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atths--twice · 9 months ago

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Chapter Four

Painting 101: A Study in Art

Saturday afternoon

“Here,” Scully said, handing Mulder two clothespins. “If you gather the edges of the tarp together and pin them, it lessens the chance of it flying off the table. Or blowing up and hitting the rocks we’ve painted.”

“Smart,” he said and she nodded as she picked up the tarp she had brought with her and began to unfold it. He took one end and she took the other, spreading it over the picnic table. “It was a good idea to bring this. Considerate, I mean.”

“Yeah well,” she said as she pinned one side of her corners together. “I know it’s a public bench and who knows what other people have done here… oh, like write Janey blows hard in permanent marker. Lovely.” He looked at her and watched her shake her head as she read the words written on the table. “So, I thought bringing the tarp would both keep us from touching or seeing those previous activities and protect the table from further ones.” She pinned the other corner and looked at him with a smile.

“Hence the tarp,” he said, smoothing down his own side and smiling back at her.

“Yeah… hence,” she replied, her smile growing.

“Alright then,” he said, quickly finishing his task as she began to lay out the rocks she had gathered and some others they had found when they had gone to a bonfire the previous evening.

Hannah, and some of Dana’s other friends, had arranged to have a bonfire at the beach. While it was not Mulder’s usual scene, he had gladly joined them.

He and Scully had walked along the shore in the dwindling sunlight as the fire was set up, holding hands and hissing when the cold water hit their feet. She had stopped to pick up rocks, putting them into her pockets and then asking him to do the same when she had run out of room.

When they had returned to the group, the rocks were transferred to her backpack and she had smiled as she closed it up, setting it next to them on the blanket they were sharing.

“We’ll have a lot to paint tomorrow now,” she had said, taking his hand and leaning her head on his shoulder as the fire popped and crackled.

She had stretched her legs out and crossed her sandy feet. He had frowned as he noticed something and as she wiggled her toes, he leaned forward to get a better look.

“Are you… is that a ring on your toe?” he had asked and she had shifted, beginning to pull her feet back.

“Oh… yeah. I forgot to take it off,” she had said quickly.

“What is it?” he had asked, moving to take a hold of her foot.

“Fox… Mulder, you don’t…” she had said, trying to stop him. “It was just a silly thing my sister sent me and I… it’s not me. I just forgot to take it off.”

“You don’t like it?” he had asked, gently wiping away the sand to get a better look, but watching her face to wait to do so.

“I do,” she had said quietly with a nod. “I just… it’s not me. I don’t… I don’t know.”

“Can I look at it?”

“Yeah,” she had whispered and he had smiled as he looked down and moved her foot closer to his face to see it in the glow of the fire.

It had been silver, not thick but also not thin and in the middle of it, a moon and two stars had been cast.��

“How is it not you?” he had asked, rubbing the ring and then her toe gently. “The design?”

“Wearing it at all,” she had said, looking down at it. “It’s more something my sister would do.”

“I see,” he had said, remembering how she had spoken of her sister. “Did she make it?”

“Yeah. She said she is learning how to cast and work with silver.”

“I think,” he had said, rubbing his thumb across the moon and stars. “With my limited knowledge of your sister and my growing knowledge of you… you should definitely wear it.”

“Why?”

“Hmm,” he had said, looking down at it and smiling. “You said you liked it?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s call that reason number one then,” he had said and she had exhaled a breath. “Reason two, unless you’re wearing shoes that expose your toes, you’re the only one who knows you’re wearing it. So, no one can comment on it- either for or against.”

“Yeah,” she had said again, looking down at her foot and nodding.

“And reason three,” he had said softly, causing her to look up at him. “If it makes you happy, makes you feel any way… different than yourself or whatever, then you do what you want. Who cares what anyone has to say, how they may look at it, or what their personal opinion is. They don’t matter. They can fuck off.”

She had gasped and her mouth had dropped open, her eyes widening.

“You said fuck,” she had whispered.

“Yeah, I did,” he had said, a smile stretching across his face.

“I didn’t know you vineyard boys said things like that,” she had said and he had laughed, his hand moving from her foot to her ankle, his thumb rubbing around it softly.

“Oh, we definitely do,” he had said and she hummed as she scrambled up and was suddenly straddling him, her arms around his neck.

“What else do you do that I don’t know about?” she had whispered, her lips dropping to his as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

A loud chorus of ohhhh and wolf whistles had filled the air. He had pulled back and she had laughed as she kissed him once more and then moved off of him. He had felt his face flushing as she goodnaturedly called for them to shut up and mind their own business. Kissing sounds were then heard and he had exhaled deeply as she had taken his right hand in her left and then flipped them off with her right.

The fire had crackled and then popped again, smoke blowing toward them as they waved it away. His head still buzzing from their kiss, she had laid her head on his shoulder and stretched her legs out again.

“I’ll keep wearing the ring,” she had whispered and he had smiled as he looked at it. “Because… fuck ‘em.”

“Exactly,” he had agreed. “Fuck ‘em.”

“You certainly added more rocks last night,” he said as he looked at the large group of them on the table. “I like the ones you chose.”

“Thanks. I like to find ones that are large enough to paint something interesting but also some that are different. Like this one,” she said, picking up a rock that was completely smooth except for two small holes that appeared on both sides. “I think I like this one the best and I know how I want to paint it.”

“How?” he asked.

“You’ll have to wait and see,” she said and he nodded with a smile. “I’ll get the paints and stuff out now. Pick your rock.”

He looked through the numerous rocks and decided on one as she finished setting up the items they would need to paint.

“Okay. Let’s get started,” she said and they smiled as they sat down beside each other and prepared to paint.

He paused and watched her, appreciating the way she selected her paint colors and added them to one of the paper plates she had brought before moving onto the paintbrushes. Dipping the brush into black paint, she began to add it to the rock with the two holes.

“I can feel you watching me,” she said, turning her head to look at him. “It’s a little unnerving.”

“Sorry,” he said, grinning as he reached for a paper plate and a tube of paint. Creating his own palette of colors, he stared at his rock and waited for inspiration to hit. “Have you always done this? Is painting rocks a hobby of yours?”

“No. Well, not exactly,” she said, shaking her head as she continued to paint the rock black.

“Do you paint other things instead? Like canvases?”

“No again,” she said, looking up at him with a smile.

“Alright,” he said, smiling back at her. “So…?”

“I had a rock collection when I was younger,” she said, her attention back on the rock as she painted slow strokes. “Like I told you, we moved a lot with my father being in the Navy. I had rocks I collected from California, South Carolina, Washington state, and Japan.”

“Japan? Really?” he asked, picking up his paintbrush and tapping it softly against his rock. “What was that like?”

“I don’t remember much about it, being so young. Well, except the base and the sea. I was only five when we left, but I brought my collection with me. They were sacred.”

“I’m sure they were.”

She smiled at him and nodded. Setting her paintbrush into the tall plastic cup she had filled with water, she clasped her hands together and sighed.

“I never painted the rocks in my collection and to be honest, it never occurred to me to paint any. But, I worked as a counselor at an overnight summer camp when I was eighteen and it happened to be one of the activities we did with the campers. Someone had collected rocks from the beach and brought them to the camp. We were only supposed to observe and offer assistance if it was needed, but there were so many rocks, I painted one with my cabin of fifteen year olds.” She smiled as she picked up a different paintbrush and touched the bristles. “I told you that I was going through some things last year, things that wouldn’t have allowed this…” She gestured between them and he nodded, remembering their conversation on the boat. “Well… I guess you could say it started around that summer and kind of continued on in waves.”

She laughed almost bitterly and he stared at her, waiting to hear more.

“You know how some people are late bloomers when it comes to puberty?” she asked and he nodded. “Well, for me, I suppose it was rebelling.”

“Hmm. You have an older brother. And a sister,” he said, watching her face. She met his eyes and nodded. “You saw them grow up and then leave. You were done with high school and college was on the horizon. I could see all of those factors leading to a bit of rebellion.”

“Are you studying psychology?” she asked and he chuckled softly.

“No.”

“You might want to reconsider that,” she said, looking at him with raised eyebrows.

“I’ll think about it,” he replied, chuckling once again.

“It could have been all of those things,” she said with a sigh. “But I think I just… I don’t know. I just felt angry and upset a lot of the time. I felt… kind of out of place in my own skin.”

“Well.. in my… studies and from books I’ve read,” he said, his tone serious as he put a hand on his chin and stroked slowly. “As well as in my observations…” She grinned as she watched him and he smiled back with a shrug.

“You’re so adorable,” she whispered and then leaned toward him, kissing him softly before pulling back.

“I was serious, though, about the changes in your life,” he said. “They can all manifest to cause turmoil we never anticipated.”

“Yeah,” she agreed with a nod. “I know. But at the time though, that kind of thinking would have really pissed me off.”

“I completely understand,” he laughed and she smiled again.

“It was just…” She sighed and then looked at him, her eyes traveling over his face. “I’ve never really talked about this with anyone.”

“Not even a friend?”

“Not in its entirety,” she whispered and he nodded slowly.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. You can-”

“No, I want to. I just… I don’t want you to think less of me. Or… I don’t know.”

“I wouldn’t,” he promised, shaking his head and smiling slightly as he gently squeezed her knee and she sighed again with a nod.

“I was tired of being perfect Dana. The one everyone kind of babied and kept an eye on, but then seemed to forget about. I was… the result,” she said and he frowned, not understanding. “My sister had pushed the boundaries of things as she grew up. So as the result… I was treated differently.” He hummed and nodded. “I had stricter curfews, rules about makeup, dating, school, and friends. Bill, my older brother, behaved like my father at times, especially when my father was gone, telling me what to do and how to behave. We got into many fights over it and I really hated him sometimes. When he left for the Navy, I was more happy than sad to see him go.”

“That’s not too unusual,” Mulder reassured her. “Especially if he acted more like a father figure than your brother.”

“I know, but I felt guilty about it after a while,” she said and he nodded. “But I kept it pushed down, not wanting anyone to know. Then my sister left. Well… she sort of left as she would come and go, not having, as my father would say, a known purpose. But, even though they would fight, my parents asking her, sometimes pleading with her, to have direction and drive, it would end in a sigh and a shrug as if to say, Well, that’s just Missy, what can you do?” Scully sighed heavily and shook her head, her eyes downcast. “It felt… felt unfair and like… everything was then put onto me to be better than perfect and do what they thought I should do. At first I did, being the person I am. But then it made me angry and I started rebelling. It felt good at times, but shameful at others.”

“Sounds about right,” he said quietly, tapping her arm gently. She raised her head and looked at him, her eyes wet with tears. “Middle of four children… it’s hard not to be overlooked and also forced to excel.”

“Yeah,” she whispered, setting her paintbrush down and wiping her eyes with her sleeve. “Yeah.”

They were quiet for a couple of minutes and then she sniffled as she wiped her eyes again.

“It was small things,” she said, letting out a deep breath. “Staying out past curfew. Not calling if I’d be late. Leaving my room a mess, even though that killed me.” She laughed and then sniffled, wiping her eyes again. “I was technically an adult, but still living at home for the time being. I fought with them, acted out, went on dates with men that I… that I didn’t really like, because I knew it would bother my parents. But when the men wanted more from me… I broke it off and then…” She shook her head and he gave her a small smile as she looked at him. “I was so self destructive, if I had met you then, I would have hurt you with my actions.”

“You know,” he said softly, setting down his paintbrush and taking one of her hands. “I’ve always been a really good judge of character.”

“You don’t have to brag,” she said with a sob and he chuckled as she shook her head.

“Sorry,” he apologized with a smile and she nodded, sniffling softly. “But what I meant is that… I tend to observe, then act. Always have. I would have seen past that bravado you put up. Seen you. And I would have been your friend.” He leaned closer and gently kissed her forehead as she let out a shaky breath. Pulling back, he smiled and she scrunched her chin as tears filled her eyes again. “But… that wasn’t the journey we were on. So the past is the past and the present is now.”

“Yeah,” she whispered and he nodded.

“I’m sure I would have wanted to know that Dana. Just as much as I want to know this one. Older and wiser.”

“I’m twenty. I’m not old,” she said, rolling her eyes dramatically and he laughed softly. She smiled as she dried her eyes again and then stared at him. “Thank you. For listening and understanding.”

“Of course,” he said, squeezing her hand.

“We kind of steered off topic,” she said, glancing at the rocks on the table.

“Does one have to do with the other?” he asked and she looked back at him.

“Yeah, in its own way,” she said. “When we painted the rocks at the camp, I was listening to the girls in my cabin talking. There were two camps actually. On one side of a large lake was the boys camp, and on the other side was the one we were at, the girls camp. So naturally, the girls wanted to figure out a way to get to the boys camp.”

“Of course they did,” Mulder said with a laugh.

“And of course, my job as a counselor was to discourage such behavior. But then I thought about all of the times when I wanted to do something, and I was told no, or simply given a look that meant that was not how I was to behave, and I remember saying under my breath- fuck it. And then I said it loud enough for them to hear me and all of them stared at me in shock.”

“I’m sure.”

“As we sat there,” she said, touching the rock she had painted and smiling. “We came up with a plan to sneak around the lake and see the boys. The rush I felt from doing something… bad… made me feel invincible. It was different from how I had ever felt before and I liked it. A lot.”

She glanced at him and he smiled, encouraging her to continue.

“Well, we snuck over, although…” She laughed and shook her head. “I don’t know if snuck is the right word as we were quite loud. We had invited another cabin so it was twenty four girls and four counselors walking through the woods at night, laughing and chatting in loud whispers.”

“How far did you get?” Mulder asked with a chuckle.

“Nearly to the cabins. But the boys' camp leader met us in a golf cart, shaking his head and crossing his arms. The girls all screamed and started to run, us counselors following after them. I was in the back of the group and when I looked back, he was laughing.”

“I bet.”

“We all laughed as we walked back and some were planning when our next attempt would be, but for others it had been enough. I felt torn as I would normally have been scared to go once and mortified to go a second time. What if that leader was there again?” She looked at him with wide eyes and he laughed. “But then, as we got back to the cabin, and the girls started getting ready for bed, I thought about how exciting it had been to break the rules a little. So the next time we planned to go over, I was one of the counselors who took them. The group this time was smaller, and even though we didn’t make it much further, instead of heading back to the cabin right away, we stayed by the lake for a little bit. We threw rocks in the water and looked up at the stars, talking about boys and growing up and… everything and nothing.” She smiled and he nodded, picturing the moment perfectly. “I heard them talking, thinking about how they were different and braver than me. I wouldn’t call them defiant, but my father certainly would have. But sitting with them there, I thought about how I wanted to make a change.”

“And so you did.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “ I did, and like I said at times, it was great and at times I hated it. It was a year of some serious soul-searching before I started to come back to myself. And strangely enough, it was finding both my rock collection, and the one I had painted at the camp, that had turned things around.”

“How’s that?” he asked.

“Well,” she said with a smile. “The rock collection made me think about myself as a child and the things that I had held dear and were important to me.” She smiled again and let out a sigh. “And then as I looked at the rock that I had painted, with the added thumbprint of each girl to remember them by, it made me think of myself as the grown up I now was. Staring at the two together, I realized that I’m more like my younger self than what I believed to be my older self. They are two sides of a coin, and yet I am more like one than the other.”

“But you need both sides to make the coin whole,” he said softly and she nodded.

“Exactly. That’s exactly it. I was trying so hard to be one or the other, I didn’t think about the fact that I could be both. So,” she said, laughing through her nose. “So, I changed again, or maybe not changed, just embraced who I am. A people pleasing, good girl at heart, with a bit of a rebellious streak that might not be right at the surface, but definitely lingers below.”

“Huh,” he said, his hand once more at his chin as he stroked it thoughtfully, his eyes on her. “Yes, that would be my assessment as well.”

“The girl at the country club who would work up the nerve to convince you to join her in some debauchery, scared and thrilled that we’d be caught at any minute,” she said, her eyes shining as she placed a hand on his knee.

“And the boy who was just simply terrified of everything- getting caught, you for being so bold, and myself for the joy it brought me,” he replied, covering her hand with his own.

“That place wouldn’t have been able to handle us,” she whispered and he laughed as they both leaned forward and their lips met.

“Ewwwww!” came the cry of children’s voices and they pulled apart to find the source of the sound.

A small mixed group of boys and girls around the age of seven were staring at them with disgusted faces.

“Kissing is yuck!” one kid said and the others agreed, nodding vehemently.

“You’ll change your mind one day,” Scully called to them and they shook their heads before running off toward the playground.

“They will,” she said to Mulder. “Especially if the person is as good a kisser as you.”

“Back at ya,” he said and she laughed. “Whaddya say we get back to these rocks? I was promised Toni’s after this and I’m starting to feel a little hungry.”

“Yeah,” she said, squeezing his knee gently. “Let’s do it. You know what you’re going to paint now?”

“I do,” he said with a nod.

“Then let’s get started,” she said, turning her attention back to her rock. “Thanks for listening. And understanding.”

“Of course,” he said with a nod. “It’s free of charge this time, seeing as I don’t have a degree in psychology.”

“Yet,” she said, raising her eyebrows as she glanced at him.

“Right,” he agreed with a laugh and she nodded as she picked up her paintbrush.

After painting six rocks each, they began to clear away their mess and the extra unpainted rocks as they left the others to dry a bit longer. When everything else had been done, they looked at the creations they had made.

“I like them,” Scully said, smiling at his rocks. “This one especially.” She pointed to one of the last ones he had made and he smiled happily.

“I made that one for you,” he said. “I’m glad you like it.”

“What?”

“It’s this picnic bench,” he explained, pointing at it. “It looks ordinary on its own, the sun setting behind it, but it’s not. It’s a place where I learned more about you and why rocks are important and what they represent.”

“Fox… Mulder,” she said, her fingers running lightly across the rock. “I love it.”

“You’ll notice I didn’t add Janey blows hard, so it’s not completely accurate,” he said and she laughed.

“It’s better than accurate,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, hugging her close. “Thank you again for telling me.”

“Hmm,” she hummed and then looked up at him, silently asking for a kiss. He smiled as he kissed her, the wind blowing softly around them. “I made one for you too. Can you guess which one it is?”

“Oh, let me see,” he said, letting go of her and looking at her rocks, which were painted and detailed much better than his own.

He looked through them all twice before he shook his head and looked at her.

“I don’t know. They’re all beautiful and very well done, but I…” He shook his head again and she smiled.

“This one,” she said, pointing to one with a medium blue background and what looked to be purplish blue berries clustered together on a dark green branch.

“I don’t-”

“You gave me your sweatshirt on the camping trip,” she said softly. “Without thought of being cold yourself. It was so warm and smelled so good. We didn’t really know each other and yet you did that. Then you fell in the water and didn’t ask for it back.”

“Well, I had other clothes.”

“Still…” She shook her head and squeezed his hand. “Then you heard me singing while we were looking for plants and things to eat.” She laughed and shook her head. “God, I was trying so hard to get your attention.”

“What?”

“I wanted to know you better. And as I gathered up the berries, I promised myself I would do just that,” she said. “So, I painted them for you. Because now that I have gotten to know you better, I want to know even more.”

She looked at him and he grinned, lifting her off her feet and kissing her as she squeaked in surprise.

“I do too,” he whispered, kissing her again and setting her down.

“How about we accomplish that over an early dinner?” she asked, her eyes sparkling. “Say… Toni’s? My treat?”

“It’s like you’re reading my mind,” he teased.

“Imagine that,” she said, smiling as she began to gather up the rocks.

“Yeah,” he said quietly, picking up the rock with purplish blue berries painted on it and smiling. “Imagine that.”

#the x files #msr #alternate universe #college au #college classmates #bonfire #kissing #hanging out together #day at the park #discussions #getting to know each other even more #childhood memories #stories of the past #teasing #laughing #comforting #happy #flirting #xf fanfic

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ctrsara · 2 years ago

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Techless Wonder

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@Comfortember 2022 #16 - Shelter

“Let’s review: whose idea was it to take a tech-free camping trip, Pepper? Who insisted on it, actually?”

Oh. Maybe that wasn’t the right thing to say, based on his wife’s murderous expression.

“Well, I didn’t know there was going to be a freak thunderstorm rolling in the third night, now did I?” she growled at him, a frightening mix of angry and really stressed out. “The temperature has dropped at least 20º in the last hour, and that storm system is definitely full of at least rain, and maybe snow. I admit I was wrong; I admit defeat. Now would be a good time to use your tech, Tony. Call a suit or something. Get us out of here.”

“Pep, honey. I did my very best to do exactly what you asked. I honestly don’t have access to anything until Happy gets us at the pick up point tomorrow afternoon. No FRIDAY, no suit, no phone even. All we have is what’s right here,” he said, gesturing to their campsite.

Pepper’s eyes widened as she realized how serious he was. She took a deep breath and visibly tried to relax. Because this trip was supposed to be all about relaxing. No tech, no communication, no being called back because there was an emergency with SI or with the Avengers. Her vice presidents could handle SI. Wilson and Barnes could handle the Avengers, with Rhodey as back-up. Peter and May had Morgan. This was just Pepper and Tony, being together, without any interruptions.

What a crap idea.

“Ugh.” She dropped down in a camp chair, her head in her hands. “What are the chances our tent can handle a storm like that? Or the temperatures tonight?” Then more rhetorically, “ Why did I think it was a good idea to hike a few hours away from civilization to set up camp?”

