#maybe ill be able to find somewhere with roommates!

[kings-highway]

TRICK OR TREAT >:]

Aaaaaaaaaa hello hello, welcome, yet another treat for the bag <3

What’s it this time? Well a little bit of behind the scenes worldbuilding from my early days of Paranormality!

Did you know: The original draft (of which several pages are written) centered around first years Daichi, Suga and Asahi being recruited by a literally haunted Kurokawa to investigate the paranormal and potentially find a way to relieve him of the figure that was always following him - it maintained a consistent distance, always just standing, watching, never doing anything more. Although he believes himself maybe just crazy, Kurokawa is genuinely suffering from these hallucinations and needs an answer. Unfortunately, when Daichi reports seeing this thing (before he knew of Kurokawa’s hallucinations) things get a little bit more complicated. The story would have spanned all three years, including eventually a match-up with the Alien-hunting pair of Oikawa and Iwaizumi, who strike up a friendship with our Karasuno crew though they only team up when their areas of interest overlap. There were also potential plans for a Yokai-hunting team over at STZ, in the way that some people try and “hunt” bigfoot. Of course, Kurokawa’s condition gets worse and worse, he gets more erratic, until eventually, at the end of their second year, as he’s set to graduate, he is suddenly hospitalized. (having been driven to hurt himself due to the hallucinations). He is, at this point, diagnosed with schizophrenia. (not in a demonizing mental illness way trust me on this let me cook a fucking second). Of course, with the proper treatment, medications, and being able to understand himself, his circumstances… improve. And the ghost hunting trio is left… a little adrift. Were they really just… chasing nothing? Well…

Except… hadn’t Daichi had seen Kurokawa’s figure before.

And even as Kurokawa’s symptoms improve and he regains functionality… that one, watchful vision is far too solid to be a schizophrenic hallucination, and seems to refuse to waver despite his increasing control over himself.

ANYWAY for various reasons not entirely unrelated to the fact that I was too afraid to write this version for various reasons, I ended up eventually reworking it into the concept that became Paranormality. HOWEVER as maybe a sneak peek, I can confirm that Kurokawa and Kurokawa’s ghost may just in fact make an appearance in the upcoming installments of the Paranormality series. A few other tidbits about this fact:

1. My roommate directly inspired this, because her first reaction upon laying eyes on Kurokawa was a genuine gasp and then “oh that man is HAUNTED.” And then, way later, there is a scene where Kurokawa and Tashiro go to talk with the third years after the stx match and I pointed out a figure in the background that looks like he has no head (go find it if you want) and my roommate, without missing a beat my roommate said: “THAT is what’s haunting him.” so.

2. The story was going to be tonally WAY darker and more intense, whereas I ended up/wanted to give Paranormality a sort of… Doctor-Who/Mary Poppins vibe of just whimsy and horror more in sync, instead of straight ghost stories.

3. The Schizophrenic Kurokawa headcanon is… canon to me. I… wish this character was more popular, but I LOVE him, and he’s entirely a headcanon in my brain. A lot of his behaviours were going to be inspired by a friend of mine who has schizophrenia and became the funniest person in the world because her auditory hallucinations started using MY voice and she kept bringing me things she thought I asked for and I was gonna give that dynamic to Kurokawa and Daichi. But anyway. The point is. Despite it being almost entirely fanon I love Kurokawa and he WILL show up somewhere eventually I PROMISE. And he will probably have schizophrenia

[veryace-ficrecs]

Academy era star trek fic rec

This list will include all ratings and tags, so read at your own discretion! :)

A Star To Light The Way (In which Jim never thought he’d live past 22, anyway) by AlyssiaInWonderland - Not Rated

“So, captain,” she began, eyeing him mischievously. “Where would you be if you hadn’t joined up?”

Jim shrugged nonchalantly, pursing his lips for a moment in thought. “Dead probably,” he finally replied, lightly but absolutely serious– oblivious to the shocked expressions of his crew around him. “Or halfway to it in a bar in Iowa somewhere.”

Or, Nyota's journey from first meeting Kirk, to loving Jim, through three, increasingly angsty, incidents spanning Academy Era to post 2009 film.

Touch Me, Tell Me All Is Forgiven by BeautyGraceOuterSpace - Not Rated

He stops trying, after everything. Frank. Tarsus. Years of conditioning against contact. He never initiates touch, and is wary of receiving it. He’s had his flinch response well in hand for years by the time a couple of Starfleet cadets go head to head with him in the bar in Riverside. Hell, a fist to the face feels like home. He almost craves the touch. Almost.

put yourself in my suitcase by weird_bird (2weird4) - Rated G

When the flash on the antique camera goes, neither of them is looking straight into the lens.

A Non-Comprehensive List of What (Not) to Do Plebe Year by sppacecowboyy - Not Rated

Neither Leonard McCoy nor James Kirk knew what they were doing when they signed up for Starfleet Academy, which makes these two overqualified but underprepared plebes perfect (or maybe not) roommates. Aside from the stress of their classes, Jim and Leonard will have to face pranks, drama, computer malfunctions, relationship issues, and--perhaps worst of all--living with each other. But hey, if they wanna be able to survive five year missions in deep, unknown space, first they've gotta figure out how to survive freshman year at Starfleet Academy (and also maybe each other's company).

And We Will Find Each Other in the Stars of Our Hearts by CC99trialanderrorgirl - Rated T

A rather romantic look at the relationship between James T. Kirk and Leonard "Bones" McCoy, from the academy years to the start of the five-year mission.

Inappropriate Comments (Or, How To Get Leonard McCoy to Punch You in the Face) by faithfulpenelope - Rated T

It takes a lot to get McCoy to actually hit you.

Hymns with the Devil in Confessional by InsaneSociopath - Rated T

Jim mutters that he's fine. Jim is not fine. Not at all. For the anon Prompt: Academy adoption fic because that's my jam: Jim hides an illness from Pike, until it becomes too late

Wear this on my heart by Areiton - Not Rated

It’s about three months into their first year at the Academy, when they both have a rare night off and decide to hit a local bar, that Jim realizes it. Leonard McCoy’s got shit taste in clothes.

Theory and Practice by Writer_at_the_Table - Rated T

He's sitting stiffly, back straight and face utterly blank. There is no laughter twinkling in his eyes. She feels wary at the sight of him, this cadet who only superficially resembles the one she thought she knew. Starfleet Academy professor Anita Cornerstone calls Cadet Jim Kirk to her office to discuss his response on an essay assignment. The conversation they have is not the one she was expecting.

I Took the Stars from My Eyes (and Then I Made a Map) by canistakahari - Rated E

At the end of their first year at the Academy, Jim decides he's taking Bones for a beach vacation.

A Toast to Your Success by BeautyGraceOuterSpace - Not Rated

In which Chris just wants to celebrate Jim getting through his first year at the academy, and instead winds up more than a bit sloshed. Based on a prompt from insane-sociopath.

Leonard H. McCoy's Guide to Keeping a Friend by highschool-facelesshellion (mutalune) - Rated T

Leonard came to Starfleet with nothing except a half-finished degree and an empty bottle of cheap booze. It took him months to realize he had a best friend waiting in the wings for him to get his act together. Or: How Leonard made a best friend by being an unobservant but decent person and how his conscience wouldn't let him be undeserving of the kid's freak affection.

5 times Jim Kirk showed everyone he was not just a pretty face. by TryingNotToCry - Rated T

The thing about Jim Kirk is that he never takes anything seriously, that's why everyone thinks he's just a pretty blond.

Hidden love by lokilenchen - Rated G

Jim and Leonard have been hiding their relationship from all the people around them. This is how they reveal that they have been secretly dating for quite a while now.

Imposter's Insignia by calderaNightOwl - Rated T

“Hey, if we got married, we could put in a request for family housing – get a whole apartment with a kitchen and a living room.” Jim laughed, swallowing back the memories of the sixth months following Tarsus that he’d lived on base in just such an apartment. Jim meant it as a joke, but when he didn’t hear Bones laughing, he looked up and caught Bones staring at him seriously, considering. “What, no, seriously?” Jim squawked. OR The one in which Jim and Bones get married the day they meet in order to skirt Starfleet housing regulations. There’s one problem with the plan: Jim isn’t actually enlisted, and no one knows – not even Bones.

Step 1: Enlist in Starfleet. Step 2: ????? Step 3: Profit. by hellostarling - Rated T

Jim spends three years at the Academy, and he totally manages it all by himself. Well, Bones helps a little. Or a lot. Maybe. This is Jim's Starfleet education and all that entails: the ups, the downs, the prank wars, the winter vacations, and the awkward boners.

This is Your Fault by Catchclaw - Rated T

Sharing a dorm room with James Kirk is a challenge. Sharing an apartment? That's more complicated.

Pavlov's Cuddles by InsaneSociopath - Rated T

Chris decides the absolute best way to get Jim to behave is to classically condition him using candy. Because. Um. That's perfectly normal and acceptable right?

Little Bones by Joules Mer (joulesmer) - Rated G

Jim learns the hard way to never answer another man’s comm. Not even by accident. In retrospect, however, it might be the best mistake he’s ever made.

Change my Name by InsaneSociopath - Rated T

Jim won't join the Academy as a Kirk. He refuses to deal with people accusing him of nepotism. Problem is, Pike won't let him use his name either.

[philzokman]

help im leaving tomorrow for an 8 hour plane ride and i need fic recs

I AM SO GLAD U ASKED FJWKDHSJS

okay okay so these are gonna be a mix of skk and sskk but i hope u enjoy :D

1. everything or nothing by well that happened - skk

“College AU where Chuuya finds out that the boy he drunkenly made out with the night of orientation is his new roommate. His arrogant, smug, very straight roommate. And the boys are each convinced the other is trying to ruin their life by making them go absolutely insane.”

i think the most kudosed skk fic on ao3 so not very. underground indie. JDHSJ the writing style isn’t my favourite but the plot is really good and the characterisation. oh my ever loving fuck THE CHARACTERISATION!!! strong nsfw that i’m like 99% sure is quite crucial to the plot though so i’d maybe skip this if ur not comfortable with that!! (the first 6 ish chapters should be mainly fine though for that if ur just wanting smn small and funny)

2. waiting room by srxlee - sskk

“In which the smell of antiseptic becomes familiar, and the feeling doesn't hurt like it used to, yet it aches. Where Ryuunosuke battles his habit of loving that which is fleeting. And now his hand, calloused and bruised, just can’t seem to let go.”

HEKANDHWKS i would die for this fic. it’s absolutely amazingly written like genuinely there are like 6 chapters where my mouth was agape the whole time purely bc of the writing style. the plot is really interesting, and the author deals with illness very very well. it DOES have a happy ending im so proud to announce and it’s overall very very sweet and i love it please read it i beg KDHSJ

3. learn to love by thebackwardsstep - skk

“Dazai pissed in a stranger's car- because screw the bourgeoisie- and now he has a sugar daddy. What the fuck.”

i physically could not tell u a thing about this fic, i read it when i was suffering with the flu BUT from what i do remember it was surprisingly sweet and the main ending conflict is resolved by a bird so JDHAKSH also also also in spite of its name it only has like 2 nsfw scenes in it which are VERY easily skippable and also a scene where dazai dresses up as a girl and they go to a ball :D

4. debatable society by chlovrs - sskk

“Atsushi has always struggled with self-confidence so to boost him up, his friend Dazai convinces him to join their University debate society. It works for a little bit, he makes some friends and is actually able to like, ya know...join in on conversations without shaking like a leaf. But then they start competing with the students from their neighboring University and of course, Akutagawa, the one who is beauty incarnated just loves to fucking argue.”

THIS IS SO CUTE. it’s been a while since i’ve read it but from what i can remember the plot is rlly cute, and sskk’s dynamic is really sweet. the author is also the absolute sweetest person ever and i highly highly recommend leaving a comment or two bc they’re genuinely soso sweet and Will respond KDHAKSH (there IS one nsfw scene but again, very easy to skip and doesn’t affect the plot by any means)

5. thé art of precious scars by run_mello - skk

“Role reversal AU where Dazai is in the Port Mafia and Chuuya is in the Armed Detective Agency.

---

When a famous painting goes missing from the Mori Art Museum, the ADA jumps in to help investigate the case. So Dazai and Chuuya go on a mission together, solve the mystery together, fight enemies together... and somewhere along the line, they fall in love.”

holy ever loving FUCK THIS FIC IS AMAZING. i remember the first thought i had while reading it was “this authors read the irl authors books.” LIKE IT SHOWS SO MCUHF WJDKDH i think my favourite example of this was in i think the first or second chapter when dazai plays the synonym/antonym game from no longer human it’s genuinely really really sick. as well as that the author will occasionally sprinkle in quotes from books and poems and it’s just. very very very cool. the characterisation is phenomenal its so well written very highly recommend !!!

6. chuuya is red hot and dazai is so not by icedlightroast - skk

“Dazai couldn't wrap his brain around it. How could the student population think that Chuuya Nakahara was more attractive than him? And, alright, sure, maybe professors shouldn't get caught up in petty drama. But to Dazai, this wasn't just drama. This was war. A war in which he was not going to lose.”

this made me giggle an abnormal amount. KDHAJS this fic had me kicking my feet back and forth and twirling my hair oml it’s soso cute VERY short but very very cute

BAR LIKE 30 FICS THATS MY REC LIST FJSKS !! hope u enjoyed and have fun on ur trip !!!! :D

[thebubblemaster]

.

[the-insomniac-emporium]

Serenade (Daniela Dimitrescu/Reader) Pt. 7

Fandom: Resident Evil: Village Rating: T for language Warnings: None? I think? Please let me know if I missed something Notes: This is incredibly dialogue heavy, and I actually don't feel as confident about this chapter as some of the past ones? Hopefully y'all like it, I mean at least the ending is cute (or cheesy, depending on who you ask). PS: Not sure how many chapters there will be in total, other than at least 3 more (one of which ill, in fact, get a little h*rny again. actually, h*rnier). Past Chapters: Pt. 1: Nocturne, Pt. 2: Overture, Pt. 3: Accelerando, Pt. 4: Toccata, Pt. 5: Poco a Poco, Pt. 6: Elegy

Chapter 7: Harmony

“We need to talk, yeah?” Daniela asked, nearly stuttering, a sort of nervous that you had never seen her exhibit before. The first thing you think is that she’s really, really cute when she doesn’t know what to do. After that you actually process what she said. Relief floods your chest, followed by warmth, and you make a mental note to thank Bela the next time you see her. In the meantime, you were unable to contain your happiness. Out of instinct you move closer to Daniela, smiling softly, quietly reaching one of your hands towards hers. There’s no hesitance in her response. Instead of taking your hand she pulls you in for a hug, opting to rest her chin against your shoulder. Admittedly you’re a little surprised, but you return the motion nonetheless. “Oh, little songbird…”

Heart racing, you softly press against Daniela, turning your head so that you could place a single, brief kiss against her exposed collarbone. For a moment the two of you just stay like that, holding each other close. When you pull away, remembering that you still hadn’t said anything, you find that Daniela is blushing from the neck up. In turn, the sight makes you blush. You can’t help but reach out and run your fingers through her hair. Though you can’t see yourself, you know your eyes are filled with affection.

“I love when you look at me like this,” Daniela whispered, not entirely meaning to voice her thoughts. Then you’re blushing harder, smile small but sweet. “Mmm, you’re just darling, aren’t you?”

“Not nearly as much as yourself, my Lady. To be in your company is to be the luckiest soul in the world. I cannot even begin to describe the feelings of which you inspire in me,” you replied, trying not to stumble over your words, barely able to process any thoughts other than ‘pretty lady likes me ahh’. Thankfully, you still remembered a few tricks from language arts class. Who knew studying the classics could make you more romantic? At least one English teacher, probably. “I’ll have plenty of time to try, though… after we talk about things, that is. Is there somewhere private we can talk? I’m not terribly eager for your mother to overhear.”

“Are you sure we can’t talk about how much you like me for a while longer?” Daniela asked, faking a pout. When you perk a brow at her antics, she shifts a little, forcing herself to be a little more serious (at least for the time being). “If you insist, my sweet thing. I’d suggest my room-” she winks at you- “but I doubt we’d stay talking for long, would we? Maybe the library? Neither of my sisters tend to go there around this time of day, and I can hardly remember the last time mother went there.”

“Well, no one from the day shift is scheduled to organize things until later this week, so… sounds like a date to me,” you chimed, enjoying the way that Daniela’s face lit up in response. “There’s just one thing I have to take care of first. Wouldn’t want my roommates to think something has happened to me, now would we?” With that said you linked your arm with your partner’s, setting off towards the servants quarters.

—————————————–

“Oh thank goodness, we were starting to get worried!” Daphne exclaimed as you quietly ducked into your room. For a second you freeze in place, hoping to whatever higher powers may be that she hadn’t seen Daniela behind you. Certainly the vampire would have moved out of sight?... Despite your assumption, you do see Daphne hesitate for a moment, gazing at the now closed door. Thinking quickly, you give a little wave to draw her attention elsewhere. Seemingly it works like a charm, with her attention returning to you, and so you release an internal sigh of relief. Now you just had to think of an excuse for why you’d be staying up late.

“It’s fine- I’m fine, really. Just had to carry something for one of the Ladies,” you lied, trying not to be specific enough to possibly contradict facts you weren’t aware of. “I, uh, kinda have to go back out, though? There are some piano books I need to find before tomorrow morning. I’ve already found a few, but apparently there’s at least one that goes over some technical practice songs, and I think D-” you almost wince, but lean into it, stuttering instead- “th-think that Lady Daniela would enjoy the variety. Not sure how long it’ll take me to find the books, so don’t stay up waiting for me. I promise I’ll still get enough sleep to function tomorrow.”

