fork in the road that the day had given you. You swallowed thickly, near tears without a reason, and frustrated with yourself for it. "I- I don't know."

In an instant, Aaron was taking your hand in his and squeezing it, "That's alright, honey. We'll figure it out."

You squeezed his hand back, desperately, and he laid out on his back beside you. The two of you sat in the quiet for a few long minutes, breathing together.

"Can you explain what's wrong, so that i know how to help?" He asked eventually.

You thought for a long moment, "I just- there were so many things I needed to do and I couldn't figure out what to do first and- and- then I couldn't do any of them- I can't do decisions today. I'm just- too tired...."

Aaron listened patiently, nodding along. That was something you always appreciated about him. He would always listen to you try to explain anything that was bothering you, and not get fed up with your strange explanations. He even managed to find meaning in your strange, circling thoughts that you sometimes couldn't fully decipher.

"How about this," He propped himself up on his elbow, "You take a little more time here while I go order some dinner, from that place you like down the street. Then we can eat, and start watching that series that Penelope recommended. Does that sound okay?"

You nodded, and he leaned in to press a kiss to your forehead before starting to get up, "Be right back."

You sat up after him, half thinking you were going to follow him, "I'm sorry..."

"You don't need to apologize, honey. You haven't done anything wrong."

[roonotrue]

Day 1 - Ice Skating with Vil!

Twisted Wonderland Writings Masterpost

Prologue, Day 2

Prompt: In the end Epel is the one who manages to convince a housewarden to help, specifically getting Vil to help distract the MC while he and the other freshies enact their plan, which is now being referred to as Operation 'Christmas Miracle!'

Reader: GN reader - They/Them pronouns and the reader is called 'MC/Prefect.' The reader also knows how to ice skate but hasn't in a while. (I am too scared to ever try ice skating, but for those of you who do Merry Christmas.)

Included Characters: Vil Schoenheit

Warnings: Mild Swearing.

Tags: @twistedcece

~~~

It's been weeks since you spoke with your fellow freshmen about the winter holidays in your world, and the cold has really come rushing in full force at NRC.

Snow blankets the ground, and students wear thick layers to class to keep warm.

You didn't really have any thick layers to bundle up in, but luckily Professor Crewel noticed this when you and Grim came into class a Prefect and Cat-shaped popsicle, ten minutes late. He then personally saw to yell at Crowley in his office for twenty whole minutes about letting you freeze to death.

So now you have a winter coat.

Big enough for Grim to hide in with you when heading to class. Maybe you can wrangle some gloves out of him to if you play your cards right.

But that's none of this is the point. The point is, it's cold enough to go ice skating on the pond outside the Alchemy Workshop.

Which Vil invited you to go do.

Vil.

Vil Schoenheit.

Invited you.

To go... Ice skating.

The famous model and actor, and the Housewarden of Pomefiore (though much less relevant than the FAMOUS MODEL AND ACTOR part) invited YOU... To go ice skating with him.

Okay, look, it's not that you find it hard to believe (you do actually find it very hard to believe), it's just that... Vil is... Vil.

And you're you. In his eyes, a potato. Not that you mind. Most people are potatoes compared to Vil Scheonheit, but also, potatoes aren't that bad of a comparison.

One of the most diverse ingredients and stand-alone foods in this world and yours. Easily able to fit into any dish or meal as a main ingredient or a side.

You'd say since coming to NRC, you fit that description kind of well.

The point is, you and Vil are friends, but like, you've never gone and done something alone with him like this. You'd asked if other Pomefiore students might be there (namely Rook or Epel), but he'd said it'd just be you two.

Alone. Without one of the idiots (read: friends) in your life (take your pick, there are many), contributing to, or leading the conversation.

You're totally not overthinking this or anything.

You try way too hard to wear something nicer than usual- but as mentioned before, you don't have a ton of warm clothes. And they'll be covered by your coat anyway so why the hell does it matter?

Because it's Vil. That's why it matters. You want to look nice.

"You know, I still think the first shirt was the nicest." Grim mutters between bites of tuna.

Which you don't appreciate considering you gave him that can so he'd shut up for a minute.

"It had a hole in it, Grim. Do you really think Vil wouldn't notice that?" You scoff, searching your closet for another nicer button-up.

The only good one you have is for your school uniform, but it needs to be washed, and you don't have time for that- Vil is literally on his way to pick you up.

"No, cuz it'll be hidden under the coat! Now hurry up, he just texted you he's here."

"What!?" You rush to your phone, quickly throwing on the shirt, rushing to button it up as you see the text.

"Okay, okay, okay- Uh, I left another can of tuna on the counter for you if you get hungry while I'm gone, and if anyone swings by needing me for something- I'm dead, got it?" You tell Grim, putting on your coat.

"Sure thing, henchhuman! Stay out as late as you need, the Great Grim has got things handled!" He says with a large smile, way too excited for you to leave.

Normally he complains anytime you go somewhere without him and get's all grumpy or will end up sneaking along after you. 

But today, he's been all too happy to help you get ready and push you out the door.

It's suspicious. He's been acting suspiciously for the last two weeks.

So have the others. Avoiding you, getting anxious and awkward when you're around. Lying.

You're not an idiot. They're up to something. You can't quite figure out what exactly but you can reckon it's probably something that you're going to have to fix later.

But right now, you've got more pressing issues.

Like stopping at the hall mirror to make sure your hair isn't messed up, and your skin's not greasy or anything.

When you open the door Vil is, as always, the vision of perfection. Dressed snuggly in a deep blue winter coat, black leather gloves, and a white fur scarf, his hair tied back in a bun, only the front half left loose to frame his face as it usually does.

His violet eyes glimmer when he sees you, swiftly putting his phone back in his pocket.

"There you are, are you ready to go?" He smiles.

"Yep!" You chuckle as you rub your hands together at the cold breeze that comes rushing in from outside.

It snowed particularly hard last night, so classes had been canceled today. But right now, the sky is clear, and the fresh snow sparkles under the late morning light.

The motion, however, catches Vil's eye, whose smile drops as he looks you up and down and raises a brow.

"It's quite cold out, MC, are you sure you don't want to put on gloves? And a scarf you be a good idea too. And maybe a different coat, that one simply is not your color, who did you let pick it out, Crowley? It hardly looks warm enough for the weather." He asks, poking at the sleeve of the item.

Actually, yes, he did pick it out. The cheapest one he could find.

"It's the only coat I have, and I don't have any gloves or anything. It's fine though, I've gotten pretty used to the cold by now." You laugh it off, and Vil's eyes narrow.

"Hm. Very well, let's just get going, I'm sure we can swing by Sam's shop and pick you up something." He nods, resolute.

"Oh, I don't really have any money for it. Not if I want to eat something other than the cheap microwave meals Crowley leaves for me over break." You wave your hands, stepping outside and closing the door before you let any more heat out.

It was hard enough getting the furnace working, you're not wasting a single second of the warmth it provides before it breaks again.

"Microwave meals!? Is that birdbrained idiot trying to kill you!? Do you know how many preservatives and chemicals are in those!?" Vil looks horrified and you can't help but chuckle, scratching at the back of your head nervously.

"Well, food is food, as Ruggie would say. We can worry more about it later if you'd like, but I'd really like to have some sort of fun on my snow day, don't you?" You ask, trying to change the subject.

The housewarden cringes at the idea of dropping the subject, but lets out a defeated sigh.

"Fine. We will be talking about this later though. Or at least I'll be talking with Crowley next housewarden's meeting." He mumbles the last bit as he grabs your arm, looping it through his.

Oh. Oh.

He leads the way down Ramshackle steps towards the gate. And you try not to think about you two looking awfully a lot like a couple.

Ice skating is a common winter date where you're from... And then you have a thought.

A stomach-dropping thought.

Is this a date?

You nearly stumble to a stop at the thought.

You didn't think to ask. Why would you!? It was such a random out-of-the-blue offer! You didn't think 'Would you like to go ice skating with me today?' translated to anything nonplatonic!

It's probably not a date. Probably.

So you quickly decide to distract yourself from the warmth radiating from where your and Vil's arms are locked.

"So, you wouldn't happen to know what's up with Epel lately? He and the others have been avoiding me. I think they're planning something, but I don't know what." You mention, and Vil glances at you with a small smirk.

"It just so happens I do. And trust me, it's nothing to worry about. Let's just focus on us today, yes?"

Oh, this might be a fucking date.

Fuuuuuuuck.

You would have tried so much harder to look nicer if you'd realized this sooner!

"O-okay. Well, how have you been with all the cold weather? Are you excited for the break?" You ask, suddenly feeling very nervous.

"I don't mind the cold, it dries out the skin, but simply adding an extra hydration step to my skincare routine in the morning and night is a simple fix for it." He informs and you smile.

"I've tried that face scrub stuff you got for me, and it works really well. Smells nice too. I'm almost out of it, so I'll have to save up for some more." You mention, the gift- or well, 'charity' as he called it at the time a few months ago, of skincare products.

It was nice of him, and you're pretty sure it was a 'thank you' for helping him during his overblot. Which is more than you got from Leona.

You've been able to set up a routine for yourself with it, probably nothing as complicated as his routine, but you're proud to say you have seen some improvements.

"Oh? I'm glad, I wasn't sure you'd use any of them, Epel certainly doesn't." He scoffs, and you chuckle.

"Yet somehow has incredible skin." You remark as you walk out the gate and towards the Alchemy Workshop

"I know, as to how he got so lucky when all he does is wash it with water and a cloth in the morning- sometimes- I will never understand." Vil sighs, bringing a hand to his head in disappointment.

"Well, at least he's got you to look out for him. Wish I were so lucky to have gotten the fair Vil Schoenheit as a guide throughout my time here at NRC. All I got was Crowley." You sigh, unintentionally leaning into him as a cold breeze passes through.

"Hm, well, if you'd like I can certainly dedicate some of my time to help you with self-care and style? And trust me, it's no burden on me. After all, if we're going to be seen together more, it ought to be my job to make sure you look good enough to impress. I want the world to see you as beautiful on the outside as I know you are on the inside." He meets your wide-eyed gaze with a soft smile.

There's a fondness in his eyes that you don't think you've ever seen before.

A fondness meant just for you.

"Oh my, are you sure you're not cold? Your face is all red." He asks, though there's a knowing look in his eyes and a smirk on his lips.

Oh, he's teasing you.

"I'm fine! I just didn't expect that! I don't get compliments often, you know?" You turn away, focusing on the path ahead of you.

"Oh, I doubt that sweet potato, with how selfless and determined you are? There are a lot of people here at NRC who should be singing your praises for everything you do for them." He brings his other free hand to rest on top of your arm, still locked with his.

"Well, all I really hear is people telling me that I shouldn't be so kind, or that I'm naive, too trusting, too generous, and foolish for never requesting anything in return... Sometimes it's like none of the students here even know what kindness is, the way they react to it." You can see the Alchemy Workshop ahead of you.

"Hm, I see. Well, I might agree in some aspects that you're too trusting and generous at times, but for the most part, it's... Not a bad thing. You've helped people, MC, even at your own detriment, and though the idea of you continuing to do so worries me, I know you will. Because you have a good heart. You care about people, even when they don't deserve your care. It's admirable." He sighs wistfully, staring off ahead, the condensation of his breath floating in the icy air around his face.

You pause when you reach the Alchemy Workshop, looking at him as he turns to you questioningly.

"... Thanks, Vil. You have a good heart too. Even if you don't show it very often. You look after your dormmates and underclassmen, you make sure they're taking care of themselves, eating healthy, and doing well in school. You encourage their passions a lot, even Epel's love for Spelldrive, despite not liking the sport yourself. You have your own way of caring about people, it's a more 'tough love' style than mine, but it's still just as admirable." You know he's thinking back to his own overblot and behavior leading up to it.

To be honest, it was bad, but people are more than just their worst moments.

And perhaps that is you being too forgiving, but empathy is something that NRC has been lacking for a long time. So perhaps it's just your cross to bear.

Vil meets your eyes for a long moment, thoughts swirling around those long lashes and pretty lavender irises.

"The way you're able to see people, sweet potato... It's a remarkable ability, you know that right?" He finally smiles, and it remains the most beautiful sight you've ever known.

"A blessing and a curse at times. Now come on, I wanna ice skate!" You laugh and pull at the connection of your arms to usher him forward.

"So you do know how? I never thought to ask, but I figured if you didn't I could teach you." Vil inquires as you walk around the building to see the frozen pond.

It looks beautiful, sparkling in the daylight. There are a few students on the other side skating, but they're far enough that you and Vil can still skate with plenty of room. It's a big pond after all.

"Kind of, I haven't in a while, so I might be a bit rusty- and certainly not as elegant as I'm sure you are." Of all the talents for Vil Schoenheit to have, ice skating may be the least surprising.

It's a beautiful hobby. Elegant, graceful, refined, and mature. All words that can describe ice skating and Vil.

"I only started learning a few years ago, and only really in the wintertime when I'm home alone on break. I picked it up to pass the time." He explains, walking you over to the pond edge where two bags sit- a note attached.

"You're alone during winter break?" You ask, slightly hesitant, not wanting it to be a sensitive topic, but he probably wouldn't have mentioned it if it was, right?

"Yes, my father's work schedule is usually packed, so he's not home often. I have the house to myself for the most part, save for the housekeepers." He picks up the note (you see that it's signed 'from Rook') and opens the bag nearest so you both can see the white ice skates inside.

"Oh, well, you can always call or text me during break if you get bored. I'd enjoy hearing from you." You grab the other bag as he hands it to you (ignoring how your hands brush), and he chuckles.

"I just might, sweet potato. Here, I sent Rook to buy these for you, so don't worry about returning them to me." He tells you.

You brush snow off a nearby tree stump and sit down to put them on. They fit perfectly, and you don't even want to begin to guess how Rook got your shoe size.

"You sure? I can pay you back-"

"Don't worry about it. Consider them one of your gifts. Now, let's go, we don't have all day." 

Wait, one of your what-

You stumble a bit and Vil's arm darts out to steady you.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine, just haven't worn a pair of these in a while!" You laugh it off, and you both make your way to the ice.

Vil is as elegant as you thought he'd be, gliding across the ice smoothly. You have a rocky start, nearly slipping straight onto your butt the moment you touch the ice, but you find your balance quickly.

The memories of your last time skating flow back to the forefront of your mind, and you manage to not look like a complete fool gliding across the ice with Vil.

"Gosh, it feels like so long ago since I last did this!" You laugh, doing slow wide circles around the ice with Vil.

"Hm, it is a rather elegant winter activity, we could make it a tradition if you'd like? Coming to ice skate before winter break. It would keep either of us from getting too rusty and I can give you some of the hydrating face masks I use in the morning and night to keep your face from getting dry- and lip balm, chapped lips will not be accepted while we're together." He asks you, and you turn to him, skating in front of him backward.

It's a bold offer. Everything about Vil had been bold today. Does he truly like you? Like, like-like you?

You certainly like-like him.

By the seven you sound like a middle schooler with their first ever crush. Hell, you've certainly felt like one for... Awhile now.

Every time you're near him, acting like a blushing idiot, twirling your hair and giggling. You're not actually doing either of those things, but you sure feel like it!

Ever since his overblot, he's been a consistent voice of reason in your life, helping you curb the chaotic tendencies of those around you every time he's around.

And somewhere along the line, you've developed that terrible fluttering in your stomach that people call a crush every time he speaks to you. Or offers to help with something. Or looks at you. Or calls you 'sweet potato' which really only started just before Halloween.

God, he really has been dropping big hints, huh? So you should make a bold move too, right?

By the seven, please don't let this backfire.

"I'd love to, but only if you let me take you out to dinner afterward." You smile, the slightest of nervous flushes on your face, and his eyes widen, startled, but so does his smirk.

"How bold. And here I was worried that even after today you wouldn't get the hint. It's a date, sweet potato." He skates closer to you.

"I'm not that dense you know, just... In a state of shock that you'd want to go out with me. You do know you could have anyone right? You're a famous model, actor, and the housewarden of Pomefiore. From what I've seen so far, there isn't a girl or guy alive that wouldn't throw themselves at your feet." You acknowledge and he just laughs.

"Ah, yes, all the guys and girls that would love to be with me just for my looks, fame, and money. No, thank you. I'll stick with one of the only people in the world who sees me. Who appreciates my help, even when others think I'm being a bitch. Who values my advice, and actually listens to it. Who makes me feel like I... for a single second... Don't need to try so hard to be perfect." You stop skating at his words.

So does he.

"Vil... You never have to be perfect with me. I'm not perfect. Neither is anyone I know- I mean, look at my best friends! They're morons! But I still love them! Because they make me laugh. They care about my wellbeing- in their own ways, and they're there for me when I really need them." You list fondly, skating just a bit closer to grab Vil's gloved hand.

"That's all I really need from anyone, and maybe to some people, that's a low bar, but hey, I'm happy. So it must not be that bad of a thing, you know? So if you're up to doing just those three things, then I'll gladly date you, and do the same in return." When you look up at him, he's watching you closely.

Or well, maybe not you.

Your lips.

"I think I'm quite capable of doing all of that. And more, if you'd allow me?" He glances to meet your gaze his hand coming up to cradle your cheek.

You smile and nod.

And he kisses you. Slow, soft, and gentle. Warmth fills you, making the cold that your cheap coat couldn't keep out, melt away.

You lean into the kiss, and you have to stop yourself from chasing after it when he pulls away.

"Lots of those. That's also part of the deal- I require lots of those." You sigh wistfully and he laughs.

Bright, and melodic, and real.

You move to skate an inch back just to see it better and-

"Ack-!"

Your skate catches on something, stalling and sending you falling back.

Your arms frantically reach to grab something and stabilize yourself. At the same time, Vil quickly reaches forward to grab you, which he does, but then his skate trips over the same thing that must have tripped you.

You land in snow.

Ah. You two were at the edge of the pond.

You tripped on solid ground.

And dragged Vil down with you.

Not a great start to the relationship.

It takes a moment of blinking to fully process what just happened but when you do, you find Vil on top of you, a single hair fallen out of his bun.

Without thinking you reach out and tuck it behind his ear so it's less noticeable to someone who isn't this close to him.

His eyes meet yours and you flush, suddenly bashful and worried all at once.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay!?" You ask, feeling the snow below you, freezing cold seeping through your coat and clothes.

You use your hands to prop yourself up, ignoring the cold and how it starts to sting.

"I'm alright, are you?" He asks and you nod, looking around, your happy you two are now the only ones at the pond.

Vil may have agreed to date you, but he might quickly retract it if anyone saw that.

You sigh in relief, and then... You can't stop yourself from laughing.

"Care to enlighten me on what's so funny about this? Ugh, I've probably messed up my hair- and my clothes-" He pushes himself up, standing swiftly, brushing the snow off of his coat.

"Because we weren't paying attention at all!" You snort out, still laughing at the whole clumsy situation.

"Exactly! You could have gotten hurt, you are aware of that, correct?" He scolds, leaning down to offer you a hand up, which you gladly take while still giggling.

"Yeah, but we didn't, and this will be a hilarious first date story someday." You struggle to balance only for a second when he pulls you to your feet (he's stronger than you thought, duly noted) but he holds your arms to keep you steady.

"We are not telling anyone that I fell." He says firmly, but you smile up at him and can immediately see that fondness softening his sharp glare.

"Of course not. The beautiful and fair, Vil Schoenheit was my hero, helping me up, checking for injuries, kissing them better-" He scoffs as you giggle out the lie.

"We're not telling anyone that either, sweet potato. Let's just stick with you fell, and I helped you up, yes?" He smirks, and you sigh with a smile still glued to your face.

"As you wish, my fairest." You loop your arms and begin skating out towards the middle of the ice once more.

"How about you show me some of those fancier moves you were doing earlier? The figure skating stuff. I'm no master like you, but I think I can learn a few things." You suggest.

"I wouldn't call myself a master, but I can show you a few things I've learned, so watch closely, sweet potato."

"Oh, trust me, I will."

You two spend the next hour skating, Vil teaching you some more advanced moves, which leads to you falling once or twice more, but you get a few down before evening rolls around with no serious injury.

"I think we should probably head back now, my hands are going to go numb." You sigh, a little disappointed to call it quits, but your hands hurt from how cold they are, and you legs are getting tired too.

"That's probably for the best, to much time out in the cold is terrible for the skin." He sighs, already skating towards you.

"I though you had hydrating face masks for that?" You joke and he rolls his eyes.

"There's only so much a face mask can protect you from and prevent. Are you hungry? We can grab something to eat before we go back, my treat this time, since I was the one who invited you out after all." He suggests and you would like to protest that you should at least pay for your share but- you really don't have the money.

And you're actually starving. You both kind of skipped any kind of lunch, being too distracted with skating and confessions and all that.

Note to self, pack lunches next year.

"Sure, Mostro Lounge would be the best option-" You go to recommend, but Vil quickly interrupts.

"I was thinking of somewhere else. You've been to Mostro Lounge dozens of times, but I'd love to bring you to a restaurant in town that I think you'd like." He asks pulling out his phone and typing something very quickly.

"Oh? Okay. So long as Azul doesn't find out I'm cheating on him with another restaurant, we should be fine." You chuckle and your words draw one from Vil to.

"It's a small place, quaint, quiet, and... Homey. I think you'll enjoy it." Good, so nothing that's 5-star fine dining.

You're really not dressed for that kind of restaurant.

"Alright, but I should stop by and tell Grim I'll be out a little longer, or he might get worried."

"Oh, I think he'll be fine. You can text someone else to check on him if you're really worried, or I can have Rook do it?" He pulls you a bit closer to him as you shiver a bit from a cold wind.

Oh, yeah, Grim will definitely be fine.

"Alright. Lead the way, my fairest." You sigh with a dopey smile, and he glances down at you with a smirk.

"Is that your pet name for me now?" He asks with a raised brow and you nudge him.

"Like you can judge, you literally call me a potato!" You laugh.

"A sweet potato." He correct.

"Still a potato. But it's fine. I quite like it. Would you like me to call you something else?" You ask, tilting your head in his direction and he hums in thought.

"No, I think that will work. As well as darling, love, sweetheart, beauty, my queen- those all work too." He smiles proudly, and you giggle.

"Of course, my queen." You give a small, mock bow, and it's his turn to nudge you.

Today has been... Wonderful.

And even if you're alone during winter break, at least you know Vil is only a text or phone call away.

It'll be a good Christmas this year. You just know it.