Tony wisely didn’t answer that last question. But he’d better address the others. “Hon, our tent is for summer camping. It’s really not made for it. Our sleeping bags are decent, especially zipped into one big bag, but they won’t work if they’re wet.” He looked disgruntled. “Why didn’t FRI see this storm as a possibility?”

“Did you specifically ask?”

“I thought I did. I’m sure I would have… Maybe I didn’t.”

“Tony, what should we do? Is it worth trying to make a run for it?” She knew that last one wasn’t feasible. It would be dark in two hours, and they were unlikely to be able to outrun the storm. “ Can we do anything to make this better?”

Apparently that was the right thing to say. Tony started thinking, then quickly started doing. Pepper did her best to follow his instructions and fill his requests as he relocated and remade their campsite in a flurry of activity. He asked her to disassemble the tent while he walked in a big radius around their current campsite, found a giant set of boulders that made a bit of a windfall, and re-pitched the tent with them as two of its walls. He had packed an extra tarp and some rope, so he rigged a third wall-slash-extra-overhead-rain-protection to supplement the light fly on their tent. He had Pepper gathering a bunch of dead pine boughs that he made most of a 4th “wall” with using dental floss to tie it all together. (“Who brings dental floss camping, Tony?”) and he rigged a larger shovel-like hand tool (which was surprisingly effective) to dig a big trench around their tent to divert any running water.

As they stood back and looked at his creation as the first raindrops started to fall, Pepper was amazed. “Just… wow.”

“You can tell me all about how amazing I am, but let’s get in the tent while we’re still dry, first,” he said wryly.

As they squeezed past the boulder to enter their tiny haven, Pepper asked, “Tony, you don’t even like camping. When did you ever learn any of that stuff?”

“Wilderness Survival Class my freshman year at MIT,” he said. It sounded like an easy ‘A.’ It was not. But just because I don’t enjoy something doesn’t mean I don’t know anything about it.

“What about things you do enjoy?” she said with a grin, snuggling closer and pulling him in for a kiss.

“Oh, I know much more about those. You might even call me an expert.”

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

The surprising storm was one residents talked about for years. It dropped twice as many inches as they usually got that whole month, mixed with a little hail, even, and set a record low for July. But Tony and Pepper stayed warm and dry all night, courtesy of one random college course and a guy who was really good at problem-solving.

#comfortember 2022 #shelter #marvel mcu #tony stark #pepper potts #pepperony #camping #storm #fanfiction

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daniel90bell · 1 month ago

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danielsku · 1 year ago

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The Petawawa River (Pt. 2)

The Morning we left the Petawawa Garrison

Following my stay at the Petawawa Garrison, where I gathered the knowledge for the upcoming expedition trip, me, 35 other cadets and 7 adult staff biked from the military base to Stratton Lake in Algonquin park. It was a long and grueling 40km bike ride that went up and down hills which were full of sand, gravel and beautiful scenery with clearings and impenetrable forests.

The nature around the Petawawa area on the road to Stratton lake

It was nice because it was easier to breathe the fresh air from the forest rather than the dirty and stuffy air from the cities where I came from. It was also gave me a break from my personal worries as biked further into the forest. I was more focused on the moment and what was most important to me. After we made it to Algonquin park, we quickly transitioned to hiking gear and put our bikes away in our rented cube van.

Map of the Stratton lake area

We hiked for a few hours and we got lost several times as well and, due to us also being late with our timings on our bikes, we got lost during the night. I didn’t know where we were going because we resorted to bushwacking half the time and I was without a personal flashlight, so I had to also somehow figure out where I should step without tripping over rocks or branches. The next day, I realized how lucky I was not to twist our ankles because there were so many dangerous rocks when we hiked the following day. Luckily, after that first night hiking, my group made it to our campsite in one piece. We met up with the other cadets and adults, set up our campsite by the lake, did a debrief about how the day went and then we set off to do our ablutions and go to sleep. This would become a habit for the next 9 days.

View on Stratton lake next to our camping site once we arrived

The hiking cycle was a relaxing experience, yet uneventful. I could easily go into my thoughts while walking around Stratton Lake with my rucksack and think about life in a way I don’t do usually.

Some of my group members hiking

After a few days of the hiking cycle, we put our hiking poles, boots, tents, etc. in a cube van and we hopped once again on our bikes down a hill and we went deeper into the forest.

After several hours of biking, we made it to Lake Travers where we put our equipment from the rucksacks into a new waterproof boundary bags, then we took our canoes from a truck that arrived for us and we set off with our paddles to our next campsite on the lake where we did the usual routine.

The next morning was miserable.

It was rainy and I woke up in a drenched tent and having a strong desire to keep sleeping so the rain eventually passes, but I had to walk out into the cold outside and pack all my stuff and put it under a waterproof tarp we set up since A : We had timings to meet; and B : It would have probably have not been a good idea to keep sleeping in the wet. It was a mess because the 20 other people we had on that campsite (the others split off to a different site) did the same thing and a lot of kit got mixed up or lost. It was really uncomfortable because it was very cold, so cold in fact that the water that felt cold the day before felt warm when we got into our canoes on that rainy morning.

The moment we docked before we conquered our first rapid

When we got on the water, we canoed out for around 20 minutes and we hit our first rapid and we had to stop to inspect it. It was not a great experience since we had to walk in our wet water shoes looking to see a possible path we could take to cross the rapid. I was shivering all the way until we got back into our canoes to attempt to cross the obstacle.

In the canoe was me in the stern (back) and an officer in the bow (front) and it was anticlimactic because when we tried to cross we got unfortunately stuck not even 10 meters from shore. Our canoe filled up with water and we had to get a few people to get the canoe unstuck from those rocks. The funny thing is that we successfully crossed the moving water right afterwards, so if not those rocks, we would have perfectly conquered the rapid. Overall, it was an enjoyable ride down the river full of adrenaline which made it a little warmer during the cold morning.

One of the adult staff crossing the rapid

For the next following days, we camped at several different campsites, tried to nail our routine on our campsites to the fastest time we could, we crossed several different rapids and smaller swifts and we portaged our way to avoid more dangerous water. One formidable portage was on our third day canoeing which was the “Crooked Chute” portage because it was a long one kilometer walk down and up hill, with heavy canoes, pressing down on our shoulders, and boundary bags which were unexpectedly even worse as they would seem lighter. After all of that, a rewarding feeling came to me and all my teammates because we have overcome something that we warned as being the hardest part of the trip which meant that we were closer to completing the expedition.

View on a hill called "Cayote Rock" from one of last camp sites of the trip

During the last day, we debriefed in all of our separate groups we were originally split in at the beginning of the trip. We reminisced about the fun parts and the miserable parts of the trip and one comment from one of my team members stuck to me till this day :

“After this trip, I learned to embrace the suck.”

Following this notice, the team member explained that every bad thing makes the good events feel even better. This reminded me of the time when the sun showed out at noon during a miserable cloudy morning we had which made me so happy. Maybe it was because of the horrible morning we had, but it was the happiest I’ve been when looking at the sun. Then, after the team member stop talking, I had a moment of deep thinking and I realized how much fun I had during these past 10 days and how much I would miss the good moments and the "suck".

My greatest revelation during this trip was to embrace the suck, not only because it makes the good moments worthwhile, but also because there is only so much suck in our life.

After this debrief, it was another good night's sleep and then we unloaded our kit the next morning once we canoeed back to shore. We returned back to the garrison and from there we parted ways.

Stay tuned for the next blog about my trip to Iceland! I hope y’all have a wonderful rest of your day.

P. S.

I got to see parts of a pretty cool air show in Toronto while I was on the bus to train station!

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atla-adult-au · 1 year ago

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‘There’s Something About Mai’

2 gorgeous besties

This hc was inspired by the possibility of them being good friends from sadladybug’s fan fic Clothe Me in Seasons. But I ramped it a bit more to explore their sensual side.

In most cases, they would meet for occasional shoptalk where both would give glowing compliments to each other and sometimes talk about life in the palace that are not highly classified. In their extra, they would have tea, go to a spa, dine out, or watch a play. Mai would advise Katara on culture, tips on protocol, and the art of persuasion without ever having to raise her voice. Katara then would influence Mai to get out more and meet the people she was meant to rule.

In a way, they were more friends than lovers as they only have sparse encounters which gives them less chances of getting caught. Sometimes, encounters don’t mean all the way. It could be a quick canoodling or as simple as a smack or a deep kiss. They are secure enough to know where they stand and what they mean to each other where they dont make unnecessary demands from the other. Their clandestine meetings would be brief as they try their darnedest to sneak and squeeze at least 5 minutes of quick dallying.

They would send each other gifts and letters of how their day went, and how they’d miss each other. Katara bought diamond crusted barrettes for Mai she found at a high end shop she thought would look good on Mai. Mai wore it with pride on the right side just below her bun.

Mai had a custom made water heart and fire pin which Katara fastens near her breast. To many, this seemed like a tribute to her ancestry and current status as the lady of the fire nation which could also be the case. But in reality, this is a symbol of the special relationship she has with Mai.

Katara would have Mai’s measurements and send her a box of a beautiful but a tad too revealing dress in Mai’s signature black color and tells Mai she should show more skin.

Mai in turn would also send her a red dress with golden accents and tells Katara she should wear red and gold more because it goes great with her complexion.

Remembering that Zuko is allergic to cats, Mai gifted Katara with a hunting dog to her sons’ delight. Katara has three sons by this time at 25. The eldest and firebending heir Lu Ten who is 7 years old and 5 year old twins Kenji-a non bender, and Kaneo (Kah-Neh-Yo), a water bender. The children named the dog Zhen Zhen (precious).

Katara purchased what looked like a black Persian from a souk at the outskirts of the Si Wong dessert. Mai was so ecstatic that she squealed with joy when she removed the soft tarp to discover the golden eyed Persian temporarily housed within the gilded cage. She ironically named the cat Yuki (Snow) and hardly left her arm.

At one point, both women were pregnant at the same time. Katara’s fourth child to Mai’s first. Katara turned out to be carrying a baby girl she named Kya (who turns out to be another firebender). She was helping Mai in one of her terrible morning sickness which earned her the honor of being the godmother to Princess Shui (Shway) whose name means ‘water’ out of her gratitude (love) for Katara.

When they’re in a royal family gathering with their young children, Katara would dote on Shui while Mai would pour her love on Katara’s sons. She would make sure they keep their manners and give a listening ear to their mis-adventures. The boys’ stories would make Mai laugh so hard. Her favorite tales would be from Kaneo which turned out to be a little Sokka.

The only thing they didn’t do together yet was spar as there were memories they’d rather forget for fear of hurting the other. Mai was also very secretive of her techniques at first. Nevertheless, Katara gushes about Mai’s knife skills as a nonbender and Mai worships Katara’s ability to bloodbend. With Zuko’s encouragement, the two would practice their joust in a form of a dance. The queens even gave a surprise performance on King Kuei’s birthday which astonished the crowds.

Katara is openly vocal to Mai about Mai’s beauty, grace, and class. This in turn makes Mai smile when she gets compliments from Katara. The Earth Kingdom Palace staff noticed that Mai is shown to smile a lot more when Katara’s around. Katara’s wit, her nurturing personality, openness, and ability to please which Mai never felt with Jun was so endearing to her. Also, Mai is proud for having a badass lover that she never expected more than anything Katara is able to give. Mai knew from the beginning that Katara can only love Zuko and that was enough. The Earth King has his suspicions of what lies beneath but Zuko knows and is permissive of their relationship as long as Katara doesn’t neglect her duties. Mai even assists Katara on some of her tasks by being there for her to give her moral support on some of her charitable endeavors and would at times act as proxy if needed.

Mai even accompanied Katara to the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Water Tribe to oversee reconstruction projects sponsored by the Earth Kingdom. This was when Mai asked Katara why Zuko never asked to heal his facial scar. Katara replied that both of them decided not to. That Zuko has learned to live with it and that his scar helps him to recognize that he has come a long way. The scar in a way also makes him not to look like his father, as he says. Katara respected his wishes and and even supported Zuko because she sees his scar as a badge of honor for standing up to his tryant father and his father’s general. Katara also said that she got so used to the scar that she hardly even notices it anymore. What she can’t stand was, and asked Zuko not to repeat it again, was that wolf tail pony he used to sport when he was younger. Both Katara and Mai laughed and agreed that this wasn’t his best look. Mai’s visits to the colder regions only happened once as Katara understood that Mai couldn’t stand the cold.

They also worked as partners in bringing down their enemies-For the Earth Kingdom it was the Dai Li. For the Fire Nation it was The Red Lotus (after the New Ozai was disbanded following his father’s assassination in prison.) Zuko would help from time to time and they would all work disguised as ‘The Blue Spirit’, ‘The Painted Lady’ and ‘The Blade Queen’, also pegged as ‘the Dark Triad’.

In the span of seven years that they were together, they were lovers only on very rare moons and would spend a three way liaison only three times. One time on each of their birthdays. They all would plan ahead to meet a few days shy or a week after so nobody can put two and two together.

In every ‘session’, either between Katara and Mae, or all three of them, they have to be extremely cautious to avoid even a whiff of tongue wagging. They would form elaborate plans to meet from sending coded messages, stealthily snucking out of the palace dressed as regular folk, to renting barely furnished inns. This didn’t hamper their duties to their nation or to their families as this was rarely done. When they do meet on normal circumstances, they would act like the best of friends that they are.

On very rare instances of a three way, it was always Katara who calls the shots. The first time was a surprise for Zuko’s birthday. Despite having Mai there to enjoy them both, Zuko only made love to Katara that night as the risk of also impregnating the Earth Kingdom queen may start another war. The second time was on Katara’s birthday two years later. Katara relented to Mae serving Zuko but he still made love only to Katara that day. However on Mai’s 33rd birthday, Katara offered her husband to please Mai to Zuko’s reluctance. The feeling of compersion from all three of them was so immense (For Katara to give Mae the pleasure of what her husband gives her, for Katara to give Zuko the experience of an exciting and dangerous interlude, and for Mae and Zuko to satisfy Katara on her whimsical fantasy), that Katara even encouraged Zuko to sire a child with Mai likely as an effect of post coital passion. Both Zuko and Mai were relieved that Mai had her period two weeks after. Both of them swore never to indulge Katara in her whims as it is not worth it for them to risk their kingdom and reputation so the triad tryst never happened again. As a sign of mea culpa, Zuko and Katara gifted Mai with a promise ring of friendship on her birthday party held at the grand hall of the earth kingdom palace.

Still the gossips were bound to form, some wildly exaggerated than others (as if the actual events were not already wild in itself) but was never confirmed by any of them, nor were they discovered. But some stories cannot be kept hidden and will be revealed in its own time. Even Sokka and Suki dropped hints to which the three of them just ignored (or avoided).

None of the nobles on any kingdoms dare ask about their close-knit friendship for fear that they may share the same fate of the unfortunate nobleman more than a decade ago.

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tempestaslokni · 3 months ago

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Lokni's perception of Selin shifted a bit when she brought up her feelings of guilt. "I don't know if it's any consolation, but I understand how you feel. As strange as it sounds, I feel guilty even thinking about taking a vacation. My work has just kinda' been all I've ever known. 'Reckon sitting around relaxing all day would drive me a little crazy. There's never a time that there's not something to do. When I'm not around, my portion of work gets delegated to my mother, and that's not something I want- one of the reasons why I gotta' get home, and soon." He didn't know if what he was saying really made sense, but he could empathize with Selin's feelings quite a bit. Maybe that's why Lokni found comfort in Selin's words. If rescue was coming he wouldn't have to live with this guilt for much longer. At the same time though, he was curious if their 'captors' would let them be rescued so easily. They were brought here for a reason, right? He also wondered what would happen if they attempted to escape in the first place. Inadvertently, he let out a large sigh that he hadn't realized that he was holding in. Selin led the way into the large warehouse and Lokni was impressed with just how much stock had. Shelves upon shelves of items lined the walkway like a scaffolding of supplies. Lokni could imagine himself getting lost in here easily. Selin showed Lokni the way to the fishing equipment, talking about how there was just about everything that one could hope for, except entertainment. Outside of the bungalows, he wasn't sure if there was electricity anyways. Who knew how long the electricity would last? He remembered when a bunch of the other ranch hands had gotten obsessed with this show called The Walking Dead, and day in and day out they talked about surviving amidst an outbreak of disease and societal collapse. The topic of just how long electricity and running water would last came up somewhere in the mix of all of that. While she searched the shelves, Selin spoke of her siblings, and how they felt like her own children in a way. For her small frame, she carries a lot on her shoulders, he thought to himself. The way she spoke about them was in a lighthearted way, but there was a slight tone of sadness in her voice. Sadness? Was that it? Before Lokni could ask more questions, she turned and moved a tarp that uncovered the fishing supplies that they were searching for. Selin was right, these would come in handy. In no time Selin and Lokni had gathered a tackle box, as well as some fishing lines, a net, and a bucket for their caught fish. Lokni was surprised to find a collection of salted baits as well, among which were mussels and a handful of whole, small fish. At this rate, they were bound to catch something. As they walked back to the pier together Lokni turned to face Selin with a sincere smile, "thanks again for this, I really appreciate it." Out of all the people that he had run into so far, Selin had been one of the kindest, and kindness was a rare, yet invaluable commodity in a situation like this. He wondered if all of his encounters would be this enjoyable and peaceful. As the sun painted the clouds with hues of purple and pink they sat next to each other at the edge of the pier, casting their lines into the water. Selin was skilled at baiting her hook in just the right way so that the hook would catch a fish's lip easily. Lokni didn't try to hide just how impressed he was. "It's amazing how you make it look so easy," he laughed as he pulled his own line from the water to reveal the mussel that he had baited it with was mostly gone; a single strip of flesh remained caught on the hook. As they sat there he cast a side glance at Selin, taking in her serene expression and the way the sunlight glowed against her skin, "I'd like to do this again sometime, if you're free that is. I'm sure you have a pretty busy semester up ahead." Lokni joked, rebaiting and casting his line back into the water.

"I think it's easier when you have someone to experience it with. I don't know how confident or enjoyable going on a trip alone would be. At least for me." It was her way of providing a sort of solidarity with the knowledge that, under different circumstances, they would have been in the same boat. "Leaving when you know you have other things to take care of almost feels…wrong. Like, selfish in a way." Selin wasn't sure if that was something that would resonate, but she threw it out there anyway.

She knew that Lokni didn't mean it as anything more than a general question, but even just saying it aloud, she wasn't completely sure if or when to expect rescue to arrive. "I don't know…I'm hoping there will be. I don't know if I can adjust to being here longterm. And it seems crazy to me that our disappearance would just go unnoticed. There has to be some way of finding us." Blind optimism, it was easy enough especially if you had no way to back your claims. "I don't think I want to consider that just yet. Taking it day by day might feel better than coming up with a plan." Which, honestly, wasn't how she would do things before arriving here. Selin liked to make plans, prepare herself weeks, sometimes months in advance. But that was normal life, not this.

Leading him into the warehouse, she pushed open the doors and opened her arms wide to present that the beatdown looking building was in fact, well stocked on the inside. "Here we are, just about everything we could ever ask for apparently. Except for maybe any music or movies that came out in the past 20 years or so. I think the fishing stuff was this way…" Again, leading the way down the rows of shelves towering around them.

"I think, after a certain amount of siblings, they become less like friends, more like your own children." she admitted. Especially when it came to the youngest of the bunch. Sure, Selin loved them, enjoyed spending time with them, but she also did everything for them, looking after them when her parents were too busy for that. Maybe it sounded ungrateful of her, to compare her abundance of siblings to his lack thereof. So she tried her best to move past the statement by letting out a soft "ah!" and walking a little faster towards the fishing gear. "Here they are. Bait, nets, I think these are even lobster cages? These could all come in handy."

#selin 01 #panopticon rpg #[ lokni hughes ]#we can end here or with you?#hope this is good and please let me know if i need to change anything!

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rainylana · 2 years ago

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“Nobody’s fool.”

Eddie Munson x reader

summary: inspired by the song nobody’s fool by cinderella. requested by @rhoads56 <3 includes a slip n slide’, trailer park toddlers and love confessions:)

warnings: language, strictly fluff it’s just so damn cute, eddie and reader are head over heels in love lmao, wayne being a mood, mentions of panic attacks and nightmares, weed and pornography, little bit of tears and some sexual tension, but not graphic. just a little smut, but again, not graphic. ultimate fluff i can’t. like really- i love this so much<3

a/n: also! thank you guys very much for the kind messages these past few days:) i really do love you all so much.

taglist!

@ariesl0ves3ddiemuns0n @eddiemunnson @eddiemania @supercalifragilisticprincess @imdoingbetternow @antigoneidk @blowing-mikey @chaos-incorp @ches-86 @avobabe87 @mic429 @averysblog @justaproudslytherpuff @livasaurasrex @ultimate-sdmn-trash @underthebatcape @delilahtaylorsverson @no0neknowsm3 @kellysimagines @cosmic-lavender @flowers-and-tsukki @bellasfavoritesweatpants @insomniac-nerd-posts-things @catherinnn @imangy @ahzysauce @softyutae @rovckwells @ohlovelyhollow @tessiemessie @xx-hospitalforsouls-xx-blog @tripthlightfantastic @noturmom15 @lexthemess21 @imabadarsebard @fionnthebandersnacc @heeyitsg @kaqua @getbillzoned @genuine-possum @nothisispatric @fvcking-gxddess @lillianofliterature @kneelforloki @actuallybarb @edzmunsonswife @itiscj @dream-alittlebiggerdarling @grace--03

Wayne leaned against the railing on his back porch, elbows resting on the old wood with a cigarette dangling between his lips. He chuckled every now and then at the scene set in front of him. All of hellfire was in his backyard, shirts off with bright, sunburned skin as they played in the neighbors hose, colorful swimming shorts that stood out like a sore thumb. They stuck big long trash bags to the wet grass, making a slip n slide’ to entertain themselves in the 96 degree weather.