“So the lessons haven’t been canceled? That’s good to hear,” Daphne said, nodding slowly. The words catch you off guard, and you tilt your head to the side in confusion. Noticing your expression, your roommate is quick to explain. “After whatever happened yesterday… we weren’t sure if we’d ever hear you play again. Not that we know what happened, just that Lady Daniela was, well, upset, and you stopped playing sooner than usual. But I suppose if the lessons were canceled completely… I doubt Lady Dimitrescu would let you go that easily, huh?”

Again, you shift awkwardly, wondering how Daniela must feel hearing all of this. But just like that Daphne shakes her head, clearing her thoughts, and gives a little shrug.

“Don’t stay up too late, okay? I know you already promised, but we both know you’ll lose track of time if you aren’t careful. If you aren’t in bed by the time the sun reaches its peak, I swear we are gonna have words!” Both of you laugh before Daphne waves you off with a smile. Still, you wait to open the door until she (and the other maidens) has her back to you. Better safe than sorry, right?

—————————————–

Somehow the room felt different in a million ways, now that you were here with Daniela. There was something about the way she moved, freely, eyes and fingers running down the spines of familiar books. Even if you had not seen it before, it felt like the library was overflowing with magic. What I would give, you think, to see the whole world tinted in shades of her. Again you find yourself blushing as you followed Daniela towards a small sitting area. One of the chairs is practically a recliner, with plenty of space, and you realize what she has planned mere moments before she acts.

Next thing you know, you’re being pulled closer to her, practically lifted into the air. Then you’re falling back, right on top of a giggling Daniela. By the time you’ve regained your senses, you’re in her lap, held just tight enough to keep you from getting up. She’s watching your face closely, smirking with pure satisfaction.

“Are we going to be able to talk like this?” You asked, a little unsure yourself, already distracted by the soft curve of her jawline. Even as you speak you’re eying her, imagining what it would feel like to trail kisses along her skin until she was restless… Thankfully she responds before your mind gets too carried away.

“Of course we are, little songbird. Probably. If you behave,” Daniela teased, gently playing with your hair as she did. You can’t help but laugh when she suggests that you are the one who needs to control yourself. “Alright, alright, I get your point. I just… I think that it’s easier for me to, fuck, I don’t know. Relax? It’s easier for me to relax like this, holding you, getting to kiss that lovely neck of yours-” she pauses to demonstrate- “and that means I won’t freak out like last time. Or so goes my thought process, anyway.”

“In that case…” You’re sitting perpendicular to her now, still holding on tight. One hand cups her cheek, gently caressing the skin, before you lean in for a kiss. The two of you enjoy yourselves for a minute, glad to have this time together, more glad to be reassured of each other’s affection. To think that you wouldn’t even be able to meet her gaze if not for Bela’s intervention… Eventually you pull back, knowing that you did need to talk. “I care about you, firefly, and I want things between us to be real, and healthy, but I…”

The words died in your throat, a lump you couldn’t quite swallow, when memories sprung up like weeds in your brain. Communication mattered to you for a thousand reasons, and you weren’t blind to the irony of one of those reasons making you freeze up.

“I haven’t… done this before, not for real,” Daniela replied, mistaking your paues for uncertainty. “Apparently being an immortal, blood-drinking princess is only attractive in the realm of fiction. Maidens only ever seemed interested in a fleeting rush, or a fraction of a chance at an escape. They didn’t care for romance.” Now her tone gets bitter, and her eyebrows furrow. You can see her shoulders tense up, raising a little, making you try to snap out of your own thoughts for a few moments. By the time she speaks again, you’ve started to gently rub her back. “Maybe I should have paid more attention to my novels. How often does the monster actually get a happy ending?” She says the words with a hollow laugh. Still, she’s relaxed a little under your touch, even leaning into it.

“You’ve… done some bad things. Hurt a lot of people, and I can’t pretend that doesn’t scare me,” you started to say, ignoring the heartache you feel when you see Daniela’s hurt expression. “But you’re more than that. You’re soft, cute, and mischievous. More than that… I can tell that you want something beautiful. We can have that, we can make that, for ourselves, with our own hands and our own desires. But we can’t use stories as a blueprint. We can’t rely on what we’ve read, not when everything the two of us do is brand new. Not when-” you close your eyes, fighting back tears, glimpsing fragments of your last relationship- “not when I’ve already been hurt by my own misconceptions. The things we read aren’t always real, or right, or anything like what we need. What we deserve.”

“Something tells me you’re holding back a little,” Daniela murmured, barely able to get the words out. It almost looks like she’s close to crying, but her cheeks are dry, and her voice is steady. “But you’re right. What we have is better than anyone could write, anyway. You’re my little songbird, and I’m not letting you go anytime soon. Even if I have to figure out this whole ‘communication’ thing. I suppose that means I should… come clean. About a few things.” There’s a clear hesitance to her voice, like she’s embarrassed, and she’s speaking slower than usual. A blush rises to her cheeks before she takes a deep breath.

“We don’t have to talk about everything right now, if you aren’t ready. We’ve already made good progress, I think, even if half of it might be because of your sisters. Well, sister, singular. Cassandra throwing me into that wall really didn’t help anyone. Except maybe the chiropractor I will inevitably need to see,” you joked, remembering your earlier conversation with Bela.

“Hold up for a fucking second, Cassandra did what? I’m going to replace all her paint brushes with stained carpet strips, and that’s if she apologizes. Nobody fucks with my baby,” Daniela snapped, expression as serious as can be. Normally you found her anger to be terrifying. Now that she was directing it at someone else? And on your behalf?... Maybe it was a tiny bit cute. Which you tried to show, by gently bringing her in for another kiss. Of course, Daniela isn’t quite as gentle, instead kissing you hard, holding you as closely as she can. There’s a bit of possessiveness in her grip, and it makes you tense up. But as soon as you do she’s pulling back, breathing hard, eyes weighed down with concern.

“Y’know, I think she was just mad that I made you cry. And if I found out someone made you cry, I would be pretty angry. Not that I’d throw someone, partially because I don’t think I could, but still. It’s… almost cute how much your sisters care about you. Almost, just not quite,” you said, eager to draw the attention away from your reaction. Like you had told Daniela, it was okay if you weren’t ready to talk about everything. “Speaking of that, I can’t believe I haven’t apologized yet. I panicked so much, I didn’t even realize I was yelling until you picked me up. No matter how frustrated I was, I shouldn’t have-”

“Don’t, please,” Daniela interrupted, eyes closing for a moment. “I can’t believe you’re apologizing. I pinned you to the wall, and not for the usual reason!” There’s a bit of panic in her expression, and you get the feeling that she’s beating herself up inside about it. Which, based on what you had thought about what you had done, was understandable.

“Consider this: We both fucked up, and we’ve both acknowledged it now, so we could just… not talk about our regrets? At least for now,” you countered, glad to see Daniela relax and nod in response. Leaning in, you shift to rest your head against her shoulder, wanting to enjoy her proximity more. “Hey… if I’m your songbird, and you’re my firefly… are we, I don’t know… officially a couple now?”

“I was under the impression that we already were,” Daniela said, clearly a little confused. While you technically agreed with her… there was another part of you that wanted to have a little fun.

“You never asked, and I know I never did either, so…” Now you’re looking up at her, smile wide, heart beating faster than normal. “Lady Daniela, firefly of house Dimitrescu, lover of romance novels, player of pianos, keeper of my heart… Will you do me the honor of allowing me to court you? To be yours, officially, in the pursuit of affection and happiness like the village- nay, the world- has never before seen? Will you be my girlfriend?”

“How’s this for an answer, songbird?” Daniela cooed. Then she was lifting your chin from her shoulder, turning her head and bringing you closer. Your lips touch, as gentle as can be. It’s a short kiss, but one radiating with love, that ends with your foreheads pressed against each other. In this moment, you feel like you could stay in her arms for the rest of eternity. “Yes. Absolutely yes, obviously, a thousand times. I could never say no to you, especially not now, with your eyes so desperate for the sight of me, and your lips so begging to be kissed. Now, how about we celebrate, hmm?”

Just as Daphne had predicted, you end up staying awake far too late, but you were all the happier for it.

[leiawritesstories]

Nothing Like The Books

Rowaelin Month Day 28/29: Bookstore AU & Based on a song

Kinda sorta but not really ��based” on a song. However, I did play Anchor by Novo Amor on repeat while writing this piece, so...take that as you will.

Okay okay I caved. Part 2 to Day 26. *maniacal grin*

@live-the-fangirl-life @morganofthewildfire @tomtenadia and anyone else who requested a part 2....this one’s for you  😁