~~~

Vote for the next character below!

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

Stunned | for @steddiemicrofic 's April prompt: Fool

pairing: steddie (duh) | word count: 454 | rated: M | on AO3

"Quite the day, wasn’t it, m’lord?”

“Oh yeah, quite the day.” Steve laughs at his side; The party trucks on ahead of the pair, tired, tacky with sweat and dust from the long day at the faire. 

“Only one thing would’ve made it better, hm? Perhaps the acquisition of a new lady friend  would’ve sealed the deal for you?"

Steve smirks, shaking his head only slightly, so his borrowed (though made of very real metal) crown doesn’t fall. “Perhaps.”

“I, of course, still haven’t been able to conquer the lingering presence of my long lost, unknown love.” Eddie woes on, for the umpteenth time, “His sandy brown locks, those perfect brown-green eyes that met mine across a crowded hall only the once…”

He’s playing with fire, with lava more like, trying to pull this shit. Though, luckily, it seems Steve is none the wiser—

Steve groans in irritation, stopping Eddie with him on the packed dirt path. “Would you stop that?”

“What ever could you mean, Stevie?” Eddie grins, despite the rock that sits heavily in his stomach.

“Stop making it seem like you don’t have a thing for me. As if the ‘soft-haired, hazel-eyed love’ that ‘Edmund’s been going on about isn’t-–”

Eddie cuts him off in return, managing a clipped “I know not what you mean.”, before attempting to flee, hurrying off down the path ahead of them after the rest.

“Do not take me for a fool, Edmund,” Steve calls after him, effectively rooting Eddie to the spot. 

For a brief moment, Eddie’s thoughts whirl; When did– Does Ste– Hang on, where’s this coming from? Steve had played along with his kingly role today, though only sparingly–

Steve is at Eddie’s side at the same moment, whispering low into his ear. “I know it is I that… troubles you.”

Eddie's head whips over, taking in Steve’s hooded gaze and confident expression.

He gulps, feeling his face flush hot with color. “Forgive me, your Majesty, I did not think–”

“No, you didn’t.” Steve states, authority in his voice that has all Eddie’s brain power rushing south. 

“Now, are you going to allow me to tell you of the troubles you’ve caused me without interruptions, or should I take… preventive measures?”

“Preventative?” Eddie squeaks as Steve pulls him toward the lengthening shadows of the forest around them.

Steve nods, eyes still hooded. “I would normally offer my services,” the image of Steve on his knees in front of him shoots through Eddie's mind. “But it seems it is you who needs to listen.”

The Eddie who took Steve's place in the vision has nothing on the Eddie who emerges 30 minutes later with Steve’s crown on his head and dirt on his knees.

[iveantive]

Prompt: sakura finds a stray dog

or

sakura finds feral hybird kazuha and decides to take her in

TW: A/B/O, g!p, hybrids, branding, kinda mentions of abuse, heat cycles, vaginal fingering, masturbation

word count: 11k (it's a full ass plot with porn)

How could you be so stupid? Sakura mumbled to herself.

Raindrops falling from up above started to drop onto her dry hair. It really is her fault. She checked the forecast last night and knew it was going to rain. But, she thought nothing of it because, on most nights, she would already be home cooking dinner.

It was just her luck. Her boss had asked her to stay longer to finish up some extra paperwork, and she couldn't say no. She was aiming to get a promotion within the next couple of months. So, she stayed, and what would've been a minimum of 30 minutes of unpaid labor became an hour when one of her managers, some brazen cocky alpha, tried hitting on her. Luckily, she was good at deflecting all his stupid questions, giving him deadpan answers to show she wasn't interested.

"What're you doing here so late?" She heard the Alpha slide up behind her as she typed on her laptop.

"Working." She said flatly.

"I see that. Do you want some company?" The alpha slid a nearby chair over to them.

"No, I'm trying to go home quickly." Sakura didn't even want to make eye contact with alpha. Knowing if she did, it would make it harder for the alpha to leave her alone.

Alphas, though, once they start, they just don't stop. Especially when they learn Sakura is a single 25-year-old omega. She's been through this time and time again. Some alpha will come along boasting about how they're from this renowned pack, but really Sakura couldn't care less. When she would make that known, the alpha would get defensive and start calling her names before they stomped off angry they didn't get her number.

It's not that Sakura wasn't looking for a mate. She's been on countless blind dates (set up by Chaewon against her will). It was just that none of them made it past the first date. Alphas were predictable, and she always knew how things were gonna go.

"Well, it'd be quicker if we did it together." Sakura felt the alpha's rough hand creep up her lower back. She would have no trouble smacking his hand away if it were any other alpha. But Sakura needed this job. And she knew if she were to flat-out reject the older alpha, he could ruin her career.

"That's okay, I've actually just finished," She gritted through her teeth, managing to slide away from the alpha's grasp. Despite hearing the alpha calling her name behind her, without missing a beat, she quickly got up, packed up her things, and left the office.

That's how Sakura found herself walking home later than usual. The sun had already set. Instead, getting replaced by grey storm clouds. And by now, the loud bustle of the city life had died down.

A loud crash of thunder snapped Sakura out of her thoughts.

Shit, Sakura cursed. Quickening her pace, she was just a block away from her apartment.

She was practically running by the time she was about to round the corner to her building when she heard a noise. It sounded almost animal-like.

Stopping in her tracks. She turned her head towards the alleyway separating her apartment building and the next one over. Sakura peaked her head ever so slightly in trying to see if she could find the source of the noise, to no avail. It was way too dark, and whatever animal was making that noise was deeper in the alleyway than Sakura wanted to go down.

Yet, she doesn't know why she started to tiptoe down an alleyway, ignoring the raindrops drenching her hair. It was like something was luring her closer, and maybe it was out of her innate curious nature. Sakura knew she wouldn't be able to sleep at night if she didn't at least check to see what was making the noise. It could be an injured animal, perhaps even one of her neighbors' pets. Come to think of it, she had heard some dogs fighting the past couple of nights. She had chalked it up to being all in her head. To be fair, she did live in the city, and stray dogs were common.

As Sakura walked closer, the dull noise got sharper, sounding almost like an animal whimpering mixed with a cry. The saliva in Sakura's mouth started to dry up as she stepped closer to the source of the noise.

Then boom another strike of lightning followed by a crash of thunder.

The lightening provided merely a couple of seconds of light, but it was enough. Sakura was able to make out the silhouette.

A girl.

And as the thunder crashed, Sakura heard another loud whimper, followed by cries soon after.

How long was this girl out here, never mind how the real question is why Sakura thought to herself. Whatever, she couldn't think about that right now. She needed to help the girl. She fished her phone out of her pocket, switching the flashlight on.

Sakura's eyes widened.

The source of all that whimper was, in fact, a girl. As Sakura angled her flashlight up and down her body, though, she knew she wasn't just a girl.

The girl was quite bigger than her, from what Sakura was able to make out. That wasn't even the most shocking part. The girl was naked, with various parts of her skin covered in dirt that was forming into mud as the rain continued to pour down on them. Even more shocking, were the wolf-like ears on the top of the girl's head, and another double take down the girl's body was a tail tucked between her legs.

A hybrid.

Sure, Sakura had heard about them before. Something between a wolf and a human. They maintained both canine and human characteristics. The only ones she'd ever known of usually lived in government-provided homes with other hybrids, and the ones that didn't usually end up dead. Nobody would admit it, but hybrids did have a reputation. They were known to be unstable, unpredictable dangerous even.

As far as Sakura knew, she thought they were extremely rare. Which only made her wonder more how and why the hybrid in front of her was on the streets.

Sakura angled the light towards the hybrids face, or atelast tried to. The angle was awkward. The hybrid was cowering in the corner of the dark alleyway. Her hands covered her face as she let out the scared whimpers.

Sakura grimaced, taking the sight in.

"H-hey," Sakura said softly, catching the hybrid's attention. Her hands dropped from her face, immediately started to let out a low growl.

Sakura kneeled closer to the ground and held out her hand to the hybrid.

"i-i'm n-not gonna hurt you." Sakura tried to remain stoic in her place, trying not to let the fear seep through.

The hybrid started to untangle herself from the cowardly position, getting into a more defensive one. The growls still rumbling from her gut, as she inched closer to Sakura.

Sakura closed her eyes, praying for the best. After a few moments, and not feeling her hand getting mauled off by a rabid hybrid, she opened her eyes back up.

The hybrid was sniffing her hand, Sakura mentally sighed in relief. She looked back at the hybrid, being able to make out the light grey fur on her ears and a red scratch on her cheek.

"A-are you here alone?" Sakura looked into the hybrid eyes trying to gauge any sort of emotion she was feeling, but she was able to decipher none. Only earning a growl from the hybrid.

"I live in the building right here. Do you want to come in?" Sakuras' tone was soft.

The hybrid tilted her head, furrowing an eyebrow.

Maybe she doesn't understand, Sakura pondered.

"Inside. Warm." Sakura tried a new approach as she pointed to her apartment building.

She heard a low grunt come from the hybrid before she switched positions again, now being perched on her hands and knees.

"I take that as a yes," Sakura smiled.

Sakura got up from her crouched position. She was looking back at the hybrid, remembering that, yep, she was indeed naked. And something tells Sakura her landlord wouldn't appreciate her taking in a naked, dirt-covered girl into her apartment. Never mind the hybrid part.

Thinking swiftly, Sakura started to undo her padded jacket. It should be enough to cover the hybrid, at least enough that her landlord and other apartment tenants wouldn't question her.

Sakura reached to drape the jacket over the hybrid shoulder, earning another growl from her.

"You have to wear this to come inside."

The hybrid grunted in response before accepting the jacket being put over her shoulders. Sakura held out her hand to the hybrid as she prepared to exit the alleyway.

She had made it a few feet away from the hybrid before Sakura realized she wasn't following her behind.

"What're you waiting for?" Sakura tried to hold out her hand to the hybrid.

"Wet" Instead of taking ahold of Sakura's hand, the hybrid pointed at Sakura's clothes as they were being drenched in water as the rain was now falling much harder than before.

"So you can talk."

—-

Getting the hybrid into her apartment without catching the eyes of passersby was proving to be a harder challenge than she thought. She didn't think it would be a particularly easy task, but the real gravity of the situation started to set in as Sakura stepped toward the front of the building. In the glass door leading into the lobby, she was able to see the young girl's reflection. The hybrid was towering over her. Any movement she made felt like she was walking on eggshells. The hybrid could so easily knock her over, even hold her down if she so pleased.

So, she took it slow. She was only walking a few steps before waiting for the hybrid behind her to follow. Which she did, albeit much slower than Sakura would have liked. It seemed like the hybrid wasn't too keen on walking on two legs, with how much they were wobbling. Perhaps she had been in the area enough to know how to blend in enough, Sakura wondered. And just as she thought that, she could hear the hybrid sniffing the air, letting out a satisfied grunt before sniffing again.

Another challenge faced the pair when it came to getting onto the elevator; Sakura pushed the button to go up, hearing a ding as the doors opened. She stepped in, expecting the hybrid to be following her, but as she turned towards her, she hadn't moved. The light grey ears on top of her head were drooping as she sniffed the surroundings of the elevator.

"You've never ridden in one before?" Sakura took a step forward, using her hand to block the doors shut. The hybrid just grunted in response. I think that's a yes, Sakura thought to herself.

"I-it's okay. It's only a short ride. You won't even notice we're moving," Sakura tried to reassure the hybrid. Not even really sure she could understand her.

"Come on, it'll be okay" Sakura held her hand out to the hybrid. Only for it to get knocked down as the hybrid brushed passed her with another grunt.

Sakura should be happy that she only lived on the 3rd floor, she doesn't even want to think about if she lived on a higher one. As soon as the hybrid got into the elevator, she stayed glued to one of the sides. Sakura pushed the button to her floor, the ding of a bell indicating the doors were closing, and the elevator began to move.

She watched the hybrid eyes widen, and her body dropped to the floor as the mechanical creaking of the elevator sounded out. The young girl cowards in the corner, whimpering with her eyes closed.

"I-it's okay. Nothing bad's gonna happen. The elevator is just lifting us up." Sakura crouched beside the hybrid. She knew it probably wouldn't do her any good if she tried to touch her when her back was turned. The most she could do was talk to her.

"It must have been cold out there by yourself. Did you know it was gonna rain?"

Silence.

"Yeah, me either. I got stuck in some stupid work thing. Some annoying alpha kept trying to talk to me when I was trying to finish up some report." Sakura glanced her eyes over to the hybrid, and her eyes were no longer squeezed tightly. They were looking at her.