What was most amusing to the man was, however, was how differently his nephew treated you than everyone else. He watched you scream and carry about as Mike directly sprayed the water in your face, Eddie picking you up by the thighs to toss you both down the slippery tarp. He knew damn well that you were both head over heels in love with each other, especially Eddie. He’d tried time and time again to get him to talk about it, but the boy always turned beat red and chalked it up to nothing.

Grass stuck to your bodies, glued to your torsos from sweat and water. You were wearing a bikini, and your skin was marked red from how many times Eddie manhandled you and tossed you both down the hill. Your stomach hurt from how much you were laughing, the kind of laugh where you got stuck in silence and almost broke your insides.

Summer vacation was here, and it was hotter than hell, so Dustin had brilliantly came up with the idea for the trash bags and water hose. Even some of the neighbor kids waddled over in their swimsuits and rubber duckies. Tommy, his five year old neighbor, dragged his plastic kiddy pool over and filled it up. The Munson backyard was filled with life, and it warmed Wayne’s heart to see the sight.

“Look at my knees, you asshole!” You a screeched through laughter, pointing down to your red, scratched knees. “You’re gonna kill me if you don’t quit throwing my down this mountain!”

He sputtered our laughter, slipping on wet grass as he tried to stand up. “It’s- oh, god, it’s hardly a mountain, y/n.” He panted, hair sticking to his firm chest and making swirling designs. “Wanna go again?”

“My turn! My turn!” The little neighbor girls chanted, running up to Eddie with open arms. You laughed and stepped back, ushering Eddie to play with them first.

He wiggled his brows at you and clapped his hands, gathering the girls in his arms before he started down the slippery slope. You screamed again when Lucas sprayed you with the highest mode of the hose, backing away quickly as you threw a plastic floaty at his face.

You couldn’t see him, but from down below the hill, Eddie’s eyes had morphed into hearts, watching you. You looked absolutely beautiful, soaking wet and covered in clips of grass and mud. The kids pulled at his arms trying to get him to play with them, but he couldn’t look away from your beauty. He was mesmerized, and Wayne smirked, not missing the action.

Everyday he fought urge to kiss your lips, to tell you just how much you meant to him, how often you visited his dreams, but it was too complicated. You were best friends, and he was terrified of ruining what you had, and so were you. You both were too damn awkward to express your feelings.

Hours later when the sun began to set, the neighbor kids went home and so did the hellfire crew, besides you. You helped clean up the yard and made sure the kids got home safely with their toys, cleaning up the trash that Mike kept forgetting to throw away. Eddie helped, but his eyes always scanned over your figure, not being able to help himself. You stole your own glances, too, dazing off at the smooth, toned muscles of his chest that were scuffed in dirt.

“You kids hungry?” Wayne stepped outside to the back porch, beer in hand with a cigarette behind his ear. “I ordered a pizza. Y/n, why don’t you stay for dinner, hmm?”

You smiled, panting out a breath from the work your did, wringing out a beach towel in your hair. “Sure! You think maybe I could use your shower?”

“You know where it’s at.” He nodded toward the door, setting down on a lawn chair and kicking his legs out.

“Hey, Eddie!” You turned, calling over to him as he rolled the hose back up to return. “Can I borrow some of your clothes? I’m gonna take a shower!”

He almost dropped the damn thing, growing hot at the idea of you in his clothes. “Oh- oh, yeah! Sure!”

Wayne rolled his eyes. You disappeared inside the trailer, leaving the boys to themselves, and the older man watched with an amused look as Eddie trodded up to the porch. “So,” He raised a brow. “You had a nice day, huh?”

Eddie stopped immediately, eyes narrowing in curiosity. “Yeah? What’s that..that look for?” Water dripped from his hair, big puddles staining the wood beneath his bare feet.

“Nothin’.” Wayne shrugged his shoulders. “Just like watching a damn romance movie when you’re round’ each other, is all.”

“Shh, shh!” Eddie panicked, flapping his hands in a rush. “Jesus- Wayne, come on!”

The older man laughed, holding up his hand in apology. “Okay, okay, sorry. Shit, kid, you don’t hide it very well, though. Them boys were whisperin’ all day about how you kept starin’ at her.”

“Who?” His eyes widened, stepping closer to his uncle. “Was if that shithead Wheeler? I swear to god, I’m gonna ring his neck.” He gritted his teeth, taking a shallow breath.

“He’s one of ‘em, yeah.” Wayne nodded, taking a quick sip of his beer. “Him and that Henderson kid. They got a point though, bud. You’re both clearly crazy about each other.”

Eddie gulped, freezing at his words. He always grew extremely uncomfortable when he talked about you..well, potentially sharing feelings. It scared him too badly to think about it. He knew he could never act on them. It wasn’t worth the risk, was it? He couldn’t risk ruining what the two of you had. He loved you too much for it.

“Shut up, old man.” He grumbled, plopping himself down on the porch step, placing his head in his hands. He sighed with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“Come on, don’t freak out.” Wayne smirked, noticing the shortening of his breath. It had been a while since the boy had a panic attack, but it didn’t take much to overwhelm him. “I just don’t get why you’re so scared to talk to her.”

Eddie groaned into his hands, the night cold against his wet, exposed skin. He reached out to grab your pink towel, wrapping it around his torso. “Because we can’t be more than friends.”

“I didn’t know you could read the future.”

“Wayne,” He pleaded desperately, running his hands through his wet curls. “Drop it, already.” He fiddled with the rings on his fingers, biting the inside of his cheek in attempt to ease his frustrations.

“Okay, bud,” His uncle sighed amusedly. “Sorry.”

A total of thirty seconds passed.

“You want me to tell her?”

“Oh, my god, Wayne!” Eddie wailed, turning around to glare at him.

“Well, shit,” His uncle scoffed, holding up his hands. “It’s getting old watching the two of you stare into each other’s eyes all…all romantic and crap.”

“We don’t!” He jumped up. “We..we don’t!”

“Okay, okay, just…tell my why you’re so scared of telling her how you feel, huh?” Wayne sighed, widening his eyes in close frustration. Eddie may have been twenty years old, but he acted like he was seven.

“Because!” He groaned, flinging water in every direction. “Because, Wayne! She’s my..she’s my best friend. She might not feel the same way and I- I can’t risk loosing her. She’s too important to me.”

It was like talking to a brick wall, and Wayne knew that no matter how much he tried to persuade him to open up to you, it would be damn near impossible. That was just how Eddie was. He was an over-thinker. Wayne knew that better than anybody.

“Can I say one more thing?” He sat up, resting his elbows on his knees, placing down his beer bottle. “Then I’m silent. Swear.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, leaning against the railing. “You are whether I wanna hear it or not, so sure.” He squeezed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge between his nose.

“Listen, kid, I love ya’,” Wayne raised his brows, smirking subtly. “But, you’re a damn mess, you know that? I raised you, so I can say it. All I’m saying is that…well, you’ve never had a girl in hellfire before she came along. You never even hung out with girls. Remember that kid who punched you in middle school when you tried to kiss her?” He chuckled, warning a cringed look from Eddie. “She feels the same way, bub. Trust me. I’m old, so you have to. We all know she does.” Wayne stood up and gave his nephew a reassuring squeeze before he went inside, leaving him alone to his thoughts.

Maybe his uncle was right, but that didn’t change anything, did it? It wasn’t worth the risk. He loved you too much for it. He’d rather have you as a best friend than to not have you at all, even if it meant he’d be living a lie.

•

“You should stay the night.” Eddie said to you over his shoulder, peeking out of his bedroom curtain. “Looks like rain. You shouldn’t drive.”

“It’s only rain.” You smiled, flipping through one of his dirty magazines on his bed.

“Yeah, but still,” He pursed his lips. “I’d feel better if you stad.” He turned to look at you, and smirked coyly at the sight of you holding his beloved copy of busty ladies. “Find something you like?”

You chuckled and shrugged. “Was just curious.” You said before tossing it to the end of the bed, smiling up at him. You were wearing his black sweats and his red, corroded coffin tee, hair still slightly damp from your shower. Eddie no longer was covered in grass clippings anymore, now wearing great sweatpants, his chest bare and muscular. His hair was dry and frizzy above the muscles, eyes slightly red rimmed from the joint he’d been smoking.

“I’ll stay.” You blinked tiredly, curling up with his soft blanket.

He hummed, satisfied with your answer. “Good.” He muttered, crawling on the bed up to where you were, settling back on a pillow against the headboard. “Smoke?” He offered you the joint.

You rolled onto your back, neck propped up from the pillow. You took the joint from his slender fingers, taking a small inhale and closing your eyes. You passed it back to him.

“Today was fun.” You blinked slowly, relaxed. The room was glowing in a soft, orange tone from his bedside lamp. You always loved sleeping over.

“It was.” He agreed, resting an arm behind his head. “Kids wore me out, though. Kept throwing those stupid toys at me.”

You giggled, chest vibrating with the sound. “They like you.”

“Everyone likes me.” He looked at you smugly, and you smacked his shoulder playfully.

“Uh, huh.” You scoffed, taking the joint back and placing it between your pink lips. “You’re a real casanova.”

He narrowed his eyes at the foreign word, giving you a weird look. “Casanova? What’s that mean?”

You past the blunt back and rolled your head to the side to look him in the eye, snorting once in his face. “A charmer.”

He smirked. “So you think I’m charming, huh?”

His high eyes twinkled in orange glow. He looked angelic, and it almost made you sad more a moment. He was so insecure of himself, despite what he said. You only wished he knew how beautiful he was. You wished he knew how much you loved him. But you’d never be more than friends.

“It also means a man who has a lot of lovers.” You raised a brow, smiling coyly.

He squinted his eyes, lips parting. “What makes you think I have a lover?”

You gave him a deadpanned look. “Eddie. You have a whole stack of porn under your bed I pretend isn’t there. I’m sure you have a few ladies around town that you like.”

He widened his eyes slightly, giving you an incredulous look. “If I wasn’t mistaken, y/n…I’d say you just called me a whore.”

You laughed and rolled your eyes. “No, I did not call you a whore. I’m just joking you big baby.”

He smiled at your smile, nodding. “Whatever, baby.”

You both giggled until a comfortable silence ensued, the high slowly making you tired. You yawned quietly, turning to face him and curling up against the pillow. He did the same, only a foot of length between your shoulders. You stared at each other with red eyes. “I hope I don’t have any nightmares tonight.” You said softly.

You were prone to them, always had been. Eddie knew this. He also knew that they weren’t as bad when you had someone with you. He closed the distance by wrapping an arm around your back, pulling you into his chest and cuddling you. You nuzzled your face underneath his neck, hand placed on his waist. He pulled the quilt blanket up to your shoulders, hand softly playing with your hair. “I’ll be here if you need me. Try and sleep.”

There was so much more he wanted to say.

•

For some reason unbeknownst to him, Eddie was awake four hours later, the room pitch black besides the white glow that the moon peeked through the curtains on the window. Your body was pressed against his ever so tightly, limbs entertained with blankets tangled at your meet. You must have gotten hot, he figured.

He was staring at you, studying and memorizing all the details of your face while he could. He knew this wasn’t right, feeling the way he did about you, but he couldn’t help it. It was driving him crazy. He wanted to love you with everything he had, but nothing was worth the risk of losing you. You were too precious to him.

And for some reason, yet again, unbeknownst to him, your eyes fluttered. He stilled fearfully, but it wasn’t quick enough. Your lids open, but you did not jump away from the pair of brown eyes that were glued on your face. You smiled softly, and Eddie wondered if you were actually awake. Your fingers twitched up and you wrapped a digit around a dark curl, tugging on it lightly.

He swallowed roughly. “Are you awake?”

“Mhm.” You said hoarsely, eyes still blinking sleepily. Your nosed almost touched by the tips, just barely, and he gulped at how…how intimate this felt.

Maybe it was the fact you were extremely tired, but you couldn’t help but stare at him, just like he was doing with you. Maybe it even made you feel confident. You had the urge to look at his lips. Eddie’s heart started to race, feeling guilty for looking at you with such longing, but he couldn’t look away. Your faces melted away with the comfort you had just felt, morphing into…nervousness and…lust.

He took his hand off your back, gulping as he tried to pull away. “Don’t.” You said meekly, making his eyes widen.

“Don’t?” His voice was unsure.

You blinked nervously, licking your lips. “I like..I-I like when you hold me.”

His heart dropped to his toes, face burning red. His eyes scanned yours, switching back and forth. “You do?”

You nodded.

Staring at his hand in mid air, he slowly, slowly placed his hand back to the plates of your shoulder blades, your knees pressing together. “Like this?” He kept looking at your nose, not being able to hold your stare.

“Yeah.” You whispered. “Yeah, like that.”

He was so pretty. You could stare at him forever. During hellfire meetings you always got caught in daydreams just watching him sit in his throne. At school you got caught multiple times by teachers just ogling him. Your heart would swell ten times larger at his wide smile, the way his shoulders would brush against yours in the cafeteria line. You wished so many times to hold his hand, to build up enough courage.

But you could never be more than friends. It just wouldn’t work. You were too awkward to pursue such a thing, and Eddie- well, there was no way he felt the same way. Did he? If you were honest with yourself, some unconscious part of yourself knew. It was just too obvious, but you were in denial.

It was painful how much you loved him, and it pained you that it couldn’t be anything more.

“Hey,” He noticed the pull down of your lips, eyes misting over your irises, and his eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?”

Had you had a nightmare?

You shook your head and looked down embarrassed. “Nothing.”

He saw a single tear fall past your lid, and he looked at you unsurely. “Y/n,” He dipped his head down to level with you.

You wanted to kiss him so bad it was making you cry.

His thumb lifted your chin and brought your shiny eyes up to his chocolate ones, flickering over your face for evidence of what was wrong. He waited for you to say something.

“It’s stupid.” You gulped bashfully, not able to hold his stare.

“Tell me.” He said gently, hand dropping to your shoulder.

All sense of nerves from him went away at the sight of your discomfort, and it was only you that was left feeling uneasy and scared. “I’m afraid of what you’ll say.” You sniffled, and his eyes narrowed slightly, lips parting.

You were terrified of loosing him. Was it worth it? To lean over and kiss him? Was just one little peck worth loosing him? Was it worth ruining what you had? It wasn’t. You had to be stronger than that.

A loud clap of thunder made you jump clean out of your skin, whimpering under your breath that made his heart shake. “Hey, hey, it’s okay.” He closed the distance and wrapped his arm back around you, pulling you close to his chest.

You buried yourself as close as you could to him, allowing yourself to shed quiet tears that he couldn’t see, though he could feel them against his bare chest. “Just a storm.”

Storms didn’t even scare you, but tonight you were extremely worked up. The feeling of your soft breath warmed his pale skin, and your fingers lightly traced the shape of the tattoo on his chest. His chin laid against your shoulder, hand against the back of your hair and stroking your locks comfortingly. Soft rain hit the tin rough, calming your anxieties and allowing you to relax against him.

And as more seconds melted away, the more aware you were of the position you were in. You stiffened slightly in his arms and he felt it, making him aware of the close proximity. Your eyes locked, pulling away ever so slowly, audibly gulps and nervous licks of the lips, fingers freezing on bare skin. Your breath started to come out in pants.

Wayne’s words started to run through his head, like a loud alarm that he couldn’t turn off.

“I’m afraid of what you’ll say, too.” He whispered, words soft against your ears as he blinked across from your, his eyes still slightly red from his previous high.

“What do you mean?” You squinted in the dark.

He took a breath. “What I’m thinking about.” It came out in mumbles, twirling the fabric of your shirt between his middle and index fingers.

You looked down at your fingers that rested just below his hipbone, picking at your skin nervously. He could feel your knuckles barely ghost over his navel. Years and years of silence was what you both held, a heavy secret that weighed greatly on your shoulders.

“I’ll tell you if you’ll tell me.” Eddie cleared his throat, the words coming out despite really wanting to be spoken or not.

Your eyes widened slightly, peeking up at him, the tips of your noses touching, your hips against his own. “I- okay.” You stuttered.

A single minute passed. You staring at him, and him staring at you, hearts in your throats and stomachs bubbling with nerves. Eddie thought he was going to pass out, and he had the urge to get up and run away in the thundering rain. As much as he wanted to kiss your lips, he was too afraid, so he did the only thing he could think of.

He took his hand from your shoulder blades, bringing it between the two of you. He took his index and middle finger and pressed them to his lips, puckering just ever so slightly. Keeping his eyes on you, he placed them on yours, making your breath hitch in your throat. He kept them there for just a few seconds before sliding them down your chin and to your neck.

“Was- uh, was that okay?” He said breathlessly, staring at his ringed fingers against your neck.

“Yeah.” You nodded, gulping audibly, heart pounding in your ears. You wanted to burst into tears, honestly. You weren’t sure what you had planned to do, but you found yourself pulling back up his hand, placing the fingers back to your lips. You kept eye contact, placing a soft, delicate kiss to the tips. His lips parted, and you opened your mouth very subtle, your teeth grazing his callused pads. “Is this okay?” You blinked hazily.

He nodded quicker than you had. “Uh- yeah.”

The movements of your lips came to abrupt, and you choked on a breath. The room filled with a tension that you had not met before.

Sexual tension.

His thumb went to your jaw, and through some will of his own, he pushed his middle finger into your mouth, and he gasped when the tip hit your tongue, making you stifle out a moan.

Your eyes both tripled in size, face burning immediately red. Oh, god. He felt his cock harden underneath his sweatpants, and he began to panic slightly, knowing damn well you could feel it against your thigh. And then it was like you’d both been switched on with frenzy.

Eddie couldn’t help it. He pressed his soft, thick lips against your own. The desire was too strong. It was no where near as…messy and sloppy as he imagined. He didn’t have enough courage for that. It was just a hard, forceful peck that made your noses scrunch together, your body pushing back slightly at his weight.

You gasped when he pulled away, eyes blinking rapidly and lustfully. Your stomach tightened at his taste, and you reached up, as he was know slightly above you, and pulled him back atop of you. Your arms wrapped around his broad shoulders, and his forehead collided with yours as your lips attached once again. It was more forceful, needy this time, and he rolled you both over so he could tower of you. His curls hung above your cheekbones, settling his legs between your thighs. His hands cupped your cheeks, and it was like you both sucked the soul out of one another.

Lips nipped and bit, tongues licked and danced. Your teeth cracked together. You were whining into the kiss because it just felt so good.

“Oh, god,” He groaned into your mouth, tilting your chin up to kiss you deeper. You were eating each other alive. “I love you so much. Fuck- fuck, I love you, baby.”

You nodded against him, wrapping your legs around his waist. “Oh, I- Eddie, I love you.” You pushed your pelvic bone against his cock, whimpering at the euphoric feeling against your virgin body. “I love you. I love you.”

Breath was hot against your faces, and before you could make any further moves, the sound of Wayne’s alarm blared from the living room, making you both still immediately. You both gasped and pulled away, looking at each other with wide eyes. It was like you’d been dunked with cold water, and you blushed three million shades deeper than your pale complexion.

Eddie strained his ears, listening as he heard the sound of his uncle’s boots against the floor. Boy, he knew his uncle would be proud. He swallowed, looking down at you in a slight panic, adrenaline coursing through his body.

You took your legs off of him, fixing your hair away from your face. You sniffled up at him. He wanted to back away and cower now that he had lost his momentum, but he wouldn’t allow it, and he didn’t want you to go back into your shell. He leaned back down and gave you a silent peck, pressing you back into the pillow, hand gripping your waist. “Y/n,” He pulled away in a whisper, looking at you through his lashes, forehead pressed against your own. “I..I do. I love you.”

You nodded, leaning up to kiss him again. You pushed your tongue into his mouth, making him groan and send vibrations into your lips. “I love you more.”

#eddie munson #stranger things #eddie munson x reader #stranger things season four #joseph quinn #eddie munson imagines #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson one shot #eddie munson headcanons #eddie munson series #eddie munson blurb #eddie the brave #eddie the freak munson #eddie the banished #eddie x you #eddie x y/n

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kohakuarisaka · 4 years ago

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Untamed (chapter 2 of 5)

Takami Keigo x (fem!)Reader

[ SUMMARY ] Every year, without fail, Hawks went into a rut: when autumn began, and then again in early spring. He would honker down up north in a secluded cabin. For the first time, he brought you with him.

[ WARNINGS ] R18+ for graphic sexual content and language. Non-canon compliant: Hawks’ quirk does not work like this. Reader is a hero that works at Hawks agency. Pre-existing relationship. Reader is a female with female genitalia. Feral behavior. Rutting. Biting. Spanking. Slight BDSM. Consensual sex. Wing kink. Oral sex. Romantic relationship.

Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 • Chapter 4 • Chapter 5

[ My BNHA Fanfic Masterlist ] ~ [ Also on my AO3 ]

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As it turned out, 'secluded cabin' was a pretty accurate statement.

Hawks had arranged for a very discreet hero taxi service to drive you the 5-hour trip from Musutafu to a quaint mountainous village that was so small and quiet, you almost doubted it was even on the map.