Word count: 2476

Warnings: Language. Sadness. Breakup. Mentions of terminal illness and death. *runs to hiding place*

~~~~~~

The bell above the front door jingled, letting Aelin know someone had walked in. She checked her watch. Great, she thought, some dumbass wandered in here ten minutes before closing and probably won’t know a damn thing about books. Taking in a calming breath, she addressed the customer without looking up from her notes. 

“Welcome to The First Chapter, just letting you know we do close in ten minutes, if you need help finding anything please ring the bell, we carry--”

“Aelin?”

Shocked, she looked up from her studying to meet a pair of equally astounded green eyes. “Rowan?”

He stared for a moment, then caught himself. “I didn’t know you worked here,” he said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. 

“Yeah, well, I have to pay my bills, and I love books, so this seemed like a good solution,” she replied, her voice noticeably lacking its usual lilt.

Rowan, damn the observant bastard, caught the flatness of her voice. “Long day?”

Aelin huffed a humorless laugh. “Long day, long week, long month, long fucking year.” She shook her head. “Sorry, shouldn’t have dumped my stress on you. What did you need at the shop today?”

“Nothing urgent. You know, if you need to say something to someone, I’m here and willing to listen.”

Something flickered deep in her eyes, but she stifled it. “No, it’s just stress. Finals are soon, I’ve got projects and exams to study for and a job to work, it’s just a lot.”

“Okay.” He looked like he wanted to say something else, but he just offered a lopsided grin. “Hey, if you ever want to recite stats formulas…”

Aelin managed a slight smirk. “Maybe.”

~ 

Rowan could tell something was weighing Aelin down, but he wouldn't push her to say anything she didn't want to say. Maybe it was just stress; after all, she was in finance and he'd seen how hectic that could be. 

But something about her was just off.

She was always so bright, so vivacious, so eager to crack a joke or make a witty comment. The Aelin he saw in the bookshop was a listless shell of the woman Rowan liked.

Loved, really.

It was about time he admitted it to himself. She may have been dating his roommate, but he'd fallen in love with her a good long while ago. She was the air in his lungs, the light in his sky, the only person who never failed to brighten his day. And she was off-limits.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen her at his and Sam’s apartment for a good month or so, probably more. Did they break--He cut off that train of thought before it could go any farther. No sense in letting himself imagine something that could never happen.

Something like being able to date Aelin.

~

After closing up the shop, Aelin debated whether she should go back to her and Lysandra’s apartment or go study somewhere else. But where? The library? Boring. Café? Too many people, not enough WiFi, too much noise. Elide’s? No way in hell. It was her and Lorcan’s date night.

That left staying in the bookshop or going home. And lately, Aelin had been spending more hours in the shop than at home, preferring the solace of the softly lit reading space where she worked to the unpredictability of her home. She and Lysandra were social creatures, true, but in recent weeks, Aelin hadn’t exactly been up for much socializing.

Having people around meant a significant chance of…well, not seeing Sam.

For that, she wasn’t quite ready.

It’s been six weeks, Galathynius, get the fuck over yourself already, she scolded. To no avail. Her godsdamned traitorous heart refused to listen. 

SIX WEEKS AGO

Sam was waiting up by the entrance when Aelin pushed through the door of the coffee shop, her hair mussed from the wind. 

“Sorry I’m late,” she gushed, “class ran ridiculously long and of course I had to get out at the exact fucking moment every business in town starts lunch hour, so there was an obscene amount of traffic and people on the roads and--”

“Aelin,” Sam interjected, half-laughing, “I love you, but you’re not late. It’s 12:32.”

She rolled her eyes. “Two minutes is still late, Sam.”

He slung an arm around her shoulders. “Fine, fine. I forgive you for being two minutes late, Ae. Come on, now, I’ve got both of our orders and our table.”

At the table, Aelin plopped her backpack in one corner of the booth and slid into her seat, Sam sliding in next to her. She took a long drink of her latte, sighing in pleasure as the caffeine hit her veins. 

“Okay, Cortland, what are we studying first?”

~

Many hours later, as the night darkened and the café quieted, most of the customers having left for home or somewhere else comfortable, Sam slammed his textbook closed. 

“I’m done, Ae, I can’t look at these graphs any longer or I’m going stark raving mad.”

“I agree,” she said, packing away her notes. “Are you prepared for tomorrow?”

He nodded. “Quite. Won’t mind if I do go over the notes once more, in the morning, though.” 

“You and your extra pre-exam studying,” Aelin grinned. She started sliding out of the booth, but Sam, who’d moved during their study session and was now across from her, caught her wrist. 

“Aelin, I have to tell you something.”

Noting the change in the tenor of his voice, Aelin put her stuff back down and took his hands in hers. “Talk to me, Sam.”

He stroked his thumbs down the backs of her hands, not meeting her gaze. “I--Aelin, I don’t know how to say this.”

“Just say whatever words you have in your head, love,” she said, her eyes soft. 

“I’m going back to England.” His eyes, pooling with unshed tears, finally locked onto hers. “I’m going back to England, Aelin.”

Tears sprang to her own eyes. “Is there a reason?” she asked, softly, trying to control the waver in her voice. 

“My mum’s…well, you know how Mum’s been.” Aelin nodded. “I talked to her last week, And to her doctors. They told me--” His voice broke. “They told me Mum’s in hospice. She’s dying, Aelin, and soon. We thought she had a few more months at least, but--” He broke off, shoulders shaking with suppressed sobbing. 

Aelin moved swiftly to his side, wrapped her arms around him, gently nudged his head onto her shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Sam.”

Holding to her like she was his anchor, Sam choked out, “My mum has days, maybe hours, left to live; I’m going home to be with her. My heart’s breaking, Ae, I have to say goodbye to both of the most important women in my life.” 

She held him while he grieved, not letting her mind catch on the last part of what he said. “I’ll be here for you, Sam, even an ocean away. You can talk to me anytime you need, you know, right? As your girlfriend, I’m always here to support you.”

He looked up at her. “I can’t.”

“Can’t, what?”

“Long distance.”

Aelin jerked. “Why?” she breathed.

“It’s too much. It’s all too much. I can’t be enough for anyone in my life, not when I’m split between two continents. I can’t love someone the way I love you from so far away, and you deserve so much more than a man incapable of giving you everything. I’m overwhelmed, Aelin, over-fucking-whelmed with this. It was so sudden. One day, I have everything, and the next, I’m losing my mother and the woman I love.”

“I’ll go with you, I don’t care how much it costs, I’ll be there with you, for you.”

“You can’t.”

“Wh-why?”

“I’m leaving tomorrow, Aelin. They sent me an airline ticket for tomorrow.” He cupped her face in his hands. “Even if you came to England, I would forever hate myself for pulling you away from your studies, from your life here. I’m not worth uprooting you from your happiness.”

Aelin fought the lump in her throat. “You’re breaking up with me because you think you aren’t enough? You are my everything, Sam Cortland.”

He brushed the tears off her cheeks. “Don’t call it breaking up, call it giving you the life you deserve. Free.”

They clung to each other in the corner booth of the dimly lit café, crying over what they both knew deep in their hearts was the right decision. 

That didn’t make it hurt any less.

Sam kissed Aelin goodbye in the dark of the night  on the front steps of his apartment building. “I will always love you,” he murmured against her lips. “Be happy, Aelin Galathynius.”

He left hours later, early in the morning, to be with his mother during her last days.

~

PRESENT

A soft tapping against the glass of the shop’s front door pulled Aelin from her reverie. Groaning, she stood up and went to the door, thinking it was probably just another drunk person from the pub down the street looking for a toilet to puke in. 

And stopped short when she met a familiar set of green eyes through the window.

Rather than unlock the door, she pushed open one of the hinged window panes. “We closed hours ago.”

“I texted you seven times and called you three times asking if you wanted to study, Aelin. It’s not like you not to respond. I just wanted to see if you were…safe.” Rowan looked uncomfortable, shifting on his feet, genuine concern visible in his expression.

“I’m fine,” Aelin returned, much softer than she wanted her voice to be. “I--my phone was on silent and not close to me.”

Rowan lifted his brows. “That’s also not like you.” His gaze snagged on the tear tracks on her face. “You’re not fine, are you, Aelin?”

She made to close the window, her expression shuttering, but Rowan placed a hand against the glass.

“Wait! I--I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pried. I got worried, is all. I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“I am. I’m okay, I’m fine, it’s all fine, my heart isn’t still in a thousand pieces, everything’s fine, Rowan,” she bit out, her voice cracking. “Go.” She closed the pane.

Rowan stayed on the step, watching her through the glass. She refused to budge, but so did he. Another tear tracked down her face, and she couldn’t find the energy to flick it away. On the other side of the door, Rowan pressed a hand flat against the glass, something Aelin didn’t want to name crossing his face. She read the unspoken plea in his eyes.

Please.

Damn her for being so unsteady.

Without a word, she flicked the lock open and went back to her study nook. The click of the door relocking echoed in the empty shop, and Rowan’s footsteps followed her to her place on the couch in a corner. He took in the sight of her backpack, unopened, sitting on the floor, the couch cushions tossed around, the one pillow remaining on the couch spotted with her tears, the crumpled tissues on the floor. 

“Aelin--”

“Don’t,” she choked out, “don’t ask me how I am. Isn’t it obvious? I’m a hot fucking mess.” She collapsed onto the sofa. “Everyone I’ve ever loved got ripped out of my arms. Everyone. I get nothing, no one, just myself and my will to live, which honestly at this point ain’t shit.” Rowan knelt down in front of her, still not saying anything. “I loved Sam more than I’d ever loved anyone, Rowan, you know I did.”

“I know,” he whispered. She lifted her face, blotchy with crying, from the pillow, no longer hiding the pain in her heart.

“No, you don’t. You never had anyone who was to you what Sam was to me. You’ve never had what you thought was true love ripped from your grasp. You’ve somehow been fucking lucky enough never to have given someone your heart only to have them shatter it.” 

“You’re right.”

“What.”

“You’re right, I’ve never loved and lost someone. Never. I’ve only ever loved someone, someone forbidden, from afar for God only knows how long, watched her heart break, and would literally give anything to see her smile again.” Rowan was choking up by then. “I know Sam left to be with his mother. I saw how it killed him to leave you. Fuck, I listened to him rave in torment over leaving you, I listened to him break down and tried to pull him together.”

“You talked to Sam about leaving?” she breathed in a broken whisper.

Rowan nodded. “I did. Want to know what he told me?”

“What?”

“He said, ‘Give her the world.’”

Aelin sniffled, her well of tears nearly having run dry. “He told me that, too.”

Rowan handed her another tissue. “He was right, you know. You deserve everything the world has to offer.”

“It sure as hell doesn’t feel like it,” she admitted, wiping her face. “Every time I turn around, something else goes wrong. It’s been six weeks since Sam left, and I still can’t keep his face out of my mind.”

“Maybe you’re not supposed to forget him, Aelin. Maybe he’s still supposed to be part of your life.”

“Just not in the way I thought he’d be, apparently,” she snorted. “It feels like I’m going in circles; I have days where I scroll through my memories, crying at every single photo, and days where I’ll text him for a bit and it seems like we’ve settled into a new kind of friendship. And the days cycle and cycle and cycle and I still haven’t left the goddamn heartbreak behind.”

“Heartbreak isn’t something you can just shake off, you know. You have to process, take time for yourself, sort through your emotions. If you need anyone to listen…” He trailed off, not wanting to sound pushy but neither wanting to leave her hanging.

Aelin rested a hand on top of his. “Thank you.” For listening to me, for letting me spill my guts, for not judging me, read the unspoken words in her gaze. 

“Anytime,” he murmured, marveling at her hand in his. 

She stood then, picked up the pillows and tissues, tidied up the space. Shouldering her backpack, she took a deep breath and straightened her posture. “Thank you, Rowan. For caring.” Unexpectedly, she wrapped her arms around him, and once he got over the shock, he returned the hug, hoping it gave her some comfort.

They walked out the door together, Aelin locking up behind them.

Back at her apartment, a text pinged onto her phone. 

>So should we plan for a dinner study hour tomorrow?

<Sounds like a plan. 

A massive smile broke across Rowan’s face. >I can’t wait.

[agathasangel]

leave everything behind but me- part 1 (diane sherman x fem!reader)

Warnings: Diane is still extremely dangerous, TW for stalking, drugs, and illness (also brief vomit mention), hurt/comfort with a bit more hurt, this series may end up going in an NSFW direction but there isn’t any here, I really don’t know exactly where it’s going.

AU where pretty much everything in the movie is the same except the very last scene. Diane gets out of jail but isn’t able to find or contact Chloe. This is gonna be a series and probably way too long (I’m already writing part 2). Also I know there are a lot of Diane fics that are like this, sorry about that. But this is really fun to write so oh well. 

Summary: You finally got the courage to run away and start a new life. Diane gets out of jail. She can’t find Chloe, but created a bond with another girl, you. And she would never, ever lose you. After all, you need her.

You were finally doing this. You were leaving your home behind and never looking back. You never had a good relationship with your parents, and now that you had graduated High School your parents were constantly threatening to kick you out. So instead, you decided to just leave. You had found a town on the east coast (across the country from your home state) and you had saved all your money from your job for the bus tickets, and found a roommate online, Anna. until you had finally announced to your parents that you were moving out. They acted relieved, like a huge burden was just taken off of their plate. But you knew they were secretly upset that they no longer would have someone to blame every inconvenience on.

You sat on the bus, listening to music and looking out the window. You noticed a silver minivan that happened to have been following you almost all day and on two different buses. You wondered where the driver of the minivan was going. Maybe whoever the driver was was running away too, but was lucky enough to have a car.

The bus stopped in Chicago, about halfway to your destination, and you had an eight hour layover that you had to manage to stay awake for despite the fact that you hadn’t slept in the past 24 hours. You decided to go to a cafe that was next to the bus station to get some coffee to pass the time and keep you up.

“I’ll just have a large coffee with cream and 1 sugar, please.”

“Great! That’ll be three-fifty.”

You searched in your wallet before realizing that you were completely out of cash that wasn’t going towards your bus ticket or room.

“...never mind”

“Hey, I can pay for you, don’t worry about it.” Said the woman standing behind you.

“Oh, you don’t have to-”

“Don’t worry, its no big deal. Just come and sit with me.”

You had time. Besides, you wanted someone to talk to and this woman was quite attractive.

“Sure. Thank you.”

The woman ordered and led you to a table.

“So, what’s your name?”

“I’m (y/n). And you?”

You heard the barista say “Two coffees for Diane?” and the woman got up

“I guess that answers that?” you said.

Diane walked over to get the coffees and stirred in the cream and sugar into both of them.

She gave you one of the coffees and said “Yes, my name is Diane Sherman. Are you from around here?”

“Oh no, I’m from the west coast. I’m on a bus trip, moving across the country. Fresh start, you know. And you?”

“I have been too, actually. Well, except I’ve been driving. Why do you need a fresh start?”

“My parents and I have a rough relationship. I just graduated High School and I didn’t feel like there was a reason to stay. What about you?”

“I’m sorry about that, (y/n). I actually lost my daughter recently, I’ve been incredibly lonely. I’m hoping for a new start, and some new connections.”

“I’m sorry to hear that Diane, that’s terrible.” You wondered what happened to her daughter, but thought it was best not to pry into this woman’s life.

“I’ll get through it. Maybe I’ll find someone else I can take care of. Someone who really needs it.”

Diane asked you more questions about your family, life, interests, everything. You felt like this woman had a genuine interest in you that you never felt from anyone else. You liked it. But as you talked you realized that the coffee wasn’t waking you up, if anything you felt even more tired. Maybe you just had to wait.

“I haven’t slept in so long, I’m so tired. Thank you for getting this coffee for me. It was nice to meet you, Diane.” You said, sad that your paths may never cross again.

“(Y/n), wait.”

You turned back to her.

“I have an idea. I have a motel room with two beds for tonight. Why don’t you sleep there and we forget about the buses, you can just ride with me.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’ve bought a house and I’m going there, but I can take you wherever you’d like, there’s no rush. I understand you may be suspicious as a younger woman when an older person asks you to ride with them and stay in their hotel room but I promise I only ask because, well honestly, I’m lonely and need someone to take care of.”

It was probably the sleep deprivation, but you believed her. You got into her silver minivan and drove to a nearby motel. When you got in the room you immediately dropped all your stuff and flopped down onto the bed, exhausted.

“Hey, sweetie, you can shower in the morning if you want to but you should at least change into pajamas.” said Diane. You found the energy to take your clothes off and put on an oversized t-shirt as you listened to Diane sing in the shower. You fell asleep to the sounds of the running shower and the older woman’s slightly off-key singing.

When you woke up, Diane was reading and sipping some coffee. You noticed she had also gotten you one.

“Morning, sweetheart. Now, I’m not in much of a rush to get out of here so just take your time. Drink your coffee and then take a shower, alright?”

“Sounds good!” You said, starting to drink your coffee.

“Great. I’m looking forward to spending more time with you, (y/n). I think maybe we were destined to meet. You without loving parents and me, in desperate need of someone to love and care for.”

“Maybe..”

You couldn’t explain why, but you did like this strange woman. She seemed kind, and she was very pretty, which couldn’t have hurt. The only reason you said yes to her last night was because you needed sleep so badly but now that you were fully rested, you couldn’t say you regretted it. You walked to the shower and felt a bit lightheaded. While you were in the shower you started to feel weak and you finally fell over.

As soon as she heard the thud of your body to the shower floor, Diane ran into the bathroom.

“(Y/N)? What happened? Are you ok?”

“I... I fell... I don’t know why.” You said, a bit embarrassed of the woman seeing your naked body like this

“Ok, let’s get you dried off and dressed, then I think we have to get some food into you.” and Diane helped you up, helped you dry off and took out your most comfortable-looking clothes and put them on you. This whole thing made you feel like a child, but you almost didn’t mind. It’s not like you’ve ever been taken care of like this before.

“Lean on me if you need to, I’ll come back for the luggage after you’re in the car.” You held onto Diane’s arm all the way to the front seat of the car.

“Just wait here, okay love?”

She got both your suitcase and hers and but them back in the car. You noticed that her suitcase that was in your room was not the only one she had, and she in fact had several suitcases, and lots of bags. She was older and more established than you, of course she had more things than you did.

She drove until you found a diner where the two of you could get breakfast. She helped you out of the car and told her to at least hold her hand while you walked.

“I’m sorry you’re feeling this way, maybe eating something will make you feel better.”

“Yeah, I hope so. I’ve never felt like this before, I really hope I’m not sick.”

“I don’t think that’s it.”

While you ate you talked, and Diane gave you a pill that she said might make you feel better. You took it and you did start feeling a little bit better. 

“Is it working? Do you feel ready to go?”

“I think so”

And so you left the diner with Diane feeling a little bit better. She kept her hands on you to guide you as you went to the car, just in case. 

“I’m ok now. But thanks, Diane.”

“Of course.” She grabbed your hand for a second and smiled at you and your heart skipped a beat. Why did you feel this way?

Diane drove for several hours until you fell asleep again. When she woke you up you were in a hotel parking lot in a small town you didn’t recognize.

“Where are we?”

“I think we’re somewhere in central Pennsylvania. We have a lot more driving to do, but it’s getting late. Let’s get some dinner and get you to bed.”

That night was relaxing and easy. Diane ordered room service and you ate while sitting on her bed together and watching a movie. The two of you began to cuddle and you ended up falling asleep in the older woman’s arms. When you stirred early the next morning she was still holding you.

When you woke up for real, Diane brought you some coffee. 

Diane got back on the road and she asked you where you planned on staying. You told her you were going to stay with a girl named Anna who you talked to online. As the car ride progressed, the weak feeling you had the other day started to come back.

“That’s ok. You can stay with me tonight if you want.”

“You really don’t have to-”

“Yes, I do. I want to make sure you’re ok, let me take care of you.” You figured that if Diane were dangerous, she would have tried to do something to you by now since you’ve basically been alone with her for almost two days. How bad could it be?

It turned out that the house Diane lived very close to Anna anyway, so you decided why not.

You drove another seven or so hours from the hotel all the way to a small house in a very cute little town not too far from where you had planned on settling in.