"Usually, by now, I'd have already cooked and eaten dinner. I would be lying on the couch, probably texting Chaewon. She's one of my friends. I've known her ever since I got to Seoul." The hybrid stared at her, furrowing her eyebrows. Could she actually understand her? Sakura wondered. It wouldn't really change much if she did, though. The hybrid seemingly wasn't too keen on talking. Sakura was thankful her rambling had gotten the hybrid to calm down more seemingly.

And with the ding of the elevator indicating they'd made it to Sakura's floor, the hybrid was all but eager to get out. She immediately scampered off the floor and out into the hallway. Heavy steps as she walked down the hallway, sniffing the new air.

"This way, I live a couple doors down." Sakura nodded towards the end of the hallways. She really needs to thank whatever god is up there for making it so none of her neighbors had been in the hallways to see the pair. It was almost comedic in a way, a big hybrid in a way too small padded jacket following behind a petite girl in a skirt and blazer, both drenched with rainwater.

They had finally made it to Sakura's apartment, typing her code into the number pad and pushing the door open.

Sakura stood waiting for the hybrid to step into her home. The hybrid sniffed the air to the apartment before Sakura guessed it was adequate enough and came in. The young girl immediately started snooping around, making her way into the kitchen, sniffing the countertops, and dipping her head in the half-open cabinets. Before she had trekked into the small living room, she had gotten back on all fours, sniffing the cushion to the couch, and ducking under the coffee. At least she's not destroying things, Sakura thought.

Sakura cleared her throat, catching the hybrid's attention. The sniffing had stopped, and the hybrid had gotten back into her view.

"Yeah, it's not much, but it's enough for me." She really had all she needed in the apartment. It was a simple one-bedroom, one-bathroom flat, with a small living room and kitchen to go along with.

"You should get cleaned up, my bathrooms over there." Sakura pointed to the half-open door down the hall.

The older girl waited a couple of seconds for the hybrid to react, only to see her perched on her knees with her head tilted, staring at her. Sakura sighed. She really needed to get a gauge of how much the hybrid could understand her. But, for now, she had two options really, either she let the hybrid stay naked and covered in mud, or she sucked it up and bathed her herself. And seeing how the entranceway and path into the kitchen had prints of mud littering the hardwood the option seemed pretty clear.

Sakura walked closer to the younger girl, her eyes getting bigger as she walked closer.

"I-I'm not gonna hurt you. We just need to get you clean." Sakura held out her hand to the hybrid, who in return brought her nose up to the older girl and sniffed it. Till she heard a grunt, which seemed to be on the more chipper side, Sakura took it as a sign it was okay to get closer.

"I'm gonna take this off, okay? Then we're gonna go to the bathroom." Sakura pointed to her padded jacket the hybrid still had on. She was earning no response, just a blank stare from the younger.

Please don't bite me, please don't bite me was all that was running through Sakura's head as she crouched down to be on the same level as the hybrid. Bringing her hand up to undo the velcro, she held her breath. The crackles of the first piece starting to unravel filled the tension in the air.

She looked at the hybrid, trying to see a response in her, only to see she was looking down, fixated on Sakura's hand. Taking it as a sign to continue, she undid the remaining pieces of velcro much quicker. The older girl reached her hands up the hybrid's shoulders, taking the jacket off, effectively leaving the hybrid exposed to her.

Sakura already knew from the alleyway that the hybrid had to have been in some kind of accident or fight from seeing the scratch mark on her face. However, she wasn't expecting to see cuts littering her collarbones and even more scratches on her arms. She already knew once she bathed the hybrid, without a doubt, she would see more wounds on the poor girl.

"Good, follow me to the bathroom." Sakura motioned for the hybrid to follow.

They made their way to the said bathroom in silence. With Sakura pushing open the door and waiting for the hybrid to come. The young girl was taking her time walking down the hallway, looking at all of the things Sakura had on her wall. Various picture frames she had with friends, even the shelves she had up filled with various things from random books to her crocheting yarn. The hybrid's eyes darted from each item.

"You can look at them later. You need to get cleaned up first." Sakura stood by the doorframe, tapping her nails on the wood. She gained the hybrid's attention, who glanced back at Sakura before making her way over to her.

"This is a bathtub. It's where you get clean. I'm gonna have to rinse you off first before I can wash you, okay?" Sakura pointed to her bathtub.

Much to Sakura's surprise, the hybrid was quick to step into the tub. Which she supposes she should be thankful for.

"The water might come out a little cold at first, but it'll warm up," Sakura said as she reached for the showerhead.

She turned toward the knobs of the bathtub turning the water on, making the hybrid whimper at the sudden noise and contact of the water before she calmed back down. The flow of water spraying down her legs, Sakura watched her bend down sniffing the water. Before she completely bent down and started biting at the water. The sight made Sakura stifle laughter. It was kinda cute, the hybrid nipping at the water for a few seconds, then turning away to breathe. Just to go back to bite the stream of water. In the process getting her ears caught in the water, soaking them.

Sakura stared at the amusing sight for a few more seconds before she recalled why she was doing this in the first place. She alternated between fiddling with the knobs and reaching her hand into the stream of water until the water had reached a warm, comfortable temperature.

She maneuvered the showerhead over the hybrid's body. Spraying her torso and back which were the parts of her covered the most in mud and god knows what else. Sakura watched as the once clean water below the hybrids turned into a dark brown color as the filth was being washed off her.

"How long were you out there?" Sakura asked. She was waiting a couple of seconds only to get none. It had to be longer than just this day, she was sure of. There was no way the hybrid would've been able to get this dirty in a single day.

The hybrid remained silent as Sakura continued rinsing her off, staring down at the ground.

"I'm gonna have to touch you for the next part. Is that okay?" Sakura waited for a response. She looked at the hybrid, who, after a few seconds, gave her a short nod. To her surprise.

Sakura reached for the bottle of soap she had near and began to pour an ample amount into her hand.

"If I touch something that sensitive, just growls at me or something."

The older girl, reached into the tub and began with the hybrids arms. She was using her hands to spread the soap down her limbs. She looked back at the hybrid, to see how she was doing, seeing the hybrid looking at her hands, watching her movements. It almost made Sakura shiver, the way she was staring at her.

She had to ignore it, though, and continued on with the hybrid's upper body. As she got closer to the younger girl, she was also able to see the cuts on her more clearly. Some of them were more healed than others. With some of them already turned into faded white scares, some still pink, and others merely scabbed over. It made Sakura wince as the thought about the possible reason for these marks. If it were just a fight with another hybrid or animal, the marks would be more scattered. But, the marks on the hybrid were calculated, like they were done on purpose.

Sakura took a breath.

"You doing okay?" She doesn't know if she was asking it to herself or the hybrid. But nevertheless she got a grunt in response from the hybrid.

So, She continued on down to the hybrid lower body. When she noticed something that almost made her lose her footing, her eyes had to be bulging out of her head as she stared in shock. She quickly tried to regain her composure, not wanting to panic the hybrid.

A small mark.If she weren't so close to the hybrid she wasn't sure she would've caught it, Maybe even written it off as another scar. However, this mark wasn't like the ones that were on her arms or her upper torso. She got closer, lightly running her fingers over the marks, feeling the indentation.

NKZH

Those letters were scarred on her skin. Sakura grimaced as she stared at the markings. These markings had to be done on purpose. There was no doubt about it.

Sakura debated in her head on her next action. She had to think that the hybrid knew that she saw it. So, in theory, she could try to ask the hybrid about it, but truthfully, she was afraid of the reaction it could evoke.

So, she didn't. She didn't bring it up. Instead focusing back on the task at hand, and that cleaning the hybrid. She continued washing the hybrid's lower body before she moved on to washing her hair, using her fingers to make an attempt at detangling the disheveled hair, paying extra attention to the fur on her ears. They were soft, so soft. She used her fingernails to really get into her scalp and scratched behind her ears, cleaning them thoroughly, hearing a sigh of relief fall from the hybrid's mouth. Finishing up, she did a last final rinse on the hybrid.

"That wasn't so bad, was it," Sakura said more for herself than the hybrid.

"You smell much better now." Sakura had a soft smile. The hybrid sniffed herself, making a snorting noise afterward. Is that her way of laughing? Sakura tilted her head.

Sakura stood up and grabbed the towel she had hung up, and just as she was about to turn back around, the hybrid shook. The water from the fur on her ears and her tail splattered on the floor on the wall.

"It's a good thing I'm already wet, or else I would totally kick you out right now." Sakura playfully rolled her eyes.

"Use the towel and dry off. I'll get you some clothes." Turning around, She tossed the towel at the hybrid, who surprisingly caught it.

Sakura walked out of the bathroom across the hall to her bedroom and stared at the clothes in her dresser. She really didn't have any clothes that would fit the hybrid. Never mind the fact that she didn't have any underwear for the hybrid to wear. But, something tells her the hybrid wouldn't even care nor notice. She continued to scour her drawers till she settled on the biggest t-shirt she had and the baggiest sweatpants.

When she came back to the bathroom the hybrid had done just as Sakura said. The towel over her shoulders as she stood in the tub.

"You can come out of there now," Sakura said, and the hybrid stepped out of the tub. She wondered why the younger girl hadn't moved without her permission.

"These are the only clothes that I have that I thought would fit you." Sakura handed them to the hybrid. Who began to put the clothes on slowly.

Luckily, the t-shirt did fit the hybrid. Normally it would come down to Sakura's lower thigh, but on the hybrid, it was fitting more like a normal shirt. However, the sweatpants were a different story. The cuffs to the pants only reached her mid-calf, and they got tighter as they went up. They were leaving really no room for imagination of what was under there. Not that Sakura was looking, obviously.

Sakura brought the hybrid back out into the living room, and she had taken out a couple of extra pillows and blankets for the girl.

"You can sleep here for tonight" Sakura pointed towards the couch. She reached for the TV remote on the nearby coffee table and switched it on. The hybrid was immediately going towards the couch, plopping down on the cushions. She stared at the TV enamored.

"I'm gonna go shower. Stay here. You can watch whatever you want," Sakura said as she walked awake, facepalming herself. Could the hybrid even understand her? Did she even know how to work the TV? Whatever, Sakuras is sure she'll be able to figure it out.

-

Sakura stared at the hybrid from the kitchen. When she had come out of the shower, the hybrid had fallen asleep. Of course, with the TV still on, the hybrid did change the channel to some random romance drama. She wouldn't have taken the hybrid to be the romance type, or maybe the hybrid just found the music playing soothing. Who knows.

With the hybrid being asleep it forced Sakura to reflect on the past few hours. Just what did she get herself into? The scars and scratches she had seen on the young girl's body scared her. How did she get them? Matter of fact where did she even come from? Sakura knew she wasn't gonna get the answer she wanted.

With a sigh, too many questions, no answers. She flopped onto her bed, her phone in hand, the clock reading just a few minutes past midnight.

Yeah, Chaewon was probably still up.

She hovered her finger over the Facetime button, and her phone rang once, twice before Chaewon picked up.

"Damn, isn't your old ass usually asleep by now? What're you doing up?" Chaewon was currently in bed, too, from what Sakura was able to tell.

"Am not! I just appreciate my beauty sleep." Dramatically put a hand to her chest.

"Last Friday, when Yunjin and I asked you to go out with us, you were already asleep." Chaewon deadpanned.

"Fine, you got me there, but I wouldn't want to third-wheel you two anyways." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Okay, fuck you. Now, why'd you call?" Chaewon asked.

Oh yeah, there was a reason why Sakura called her best friend in the first place before getting psychologically beat up.

"Promise not to freak out"

"The most exciting thing you've done in the past three months is crochet a new sweater. Just tell me." Chaewon rolled her eyes.

Sakura knows there is no easy way to say what she wants to get out without basically dropping it on Chaewon. Hybrids were foreign territory for really everyone she knew. They never even crossed most people's minds. Since they never lived near the city, it was easy for everyone to forget they even existed.

"I brought a hybrid home."

Sakura saw Chaewon's eyes stare in disbelief. Moments of silence passed by before she even heard Chaewon breathe again.

"You're joking," Chaewon snorted.

"I'm not. I just found her in the alleyway by my apartment, and she looked scared. I didn't want to leave her alone. It was raining." She tried to explain.

"I don't believe you. Hybrids are rare. Why the fuck would one just be outside your apartment?" Chaewon prodded.

"I don't know. That's why I took her in; better me than someone else who'd take advantage of her." Sakura reasoned.

Chaewon remained silent for a few seconds.

"Show me her."

"What? She's sleeping. I don't want to wake her up."

"then I won't believe you."

"Oh my god, fine. But you better stay muted. If she mauls my arm off, it's on you."

Sakura rolled off her bed, turning the brightness down on her phone. As she tiptoed out of her bedroom, god, how the fuck did she get here, walking on eggshells in her own home.

She stepped closer and closer to the couch where the hybrid was sleeping. She could hear the little snores the girl was letting out. The lamp on the nearby coffee table provided just enough light, and Sakura was able to see her face. She looked so peaceful, not at all as it looked when she came across her a mere few hours before. Her light grey ears twitched, and her eyebrows furrowed every few breaths. It was like she was dreaming. Maybe she was, for all Sakura knew.

Sakura angled her phone up at the hybrid face, holding her breath as if she would hear her if she were too loud. She tried to make sure she got her ears and her tail that lay heavy on the side of the couch in the frame—staying there for a few moments, looking at the younger girl before she looked back at her phone and saw Chaewon's eyes wide open, her mouth agape.

Yep, that was her cue to get back to her room. So, just as quickly as before, Sakura made her way back to her bed. Then unmuted Chaewon.

"Holy shit, you weren't lying," Chaewon said in disbelief.

"Of course not. Why would I?" Sakura scoffed.

"I don't know, what're you gonna do with her?" Chaewon asked.

"I plan on calling the RoH on Monday when they're open, but for the next couple of days, I don't know." Sakura took a breath.

"mmm, that's a good idea. Have you talked to anyone else about her yet?"

"No, I wasn't sure who to call. I don't even really know what I'd be asking anyway," Sakura sighed.

"It's not like any of you have experiences with hybrids."

She and Chaewon just stayed in comfortable silence for a couple of seconds. Then she saw almost like a lightbulb go off in Chaewon's mind.

"What're you thinking?" Sakura prodded.

"Maybe you should try talking to Wonyoung. She might know more about hybrids."

"What makes you think that?" Wonyoung was an acquaintance, albeit six years younger than her. She had gotten to know the younger girl when she became friends with Chaewon, who was friends with her older sister, Eunbi.

"Do you remember her, mate?" Chaewon asked.

Sakura tried to think back. She'd only met Wonyoung a handful of times. However, she remembered last year when she had introduced her mate Yujin. She didn't actually get to meet her, but she remembers Wonyoung talking about her. An alpha just a year older than her.

"Yujin, right. I remember Wonyoung talking about her a bit".

"Think about it. The way Wonyoung talked about her. It was a bit strange. Doesn't it remind you a little how the hybrid on your couch is"

She recalls Wonyoung explaining how she met Yujin. She didn't go into much detail. But She remembers the young girl talking about how Yujin was from the countryside. And they had met when the alpha had transferred to her colleges. She remembers Wonyoung saying the alpha was still getting used to meeting new people and interacting with them, which she thought was a bit odd but didn't question it at the time.

"A little bit, yeah, but Wonyoung didn't say Yujin was a hybrid." Sakura furrowed her eyebrows.

"Can you blame her, though? Maybe she didn't know how we'd react if she flat out said it"

"You might be right. I'll try to call her tomorrow," Sakura yawned.

"Let me know how it goes. Get some sleep, unnie." Chaewon yawned back. Her eyes had started fluttering shut.

"You too, and tell Yunjin I said hi," Sakura ended the Facetime. Tossing her phone to the side, hitting her head on her pillow with a thud. A million thoughts ran through her mind about the hybrid that night as she tossed and turned in her sleep.

—---

To say Sakura didn't get a lot of sleep last night would be an understatement. She was tired, yes, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fall asleep for more than 30 minutes at a time. She ended up spending her time googling things about hybrids.

Are hybrids friendly?

Do hybrids like people?

The questions she asked were stupid; Sakura knows it. It's just that schools never taught anything about hybrids other than reiterating the fact if you meet one in the wild, remain calm, stay as far away as possible and call the Register of Hybirds. And, well, she clearly didn't follow the second rule. The hybrid looked so lost and scared last night. Sakura just knew she would've regretted her actions even more if she had done nothing to help her.

But that didn't mean the hybrids presence also didn't scare the shit out of her. The scars and cuts that littered the young girl's skin, god, the letters that were scarred into her skin. Sakura swears she thought up every type of scenario in her sleep-deprived delusional state last night of what possibly could've done that to the hybrid.

It was bright and early the next morning. Sakura had only noticed it was the start of a new day by the sunshine that peaked through the curtains in her room. She wonders if the hybrid is still asleep or if the hybrid is awake, also reflecting on the previous night's events.

A part of Sakura is even scared to come out of her room to check on the hybrid. The younger girl has no reason to keep tolerating her. Maybe the hybrid only tolerated last night because she had offered her a place to stay. The idea that once she exited the room, the hybrid would immediately start growling at her wasn't an unlikely one.

Sakura picked up her phone, looking at the time. 7 am, she sighs. There was no point in staying in her room anymore. She would have to face the hybrid at some point, and it might as well be when there's a possibility she's still asleep, she thought.