Past the snowy village, through the winding roads and towering trees, over a bridge, past a frozen lake, and then some miles off the main road, tucked away in a small clearing, was a beautiful cabin.

While the days were steadily growing warmer as spring rapidly approached, it still snowed at night. The snow had melted off the trees from the warmth of the midday sun; but, there was still a light blanket of white on the rooftop and across the surrounding grounds.

There were no poles lining the street, nothing that could bring electricity to the house; however, you could see what was likely a generator tucked away in the back. Someone had propped the cover off and cleaned out the snow.

At that sight, it became obvious that Hawks had beat you here. He already taken to clearing the snow out of the entry way as well, exposing a beautiful cobblestone pathway.

You exited the vehicle and retrieved your bags from the trunk. The very second you closed the hatch, the driver made a speedy exit, wheels skidding in the snow as they backed out before doing a sharp U-turn and barreling down the road.

Luckily, the entrance to the cabin opened before you could worry that you had just been abandoned in the middle of nowhere. Sure enough, Hawks stepped out, wild blonde locks brushed back, a little fluffier than usual due to the change in humidity.

Despite how cold it was, he was wearing a black tank top and loose, light grey sweat pants. He even stepped out onto the cold stone pathway with bare feet. Yet, with a light flush to his skin, he didn't look cold at all.

You had been making a face when he approached, and he offered an explanation, uttering, "I told 'em not to linger. It's suspicious."

Some large plumes departed his wingspan and grabbed at your luggage, one even pulling your shoulder bag off your back. They whipped away, bags in tow, and zipped past Hawks and through the doorway, disappearing into the cabin.

The winged hero didn't immediately usher you inside, as he usually did in these types of situations, but arched over you suddenly, arms bringing you into a tight embrace while his lips captured yours.

The sudden closeness forced your back to arch. Unconsciously, your hands fell onto his barely clothed shoulders, and you felt how warm he was. If you didn't know any better, you would have thought he was running a fever.

The kiss was brief, but uncharacteristically messy, not that you were complaining. It was a kiss of longing, like he had missed you dearly, as if it had been months and not a day and a half.

He pulled back, a distant, albeit blissful, look on his face. His eyelids sagged as if he was tired, but the gold of his iris was bright and his pupils were focused.

"I didn't get to clean yet, but - ugh - do you wanna see inside?" he asked, some slight nervousness to his tone.

"Yeah," you breathed.

Hawks stepped aside and you gently brushed past him and stepped inside. The wood floors creaked softly beneath your feet as you crossed the threshold. Immediately, you were hit with a wonderful scent, earthy, like tree bark, but sweet, like raw honey.

It was a decent sized cabin, spacious and not heavily furnished. The kitchen was on the small side, but seemingly to accommodate a larger living room.

As Hawks had warned, there was a thin layer of dust all across the wood floors. The furniture was covered by clear tarps, shielding them from the debris.

The dining area tucked away in the corner had a chabudai in place of a western style table. It was small and clearly only intended for two people. You had a feeling it was new, considering how spotless it looked compared to the rest of the cabin.

A huge, stone fireplace rested against the north wall, surrounded by large windows that gave a beautiful view of the outside. They were adorned with heavy curtains, pulled back to let the sunlight in.

Hawks was lingering, following close, staring down at you as you walked around and took in the sight of the place. When your eyes landed on him, and you caught his unblinking stare, you realized he was awaiting feedback.

It startled you a little, for Hawks wasn't the kind to fuss over these sorts of things; but, you had a decent enough understanding of what a rut was to know what was going through his head.

"Relax, birdbrain," you cooed, reaching up to tap gently at his cheek with a closed palm. That seemed to knock him out of his stupor, for he blinked and suddenly looked sheepish. He flickered his gold eyes away, as if to give you space.

"I love it," you praised, looking back into the living area. "Cozy, and smells nice."

You heard him exhale a relieved sigh through his nostrils.

"We should get to work. Where's the cleaning stuff?" you asked, peeling your jacket off.

"Oh. I'll-" he began.

"You'll let me help," you interrupted him gently.

When you turned back to face him, and saw the bewildered expression he was wearing, you wondered if maybe that wasn't the right thing to fit with his current state.

"Unless that's... bad?" you offered uncertainly, shoulders sagging.

Hawks laughed suddenly at the sunken expression on your face, as if the joyous sound came sputtering out against his will.

"No," he answered softly, leaning in suddenly for another kiss, as if he couldn't help it. You didn't get a chance to kiss back before he was retreating.

"Don't change," he sighed. "I want you as you, not as my..."

"-subservient housewife?" you offered, just a little teasing.

He chuckled softly, breathing out a harsh, "fuck, no."

Hawks maneuvered around you and headed for what you guessed was a supply closet. Inside, the cleaning gear was also neatly packaged in containers and safe from dust.

It made sense, how neatly arranged everything was. Hawks was a fairly neat person; but, it was also clear that he had this whole thing down, neatly tuned and properly sorted out. He had been coming here for years, after all.

This place was special to him. That much was clear.

The two of you started to dusting and sweeping, followed by a diligent mopping, with the two of you working in tandem.

Hawks was fairly quiet during the whole ordeal, seemingly focused sternly on the task at hand. It had been his nest for years. This was hardly anything new; but, it was now going to be yours, too.

He didn't tell you that he had been worried he would react negatively to your presence. He didn't always react rationally during this time. Seemingly average things would sometimes irritate him, and a part of the possessive onslaught included this abode.

Fortunately, that hadn't been the case. Cleaning the cabin with you was soothing. He wasn't unaware of the obvious implication: that you were preparing a nest together, your shared nest. He didn't say it aloud, but you had come to that realization, as well.

It had actually calmed him quite a bit. He had been on edge before you arrived, skin prickled with heat and sweating unreasonably considering the cold. Those weren't abnormal during his ruts; but, it felt intensified with that knowledge that you were going to be here.

Darkness swept across the forest as the hours dragged on. Luckily, you were just about finished by the time it got dark.

There was a neat stack of firewood arranged on a carrier near the fireplace, making you wonder if that was what he had worked on before your arrival. The logs looked freshly cut and heavy.

Crimson feathers delivered logs to the hearth. Hawks retrieved a set of matches from a cubby near the carrier and then kneeled before the hearth. He set one of the matches ablaze and carefully ignited the firewood arranged in the pit.

Warmth and light flooded the cabinet. Plumes gathered along the edges of the curtains and pulled them back, covering the windows. When they returned to his wingspan, he stepped back and monitored the fire briefly.

While cleaning, you had learned there was a cellar and partial second story, as well as an indoor bathroom. It seemed that the main use of the generator was to power the water heater and indoor plumbing.

The cellar was small, down a short flight of stairs, with concrete floors and walls, the perfect size for containing a month's worth of food and supplies, far more than was necessary for just a week.

The second story was a loft that oversaw the living room, giving a great view of the fireplace. There was no safety railing on the upstairs, likely for the very obvious fact that Hawks could fly. There was, at least, a staircase.

Upstairs, there was a large bed frame with a plush mattress, wrapped up tight to protect from dust, a large chest pressed up against the wall, and a desk without a chair.

After he removed the bed cover, you watched Hawks pull neatly folded blankets and pillow cases out the chest. It was fascinating to see someone, who normally slept wherever his body landed, so meticulously prepare the bedding: layers and layers of blankets, followed by dressing the pillows and laying them out.

It was especially perplexing because of the intense, concentrated look on his face. He had been so focused that he hadn't even realized that you had paused what you were doing to watch him.

Luckily, you caught yourself staring before he did, and shuffled back downstairs before he could notice.

A sudden howling had startled you, before a sharp wind rattled against the shutters. Something was thumping gently against the roof and when the wind picked up, you could almost hear the trees shuddering outside.

"It's snowing," Hawks observed, suddenly at your side.

You could see a glimpse of crimson in the corner of your eye, and realized he had a wing fanned out around you, not quite close enough to touch, but hovering. Maybe, he hadn't even realized he was doing that.

"Oh," you answered quietly.

Together, you prepared dinner, settling for a classic favorite of his: yakitori chicken and stir fry noodles.

Eating dinner together, and talking about nothing, made you realize, it had been the first time in a long time, if ever, that you hadn't discussed work: nothing about the agency, nothing about heroes or villains, nothing about police business or missions.

It was just senseless conversations that amounted to nothing.

The dining table was small and the floor was cold; but, your hands brushed constantly due to the lack of space. It made you realize that you had longed to have this type of moment with him, something so utterly domestic.

"I know it's not super late," Hawks began, on his way to the kitchen with the dirty plates. "But, I'm gonna wake you up early; so, let's get to bed, okay?"

His voice was soft, surprisingly drowsy, you realized, and he continued, "it's - well, there's something I wanna show you, and it looks best in the sunrise."

He had started the dishes before you could; so, you stepped in close, deciding to tease him a little.

"I bet you do look best in the sunrise," you uttered, leaning against the counter top near the sink, where he had busied his hands. He was looking away from you; but, you could see his lip twitch into a faint smile.

Hawks laughed, a low chuckle that rumbled through his chest. "Not me," he replied softly. Yet, he found himself feeling enamored with the knowledge that that was where your mind had wandered first.

"Do you want me to wait for you?" you offered, standing upright and shifting away from the counter.

"Nah," he replied simply. "I'll join ya' in a bit."

You changed into your pajamas, brushed your teeth and pulled your hair back, before heading upstairs. Blankets and pillows were stacked high on top of the mattress, making the bedframe disappear beneath it.

It not only looked incredibly warm, but incredibly soft, and an inspection with your hand, smoothing over the surface, confirmed that. There were several pillows pressed against the headboard and even more at the foot of the bed.

If you hadn't seen him arrange it, you would have doubted it was even Hawks' bed. From the glimpses you had seen into his life, he was a minimalist.

His office at the agency was fairly large, but looked almost comical with the lack of furniture in it. He wasn't one to buy much of anything outside of perishables.

"Take those off."

You had heard that commanding tone many times before; but, in the peace and serenity of this cabin, it startled you. Your shoulders twitched a little and you turned to face him, having not heard Hawks approach.

His gold eyes were glaring at your body, shifting up to meet your gaze when you turned to face him.

You gawked back at him, dumbfounded by his boldness, and a little intrigued, if you were being honest. He had warned you about this, and you were about to comply when his dark expression suddenly softened.

"Oh fuck," Hawks blurted, embarrassment washing over his face. The intensity of the moment dissipated and you found yourself unable to hold back a faint smile at the way his face so rapidly changed from anger to shame.

"Shit - I - sorry - ugh," he stammered, some redness tinting the tops of his ears. His dominant hand came up and ruffled his hair. "That was messed up. Ah - what I mean is, can we sleep naked?"

It was clear he wasn't embarrassed about the request, but the way that he had asked. You couldn't hold back a soft chuckle at his frazzled state.

"Of course," you uttered, and began shedding your clothes.

He was staring at your nudity as if it wasn't something he had seen many times before, as if his hands and mouth hadn't explored every inch of skin, hadn't touched and claimed parts of you your own hands couldn't reach.

It made you feel powerful, beautiful.

"Did you brush your teeth?" you asked, knocking him out of his stupor.

He didn't respond, but made a face that gave you your answer. He turned away then, and hopped over the edge of the loft, floating down into the lower floor, and scurried off to the bathroom.

Promptly, you disappeared beneath the blankets, shivering from the cold, skin prickled with goosebumps. You were about to scold yourself for complying with him so eagerly, without demanding a compromise, mainly that you expected him to warm you up.

Luckily, it didn't take him long to join you, and you suddenly felt a very warm, and very naked, body slot into the space behind you, wiggling beneath the blankets. It was almost concerning how warm he was, like he had just flung himself into the hearth before running back over here.

You rolled onto your back to greet him and Hawks wasted no time slotting over you, tangling legs, arms falling on either side of your head. Wispy bangs fell over his forehead, longer strands catching on his eyebrows.

Your eyes peered over his shoulders, where you could see his wings were fanned out above him, plumes stretched wide, looming possessively. When your gaze shifted to his face, your breath hitched.

His stare was hypnotizing, as if he couldn't believe you were here, gold eyes practically glowing in the dimly lit loft.

It made you sad to think just your presence alone had pleased him so much, whereas nothing else had yet to occur. It made you think of all the years he had to endure this alone, the loneliness far more straining than the lack of a pliant body.

"Hey," he began, voice hoarse, distant.

His dominant hand shifted from the bed to cup your cheek, thumb gently prodding at your cheek bone. Just like the rest of his body, his hand was so warm.

"I know I said I wouldn't let you leave," he explained, fingers sliding carefully across your temple. "But, if you want to, at any time, I'll call the taxi and-"

You leaned up, taking his lips in a gentle kiss to silence him. He moaned into the kiss, clearly surprised by your interruption. His hand departed your face, lowering to caress the side of your neck.

When you pulled back, he chased, not letting you depart from him quite so quickly. The kiss carried on for a short while, Hawks only leaning back when he was satisfied.

"No," you disagreed in a soft hum, hands rising to push strands of his hair out of his face. "I'm not leaving. We're going through this together. Okay?"

He let out a sigh that fluttered across your cheeks. "Okay," he agreed, as if he couldn't believe it.

Hawks shifted until he was lying beside you, one arm loose around your waist. You turned a little to lay on your side and lean into him, cheek falling comfortably into the pillow beneath your head, and felt him nuzzle into your back, bringing you as close as he could without ruining your comfort.

One of his wings folded carefully over you while the other sprawled out across the bed. The light from the fire just barely reached the loft, an amber glow that flickered with the dancing flames.

The sounds of the gentle snowfall outside was a little louder upstairs. One of the nearby windows rattled softly, trembling weakly from the breeze that shook the shutters. The rafters above creaked occasionally in melodic hums.

Behind you, Hawks' chest undulated with his breathing, moving against the skin of your back. His wings shifted ever so slightly in harmony with the expansion and shrinking of his lungs. The longer plumes on the ends twitched occasionally.

"Keigo?" you whispered.

He didn't answer. Judging by the way his arm had slackened where it rested over your waist, you figured he had fallen asleep already.

The bedding was soft, and you had no doubt that he had washed them diligently; yet, mingled with the earthy tones of the cabin, they smelt like him. The hearth crackled distantly, the sound a faint echo through the cabin.

It didn't take long to slip away.

• • •

Sometime in the middle of the night, you were woken by a strange sound. In your groggy state, it sounded like a distant animal cooing into the night.

Once you properly came to, you realized the warmth against your back had retreated. The blanket had been partially ripped away in the process, leaving the skin of your back exposed to the cold air of the cabin.

What had sounded far away you now realized was coming from right behind you, pained little noises and harsh wheezing. You rolled over to take in the sight of Hawks, blindly reaching for him in a moment of panic.

Worry struck you when your skin touched his. He had already been warm to the touch before; but now, his skin felt scorching, sticky with sweat. Your hand had landed on his chest, where you could feel his muscles rapidly rising and falling with each staggering breath.

The noise that had woken you became obvious then; he was panting, sharp and labored breaths that whooshed in and out of him, occasionally accompanied with a quiet, pained sound.

He had shoved the blankets away and was laying on his back, wings tucked in uncomfortably tight beneath him. Through the faint glow of warm light from the fireplace, you could see his chest raising and falling rapidly, head tossed back, face contorted in pain. Some strands of blonde locks were clinging to the sweat soaked skin on his face.

"Keigo - Keigo," you called to him, hands rising to his shoulders so you could shake him.

It wasn't until he jerked suddenly, eyes opening and head whipping towards you, that you realized he had been sleeping. His labored breathing intensified, but only for a second, before he started to calm down.

His gold eyes were glossy for a second, staring at you blindly, before he started to wake properly. His lips were parted, sharp breaths still escaping him in harsh wisps.

"Are you okay?" you whispered harshly. "Are you sick? You look-..."

You could see a bead of sweat rolling down his temple. Now, with him leaning up a little, you could see the flush of red tinting his skin, all down his chest and across his cheeks. His shoulder muscles were tight and his wings twitched helplessly beneath him.

"I'm f-fine," Hawks answered, voice low and hoarse. He swallowed roughly. "It's - it's a n-normal side effect."

"You're burning up," you hissed, hands touching his skin so carefully, like you would hurt him if you were too rough. "Are you sure you're okay?" you insisted.

"Just need-" he growled, cutting off as he tried to sit up.

His movement had repositioned your hands, causing them to drag from his shoulders to his chest, less you lose stability and collapse on top of him.

It was a familiar touch, a place you had touched him many times before; yet, he froze suddenly, gaze shifting down to your hands as if they were grounding him to this plane of existence.

Hawks' gold eyes fluttered shut and his pained expression softened. He flopped back on the bed, giving up his attempt to sit up as if he had suddenly lost all strength in his body.

Catching on, you uttered into the cold air, "is that what you need? Keigo, do you want me to-"

"Yes," he answered sharply, hissing through the cold, chilled air. He sounded relieved, thankful that you had offered before he had to ask.

"God, fuck - I - I need you, need to - to - be inside you-"

His babbling briefly ceased when you pushed the blankets off yourself and rolled on top of him, a gesture you had done many times before, now a nearly perfect art.

You watched, hypnotized as Hawks arched his back off the bed and flexed his wings until they were sprawled out on either side of him. The beautiful crimson plumes stretched out across the sheets, shuddering in faint waves that matched his heavy breathings.

In the shift, his cock became pinned against your inner thigh. If you didn't known any better, you would have thought he was prodding you with an iron rod pulled straight from the fires of a forge.

It was unbearably hot, hard as steel and painfully poking against your flesh. You could feel his heartbeat through his cock, throbbing against you as if pleading to be touched.

Arousal had never struck you this hard before, with enough force that it made your never regions throb and chest tighten. Blood rushed to your face so quickly, you briefly feared you would pass out.

Now, hovering, looking down at him, it was almost unbearable. It was clear that Hawks was in pain, and you felt a tinge of guilt at the realization that his state had aroused you.

But, the truth was, he looked stunning.

Maybe it was the red flush staining his skin, or the glisten of sweat, shiny with the reflection of the fire burning in the hearth. Maybe it was the way his gold eyes practically glowed through the darkness, staring up at you like a starving predator, glaring with dangerous intent.

Some sort of inhuman growl escaped him and Hawks grabbed at your meaty hips, roughly pulling you forward. It didn't take you long to figure out what he was doing; but, your attempts to aid were waisted, for he simply dragged you down to his liking, until the heat of your sex collided with his face ungracefully.

The first thing you registered was his mouth kissing sloppily at your sex. His tongue followed, lapping at your folds impatiently before breaching your heat. Hawks was always the kind to give sloppy oral; but, this was something else entirely.

He moaned shamelessly when his tongue registered your taste, hips rising off the bed as if attempting to chase a sensation that wasn't there.

Your hands fall onto the wall, and you tried to keep yourself up; but, he wasn't having it, growling and pulling you back down. It was difficult to not go dead weight when his tongue was lapping at your walls, mouth suctioned around your entrance like he was trying to suck juices from a ripe fruit.

One of your hands weaved through his hair, gently massaging his scalp in a praising gesture. It was difficult to get out sensible words. Instead, you moaned broken pieces of his name, thighs trembling on either side of his head.

You had no idea how much time had passed before he seemed satisfied and finally lifted you up enough to remove his mouth. The wet gasp that escaped him, suggesting he had been holding his breath, riddled you with shameful lust.

"You made a mess," Hawks observed deliriously.

He sounded immensely pleased with himself and even leaned in to take another taste, this time honing in on your pearl. You felt more than heard his pleased chuckle when you whined at the sudden touch.

This time, when he pulled away, he let you retreat. As you shimmied down his body, you caught him wiping your essence off his face with a careful finger before popping it in his mouth.

Hawks' skin was still flushed red, all the way up to his ears; but, now, he looked damn smug to top it all off. You couldn't see the look you were wearing, but you knew by the heat on your face that it was lewd.

The cold of the cabin had been lost to you, especially when you positioned your hips over his and felt the head of his cock nuzzle at your entrance, threatening to breach your core.

Hawks' head fell back into the sheets with a whine, eyes squeezing shut. Tantalized by the sight, you intended to tease him a little; however, he nudged his hips forward with a sudden jerk, effortlessly impaling you on his cock, and taking that opportunity away.

"Ohhh, fuck!" Hawks shouted before sucking his bottom lip beneath his teeth. He released it after letting out a low hiss.

You closed your own eyes for a moment, adjusting to the sudden intrusion of his impressive girth, and felt his hands slowly slide up your thighs into the dips of your hips, slotting over a spot he had practically engraved for himself ever since this began.

When your eyes opened, you looked down and took in the deliriously beautiful look on his face. His thumbs nudged your hip bones pleadingly and his eyes opened, peering up at you through dark lashes.

Forgoing any thoughts about teasing, you planted your hands on his chest and rolled your hips. The motion punched a whine out of him. The sound drawled out into a growl when you kept the rhythm, chasing your own pleasure.

"Yeah," he hummed encouragingly. "Come on. Use me. Fuck yourself on my cock. Just like - ahh - fuck..."

You hardly needed the encouragement; but, the dirty words spewing from his lips further ignited the heat in your belly, and you whined in response.

He could have easily pulled your hips down to intensify the moment. Instead, he lifted his hips off the bed to meet yours, effortlessly matching your movement and chasing the delicious warmth and wetness of your core, while letting his hands hold you gently.

"Baby, do you feel good?" Hawks uttered lowly, his pleading question gently breaking through the moment.