“This is it.”

You got out of the car and brought your stuff into the house. It was a cute, small place that was already furnished. You and Diane both looked around. There were two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a living room and kitchen.

“It’s a good thing I got a two-bedroom, I guess. You can stay here as long as you’d like.”

“Thank you”“

“I’m gonna go out and bring some more stuff in and then I’ll make us some tea, does that sound good?”

“Sure.”

The two of you sat on the couch and talked while you drank the tea Diane made you. The tea didn’t taste bad, but it didn’t taste like anything you’ve had before. You told her more about your family life after she asked.

“Your parents were so lucky,” said Diane, who was getting a bit emotional, “to have a child as healthy and beautiful and sweet as you. There are so many people who would give anything to have what your parents took for granted.”

“I don’t know, maybe it is my fault. Maybe I was just a bad kid. Maybe I was hard to like, or dumb, or-”

“I don’t think you’re any of those things. And I’m sorry that you believe that, because it’s not true.”

“You think so?”

“I do.”  

You went to bed that night in your room and Diane in hers. When you woke up you felt weak and sick to your stomach. You guessed that Diane was wrong and you were in fact coming down with something.

“Diane!” You felt bad for possibly waking her up, but you’d feel even worse if you threw up on the sheets, and you didn’t know if you could make it to the bathroom. So you did it. She immediately came running to you.

“Are you ok, sweetie? What’s wrong?”

“I think I’m sick. Do you have a bucket or something?”

“Yes. Just one second.”

She left and very quickly brought back a bucket for you.

“I hope I haven’t gotten you sick too.”

“Don’t worry about that, I rarely get sick. Just let me take care of you.”

And you did. For the next few days as she looked for teaching jobs she nursed you back to health. Well, almost-health, at least. You weren’t having stomachaches or throwing up anymore but you still felt weak. She gave you pills and lots of them, and some might have had some bad side effects. All the pain medication she gave you almost had a numbing effect on your body. Anna had completely stopped responding to you and you worried she didn’t want to be roommates anymore, not like you could be on your own right now anyway in the state you were in. You needed Diane to take care of you. She was being interviewed for a position as a science teacher at the local High School but other than working on all of the application material she had all the free time in the world to be with you.

“Anna said she found another roommate.”

“Hey, don’t worry about that alright? You’re still sick and I really don’t mind you just... staying here and living with me. Besides, I really think I’m going to get this job and if I do I’ll easily be able to support the both of us.”

“Diane, you don’t have to... I applied for some jobs already.”

“None of which you can do when you’re sick, now please lie back down. I know you feel bad for letting me take care of you and baby you so much, but you don’t have to. I’ve already told you that I like having someone to take care of. And I know you like it when I take care of you too.”

And you hated to admit it, but she was right. Despite how horrible you felt physically, you enjoyed your time with Diane. You started doing a lot of fun things together. You both enjoyed yourselves, and Diane sometimes told you that she felt like she had a daughter again. She made you feel loved. You still had your own bed, but you often fell asleep on the couch or in Diane’s bed while the two of you cuddled.

“I love you, (y/n). My baby.” Diane said as you started to drift off on the couch with her that night.

[drakewalkerfantasy]

Consequences: Chapter 2 NSFW*

Synopsis:

Jordan Williams is a former Marine who starts a new life joining Medical school at age of 27.

Rachel Ferguson is a freshly out of college graduate and Medical school 1st year student.

Two complete strangers who fell in bed together for a night of solace from their moment of anger and hurt. By chance, they were brought together and their fates intertwined.

Not realising yet that not only they share the same house, they also share the person they cannot lose no matter what.

What will happen when the reality of the one night’s actions filled with lust and anger will hit them both? What will happen when he will find out that the girl he spent the night with is not only his housemate but also his best friend’s little sister? The one he swore to himself never to touch, the one for whom he will never be good enough. Will he be able to keep his hands off her? Or are they doomed from the beginning?

Words: 3600

Authors notes: Some chapters maybe NSFW or have a mature content

Jordan Williams x Rachel Ferguson (Rae, Rae-Rae)

**Warnings: Alcohol consumption, anger, bad decisions, NSFW, sex, heavy make out.*

Warning: Minors DNI.

Previous chapters: Chapter 1

“Don’t you ever look where you are going,” Jordan grunted. His gaze lowered to the petite blonde girl in his embrace. The one he ran into earlier. The one he couldn’t get out of his thoughts, still feeling the attraction he felt earlier during her dance. Electricity zipping through him mixed with the anger and frustration he felt earlier.

“Don’t you?” she parried as angrily, throwing his hands off her shoulders and taking a step back increasing the distance between them.

“I watched,” he snapped, taking a step forward, looming over her. Ignoring the sharp pain in his hip. Their eyes locked onto each other blazing with fury.

“Funny thing as this is already the second time you run into me. So now if you excuse me I need to go,” snapped Rachel, abruptly turning around.

But as soon as she took a hasty step forward her heel gave way and she felt how the ground started to slip from under her feet until she felt his strong hands on her, grabbing her firmly by her hips and steadying her in place. 

Her back pressed to him and she could feel how his chest raised and fell heavily with each breath. The electricity from his touch struck through her and she gasped quietly from the feeling. 

Slightly she wiggled away from him, brushing her ass against his crotch. Feeling how his fingers flexed, digging into her hips. His hold on her firm but gentle and she could swear that she heard the barely audible hiss leaving his lips before he turned her to face him. 

Their lips just a mere breath away from each other, and their breathing elevated from the increasing desire and attraction flaring up between them.

“For Christ’s sake, what is your problem!” huffed Rachel hoarsely, barely recognising her own voice. Feeling how his body pressed into hers, while his fingers dug into her hips with tiny pressure, making her groan from the feeling, involuntarily arching closer to him.

They both stared into each other's eyes. Their lips parted, breathing heavily, feeling how the electricity crackled between them. Their eyes dropped to each other’s lips simultaneously, and before they could realise what is happening they moved toward each other. Their lips crashing in a passionate hungry kiss intensified by the anger that was still sizzling in them before their minds switched off, giving way to lust. Their kisses grew hungrier and more desperate, fuelled by the fury that they felt only a moment ago. Their lips meeting in a bruising kiss. Their hands exploring each other's bodies, not able to break contact.

“Yours or mine place,” Rachel asked between kisses. Her voice - just a little bit shaky, when the question she didn’t plan to ask dropped from her lips embarrassingly breathless.

She could feel how his body went rigid under her touch. His lips froze just a fraction away from hers not really touching anymore. Immediately missing the heat of his lips on hers. And even though she wanted to feel relieved, she felt nothing but disappointed. 

She tried to order herself to move... to pull away from him, but apparently her brains had other plans, even though she didn’t want to acknowledge that. At least not so openly, and not with her body betraying her so shamelessly. Not wanting to admit, that the moment their eyes met across the dance floor her body awakened the way she didn't realise was possible. Making her want him the way she never wanted anyone before. Feeling the sparks of electricity coursing through her. Thinking that they both felt it, but apparently it was only her.

She was only a second away from stepping back, but before she could do that he kissed her again. And it felt as if all the world around her froze the second their lips touched. Feeling the desire zipping through her from the way his body pushed against hers pressing her into the wall. Feeling his arousal against her abdomen. Instantly silencing all the thoughts she had just a moment ago.

She hooked her leg around his hip, the heel of her shoe digging firmer into the flesh of his jeans clad ass, bringing him even closer to her. His firm thigh slipped in between her legs pressing against her core with the perfect amount of pressure. Making her gasp softly, when he slowly rolled it against her.

His hand traveled up under her dress, caressing her soft skin. His fingers flitted across her thigh and toward her soaking center, raising a rush of goosebumps in their wake. She groaned when his thumb grazed the dampened material, dragging it over her panties toward her clit and pressing it firmly against it.

The question took him by surprise, but he tried not to show it. Her body moved over his thigh pressing firmer against it, while the most delicious sounds he ever heard were leaving her lips. The mix of the breathless gasps and soft moans made his cock throb with desire, and the way her body moved made him groan in return. His fingers flexed on her hip and his thumb worked over her clit with strong but careful strokes, holding her just on the edge of the climax, but not letting her go yet.

He swallowed hard, feeling how his control slipped away from him, grabbing harder to it in an attempt to catch the last bits of self-restraint before taking a minute to assess the situation.

He never was the one to rush into something without calculating the risks. Always was the one to think through the consequences of his actions, making sure that both parties knew exactly what they were going into. Needing to know first if the decision wasn’t spurt by her anger and fueled by the alcohol she consumed. Needing to know first that she could think clearly before he would give her reply. So instead of answering he deepened the kiss, making her shudder with the single sweep of his thumb over her sensitive clit, swallowing her scream.

He could feel the mix of tequila and lime on her lips. The taste was strong enough to know that she had her fair share of shots during the evening. But the way she spoke without slurping, kissed him surely, showed that her mind was clear enough for the decision to be made without it to be blinded by alcohol she consumed. Good enough for him to give her his reply and continue that somewhere more private after she would stop shuddering in his arms.

“Yours,” he groaned after a moment. Feeling how much wetter she became. Feeling how much harder she made him. “I have a roommate,” he mumbled, cutting out everything that she was about to say with the kiss.

The mix of alcohol, lust, and frustration heightened their need for each other and they stumbled toward the exit, catching a taxi. He couldn’t make the address she gave to the driver, not even caring how far this place was from his. The only thing he cared at that moment was to get in bed with this girl and fuck her senseless. For once in a long time not caring about the reasons behind that. For once just wishing to forget about everything. Forget his mother and the pain she caused to both her children. Forget about what he did and saw during the war. Forget at least for the night how many of his friends lost their lives during this ill-fated night in the desert. For once not even caring about the reasons why this girl in his arms was willing to jump into the bed with a complete stranger. For once not even questioning her motives. Just wanting her.. needing her. Complete stranger he will never see again after this night.

It took them twenty-five minutes of the ride to get to Rachel’s place. All the way, they were on each other. Kissing, caressing, touching.

Doing things, they would never do sober, with the person they just met. When they got to her place, he pulled her out of the car effortlessly before paying the cab without waiting for a change. His hands sliding under her thighs, lifting her up so her legs would wrap around his waist. Without even looking around they stumbled toward the house kissing hungrily. He pinned her against the front door. His kisses grew impatient when she struggled to open the front door. His teeth grazed the sensitive spot at the juncture of her neck. Sunking them with the slightest amount of pressure into her soft skin, eliciting a hoarse moan from her lips, before the door finally gave way, letting them in.

When inside he turned them around pressing her firmly to the opposite wall. His mouth moved along her neck. Kissing, biting, sucking on her sensitive skin. The air between them grew heavier by the minute, crackling with tension and passion they felt. Each lick and suck of his lips, each bite on her skin made her moan louder and more desperate, and he silenced them with his lips, crushing them on hers.

Her legs tightened around his waist even more, bringing him closer to her, grinding against his throbbing jeans-encased erection. He groaned, stumbling toward the stairs, breaking their kiss just for a second. Their eyes meeting, filled with something more than raw anger and lust they felt before. When he started to speak his voice was husky and breathless, and his eyes burning deep into hers with an intensity she never knew existed.

“Where?” the only word he mastered to say, his hands rested under her butt, already halfway up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. Their lips moving in unison, stumbling through the door into the room she pointed, shutting the door behind them firmly with a loud thud.

As soon as the door got shut behind them, Jordan turned them around, pinning Rachel against the door. Her legs were still wrapped around him, locking tightly behind his back, and her hands tangled in his hair. Their lips moved frantically against each other's. Their tongues danced together, and their moans broke the quietness of the house.

She tasted like tequila and lime with notes of salt following them. His tongue traced hers, sucking on it gently. Mixing her taste with his, sharing the taste of all the drinks he downed this evening. 

His hands ran along her long legs toward her soaked center, feeling how turned on she was for him already, as turned on as he was for her. Their anger turned into a primal need, the need they never knew existed. The need that only they could satisfy for each other. 

Feverishly his fingers found the waistband of her panties, ripping the flimsy material off her with a sharp firm tug. Her hands reached for the hem of his shirt, lifting it over his head and throwing it aside. Her fingers ran along his muscles, feeling them ripple under her light touch, making Jordan inhale sharply. His hands roamed over her body without missing an inch of her heated skin before gripping her sides roughly.

His hands roamed over her body without missing a single inch of her heated skin he could reach before gripping her sides roughly and grounding her against him. Her head fell back with a guttural moan, feeling his rigid member through the material of his jeans. His lips finding hers, catching them in a sloppy searing kiss. 

The intoxicating scent of her arousal and the sound of her breathless moans made his head spin, and his hands found their way under her thighs, gripping them tightly. Without another moment of hesitation, he turned around, carrying her to the bed and dropping Rachel on it. She could hear how the husky curse left his lips, while his eyes darkened even more, standing at the foot of the bed, and watching her bounce on the mattress until she stopped. Tantalisingly slowly she lifts on her elbows, taking off her dress, and tossing it aside.

Her legs opened wide, not letting go of his gaze, not missing a flicker of lust and desire shooting through his eyes. His gaze turned black as night, running along her body toward her glistening core. His hands reached for his belt unbuckling it, yanking his jeans and briefs off. Rachel’s eyes widened when her eyes landed on an impressive member that was finally freed from the constraints of his clothes. It wasn’t just big... It was huge and thick with the long pulsating vein running up the side of his shaft. And she couldn’t help it but lick her lips, feeling how her breath hitched with the unexpected desire to wrap her lips around him.

Not letting her recover from the view, he pounced on her, pinning her against the soft mattress with his body. His erection firmly pressed into her, his lips finding hers, catching them in a fiery kiss. He groaned, feeling how she arched toward him, her slick core gliding against his throbbing member. After a moment, he broke a kiss as abruptly as he started it, kneeling between her legs. His hands spread them wider to accommodate his body between them, reaching for her centre and thrusting his fingers deep inside her warmth, coating them in her juices. He could feel how soaking wet she was already, and he made a guttural sound not able to wait even a moment longer.

Grabbing his cock in his hand, he spread her slick nectar over it, aligning himself with her slit. He groaned, pressing firmer into her before thrusting all the way in till the hilt. Jordan’s eyes shut up instinctively from a sensation of her tightness around him, and he clasped her hips in an ironclad grip. His body started to move faster, thrusting in and out of her pussy, his teeth digging into his lower lip, and his jaw tense, trying to suppress a groan and not to lose control.

He thrusted in faster and faster, getting as deep as he could. Rachel’s moans and his groans filled the room, and in a moment he could feel how her body started to tremble in his arms. Letting go of her hips, he braced himself above her, holding his weight on his outstretched arms. Their lips meeting again and again in a fiery kiss, while he continued to pound her faster and deeper. Her legs locked behind his back pulling him closer, deeper. Her hips lifting up to meet him, and the change of angle, that’s all that was needed for them both to fall apart. Her body shuddered under his and her throbbing pussy clenched tightly around his length, while his hot seed shot deep inside her, milking him till the last drop.

After a moment, Jordan rolled to the side, both panting heavily. Their chests heaving. Their eyes raised to the ceiling above them, feeling exhausted and satisfied. Feeling how alcohol finally started to take over, drifting them both to sleep.

Rachel woke up later than usual, her head throbbed with a headache, and she could barely remember the events of yesterday or why she drank a little too much.

She groaned, stretching her body, instantly freezing when an unfamiliar weight on her hip caught her attention. Frowning, she hesitantly turned her head to see what this could be. Her eyes widened when they landed on the guy she bumped into yesterday, who lay now next to her completely naked with his leg thrown over her hip and his hardening erection against her butt. The loud scream left her throat, and she pulled the blanket with all her might, making a startled man next to her fall to the floor.

“What the hell,” groaned Jordan, getting up from the floor, feeling how his head was throbbing after yesterday. He rubbed the back of his neck, at a loss looking around the room, his eyes landing at yesterday’s stranger in front of him sitting on the bed and glaring at him. 

Her body wrapped in a blanket and her hand rested above her bosom. His eyes widened and he blushed slightly at a sight in front of him, and from the fact that he was completely naked. Frantically, he began to look for something to cover himself up, grabbing the first thing that came into his hands. His hand wrapped around a plush teddy bear from the nightstand table, covering his member. His throat tightening not able to form a word.

“Who the hell are you? And what are you doing in my bedroom? How did you get in here,” cried out Rachel, throwing daggers at him, with her gaze. Having some vague idea of what may have happened yesterday from the way her body still hummed in satisfaction, and the wetness between her thighs.

“Even though I don’t remember much, but it doesn’t take a genius to assume that we had sex...,” frowned he, nodding at their clothes that were scattered around the floor, trying not to let the blush cover his cheeks as if he would be some inexperienced boy. “Can you…. hmmmmm…. Can you not look at me? I mean until I get dressed,” asked Jordan, nodding to his half erect cock. Noticing, with the spark of satisfaction, how her eyes widened, landing on his massive member barely covered up with her plush toy. Trying to suppress the smirk, when the blush dusted her cheeks.

“Really? Now you are shy? Don’t you think that this is a bit too late,” asked he rolling his eyes.

“Shut up,” she grumbled half heartedly. But before he was able to reply she raised her gaze to his. Her eyes widened and the blush disappeared from her cheeks instantly, making her look paler than the moment before. “Shit,” she whispered. “Wait did we… Did we use protection?” asked Rachel cautiously, panic gathering inside her and she bit at her bottom lip nervously, feeling a liquid pulling between her legs.

“I don’t remember,” grunted Jordan, lifting his boxers and jeans from the floor and starting to dress. “But I’m sure I did… And if not I can assure you I’m clean and you are on the pill. Aren’t you?” he asked cautiously, watching her, while she shook her head, turning paler than the moment before. Her eyes widening even more, while she rushed toward the en-suit bathroom with the blanket wrapped around her.

Few minutes later, when Jordan pulled on his t-shirt and was zipping up his jeans, she walked back into the room, her face almost white as a sheet.

“Well, this answers the question,” she mumbled quietly, looking at him, “you didn’t, in fact, use protection.”

“Shit,” swore Jordan, watching her with concern. “If… if this may be a problem,” he asked, feeling the blood drain from his face, and he sat back on the bed, raking his hand through his thick dark hair. His ocean blue eyes met her forest green.

“I don’t think so. This shouldn’t be a problem as days aren’t right. So we should be okay,” replied she, getting out from the drawer a pair of shorts and a shirt and sitting next to him to get dressed.

“Thank God,” said Jordan, breathing a sigh of relief. “Then I probably should be going. I just moved in, and I haven't even met my new housemate yet. And I don’t want him to think I have no manners.”

“Ohhhhh, yes… I doubt that his first thought when meeting you will be the lack of manners,” mumbled Rachel under her breath, rolling her eyes, while he was heading toward the door. She followed behind, catching up with him next to the door. “Yes, you probably need to go… Also, let’s hope that my housemate didn't hear what we have done yesterday or stayed somewhere else,” said she, letting him out of her room.

“Do you have a housemate?” he asked, his eyes widened. “You didn’t say it…”