She musters up the courage to get out of her bed. Slowly making her way to the door, with a deep breath, she turned the doorknob. She made her way out of her bedroom, moving as quietly as possible. She made it out her door and tip-toed her way to the living room, where she could still hear the sound of the TV making noise.

Had she left it on last night? She swears she turned it off.

As she rounded the corner into the living room, her question answered itself. There was the hybrid sitting with her knees to her chest, staring at the TV. And upon closer inspection the younger girl was watching an episode of Adventure Time. The fear she had of facing the hybrid washed away as she chuckled at the sight.

Sakura took a couple of strides closer, making her presence known to the hybrid.

"Did you sleep well? You were already asleep when I came out of the shower last night. I didn't want to wake you?" Sakura padded over to the opposite side of the couch the hybrid was on and sat down.

The hybrid nodded.

"That's good" Sakura faced the TV, not even really watching, just staring at the screen as she built the courage to ask her next question.

"So, were you thinking about staying here longer?" Sakura held her breath.

To which she got no response. Facing back toward the hybrid, she saw her eyes fixated on the TV.

"It's okay, no pressure. If you do, we're just going to have to talk about some things first" Sakura watched the hybrids face for any sort of expression. But there was none. Sakura sighed. Well, she might as well be honest with the hybrid, she thought.

"If you're still here tomorrow, I'm gonna call the RoH." Sakura saw the hybrid's jaw clench. Yeah, Sakura better explain herself.

"It's not that I don't want you here. It's just going to be hard to have you here when I don't know anything about hybrids, and RoH would be able to help me understand you better." She looked at the hybrid, waiting for any sign of a response.

And after a few moments, she got one, a hesitant nod.

Sakura exhaled the breath she didn't even know she had been holding in this entire time. She faced her attention back to the TV. Resting her eyes as she sank onto the couch. Well, that's one hard conversation down. Good job, Sakura, she mentally patted herself on the back.

The pair continued to sit in silence. It wasn't awkward, per se. Matter of fact, Sakura didn't really mind the hybrid being there. She wasn't used to waking up in the morning and someone else being there with her. Matter of fact, she kinda liked it. Even if the hybrid was hesitant to interact with her, the younger girl's presence was comforting in a way.

The low sounds or stomach rumbling drew Sakura out of her thoughts.

"Oh you must be hungry, when's the last time you ate?" Sakura looked towards the source of the rumbling, who was the hybrid in question.

No response.

"I was getting hungry too. I'll make something for us."

Sakura got up and made her way into the kitchen. She settled on making something easy and filling for them. She was still in no headspace to do anything overly complicated this morning.

It was a simple breakfast: Rice, eggs, spam, kimchi, and seaweed on the side. Nothing more, nothing less. The hybrid had found her way into the kitchen while Sakura was frying up the spam. Sakura deduces it must've been from the smell. The hybrid got closer to the older girl till she was towering over the girl as she cooked, looking over her shoulder. She was sniffing the air around her. It made Sakura's spine stiffen at the feeling of the hybrid being in such close proximity to her.

"C-can you get some plates? They're in the cabinet over there," Sakura pointed at the cabinet. And to her genuine surprise, the hybrid had gone over to the cupboard and pulled out a couple of plates for them. It made Sakura wonder, did the hybrid understand everything she was saying? Did the hybrid pick and choose what she wanted to answer?

Sakura plated each of their meals on the plates and took them over to her kitchen table. It was a small one, built for really only one person. However, she was lucky she was small and also decided to buy a second chair.

She sat across the hybrid, observing her starting to eat her food. She began sniffing at it before grabbing it with her hands and practically inhaling food in her mouth. Sakura looked at the untouched chopsticks a few inches away from the hybrid hands.

Doesn't know how to use utensils, noted.

After the pair had finished eating their breakfast, Sakura brought their dishes to the sink and began to clean up. The hybrid had dropped a fair bit of food out of her mouth onto the table, waiting for Sakura to clean up. She continued to wipe down the table as the hybrid went back into the living room. When she was finished, Sakura sat back down near the hybrid on the couch.

Sakura looked down at her phone to read the time. 10 am. Wonyoung must be awake by now, she thought.

Sakura cleared her throat, catching the attention of the hybrid beside her.

"I'll be back. I need to call a friend." She watched for a response from the younger girl. To which she received a hesitant nod. It was a bare minimum reply, but it was the best she was gonna get from the hybrid. For a majority of the things she asked her, Sakura deduced,

Once Sakura had excused herself to her room, she shut the door behind her and took a seat on the bed before scrolling through her contacts to find the person she needed. And there she was.

Jang Wonyoung.

To be honest, Sakura doesn't even know if Wonyoung answers her call. Sure, they've met a couple of times, but never in a one-on-one setting. Anytime they've hung out together, it had been in the presence of other people. But she was desperate. If there was any chance that somebody she knew had an experience with a hybrid, she wanted to talk to them as soon as possible. Which again, Sakura is unsure if Wonyoungs mate was even a hybrid. And even so, who's to say Wonyoung would want to talk about it? Hybrids were looked down upon in society.

Sakura sat for a few moments, debating whether to call the younger girl. As her finger hovered over the Facetime button, she held her breath as she pushed it. The phone dialed. She heard the tone ring once, twice, three times, and on the fourth chime, Sakura was starting to give up hope on the younger girl picking up.

But, on the sixth chime, she heard the phone connect.

"Sakura, Unnie?" she heard Wonyoungs voice.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me."

"Oh! I wasn't expecting a call this early. How are you?" The younger girl asked.

"I'm doing good, but I actually called because I had something to ask." Sakura could feel herself starting to get hotter.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure I can answer it." She heard the cheerful voice of the younger girl. Sakura's palms were getting sweatier by the second as she was building the courage to ask Wonyoung her burning questions. She didn't want to straight up ask the younger girl right off the bat if her mate was a hybrid. She needed to ease into it.

"What do you know about hybrids?" Sakura softly asked.

"O-oh, um, why do you ask?" Sakura can hear the tension in Wonyoungs voice.

Sakura needed to be honest with you, younger girl. Wonyoung was smart, and she wouldn't just give her the answers she needed without some sort of explanation of why.

"W-well, I have a hybrid staying with me right now," Sakura got out. She saw Wonyoungs eyes widen in shock, and she swears she saw her eyes dart to the side of her.

"O-oh, thats crazy. H-how?, wh-where? I mean, they're so rare?" Wonyoung stuttered.

So Sakura went and gave the younger girl a brief rundown on how she met the hybrid and took her in. Wonyoungs reaction to Sakura's story had been almost the complete opposite of Chaewons to say the least. They were both shocked at the fact that a hybrid had ended up in their city. However, when Sakura got to explaining the hybrid's behaviors and mannerisms, she was calm and simply listened to her.

"To answer your question, yeah, I actually do know a couplet things about hybrids. You called the RoH already, right?" Wonyoung asked.

"Not yet. I plan to call them tomorrow. Right now the hybrid seems comfortable enough with me. I don't want to scare her off or something," Sakura sighed.

"When you talk to the doctor, make sure to ask them to do a blood test. And make sure they do full body exam on them, that could also tell you some general information on her," Wonyoung dropped on the older girl.

"W-woah, that's actually some solid-ass advice," Sakura said in awe. She swears Wonyoung has been more helpful in learning about the hybrid on her couch than the late-night googling did.

"What can I say? I do like hybrids," Wonyoung smiled, and there it was again. Sakura swears she saw Wonyoung look to the side of her.

"Are you with you, Yujin?" Sakura played up the teasingness in her tone.

"H-how'd you know?" Wonyoung seemed to say in genuine shock.

"Who else would your eyes be wandering at during this entire conversation?" Sakura laughs.

"Yeah, Yujins here. She's right next to me." Wonyoung gave up and even denied it.

"Wony, I'm just gonna come out and ask it," Sakura prepared herself to ask the question. To which she saw Wonyoungs eyes widen again.

"I think I have a feeling where this is going, but go on."

"Is Yujin a hybrid?" Sakura asked.

Wonyoung almost laughs. Before she flipped the camera and there Yujin was curled up next to the younger girl with her head in her lap. And upon closer inspection of the screen, Sakura was able to make out the brown ears atop her head.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Holy shit. Now I get Chaewon shock, when I told her about this," Sakura's eyes were wide in disbelief. Previously, when Wonyoung had shown pictures of her and Yujin out together, the framings of the photos were in such a way you weren't able to see the top of either their heads. Sakura could've guessed it. This entire time they were just hiding Yujins ears.

Wonyoung laughed as she flipped the camera back on herself.

"Yeah, she's kinda insufferable sometimes, but I love her," Wonyoung smiled.

"Can I ask you a question about her?" Sakura questioned. She watched her nod.

" Where did Yujin come from?" Sakura held her breath. She assumed it would be a bit of a heavy question. It was common knowledge that hybrids typically weren't mated with humans. She'd only ever head of it being possible a handful of ties. But, with the newfound discovery of Wonyoung and Yujins' relationship, there was no denying that these types of relationships existed.

"I don't want to go into much detail. It's Yujins story to tell, not mine" Sakura nodded her head in understanding.

"I did meet Yujin in college like you guys all know. But I didn't meet her in class like I said. I met her when I was doing my clinicals at the hospital, and I had come across her," Wonyoung explained.

"And you figured out she was your mate?" Sakura asked.

"Not exactly. I had offered to take her in for a couple of weeks when the hospital said they were gonna discharge her; at the time, I thought Yujin didn't have money for anything. And well, I guess you could say she grew on me," Wonyoung beamed.

Sakura smiled at the explanation from the younger girl. It made her ponder the direction her new relationship with the hybrid on her couch could possibly go. Before she shook her head, she shouldn't be thinking about this. It's too early to think about this, both in their relationship and well in the day. She doesn't even know where the hybrid stood. Hell, Sakura still didn't even know her name.

"I want to ask you something else," Sakura said before she got a nod from Woyoung to task.

"Was Yujin able to speak when you found her?" Sakura was curious whether or not the hybrids' behavior was normal to other hybrids.

"Yeah, I mean, she was shy at first. But she was always able to communicate with me. Can your hybrid not?" Wonyoung asked.

"I'm not sure. When I talk to her, sometimes she answers in one word, or sometimes she just nods, but most of the time, she doesn't answer. I'm not sure if it's because she doesn't like me or she genuinely can't talk."

"I'm sorry, unnie, I'm not sure what that could mean. Maybe she's still warming up to you." Wonyoung smiled optimistically.

"Yeah, maybe," Sakura sighed.

"Can I see her?" Wonyoung asked.

"Y-yeah, give me a second." Sakura got up from her bed and made her way down the hallway quietly. She stayed just out of earshot of the hybrid before she flipped the camera to face the hybrid, making sure her light grey ears were visible in the frame.

"At least she seems well-trained enough. When Yujin first came, she wasn't even potty trained," Wonyoung laughs as she recalls the first couple of days with Yujin. Reminding her much of the situation Sakura was currently having.

"Ye-yeah, I guess so."

And just as she says that Sakura can hear the sound of something trickling.

No, No, No, No, is all that rang throughout Sakura's mind as she looked back up at the hybrid. To see that, yep, within a matter of a few seconds, she had her eyes off the hybrid. She somehow managed to take off her sweatpants and start fertilizing the plants, if you will, near a fake plant she had in the corner of her living room.

And it seemed like Wonyoung had heard it, too, with how she had started laughing.

"I'll text you later, Wony. Thanks for the talk. It really helped." Sakura tried to end the Facetime quickly.

"It's no problem, unnie, and I hope everything goes well for you and your hybrid," Wonyoung hung up.

Your hybrid

Now, why was Sakura enjoying the way that sounded? Before, she was interrupted again by the sound of trickling water, which she now knew was, in fact, not water. God Dammit, how much water had the hybrid drank? As Sakura looked up, the hybrid was now doing her business in the middle of the room.

Sakura is thanking whatever god is up there for deciding not to install a carpet and settling for hardwood floors.

- When Sakura had called the RoH and informed them about her current situation with the hybrid they immediately wanted to meet her. From the tone over the phone, Sakura wasn't able to tell if it was purely out of concern for her safety or out of awe that there really was a hybrid in this part of town.

The RoH told her they were going to send a doctor to her apartment as soon as possible. And just a short mere two hours later, there she was. Upon hearing the knock at the door indicating that the doctor was here, the hybrid quickly got up from her place on the couch, got in a defensive position, and started growling at the noise.

Sakura had to tell her it was okay and that RoH was just here to help. She told the hybrid to stay in the apartment while she went and talked to the doctor alone, and she got a grunt of annoyance from the young girl.

When Sakura opened the door, to her surprise, the doctor was a young woman. She was definitely in her 30s, and she was fitted in a white coat carrying along a briefcase.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs?" Sakura held out her hand.

"Bae, it's good to meet you too, Miss Miyawaki," she said as she shook her hand.

"I take it you wanted to talk alone before I meet the hybrid?"

"Yeah, she might be a little on edge right now. I told her a doctor from the RoH was coming over, and her response wasn't great," Sakura tried to explain.

"Mmm, wasn't great how?" The doctor asked.

"At first, when I told her, she seemingly was okay with it, but when she heard you coming to the door, she started growing."

"That's understandable. It's quite common for hybrids to struggle when meeting new people." Mrs. Bae nodded.

"I've already been made aware of the circumstances you came across her. Since then, has there been anything that could give you an idea of where she could have come from?" Mrs Bae asked.

Sakura debated in her head for a couple of moments, debating on whether or not to tell her about the scratches and marks she had found on the hybrid's skin. A part of her was afraid that if she told her, the hybrid would be taken away. And for some reason, she didn't want that. However, she wanted to be honest with the doctor. After all, they would know what's best for the hybrid. And that's what Sakura wants for the hybrid. Right? But was it worth the possibility of her getting taken away? She pondered.

"Um, when I brought her home and gave her a bath, I actually saw a lot of scratches and scars on her body."

"Unfortunately, that is also quite common for hybrids that have been found on the street, whether it be from the physical damage caused by wherever they came from or from wild animals they encountered before being found. It really is a case-by-case sort of thing," The doctor explained.

Was it really that common for hybrids to be treated this badly? Sakura wonders. Sure, hybrids aren't usually in the general population. Since they typically came from the countryside, saying that Sakura assumed that they lived secluded lives.

"Th-there i-is something else, too." Sakura started to feel nervous again. The doctor waited for Sakura to speak again.

"I-I saw some sort of scarring in the shapes of letters, too," Sakura was able to get out. For a split second, she was able to see Mrs. Bae's eyes widen before they went back to normal. She stood there for a moment as she waited for the older woman to collect her thoughts.

"There is quite a high possibility that those marks were a branding." The doctor stated.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock. But, now that she thinks of it, it started to make more sense.

"When hybrids are branded, it typically means they were kept by humans for a reason. I've seen cases when the branding has been used for things such as breeding," Mrs. Bae explained.

Sakura took in the words falling from the doctor's mouth. It was starting to make sense in her head as she started to form the story in her head. The hybrid must have found her way into the alleyway after she had escaped from where she was before.

"W-what does the branding mean?" Sakura asked.

"The reason for them can vary. It can be anything from their name to just random identifiers for their captors."

Sakura just nodded as questions started to flood her head. And as much as she liked to ask them, she needed to focus on the task at hand. Sakura opened the door back to the apartment and was met with the hybrid growling at Mrs. Bae, who remained poised, standing up straight. The doctor observed the hybrid. Maintaining eye contact with the hybrid till she had stopped growling and just remained silent. The doctors started to take notes in her notebook as she did a physical on the hybrid.

To be honest, for Sakura the next hours for her were a blur. Most of what the doctor did for the hybrid was done with Sakura off to the side. Still though, she managed to remember Wonyoungs words and told the doctor specifically to make an appointment for a blood test. She also recalls the doctor telling her she was going to call to set up further health-related appointments as they walked towards her door and bid her a goodbye.

After the visit from the doctor, Sakura had opted just to order pizza for dinner for the pair. They were currently sitting on the couch watching TV. It seemed clear to Sakura that wherever the hybrid was before, she didn't have a TV. Whenever it was turned on, the hybrid seemed so entranced with whatever was playing.

But, for Sakura, she kept thinking about what the doctor had told her. Was it really that far off to think that the hybrid could have been in one of those places where people kept hybrids as captors? It would explain the clearly calculated scratches and marks she had discovered that littered the hybrid's body the day she found her. This would also explain the indentations of letters in her skin. It didn't even feel right just to say they were indentations.

The hybrid was branded by somebody for a reason.

Sakura just couldn't figure out what. And she wasn't sure if she was ready to know. How could somebody do that to her? Sakura knows people hate hybrids, but to abuse them like that. Sakura didn't even want to think about it.

So, she didn't. Well, at least she tried not to.

What didn't leave her mind, though, were the letters.

NKZH

Were they a company? Maybe the girl's initials? Sakura wonders. And she was really hoping it would be the latter.

If the first two letters are her sir name, then that must mean the last two are her first name, Sakura deduces. She doesn't even know if she's right. However, she supposed she wouldn't ever know unless she tried. So she did.

"Zaho" Sakura blurted out. Catching the attention of the hybrid, but not enough to warrant anything more than a stare.

"Zeha," She tried again.

Nothing.

"Zuhe"

Nothing.

"Zuha"

Upon those syllables falling from her mouth, Sakura hears something. It's a quiet thumping, a sound you would have to focus to hear. Something she would have missed if she wasn't actively wanting her hear a response. She looked around for the source of the noise until she looked down at the gap between her and the hybrid.