"Y-ye-s, Kei - go," you sobbed, stuttering out your response and groaning halfway through his name.

It was always good; but, something about this moment made it more intense than ever before. You could already feel the sensation rising, thighs trembling every time his cock slid back inside, hitting the perfect spot again and again.

"Yeah?" he hummed, sounding so breathless and fucked out, despite you having just barely begun. "You feel good, so fucking good," he praised between labored pants and low moans.

"You're so fucking good to me," Hawks babbled on, head falling back into the sheets, where he closed his eyes. You watched his adam's apple bob, noticed how tight his jaw was clenched.

A growl vibrated through his chest, followed by a breathless sympathy of curses, "oh fuck - oh fuck. Come on, fuck my cock - yeah - ahhh. Ya' hear that? Those sounds. God, you're so f-fucking perfect."

Your union was loud, skin slapping together and wet, fleshy sounds echoing between the two of you.

His dominant hand released your hip and slid around, thumb prodding between your folds and seeking out your pearl. You were already so sensitive, feeling him so deep, teetering on the edge. When his calloused skin touched that spot, you let out a cry.

"Come on this cock," Hawks groaned. "Sooo close - f-fuck. Come on. Come for me. Fucking come. Gonna fill you up. You want that? My seed. Yeah you fucking d-hnn-"

His babbling ceased when your orgasm took you, the sudden spasms and fluttering of your walls making all sensible thoughts drain from his mind.

His hand returned to your hip, fingers gripping your waist, and he started roughly dragging you up and down to meet his thrusts. You went limp, letting him bounce you on his cock to your liking. Your hands slipped off his chest and you fell onto him, forehead knocking gently against his cheek.

You could hear him huffing and grunting, the occasional growl seeping through, right into your ear as he fucked you through your orgasm, and continued on, chasing his end.

His cock throbbed, firmly enough that you felt it and the sensation startled you a little; but, that thought was lost when he let out an uncharacteristically loud shout, crying out in ecstasy.

Hawks had always been loud; but, this was something else entirely, and the moans and growls didn't stop, along with his undulating hips, for what felt like an eternity.

To top it all off, you could feel it, spurts of his seed, burning hot as it filled you. In the corner of your eye, you could make out his feathers, each and every one trembling beneath him.

Then, finally, he went still.

Hawks' panting filled the room, almost loud enough to drown out the crackling of the fireplace. Even after his panting died down, he let out quiet groans, his orgasm having not yet waned in full.

Eventually, he turned his head and pressed a wet kiss against your cheek. You turned your head to meet him, at first catching the corner of his mouth before he angled his head to kiss you properly.

You could practically feel the praises behind each kiss, thank you's and love pouring from his mouth to yours in a nonverbal gesture. His hands ran up and down your back, massaging your skin but also ensuring that you didn't move and he remained deep inside you.

When he finally released your lips, you busied your hands with his wild mane, gently pushing strands away from his face. He seemed to like the preening, letting his eyes flutter shut and head fall back.

You didn't have to ask if he was feeling better. His all-body, harsh red blush had mellowed out and he wasn't panting like a parched dog.

You hadn't realized you were still trembling until he uttered, "it's okay," in a soothing, worried voice.

His hands shifted to your thighs, where he carefully pushed them back and rolled you onto your side, keeping his cock nuzzled deep. His arms wound around your back, bringing you into an embrace while his wings stretched out behind him before sagging comfortably to the bed.

You realized, as he brought you in, that you were still shaking a little. The worry was evident in his eyes, like he had done something wrong.

"D-do you want me to pull out?" he offered in a weak voice.

"It's not that," you replied softly. "That was... intense."

When your eyes locked with his gold orbs, and he took in the sight of your expression, it seemed to steadily become clear to him, what you were feeling. His lips sought our your skin, senselessly kissing whatever he could reach, all over your cheeks, down your chin and along the expansion of your throat.

Hawks’ head fell onto the pillow and his wispy blonde hair tangled with yours. The unease began to fade away as he held you close, bringing the blanket back over your forms when his intense heat finally started to wane. So did the spell, and something concerning struck him.

"Please, tell me if it gets too intense," Hawks uttered, breath fluttering out against your temple. “I’ll-...”

He cut himself because he wasn’t quite what he would do, what he could do. Could he stop? In this moment of clear thoughts, he sure hoped so. But, part of him feared that wasn’t true, and the last thing he wanted was to lie to you about what he was capable of.

You had figured that he had yet to hit the apex of his rut. Yet, his warnings hadn't frightened you in the slightest, especially after what had just occurred. If anything, you were enticed by it. Maybe, in some strange way, it was affecting you to.

"I can handle you," you promised.

You felt more so than heard the uneasy breath that stuttered out his nostrils. Your words stirred something deep in his gut, overcoming the fear, burning arousal and adoration.

#takami keigo x reader #takami keigo smut #takami keigo x you #hawks x reader #hawks smut #takami keigo fanfiction

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forgivenpunishment · 5 months ago

Text

Somehow, Nick manages to pull himself together before they begin to run. Seeing such a visceral, emotional reaction from Vash is almost uncanny. They'd been so relaxed just hours before, and now... for this to have powered and supplied their vacation...

The flashing emergency lamps light the way to an emergency exit—which Wolfwood is thankful for, since taking the back door will make them less likely to be spotted than leaving through the main entry.

...Before they make it to the elevator though, Nick spots something that he really wishes he... hadn't.

He only pauses briefly enough to take it in, this... storage room, of some kind. It appears this is where the backup power is supplied from, along with several more hybrid Plants. All three of them look entirely different from each other, save for the cracking skin, exposed ribs, feathers, and pulsing heart.

They're... manufacturing these.

These aren't clones, man-made human-like creations—they're people. Average people. Everyday people. Like they've been grabbed off the sidewalk, people. They look... fresher... than the first one had been before perishing, but Nick assumes it's because they're mostly inert.

Not wanting to spend any more of his brain-space observing these disturbing hybrids, he catches up with Vash as they make their way to a small elevator.

"Yeah. I know who's responsible too," he agrees, unsure if Vash is aware of how well-acquainted Wolfwood is with the Doctor. Any Wolfwood, he assumes. Maybe it never came up. "Same guy that made me a monster, I'd bet all my money on it."

But if this is the norm... then the responsibility no longer lies with just him. The status quo is an ugly reality, and Nick can only hope that there are people on this planet that are fully aware of how deep this rabbit hole goes. The televised news programs they watched here never mentioned anything about it, so...

... There was a special on TV one night about the special bond between Plants and SEEDS scientists. It had mentioned Plants as angels, churches dedicated to them, even Plants that bore life-saving cherubs to bring life back to forlorn angels. Something about the bond between parent and child strengthening the Plant again.

One such cherub, now grown, is said to roam the wilderness, blessing the land so that more humans can settle. It sounded very culty, like something that didn't belong on a common channel. Like something you'd hear if you tuned into that one radio station... preaching about the angels...

As they gather their belongings, a loud silence grows—a heavy conversation gathering like water onto a tarp. Somehow, they manage to converge with the rest of the evacuating crowd, lowering suspicion—besides the... red coat and massive cross, that is. But that's normal suspicion.

Once he's able to, Nick checks the both of them out (the resort also gives him a small portion of his money back for the inconvenience), and they get the hell out of that place. He feels... dirty. The streetlights, the brightly lit signs, all the water... it's... it's probably not from a real Plant... is it?

"I... think there's a park nearby. We should sit down."

Sitting down is important. Talking can come later.

“Sorry…I’m sorry…We’re here. We hear you.”

Vash does not look away, even when the ear-splitting shrieks from the speaker make him wince. Whether his words or his Song falls on deaf ears, he does not know. All the same, he does not allow his markings to fade nor his notes wane. He keeps going despite the doubt growing and roiling in his gut.

Those lidless eyes almost seem aflame, peering at him as though they have borne witness to every last one of his many, many failures. Flesh falls away in chunks and liquefies into a gory soup of bones and feathers. Liver, kidneys, lungs. Vash watches as the major organs flare with light, blacken, then wither, curling this broken body in on itself until explosive energy jettisons the remains back out. Thousands of pale slivers of bone have embedded themselves into the walls and even the sickeningly red glow of hybridized energy wanes.

No life signs remain.

Vash squeezes his eyes shut, sending hot tears streaking down his face.

If not now, then within the week. The resort would have continued draining their lifeforce to the very last, and the suffering would have been that much greater. That does not change the fact that they pleaded against Death and begged for comfort, to hold the hand of a loved one as the end tore them apart atom by atom.

They did not want to die, and Vash determined death to be a mercy.

“Not yet.”

The calm in his voice is merely an illusion. When he opens his eyes again, Vash stops to briefly touch Wolfwood’s arm before hunting through the file archives. They don’t have much time before resort security comes knocking.

He looks and looks, spending precious seconds and fighting a growing sense of desperation combing through various directories for evidence of who they once were until he finds…nothing.

Not a name, not a number, not a single inkling of who this person used to be came here with them.

Drawing back his prosthetic arm, Vash punches through the screen in a flare of sparks and broken glass. He slams his closed fist down one more time as his tears fizzle out on the flickering display panel. Heaving as he leans over the broken console, Vash resists the wave of nausea that washes over him. His mouth tastes acidic. It’s familiar.

There’s no way Wolfwood is ignorant to Vash’s fine trembling beneath his hand.

“We can…we can go,” he pants, not looking the other man in the eye as they pull away from the lurid mess. Far away from here, wherever that may be.

What they discovered here is an implication of so much worse, and Vash is a shade paler than usual as they stumble past the malfunctioning doors. They have to get their things from their room, find the others, tell them what happened here, and then… He doesn’t know. He can barely think through the tangle of guilt tearing him up from the inside now, let alone what they will do next. What he would give now to numb his heart at the bottom of a bottle, just like back then.

Last moments continue to play out every time he closes his eyes.

“If all the same players are here, somewhere…” Vash barely wants to form the words as they hurry down the dark hallway and retrieve their scant belongings in the twilight hours. Nearly two centuries ago, he saw something hauntingly familiar. The handiwork of a man long dead in his own world; the hubris of a self-proclaimed man of science.

“I think I know who’s responsible.”

#[doomed by the narrative; world 7]#[and love you shall find; grace]

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kpopisthereasonihavenolife · 4 years ago

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Fury of Their Scales

m.yoongi / reader

genre: dragon!au, wyvern!yoongi, human/herbalist!reader,

warning(s)!!: isolation/alienation, mentions of war, injuries/blood/violence, dragon boy yoongles is stuck in a trap bc he’s dumb, y/n is so sO pure, protective dragon yoonyoon, villagers physically bully y/n a lot :(, unfair situations, y/n takes so much shit like a champ she deserves an award, dragon boy is a dragon for the first half of this (sorry, not sorry), don’t be scared there's actual humor and wholesome stuff too :D, slow burn (kinda)?

w.count: 17.7k

Series | One-shot | Two-shot | Drabble | [Rated: T]

synopsis: a world of dragons, demons, devils, gods and ghouls- humans were of small number. you’ve lived on the outskirts of your human village in the woods ever since you could remember. living alone in a small cabin with nothing but woodland trees, ponds, lakes and animals was like a small paradise- with the occasional bump in the road. as someone who’s studied and experimented with nature to make all sorts of concoctions- your home was ideal. it didn’t matter that your village didn’t like it or that they rejected your life of medicine. what did matter, however, was the dragon stuck in a trap not too far from your home that you just discovered.

a/n: i literally haven’t sat down to write fanfiction in over a month bc my brain was fried and i got sucked balls deep into a fandom of an anime i dont even watch (yet). It took me three hours to edit this bc i pass tf out, pls be easy on me LOL

A shrill whine echoed through the woodland area. Bouncing off trees, echoing in caves, spooking off wildlife of rodents and critters that crept along the ground with far too many spindly legs. Rustling in the wind, entangling with the leaves that blew and then erupting when a campfire crackled, settling in it’s burning pit of wood and stone.

-x-x-x-

You shot awake in bed, the morning light peeking in through your bedroom window that was covered in a beginning to tear curtain. You breathed out a heavy sigh as you flopped back down onto your mattress that squeaked at your movement. You really should be getting a new bed sometime soon. This one was old and did nothing for your pressure points or back while you slept. What was the point of a good night rest when you wake up feeling like you just wrestled a bear and lost?

You looked at the small streaks of light that soaked into your wooden home as you closed your eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again before getting out of bed. You threw your covers off, your nightdress coming down to your knees as you started to stretch. Your arms reached above your head as you stifled a yawn.

You could hear the birds outside and from the way the sun angled into the room through the drapes, you assumed it was still fairly early. You hated that you could never seem to sleep until later into the morning, but you couldn’t help the fact that when you're up, you're up for the day unless you’re ill.

Walking to your window, you drew open the curtains and immediately shut your eyes. Peeling them open slowly in a squint, the morning light was brilliant until you finally adjusted to the sudden light difference. Letting the morning sun warm your room with sunspots, you started to change.

Tossing away your nightdress, you changed into your everyday- not at all flattering- attire.

A dress of a faded moss green skirt and a stretched, overly used leather corset around your waist that tucked around the white top half of your dress. Tying your hair back you slipped on some socks.

Leaving your room, you immediately dashed to your fire place where a kettle of day old water hung from the single hook inside the top of the pit. Striking a match, you ignited the wood that had not yet been completely burnt and noted to refill the kettle with fresh water later on- too lazy to do it right off the bat.

You walked around your small, cabin home jumping place to place with small tasks or chores that took a mere few seconds to complete to start your day off waiting for your kettle to whistle with hot water. When it finally did, you carefully took your kettle with a cloth wrapped around your hand and set it on your countertop. Grabbing a clay mug from your cupboard (that you made on your own to your pride), you dropped in a few leaves from a box of herbs you had and poured the steaming hot water over them.

“Alright,” you assured yourself as you left your kettle to cool off again. After a handful of minutes, you took your mug and sat yourself at your small table that was made for two- but only occupied by yourself. You lifted open your window and let out a breathy sigh at the fresh air. You placed a small plate of grain and food on the open window seal and soon enough, birds were flocking to it to grab something.

“Good morning you guys,” you chuckled as you basked in the small moment of peace before the day ahead. You weren’t sure how long you were sitting there in your spot of sunlight and birds with the occasional squirrel, but after the sun had shifted just enough to get you to notice, you deemed it long enough.

Getting up, you set your mug into your sink and took the plate that was previously filled on the widow as you walked to your door. Grabbing a white cloak to tie around your shoulders, a small gathering basket and placing a pair of worn down, brown boots on, you were leaving your home. Grabbing the key that hung on a nail beside the door, you locked your cabin door behind you and placed the key around your neck.

Taking a list from beneath the small cloth in your basket, you started reading aloud to none other than yourself. You kept yourself company, that’s the only way you stayed somewhat entertained in your lonesome cabin.

You lived on the outskirts of your village, having been born in this cabin and growing up in it even when your parents left you there as a child. You found out quickly how to grow and live independently and by now it was just second nature. Sure, you had your rough days of work and weather, but it was manageable. At least you didn’t have neighbors that stressed you out- only the occasional bird, bat or squirrel that got stuck in your chimney that you had to chase out.

“I need to find some goldenrod for sure,” you muttered. “I’ll need to make sure not to grab yarrow in its place; although, I guess it wouldn’t be all that bad if I did.” Your knowledge and interest in medicine was also another reason why you never branched further into the village as a person. All they did was ridicule you for not following the status quo. “I need honey too, but I’d have to go to the village for that unless some merchant runs into me while I’m out.” You sighed, “I doubt it. I’m never that lucky.”

You started your way off, passing by the small well in your front yard and bypassing the small station of firewood you had yet to cut and move. A pile of logs sat sliced into thirds under a tarp beside your front door. The hardest part of your life was building the muscle and stamina to cut your own firewood, not to mention swinging and actually hitting the wood with your axe instead of magnificently missing it and getting the blade stuck in the stump you used to chop on.

As you walked away from your cabin, the trees becoming thicker as you followed the dirt trail further into the woods, you started looking around. Scanning for any signs of any herb that you may want to snag along the search for the days main goal: goldenrod. You started off the path and began walking between trees and away from small holes from rabbits and moles so you don’t jeopardize your ankles and fall.

You were searching for a while as you were knelt into the grass, scanning leaves and flower petals to identify what was what when you thought you heard something. From somewhere beyond the trees, past the wall of foliage, you though you heard a sort of... whining? Or maybe howl?

A sense of deja-vu washed over you. Had you heard this whining somewhere before? Was it a wolf cub or maybe a bear? No, it sounded too rough to be either of those. A cry echoed after a moment of silence and then the whines from before returned shortly after.

A part of you wanted to forget about it and leave the area immediately. Something about the way it seemed to bend and mold the air around you with it’s unfamiliar cry made your skin crawl. However, the bigger part of your heart that knew that the cries you were hearing were cries for help made you think otherwise.

Rising to your feet, you tucked your basket to your side closer in a pitiful sense of self-comfort as you made your way towards the cries. The trees became less dense and soon you were approaching a small opening. You could hear the sounds of metal clanking together along with the loud cries and whines. Perhaps an animal had gotten snagged in a trap? If that were the case, you wondered if you should free it or not.

Although you felt bad for the animals in the moment, you knew that they were someone else's food source or something important to help somehow; whether it be a pelt for warmth or their claws for weaponry. You had no right to free an animal that wasn’t your prey- so you decided that if it was an animal you’d leave no matter how much your heart ached.

When you could see the clearing ahead, you slowed your footsteps and slowly crept up behind a tree to peer around it. As you did so, your breath caught in your throat as you gasped and slapped a hand over your mouth to keep from choking and making a sound. You spun around, nearly dropping your basket from your arm as you hid behind the tree you had peered around and pressed your back firmly to it’s trunk.

Your breath shuttered, shook, halted and repeated. You couldn’t remember how to breathe properly as you tried to be as quiet as possible. Around that tree trunk and indeed caught in a metal trap was no animal.

It was a dragon.

You racked your brain trying to be reasonable. Perhaps it was just a trick of the mind? A hallucination? Maybe the leaves you boiled earlier that morning were hallucinogenic and you were simply too careless about what you were brewing in your morning daze?

You peered one more time around the tree trunk to verify and your entire body ceased up again at the same dragon from the first time you saw it. You didn’t hide immediately this time. You stayed hidden, tucked away but examined the situation the best you could; even if every orifice of your body was telling you to run.

You weren’t too well versed on the dragon race, but this particular dragon you had read about before in a book once- but only briefly. A wyvern you think it was called.

The creature was large, as tall as the trees- one not quiet fully grown yet you imagined. Or maybe it was because the creature was folded in on itself, crouched to the ground as it tugged on it’s trapped legs- so it appeared smaller en masse.

A large bear trap had sunk it’s sharp metal teeth into the scaled leg of the mighty creature. With nowhere near enough space to try and fly away- trap attached or not- and no room to try and back away, shake it off or even break the chain that held the trap in place, the dragon was ultimately stuck in whining pain.

It’s scales were that of ashen red; the color of a fine blush, but rough to the texture like brick. It’s arms were large and folded inwards, the talons of one digging into the earth to steady itself and the other crawling at the trap futility. It’s long tail was curled around it’s back and the length of it disappeared behind the tree line where you suspected it was barbed at the end. It’s head was long, thin and had three horns- one on the end of its nose and two on either side of it’s head.

Needless to say, it was a wonder to witness. A dangerous wonder, but a wonder no less.

Dragons were a very rare sight around human territory. They hated the human race and for reasons that you couldn’t blame them for. Years ago, you had read about a war- if you could call it that- that took place between human and dragon.

The humans in their invincible high from all sorts of discoveries and conquering of other places had decided to set their sights on the dragons. If they could tame the mighty beasts of the skies and elements and use them as war creatures- the people would reign over all. That’s what they had assumed.

They had no idea just what they had signed themselves up for when they marched into Dragon Country. The doom that took place was instantaneous for the first brave and foolish group of marchers and it only got worse.

A group of nearly 400 men were slaughtered at the hands of just a few dragons who were the first to be approached as mere animals. Burned alive, crushed, eaten, slashed into ribbons- the humans stood no chance in hell.

Then, the dragon’s returned the favor. If the humans wanted war, so be it. The dragon race was smart, far smarter than the average genius human being. With magic on their side along with their mighty strength and numbers, they took to the Humanlands and burned it to the ground.

This pathetic war lasted no longer than a week and nearly one-third of the human population was blown away from the very beasts they had wanted to tame and use.

The two had long since left each other alone, no one wanting to repeat the past. Humans fear dragons due to the stories- that was unavoidable. However, dragons live long and hate even longer. They can hold a grudge longer than that of a devil or demon.

That is what shook you to your core as you gazed at this one single dragon caught in the woods of the Humanslands. Why was it so far from Dragon Country? Had it wandered here because of boredom? Perhaps it was banished by the king of dragons you had known about. Or maybe this dragon was just foolish. You weren’t sure and you less sure if you’d stick around long to find out.

The creature was a terror and the snarls and whines and cries that came from it were something that would surely haunt you in the middle of the night when you hear the wind howl. Regardless of that however, you felt pity for this dragon.

As of the moment, it had hurt no one and you had heard no word of any dragon attacks. It was just stuck, injured and helpless. Before you could muster up the conscience to quietly leave, you stepped forwards just an inch and knocked a small rock from its place on a tree root.