“Didn’t I?”

“I don’t recall it, and as I have an eidetic memory, so either no, or…”

“Or you were so drunk that you simply don’t recall this. You know, considering how you fucked me last night, and even not remembering doing that or the fact that you should use protection I doubt you would even remember a word I was saying to you,” hissed Rachel, marching downstairs to shove him out the door.

Her anger and frustration at this irritating rich boy, returning. He followed after, feeling how his blood started to boil from her accusations but stopped dead as soon as his eyes landed on the familiar blazer, hanging near the door.

“How… How did this get in here? I don’t… I don’t recall wearing it to the club… I would never,” he breathed, a cold shiver running through his spine.

“Maybe it is my housemate’s blazer but like yours?” she asked, already holding the door wide open.

“No…,” he groaned, his face turning pale. Abruptly he turned back, taking off toward the living room, ignoring Rachel’s protests. She growled irritatingly, following after him, trying to keep up. She barely managed to stop in time, preventing a collision after he abruptly stopped. Both standing in front of the fireplace, where a photo of two was standing on a shelf, their eyes widened, and they both gasped.

“I thought we went to your place last night,” husked Jordan, his eyes still fixed on a picture of him and a young woman standing right in front of them.

“We did,” confirmed Rachel, looking perplexed at the photo she didn't recall seeing in front of them.

“Then how, can you explain that my and my sister’s picture is in your living room,” demanded he, still refusing to believe in the most obvious and logical explanation.

His eyes roaming around the room. His face paled even more when his eyes catched the sight of another picture next to this. The young man of Jordan's age in a Marine’s uniform was hugging a younger girl with blonde hair and forest green eyes. Both smiling happily. Slowly he turned to Rachel, meeting her eyes with a mix of horror and faint recognition.

"How... How do you know him?" he asked hoarsely.

"This is my brother, Brandon," replied Rachel furrowed her brows and looking at him questioningly.

“No… this is…. This is not happening. This cannot be happening,” he whispered under his breath. Feeling as if he would be punched straight in the middle of his chest, while the single thought flew through his mind.

I slept with my housemate… I slept with my best friend’s little sister.

Tagging: @choices-bound​​ @lahelasaveiro​​

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Blood Hungry: Part Four

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

Word Count: ~2.6k

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill, fluff and angst

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there is any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated.

Feedback is gold, and it’s the only currency I take

“His name's Eddy Mays and he’s twenty-one-years-old,” Sheriff Halls says.

Eddy is sitting inside the cell looking dazed and wild. All you can feel is the insanity coming off of him and see the angry red energy pouring out of every pore. He’s not well, but you think you can get through to him if you really try. This kind of person needs to be handled with delicacy, and you’re the only one who can do that.

“Wait, Mays?” you ask.

“Do you know him?” Hotch asks.

“Yeah. I just can't believe a boy like Eddy would do something like this. He was the nicest kid you ever saw.”

“He's mentally ill, sheriff. A boy like Eddy could truly use an insanity plea in a court of law,” Spencer says.

“You know, the ironic thing about psychotic illness is generally they're less violent than the rest of the population. But by the nature of psychotic delusions, when they do get violent…” you trail off.

“We're never gonna get anywhere with him. Not like this. Look at the guy. You can't read him is rights. You can't even process him,” Derek points out.

“I better call his mother. It's a damn shame. His daddy died just a couple years ago. This is gonna fall awful hard on her,” Sheriff Halls sighs.

“What's the family like?” Hotch asks.

“His dad was a doctor and Mary Gwathmey Mays comes from one of the oldest families in Tennessee.”

“I'd like to meet her.”

“We already have,” you say and look at Elle who just nods.

“Good get her,” Hotch says and leaves the group.

“I can probably get through to him. He needs to be handed with care, and I’m the only one who can connect to his insanity,” you whisper to Derek.

“Tell Hotch that,” he whispers back.

You push yourself off the walls of the cell and head over to Hotch who situates himself in front of a computer that has a webcam. He’s going to call Penelope to see what kind of dirt she could dig up on Eddy and his family.

“Hey, Hotch, I think you should let me talk to this guy. I’m the only one who can see what’s going on inside his mind. I might be able to relate to him more.”

“Fine, you’re the lead with this one,” he nods and clicks on the invitation for the video chat sent by Penelope.

“Hey, Garcia. Talk to me,” Hotch says once her face pops up.

“So, I got a hold of Eddy's roommate in college who describes Eddy as having an overprotective mom,” she begins.

“How overprotective?” you wonder.

“She called him, like, three times a day. And get this, one time she went up to Boston to break him up with a girlfriend she didn't like.”

“Wow,” you and Hotch scoff.

“Yeah. It seems like Eddy's entire college experience was some sort of post-adolescent rebellion. He partied like an eighties clubber. He suffered a delusional break due to methamphetamine and rock cocaine consumption.”

“Wow, that is partying like an eighties clubber,” Hotch grins.

“That basically describes my older sister’s life to the T,” you shudder at the memory.

“Right. So then, uh, he was admitted to a mental health facility in Boston. He checked himself out a week ago and then found his way home.”

“What was his major?” you ask.

“Comparative religion.”

“Appropriate,” you comment.

“Thanks. Um, how is it having Gideon around?”

“Uh, you can have him back whenever you'd like,” she says.

She tries to hide her annoyance, but you know it’s there. Hotch only laughs and says his goodbyes before ending the video chat.

“If we’re going to get anything out of him, he’ll need to be medicated. I can tell you right now I won’t be able to get anything in his state of mind. His energy is spiking everywhere.”

“Then call a doctor. Get him sedated.”

“Yes, sir,” you nod and head off to call a doctor.

While you did that, JJ and Hotch talked with Eddy’s mother to see if they can get anything out of her before it’s time to talk with her son. You didn’t go with them because you wanted to observe Eddy for a while to get a feel of how you’re going to approach him. It’s weird to say, but the crazier they are, the more you connect with them. Not everyone can see it, but the crazy ones leave themselves wide open for people like you to come in and read them like an open book. The more lucid a person is, the more they have control over their conscious mind. They are able to control how closed off they seem to other people. “Crazy” people don’t get that choice, so it’s an open invitation to people like you.

In all your years of doing this, you have never met another person who could do the things you can do. Maybe… no, you can’t think about her in a time like this. In fact, you’ve locked everything that has to do with her inside a steel room. You refuse to think about her.

Mary Mays needs to stay at the station while you talk with her son, so she’s waiting in one of the comfortable waiting rooms. The doctor just gave Eddy everything he needs in order to answer some questions even though that’s not why she gave him the medicine in the first place.

She exits the holding cells and walks over to you and Hotch who are waiting for her.

“I've administered the haloperidol to Mr. Mays.”

“How long until it takes effect?” Hotch asks.

“It's coming on now with the full effect in about fifteen minutes or so. You have to realize that while the drug will make him appear to be asymptomatic it will not necessarily remove his delusional state.”

“Will it make him more lucid?” you wonder.

“Possibly. But let me make this clear. I gave him the shot because he needed to be medicated, not so you could agitate him by putting him through an interrogation. That boy needs to be hospitalized.”

“Well, a jury might agree with you, but right now he needs to answer some questions 'cause there's a little boy we need to find. Thank you,” Hotch nods and heads into the holding cells.

You, Hotch, and Spencer approach Eddy, and your boss gives you the okay to begin questioning him. Both agents will be lingering in the background just in case help is needed, but this one is all on you. Eddy is sitting in the corner with his knees to his chest and his fingernails in his mouth. The medicine did help, but not by much. You carefully take a seat on the bed and stare at the man who couldn’t look at you.

“Hi, Eddy,” you say gently. “Do you know where you are?”

He shakes his head and stares at the ceiling, but he answers correctly.

“Jail.”

“That's right. Do you know why?”

“I was very bad. Before, I was very bad. But I'm... I'm much better now, much... much better,” he stutters.

“Eddy, do you remember hurting anyone?” you ask, and all he could do is stare at you. You don’t know why it was at this question that he can look at you, but you know he won’t answer it. You decide to go in a different direction. “Where did you go to college, Eddy?”

“Mm, Boston,” he smiles.

“Did you like Boston?”

“Mm-mmm. No. I don't know,” he stutters and bites his nails some more.

“What was your favorite thing about Boston, Eddy?”

“Harvard time square, I had cappuccino,” he smiles at the memory.

You nod and look at Spencer, and he hands you the picture of Wally. You take it and show Eddy the picture of the happy young boy whose life depends solely on you.

“Eddy, do you remember Wally? Wally Brisbane?”

“I know the Brisbanes,” he lights up as if you gave him a present on Christmas morning.

“You took this little boy. I believe you don’t want to hurt him, but you have him somewhere.”

“No. No. I did not,” he begins to point angrily at the picture and scrunches up his face angrily, “I did not do that.”

“Eddy, I know you’re uncomfortable, okay? I wish I didn’t have to do this, but a little boy’s life depends on this. Look at your hands, Eddy. They’re cut up and you have bruises on your arms. Do you know why that is?”

“Yeah,” he whimpers painfully after looking at them.

“You killed three people, Eddy,” you sigh.

“You killed three people, Eddy,” he repeats while making eye contact with you. “You killed three people, Eddy.”

You need to get on with this because it’s going nowhere. You look at Spencer again and he hands Eddy pictures of the crime scene for each victim. Pictures you know will upset him, but it’s necessary.

“Paul Thompson. Annie Stuart. Lynette Giles,” Spencer says each of their names as he shows Eddy them.

With every picture Eddy sees, he grows more and more agitated. He clearly hates what he’s done, but it’s like his mind doesn’t want him to know he’s the one who did it. However, the sane part of him is trying to break through to tell him he’s in a lot of trouble. There are two sides fighting inside his mind, and it’s clear he doesn’t know which side to listen to.

“No! No! Stop it!” he yells at himself.

“I tried, but we're not going to get anything out of him. It’s up to his mother to help us find Wally,” you sigh and get up.

You and the other two agents leave the holding cell while Eddy yells at himself. It’s almost as if he has two personalities and both of them are coming out to respond to the other. All of this is taking place in his mind, and you kind of feel sorry for him. He wasn’t always like this, and you have a feeling his mother had something to do with it.

“We need him to tell us where that boy is,” Sheriff Hall insists when you and the two men exit the holding cell.

“Sheriff, we're not gonna get anything out of him until he gets this latest episode under control,” you shrug.

“Agent Y/L/N, it's getting cold and dark. If that Brisbane boy is anywhere outside, he won't stand a chance in hell.”

“I understand that, Sheriff, but putting too much strain on his mind will cause him to have a complete breakdown. I’m telling you right now, we will not get anything out of him because he believes he’s done nothing wrong in the first place. There are two battles going on inside his mind. The rational side and the insane one. The insane is clearly winning. His rational side came out when we showed him pictures of the victims, but it’s too small to overpower the other side.”

“How do you know this?”

Before you can answer him, Deputy Long screams at everyone to come back to Eddy. Her screams are so loud that everyone in the station hears, including his own mother. Everyone heads over to see what’s wrong because something clearly is. You waste no time rushing over to her. Eddy is trying to hang himself by the small barred widow above the toilet with the sheets that were on the bed.

His mother completely freaks out and tries to go to him, but Elle holds her back. You, Hotch, and Sheriff Hall rush inside the cell and try to help Eddy down. He’s choking and trying so hard to end his own life, but you’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen. He’s lucid enough to want to end his own life, and you know the rational side of his mind drove him to it.

Like you said, you feel so bad for him.

When you met Mary Mays, you know she was kind of sketchy to begin with, and apparently, the rest of the team thinks so as well. Hotch gave you the rundown of his interview with her earlier, and apparently, she lied to him before. She didn't even mention that her son was in a mental hospital in the first place, and when you called the hospital, they claimed that he called her to pick him up but she never came. Why would she lie about that? She’s definitely hiding something; you can feel her deceit radiating from her body.

“Why weren't you straight with us, Mrs. Mays?” Hotch asks in the safety of the waiting room.

“Straight with you?”

“You never told us your son was in a mental hospital.”

“I spoke with a doctor at a facility in Boston. He said Eddy was released a week ago and that he called you to pick him up, but that you never came,” you say.

“You asked me if I knew if he'd come home, and I didn't. I... I thought he was in Boston,” she lies again.

“There was also blood on the floor of your utility room. Do you have any explanation for that?” you cross your arms.

When Derek and Elle went to check out her house, they found blood underneath her fridge that she happened to forget to clean up. Plus, the place smelled like bleach. Weird, huh?

“Well, sometimes I cut my legs when I prune the roses.”

“You prune your roses in winter?” you ask as you take a step to her.

“As a matter of fact, I do,” she becomes hostile and stands up to get in your face. “When do you prune yours?”

“Mrs. Mays, I understand that you may want to do everything you can to protect your son, but that little boy may be dying right now,” Hotch intervenes as Spencer lightly pulls you away from her.

“I would like to help you, I really would. But right now, I've got to see about my son.”

“I think it's better if you stay here,” Spencer suggests.

Every agent leaves the room to let her cool off her own head, and you shrug yourself out of his grip. Eddy was taken to a hospital immediately when the Sheriff knew he wouldn't be of any help now that he tried to kill himself.

“She's definitely lying. I don't know exactly what she's lying about, but she's lying,” Hotch determines and looks at you.

“Don’t look at me. Her mind is so closed off, I can’t get a read on her. Whatever she’s hiding, she really doesn’t want anyone to find out.”

“You don't think she'd let that boy die to save her son, do you?” JJ asks.

“I don't know.”

“She drives a Cadillac, right?” you ask, suddenly getting an idea.

“Yeah, why?” Elle wonders.

“They got a GPS system in them.”

“So…?”

“So, let’s see where she’s been. Let me tell you, technology doesn’t lie,” you chuckle and head outside to her car.

Derek, Hotch, and Elle follow you to her car, and after Hotch demanded to see her keys. She thinks you’re searching her car when really, you’re going to figure out where Wally is. You unlock the driver’s door and slide inside, and Derek slides into the passenger seat while Elle and Hotch linger by the window. After you turn the car on, you look up her search history on her GPS.

“This thing has got every stop she's made and how long she spent there,” you scoff.

“You know, these things could cause more divorces than internet porn,” Derek jokes until he sees something very interesting. “Hey, look at that. That's interesting.”

“Apparently, she stopped at the same place on route three like six times. Wally’s there. I can feel it,” you nod.

“Then let's get Mary and take her to that spot. We can tell her that we're going to visit Eddy in the hospital.”

“I’m going. You’re going to want me to come,” you declare.

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[themculibrary]

Steve + Asthma Masterlist

Links Last Checked: December 8th, 2023

Asthma (ao3) - Somerandomauthorrr steve/bucky T, 3k

Summary: Steve was having an asthma attack. He was having an asthma attack and Bucky wasn’t there. He’d been on the couch and he wasn’t there when he woke up and he was having an asthma attack.

Bucky spent so many years comforting Steve when he had an asthma attack, he knows exactly what to do. Maybe.

Back to Square One (fanfiction.net) - Ratchet's Apprentice 88 T, 2k

Summary: The research proved it was going to happen, but now they have to deal with it. Steve is left with a pre-serum immune system, forced to relive the main sicknesses from his childhood. Follow the Avengers as they help take care of their almost constantly ill captain. How long can this possibly last?

Be My Breath (ao3) - ClarkeStetler, Goosenik steve/bucky T, 44k

Summary: For the Shrinkyclinks Fest 2021 prompt: Steve needs a roommate. He thinks he will never find one but then he meets Winter Soldier Bucky who needs a place to stay while he recovers. Steve offers him the room immediately and it turns out Bucky is a great roommate.

Basically: Bucky moves in with Steve after he escapes from Hydra, and Steve begins the long process of helping Bucky remember how to be human again.

Breathless (ao3) - littleblackfox steve/bucky E, 3k

Summary: He likes the guy. Likes that he's six feet of piss and vitriol in a 90lb body, likes the wrinkle in his brow when he's sketching, likes the way he presses pencil to paper, all bold movements and elegant lines. Likes the way he approaches everything like it's a battlefield.

Buchanan Medical (ao3) - Metalbvcky steve/bucky T, 54k

Summary: Steve's childhood was filled with illnesses and dread of going to another no good doctor. Even now as an adult, his asthma persisted. But three months ago, Dr. Erskine passed away. Procrastination and fear ate him away. Now he had to find a new one since his medicine supply ran out.

Little did he know, his new doctor would be the greatest thing to happen in his life. -- Modern!AU. Bucky is a doctor and Steve is his patient. This is their journey through Steve's asthmatic issues

Cold Winter's Night (ao3) - fadedlullabyes steve/bucky G, 3k

Summary: Steve has an awful time getting back to his and Bucky's place. He finally makes it home only to suffer an asthma attack.

Does not play well with others (ao3) - usedupshiver steve/tony T, 11k

Summary: While sneaking into the Starks' abandoned home, Steve makes the startling discovery that even though no Stark is living in the house anymore, not all of them have actually left.

G.I. Joes and 2AM Diners (ao3) - OhCaptainMyCaptain steve/bucky E, 100k

Summary: They look nothing like what they used to. Time and life have completely changed them. But as they sit there in silence, eating two halves of one cupcake, letting Brooklyn remind there where they came from, and enjoying a sky full of stars… They are those same little boys, somewhere deep down. For just a second, you’d be able to see them again.

And Bucky thinks to himself that maybe it’s little moments like these – fleeting as they may be – that remind him why life is still worth living.

Little and Broken, But Still Good (ao3) - AnonEhouse G, 3k

Summary: De-aged Tony and Steve bond together to escape their kidnappers. It's not easy when you're five and one of you has asthma, but they're both stubborn. And they have friends they don't remember.

No really angsty bits, just an excuse for me to write little Steve and Tony.

quiet breathing (ao3) - HunterPeverell steve/bucky T, 21k

Summary: Bucky lived a charmed life for exactly twenty-two years before the Incident interupted his life and reduced him to a shell of who he once was. Now twenty-eight, Bucky must deal with nightmares, apathy, therapy, and the scattered remains of his life.

Then came Steve, who radiated sunlight and may spark life and magic back into Bucky's heart.

safe in your arms (ao3) - orphan_account steve/bucky E, 3k

Summary: The kick came before Steve could block it. One minute he was standing and the next, he was pinned underneath a beefy, impressively muscular body.

“Oof!” Steve groaned, for a moment closing his eyes. His chest was heaving, after a heavy session and the sweat on his back was making his top stick to the matt in the private room he’d booked with his instructor. His instructor who happened to be holding his hands above his head.

His instructor who’s sinfully red lips were seconds away from his own.

Selective Service (ao3) - Kroki_Refur N/R, 10k

Summary: The serum's given Steve a lot, but it hasn't taken anything away from him. Not even the things he never wanted in the first place.

The Regal Conflict (ao3) - BarqueBatch steve/bucky M, 18k

Summary: Steve Rogers is a comic and graphic novel artist that needs a minimum of seven hours sleep every night to keep his problematic health issues at bay. That becomes nearly impossible when his new neighbor’s dogs start waking him up at 4 AM every morning. When Sam makes a suggestion on how to handle the problem, Steve doesn’t quite follow through the way Sam intended.

James Barnes just wants a quiet place to hole up with his dogs when he’s not working. He’s paying decent money for a place more off the grid so he can steer clear of people and be left alone. So why the hell is he coming home to a hostile note on his door?

The Soldier and the Mountain (ao3) - MarleyMortis steve/bucky M, 110k

Summary: This is a story about recovering from rape, society's apathy toward victims of campus assault, and one man's trial to escape an abusive relationship in a world where men are painted as the batterer. When James Barnes, professional dancer, starts realizing his long-term boyfriend isn't interested in a healthy relationship, he meets Steve Rogers, one of his boyfriend's victims and a soon-to-be-graduate from NYU. Their friendship seems impossible, but maybe they are what the other needs to start clawing out of their traumatic pasts. The road is long and arduous, but recovery always is.

The Taste of Ink (ao3) - AidaRonan steve/bucky E, 5k

Summary: It's Valentine's Day and if Bucky has to make another Red Hot Red Velvet frap, he'll personally find Cupid and murder him with his own arrows. It's been six long months since he broke up with his ex when an old familiar face walks into his coffee shop.

And if Bucky still remembers his coffee order after two years, well, it's not at all because he wants every inch of him from his high tops to his tattooed neck.