"Zuha," Sakura repeated.

There, the noise was again. And as her gaze was on the gap between them, she saw her tail wag. It was thumping on the cushion of the couch. Sakura looked at the hybrid, her eyes still on the TV, but her ears twitching along with her tail.

"Your name is Zuha?" Sakura asked.

The hybrid nodded.

-

It doesn't even hit Sakura. Her heat had started till it was too late.

Now usually, Sakura was very punctual with her heat schedule. She even had an app that would tell her how far along she was in her heat cycle. It was so unlike her to forget her suppressants. She hadn't forgotten to take them in the last five years, why now she asks herself.

Okay, she may know why she forgot. And it had something to do with the hybrid still residing on her couch. It had been about a week since the hybrid had first come into her home. Sakura had just been so caught up in taking care of Zuha that she had forgotten about herself. Now that she thinks of it, maybe she did simply ignore those notifications she got from her heat app, warning her to take her suppressants.

The hybrid had just been taking up so much of her time lately, from the RoH appointments to teaching her basic chores. Her world was completely taken over by the young girl. Not that she minded, really. It was nice to come home to someone waiting for her. Even if Zuha's communication skills still weren't the best, she was making an effort, and that's what mattered. However, because of all the time she had been taking up, Sakura had ignored the warning signs of her heat coming—the lethargy, the hot skin, and most prominent of all, the warm ache between her legs.

Finally, having time for herself after a long day at work and caring for the hybrid. Sakura was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, when her mind started wandering. It's not like she was trying to. She really was trying to think about anything else. But, the heat between her legs just was getting harder and harder to ignore. She can't help it, as much as Sakura would hate to say it. She's still an omega, and what she needed right now was an alpha.

And yet she didn't have one. She was alone in her bedroom. It would be so easy to wake up the sleepy hybrid on the couch Sakura thought. Get on top of Zuhas lap, and start grin-

Nope, nope, nope, you still barely even know the girl, Sakura sighed.

It's true that the pair had grown increasingly closer even within just this past week. Zuha would no longer growl at her whenever she got too close. And she had started to try and communicate the best she could with her, even if it was by simple nods or gestures. However, saying that, it was still hard to ever gauge any deep emotion from the younger girl. She had tried to ask Zuha more about her past and how she found herself in the alleyway. But, the hybrid seemed detached whenever she'd bring it up, always just shrugging her shoulders or looking away.

Get ahold of yourself. Sakura ran her hands through her hair as she tried to think about literally anything else that wasn't Zuha related. And unfortunately, it was harder than she thought. It had been so long since she'd last gotten off and even longer since she'd gotten laid. She's not some sort of prude, and it's just that with the convenience of suppressants, she never got the urge.

Sakura tried to remember the feeling of being touched by an alpha. The last one she had been with was good enough. She had gotten her off, and that's much more than she can say for any male alpha she had slept with, if you'd even call it that.

She remembers the touch of the alpha's fingers down her chest. As she imagined it in her head, Sakura reached her hand beneath her shirt, cupping her breast. They were much more sensitive than usual. She let out a sigh of relief as she used one of her fingertips to run her finger over the peak of her nipple.

Fuck she needed more so much more. Sakura could feel the stickiness between her legs growing. She tried to remember the way the alpha pushed her fingers in. Sakura slides her free hand beneath her shorts. She shivers at her cold hands nearing her most sensitive area. She let out a breathy moan as she rubbed herself over her panties. Before quickly biting her lip in an attempt to stifle it, she remembered the hybrid still residing in her house. Thinking about if she could hear her. What would Zuha do? Sakura's mind wandered.

Would Zuha come barging into her room? Rip off her shorts and panties and fuck her right there. Her strong arms could so easily hold her down. Sakura's hand traveled beneath her panties, swiping her fingers over her sensitive core. She's so wet. She reached her hand, previously cupping her breast down to tug down her shorts and panties. The room's cold air made her groan as she felt it hit her core.

She teased her entrance, slowly sinking one of her fingers inside. It wasn't enough, not even close. She craved something deeper. She thinks about Zuha's hands and how much bigger they are than hers. She can recall the touch of them when Zuha would be in the kitchen helping her cook, and she wanted a taste of whatever Sakura was cooking and she'd grab her hand to bring the food into her mouth. Her entire hand wrapped around her hands, almost comedically big.

She can't help but think about her long, slender fingers inside her. How deep they'd reach inside, how much they'd stretch her out.

Fuck Sakura moans, that's what she needs. She needs someone to stretch her out, fuck her deep inside. She needs to feel them. She needs to feel Zuha. She's taken glances at the hybrid bulge way more than she'd like to admit despite having bought underwear, shorts, and pants that actually fit her. The hybrid just never bothered to wear more than just shorts around the house, leaving really nothing to the imagination, which was working in Sakura's favor right now.

Not to mention the hybrids body. She felt like a pervert for even thinking about it. The hybrid still wasn't very good at bathing herself, so Sakura was the one to do it for her. And throughout bathing her, Sakura's gaze couldn't happen but wander. The hybrid had a strong, fit body. Sakura would watch as the water flowed down her skin, over her toned abs. She would find herself getting caught up staring at her body.

She slipped another finger inside easily. She was so wet. She pumped her fingers in as deep as she could, just barely grazing the spot she needed it the most. Sakura's eyes tightened as she teetered closer to her orgasm. She could feel herself starting to drip onto the sheets. She slipped another finger in, the filthy sounds of her pussy filling the room. She lowered one of her hands to her clit, making her let out a high-pitched moan. She started rubbing her clit in a slow and light, as she tried so desperately with her other fingers to fill herself.

It felt good, sure, but it wasn't what she craved. She needed to be full. She needed to be fucked. For fucks sake, she needed to be fucked by the hybrid. She wanted to feel how deep Zuhas cock would reach inside, how much she'd stretch her out. How would it feel to be fucked by her? Would the hybrid be rough or gentle with her, she wonders. She needed it. She was getting closer, she could feel her wrist aching in exhaustion, but her other hand made up for it as she rubbed her clit faster.

Sakura dragged her hips against her fingers, desperately trying to get them as deep as they could go. She didn't even care to muffle her moans. It was not like they'd do much anyway with how loud she was being. Her breaths started hitching as she quicked her wrist movements in a last burst of energy. In tandem with her movement on her clit, Sakura came with a loud moan. As she felt her body spasming, her feet planted on the bed, gripping the sheets.

Her breath started to calm down after a couple of moments. She slowly retracted her hand from her nether regions. Sakura couldn't help it. She felt empty in more ways than one.

Perhaps it has to do with her still heat-cluttered mind. But she wished the hybrid was next to her. Not just for the most obvious reason, but she felt so cold, so alone on her bed. Sakura thought about the feeling of the hybrid arms wrapped around her as she started to drift asleep.

[gogobootz1]

The Mentor Pt. 8

Finnick Odair x Reader

Summary: Tribute interviews only heighten the stakes, and the 75th annual Hunger Games begin.

Part 7 | Part 9

You straightened Darla’s skirt one last time before you had to join the audience. The behind the scenes folks were already a little miffed, insisting you shouldn’t have been back there at all. None of them would’ve dared try to escort you out, however, so you had as much time as you wanted. 

“Remember what we talked about? Okay?” You checked in quietly, and she nodded once again. Darla was pretty sure you had asked a hundred times already. 

“I’ve got it,” she told you, vaguely mocking. But she tried not to make too much fun of you, she knew you only fretted like that because you cared. 

You took a step back, sighing, “Alright.” You got the message, but couldn’t quite help it. “Just be your charming self,” she rolled her eyes at the words she’d heard before, “they adore you.” 

“Thanks, Mom,” she mocked, and nodded towards the door. Knowing full well she could handle herself, you shook your head as you turned to leave the backstage area.

You settled into a free seat on an aisle with a good view of the stage. Taking a quick look around, you spotted Haymitch a few seats down in the aisle behind you. Other familiar faces were peppered in the audience, and it certainly was a full house. Now you could only watch what your fellow victors had in store. 

The careers went first, and, surprisingly, seemed to be making their own bids at cancellation. Betee followed suit, though more overtly. But the audience was unswayed, and seemed somewhat to be saving their applause.

“Finnick,” Caesar began, and was quickly interrupted by the loudest raucous heard yet. That’s who they’d been waiting for. Desperate screams cried out through the audience, including the woman right behind you. You flinched when she jumped to her feet, wailing. 

He put on a gracious smile for the audience, giving them a slight bow. 

“I understand that you have a message for somebody out there. A special somebody,” Caesar chuckled, though the cheers from the audience let up. Finnick must’ve asked for the prompt beforehand somehow- Caesar wouldn't have asked that himself. So what was he playing at? “Can we hear it?” 

Finnick nodded only once before looking out into the audience. “Well, Sugar,” he started with a laugh, and you instantly perked up. 

“I’m not quite sure how we got here, but I know you ran off with my heart a long time ago. Everything we’ve shared since,” he said sincerely, cutting himself off when he got choked up. “If I die in that arena, I want you to know… you’ve made it all worth it. And you’re clever enough to know just what I mean.”

You did, too. For about a minute, you sat frozen. Staring up at the stage with wet eyes. Neither of you had ever said it, but you’d just heard it. In every word he said. I love you. 

For a while now you’d suspected he felt the same, but public words of adoration were very different. And they certainly crossed the fine line you’d both drawn unspokenly. 

You only hoped you could talk to him about this before he went into the arena. 

The interviews continued without your attention, however, and you eventually tuned back in for Johanna’s. 

You had to muffle your laughter at her interview. God you adored her. The outrage coming from around you didn’t help, nor did Jo's angry stomping. Luckily, you managed to hold yourself together. 

But eventually came the interview you were most nervous for. 

“Now Darla,” Caesar began, and you drew in a deep breath. “Last time I was interviewing you on this stage… you were late.” 

The audience laughed, and you internally commended Caesar for his impressive influence over them. He laughed with both them and Darla, “Don’t think I forgot!” 

Once the crowd had died down, she smiled and nodded, “Oh believe me Caesar, I remember too. Only I didn’t quite tell you the truth that night.” 

Your brow furrowed. Where was she going with this? Caesar seemed intrigued too, “No?” He wanted more, and so did the audience. 

“Well, when I told you my mentor was busy fussing over me, that was the truth. Only, she was worried about me, not my appearance.” Caesar leaned forward, and the audience seemed to as well. 

“You see, I had the worst case of stage fright. I was so nervous to come out here and see you, Caesar,” The interviewer gave her a gentle smile, and the audience let out some soft ‘awww’s. You couldn’t help the way your eyes welled up at the memory of the night. “She had to come all the way from the training center in her pajamas, with hair all wet from the shower,” you smirked wryly as the audience gave some good natured chuckles, “just to pick me up and dust me off.” 

“Isn’t that sweet?” Caesar asked. “Well, I, for one, have loved seeing you two over the years,” the audience cheered at that. “What was it you called her that night? Your mother hen?” 

Your gaze flicked to Finnick at that, and the look on his face told you he remembered too. 

Darla chuckled a bit before nodding, “I did, but she’s a lot more to me. She’s been there for me through so much, and I am so lucky to have her in my life. This time around, Caesar, I’m fighting to go home to my sister, so we can spend the rest of our lives in peace.” And you thought your eyes were watery before. 

“You volunteered for her,” Caesar said, pushing for more. 

“I’d do it a million times,” Darla nodded, “If she has to watch her only living mentee die, then I regret that. But knowing she’s safe is enough to outweigh any fear I might have going into the arena. She cares so much for everyone around her. But I don’t think she knows how much we care too.” 

A camera cut to you, then, and caught the tears slipping softly down your cheeks. You quickly wiped them when you realized what was happening, flashing the camera a bashful and watery smile. You turned your attention to the stage, and blew Darla a kiss. Love you, you mouthed, bringing your hand to your heart. 

She just smiled back at you, shaking her head. 

“Well, let’s show them both how much we care,” Caesar told the audience, and was met with booming applause. You were impressed, Darla’s angle was even better than your own. But more than that, you knew she meant every word. 

Katniss’s display was impressive, of course. The dress her wedding gown had burned to reveal was stunning, if not shocking. You just knew Snow would be stewing at home. Good. 

But it was soft-spoken Peeta who took you by surprise. He was stellar at playing to the crowd, and he had everyone on the edge of their seats towards the end of his time. 

“If it weren’t for…?” Caesar wanted the answer badly, it could have certainly been a home run for him to end the show on. 

“If it weren’t for the baby,” he rushed out, looking sad. Your eyebrows skyrocketed up, eyes going wide. The audience was in an uproar. All at once, everyone was on their feet. You joined them, eager to keep the stage in sight. From the corner of your eye, you caught Haymitch still sitting, snickering to himself. He raised his flask, almost in toast. 

It didn’t take you long to catch on. Fucking brilliant. The kid had played them all, and the entire audience began calling for a cancellation. A home run indeed. Caesar, for the first time since you’d known him, looked panicked. He truly did not know how to handle this. A crowd had never turned to this degree, there had been no problem he couldn’t mend with charisma. But not this time. 

The tributes on stage held each others hands, and raised them for the audience to see. Pulling out all the stops. The room went pitch black, and a few dramatic Capitolites screamed. It didn’t take long for the lights to come back on, but a curtain had fallen in front of the stage. 

——————————————

Darkness consumed the stage, and Darla took the opportunity to turn around. It was a happy coincidence for District Ten to be directly in front of District Four.

"Nice work, loverboy," Darla teased, quietly.

"Yeah, yeah," Finnick whispered out, sounding bashful, "I try."

Darla giggled, and she thought she heard some quiet laughter coming from Mags. If the Games had done nothing else, they’d shaken things up.

——————————————

After the whirlwind interviews, you and Darla took the chance to relax. There would only be one more day before the games and there would be no more calm moments when they began.

“I’m going to bed,” Darla said after she got out of the shower. You couldn’t help but smirk at her.

“Get some rest, Granny,” you nodded sagely. She had often made fun of you for the “old woman-bed time” you employed. She grabbed a pillow from a decorative chair and hurled it at you. You managed to dodge it, snickering at her as she stomped off.

Your mood quickly soured after her departure, however, as early nerves crept in. Walking the various floors of the center did not help as much as you had hoped, but you kept at it.

Eventually, you reached the ground level. The bar you’d spoken to Haymitch in went by on your left. Past it, and further down the hall, you came upon an indoor pool. Peering in, you spotted a familiar head of sandy blond hair. Quietly, you pushed the door open at were met with the smell of chlorine.

“Is that nickname gonna stick?” You asked from just beyond the doorway. Finnick was sat at the edge of the pool, moving his legs through the water. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder, relaxing a bit when he realized it was only you. 

It took him a second to reply, “Not sure yet.” His gaze went back to the water as you settled down next to him. Your long pajama pants kept you from dipping your feet in too. Instead, you curled your legs up to your chest, resting your chin on your knees. 

“Right.” It was quiet for a second. 

“I think I need something more unique,” he finally decided, “I have to set myself apart from other interested parties” 

 “You don't have to worry about them” you smiled, shyly, "I’ve only ever been interested in one party."

“A very lucky party, I’m sure,” he nodded. 

“I’d like to think so,” you replied. “And I’d like to think that party is only interested in me.”

“He is,” Finnick nodded quickly, but paused, unsure if he’d further upset the careful balance of not quite discussing your clearly mutual feelings. 

You laughed a little, but stopped yourself. “When do you think it’ll be time to stop dancing around each other?” 

He smiled gently, “When I make it back to you.” 

“I see,” you nod, seriously, “I think I can wait that long.”

“Well, I’d hope so since we’ve both waited this long,” he shrugged.

You took in a sharp breath, “Just make sure you do come back.” 

“Oh, it’s a done deal now,” he deadpanned, “all I needed was a little motivation.” You laughed quietly, shaking your head. You stood to walk away before stopping yourself.

Crouching down again, you wrapped your arms around him and set your chin on his shoulder.

“I’ll be seeing you,” you whispered with a quiet confidence. He turned his head, trying to glance at you from the corner of his eye. You bumped your temple to his before pulling away and leaving him to his thoughts.  

——————————————

The next day was all lounging and eating and watching trashy Capitol-made programming. You periodically interrupted a busy schedule of relaxing with strategy talks. Darla seemed displeased, but they were discussions you needed to have.

“If you can’t find any allies straight out the gate, I want you to go off on your own,” you said seriously over lunch, and Darla’s face scrunched up.

“Can we not?” She took a big bite of her sandwich.

You shook your head, “We’ve got enough sponsors that I can send you a weapon right away, you wouldn’t even have to bother with the Cornucopia. Scope it out first and make your choice in the moment.”

Darla swallowed harshly, and set her jaw. You could tell she wasn’t happy about these conversations. She was more the act first-think later type.

“Fine,” she said, finally. Darla moodily picked up her sandwich again.

“You know I’ll be watching the whole time, right?” You took a breath. “Even if things go wrong, I’ve got you,” you promised, “okay?”

Some of the tension in her shoulders eased at that, “okay.”

“Good,” you smiled, “let’s go eat on the couch.” Darla was happy to oblige to that request.

The two of you were parked on the couch well into the evening, laughing and talking and trying to make the most of what could be your last night together.

——————————————

You woke up to some rustling, a little groggy. It was still dark out, and for a second you couldn’t place where you were. Still on the couch, you realized. Your vision cleared up when you rubbed your eyes, blanket falling from your shoulders. When did that get there? 