The dragon’s head whipped up, it’s sensitive nose finally catching a whiff of a different scent that wasn’t of Woodland descent now that it wasn’t as preoccupied with the stupid bear trap.

It’s black coal eyes narrowed as it’s mouth opened to show its rows of white fangs that could easily devour you. A violent shiver ran through your entire body as your eyes connected with its own. You were discovered and there was no going back down.

Swallowing the lump in your throat felt like a massive stone was lodged inside. You took a few more shaky steps forward, showing your entire body to the beast. It’s winged arms lifted in defensive as it’s head lowered; it’s chin becoming level with the ground and still growling. You could see plumes of steam coming from its mouth due to it’s hot breath.

It was clear this particular creature wanted nothing to do with you- a human- and you couldn’t blame it. You didn’t want to be here either. This situation could end with you getting killed, but your morality and ability to sympathize with the weak or injured was larger than the risk of your safety.

Lifting your arms to show you had nothing on you, you started to enter the small clearing.

“Easy,” you hushed softly as the dragon snapped it’s jaw just one time in warning. You gulped again, daring to take another stupid and foolish step. “I want to help,” you said. Earning another growl in response didn’t shock you.

It took several minutes, a handful of snaps to stay away, constant growls and steam filled breaths for you to even get within arms reach of the trap. You were sure that if you made one wrong move the creature would bite you in half- but you had to take a chance.

You think the dragon knew this too. You were the closest thing to an escape it would probably find that wasn’t going to go and tell other humans to capture or kill it. It would cooperate until it was free, you were sure of that- but after? You could only imagine.

It’s winged arms were around you, shading you from the sunlight that the tree’s didn’t cover as your fingers brushed the cool metal of the trap. As you eyed it you wondered why someone would make such a large trap in the first place. It seemed far too large and frankly a bit overkill for a just a bear trap.

You look over your shoulder to see the head of the dragon that was the size of your body staring down at you just above your head. You swallowed for the nth time that morning in nervousness.

“I’m going to try and release it,” you say. “It’s going to hurt.”

You carefully pulled the sleeves of your dress up as you curled your fingers around the thick metal teeth. The scales of the dragon were broken and destroyed as the trap dug into it’s reptilian-like skin.

Blood had already begun to stain the metal. The trap’s teeth were warm- warmer than the rest of the trap due to the dragon's blood being so much hotter than an average animal or human. It’s hot, like steamed bathwater, and it steamed the metal to warm your hands almost uncomfortably.

You took a breath before you started to pull your arms away, fingers aching from pulling on the teeth to try and open the trap. You had been thankful in the moment that you did indeed chop your own firewood because it built up some bit of muscle in the grand scheme of things. The trap began to give and slowly creaked open bit by bit. The dragon’s coal black eyes widened a fraction as it started to wriggle it’s leg.

“Stop moving,” you hissed instinctively. If it thrashed too much, you could loose your grip and then it would just clamp down on it’s leg again. With a whining and grunting mixture of sounds, you soon pried it open enough to where you were almost certain the creature could free itself. “Okay,” you huffed in endurance as you held it open, “move!”

The dragon was quick to rip it’s leg out of the trap and send it, and you, off the ground. The rapid motion tore you away from the trap, the metal scratching your fingers as you fell to your ass and then onto your back in the dirt as the trap snapped shut again away from you. It fell to the Woodland floors empty and bloody as you hissed on your back.

You pain and breathlessness were soon replaced by fear and anxiety when you felt the dragon you had just freed hover over you. It’s taloned, long, winged arms were on other side of your body and it’s hind legs- one of them being the proffered injured one that still bled over it’s brick colored scales- were perched like it was ready to pounce.

It’s nostrils were hovering above your chin as it’s eyes bore dangerously into your own.

This was it. You were going to die, you were almost certain of it now.

The dragon huffed as it opened its mouth. Small licks of fire fanned across it’s tongue in the dark cavern of it’s fang lined mouth and steam pushed from it’s nostrils like a chimney that hadn’t been opened to let out the smoke of the fire in it’s hearth.

You were petrified, frozen in fear and weren’t even capable of breathing. All of your senses were focused on the threat of death inches away from you and you knew that no one would know that you died. No one would find it odd that you weren’t in the village like you were every few weeks or so. They wouldn't find it strange that your cabin was abandoned. And you were certain that they would not conduct a search for you- you didn’t matter to them in the long run.

You were going to die and you were going to do so alone and your body would stay alone until the earth reclaimed it in it’s soil.

The dragon only then opened its mouth further, roared into your face and then sprung off you. It plunged into the tree line, knocking down and busting through the trees and tearing up the soil beneath its claws and talons as it escaped. Running from you and leaving you alive.

“What,” you breathed as you soon let out a strong, almost painful, burst of air that had been held and contained in your chest. Your heart beat strong like it would burst straight from your chest into the sky. You weren’t sure how long you lay in the dirt just trying to regain control of your body that had been previously paralyzed.

When you did manage to pick yourself up- albeit pathetically- you grabbed your discarded basket once again and rushed home.

“No more outside,” you declared to yourself in the clearing of trees and the one bloody trap left behind.

-x-x-x-

Despite the events of the day behind you, once your heart calmed itself and you were able to finally rationally think again instead of assuming you were at death’s door, your mind would flutter back to the dragon and it’s injury.

As you carried in buckets of water from your well or logs of wood for your fireplace, you worried. You felt silly worrying over such a mighty and strong being, but you couldn't stop that cloud from covering your mind. You wondered how it was doing or if it made its way out of the Woodlands- only briefly thinking about the damaged and torn or uprooted trees in its wake.

You went to bed that night far earlier than usual. The blanket of black had not yet completely enveloped the sky of deep orange and red. However, maybe the early bedtime hadn’t been a bad idea, considering you were awoken in the middle of the night anyway.

It was a small noise in the distance. A sound like the padding of paws of a dog running on wood or horse clops on cobblestone. Small and forgettable, but almost irritating and grinding on the nerves of the listener.

Crawling out of bed almost at zero energy levels from your previous encounters, you shook your head to try and shake the sleepiness away. Trudging to your door, you cracked it open to try and see if it was some foxes scraping in the glory of midnight or maybe some critter getting into trouble. Instead, when your door opened, the sounds of an eerily familiar growl filtered through the air.

All tiredness from before flew away as you shut the door harshly and grabbed your cloak to throw over your nightdress. You rushed to your table to grab your glass covered lantern and lit it before blowing out the match and tossing it. Going back to your door you threw it open again and ran out of it. You didn’t even bother locking it, the key still hanging on it’s key as it flopped against the wall from the air of the forcefully shut door.

You ran through the woods, trying your best not to trip on any rocks or sticks. You let out an occasional wince from your bare feet scraping too hard on the dirt or catching on the rough end of a stone. You were going down hill when you saw in the shadows a series of trees uprooted or knocked in two with claw marks on the trunks.

You tried skidding to a stop when the hill started to level out steadily, but there was a fat chance of that happening. You threw open your arms and snagged a tree trunk to forcefully stop yourself from going further. Your legs flew out in front of you far too dramatically for a spontaneous run in the woodlands at midnight as your lantern nearly flew out of your grasp.

You huffed as you heard the same growls you had heard before echo around you. You could hardly see, but you could tell the outline of the dragon in the darkness. You looked around as your lantern had lost it’s flame.

You dug in the pocket you had sewn into your nightdress and struck another match, lighting it again as the fire dimly lit up your face. You were now fully aware you were seen- even though you knew it already to begin with.

The dragon had previously been nipping and lapping at it’s wound with it’s split tongue before you had interrupted it’s silence.

“I knew it,” you whispered as you saw the same dragon from before. You slowly approached it, somehow feeling a little more confident than earlier even though it still growled at you. “Hey,” you soothe, “you know me. Just let me see,” you said as you walked around it’s curled body to it’s injured leg. Lifting your lantern up to see better, you weren’t shocked to see the scales still wet with troves of blood. Just how much blood did dragons have?

If a human bled this much for this long, you were sure they’d be long dead by now.

You carefully set your lantern aside and worked around your neck to remove your white cloak from your shoulders. “Hold still,” you instructed as you started to rather sloppily wrap the wound. You couldn’t let it just keep bleeding and it wasn’t like you had anything else to try and wrap it in- you’d just have to sew a new cloak or buy a new one in the village.

You didn’t even take the time to be shocked that the dragon once again let you do as you pleased in aiding it’s unfortunate situation. In fact, it was silent. There was no growling or snarling, just the sound of hissing when you brushed against the wound or wrapped your cloak around it too tight.

When you finished, you almost pouted at the sight of your cloak already starting to dot with the dragon’s hot blood seeping through the fabric. A loss, yes, but you felt like it was worth it from the relief you felt in your chest at the dragon’s ease of tension.

“If you stay put,” you started, grabbing your lantern again and looking up at the dark eyes of the dragon you were becoming almost familiar with, “I can come back in the morning with something to help you.” The dragon showed no sign of obeying or denying you and you weren’t going to stick around and press the issue.

At the end of the day, it could still very well tear you apart.

You soon left the dragon’s side, the fire of your lantern lighting your way back home. You’d come back just as you said you would and if the dragon was still there, then you’d try and help further so that it can eventually go back home. Even you knew that it had a home somewhere and you were sure that home was missed to some degree.

When you returned to your cabin, you breathed a small sigh of relief when you saw that in your haste of not locking your door behind you- no nightcrawler had snuck in and wrecked your home or stole anything. You walked inside, shutting and tightly locking up behind you as you set your lantern on your table.

Wincing at your sore feet, you wrapped them in cloth and a paste of herbs you had in a jar to help soothe aches and pain before you tucked yourself back into bed. Hopefully, you could stay asleep until the sun rises this time.

-x-x-x-

You were pleased to see that when you opened your eyes again, you could hear the birds and see the sunlight of what looked like late morning. At least you managed to get some decent sleep- although you weren’t all too surprised looking back on the last 24 hours. A lot had happened and to say it was taxing was an understatement.

You were slow moving this morning; another thing you weren’t shocked about.

Trudging around your cabin, you walked around in your nightdress gathering small jars of salves and ointments that could be useful to the dragon in the woods that may or may not still be there with your- no doubt- beyond salvaging cloak.

When you finally got changed, you threw on a dress of a fairly unflattering shade of brown since you may be kneeling on the ground or thrown into the dirt again from the dragon. You wrapped up a new layer of paste for your still sore feet before pulling them into your boots. You grabbed your basket with your half-hazardly thrown together first aid treatments and left your cabin- actually locking the door this time.

It was all a blur on what direction you rushed to last night in your sleepy, adrenaline pumped haze, but you were able to clearly see where your footsteps pressed into the soil. Following your own trail, you carefully descended the hill you flew down the night before and when it all leveled out, you smiled at seeing the dragon sleeping peacefully in the same spot you left it.

“Good,” you breathed happily. You were glad it stayed put- whether it was because you asked or not didn’t matter. You would be able to help more now and nothing filled your chest with more glee than being of use to someone, or rather something in this way. Healing was your passion after all.

You slowly padded up to the sleeping dragon and decided against working on it while it slept. It could spring to life and attack you out of instinct for all you knew. You sat a good distance from its body and in view of it’s line sight for when it woke up you wouldn’t be hidden. You sat on the ground, you're back against the trunk of a tree as you started digging around your basket for the folded and wrapped up herbs you had.

You weren’t sure how long you sat in the tree shaded morning sun plucking, grinding and mixing different herbs together in a cloth draw pouched you had with you. Eventually you started to hear groans from the dragon ahead of you. You figured that if the first thing the creature sees when waking up was you staring at it, then you’d push away any future idea of treating its leg. So, you kept yourself occupied with your herbs until it made a noise of awareness.

A handful of minutes pass when you feel a warm wind push towards you. Instinctively, you look up to see the dragon’s dark eyes looking at you. You smile at the mighty beast, the polar opposite of yesterday’s fear stricken paralysis.

You finished grinding a handful of mint smelling herbs between your palms to sprinkle into an oil you had with you as you swashed it around in it’s cork plugged jar. It was odd, doing your everyday tasks with a dragon for an audience.

When you finished, you stood up after placing the jar back under the cloth of your basket and brushed off your dress’s skirt. You fumbled around to grab the small oval container of salve before you started to approach the dragon.

It didn’t growl and it didn’t snarl. It extended it’s winged arms as it’s head dropped to the ground and it’s leg that was wound with your cloak that was now a deep shade of red was pushed out further for you to inspect. You didn’t want to let it get to your head that maybe, just maybe, this dragon was learning to trust you.

You knew that dragon’s had to have good instincts, so maybe it just realized that you weren’t a threat.

You carefully unwound your awfully tied cloak as you tossed it to the ground in a heap. You were glad to see that the hot blood that had been continuously seeping through brick red scales had finally stopped. You twisted open the container and began to smear the salve over and between the thick scales to the broken skin beneath.

You had expected them to be cooler to the touch like a lizard’s skin, but the scales and skin of the beast was warm like a freshly doused warm towel.

The dragon let you work in peace as it watched you without disruptions or growls. It didn’t even twitch if you touched a particularly pain-sensitive area.

When you finished, you placed the cap back over the salve and looked up at the dragon to address it. “The bleeding looks to be done, but we should cover it with something.” You looked down at your soiled cloak. “We can’t reuse that, it’s already used and we can’t put dried blood back on a wound.” You started to walk away to your basket to place the salve back and maybe take your cloth in your basket to try and at least tuck it into it’s scales or something when something snagged your dress skirt.

Yelping, you spun around and took a moment to process that the dragon had moved it’s winged talon to step on your dress to keep you from moving. Looking up to its face, you saw it looked at you with a calm expression flitting through its eyes and it shook its head.

“What?” You asked more to yourself than the dragon. “You don’t want it to be wrapped?” The dragon only moved it’s head back to look at it’s leg before lifting it’s arm back up and freeing you. You trotted back to the dragon’s leg and squinted at it like he was trying to tell you to.

You gasped at seeing how the wound already looked way better than it had just twenty minutes ago. You saw the damaged scales start to repair themselves as the skin below it’s scaled armor pulled itself back together and became covered again. You looked back to the dragon’s face, relief evident in your expression as you breathed out a sigh of happiness with a hand on your chest like a weight had been lifted off you.

“Oh, thank goodness. I’m glad that the rumors of a dragon’s healing potential are true at least.” You went back to your basket, dropping the container of salve inside as you lifted it back into your arms. “I’m going to be on my way then,” you said. You felt a little bad for leaving so soon, but you had hardly gotten anything down yesterday because of your meeting with the beast, so you were already behind on your own personal tasks.

You still needed to find some goldenrod and if you were honest, plucking some stuff to replace the amount of salve you used on the dragon’s leg wouldn’t be so bad either.

As you left into the thick Woodland, you couldn’t help but feel like you were being watched. You peered over your shoulder several times and from somewhere you could almost tell that the dragon was watching you from beyond the trees. Dragons had eyesight far stronger than human eyes, so when you felt a stare on your back, you didn’t doubt it.

It was obvious that it couldn’t travel through the Woodlands like you could without plowing down trees in its wake and it wasn’t exactly spacious enough to spread its wings and take off in this section of the woods.

When you left a location you could feel the eyes following you and even heard stomping in the distance of the dragon moving so it could keep you in it’s sights. You wondered briefly why it would be following you around if not for it wanting to eat you, but you just shrugged it off.

It was just past midday when you had finally started to depart back to your cabin. As you unloaded your basket inside your cabin and began to put everything away, you went back outside to gather a bucket of water from your well and you nearly jumped out of your skin from the sounds rustling behind your home.

If the glimpse of horns and wings was anything to go by, you knew that the dragon had somehow squeezed around the trees and followed you back to your cabin. Even closer to human territory. You crept around the cabin and met the dragon face to face for yet another time as you just smiled at it. It seemed relaxed and at ease to your surprise.

“Are you going to follow me around now?” You playfully asked as all it did was let out a small huff. “I know you can understand me,” you teased as you looked it up and down. You felt bad mentally referred to it as ‘it’ all this time, but you had no idea how to tell what this wyvern was. “If you’re going to follow me around girl-” your sentence was stopped short at a small growl. You perched your brow up at the dragon as it glared down at you. “Boy?” You corrected as the unpleasant look left his eyes.

You ticked your head a bit, nodding to yourself.

“Okay, that settles that.”

Throughout your day, you had the company of a dragon sitting in your yard watching you work. When you were inside, you kept the front door propped open with a piece of wood at the bottom and the windows were open so the dragon could still see you and you could still talk to him.

You rambled- a lot. It felt silly to be having a one-sided conversation with a dragon, but you couldn’t help it. You didn’t want him to feel left out- as odd as it was to say in terms of the beast- so you talked about a lot of things. Your hobbies, the process of making an ointment or what herbs to crush and mix with something to get the smell of berries. How you cooked and what it was; you even offered him a loaf of bread; he denied it (which you were glad for because that would have been an expensive sacrifice).

“I actually live here alone,” you speak aloud from the inside of your house so he could hear you through the open window his head rested next to on the ground outside. “I’ve lived here all my life practicing medicine and plants. I take care of myself decently well considering I live in the Woodlands.” You paused, mixing some broth with a pot of steamed vegetables and spices you had been boiling. “My village doesn’t exactly like me or my studies all that much, so my life here works out in the long run.”

You wondered if he found your babbling annoying since he was just stuck listening to you ramble on about whatever came to mind to keep him somewhat entertained. Spilling your life story wasn’t a thrilling tale, but it was a silence filler. You figured he didn’t mind as much as you may think since he stuck around.

When the day was ending, he made a sound of disgruntled groaning that wasn’t exactly a growl, but a sound of attention. He was apparently announcing his departure. You waved the dragon off through the open window as he left back into the Woodlands and you assumed that this would be the final time you met him.

You would be wrong.

Because that following day as the sun was high at just past midday, there he was again. Steadily, he was visiting you often and he became a normal part of your life.

-x-x-x-

“Hey, Suga,” you called when the dragon came into view from your window as you read in the morning light. You had started calling him by the name weeks ago when you caught him sniffing through your window at whatever you were baking at the time and accidentally sucked a bag of sugar up his nostril. You would have called him Sugar, but he just growled at the soft sounding name, so removing the R was the best deal you could cut him. He didn’t indicate what his name actually was, but you couldn’t just keep calling him ‘dragon’ or ‘wyvern’.

You had some decency.

You shut your book, setting it in the open window as you got up and made your way out. The leg that had been injured weeks ago had healed like it wasn’t hurt in the first place. No scar left behind and no scale left tarnished- it pleased you in all honesty.

Walking to him, he lowered his head to the ground with a small sigh through his nostrils as you brought you hand to run along the scales of his nose and head. It was like having a giant lizard fawn over your touch- or rather that was exactly what it was.

“Good morning, I haven’t seen you in a few days. Did you have a safe trip?” You asked as he just let out a small swooned dragon sound. You had gotten good at deciphering what his sounds and noises meant to a certain degree.

You had noted that every so often he would disappear for days on end and then return- be it a few days to a week or more later. He would travel to Dragon Country and then return to check and visit with you, or so you highly assumed. You knew that was his country and his home, so it was no shock to you that he went back. The shock was that he kept coming back to your cabin in the Woodlands.

You had read dragons were loyal, but this was astonishing. If regular visits with a mighty dragon was your reward for treating and freeing him from a trap, you had no regrets in doing so.

You stopped your ministrations on his head as you turned to go check off whatever chore you had left to do this morning off your to-do list when you felt his nose push into your back. Shoving you playfully forwards, you stumbled on your feet as you turned around with a playful smile and lifted brows.

“Oh you wanna play that way, huh?” You riled as he just huffed steam into your face. Your hair and dress whipped behind you as you just scoffed and jumped at him. The dragon shot to it’s legs and winged talons, skillfully dodging your puny, human lunges.

When you snagged your foot on your dress skirt and was ready to take a tumbling, ungraceful fall to eat dirt, his nose shot under you and caught you before you even made it close to the ground. Hooking your wasit with his horn, he nudged you back up to your feet as you just laughed at him and stroked his nose once again in gleeful thanks.

Suga almost purred- if dragon’s could ever.

As you spent your day with your companion, the sky started to tell you that night was coming and Suga’s departure once again was near. You were out in the yard, sitting on the grass with your basket beside you and all sorts of herbs, a grinding stone and jars and jugs to mix and create with. Suga lay behind you, curled around you like a protective wall, lazing away silently, but not sleeping. Just relaxed.

“Will you be back tomorrow?” You asked as you sprinkled some flower petals into a bottle of clear oil. He whined- a signal for no. “Going back to Dragon Country already, huh?” He huffed in agreeance as you chuckled. He sounded so sulky. “Will you be gone for a while this time?” He made no noise, but his head moved to affirm a yes. Another handful of quiet, dragonless days were in your future it seemed. “Well, be safe on your way. Watch out for traps,” you teased as he moved his body back just a bit for you to teeter backward from where you were leaning against him.

When he left you that night, his nose pressed against your torso as your arms wrapped around it in farewell. He had only started doing that recently- after his last trip back to Dragon Country in fact.

You always felt a little bit colder when he left you like that.

Four days passed and on the morning of the fifth, you had walked out of your house early in the morning with a freshly sown cloak of brick red and an empty basket. You dreaded going into the village for a great many reasons. But you simply couldn’t push it off any further and you needed things that only the merchants and shops in town would have.

It helped that when strangers would come into the woodlands and see your house, they would almost always knock on your door from curiosity and you’d always take any chance to sell something of your creation for a decent amount.