The Winter Wolf (ao3) - JBankai89 steve/bucky E, 95k

Summary: No one thought the Great Depression would be an easy time, but none knew it better than Steven Grant Rogers.

When his mother married a farmer from out of town with a mean streak a mile wide in early 1938, twenty-year-old Steve honestly thought his life couldn't get any worse. Steve was sickly and unable to hold down any kind of job; a burden on the struggling family. When it all became too much, his stepfather talked Sarah Rogers into the unthinkable—abandon the young man where no one but the wolves would find him.

[lolathepeacocklord]

Chapter 1 – Unlucky Circumstances   It all happened so fast. Way too fast. Maybe there was a window open at some point where he could have saved himself? But by now that window was long gone. He knew he was sick. Just not… That sick. And of course he only found out when it was too late. He never thought it would escalate so quickly. Everyone just said it was a really bad flu. If you got sick just stay home a few days, and if it got worse head on over to the hospital.    And then the one thing he remembered before… It all begun. Or ended, actually. There was an emergency broadcast urging people to get to an evacuation center as soon as possible. Something was happening, and the city suddenly needed to get into quarantine immediately. CEDA was going to take the mess into their own hands, because the Green Flu apparently was a lot more dangerous then people thought. Or more dangerous then they told the public it was.   But after looking back at all of this… Even with all the best teams of scientists in the whole world, did they ever even stand a chance in the first place?

  Rain poured down the gray skies, slowly getting heavier, though never got heavy enough to put out most of the fires in the streets. It helped flush some blood down the drains throughout the city, but could do nothing about the endless mangled corpses lying about. All of these used to be people- either dead or wandering the streets as brainless entities. Feral animals that attacked anything that moved, including their own kind. And those weren’t even the worse ones. These ones were referred to as common infected. Just people that naturally fell victim to the rabies-like virus. Some people were worse. Far worse. This horrid virus made ordinary people turn into true monstrosities. How did it happen? It was far beyond our understanding how a rabies disease could turn out into one of those… Things.   Some people turned out lucky though. They would turn out lucky enough to not fall ill from the virus. Their minds were never altered, they never transformed. But they were a target. Infected could always seem to tell somehow that these survivors weren’t like them. They were more hostile towards them then with anybody else. Why is it like this? Who knows. Maybe the virus alters your mind and makes you think you need to spread the illness. Maybe when you see people with guns, walk with purpose, and talk normally you think they are a threat by default. The gun is reasonable under any regular circumstances, but these were not normal circumstances.    This was the end of the world as we knew it. Even with all the firearms in the world, how long would you really be able to hold out in this chaos? You’re just a simple survivor, against true monstrosities. But… Where were we.    The rain continued to beat down onto the rooftops and down all the dirtied up streets in town. It’s been a while since there was a good long rainstorm, so this was wonderful. Some of the smaller fires were getting put out completely, while bigger ones were just stabilized a little more.    Between two three-story building was a bit of a gnarled up alleyway. Some walls were stained deeply enough that simple rain wouldn’t do much about it. Most of the stains originally were just from garbage and occasional drunks stumbling in to vomit. But now it was mostly painted over with a fresh coat of blood. Really fresh- A common somewhere in there was having itself a meal with this man it managed to maul to death. The zombie didn’t even acknowledge a guy walk past him, resting a shotgun on his shoulder. The man’s smell was so putrid anyone would have reacted in some way. Even the man himself hated the stench he just couldn’t get rid of. But now it was just a normal thing, so he didn’t think too much into it.    He turned around a corner over to a door he quickly went through and locked behind him- hiding away from the storm in this little… ‘Home’ he made for himself. It was originally just some storage closet or something, and someone may have lived here before- hence the mattress lying in there. Nobody ever returned here so he just decided to make himself at home. After setting the shotgun against the wall he plopped down onto the mattress, reached into a pocket inside of the camouflage vest and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, and proceeded to destroy his body even further while staring blankly into the dark room he was in. Just… Thinking. About everything that’s happened in the previous weeks.   He just felt really, really sick. Nothing ever gave him the hint something worse was happening. It was just a really bad version of the common flu. Not something that changed average humans into feral monsters. Not something that made them mutate so horribly they couldn’t even recognize themselves as actual people. Not something that would make the entire world collapse and just leave you and your new body in shambles- fearing every single day that something even more horrible looking would maybe take your life. Pretty much what he was thinking about.    The man’s name was Noah Smith. Preferably just Smith. He wasn’t your run of the mill survivor or special infected. But have you ever considered the fact a person could stand a chance of being… Both?    Smith flicked the cigarette away and stared at the dying embers for a few moments before using the heel of his shoe to put it out. Then he reached to grab it and shoved it in his pocket. He didn’t necessarily feel great about leaving trash on the floor like that. He listened to the rain beating down outside the building, just trying to calm his nerves. He heard something very… Unnerving, not too long ago. Gunshots. Survivors. Real survivors. Not local infected that somehow managed to keep their sanity enough to be able to hold a gun. Survivors, resistant to the green flu, targets of all the normal feral infected- not nice to people like him.    Survivors being in the area was really freaking him out. He had weapons to protect himself in general, but whenever he sees those people they’re usually in a group of three or four people. So in the long run he was outnumbered, they were probably really overpowered- having literal grenade launchers sometimes. Who the hell just find one of those!? All he had was a switchblade, a shotgun, and a revolver. He was running low on shotgun ammo too. It was scary to think about this, yeah, but he also knew he couldn’t just hide in this same city forever. I mean he probably could for a while. But there are so many things out to get him. So many odds against him. And if survivors were coming here now, more may come in the future. He would be found eventually. He would get killed if he stayed in one place. It made him just wanna curl up in a ball and succumb to the horrible wheeze fits he had sometimes. Or just stop breathing in his sleep and have an easy, painless death.    Quickly Smith rose up to his feet, stretched his arms for a second, and went to go look at his supplies. He had… 30 shotgun shells, around 45 bullets for the revolver, and the trusty stabber he always kept in case his upgraded ‘tongues’ decided to get out of control.    He wasn’t the type of person to think about suicide. He’s thought about It being an easy way out, yeah, but it was a dumb decision to make. With the virus in him he could die any day now. His lungs sometimes felt like they would just close up on him. Or the tumors would proceed to cover his entire face. They already covered his left eye completely. And most of his arms. And neck. Almost everywhere you could imagine, was a growth or something in that spot.    Even with everything against him like this… He still felt the need to try. Why though? There wasn’t anything to look forward to. Nobody was going to save him. He would always have to be the one to save himself. Nobody was like him- infected but at the same time sane. Nobody would believe him either. He had nightmares where no matter how much he screamed and begged for mercy, he would always be shot down. Massacred. Maimed. There was no escape. So why did he keep trying? Because he had hope.    Hope was rare to come by nowadays. But he still felt it- deep down inside this decaying sack of flesh and bones, a little spark. Maybe there were people like him. Maybe he won’t be murdered on sight. Maybe there was still hope. Maybe… His best friend was still alive. Somewhere, out in the world… Maybe he hadn’t become a mindless zombie. The chances for that sadly were so, so low. He knew he was changing. He saw it in his eyes. His behavior. His roommate, his friend- his best friend, was most probably dead somewhere. Or he was ripping people to shreds and eating their flesh down to the bone. But the chance was still there. It existed. Rare doesn’t mean nonexistent.    After checking everything he had he heard something outside. It was very distant, but it sounded like… Gunshots, again. And lots of them. He tensed up slightly at the thought of… No, It would be alright. Just listen for where they’re coming from, keep a long distance, and you’ll be alright. He made sure he had everything on him real fast, took a peek outside… Nobody there. He slipped out and continued down the alleyway, closing the door behind him with the tentacle that permanently hung out of the back of his neck. Smith was in for a really long day. He didn’t know it yet, but there was a lot in store.

[thiswasinevitableid]

7. Leshen Indruck your choice of rating!

Here you go! I went with SFW

It’s old wisdom that humans fear that which they do not understand. 

Indrid really hoped he would never learn the truth of that wisdom the hard way, but here he is. One misplaced attempt at aiding someone using his foresight and he’s been caught, blindfolded, and dumped in the middle of the vast Monongahela Forest. 

He just wanted to help. 

His foresight renders him less fearful than he’d otherwise be; he’ll be able to see threats coming and locate the resources he needs. If he takes his time, he might be able to use his visions to locate the nearest (friendly) village. And, like anyone who grew up near the woods, he knows how to hunt, fish, and forage. For someone who’s been left to die, he’s rather confident. 

Still, it sting a little.

After a few moments of rightfully-earned self-pity, he buttons up his coat and starts the slow, halting journey towards safety. 

Two days later, he’s pushing his way through branches and miserably pointing out to himself again and again that a town where everyone grew up with basic forest survival skills would exile one of their own somewhere that required high-level survival skills. 

The topography and scenery is so disorienting that he may have better luck if he covered his eyes, spun around ten times, and chose his path from there. It’s a dense landscape of deep greens and browns with splashes of bright color that he’d no doubt enjoy were he not constantly snagging on branches or catching his toes on roots. 

Worse, he’s had no luck catching food, and cannot for the life of him locate water. The fact it rained last night is the only reason he’s not dangerously dehydrated.

A sharp, high chirp draws his eye to the foot of a tree. Flapping sparsely feathered wings, a baby bird hops through the mud, her nest visible but unreachable. A meager meal, but a meal nonetheless. 

Indrid scoops her into his palms, clambers into the lowest crook of the tree, and sets her back among her siblings. 

His stomach chastises him the rest of the day, though the rest of his body rejoices when he finds a hollow in the base of a tree large enough for him to shelter within. From within the trunk, he spies vine sprawling across the ground, berries glinting in the light rain. Deep purple, meaning they’re Brambleberries. 

The handful he shoves into his mouth brings tears to his eyes, even though they’re not the ripest. How else do you explain the bitterness chasing the sweetness down his throat. 

Wait. Brambleberries don’t go purple until mid-summer. This is early spring. Which means those were-

“Chokeberries.” He curses himself, darting outside the tree once more, finger down his throat until his meal comes back up. Maybe he was fast enough.

His throat tightens in a prelude to closing. Sinking to his knees, gasping for air, he swears the ground vibrates with heavy steps. His eyes flutter close as he falls forward. As darkness slips over his eyes, he thinks it’s taking him a long time to hit the ground. 

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

Bitter metal on his tongue. 

“Nnnnf” Eyes still shut, he pushes at whatever is holding the spoon and it’s vile contents in his mouth. 

“None of that. You’re gonna need two more doses of this before that Chokeberry is outta your system, and they were hard enough to get into you when you were passed out. Swallow.”

He swallows.

A large hand pats his head, “There we go. I know, shit’s gross, but if you were fool enough to eat those berries, might stun some sense into you.”

Indrid sits up, rubbing his eyes, “I was delirious with hunger, forgive me for not remembering the exact seasons of fruits. Did you heal me only to insult me or-” his visions flicker back full force, revealing his host before he opens his eyes. He scrambles back, but instead of a wall or an edge he just finds a vast expanse of bed. 

Watching him with an amused set to his lips is a man three heads taller and much bulkier than Indrid, dark hair streaked with grey-green moss, eyes the dark green of pine needles, and nails like treebark. He crosses arms tattooed with green, gold, and bronze swirls, waiting for Indrid to collect himself. 

“A Leshen.”

“Yep.”

“Are...are you going to eat me?”

“What? No, I’m not gonna fuckin eat you. I don’t know which of my kind chowed down on humans but if I ever find out I’m gonna give ‘im a piece of my mind. Ain’t great to have people thinkin I’m a man-eater when the worst I done is throw a tree at someone.”

“That is still very alarming.”

The Leshen shrugs “I’m a forest guardian; I’m gonna guard.”

Indrid studies him, wary, drawing the covers up his chest without noticing. 

“Look” the Leshen sighs, “I ain’t tryin to scare you. Hell, made myself the smallest I can so I could be all comfortin. Noticed you in the woods earlier today and kept an eye on you, since humans-”

“Don’t often come here, yes, I am aware. I was extremely, forcibly exiled into your part of the woods.”

Green eyes blink, “Huh. Well, point is it didn’t seem right to leave you there to die, so I brought you here. Chokeberry is real easy to undo, assumin you got the right herbs.” 

“Thank you.” He doesn’t know what else to say. His foresight tells him the Leshens promise of no harm is true, but there are so many timelines for what he could say and how his host could respond that he freezes. 

“You’re welcome. You got a name?”

“Indrid.”

“You oughta rest up more, Indrid. I’ll be back with the next dose in a bit.” His host steps out to the hall.

“Wait, do I, ah, get to know your name?”

“Duck.”

He snickers, replies to the raised eyebrow with, “Apologies, I expected something tree-related.”

Duck smiles, “It’s a nickname.”

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

“What’s your plan?” Duck asks from across the breakfast table. The morning found Indrid well enough to walk and to eat without feeling ill, so he’s been perching awkwardly on a chair that’s too big for him as the Leshen makes plates of toast and eggs that don't come from any bird Indrid is familiar with. 

“I, ah, I don’t really have one other than ‘avoid going home’.”

“You were just gonna wander around until you found a village? I hate to tell you this, but there ain’t one for at least fifty miles, and I’m guessin that’s the one you came from. They must’ve used and enter to navigate here, because this part of the woods is hostile to travel by design.”

“Yours?” Indrid sips his tea, face to hide his distaste for its bitterness. 

“Yep.” Duck slides a jar over to him, it’s copper lid revealing sugar cubes within, “Don’t much feel like runnin into humans every damn day, and it means that even as y’all sprawl out more and more, there are parts of this wood that stay wild.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but it does little to improve my situation. Unless…” he bites his lip. 

“Unless?”

“Unless I could stay here. I’m not bad company, and I have some skills which could-”

“No” Duck shakes his head, “savin you is one thing, takin you on as a roommate is all whole other kettle of fish.”

“Ah. Right. Of course.” He sips his tea, reflection crestfallen. Maybe he’ll just finish this and then go back to sleep. 

Duck sighs, expression one of someone who already regrets the offer he’s about to make, “You can stay here for a month. After that, I’ll get you as close to a safe village as I can, and you’re on your own. Deal?”

Indrid grins, appetite returning in full, “Deal.”

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

Duck has a good guess as to what’s making all the scratching and clanging in his kitchen, but it’s still a surprise to see Indrid moving from counters to chairs doubling as stools to tend a pot that he can barely peer into.

The human’s gotten nimble over the last week and a half, thanks to his routine attempts to help Duck around the house. Everything is scaled to Duck’s smallest possible form, but that still leaves Indrid at a disadvantage. 

He’d be more inclined to help him if it wasn’t so obvious that his help is a ploy to convince Duck to let him stay. Look, he feels bad for the guy, but humans don’t have a great track record with his kind and he generally likes his peace and quiet out in the woods. He also notices that, left to his own devices, Indrid is messy. The area around the couch he uses as a bed is strewn drawings and unfolded clothes that Duck conjured up. Which means this is about Ducks favor, not a commitment to household cleanliness. 

That’s not to say having Indrid around has been unpleasant; the human is good company but also understands Ducks' need for space. He’s odd, and even though the foresight was the given reason, Duck suspects his fellow villagers would have found reason to exile him regardless. Indrid even said that living with Duck was the happiest he’d felt in some time. That wasn’t a ploy; Indrid is prone to saying unnerving statements without registering them. Thorns pricked Duck’s heart when he heard it and, that night, when Indrid fell asleep on the bed during their conversation about deer, he didn’t move him. Just brushed the white hair from his eyes and laid down a respectful distance away. 

“Oh! We’re in the timeline when you’re early.” Indrid waves distractedly as he wrestles open a jar, “I checked on you during the day through my visions and it looked as though you got drenched, so I thought something warm was in order.”

He’s smiling, and Duck’s gaze lingers long enough to see there’s no trickery in it. Yeah, being a forest spirit means storms are refreshing more than freezing, but the one today was so relentless he felt like it was eroding him away. 

“Thanks, Indrid. I’ll join you in a sec.”

The next morning, before he leaves he forms some nearby stumps into a proper step-stool, and transmogrifies the minerals of the earth into a solid set of human sized pots and pans. 

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

“I know you’re there, Duck. I may not have eyes in the trees, but I do have visions that tell me when someone is dithering about coming to speak with me.” Indrid smiles, checking the fishing pole he’s dug into the shore. He feels rather than hears Duck approach; in spite of his size, the Leshen moves through the woods more softly than a butterfly. 

“Guess those visions do make you harder to spy on than the average human.”

“A not at all creepy statement.” Indrid teases, then tips over when Duck playfully shoves him. 

“Shit, sorry.”

“It’s alright” he brushes off his arm, “the sand is nice and warm.” He picks up his sketchbook (stray pieces of paper sewn together) and pens (Duck turned flowers, fruit, leaves, and wood into them until Indrid had every color) and continues drawing. Half the reason he likes fishing is that he can draw futures (and for his own pleasure) while he does it. The other half is that he doesn’t want Duck to view him as a parasite in his home. Yes, for the first week, he did everything he could to demonstrate that he would make an excellent addition to the house made of twisting trunks and mossy floors. 

Now, though, he just wants to enjoy his time with Duck, even if that means not tidying constantly or cooking every meal. He hopes Duck enjoys it too, regardless of whether he lets Indrid stay. The Leshen is lonely, even if it only comes through on those days when his voice is like the wind through a weather-beaten log. Indrid wishes he knew how to assuage it, but a month is not long enough to learn such things. 

He’s slept in Duck’s bed these last three nights. It’s not purposeful, Duck is just so interesting to talk with and Indrid will lose sight of the time, will slump sideways and mumble that he ought to turn in, and then wake up in the early hours atop his host. It didn’t occur to him until this morning that Duck does that to keep Indrid from being uncomfortably squashed by his larger bedmate. And that Duck chooses to do that rather than carry Indrid to his own bed. 

“Hey, uh, ‘Drid?” Duck’s voice brings him back to the riverside, “would you, uh, wanna come with me on my rounds sometimes? Might be some nice things to draw, and that foresight of yours could be real helpful with some of the stuff I need to keep an eye on.”

His host looks nervous until Indrid nods, “I would be honored.”

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

Never has the folding of clothes made him so miserable. Yet still he tucks the garments into the large-but-manageable rucksack Duck gave him, placing his sketchpad safely between the layers of fabric.

“Weather oughta be good tomorrow.” His visions show Duck behind him, rubbing the back of his neck. He’s going to miss that voice, the way leaves rustle underneath the drawl. 

“That’s good.” He pulls the ties on his rucksack, sets at the end of the couch but doesn’t turn around. 

“I’d, uh, say you’re welcome to visit but, uh, well, you know how fuckin hard this place is to find.”

“Mmmm.” Indrid wants him to go, wants him to be brusque or happy, not awkwardly fond in a way that gives false hope of shared affection. 

“‘Drid there’s, there’s somethin I wanna, that is I’m thinkin...aw, fuck it.”

Indrid yelps as arms nearly as big around as he is scoop him up. Duck’s lifted him to examine flowers or see over trees, but the hugging is new. 

“Duck?” Carefully, he drapes his arms over his shoulders.

“Don’t go.”

“I don’t want to.” Duck always smells faintly of pine needles and green wood, and Indrid buries his face in his neck, inhaling in hopes of remembering it forever. 

“Then stay. I changed my mind, ‘Drid, life is so much better with you around.” 

“Okay” Indrid can’t get his voice above a whisper; this wasn’t in the timelines, which means Duck changed his mind at the literal last moment. 