Artificial light came shining in from the hall, and you realized what you had awoken in time for. 

Just as Darla was about to step through the doorway, you called out to her. 

“Hey,” she spun quickly, “don’t die.” 

“That’s your big advice?” Her tone disguised her clear amusement. 

“I am an expert,” you said, voice was still scratchy from sleep. She only smiled and shook her head, walking through the doorway before she could beg to stay. 

The sun rose, and light crept into the roomy penthouse as you stayed frozen, staring at the door. You only looked away when the TV clicked on and the hour-long pre-Games broadcast began.

It took half that time for you to get dressed and another few minutes to find a quiet lounge in the lobby. Not that you could settle comfortably into it. It didn't escape your notice that your hands were already shaking with nerves. You took to pacing as a distraction.

"If you stress too much now you won't have enough left for later," A gruff voice chimed from behind you.

"I've got stress to spare," you shot back, still pacing. As much as his comment annoyed you, you were glad Haymitch was there. His presence would certainly ground you, and remind you that you weren't the one back in the games. You were safely in the Capitol, though if all went according to plan you wouldn't be for long. Not that anything within the Games ever went according to plan.

The start of the countdown pulled you from your thoughts, and you stopped in place. Wide-eyed, your gaze was locked on the screen.

5

4

3

2

"Salud," Haymitch said, raising his glass and taking a drink. When he had fixed it for himself, you weren't sure. You snatched it from his hand as the cannon went off.

Fear iced your fingers as you watched the tributes dive in. You couldn't help but take a sip yourself.

———————————

This is much later than I wanted it to be y'all - sorry shit's been stressful <3 thx for reading

taglist: @emerald-09 @iwantmyredvelvetcupcake @daixylie @fandomhopped

@axelinchen

@whens-naptime

@avoxrising

@erindiggory

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@blackdxggr

@maxinehufflepuffprincess

@iheartspderman

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[treufurz]

first hug with the nekoma members

I happened to do some research and apparently it’s considered rude in Japan to hug people :’) and it’s something usually only couples do, so why not write some first hug prompts with my fav team, yay! i always see first kiss but my touch starved ass believes in hug supremacy 

type: fluff, gn!reader (implied female at yamamotos) x nekoma boys (unfortunately no teshiro)

warnings: none! maybe yamamoto being silly 🤗 also lowercase intended, not proof read so sorry for any typos !! 

summary: you hugging your friend (who happens to have a crush on you) for the first time!

#1 TETSURŌ KUROO

when you approached the captain after practice, he wasn’t surprised. you guys would often walk to the train station together with kenma, so he assumed this was the case. “hey! finished everything up already?” you chirped, arriving in front of him and smiling. he nodded, gesturing at his bag and humming. “kenma’s still getting changed.” taking the chance of him extending his arm, you slipped below and pressed your body against his chest. he froze up for a second, about to hug you back until you had already slipped away from his touch. he beat himself up about it later </3

#2 NOBUYUKI KAI

“need some help?” his voice echoed in your ears and you spun around in surprise. “ah, kai! good morning! yes, i’d appreciate that.” you had been trying to build up the net for practice and kai had luckily arrived shortly after you. he fixed your mistake with ease, finishing it up faster than you expected. “all done.” he spoke, giving you a thumbs up. you hesitated, but gave him a quick hug that was extended by kai tightning his grip around you and patting your back a few times, before finally releasing you. in the end, you were more flustered about it than him.

#3 MORISUKE YAKU

“y’know, yaku, i think you’re a bit harsh on lev sometimes.” you spoke, facing the 3rd year. he stayed silent for a second, before speaking. “he deserves it.” before he was able to move on, you continued. “i don’t think you’re that short though, yakkun. it’s great for hugging!” a light red hue spread along his cheeks, him turning away from you. that was, until he felt your arms wrap around his body and he completely froze up, somehow being able to reciprocate your touch. “see?” 

#4 TAKETORA YAMAMOTO

it’s no secret that yamamoto was scared to talk to girls, but you wanted to change that. when you found out why he was avoiding you, you did your best on befriending him and somehow managed to do it after two weeks of being the manager. yamamoto had insisted on walking you home, so you complied after his constant begging all day. arriving in front of your home, he bowed before you and wished you a good night. he started walking off until you grabbed his wrist and pulled him into your embrace. let’s just say, you broke him.

#5 KENMA KOZUME

with kenma, the hug was out of nowhere. the boys had just returned from their run (even though it was very cold outside) and most of them were warmed up, except for one certain member. he was pathetically standing next to kuroo, shaking like a madman, and you shook your head at his carelessness. you approached him, looking at him one last time before pressing your body against his in an attempt to warm him up. his cheeks heated up, but he didn’t really know what to do so he simply wrapped his free arm around you lazily, enjoying the heat. the rest of the boys couldn’t help but feel slightly jealous.

#6 SHŌHEI FUKUNAGA

when you saw shōhei getting the balls with inuoka, you just got hit with the urge randomly. he was there and you were cold, so why not? you got up from the bench, putting your notebook and pencil down and jogged over to him. he looked at you in silence, waiting for you to say something until you opened your arms and looked at him expectantly. he tried to understand what you were doing, inuoka having to come for help and pushed him forward slightly. finally getting at your idea, he shyly complied and wrapped his arms around you. when you parted, he was as red as a tomato.

#7 SŌ INUOKA

in this case, inuoka was actually the one who initiated the hug. while on a walk, he saw a couple hugging and his mind immediatly wandered to you, happy with the idea he just got. once he entered the gym building after changing into his correct attire, his eyes landed on you and he jogged over to your side, grinning at you. “ah, good morning sō! do you need something?” you smiled up at him. he nodded. “can i hug you?” he asked, you blushing a little bit at his direct behavior. “oh! sure!” you agreed, standing up and extending your arms for him. he squeezed you against him tightly, you laughing a bit at his intensity. he hugged you more often after that :)

#11 LEV HAIBA

like inuoka, he was the one that initiated the hug. since one of his parents was european, hugging was normal in his family and he just wanted to do it one day when he saw you all cuddled up in a jacket you borrowed from a friend. he thought you looked cute, so he went up to you and engulfed your body in his arms. “oi- lev?!” you exclaimed, surprised at his gesture. nonetheless he didn’t let go, and waited until you hugged him back to release his grip. 

#12 YŪKI SHIBAYAMA

“yūki, could you help me with this?” you called out, showing him a riddle on your phone. he nodded, sitting down next to you and explaining it to you, waiting until you finally understood. in that moment you were just grateful for his help, and didn’t hesitate from getting up and hugging him quickly. personally he thought it was too short, ignoring the small blush on his face at the sudden body contact. he definitely gave you multiple hints of wanting another hug after that.

[vodika-vibes]

HI vodika! Can I ask an imperial (or cx) Tech or Wrecker + soulmate au 👉👈

Surface Pressure

Summary: You know who your soulmate is. It’s obvious, as you both have the same symbol on your left hand. The problem is Tech is a clone and pretends you don’t exist.

Pairing: TBB TEch (Imperial) x F!Reader

Word Count: 2220

Warnings: None

Prompt: Soulmate AU - soulmates have identical marks somewhere on their body

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly

A/N: Hihi! Thank you for your request! I hope you like it!

You smother your yawn with great difficulty as you pick up your datapad and squint at the information on the screen, you lay your datapad down and proceed to transfer the information from the datapad to the computer.

It’s amazing just how much paperwork the Empire generates.

It has to be copied into the proper system, labeled correctly, encrypted and then sent to Coruscant.

If it wasn’t such a well-paying job, you’d have quit ages ago. But no, you have to support your parents. And older siblings.

Ungrateful leeches.

This time, you don’t bother to smother your yawn as you press the sleeve of your uniform against your mouth to cover your yawn. Your job is well-paying, but it’s also very dull. You probably go through enough caf to keep the companies in business.

You lock your computer and cross your office to your caf machine, intent on making another cup to help you stay awake. While your caf is brewing, you lean against the desk and absently trace your soul mark.

It’s pretty, your soul mark.

It’s pale orange and has swooping shapes that almost make it look like a flower. As a child, you spent hours tracing the design with markers or clumsy fingers. And you would daydream about your soulmate.

As you grew older, those daydreams changed into full-blown fantasies. You dreamed up whole adventures with you and your soulmate, imagined the planets you would visit, and the discoveries you’d make together.

Reality, as it happens, is much more disappointing.

Oh, you know who your soulmate is. You see him every day.

But he likes to pretend that you don’t exist.

Tech, or CT-9902 as you are expected to call him, is a clone. He’s so smart, and so important to the Empire, that he single-handedly runs the Technical Department on the base.

He hides his soul mark.

But you managed to catch a glimpse of it when you started working here, so you know your marks are identical. And you know that he knows it too.

His gaze lingers on you, sometimes. Well, on your hand at least.

You can’t help but wonder if he’s disappointed. It’s not like you have a very technical job, and he’s very smart. Not to mention, there are plenty of prettier people—

Your caf machine beeps, pulling you from your thoughts, and you focus your attention on the machine that’s pouring caf into your mug. 

A small sigh falls from your lips and you tiredly rub your eyes. You must be more exhausted than you thought if your thoughts are spiraling so badly. You pull your mug out of the machine and add some sugar and some creamer, taking a sip before you return to your desk.

You sink into your comfortable chair, taking a moment to set your mug on a coaster before you unlock your computer and start typing again.

You manage to type three lines when the entire room goes dark, including the computer.

You pull your flashlight out of your desk and turn it on, using it to help you get to your office door. Like everything else in the base, the door is electric, luckily there’s a safety on the door, allowing it to be pulled open with a handle in the event of a fire or power outage.

So you pull open the door and peek out into the hallway, and you’re not the only one. Down the hall, all of the administrative employees are sticking their heads into the hallway, trying to get answers.

“Everything is fine,” The base Commander calls as he jogs down the hall, followed but several soldiers, “Lightning struck the transformer, but the backup generators will be up and running in a few minutes. There is no need to be alarmed.”

Just as he jogs passed your office the lights flicker and come back on, along with the relieving sound of the climate control kicking back on.

“Everyone, please go back to work.” The base Commander calls, “If you have any technical issues, please put a ticket in for Tech Support, do not try and repair it yourself.”

You smother your slightly amused laugh and vanish back into your office as you hear your neighbor try to argue with the base commander. That comment was absolutely pointed at your neighbor, who once tried to jerry-rig a supercomputer by stealing all of the administrative computers…and managed to burn down three offices.

He only still has his job because he’s the nephew of the base Commander.

You hit the power button on your computer as you drop into your seat, but nothing happens. You frown and hold the power button for a couple of seconds, but still, nothing happens.

“Great.” You grab a datapad, open the Tech Support chat window, open a ticket, and send your request. Then you drop your datapad back on your desk and pick up your caf to take a sip.

You expect to wait a while, a least a couple of hours, so you’re surprised when there’s a knock on your door almost half an hour later. You’re even more surprised when the door slides open and Tech walks into your office.

You have to bite your tongue to keep from saying his name, instead you just stand and greet him with a small smile. “I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”

“Your ticket said that your computer stopped working after the power outage?” Tech asks, his gaze lingering on the orange mark on your hand.

“That’s right.” You move away from your desk to allow him access.

Tech brushes against you to get to your desk, and you both freeze. His gaze snaps to your face, and you have to tightly fold your arms over your stomach to keep from doing something foolish.

Like touching him.

He clears his throat, “Well. Most likely the blown transformer is the cause.” Tech says as he ducks under your desk, “You should not need a new computer, though.”

“You think so?”

He pulls himself out from under your desk and looks up at you, “All of the computers are plugged into surge protectors for this very reason.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

He ducks back under the desk. You hear a curse, and Tech pulls back and rips his gloves off, tossing them over your keyboard, before he vanishes back under the desk.

There’s the sound of cords moving, and then he pulls back out from under your desk, your surge protector in his hands. “It is a good thing that you were using this.” He says as he stands and adjusts the long device so you’re able to see the top, there are scorch marks near some of the outlets.

You open your mouth to say something, but your office door slides open, interrupting you. 

“Commander?” You ask, “Everything alright?”

“I heard that you had some tech issues,” He says, his gaze darting between you and Tech, and then to the scorched surge protector, “Did a fire start?”

“No. We need to add more protections though.” Tech notes, as he quickly tugs his gloves back over his hands. He’s not paying attention to the Commander…but you are.

You see the way that his gaze lands on Tech’s soul mark, the soul mark that’s identical to your own. And you see the way his eyes light up.

You’re heart sinks into your stomach. 

You’re not stupid. You know that Imperial Officers are monsters on a good day, and you know that they’re not above using soul mates to force someone into obedience.

You just had a target placed on your back.

You can’t help but wonder if Tech would even care if you vanished.

“I will go and get you a new surge protector,” Tech says to you, “that should fix the computer issue.”

“Thank you,” You reply, your voice dry. You want to beg him to not leave you with the Commander, but the words stick in your throat.

And then it’s too late.

Tech is gone, the door is shut, and the Commander turns his gaze on you.

There’s silence for a moment, then the Commander takes a step towards you and picks up a small tooka figurine sitting on your desk, “I would prefer it if you didn’t make this difficult.” He says quietly.

“Yes.” You whisper, “I understand.”

“Follow me.”

Silently you follow him through the base. And then down, under the base. To a secret prison, located deep beneath the base. You’re handed off to a group of guards, clad in a stark white prison uniform, and then escorted to a small cell. 

The other cells are filled with men and women, of all races. And the guard, gleefully, informs you that everyone in the secret prison is the soul mate of a clone.

As you step into your cell, the door slams shut with a finality that makes you want to cry.

Game over.

The Empire wins.

Tech tries to be a good soldier.

He obeys his orders, he takes the verbal abuse that the natborns lay on his. He pretends that it doesn’t bother him that he’s been separated from his brothers.

He’s a good soldier.

But, right now, he doesn’t want to be a good soldier.

It has been three months, 2 weeks, and 4 days since his soul mate vanished.

Vanished, of course, is a colloquialism for the fact that she has been thrown in a cell somewhere for the crime of having a clone soul mate.

Tech can’t remember the last time he was so angry. Maybe when he was a cadet.

The base Commander is using her to force Tech into compliance. And every time he doesn’t do something that the Commander wants him to do, Tech gets another picture of his badly beaten soul mate.

It’s enough to make him want to comply.

It’s also enough to push him into homicide.

Tech glances around the room, just to make sure that no one is watching him, and then focuses his attention back on the computer in front of him. Echo might be the slicing master, but Tech isn’t so bad himself.

He scans the information on the computer, searching for the information he needs.

Then he finds it.

A picture of his soul mate, her prisoner ID number, the cell number she’s been confined in…and the location of the prison.

The moment he realizes that she’s been under his feet this whole time, Tech feels a surge of rage so intense that he has to shut down the computer and walk away for a moment.

It won’t do for him to act out of anger.

All that will do is put her in harm's way.

He stamps out his rage with difficulty and starts back to his office, a plan forming as he walks. 

Instead of going to his office, he turns and heads towards the armory. The natborns in charge think that he’s a regular clone.

They’re wrong.

He’s still a Commando.

Once in the armory Tech dons his armor and grabs his weapons as well as some explosives. And then he heads to the hidden door that leads to the hidden prison. 

One quiet explosion later, Tech uses the emergency stairs to get to the bottommost level, where he stops near the security room. A quick scan of the room tells him that he can open all of the cell doors from in here, as well as send an alert to the clone soul mates that their other halves have been freed.

All he has to do is remove the guards.

Easy.

7 blaster shots later, Tech steps into the security room and opens all of the cell doors. Then he sends a message to his reg brothers.

His good deed done for the day, Tech leaves the security room and weaves through the crowd of people until he reaches her cell.

She’s cautiously peeking out the open door as if expecting it to be a trap. One of her eyes is swollen, and her lip is split. Tech says her name and her eyes snap to his face.

“...Tech?” Her voice is soft, hesitant.

“I am sorry that it took me so long to find you,” Tech apologizes. “Will you come with me?”

“You came? For me?” She sounds surprised.

“Did you think I would not?”

“I didn’t think you cared.” She admits.

Tech steps closer to her and lightly brushes a thumb across her cheek, “I was trying to protect you, I am sorry if you thought that I did not care.”

She shakes her head and flings her arms around his neck. Hesitantly, afraid to hurt her any more than she’s already been hurt, Tech wraps his arms around her. “Will you come with me?” He repeats.

She nods mutely and then pulls back, “The Empire will kill us.”

“They have to catch us first.” Tech lightly kisses her forehead, “Come on, it is time to go.”

She nods one more time and takes his hand, “What about them?”

“Oh, I made sure to let their soulmates know where they are, and that they are free. You do not have to worry about them.”

As if proving his point, there’s an explosion from above them.

“Time for us to go. Come on, mesh’la.”

[berenwrites]

Always and Forever - Stranger Things - Steddie - G

Rating: G | cw: none | tags: fluff, very light angst, Corroded Coffin, rockstars, touring

Prompt: Love is going out of your way to do something you know will make them happy (@forgottenkanji)

A/N: Written for @steddielovemonth day 29. Sorry I disappeared from this challenge halfway through. We lost one of our kitties (she was 14 ½) and I just kind of lost the impetus, but I figured I had to write something for the last day at least. No beta today because it was a last minute thing.