Locking your cabin door, you started your trip. You sighed. Hopefully, you’d be able to get into town and then get out just as quickly.

Suga had returned that day as he approached your cabin. He heard nothing inside and saw no sign of you around. Peering into our windows, you weren’t inside from what he could tell and he pouted at not seeing you. He lay at the side of your cabin, his head lay by your front door as he waited for you to come back.

A few hours passed and his ears picked up on the sound of your footsteps- he had familiarized himself with the sound and weight you put into your steps- as his eyes opened ready to greet you. However, a growl slipped past his fangs as he saw you come from the dirt trail between the trees that lead further out of the Woodlands.

You were shocked to see him back so soon as you wiped some sweat off your brow. Sweat that was mixed with dirt and the smallest dried patch of blood.

You had forgotten that Suga had never seen you go into and back from your village before, so the growl pulled from his throat made you shiver. Your forehead had a small cut about the length of your knuckle and your lip had a split in it. Your dress had grass strains in the knees and up the side of it as specks of dirt spotted your face and neck.

You walked to your door, setting your basket down with a cloth over it, the items you had gotten covered as you walked to Suga and placed your hand on the horn at the end of his scaled nose.

“What is it?” You ask, oblivious that it was your current state of disarray that made him fume with unease. He pulled his horn from your palm as he moved to nuzzle his nose into your torso. You stretched your arm to stroke under his eye as you soothed him. “Suga?” It wasn’t until he refused to move that you realized he was wondering if you were well and then you realized. “Oh,” you breathed, “I’m alright.”

He finally moved away from you and stared at you. You moved to pat his horn once before your fingers went under his scaled chin to lazily rub there. He almost hummed at the actions as you smiled with your split lip.

“This happens every time I go down to the village. Don’t worry too much, Scaly Hide.” As you soothed him, you weren’t completely aware of just how your injures made his dragon blood boil hotter than usual. You had been nothing but kind and vulnerable and truthful to him- a dragon- for no other reason than that’s just who you were as a person. Seeing you all cut up because of others? He found it absolutely preposterous.

As you rubbed beneath his chin, you started talking again. Your voice taking on a small wave of emotion he hadn’t heard from you before.

“I’m almost jealous of you,” you told him. His barbed tail twitched at your words. “I don’t know what the world of dragons is like, so I can’t say whether or not you understand the scorn of others. The prospect of you not having to deal with other humans though is one to be envious of.” Your eyes had a far off look of sadness that riddled his scaled body with pain.

He pulled his head from your hand and moved to nudge it behind you. He pushed your body against the giant wall of scales that is his own body as you started laughing at him. It wasn’t hard to understand an awkward attempt of a dragon wanting to console you. You raised your arms, reaching around what you could as you hugged his neck while his head stayed pushed against your back over your shoulder.

Suga didn’t understand how humans could do this to others of the same race. Dragon’s weren’t just comrades in arms in battle, but they were kin. They were branches of family, dear friends and reliant to each other in a way that didn’t just revolve around war and destruction. Of course, his race wasn’t perfect either with the occasional rouge or traitorous dragon, but those specific turncoats were always taken care of.

He couldn’t understand why humans hurt you, and he didn’t want to understand why. He just wanted it to stop.

When you finally stepped away from him and got back into his line of sight in front of him the look on your face made him feel better. It looked like you were already recovering from all the bad emotions that plagued you earlier. He blew a small huff of steam into your face playfully as you swatted at his horn.

“I’ve been curious,” you started, “I read once that dragons have large quantities of magic and even have a second form they can change into. A human form that is different with each species. Do you have one?” His chin dipped as he let out a noise of confirmation. He did have one, though it had been years, maybe even centuries since he last changed into it. He didn’t even remember what it looked like anymore- he had forgotten about it truthfully.

Your eyes light up in excitement at the discovery.

“You do! That’s so cool!” Your over-excitement almost startled the poor beast. You let out a small sigh of contentment as you turned back to head inside and put your things away and to wash off the grime of your injuries. “I kind of want to see what it looks like,” you mutter, unable to realize that your thoughts slipped out in the form of words that were just loud enough for the dragon to hear.

Suga was quiet as he stood guard outside your home for the rest of the afternoon. The only time you left was when you went down to the small lake nearby and washed up. He was a distance away to keep anything or anyone else from intruding on your privacy. He seemed tense, but also not- even if it didn’t make sense. You tried asking him what was wrong with him, but he just nuzzled his head into your chest without a sound.

When you told him goodnight he left in the same silence he had been sitting in all day. It took a little longer for you to go to sleep because of your worry.

The next morning, you woke up and did what you always did. Same old routine with the label of a different day. Though, when you left your home to go and grab a few pieces of cut up wood for your fireplace, you stopped short. Outside your door, sleeping against the side of your house on the ground was a man.

You hadn’t seen this man before in your life and you were shocked speechless as you looked him over. He was dressed oddly, far different than the men in your village dressed.

His body was lean and covered in small scars around his chest, as shown from the absences of a shirt. A long, black cape hung at his back that he used to lounge on instead of the hard, dirt ground as the collar of it was covered in fur that covered his shoulders and brushed against his chin. His pants were brown and baggy that wrapped around his ankles and displayed his bare feet that were no doubt covered in calluses. Red gauntlets ran from his wrists to his elbows on both arms that were crossed against his bare chest.

You were hesitant to wake him up, but this was your cabin and it was early in the morning. If Suga came by to see another man here, he could get defensive and that was a scenario you really didn’t want to witness.

You knelt at his side, the door to your cabin still open behind you just in case he was hostile and you had to retreat back inside in a rush. You reached out and grabbed his shoulder- his skin was hot. You shook him once- nothing.

“Excuse me?” You squeaked as you shook him again. He groaned as his head nodded off to the side before his chin dipped and you saw his brows moving underneath the fridge of his black hair. You retracted your hand when you felt his shoulders move up and heard him take in a breath of awakening. “Sir, are you alright?”

Lifting his head, his eye were narrow and dazed in sleep as he looked up at you. They were beautiful. They were dark, black and shining like obsidian jewels. They were... familiar? You squinted at him as he opened his mouth.

“Oh,” he lazily breathed out. His voice felt like a breeze of summer wind. “You finally woke up,” he told you as you just started inquisitively at him.

“Isn’t that my line,” you quipped back. “Do I,” you hesitated, “have we met before?” He didn’t answer you as he just sat up straighter and raised his hand to your face. His warm hand ran along your jaw to your lip where he pushed against the scabbed over split in it. You flinched away from his touch as you backed away from him, your eyes locked onto his without any will power to break the contact.

“You said you wanted to see what my human form was like,” he point forwardly told you. You looked him over one more time before returning to his eyes. So that’s why they looked so familiar.

“Suga?” You asked with a pitched voice.

“My name is actually, Yoongi,” he smirked as an unfamiliar heat rose in your cheeks.

-x-x-x-

Yoongi’s visits continued and he often stayed in his human form around you now. He would waltz into your home with you and even started helping you with chores around the cabin. He’s taken to splitting your firewood (although he wouldn’t use your hatchet, he’d just rip the logs in half), and would carry things for you when you were moving to and fro. He’d watch you cook and learn if you offered to teach him something.

You had to admit that having him walking and working around with you as a human instead of a wyvern was a lot more convenient. Plus, this way he was able to have actual conversations with you.

The season’s started to change and the cool breath of autumn began to creep into the air. You would often wonder if Yoongi would stop coming to visit when the temperature drops.

“Yoongi?” You called as he sat in the middle of your floor in front of the burning fire. It was late in the afternoon as you were cooped up inside away from the chilly air. He turned to look over his shoulder at you over his fur lined cape collar.

“Hmm?”

“When winter comes, will you still visit me?” You asked as you took a drink from your warm tea before setting it back down on the table with the book you had been reading before. “I mean, you’re still technically a reptile in basic regards, so you must not like the cold that much.”

“It’s true that I don't like the cold,” he said, “I hate it. It makes my scales rough and then that makes it tough to move around.” You let out a small, nearly silent sigh. “However, if you get lonely, I’ll still come see you.” You looked back at him as he was staring at you completely serious.

The conversation died after that, you not having the heart to ask him to keep visiting. You couldn’t ask that of him if he disliked the cold that much. Surely, you’d be okay without him by your side for a few months, right? Besides, you still had until the first snow to spend with him, autumn had just started after all.

Another week passed and you had once more traveled into the village for some items you needed that you had run out of. It was no shock seeing a trip to the village so soon after the last considering you had been feeding and caring for Yoongi when he came to your cabin. Supplies run a lot faster on two figures instead of just one.

Yoongi had been gone the last couple days, so you assumed he’d be popping by anytime now so you went as soon as you could. To your misfortune, when you returned once again roughed up, Yoongi was sitting in front of your cabin door waiting for you. You had half a mind to sneak in through your bedroom window and avoid him for a bit before you let him in to avoid him seeing your freshly beat body.

Though, you spent just enough time in mental turmoil that he had seen you already.

He jumped to his feet, his face an expression of shock as he ran to meet you half way as you walked to your cabin. You greeted him with a smile just as you always did.

“Good-”

“Hush,” he shushed you as he quickly took the basket from your arms and set it on the ground at your feet. He took your chin between his fingers and started tilting and moving your head around in different angles looking you over. Your cheeks flushed as he stared intently at you. You knew it was just an inspection of your wounds, but it still made your heart pound in your chest. “They hit you again,” he growled.

“Yoongi, it’s alright.”

“No,” he seethed, “it is not.” You swore you started to see small wisps of smoke seep from his nose as he breathed steam. He must be really angry, you though. “They cannot just keep treating you like this just because you’re you.” The hand that held your chin moved to rest on your cheek before gliding up to your forehead- pushing your hair back as his hand moved to rest on the back of your head. “Human’s really are cruel,” he whispered.

You couldn't argue with that.

“I’m already used to their treatment,” you attempt to sooth. The physical pain may still occur with each lashing, but you had long since grown emotionally distant from them. They couldn’t break you any further.

“You shouldn’t be. You should be treated with respect and kindness.”

“Like how you treat me,” you teased, trying to lighten the mood. Yoongi paused, his hand coming down to rest on the crook of your neck, his long nails running over your pulse point as his eye softened.

“No,” he whispered. “I’m the only one who can treat you this way.”

“What?” You were confused. He treated you exceedingly well and he wanted other people to treat you better too, but not like him? “That doesn’t make much sense, Yoongi.”

“It does to me.”

“Well, then the argument is officially over, huh?” You chuckled as he brought his hand off you and reached for your basket. He let a smirk grace his lips as he turned and led you back to your cabin so he could help you clean your injuries.

As he helped treat and dress your wounds and even helped you make the daily meals, he would nit pick about you going into town. He offered to start going with you, or at least waiting on the edge of the village so he wouldn’t make a fuss in human society with his less than human approach to things, but you denied him.

He wanted to argue with you, to let him do as he wanted, but you just told him that you usually only went on days he wasn’t with you. It was never planned, but things just always seemed to fall in that manner.

In the end, he yielded on the subject; however, before he left that night, he presented you with something. A flower-sized, brick red scale. He placed it in your palm before he left you.

“If something ever happens, you use that scale and call for me. I’ll come flying over as quickly as I can.” You laughed at his over protectiveness. Dragon Country was miles off from here, so it would take him more than a handful of minutes to get to your cabin depending on where in the world of his kind he was at in the given situation. You accepted the scale nonetheless, grateful for his tender gesture.

Everything seemed fine again for time, until Yoongi came to your cabin and saw you prepping to go into the village yet again one morning. He scowled as he watched you pull your red cloak over your shoulders and grab your basket as you pulled on your boots. He hid behind the wall of your home as you locked the door and were on your way.

Yoongi didn’t want you to know he was there following you. He stayed behind you as you walked the Woodlands trail back to society and the entire way he pouted that you had once again not told him you were going.

He stood on the outskirts of the village that brought you harm, sitting high up in a treetop to avoid being seen. He knew going into the village after you would get him caught and he knew that if someone even looked at you strangely, he’d probably snap.

He sat there for a while, just waiting and watching until you finally showed up again, ready to head back home. His back straightened as he almost smiled seeing you unharmed. He was going to jump down and greet you, fess up that he had followed you and let you scold him as he walked you back home, but before he could even begin moving, he stiffened.

Knelt on the tree branch he hid behind the brown, red and yellow leaves that hadn’t fallen to the ground and the black of his cape as a group of boys not much older than yourself ran up behind you. You were just at the tree line of the Woodlands when they had taken your basket from you and shoved you from behind, making you fall to your knees with a cry.

He was technically in Woodland territory, he had no problem showing himself outside of your village.

As you rolled onto your back, ready to shove your way to your basket and scurry away just as you had a million times before, something fell from the treetops behind you. Twisting your body, you only saw a blur shoot past you before one of the three boys was on his ass in the dirt groaning.

Turning back to your front, your mouth dropped open.

“Yoongi?!” One boy had helped the other off the ground as the last was squaring up to start a scrap with this random guy who had popped out of the Woodlands. You wanted to shoot up and tell them to stop it and leave Yoongi alone, but they froze before you could even warn them.

The three of them swallowed as they started taking small steps backward in retreat.

Yoongi had tensed his whole body, fingers curled with his claws out. His face had scales trailing from his cheekbones to his chin as his eyes seeped with complete blackness. It was like his hair was standing on end as he snarled and raised his lips to bare his fangs at the offenders. He was daring them to try him.

Anyone with two eyes, even one eye, could clearly see this man was a dragon and nothing short of a fierce one who didn’t know how to stand down. Not willing to pick a fight with a being of that caliber and not being properly prepared to boot, the trio turned tail and ran back into the village.

It was deathly silent as they retreated and Yoongi’s body seemed to relax as you started at his back. His still shoulders went slack as his squared and ready to pounce stance calmed and straightened back out. His hair settled and the small growls you had heard before disappeared.

“Uh, Yoongi?” You call softly, not knowing if he was going to whip around and start yelling at you or not.

He did not.

He calmly walked to the basket they had taken from you, picking it up and walked back to your side. He set it down before he grabbed your arms gently and started to pull you off the ground. Once you stood on your feet, he straightened out your cloak as you brushed off your dress skirt.

“What are you doing out here?” You asked him, but he didn’t answer you. He just placed his hand on the small of your back, turning you around before he gently pushed you forward to start you off back into the Woodlands and back to your cabin.

No matter how you tried to talk to him, he never answered the entire trip. He was completely silent and he didn’t give you any facial ques on what his problem was either. He stayed quiet, a still canvas all the way into your cabin where he sat your basket on your table then sat himself in front of your fireplace that wasn’t even lit yet. It was like the might dragon was pouting.

“Yoongi, please just come over here,” you plead. You walk behind him as you see his shoulders slump in a silent sigh before he’s standing in front of you again. He turns and looks down at you and instead of an angry look in his eyes like you were expecting, you see them shine with unshed tears. “Yoongi-”

He pushes the words from your throat out of you as he wraps his arms around your shoulders and pushes you face into his warm, bare chest. He lets out a small, shaky breath as his hold tightens around you. The hand on the back of your head holding you to him felt desperate and sad. You reach around him and snag you hands on the inside of his fur lined cape behind his back.

“I was worried about you,” he all but whimpers. “I know I shouldn’t have followed you, but you didn’t tell me that you were going to that village again and I just couldn’t stop myself. I was so relieved to see you unharmed as you were leaving, but then those scumbags,” he cut himself off with a harsh breath. “Does that really always happen to you?”

You nod and give a weak ‘yes’ in reply.

“No more,” he tells you. “I won’t let it happen anymore. I’ll keep you safe and I’ll protect you from them. Even when winter comes, I won’t stop visiting you. I’ll keep coming back, I promise.” You wanted to deny him, tell him not to worry about it since he can’t stand the cold. But, you felt selfish and you wanted him to keep coming back. You wanted him to dote on you and to keep you safe like he says.

“I’ll be relying on you then,” was all you told him. When the moment is past, you pull away from his warm chest to look up at him with a playful grin. “You’re pretty pushy when it comes to my safety, it’s almost cute.”

He shoves you at your jest as he tells you to sit down and go unpack your things. He plops himself back in front of the fireplace, huffing a ball of fire to get it going in a hurry. You weren’t sure if it was the light from the fire or not that painted his cheeks pink.

-x-x-x-

You went without village harm for a month now. Just as he said, Yoongi was at your side at least every other day instead of a few days away at a time. He’d always ask if you were alright or anyone had given you any trouble. He knew when you were lying, he had gotten good at telling apart your quirks, so when you told him you were alright he was always relieved.

The weather kept getting colder and you kept getting more concerned about Yoongi’s choice to go against the cold to come see you as often as possible. You always thought about how to tell him to not come after the first winter snow to help his overall health; you just had to figure out a way to phrase it so that he’d actually listen.

It was one of those nights where you hadn’t gotten to sleep very early with your thoughts, and you had just drifted to sleep. You were somewhere between unconscious, yet aware as you briefly heard something in the distance. You weren’t awake enough to care and you weren’t aware enough to think it was something other than the nighttime animals.

A handful of minutes pass when you’re suddenly ripped from your sleep just as you were equally ripped from your bed. A grip on the back of your nightdress yanked you from your side sleeping position and pulled the fabric against your neck as you choked out a surprised gasp.

You kicked your legs in panic, your blanket hitting the floor of your room as you were pulled off your mattress and onto the floor. Hands grasped your biceps and began to drag you backward. You finally found your voice in the form of small screams and protests. You stumbled from the balls of your feet to your heels as you were pulled backward through your cabin before you were through the front door and on the ground.

Laying in the dirt and covered in goosebumps from the cold night air, you rolled to your back and propped yourself up with your elbows to see who just evicted you from your home. You shouldn’t have been shocked to see a band of men from the village, yet you were. You instantly started trying to scoot backward on your elbows and heels.

They were covered in furs and boots with torches in hand to light their way through the darkness. You looked at them in fear and confusion. What were they doing this far from the village and why were they here at all?

“What are you doing?!” You scream, your heels kicked into the dirt as your nails dig into the earth trying to back you away from one oncoming man, a blond one. You squirmed as one of his feet kicked at your wrist and pushed your back to the ground as he grabbed you by the collar of your nightdress. You whined, grabbing his wrist as you grimaced with squeezed shut eyes.

“You witch,” he accused as you peeked open your eyes. “We’ve let you live close to us, but you’ve gone and made a pact with a demon- a dragon!” Your eyes widened. Is this because Yoongi just popped out of nowhere a month ago when he followed you?

“You’re wrong!” You denied. You had no pact with him. He was just- you paused mentally. Was Yoongi a friend to you? You had been unconsciously thinking that for several weeks, but saying that out loud and admitting it to yourself as well as someone else- friendship didn’t feel like it did it justice. Was the connection you had with the dragon you saved from that trap- the same dragon who snarled in your face and decided not to kill you all those weeks ago- really just a friend? You swallowed.

Your breath lurched in your throat when the grip of your collar was released in turn for the hand to now encase around your throat fully. You gagged for a moment as the blond’s nails burned against your skin.

“Ransack the place!” The man who held your throat shouted over his shoulder. The two other men with him ran into your cabin and your squeezed shut eyes opened. You shoved the man’s hand off you, your neck burning as you pushed against his chest. He fell on the dirt as he groaned.

“Don’t! Leave my cabin alone!” You cried as you scurried to your feet. You didn’t get far before your ankle was grabbed and your leg yanked back. You tumbled ungracefully onto your chest, your nightdress riding up your legs and bum as you felt a weight on your back. The blond was sitting on you as you kicked. He held one of your arms behind your back and his other hand pushed your cheek into the dirt, holding your head down. “Stop it!” You cried into the earth as you heard sounds of destruction in your home.

Glass being thrown to the ground and broken, your shelves being pulled from the wall. You heard doors of cabinets opening and slamming shut after everything was pulled from them. The distant sounds of mess told you they were evening throwing things around in your room. You weren’t sure what they were looking for- evidence? But for what? Your connection with Yoongi to use against you?

“Hey!” One called from inside. “I found something!” Footsteps came back outside and stopped above your head. You were yanked up to sit on your knees- nightdress dirty and covered in small tears and frays of fabric- as the blond behind you snagged a hand in your hair pulling your head to look up. You winced as your eyes instinctively shut in pain before your chin was grabbed in a new hand.

A man stood in front of you, brown hair and accusatory eyes. In front of you, he dangled the scale of Yoongi’s he had given you that you had placed inside of a glass locket to keep it safe. You jolted in the blond’s grip, ripping your chin from the brunettes touch.

“Don’t touch that!” You screamed. The blond restrained you tighter. “Stop! That hurts!” You felt tears prick at the corners of your eyes.

You weren’t sure how long those men kept you outside your home as they continued to trash it. You were less sure how long you were out in the cold, pinned to the ground and jerked around like a toddlers ragdoll.

Stomps to your legs to keep you from crawling or getting up and away. Jabs to the stomach to subdue you just long enough to restraining you as you tried to get your breath back. Knocks to the head to try and knock you out as you kept on fighting back. The cold was starting to get to you, your fingers and toes going numb. Scraps on your knees and elbows from the cold, autumn chilled dirt.

You were on your back on the ground, the same blond over your, pushing your face down as your arms were trapped under his knees that pinned you on either side.

You were close to giving up. You were going to lose your home- you expected them to set it on fire- and you were going to no doubt end up losing your life if this kept up. Would they take you back to the village and execute you? Tears trailed down the side of your face as you chewed on your lip.