“Really? You wanna stay?” Duck shifts him back, Indrid functionally sitting on his forearm with his legs half wrapped around his chest. 

The seer summons his courage, finds it lacking, and so closes his eyes before going in for a kiss. His lips find Duck’s cheek until a firm hand cups the back of his head, guiding their mouths together. At this size, their mouths are compatible even as Indrid remains pleasantly dwarfed. Duck breaks the kiss first but Indrid, hell-bent on making up for lost time, continues kissing his face until they’re both laughing.

Duck kisses his forehead, “I’m gonna take that as a yes.” 

[agathasblackheart]

Out here feeling like my entire life is falling apart all because my roommate said she didn’t wanna live together anymore. Mind you this is my best friend of almost a decade and our lease renews in March, but if I had known she only planned to live together for a year I never would have done this. Now I’m anxious and I don’t want things to change because I love our apartment but I can’t afford it on my own. This is my comfort space now and the idea of having to go somewhere else literally makes me nauseous like I’ve been crying on and off for the last 4 hours and haven’t been able to do anything except watch tik toks and then remember that I’m gonna end up losing the only place I’ve ever really felt like calling home and I just hate it so much and she doesn’t understand why this is such an issue for me. She just popped in and said “yeah so me and my boyfriend wanna move in together and idea is maybe we keep this apartment and you move back into a one bedroom here that way you can keep paying your half for the washer and dryer we’re renting and come up here and do laundry” and that’s completely ignoring the fact that my last one bedroom here that i was in gave me traumatic memories and all the apartments look exactly the same so i know going back to one of those would trigger those memories like the actual thought of going back to one of those or leaving this apartment that I’ve come to think of as my safe space literally makes me want to vomit so I’m trying to find anyway I can to stay here. I’m asking my brother if he wants to room with me, wondering if I could get a raise at work to afford the place on my own. I don’t know what to do. All I know is it feels like I’m being kicked out of my own home and left with nothing and being abandoned. Why am I so mentally ill 🤦🏼‍♀️

[shark-el]

this fic was based off of a conversion I had with @born-at-3am​ about how Baz's first name (Tyrannus) sounds like a dinosaur name, and well lets just say I was really bored one day and decided to write this. this is the first fic I've written since middle school, and the first one I've ever published. Eh whatever I hope you guys enjoy and that its not to bad, but I wrote this for fun and I guess that's what matters right?? Any way here's my crack-fic.

link to the fic on AO3

summary: 

 Baz is tutoring Simon in magic words because Penny isn't there, and things go pretty much as you'd expect, aka a total disaster!

but Jurassic times call for Jurassic measures.

Tyrannusaurus-rex

Baz

We're in magic words class and I've been assigned to babysit Simon snow, a job usually reserved for Bunce but she's sick with some sort of highly infectious disease leaving her quarantine and bed ridden.

So of course I have the ‘absolute pleasure’ that is tutoring snow on his magic words homework.

We're sitting at his desk and it's awkward.

Even though we've been roommates for five years now, we never really talk. Unless it's to pick a fight, Which normally end up in me saying some witty retort or insult, and snow growls at me, his magic bubbling up to the suffice the like hot water in a tea kettle, then proceeds to storm out of the room slamming the door behind him.

I can see the visual discomfort and anger on his face at having to not only sit next to me but also at having me explain to him what to do. He's always had such an expressive (and beautiful) face.

“Listen snow i don't want to do this ether but let's just get it over with, and hope for Crowley's sake that Bunce gets well back soon”

“You're probably the one who made Penny sick in the first place, don't know how or why but definitely for some plot or somethin’ ”' he mutters under his breath, and I suppress a snort. That's another thing about Snow he always thinks I'm up to something, has for years now. Sure sometimes he's right, but normally it's all in his head, though I never confirm or deny it which always drives him mad.

Raising one eyebrow I say as sarcastically as possible “Yes snow i contracted some sort of diseases to get Bunce sick just so i can sit next to you, and teach you how to transform inanimate objects”

He just rolls his eyes at me. A clear since I've won yet again.

I just smirk at him  and take in the silence, letting his glare settle on me.

I pretend not to notice as i say “Anyway, Snow this is a simple spell, one not even you could possibly be able to mess up''

He just grimaces and continues glaring at me, I don't know how I'm supposed to survive two full hours of this, but ill make due.

We're supposed to transform a stuffed animal from one creature to another. I of course mastered this in the first five minutes, which is how I got myself into this miserable situation in the first place.

Snow decided to turn him into a dinosaur.

After about half an hour of working on emphasis and pronunciations for the spell, an infuriating process that involved repeating the words ``life err...finds a way” from Jurassic park, several times in many different ways. We moved on to the wand movement which he was holding all wrong, as always. I don't know how Bunce can deal with tutoring him all the time, he's just so useless (it's kind of endearing in a way, though I'd never admit it).

“No snow, don't be so harsh with it. it's more of a fluid motion, like this” and I demonstrate with my wand.

“Oh sod off, I tried that already it doesn't work” he says exasperated.

“Well try again” I say frustrated.

He begrudgingly tries again.

wrong, again.

He’s such a fumbling disaster I can't decide whether it's infuriating or adorable.

He's on his seventh try and I sort of just stare at him (because he's trying so hard, and it's cute, and I can't help myself. thankfully he doesn't notice), he just needs some direction maybe if I just?...

No, I can't. sitting next to him is bad enough. if I reach out and help direct him with my hand. I don't know if I'd be able to stop myself from doing something I'll regret.

I'm fantasizing about his warm hand holding mine, hands clasped together just slightly intertwined at the fingertips (because I'm a useless romantic and I can't help myself) when I'm struck back to reality with a bang.

Blinking twice I realize it's the sound of snow smashing his fist in anger on the desk, and I can tell he's about to go off by the feeling of hot thick magic beginning to flow everywhere around us.

“Calm down snow” I practically yell.

“I'm trying!” he shouts back.

I waver between wanting to help calm him down and egging him on, making him go off by saying something to make him even more frustrated, and this time with his full rage focused on me, maybe he'd be so mad he’d pin me to the wall and… (oh Crowley I'm disturbed).

I settle on letting him calm down on his own since me helping him calm down would probably put him even more on edge.

“Ok let's  take a break for a few minutes Snow, I need to go get some air” I say and take my leave.

As I walk through the corridor outside of class trying to clear my head, and realizing we weren't making any progress, so I decide maybe i should try a different approach to teaching him, (though it pains me) encouragement.

When I come back he’s mostly calmed down.

I sit next to him and I say in the most encouraging way I can “ok, are you ready to try again?”

“Yah I guess” he says exhausted, like he normally is after he almost goes off.

he holds out his wand again hands shaking, he’s worked himself up too much at this point.

“Snow I know you're trying but the spell won't work if your hand isn't stabile”

“I know, I know it's just…” he starts but doesn't continue, voice tired and faint.

“Do you want help?” I say softly, don't know why I asked that he'd never agree, but now it's too late to take it back.

He nods.

I don't know how to react, but I reach out my hand to help steady him (someone should probably help steady me at this point).

Simon

Baz is reaching out his hand, somewhere in the back of my mind I know he's doing it to help me, but my body reacts and panics before he can, since I'm not used to him actually helping me.

I stop thinking.

I'm watching myself spin toward him and chant the spell more clearly and precisely than I've done all day.

The next thing i know Baz is standing there in front of me, only its not Baz its a T-rex, about 2 feet tall with dark grey scales and pointy teeth, sort ’a like the plushie I imagined except alive (well as alive as a vampire dinosaur can be) and glaring at me with pure fury in his eyes.

At first I'm just surprised that it actually worked!

Then I want to apologize and tell him it was a reflex, and that I actually did want his help. when the full reality of the situation and how utterly absurd it is catches up with me then I'm doubled over on the floor laughing before I can stop myself.

I can't breathe, this is too much, I actually can't!

After about two or three minutes of me laughing hysterically on the floor clenching my stomach, tears streaming down my face, I take a deep breath.

I'm about to calm down when I realize something else that makes this entire situation a whole lot funnier.

“Baz you’re a Tyrannusaurus-rex!” I blurt out and that sends me into another fit of laughter.

I think I can faintly hear Baz say “Snow stop laughing, and try to find a way to turn me back!” in an angry and exasperated tone, which would have scared me shitless if the spell hadn't also made him sound like a plushie (or at least how you'd expect one to sound like).

But after a moment I am terrified because if I don't die of laughter, Baz will happily do the honors (though that's nothing new).

If you guys have gotten this far thank you so much, I will now reward you with a picture of Tyrannusaurus-rex:

[mostlycompetentwriter]

Side Effects- Part 3 (Final)

M/F Pairing: Y/N x Stray Kids

Genre: Yandere Stray Kids AU, Vampire AU, Fantasy AU

Warnings: graphic depictions of blood and gore, violence, smut, dubious consent, and language

Word Count: 5K

Previous Parts: Part One, Part Two

Summary: Y/N has the opportunity to finally end her relationship with the eight young men who changed her life. With the police on her side, Y/N is prepared to do anything to help their investigation into the Miroh Coven, especially since they’re tied to several missing person cases. However, returning to the coven is nothing short of condemning because Chan, Jisung, and Changbin are more determined than ever to make Y/N a permanent member.

Tag List: @softxminghao, @darjeli, @seungminshakur, @rubylove-21, @squirracha, @athosthehaunted, @lixiesbreadstick, @tapikachu, @unghchangkyun, @whereitgetsyou, @ashbash9909, @tropicalwrites​, @mikailo666​

I wasn’t able to properly tag these users: peachbess and lovesfaith (sad face)

What have they done? I questioned immediately when I realized that I was back in my regular bedroom the following morning. The normality of the situation should’ve been impossible because I was certain that Chan, Jisung, and Changbin had inexplicably decided to hold me hostage after finding me at that stupid club. “Remember? We can be together forever.”

However, no matter how much I tried to make sense of the preceding night’s events, I couldn’t understand why they would allow me to leave after making such promises to turn me. I don’t recall escaping, especially considering my weakened condition, which meant that the three men had brought me back to my apartment on their own accord. I mean, was this just another attempt to mess with me? 

I glanced over at my nightstand, discovering a faded envelope sitting on top of my cell phone. I decided to check my messages first, relieved when I saw my roommate’s contact name. She had apparently spent the night with someone she met at the bar, but she assured me that she was safe and would be home later after work. I was glad that she was fairing better than her roommate, and I turned my attention to the envelope. The handwriting on the front was familiar, and I gently tore through the sealed contents. Inside was a folded letter, and my hands were shaking when I smoothed out the paper to comprehend the brief message written in perfect cursive:

Y/N,

Although our reunion was postponed, please accept this invitation on behalf of the Miroh Coven for your company tonight at 8:00 pm sharp.

Sincerely,

Bang Chan

What did he mean by postponing our reunion?

Unfortunately, I had no time to try and figure it out because the buzzing sound of our doorbell abruptly pulled me out of bed, and I wordlessly tucked the envelope inside my pocket. My roommate and I never received visitors, and there was a small part of me that feared for the possibility that one of the Miroh Coven members was waiting outside in the hallway. Yet, when I searched through the door viewer, I realized that a uniformed police officer was carefully sorting through a file of paperwork in her hands.

“Hello?” I asked cautiously, opening the door just enough to acknowledge the unfamiliar woman.

“Y/N?” the officer questioned.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“My name is Officer Smith. I have a few questions for you concerning your previous employer,” the officer said and I was left shaking from head to toe as I allowed her to come inside. 

“Do you have somewhere we could sit down?” she asked, and I nodded curtly before leading us both in the kitchen.

“Coffee?” I asked, crowding around the machine in the kitchen.

“That would be nice.”

We were both silent while I served the warm beverage, holding my mug tightly between my hands. “Do you want any creamer?”

“I’m fine,” the officer said. “I just want you to be comfortable. There’s some very troubling things I want to talk to you about.”

“I see,” I nodded, looking intently at the file she had brought with her.

“We’re in the middle of an investigation,” she continued. “It concerns the Miroh Coven. According to our records, you were previously employed with them as a blood donor.”

“Yes, but I was forced to leave.”

“Oh?” 

“We had a disagreement.”

“Well, I want you to know that they’re in a lot of trouble,” the officer explained. “We found the body of a young woman on the side of the highway completely drained of blood. When we ran her license, we discovered that she had been employed by the Miroh Coven as a blood donor during the past few months. However, when we asked the Coven about her employment, they told us a very similar story about...a disagreement.”

I shivered despite the heat from the liquid trailing down my throat. “I just...I had a lot of trouble with balancing my college lectures with their schedule. It was very demanding.”

“Of course,” the officer said, but she still wore a look of suspicion. “Normally, we might be inclined to attribute these kinds of things to a rogue attack, but there’s just too many factors that coincide with this case.”

“Like what?”

“For starters, we’ve been unable to contact their previous employees, with the exception of yourself,” the officer explained. “It seems like the Miroh Coven has a history of making their employees disappear without a trace, and I find it very problematic that the young lady we found yesterday had clearly suffered at the hands of a vampire.”

“How many other employees have they had?”

“Quite a few,” the officer said. “I think there’s something bigger going on, and I really need for you to be honest with me, Y/N, because you might be able to help us stop them.”

I swallowed hard. “You think they killed those other donors.”

“It’s very likely,” she said. “Can you tell me anything else about your resignation?”

I found it impossible to make eye contact with the officer, especially when I could still remember everything that had happened the night I left the Miroh Coven. My intention had always been to forget about those terrible circumstances because I was determined to move forward with my life, but all those other ill-fated donors suddenly made it very difficult to remain silent. “They were always nice to me,” I said. “We had a reasonable arrangement because they paid for my schooling and even let me live with them to assuage the cost of on-campus housing. It helped me finish school, but it was always meant to be a temporary arrangement.”

“I understand,” she nodded. “Did they know you were planning to leave?”

“No, but they were keeping secrets from me too,” I said. “A lot of strange things happened when I was living at the mansion.”

“Like?”

“One night, I found a pair of bodies in the basement, but Jisung told me that they were donated...” I trailed off with a choked whimper. “They were also planning to turn me into one of them.”

“Did they tell you this?”

“I guess I didn’t have the right to know,” I said. “I escaped that night and drove myself to the hospital. After that, I moved back here and tried to forget about everything that happened.”

“I understand that it was traumatic for you,” the officer said. “I’m sorry you had to bring it up again.”

I shook my head. “If they’re hurting other people, then I don’t mind the pain.”

The officer sighed, reaching across the table to squeeze my hand. “Have they tried to contact you since then?”

“Yeah,” I sniffled, reaching into my pocket to retrieve the folded letter. “They actually found me at a bar the other night, but they let me go for some reason. I found this letter on my nightstand.”

The officer read over the simple message and frowned. “Were you planning on meeting them tonight?”

“I don’t want to see them ever again.”

“Interesting,” the officer said. “It seems like they really like you.”

“They always told me that,” I said, remembering their whispered words of affection while sharp teeth penetrated my skin.

“I’m going to be completely transparent with you, Y/N,” the officer said. “My station is leading an investigation into the Miroh Coven, but we still need a lot of evidence to bring a case to the court of law.”

“You can have the letter,” I suggested, but she shook her head.

“It needs to be more concrete,” she said. “I need something that condemns them for the previous disappearances of those other blood donors.”

“Maybe a record or something?”

“I wish we had one,” the officer sighed. “We know those donors were employed by the Coven, but there’s no evidence of what happened to them or why they were dismissed.”

“Chan, Jisung, and Changbin own their own company,” I said. “There might be something in one of those buildings?”

“I doubt they’d be careless,” the officer said. “Actually, I’d imagine that the three of them would keep those things close, and there’s probably very few people who they trust inside the mansion.” 

I could feel my entire body trembling at her knowing look. “Actually, Y/N, it seems like they trust you.”

“You want me to go to that dinner tonight with them,” I whispered, completely missing her next words because my heart was beating too loudly, drowning out the other noises around the apartment. It felt like I was falling back into a dark place, and I was desperate to find the light again.

Officer Smith suddenly reached out, fingers cold against my arm, and she effectively pulled me back into the conversation. “I know it’s a lot to ask from you, Y/N, but the answers are inside that house! Whatever you might find could bring justice to the people they’ve taken advantage of over the years.”

It was easy for her to tell me to return to the Coven when she desperately needed my help, but why did it have to be my responsibility to return to a place where I had once escaped tragedy? Nevertheless, I could feel the weight of her gaze, imploring me to undertake such a terrifying mission, and I wondered whether or not I could still protect myself when so many other people were depending on me? “Okay,” I finally said. “I’ll do it.”

The Miroh Mansion was still dark and foreboding, reminding me of the very first time I walked through the front door for my interview with Chan. It was a pivotal moment in my life, but one whose consequences I never understood until I drove to a hospital with blood pouring from a wound meant to serve as the last reminder of my mortality. I had nightmares about the Coven kidnapping me and forcing me to return, but I could’ve never imagined that I would come back here of my own decision.

I slowly knocked on the front door, swallowing down my fear because I couldn’t afford for the Coven to think anything was wrong. “Act as if we had never gotten involved,” the police had instructed me.

“I’ll try,” I had promised, and I intended to do whatever was possible to help the innocent. However, I wouldn’t go as far as risking my life to expose these horrible vampires, even if dozens of missing donors were counting on me for justice.

“Y/N,” Chan greeted smoothly when he met me outside on the porch, dark eyes swallowing me into their endless depths. “I’m glad you saw things our way.”

He invited me inside, and I anxiously made my way across the familiar carpeted hallway leading into the living room. I wasn’t surprised to see the other Coven members waiting, but it still didn’t stop my heart from leaping into my throat when I realized that I could very well die tonight if I wasn’t careful. “My dearest Y/N kindly accepted our invitation,” Jisung remarked, gliding across the floor with an impossible speed. I could smell blood on his lips as he wrapped an arm around my waist, escorting me to the lovely sectional where Minho was watching me through lidded eyes.

“You look beautiful,” Changbin contributed, holding a glass of red liquid daintily between his fingers. Felix and Hyunjin sat next to him, looking at me with barely constrained hunger. “You’re just in time for drinks.”

I stiffened instinctively under Jisung’s hold because I remembered the last time I had been offered to drink with them. “It’s just wine,” Minho smirked, holding out a glass for me to take.

I accepted it cautiously, tasting at the rim only to discover a grape-flavored taste that certainly didn’t remind me of blood. Still, I declined to drink further, holding my glass while Chan started a conversation about their business, eliminating the initial silence that had occupied the room upon my arrival. Seungmin and Jeongin happily listened, focused on their sire with an attentiveness that reminded me of my previous stay with the Miroh Coven when I had once been ignorant of their bond. “Dinner should be ready soon,” Chan reassured me and I could only nod in response.

“Do you mind if I use the restroom?” I asked, and Jisung reluctantly let me go while eight pairs of eyes watched me all the way up the staircase.

I took a deep breath, waiting until Chan started talking again before disappearing around the corner into the room I knew he maintained as an office. I immediately started for his desk, pulling out well-organized files and the notebooks full of his writings. Every so often, I glanced up at the clock hanging above the doorway because I knew that I could probably only manage twenty minutes unsupervised before someone came looking for me.

“Please,” I sighed, reading over a promising file tentatively titled extraneous paperwork. “Holy shit!”

Pictures. 

Dozens of them. 