Also on AO3 soon | All My Other Stranger Things Fic

Always and Forever: Love Finds a Way

Steve stared at the phone for a long time after he put it down with the usual ‘I love you’. He spoke to Eddie every day after he got home and before Eddie was due on stage with the rest of Corroded Coffin. The three-month tour was nearly over, and it had done so much for the band’s popularity. Usually, Eddie sounded excited on the phone, even though he professed to miss Steve as much as Steve missed him.

Tonight, hadn’t been like that.

All Steve had been able to hear was the strain in Eddie’s voice. Oh, Eddie had tried to cover it with his usual exuberance, but Steve knew his boyfriend far too well. Something was wrong.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he picked up the phone again. He rang through to the band’s hotel, but this time he asked for a different room number.

“Hello,” came the rather disgruntled answer after a couple of rings.

“Gareth, what’s wrong with Eddie?” Steve asked without beating around the bus.

“Steve?” Gareth asked, although Steve was pretty sure it was just a stall.

“Gareth,” Steve said in a tone that usually had the not-kids-anymore kids jumping to do whatever he was telling them to.

There was a sigh from the other end.

“He’s having nightmares again,” Gareth finally said after a few moments silence.

“What? Why?” Steve asked.

“There was an incident at one of the venues,” Gareth revealed. “Nothing major, just some fans managed to get backstage and thought it would be hilarious to try and scare the big bad metal band. They had these demon masks and party poppers and hid in the green room. Security got rid of them, but it spooked all of us a bit.”

“If I ever get my hands on those assholes, I will fucking kill them,” Steve growled out, mind jumping to the nail bat he still kept under the bed.

The Upside Down was closed off, there hadn’t been any trouble for three years, but he could never quite shake the need to have a weapon to hand. He could only imagine what it was like for Eddie on tour in strange places. After all, Eddie had nearly died.

“They were just stupid kids,” Gareth did his best to sound soothing, but Steve was pretty sure they were actually in agreement.

“Why didn’t he mention it to me?” Steve asked.

“Probably because he didn’t want to worry you,” Gareth replied. “We’ll make sure he’s okay, Steve,” Gareth promised. “We love him too.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Thanks. Don’t tell him I called, okay? He’ll only worry about me worrying.”

“No problem,” Gareth replied. “Sorry, I have to go, the van’s waiting downstairs.”

“Knock ‘em dead,” Steve replied, “and thanks again.”

“See you in a couple of weeks,” Gareth said, and the line clicked off.

Putting the receiver back in the cradle, Steve stared at the phone for a little while longer. It was as he picked it up for the third time, he realised he had made the decision before he had even put it down the first time.

He didn’t stop moving until he was in sitting on the plane. He’d let Robin and Dustin know he was going and asked them to pass on the information. Robin had told him to ‘go get his man’. He’d packed a bag and called a taxi to the airport, barely pausing to make sure he had anything but his wallet. Luckily the girl on the ticket desk had taken pity on him and found him a not completely terrible flight across the country. Staring out the window, all he could think about was Eddie.

By the time he reached the hotel it was the early hours of the morning. He didn’t need to ask reception because he already knew the room number, so he headed straight up. When he stepped out on the right floor a guy in a black suit lurking in the shadows gave him a look. Apparently, someone was taking security seriously now. Corroded Coffin was what some publications liked to call an over-night sensation, even though they had been working hard for several years that didn’t seem to count. You couldn’t turn on a rock station without them coming up. They deserved to be looked after.

Also apparently, someone had briefed the security guy well, because he glared at Steve for a few moments and then appeared to relax. How security knew what he looked like he decided not to ask.

Walking quickly along the hall he got to Eddie’s door. The first thing he noticed was the sound of an acoustic guitar. Not really a surprise after what Gareth had told him. When Eddie couldn’t sleep, he always retreated to his music.

Lifting his hand, Steve knocked.

The guitar playing stopped.

Steve knocked again when no one answered the door.

A second later, the door was yanked inwards, and Eddie was staring at him as if he didn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

“Steve,” Eddie said, eyes big and round.

“Hi,” he replied and gave Eddie a little wave.

“Am I dreaming?” Eddie asked and sounded just a little afraid Steve wasn’t real.

“Nope,” he said, reaching out and touching the side of Eddie’s face.

Eddie almost clocked himself on the side of the head with his guitar, clearly forgetting he was holding it as he tried to cover Steve’s hand with his own. At which point, Steve took the guitar and gently shepherded Eddie back into the room. Once the door was closed, he put the guitar down, dropped his own bag and crowded into Eddie’s personal space.

“Missed you,” he said, taking Eddie’s face in his hands.

The were dark circles under Eddie’s eyes and his skin was pale, but he was just a beautiful to Steve as always.

“Missed you too,” Eddie replied, a tiny smile quirking his lips as he drank Steve in with his eyes. “How?”

“Need you to be happy, Eds,” he said, leaning forward so their foreheads were touching. “That’s all that matters.”

“But…”

“No buts,” he interrupted. “Need to hold you and chase the nightmares away.”

“Who told you?” Eddie asked, but there was no heat to his tone even as he wound his arms around Steve.

“Twisted Gareth’s arm,” Steve confessed, wrapping Eddie in a tight embrace. “Knew something was wrong on the phone earlier.”

“Not as good an actor as I think I am, huh?” Eddie said into his shirt.

“Only to me,” Steve assured him, “and well probably Wayne.”

That startled a laugh out of Eddie, but he didn’t move from his position in Steve’s arms.

“God I love you,” Eddie said.

“Me too,” Steve replied, “always and forever.”

When Eddie had gone off on tour it had seemed like such a big thing, the first reality of the rockstar lifestyle. Steve had worried it would pull them apart, but what he’d realised during the earlier phone call, was it was all irrelevant. All the mattered to him was Eddie. Everything else was just details to be worked out.

He didn’t have a plan. Hadn’t had more than the sure and certain knowledge he needed to get to Eddie. He would work out what to do next when he woke up in the morning with Eddie in his arms. That was the important part.

All My Other Stranger Things Fic

[acesartemis]

for a buddietommy prompt- tommy’s retirement

None of them talk as they jostle around the house getting ready for work that morning, but there are signs: a freshly ironed uniform set out for him, an omelette made with everything, a to-go thermos full of coffee. Their goodbye hugs at their cars are tighter, lingering. Eddie and Evan each give him a kiss to the corner of his lips at the same time instead of their usual morning pecks. He knows Evan is simmering under his skin to say something, but a firm hand to his shoulder and a slight tilt of the head from Eddie stops him. Tommy doesn't know whether to be thankful for the silence or not.

The drive to Harbor, one he's taken so many times, has him gripping the steering wheel. He fiddles with his truck's controls, landing on a hard rock station to drown out the silence.

The paperwork had been done for a month. Old age has caught up with him faster than he would have liked. Luckily he would be transitioning to an instructor role, but it still was an end that ripped to his core.

Thankfully, his last day is an easy one. No casualties, only medevac calls. The scene that greets him at Harbor after his last flight gives him a rush of deja vu, back years ago to another station and another cake. Lucy tries to smash his face in it, but Tommy playfully wrestles her back.

"You still have some fight left in you yet," she whispers as their play-fighting winds down to a hug. He wisely doesn't comment on the wetness of her eyes as she pulls back from him. She clears her throat, clapping him hard on the back.

"Thanks for being my favorite co-pilot and always having my six all these years," he says, holding back his own tears. He wraps his arm over her shoulders. "No one else I'd trust Winnie with than you."

As the clock ticks down to the end of his shift, he finds himself alone with the aforementioned Winnie—properly called Winifred, named after the grandmother he lost just after high school graduation—trailing his fingers over her tail, spinning the rotor. "Thank you," he whispers, transferring a kiss to his fingers and pressing it into the paint. It wasn't his first chopper by any means, nor the most impressive, but they had been together since he embarked on his fresh start at Harbor and she had never let him down.

His phone buzzing in his pocket breaks his reverie. He comes to attention and salutes the aircraft, because it felt the right thing to do. He about-faces and leaves Harbor as an active firefighter for the last time.

He manages to keep his emotions in check until he gets home and sees his husbands waiting for him, mirrored faces somber. He makes it two steps before he's sobbing, his chest cracking open with the emotions he's stifled all day. His husbands are there to catch him, walk him to the couch and surround him with their body weight as he grieves.

[lulublack90]

Prompt 4 - Hair

@jegulus-microfic March 4 Word count 983

Previous part First part

It took them a week to figure out where the chamber was, and that was only because Pandora came floating in while they were arguing back and forth about where the entrance could be. 

“It has to be in the dungeons. That’s where the Common room is.” Evan had argued. 

“Yeah, but where could it be? It’s all classrooms down there.” Barty was getting frustrated at their lack of progress. Pandora had peered over at all the notes they had spread over the floor and said. 

“Oh, the entrance is in the second-floor girl’s bathroom.”

“Yeah, sure, it is Pandora.” Evan rolled his eyes at his sister. Pandora flicked around, her hair billowing behind her with the sharp movement. 

“There is a snake carved into the tap of the sink, and moaning Myrtle was killed the last time it was opened when Tom Riddle was at school.” They all stared at her. Regulus pulled out his mirror and flipped it open. 

“James, we think we’ve found it.”

So now that’s where they stood. Regulus, James, Sirius, Barty, Evan, Pandora and Lily. Seven people who had left Hogwarts years ago and who shouldn’t have had any reason to be in that bathroom. 

They all had some sort of blade made of goblin silver. Luckily, there were enough old families in the group that they managed to scrounge enough pieces. 

Sirius also had a small bag strapped to his hip. It had one of his expansion charms on it. They’d been down to Hagrid’s chicken coop and stolen two roosters. And put them in it. 

The trouble they were having now was that none of them spoke parseltongue, so they were having trouble getting the chamber to open. That’s when moaning Myrtle appeared. 

“Ooo, it’s the Black brothers.” She cooed. “What are they doing here with all their friends?” 

“Hi, Myrtle.” Sirius grinned at her with his best smile. It was one he’d used many times to get what he wanted. “We’re trying to get into the secret chamber but can’t seem to open it. Do you know how?” He twirled a lock of his hair around his finger as he batted his eyelashes at her. 

Regulus hadn’t known that ghosts could blush, but apparently, they could. Myrtle’s ghostly pallor brightened under Sirius’s gaze. 

“There was a boy right before I died. I think he opened it. He said something in another language.” She floated closer to Sirius. 

“Can you remember what he said? It’s very important, Myrtle.” Sirius asked, keeping his voice soft and husky. Myrtle glowed even brighter. She opened her mouth, and she let out a strange hiss. Immediately, the sink behind them started moving, and a sliding passageway was revealed. 

Sirius looked at the ghost with wide eyes. “Myrtle, you’re amazing.” He grinned a real grin this time and lifted a hand to cup her cheek. 

Apparently, ghosts could also swoon. They left Myrtle floating horizontally along the floor as they clambered down the chute, one by one. 

“I’m so telling Remus about that,” Regulus whispered to his brother once they safely made it to the ground. Sirius shrugged. 

“It’s for the good of the cause. He’ll understand. Beside’s, he’d have to see me to be mad at me anyway.” Regulus had touched on a sore spot, and he knew it. Fenrir had been very possessive of Remus, only letting him leave when Voldemort requested the Wolves at a meeting. 

Remus hadn’t looked great the last time Regulus saw him. He was skinny, and his clothes were tattered. He hadn’t said much about it when he’d come and stood with him, Barty and Evan. The other wolves were keeping a close eye on him.

Regulus, had a plan to get Remus away from the pack for a bit, but it would have to wait until after they fought the Basilisk.

“You okay, love?” James had come up behind him and wrapped an arm around his waist. Regulus let himself relax into James’s touch just for a second before he untangled them. 

“We need to get moving.” He said as he squeezed James’s hand. “Don't forget to either keep your eyes closed or make sure you don’t look into its eyes. If you do, you’ll be dead.” He raised his voice so the others could hear him. 

“Wow, great pep talk there, Reg. Really feeling confident after that.” Barty groaned at him. Sirius slapped him on the back before Regulus could say anything to him. 

“Come on, Crouch. If everything goes right down here, we’re going to be legends.” Barty turned to grin wickedly at Sirius. 

“Let’s go kill this bloody snake.” 

The group walked cautiously down the stone passageway. It was littered with bones, and there was no way of moving without the sound of cracking bones echoing off the walls. 

The passageway went on forever. Turning this way and that, before they came to a wall blocking their way emblazoned with two entwining serpents.

“How do we get through that then?” Lily asked, running her hand over the stone. 

“Probably the same as the sink,” Pandora moved to stand beside her and hissed the same way Myrtle had. The snakes began to move, and the wall split in two. It moved out of sight, leaving the way before them clear. 

The chamber finally opened up. They all paused on the edge, looking at the pillars, each with a snake carved into it. 

“This is it,” Regulus said, his voice barely a whisper. He looked into James’s eyes. “I love you.” James smiled down at him and ducked his head, kissing Regulus softly. 

The other couples followed suit. 

“Alright enough, or I’m going to feed myself to the Basilisk!” Sirius complained. The others pulled away from each other, looking sheepish. 

They walked forward into the middle of the chamber and watched as a statue of Salazar Slytherin slowly opened its mouth.        

Next part

[crowleying]

The Mystery of the Missing Underwear

Date: 26.06.2024

Pairing:  Steve McGarrett x Danny Williams

Words: 394

Fandom: Hawaii Five-0

Characters: Steve McGarrett, Danny Williams

Genre: Pre-relationship

Length: Oneshot

Warnings: None

Requested: No

Prompts: No

Summary: Steve finds out where all his boxers have disappeared to.

A/N: I was in a bit of a writing block. Actually, I have been writing a lot but I seem unable to finish anything of what I start. So I purposefully wrote something short and this is what came out. I hope you enjoy it. English is not my first language, so feel free to correct any mistake, and I would love to know what you think about it. If you like my works, please like and reblog them. REQUESTS ARE OPEN. I posted a List of prompts, so check it out! Let me know if you would like to be tagged in my works.

IF YOU LIKE MY WORKS, PLEASE REBLOG THEM

Masterlist

Ao3

It was the first time Steve had managed to drag Danny to run with him and it would probably be the last one too, if Danny’s face was anything to go by. And Danny’s face was always something to go by.

“I’m never running with you ever again, McGarrett,” he said, handing him a towel. 

“It’s not my fault the one time you do decide to come running with me we get caught in the worst rain of the century,” he shot back, from under the towel he was forcefully drying his hair with.

Danny’s voice came out muffled by the towel. “Never again.”

Steve rolled his eyes fondly at his partner's antics. His gaze fell on Danny’s torso, clad in his wet t-shirt that barely left anything to the imagination. He was so lost in his contemplation, that he almost missed the moment Danny took the towel off his face. He quickly hid his in the one he had been given, trying to hide the sudden redness in his cheeks. 

He probably shouldn’t have left Danny unsupervised, because the moment he emerged from the towel, his eyes landed on Danny’s now shirtless chest. Steve spoke before he could start to strip his pants too. “Do you have any spare clothes?”

“Oh? Yes, sure.”

He grabbed the shirt he had just discarded and disappeared into his bedroom, luckily still wearing his shorts.

Steve tried to go through the breathing exercises he had learnt during BUD/S. It turned out to be completely useless when Danny reappeared stripped of his shorts and only wearing boxers. 

Steve narrowed his eyes. He had almost missed it, what with Danny looking like that.

Danny handed him some clean clothes.

“Are those mine?”

Danny frowned, looking down at the clothes in Steve’s hands. They were definitely his. He looked back up at Steve and noticed his gaze was somewhere else entirely. He followed it to his boxers. Well, Steve’s boxers.

He cleared his voice. “Coffee?”

He didn’t wait for a reply before turning and walking to his kitchen, hoping Steve hadn’t noticed the blush that had started creeping on his cheeks.

Steve’s eyebrows shot up and a small smirk appeared on his lips. He finally knew where half of his boxers had disappeared to. He wasn’t nearly as annoyed as he should have been. He wasn’t at all.

[onpointedfeetandbrokendreams]

Day 4 - DBDA Week

Day 4 of Dead Boy Detectives Appreciation Week: 10th-16th June by @dbdcentral

Prompt: Reunion

Relationships: Edwin Payne&Charles Rowland&Crystal Palace&Niko Sasaki

Tags: Post-canon, Paranormal Activities

TW: None

--

“Crystal, we have to tell you something,” Charles started one day out of the blue.

He looked giddy, mischievous, the expression you would find on a kid about to confess that they stole one of your freshly-baked biscuits. And while that in itself wouldn’t be such an unexpected image, what made the entire thing almost unreal - assuming a world like ‘real’ could even be applied to a psychic, living with ghosts, solving supernatural crimes - was that behind him, Edwin was wearing a matching grin.

Crystal raised a questioning brow as a form of reply, she had no idea where the conversation could possibly be going.

“Ok, so, you know we are ghosts, right?” Charles rambled.

Luckily, before Crystal could make a sarcastic remark, or curse at him, Edwin had mercy on them both and took the lead of the conversation:

“We have this little tradition. Every Halloween we go to a Haunted House in the countryside, where people pretend to be detectives of the occult, with useless equipment, and we… Well, there’s no other way to say it, we tease them a little.”

“You- what?” Crystal was having trouble reconciling the image she had of the other two with this new information. It probably struck her for the first time since she met them, that they were just two kids, trying their best in this cruel world they had been ripped out from too soon. Her gaze softened. “Why didn’t I know anything about this?”

“It’s your first Halloween with us, isn’t it?” Charles said, sounding a lot more like his usual, confident self.