This wasn’t fair.

“Yoongi,” you whimpered as your palms pushed into the earth, the dirt and rocks pushing into your skin just painful enough to keep you conscious.

It seemed instantaneous to you. It felt like a whirlwind just formed at the center of your small world as the gusts of wind blew around you. The man above you was blown off as he rolled in the dirt away from your tired, weak, and beaten body. Whimpers of terror rang in your ears from the other men as growling accompanied those whimpers.

Stomping and rushes of heat surrounded you with ignited sparks in the night sky. You managed to push yourself over to weakly roll onto your side and twist onto your stomach to look up at exactly what was happening. You didn’t see anything in front of you other than your cabin and the three men all on the ground cowering from the sight of something.

Your dazed eyes narrowed before you heard another growl and the feeling of something massive standing over you. Coming to a stomping halt at either side of you with distance to spare and to not make you feel suffocated, your eyes widened. You felt more awake now than the rest of the evening.

Twisting to look up, you were met with the mighty, giant form of the wyvern you had freed from the metal trap of men. Snarling with bared fangs and small puffs of fire on his tongue, Yoongi stood over you protectively.

Tears ran down your shocked face without your control at seeing him really showing up at your side when you truly, desperately needed him with you. You felt weak, but before your body could slump onto the ground, something grabbed you.

Another new body had looped their arms under yours to keep your chest off the ground and held you to them. You didn't recognize this person as you looked up at them. Another man, but this seemed far more mystic.

Snow white eyes with no iris or pupils to sit in their seas of white. Illuminated scales of white shone on their cheeks and their ears were pointed and finned. Hair as silver as the moon and skin as tanned as cooper. Was this another dragon? You couldn’t tell anymore; all you knew was that you felt safe in this person’s arms with Yoongi above you.

You slumped against them, your consciousness finally starting to fade on you with the adrenaline running low now that you felt a sense of safety. You couldn’t lose it yet, however; you had to calm Yoongi down. The men had stopped their attack in fear, so Yoongi didn’t need to instigate further.

“Yoongi,” you called weakly against the second dragon’s chest. “Don’t,” you pleaded. There was a small hush before the wind picked up and the stomping that was present before was replaced with harsh footsteps. Yoongi had reverted back to human form as he ran at the blond man who had previously held you down.

Yoongi’s long claws tore and pierced through the shirt fabric of the blond’s collar as he brought him up to his nose, snarling down at him. His fists shook in rage as his body trembled with restraint in your presence. Had you not been there, he was certain he would have killed all three of them without hesitation.

He picked the blond off the ground just enough to make his toes leave the grass as he threw him at the other two. He huffed, steam blowing out of his nose as his face remained angry.

“You ever come back here and I, as Y/n’s personal dragon, will tear you apart,” he threatened. “Now, leave!” He roared as the three men scrambled embarrassingly to their feet and down the trail back to whatever hole they crawled out of.

Yoongi huffed, breathless as he quickly heard your whimpers behind him. He spun around, rushing back to your side as he knelt on the ground beside you and took you from the other dragon’s grasp. He ran the back of his fingers along your cheek as you saw him. His calm, worried face brought you a sense of peace as you knew the trouble had left.

“Rest,” he whispered as you finally lost yourself to the unconsciousness that had been choking you around the throat.

-x-x-x-

You groaned slightly as your eyes cracked open. You were on your back as your lidded eyes were blurred staring up at the ceiling of your room. You were in a haze as you looked into nowhere. Thoughts were muddled in your head as you were aware of nothing for a handful of minutes, still high from sleep and drowsiness.

The sun shone through your open window as you heard the birds outside sing. It was bright- far brighter than you were used to waking up to.

It all came back to you all at once like a punch to the jaw. Memories of being dragged out of your bed, your home, to outside and pummeled until you were weak in the dirt as your home was broken into and wrecked.

Your arms shot up from under your blanket as they threw the covers off and you sat up straight as a rob. You sucked in a deep breath that hitched in your throat from the sudden movement that clouded you with a wave of dizziness.

Your palm moved to push into your forehead as your eyes squeezed shut and you hissed. Cracking them open, you felt something burn into your side like someone staring at you. Looking beside your bed, you weren’t wrong.

Sat on a stool beside your bedroom door was that same unfamiliar dragon with snow white eyes from the night before. You stared back at the unmoving dragon. Was he… sleeping? His eyes were open, but his arms that were crossed didn’t even twitch and his body was still as a corpse. He sat straight up and showed no signs of movement.

Did some dragon’s sleep with their eyes open? Yoongi didn’t, but maybe other breeds did.

“It is a relief to see you’ve awakened,” he suddenly spoke. You squeaked in shock, not expecting him to do- much less say- anything. “It has been a handful of hours since you lost consciousness.”

You looked away from him as you looked down at your lap. You scrunch your blanket in your palms, the same palms that you were finally starting to feel the stinging sensation of when you were thrown to the dirt. The small cuts and scrapes on your knees and legs and arms all started to tingle with an indescribably unpleasant feeling.

“So, that wasn’t just a nightmare after all,” you sulked to yourself.

“It seems that Sire holds a great deal of worry about your condition.”

Your brows drew close together in confusion.

“Excuse me?” You asked, confusion painting around your eyes. This dragon with no expression and no irises with the pure white eyes just stared at you. “Sire? Who are you talking about? No,” you cut yourself off, shaking your head. “Who are you?” You re-ask, wanting to know this stranger dragon first. He was just sitting in your room watching over you, you figured an introduction wasn’t out of the question.

The dragon brought a webbed hand up to their chest, lowering their head to you in a small bow. You recoiled at such an action. No one had bowed to you before in your life- that was reserved for royals and people of importance. Not someone like you, a Woodlands hermit. The action made a blush fan across your cheeks in embarrassment.

“I am Navia. I work under Sire as the leader of the Dragon Guard of His Majesties palace. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. It is a pleasure, My Lady.” His voice was smooth like the surface of a peaceful lake surrounded by nature. His usage of honorifics only made the embarrassing red cheeks of yours darken.

“Y-you don’t need to address me like that!” You sputtered as you twisted on your bed to slide your legs out of your covers and hang them over the bedside. “Just Y/n, is fine. I don’t need any titles,” your voice wavered in embarrassment as the white eyes of Navia returned to you.

“I do not know if I will be able to address you so casually. It may displease him.”

“You keep mentioning someone; Sire? Who is that exactly?” Navia never got a chance to answer when their was three knocks on your bedroom door before it was opened. The redness in your cheeks was broken and a smile pulled on your lips on seeing Yoongi in your doorway. “Yoongi!” You happily called as he quickly made his way to your bed, kneeling in front of you taking your hands into his own.

“How long have you been awake? Are you in pain?”

“I haven’t been up long, I was just talking to Navia and introducing ourselves. I don’t feel particularly good, but I don’t feel particularly bad either. Though, I feel better than I did if that’s anything to be accounted for.”

Yoongi’s eyes softened at your smile. You talked so easily and so soon after you were attacked so brutally. He wondered where you found the strength to do so. If he was in your position he’d be a pot of boiling rage, but he didn’t sense anything like that from you. Yet, instead he could see the sorrow behind your eyes.

“Navia,” he spoke as the dragon behind him stood at the call of his name. “Give us a moment,” Yoongi’s voice was stern with instruction.

“As you wish, Sire.” You looked at Navia as he left. You looked back down to Yoongi who was already looking at you as if you were the only thing he wanted to look at for the remainder of his life.

“Sire? So, he’s been talking about you?” You quirked your brow as Yoongi’s hand left yours and moved to cup around your cheek. “Yoongi?”

“There is a lot I haven’t told you and there are a lot of things we need to talk about. I didn't mean to lie- to keep it from you, but I just never had the chance to bring it up. Things about me I’ve kept from you.” You remained silent as he spoke no more. You both sat in silence for a while as you gathered your bearing.

Yoongi had taken to tending to you. You showed him once how to properly wrap bandages around wounds, and so he did. He wrapped any wound that seemed painful (which was many to his eyes) before he was helping you off your bed.

“Yoongi, I’m not so hurt I can’t walk myself,” you chuckled as he wrapped his arm around your back to support you. One of your arms clutched at the cape behind him as the other supported your balance on his chest. He held you to his side as he was careful not to rush his steps and trip you up.

“Still, you’re in no condition to be completely independent right now. Allow me to help you.” You almost scoffed at his aid as if you weren’t able to handle yourself, but you did appreciate it- especially when he didn’t need to offer such kindness.

As he helped you out of your room, you were shocked to see not a trashed cabin like you expected, but it was almost completely clean aside from the broken cabinet doors that sat against the wall in a pile. Whatever would have been broken was picked up and things were on the counter and on the table out of the way and where they belonged. A fire was even lit in the hearth of the fireplace.

You looked up to Yoongi. Did he clean it up? He helped you to the table where he sat you down on the chair by the window where you would normally drink something warm. You felt a little bad you hadn’t set out a plate of feed for the birds and critters today- but allowed yourself a pass considering your situation.

Navia was sitting by the fireplace as he watched the two of you. Yoongi moved to sit on the table’s edge- as unmanneristic as it was, it somehow suited him. He was in front of you against the wooden table, his fingers brushing along your cheek that had a patch over it to cover your cuts.

“Where would you like me to start, Scale?” He asked you. Your face deepened when he addressed you like that. Was that his form of a nickname? You shook the thought away as you opened your mouth.

“My cabin, I guess?” You realize you didn’t give him much of a specific answer. “I mean, I was expecting it to be a nightmare, but it’s so clean?”

“That is because I cleaned it up,” he softly told you with a small smile. So, you were right. “The times I have been here, I was familiar with the placements of most of your belongings. Others I admit I guessed, but I couldn’t leave it like it was. You have enough to worry about.”

“Well, thank you for that,” you graciously tell him.

“It was nothing.” You spent a good portion of that day talking to Yoongi where you were. If you wanted to get up and move to take a break from the flood of answers to any question you had, he would help. Navia would walk around and do small chores for you if you were kind enough to ask- or have Yoongi tell him to. The tanned dragon was awfully obedient, yet kind to a fault it seemed.

The shortened days of winter were showing as the sky started to progressively darken. You watched it from the window of the cabin you had been in all day. It had been a long time since you spent all your time inside without much of anything to do. It was relaxing even if under unpleasant circumstances.

Yoongi had handed you a mug of something warm for your throat as you thanked him and took small, cautious sips due to its heat. Yoongi watched you as you watched outside, the occasional chuckles slipping past your lips when you saw birds or squirrels chase each other around.

“Y/n,” Yoongi called as Navia had taken his place back by the fireplace. He was, unsurprisingly, not fond of the cold so he had stuck to the fireplace like glue as often as he could. “Do you want to leave this cabin?”

His question caught you off guard. You lowered your mug to the table top as you looked at him.

“What?”

Yoongi’s mouth was pressed into a thin line as his eyes were narrowed in a veil of anxiousness. In truth he didn’t want you to live here anymore. What happened the night before could very well happen again and what if he didn’t get to you in time next time? What if next time they drag you off or even kill you? He couldn’t handle that. He didn’t even want to think about it.

“If I left,” you chuckled bitterly as you looked back outside, “where would I go? I can’t just live in a cave or in trees.”

“You could come back with me.” There was silence in the cabin’s front room. The sound of the fire crackling and the small sounds from outside your walls. “Come back with me to Dragon Country and live there.”

“That’s impossible,” you told him. “I am no dragon. How could I live there?” You half expected Navia from behind to slip into the conversation and throw in his opinion on the matter. You, a human leaving the Woodlands and running off to live in Dragon Country? There was no way, it was preposterous. “Why take me back anyways?”

“Dragon’s are only able to choose one being to become absolutely loyal to without fault in their lives. We live for years, decades, centuries. The oldest of dragon’s can live for hundreds of human lifetimes, so we are especially picky when it comes to our choice.”

“What does that have to do with me?” You asked.

“I said so before, I am your dragon.” That’s right. You did remember him saying that in his rage the night before. Something about being your personal dragon and threatening the men not to try another attack stunt again.

“So, then-”

“I chose you,” he admitted. You felt your air leave you in silent waves. “Out of all things I’ve met of my years alive, you were the first to treat me kindly without expecting anything in return. You were my first in many things that warmed my being. That is why I want you to come back with me.”

You opened your mouth then shut it again before you shook your head, trying to process his words. You took a shaky breath and looked back to him again.

“Say I agreed, isn’t it too dangerous? I mean, you might be with me, sure, but I’m still just a human woman. What could I possibly do so you wouldn’t have to protect me all the time? Wouldn’t I just be a constant risk?”

“That would not be the case,” he told you sternly. “I would see to it that every dragon be made aware of who you are. Once they know, they wouldn’t dare lay a talon on you unless they’re turncoats.” Yoongi sounded so serious, you almost believed him. “They would treat you better than these humans ever have,” he promised.

“How are you so sure?” You narrowed your eyes at him, challenging his word. He sure sounded high and mighty for proposing something that sounded so risky.

“Because I’m your dragon,” he repeated. You almost groaned and rolled your eyes. You felt like you were running in circles with him.

“What does that have to do with anything?” So what? You get to boss around and rely on a dragon. As legitimately remarkable as that is, you didn’t seem to connect that to your safety in his country.

“Because my Master in question- you- would be commanding the dragon in charge of Dragon Country.” There was a beat of silence.

What.

“So, you’re claiming to be what? The King of Dragon Country? Am I just supposed to believe that?”

“Yes, you are.” He told you with a straight face. There was no sign of lying or hesitation. He seemed so sure and serious of himself that you were questioning yourself of his truth.

“But that’s-”

“If I may,” Navia spoke, cutting you off from behind you as Yoongi shot him a glare for interrupting you. You turned to look at the white-eyed dragon as his tanned skin shone with the fire’s casted light. “It’s wise to know that the King detests liars and lies in general.”

Your eyes widened as you whipped your head back to Yoongi who was still shooting the other dragon a look before he returned his sights back to you.

“Oh my Gods, you’re serious.”

The night concluded a long, well-rounded talk about just who Yoongi really was. Finding out he was a king was one thing, but it was harder to understand that you were now in charge and in command of that king. You felt simultaneously all powerful and powerless.

In the end, you did agree to go back with him; however, under one condition.

-x-x-x-

You sat at your desk in your room, scribbling line after line of ink on a piece of parchment. It had been a week since your ‘unfortunate situation’ as you called it and you were healing well. You fixed your cabin the best you could and moving around like normal again was easier by the day. You could already almost chop firewood again- not that you actually were. You had no reason to stock up anymore.

On your bed was a bag. One that was large and had the flap open to show the contents inside. A few folded dresses and one of your leather corsets that wasn’t completely ruined. Jars and bottles of salves, potions, crushed herbs, flowers, and sacks of roots and leaves. Even your favorite cup and a knowledgeable book about medicine. All neatly packed.

You stretched as you leaned back in your chair and looked out the window to your room. You smiled as a bittersweet feeling fluttered in your stomach.

You looked down at the letter you had just finished as you folded it up and placed it inside of an envelope before writing the name of to whom it would be addressed on the front.

Your windows rattled with a gust of wind outside. You smiled as you got up from your desk and grabbed your bag. You tossed the flap of ti over the bag, the large button in the flap of it looping through a latch to close it securely. You threw the long strap over your shoulder as you grabbed the letter from your desk and opened your bedroom door.

You stopped, turning to look at the room once more. It was clean, bed made and everything neat and tidy. You smiled sadly at your space before you said goodbye to it. You felt silly saying farewell to a room.

When you walked into the main room, Yoongi had already let himself in. He smiled at you when he saw you. Just as you had asked him a week ago, he had left you alone for the last 7 days. That was your condition, even if he grumbled about it. You wanted one last week on your own in your lifelong home- that was all.

He walked to you and grabbed your arm gently before bending to softly push his lips against his cheek. You jolted as you covered your skin with your hand.

“What was that for?” You asked, flushed.

“Simply, because.”

“That is not an answer,” you scowled. “Did Navia come with you?” You asked peering around his back to look.

“Of course he didn’t. I don’t need an escort.”

“Of course you don’t,” you giggle. You walked around your cabin, running your fingers over the surface of your counters, your fireplace’s bricks, your dining table and around the window frames. You took everything into your memory even though this was the only home you ever had. Maybe that was why you felt like crying.

“Are you unwell?” Yoongi asked, coming up behind you and placing his hands on your shoulders. He could see how hard this was for you even without you looking at him directly. He knew this was his selfish wish, but if you really wanted to stay he wouldn’t drag you away.

“I feel like I'm homesick, but I haven’t even left yet,” you chuckle as your eyes stung. One of Yoongi’s hands moved to rest on your head as he pushed his cheek against the top of his hand to lean against your head.

“It will be alright,” he soothed.

“I know,” you chocked.

You spent a little while longer in your lifelong home before you felt like you were finally as ready as you’d ever be to leave. You feared if you stayed too much longer you’d root into your floorboard and then you’d never move again. As you walked out of the house, you took the key that hung on the inside of the door frame and took it out with you. You didn’t lock the cabin door, instead you placed the key on the outside doorknob.

This cabin would be welcoming to anyone who needed it, that was what the key hanging outside the space signified.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Yoongi asked for the umpteenth time, earning him an eye roll from you.

“Yes, now take me away or else I’ll start ugly crying.” He chuckled before he was walking with you out of the Woodlands and when you reached the edge of the lands, he transformed into his wyvern form. You climbed onto his neck just behind his head so you could clutch onto his horns (or his ears, whichever worked best with your grip) before he was flying off with you completely.

Leaving that cabin, the humans and one single letter on the dining table addressed to ‘Villagers’ behind for good.

-x-x-x-

“Father! Look, is this what you were talking about?” A small child cheered as he ran through the Woodlands and came across a small cabin that was covered in overgrowth. The wood had been overrun with vines and moss. Small tree saplings sprung from the wood above on the roof and weeds overtook the ground that was once all dirt. The trunk that had once been used to chop wood years and years ago had a sapling of a new tree ready to grow in the next hundred years.

Nests of birds, holes and burrows of moles and squirrels littered the area.

The child ran around the perimeter of the cabin, eyeing it up and down as small plumes of red smoke puffed through their nostrils in excitement.

“I’ve never seen a human house before!”

“Juilius, come back to me before you trip or get caught in a vine.”

The child trotted back to his father who had come to the Woodlands simply to show his son what the home of a human looked like. Although, times have changed and this is certainly not how humans lived anymore. This cabin was long forgotten to time and nature had long since reclaimed it.

The visit was short and sweet to a degree as the child was soon ushered to be ready to leave. “Your mother wants you home at a reasonable time. We can’t keep her waiting.”

“I’m coming,” the child cheered as he started leaving the Woodlands with his father’s hand in his own. “Will I get to fly part of the way back this time? I swear I can!”

“Alright, you can until we hit the first mountain peak; but don’t tell your mother.”

“I won’t!” He promised.

Landing peacefully in Dragon Country and arriving safely at the palace, the child giggled happily to himself on how well he was able to fly on his own and how his wings were getting stronger day by day.

“Yes, but you still can’t retract your scales yet, now can you?” His father teased. Juilius pouted as his brick red scales refused to fade in his human form.

“Well,” a voice called to them in a happy tone. “You look just like your father when you pout like that with your scales out.”

“Mother!” Juilius cheered as he ran to his mother’s arm, clinging to her as he was picked up and nuzzled into her neck. “Father took me to the Woodlands today. He said that there was a cabin in the woods where you used to live, so he let me see it!”

You blinked down at your blush-cheeked scaled child. “Oh did he? I hope he didn’t let you fly at that dangerous height.”

“Nope!” The child grinned as innocent as can be- keeping his promise to his father in the small little white lie.

“You always assume the worst of me. Don’t you, Scale?” Yoongi teased as he came to your side with your child on your chest as his legs kicked playfully on either side of your hips. He was young, only a decade old. He was still a hatchling when it came right down to dragon ages.

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Mother, can you tell me about the humans?”

“You’re always so curious about them. Why do you want to know, Hatchling?”

“Well, you used to be one right? Father said you only got your scales and horns when you came here.”

“Well, then that is going to be a long story. It’s only right if your father helps tell part of it too. It is his fault I became a dragon in the first place,” you looked at Yoongi as he cleared his throat. “Isn’t that right, Your Majesty.”

“I really don’t know what you could be referring to,” he sheepishly retorted, looking away. As Juilius tried annoying the answer out of his father, he just shushed him. “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

“That’s not fair,” the child pouted.

“My Lady,” your attention was called from Navia who had finally tracked you down. His white eyes glowing down the halls like nighttime fireflies as he approached. “A new hatchling was born in the valley this morning and it’s mother asked if you would be gracious enough to name them.”

Your eyes shined. “I’d love to,” you said as you set Juilius down and kissed his forehead. You moved to kiss Yoongi’s cheek as you allowed Navia to escort you away. The dragon child took his father’s hand.

“So, what mother said about how she became a dragon; why do I need to wait until I grow up to know? Is it some kind of big dragon secret?” Yoongi’s face flushed as he cleared his throat again and was soon leading his son off somewhere else to clean up after his day out.

“I already told you, not until you’re older.”

Who knew that the exchanging of the blood and saliva of the king of dragons was able to gradually change humans into dragons? Yoongi certainly never knew until one morning you woke up with scales dusting your cheeks after a rather specific night.

To which would soon be the outcome of the pestering royal child, Juilius.

-END-

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