They were incriminating, various bodies splayed at unattractive angles. Close-up shots of mangled corpses drenched in blood with empty eyes staring straight at the camera. I flipped them over and gasped, reading the names that sounded way too familiar to merely be a coincidence. “This is it,” I said, almost giddy with excitement despite the uncomfortable nausea twisting my stomach at the sight of these poor donors who had managed to fall victim to the merciless Coven.

I shuffled them together, restoring Chan’s office to its previous organization, before tucking the pictures inside the pocket of my jacket. I was more than ready to return downstairs, when I suddenly remembered a faint recollection of the little notebook I had once discovered in Jisung’s bedroom. It wasn’t that much further down the hallway, and I quickly jerked open the drawer of his nightstand, shoulders deflating in relief when I saw the tiny book waiting on top of his other belongings.

I gripped it tightly when I eventually retreated, resting my head against the door to his bedroom quietly because this was causing me more stress than I could handle. “Y/N?”

I immediately turned around, eyes widening in shock when I realized that Chan was waiting for me. I swallowed hard as I held my ground, keeping the journal behind me. “Did you need something, Chan?”

He didn’t respond right away, and I could feel myself growing smaller and smaller with every long second passing between us. Finally, Chan took a step in my direction. “You’ve been gone a while.”

I shifted anxiously. “I- I just remembered something in Jisung’s room. We used to look at it together when I lived here.”

Chan nodded, and I was relieved that he accepted my explanation. “We all missed you.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I missed you too.”

He closed his eyes, cherishing the lie that somehow sounded much more believable than it did inside my head. “Can you show me?”

“What?”

“In Jisung’s room,” Chan said. “What did he show you?”

I trembled as I leaned against the door. “I’m not sure if it was something he wanted to share.”

“I see,” Chan murmured. “It’s interesting because there’s something that I want to show you too.”

Chan walked away without another word, and I assumed that he wanted me to follow him. I ignored every instinct that was screaming for me to escape with my evidence because I wouldn’t make it the bottom of the staircase before a Coven member would prevent that from happening. Instead, I took slow steps on unsteady legs into Chan’s bedroom. I was inherently curious, but when he gently backed me against the wall, I understood perfectly well what he wanted.

His fingers were undoing the buttons on my shirt and I carefully shrugged off my jacket before he could find and apprehend the valuable photographs inside my pockets. I also made sure Jisung’s journal was hidden beneath the fabric before I allowed Chan to take me to his bed. The oldest vampire made no secret of his desires, tossing aside his shirt before tugging the fabric of my jeans down my legs. “Y/N,” he sighed, fingering the edges of my panties while his sharpened canines drew lines along my collarbones. My body reacted on instinct because it was impossible to resist Chan when he was looking at me like I was the answer to all of his problems. Despite everything he had done to me, I still responded to his touches and the taste of his skin on my lips. Instead of pushing him away, I held him close, occasionally glancing at my jacket waiting next to the door with the incriminating evidence necessary to end the Coven forever.

“Oh, Y/N,” he moaned. “I missed you.”

Maybe that was part of the reason why I didn’t resist because I knew that he would never bother me again once the police had their prosecution trial. It was an intoxicating sensation since I was the one with all the power and he was completely clueless to my intentions. He had no idea that I came back to spite the Coven instead of joining them like they wanted.

I watched him roll on a condom, erection prominent as he pushed slowly between my legs. I felt incredibly full, studying the pleasure on his face when he started to thrust inside of me. I looked at him the entire time with eyes wide open because I knew something that he didn’t and, while he was pleasuring me with his precious members waiting downstairs, I was taking back all that time spent in this mansion, knowing that they were more dangerous than anything I had ever encountered before.

His cock moved faster, and I reacted by spreading my legs wider for him, opening myself up to Chan’s advances. It didn’t take him long to come, and I finally closed my eyes when I felt his warm release through the thin latex of the condom. His kisses were familiar, but they also made me want to laugh because I was planning on betraying the people who claimed to love me, the vampires who actually did love me in their own messed up way.

“I love you,” he eventually said, but I didn’t respond, choosing instead to count the tiles on the ceiling overhead.

“Photos, names, addresses, detailed journal accounts...Y/N, you managed to find everything! We can cross-reference this stuff with the files and paperwork we already have.”

I smiled despite the circumstances, watching as two younger detectives sorted the files and pictures before retreating from the tiny interrogation room. “It wasn’t exactly easy for me.”

“Still, this is brilliant, Y/N,” Officer Smith exclaimed, and I felt satisfied knowing that I had done a good job. “We have enough evidence to start the raid.”

“Raid?”

She nodded. “You should know that Vampire raids are extremely rare, but I don’t think your Coven will surrender when we issue the warrant.”

I wrinkled my nose at the suggestion that I could ever belong to the Miroh Coven. “Is it safe?”

“It’s a commonplace occurrence and we’ve all received special training,” she said. “Hopefully, they’ll come to their senses and agree to a trial, but it won’t take much for a judge to officially convict them.”

“Will I have to be at the trial?” I asked, dreading the idea before it could even become official.

“I wouldn’t force you,” she replied. “A testimony would be critical, but this is enough to put them away for the rest of their immortal lives.”

I couldn’t imagine the dreaded reality of such a punishment. “What if they escape? They might try and track me down.”

“Witness protection,” she suggested. “We’ll accommodate you to the best of our abilities.”

“I understand the concept,” I said. “But they’ve found me before despite everything I did to hide.”

“Well, we can work out the details later,” she said. “For now, we need to prepare for the raid. We’ll start by sending in the evidence to the court to get our warrant for their immediate arrest.”

“Is it something that will happen soon?”

“I might have a way to expedite the process,” she grinned. “We’ve been on this case for long enough, bothering the courts for documents and employee records.”

I nodded slowly. “So everything is done?”

“For the most part,” she agreed. “We can commence stage two of our operation.”

“Thank god,” I sighed, leaning back in my chair. “I’m glad that it’s over.”

“Yes,” the officer said, but there was a reluctance in her tone that sent me immediately on edge. “Of course, we can always use your help with one last thing.”

“What could I do at this point? I’m not exactly trained for this sort of thing.”

“Yes, but we wouldn’t want the Coven to suspect anything,” she said. “They might try to leave before our warrant is formally issued. Until then, I think a distraction might hold their attention.”

“Me,” I intoned, narrowing my eyes because I wanted nothing more to do with those nasty vampires.

“We wouldn’t want them to suspect anything,” she said. “If you go back to the Coven, then they might lower their guard.”

“It was supposed to end,” I reminded her. “You said that I was finished with them.”

“I know we’re asking a lot of you,” Officer Smith said. “But this will be the last time you ever have to see them again.”

“You keep saying that,” I muttered, but we both knew that I was in too deep, which meant that I had no choice but to return to the mansion.

Felix greeted me at the door with his familiar smirk, escorting me inside to the bottom of the staircase. Today meant the official end of the Coven, but they were all completely ignorant to their impending punishment. “They want to discuss something with you,” Felix said, and I understood immediately who he was referring to despite the unnecessary pronoun game.

Still, I knew that I couldn’t keep them waiting, pausing outside of Chan’s office door before I heard someone invite me inside. I took a deep breath, opening the door to discover the three leaders waiting for me expectantly while wearing similar expressions of dark foreboding. “Y/N,” Chan said. “Have a seat.”

I obeyed instantly, looking at the Miroh Coven leader as he watched me with an unnerving attentiveness. “What’s going on? I asked.

“I think we have something serious to discuss,” Chan said and my heart was practically beating out of my chest as I studied Jisung and Changbin from the corner of my eye. They knew, I repeated to myself over and over again as I imagined a dozen different scenarios that all ended with my lifeless body thrown into some kind of river because they had discovered my treason.

“You came back,” Jisung finally said. “We weren’t expecting you to accept our invitation.”

“I was being polite,” I said, rubbing my hands along the seam line of my jeans.

“Yes, but we’re all here,” Changbin said. “We can be together.”

I shivered at his words. “We love you, Y/N,” Chan said. “The eight of us would like nothing more than to keep you with us forever.

“To turn me,” I confirmed, and he nodded his head. 

“We’ll make it special,” Jisung said, patting his lap and I reluctantly joined him.

“It doesn’t have to be tonight,” Changbin confirmed, swiping his tongue across his sharp teeth. “But we are hungry.”

“And you’re such a sweet girl,” Jisung added, holding me on his lap as his teeth brushed across my carotid artery.

I held my breath because he was close to biting, but then...

“Chan! The police are outside and have a warrant to investigate the property!”

Jeongin’s face was a mess of tears which, at one time, might’ve forced me to reconsider everything that I had done, but not anymore. “What?” Chan growled, before glaring at me. “You stay here,” Chan said, and Jisung snarled in frustration as he released me before following Changbin and Chan downstairs.

For a moment, I could only focus on breathing because I had narrowly escaped Jisung’s bite and now the Coven knew that they were about to receive an unanticipated raid from the police. I swallowed hard, falling down into the floor as a piercing scream shattered the previous silence that left me shaking like a leaf inside of Chan’s office. There were suddenly loud growls and vicious noises penetrating the closed door and I buried my head between my legs and tried to calm down my racing heart.

I could hear the familiar sounds of glass breaking, of inhuman screams and yells breaking the barrier of the office. The voices of the vampires I had once known yelling out insults and curses, the destructive noises of gunshots and human-like cries for help as teeth tore through skin. It was apparent that the Miroh Coven was not backing down from this fight, and I could only pray that my officer had been right in her assurances that they could handle the Coven.

It seemed like hours had passed before I finally removed my hands from my ears, realizing that the screaming from downstairs had suddenly stopped. I waited for several moments, hearing nothing but my heartbeat in my ears and the gentle sounds of the river outside. Eventually, I managed to stand on unsteady legs, holding myself up against the wall as I started to make my way downstairs. 

The smells that assaulted my senses should’ve told me everything, but I still released a piercing scream when I collapsed at the bottom of the staircase.

It was a terrifying sight, nothing but blood and crooked bodies spread throughout the room. I recognized most of the Coven, bile rising in my throat when I made contact with Changbin’s lifeless eyes. I carefully took a step back because I knew that this wasn’t supposed to happen, but an unexpected pressure around my ankle tore another scream from my throat and I fell down onto the floor. 

“Y/N,” Chan croaked and I shivered when he moved over me, blood seeping through his shirt, but his eyes were still perfectly focused. “I have nothing now, Y/N,” Chan gasped, gripping tightly to my chin and forcing me to look into the empty eyes of Han Jisung. 

He pulled me closer, exposing his sharpened teeth and I could do nothing to stop him. This was it, I thought to myself, the moment I had been running from since that tragic night eight months ago. Because Chan was unrelenting, drinking with long, painful bites that sent a searing pain down my spine as my body fought against the significant blood loss. Everything was cold and I wondered if death always felt this unpleasant. 

However, the sudden reverberation of a loud snarl forced me to reconsider the darkening spots in my vision, searching behind me when I realized the brutal aspect of Chan’s bite had suddenly subsided. I felt my mouth drop open in horror, but the feeling quickly disappeared when I realized Officer Smith had speared Chan straight through the heart with a silver stake. The impact was immediate and Chan’s body dropped to the floor unceremoniously, leaving me with only a pair of red eyes gazing unblinkingly from the beyond. Meanwhile, Officer Smith offered me a kind smile that seemed out of place considering the blood staining the front of her uniform. “You deserve a better life, Y/N,” she whispered before her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she collapsed next to Chan.

It took me a moment to regain my bearings, looking around at the surrounding carnage. There was blood everywhere, bodies lying in deep puddles and contorted awkwardly from their injuries. It was a startling realization because they were all gone, both vampires and humans. There was nothing left from their vicious fight.

I was also incredibly tired and I closed my eyes despite my situation. Everything felt heavy, and I just wanted to forget the entire night before I had to comprehend the unfortunate tragedy of the Miroh Coven. I thought I deserved it considering the heavy loss weighing over my heart.

After a while, I became aware of a piercing light burning from somewhere in the distance. I gradually opened my eyes because the morning had arrived and, despite the death and destruction around me, I wanted desperately to find a better future in that beautiful light...

Epilogue- 2 Years Later

Vampires had rapidly gone into hiding, especially following the inquiry into the Miroh Massacre, as the newspapers delicately framed the tragedy. Apparently, society decided that they would no longer embrace their culture, finding more evidence of various Covens abusing the donor law which was eventually retracted in court. Subsequently, the vampires were forced to remain out of the public eye lest they face a severe punishment from the newly minted Hunters who spent their lives training to kill rogue vampires.

As for myself, I had finally taken back full ownership of my life, accepting a full-time research position that eventually led me to my future husband. After our marriage, we moved into an idyllic home in the suburbs and I gave birth to my son who proved to be everything that I needed in this world. Everything was starting to work out for me, and I was finally reassured that the past was truly forgotten because the ones who had haunted it were now gone forever.

“Mommy!” my son called, and I found him in the doorway to his bedroom looking up at me with tired brown eyes. “I can’t sleep.”

“Why is that?” I asked while gently encouraging him to lay back down on his bed.

“A kid in my class,” he said. “He told us about the vampires.”

“Yeah? Well, how would he know anything? He’s probably never even seen a vampire. Not many people have.”

“What about you?”

I shivered at the question. “It doesn’t matter, sweetheart. Vampires aren’t a problem anymore and there are people now who can protect us.”

“Really?” he asked, and his eyes were incredibly innocent of the true horrors of this world.

“They won’t ever hurt you,” I promised my son before flipping his light switch. I closed the door gently, praying that he might sleep through the entire night in his own bed, before I walked into the kitchen for something to drink. I smirked as I popped the cork on a new bottle of wine that my husband had bought for the two of us to share. It seemed unnecessarily mischievous to drink with my son in the other room, but I still liked to indulge every now and then, especially after remaining sober for nine months during my pregnancy.

I sighed as I drained the first glass, feeling the numbing effects spread through my body like an aphrodisiac. It had been a stressful day because of some unnecessary paperwork at the research institute where I worked, but I knew that everyday couldn’t be perfect. After all, I was absolutely grateful for everything in my life, even if it caused me the occasional headache.

I started washing my wine glass, lost in thought until a strange noise outside forced me to pause in my cleaning. It sounded close to the garage attached to our house, and I figured it might be raccoons again because they were becoming a problem. I glanced out the window, shrugging when I didn’t notice anything suspicious. However, if I had only taken an extra moment to study the outline of my husband’s garden, then I might’ve noticed the unusual pair of crimson-red eyes watching me from outside.

The End.

[moonchildstyles]

In a quarantined world how are ur babies doing? I imagine vampire H and his Y/n hidden away in Italy drinking lots of wine, while Aster missed his baby so much he made her quarantine with him after a week without seeing her. And maybe he’s a bit stressed because he had to close the shop for a while but at least she’s home with him. But doesn’t let her do any of the grocery shopping at all. Oh and they probably miss their Chinese food lol

ive been thinking about what each of them would be like in quarantine ever since I went on lockdown back in like march so im SOOOOOO HAPPY SOMEONE ASKED !!!!!! I have...so many thoughts 

ill put them under the cut bc....I couldn't stop typing ushufhs 

so for aster,,,,,,, I think h would have had to close down the shop before the stay at home order even hit so he would already be in quarantine mode by the time she was transferred into online classes. I think maybe they would have spent those few weeks right before the stay at home order apart, her at her aprt and h at his house bc they really didn’t think it was going to be anything too intense until ofc harry started to realize what was going on and how the shop was going to be closed for longer than he thought I think he would have brought up quarantining together at his house bc he couldn’t imagine not seeing her for so long since he had missed her so much anyway just those couple of weeks. he would have helped her move some of her things in with him and all of her things for the last couple weeks of class and everything she needed to stay w him!! but he would def be stressed and worried about the shop and her safety but her being there with him would have made it a little easier for him bc no matter what at least they were together and he knew she was going to be okay and he would try his best to make her feel better bc she would def be nervous and anxious with everything going on and he would have to extra take care of her then but he wouldn't mind at all!! he def wouldn’t let her do any grocery shopping he would let her help him make the list of what they needed but she wouldnt be allowed to go since he wouldnt want her to be exposed at all even if it was by accident and he would make sure he was safe just so he could go home and cuddle with her w/o worrying!!  they would get to test out living together too and being around one another and sooooooo much time spent in the kitchen cooking together and they would pick up little hobbies together and h would try his best to teach her to draw like him and she would try her best to teach him how to cook and everything it would be very domestic !!! oh they def would miss the Chinese food but she would be able to convince him to order some delivery a couple of times and he wouldn’t be able to say no🥺

for citrine I feel like they would quarantine at her apart ! he would def bring dandelion with him and y/n’s roommate would quarantine with her boyfriend giving them a little more space and stuff!! it would be hard for h at first not being at home for so long and not being with all of his plants and nature but they would def take trips up there and check on things and for harry to tend to his garden at least once a week but they would spend majority of their time at her apart and since she wouldn’t be working for a few weeks they would be spending like all of their time together with harry teaching her about all of his witchy stuff and he’d teach her how to cook all of the things he learned to make over his time in the forest and just lots and lots of softness and cuddling and kissing and harry would literally be so happy !!!!!🥺

and for vampire I think they would have had a bit of a crisis ghshush bc he literally cannot fathom the idea of her getting sick and passing away like he just got over the idea of her having a cold so he can’t even imagine what it would be like have her get seriously sick and what his existence would turn into if something bad happened so when he first heard they would immediately go into quarantine and she would probs fight him on it a little just bc she would like to go to work and still like....be a little normal but he wouldn't be able to stomach the idea so they would eventually work out just staying at the manor for a while and her taking time off from work and he would spend all of his time making sure she was in the best health possible and things he could do to help her and how to prevent her from getting sick and all and then when it got more serious I think he would want to travel with her telling her that he wants her to be somewhere beautiful if they’re going to be there for so long and they would decide on his Italy home!!! he would be working on his cooking anyway bc he wants to provide for her so it would be A LOT of meals and lots of cooking and lots of taste testing for her and ofc lots of nice wine that he picked for her even though she felt like half of it was way too sour for her but he would always try even harder to find something she liked and omg allllll of the painting !!!!!! they would return to the manor with so many new canvases of her that he painted and all of these landscapes and then the little ones that she painted that were much more.....amateur ghishfs but he would love them and insist they keep some in Italy and hang up and others he would want to have at home and he would try to teacher all of the old techniques he knew and she would try but..she had more fun just painting however she wanted and he would have more fun watching her do that instead ! and I think they would talk alot like it would be a good time for harry to really start opening up about his past since he was so soft and open around her anyway and now they get to spend all their time together and so many bites and just !!! he would be so happy and even though it was a scary time for her he would make sure she never even realized what was happening outside of their home and make every minute as stress free and happy as he could !!🥺