“We used to have quite the nice reviews on the newspapers,” Edwin continued. “Then, they stopped writing those, but people still visit the house and they have a lot of fun when something actually happens.”

Crystal fished her phone out of her jacket’s pocket and looked at Maps for a while, searching for ‘haunted houses’ until she found it. 

“Is this the place?” She asked, turning the phone to Edwin so he could watch the screen.

“Yes, it is!” He said. Crystal had never seen him this excited before.

“Wow, this has so many reviews, I wonder why I had never heard about it. They love it.”

Charles preened. “Of course they do, we are professionals.”

Taking the phone back to read some more comments, Crystal had to laugh. It was probably the only self-indulgent thing they had allowed themselves all those years. One well-deserved night of fun without witches, or demons, or Death. She just felt a bit sad that she couldn’t join them.

As if reading her mind, Charles said:

“We were thinking that you could dress up as one of those ‘detectives’, so you could come with us, if you’d like?”

–

The outfit the three of them had put together was absolutely ridiculous. Crystal had a big yellow jacket with a stylized ghost on one arm, thermal goggles perched on top of her head, and a backpack with something similar to a vacuum cleaner attached to its side.

“Am I supposed to, like, capture the ghosts?” She said, while looking at herself in the mirror.

Edwin snickered. Full-on snickers. “Of course you know that it would be impossible, right?”

“But they like to think they can. You will blend in perfectly,” Charles finished for him. They were still doing that thing where they looked like they shared two halves of the same brain, but in that moment it was less like the usual dead married couple on acid, and more like two twelve-year-olds trying to pull a prank on their parents.

“Ok, I’m ready then,” Crystal nodded, unable to hide the fond smile in time before they could see it.

Crystal found out there was an actual tour bus taking people to the Haunted House and she managed to secure herself a ticket. It was painted in black and decorated with neon green and splashes of fake blood, and it was filled with similarly dressed people, carrying all sorts of weird equipment on them. Some people had laptops, others had devices that looked like small radios, and others that didn’t look like anything she had seen before.

Absolutely none of them had any drop of actual arcane energy.

When the bus started its way up the hill where the house stood, everyone went silent, anxiety and anticipation both equally filled the air. It required an extreme amount of self-control for Crystal not to burst out laughing, knowing that the very ghosts who supposedly haunted the house were riding on that same bus, elbowing one another and giggling, while making a list of what to do this time to scare-but-not-too-much the visitors.

It was a very run-of-the-mill paranormal experience, when compared to the much weirder and scarier things Crystal had already seen in her life. But Charles and Edwin were right, people absolutely loved it. Everyone took their time to set up their equipment and the ghosts patiently waited before starting to open some windows, slam doors, make pieces of paper fly. Crystal would lie if she didn’t admit that it was fun.

Until a second bus arrived, and time stopped. She couldn’t focus on anything else, other than the buzzing sound in her mind, her gaze fixed intently on the people entering the house. Or, more accurately, on the person.

“Niko,” she breathed out, running towards the white-haired girl like her life depended on it.

“Crystal! You’re really here!” Niko said, with tears forming in her eyes as she returned the hug and squeezed Crystal tight.

A few seconds later, she felt four other arms wrap around the two of them, followed by a lot of loud complaints from the people that came with the second bus that the haunting had stopped too soon and they wanted a refund.

When they separated, all four of them had matching glistening eyes.

“I came back to the mortal plane thanks to my sprites,” Niko explained. “I didn’t know how to find you, but then I remembered Edwin mentioning this Halloween tradition. So I thought it was my best chance. I am really glad you are actually here.”

“And she forced us to wear these ridiculous outfits too, which, for the record, should be a crime,” someone said from behind her.

“You tell them, Litty.” 

Crystal looked closely, and she recognized the faces of the two people, except in her memory they were a lot smaller.

“I don’t know what happened to them,” said Niko with a shrug, ignoring the former-sprites comments.

“We’ll start researching The Case Of The Grown Sprites first thing tomorrow,” interjected Edwin, taking Niko’s hand and motioning for the door. “For now, let’s go home, tell us everything.”

[zerobaselove]

feelings on paper | kim taerae

pairing: taerae x reader

genre: fluff

word count: 857

warnings: none! lowercase intended, not proofread.

prompt: 23. "why are you looking at me like that?"

notes: i am trying so hard not to lose the taerae war but everything i write for him pushes me a little bit closer i can't even lie <3 just cute lovely taerae who else cheered.

it wasn't abnormal for you and taerae to spend most of your time together; you had been friends for so long that being in each other's presence just felt like home, he was your home. and that's how you ended up here, you were writing a paper for your mythology class while taerae sat at the edge of your bed, humming a song you presumed was stuck in his head as he scribbled out lyrics for one of his music classes.

this had been going on for about an hour now and you had decided you needed to take a break, shutting your laptop slightly, opting to pay attention to something that, in your opinion, was way more worthy of your time; taerae.

he somehow managed to sound pretty as ever even when he was just frantically erasing and rewriting words in his notebook; every once in a while he would sing over the lyrics he had written down, testing to see how the syllables fit into the melody. you couldn't help but swoon a little bit, against your own will.

you had thought you were being subtle with your glances at the boy, but it seems he could sense your gaze after a bit as he turned to look at you, realizing you had long forgotten your essay.

"why are you looking at me like that?" he smiled at the sight of you paying such close attention to him, but he couldn't help but wonder why you were looking at him like he was the stars in the night sky.

you were a little startled, you meant to look away but it was like your eyes were glued to him, and there was no way to come back from that. "i just think you sound pretty," you voiced, looking down and fiddling with the string in the rips of your jeans, not wanting to face the boy now that you'd been caught ogling at him.

"oh really?" a blush found it's way to his cheeks, and for a moment he was thankful you had your eyes trained on your pants so you couldn't see his slightly embarrassing reaction to your simple compliment. "well thank you." you finally gained the courage to look up at him, being met with his wide smile; that's it, you were going to die like this.

you took that as your sign to get back to work, or at least attempt to. but after 15 minutes of staring at the document on your computer with your thoughts being fully committed the boy in front of you, you decided you had had enough. "taerae," you breathed out, hoping your voice wouldn't fail you now as he turned to you with his loving smile on his face, humming in acknowledgement. "i can't take it." you sighed, your head falling forward into your hands.

honestly you were just being dramatic, but taerae was genuinely worried by your actions, quickly throwing his pencil and notebook to the side to come sit next to you. with his hands on your knees, rubbing small circles with his thumb, he spoke up. "what's wrong? you can talk to me, you know that."

little did he know, that only made it that much worse. you had no idea what to do with all of these feelings bubbling up, until they spilled. "i like you." your words were more abrupt than you wanted, but there was no going back, "more than a friend should." the weight off of your chest didn't feel nearly as relieving as you would've hoped, the new feeling of waiting for a response weighing down on your being like never before.

"you have no idea how long i've been waiting to hear that." he breathed a sigh of relief, moving to grab one of your hands and giving it a light squeeze, the other still soothing you with light circles on your skin.

"what?" you managed to get out, your words feeling caught in your throat more than ever before. he's been waiting for you to say that? you weren't sure what to make of that; luckily he didn't keep you guessing too long.

it was now that you noticed the faint pink hue dusting his cheeks, and it made your brain run laps at the implication that was soon to be confirmed by the boy in front of you. "i like you too y/n," he turned away momentarily, grabbing his notebook that he'd been scribbling in for longer than you can remember, frantically flipping back a few pages. "these are about you." he handed you the notebook, gesturing you to flip through it.

pages and pages were filled with heartwarming, lovestruck, and quite frankly, endearing lyrics. and the thought of them coming from him while he had you on the mind made your heart beat out of your chest.

"taerae, god, you are so lovely." the words fell from your lips without second thought, finally able to voice how he made you feel. the boy smiled back at you, glancing between the notebook in your lap and the smile on your face. "only for you."

[suwbuns]

E-DATERS! | 3 am endeavours

SYPNOSIS. moving back to korea from america, y/n is excited to reunite with her old friends and make new ones. what she doesnt expect is to find herself reuniting with her “ex-boyfriend” from 10 years ago who she dated over minecraft. what makes things worse? he happens to be her favorite streamer who she has been pinning after for years.

written + ss below (not proofread)

perhaps you had gotten your hopes up.

it had already been a quarter past 2 am, the past 30 minutes consisting of pacing back and forth in your room, clad in pajamas and a pair of fuzzy socks. you glanced at the clock as every minute or two passed by, an acknowledgment that more time had passed yet not a single knock on your door had been heard.

the invasive thoughts of what couldve prompted beomgyus late arrival had taken over your brain, scenarios that made you gnaw at the inside of your cheek due to its absurdity. for all you knew, this couldve been a cruel joke that the boys decided to play on you, and within the next week, your face streaked with hot tears would be plastered onto the thumbnail of one of their videos.

yet a part of you still clung to the hope that maybe he got caught up with something and forgot to show up, although the loud snores from the boys who were asleep down the hall would have been a large enough reminder.

your feet soon grew tired of pacing and your head dizzy from overthinking. by 3 am, your back had been leaned against the headboard of your bed, eyes threatening to shut due to exhaustion. it wasn't until you heard the faint sound of a piece of paper being slid under your door, that the fatigue you felt had instantly vanished, your body immediately gravitating to the corner of your room to read it.

sorry i took so long, u awake?

— gyu

you didnt even give yourself the chance to surpress the raging smile that had formed across your lips, your hand moving faster than your brain as you swung the door wide open just for it to collide with a hard figure.

“ow!” you retracted the knob to reveal the owner of the voice, and just a few inches away stood a boy with a pained expression, his hand rubbing his forehead in order to soothe the searing pain.

“im so sorry!” you squeaked out a frightened apology, biting your lip in embarrassment as you guiltily stared up at him. without giving him a chance to respond, you urgently grabbed his hand and pulled him into your room, the side of your foot nudging against the door to close it shut. with your hand still attached to his own, you guided him to take a seat onto your bed, reaching out to touch his face in order to make sure there were no visible marks, in which luckily there were none.

the adrenaline you experienced quickly wore off as you realized the close proximity between you two. you wete secretly grateful for how dim the room was, your bedside lamp failing to expose the faint redness on your cheeks.

you cleared your throat, scooting an arms length from him which initiated a period of awkward silence, the only sound that could be heard were the distant snores that resounded in the hallway.

“so…” he started, shifting awkwardly on your bed, his eyes darting around the room in order to avoid eye contact.

“so…” you followed, staring intently at the boy who sat beside you. he wore a grey hoodie paired with plaid pajama pants, his dark hair hung messily over his eyes which made your heart soar over how effortlessly attractive he managed to look.

you didnt know how you got quite lucky, nor how you have been able to maintain sanity up until now. perhaps if it had been any other day prior to this moment, you would have been passed out cold on the floor from a heart attack due to being in the same room as choi beomgyu.

“what did you want to talk about?” you asked innocently, swinging your feet back and forth off the side of your bed. you watched his lips purse, opening them to say something then automatically closing them as if he lost his train of thought.

“nothing in particular, i just wanted to talk to you.” he said quietly, his voice barely audible for you to hear.

“really?”

“yeah.”

beomgyus trademarked loud and chaotic personality seemed non existent at this moment, being replaced with a shy boy with fluffy hair who happened to show more interest in playing with the hem of his sweater sleeve than you. the silence that surrounded the both of you felt suffocating, the urge to say something constantly tugged at the back of your throat yet no word managed to come out.

it didnt help that beomgyu was currently facing a similar dilemma. he was no stranger to this position that he undeniably seemed to always be in, in which he is confronted in what he could possibly say to you in order to interrupt the silence that grew more uncomfortable the longer it lasted.

“i think youre really cool” beomgyu blurted out, watching how your eyebrows raised in concern—possibly due to the fact that his tone came out a bit more aggressive than what he intended it to be.

“sorry, was that a little weird?” beomgyu added shyly, biting back his bottom lip to suppress the disappointed expression that was starting to form.

“what? of course not!” you exclaimed. “im actually a huge fan of you, ive been subscribed to you since the beginning of your channel.” you beamed at him, removing your phone from its charger to show him the evidence.

beomgyu pretended to act surprised at this supposedly new information, almost as if he didnt know about your massive crush on him, that your entire spam account had a dedicated lay out to him, and also the fact that you found him incredibly hot in flannels.

time passed by quickly while talking to beomgyu, the short compliment that he blurted out earlier had manifested into long conversations consisting of various pillow thoughts. by the time you realized how late it was, the both of you were lying down side by side with your backs sunk into the mattress, your shoulders pressed against eachothers. your eyes staring at the blank ceiling as you continued to chatter about various topics.

it didn’t feel like you were speaking to your long term idol, but rather a friend who youve known on your life. for some reason, it was like beomgyu knew you like the back of his own hand. he brought up topics that he somehow knew you were interested in, he listened to your stupid childhood stories, and he even would laugh at your unfunny jokes. it was a bond that had formed from an unusual circumstance, yet for some reason it just felt right.

“its so easy to talk to you,” you commented, the smile on your face not wearing off from the previous joke he made. you rolled onto your side to face beomgyu, watching his chest steadily rise and fall as he took each breath. “its like ive known you since forever, ive never got a long with somebody this fast before.”

“maybe its because you have” he voiced out silently, yet still audible enough for you to hear.

“what do you mean by that?” you questioned, eyes furrowing in confusion at his comment. you watched beomgyu turn his body to mimic your own position, your faces merely inches away from eachother, causing you to freeze in your current state. the light glow from bedside lamp reflected onto his face, illuminating his facial features. his eyes stared softly at yours, containing an emotion that you couldnt quite pinpoint.

“w-well,” he hesistated, contemplating his next response. “what if i told you that we have known eachother for a long time?”

you paused as you pondered the thought, trying to make sense of whatever he said to you. the silence that followed was deafening, so much that he was afraid that his own heartbeat was loud enough for you to hear it.

your soft laugh had thankfully cut the silence short, turning back to face the ceiling. “i wish. that would be crazy though, wouldnt it?”

“yeah, maybe.” beomgyu exhaled, glancing at your peaceful figure, a light smile spread across your face. it was a sight that he wasnt quite sure he was ready to give up yet, especially when he had just barely been able to form a friendship that he so desperately wanted to escalate into something more.

because with each moment that he spent with you, he sunk deeper into his problem. he knew that every second that drew him closer to you, would also contribute to the distance that would occur once you found out.

thats something that he doesnt know he would be ready for.

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TAGLIST. @openingssequence @suburbiataehyung @shinypieceofgarbage @fairysoobx @koeuh @captivq @beowmgyu @qluvrv @ikaeryn @whippedforbeomgyu @i8lhee @heyanonymous123 @vanicogh @sulliefimmie @tae-ology @milkycloudtyg @ox1-lovesick @soobsfairy444 @sulliefimmie @jaxavance @peachenle @pokyloky @peachybeom @alpha-mommy69 @fatoompie @ashxxgyu @soobsdior @viagumi @rikismiel @luvsoobs @lovejunz @wccycc @enha-cafe @kaeslily @hiddenboopy @cashew00nut @merendis @reverbtunes @lcvesickgyuzz @dear-dreamie @fragmentationss @chuuinggummy @hafsa-hoofsa-heefs @beomsbeanie @shigamiryuk @soobliss @woncheecks @sserafimez @ahnneyong @ghostfacefricker6969 @flrtsbin @beomomb @cathaerin (closed)

A/N. BYE THIS CHAPTER LITERALLY TOOK ME FOREVER TO WRITE AND ITS SO SHORT ☹️☹️

[cherimsy]

fifty questions for rook: 23, 26, 45

omg I'm touched that you'd like to know more about my Rook o)-((!!!

She's been invading my mind for days now. Free me from these dragon age chains.

Q23: What does Rook wear in the off hours? Do they like dressing up?

I actually drew a ref for this question!! Haydee wears a looser version of the default Mourn Watcher casual clothing. Spending so much time wearing heavy armor can be tiring so she prefers a lighter outfit to wear during her time off. I think pre-Veilguard (specifically when she was younger), she probably dressed nicer to appease Myrna and Vorgoth. Lots of long skirts and buttons when she wasn't training.

She likes to dress up but only does so when prompted. Luckily Emmerich is so put together that she feels obligated to clean up some whenever she's with him.

(other two questions under the cut!!)

Q26: Rook is in charge of the grocery list. What’s on it?

Girl dinners. Lots of salted/dried foods that count more as snacks than actual meals. Tea (and coffee for Neve. She doesn't trust that she'd pick out Lucanis's preferred beans). Cheeses and crackers to munch on.

Local gf never learned to properly cook growing up and mostly ate whatever she could mooch off of other people. She's the equivalent of Naruto drinking expired milk. Lucanis's cooking was literally the first real meal she had since leaving Nevarra. Send help.

Q45: Who was Rook’s closest friend before joining the Veilguard?

THIS IS A GOOD QUESTION BECAUSE I HAVE SO MANY DRAGON AGE OCS and literally none from Nevarra. Ngl she's probably closest emotionally (and one-sidedly) to Vorgoth. He was a mysterious cryptid but he was her mysterious cryptid paternal figure smh. Other than that she got along well with her fellow trainees. She didn't meet Emmerich pre-Veilguard since she was an awful student, only knew of him. She bonded with Varric quickly. Not only was he very charismatic but he also listened to all of her stories without judgement or trepidation over her being a Mourn Watcher. In only a short time he managed to earn her whole-hearted trust and loyalty.

Cries sobs thank you so much for asking!! It was so much fun putting these thoughts down on paper.