#my friends was like 'im coming over' and i had to panic write the rest

[furuyalover]

taking care of him at a party

— ft. atsumu miya

AN: just a lil sum while i work my music event drabbles 🤍 also this was soo fun to write so pls request any other characters i should do this for !

your roommate was throwing a party in your shared house, and it was fun at first. however your social battery was running kind of low, and you felt like taking a break anyways. “hey im a little beat, but if you need anything i’ll be in my room” you tell your friend and then you make your way to your room.

you lie down on your bed, and decide to maybe take a small nap to help you feel better. but not even 15 minutes into your nap you hear a soft knock on your door. “come in” you groan, as you readjust yourself so that you can sit up and see whoever’s at your door, expecting your roommate needing assistance with something for the party. but to your surprise, your greeting by three familiar faces, one being a very drunk atsumu miya.

being practically held him by his twin brother and good friend suna, the former embarrassingly says “y/n im so sorry for barging in, but is it ok if we let atsumu take a break here? every other room was occupied and your roommate told us to try here” atsumu was smashed, you could tell that he was shitfaced and it was more like osamu & suna who needed the break.

“what? ok sure yeah whatever. just lay him down over there i guess.” too tired to really even refute their request, you instruct the two to carry their drunken friend on the side of your bed opposite of you. this is where you decide it’s probably time for you to turn in for the night.

you leave atsumu to rest on your bed, and head into your bathroom to change, shower, and what not to get ready for bed. by the time you’re done you chuckle to yourself when you see atsumu is still knocked out on your bed. admittedly, you found it kind of cute to see him like this. peacefully asleep, in his natural state, a change of pace from his usual loud and brash personality, it didn’t help that he was in your bed as well. after placing a glass of water and some tylenol and advil on the nightstand next to him, you sit on your side of your bed and start mindlessly scrolling on your phone.

you text your roommate, updating them on the wild situation you found yourself in. “y/n are u fr rn? this is like the perfect chance for u to confess to him hello??” a smile forms on your face after reading that text, “bro what hell no. that’s so awkward 😭” “ur trippin, worst case scenario u can tell him u we’re js drunk” rolling your eyes at that suggestion, you exit your texts and go back to your scrolling.

a few minutes go by and you feel atsumu shifting in your bed, followed by a slight groan. “oh god where am i” he groans as he rolls over, rubbing his eyes, to face this mysterious figure sat beside him.

“well you’re not downstairs getting shitfaced that’s for sure” you snark with a small chuckle, slightly admiring how cute he looks with his messy hair and flushed face. “oh shit! y/n! is this your room? oh my god did we..?” amused by his slight panic you reassured him that nothing happened, “no no don’t worry, you were absolutely plastered so suna and your brother dropped you off here so you could rest. there’s some tylenol next to you, you should really take some”

she’s such an angel wow, he thought to himself as he took the pain relievers you so kindly prepared for him. “god those assholes, sorry you had to deal with that” he quietly, almost embarrassingly apologizes. giggling at his annoyance you assure him it’s fine and that it’s not a big deal. but then the gears start turning in your head a bit, as you start to develop a lil plan to semi-confess to him.

“the party isn’t probably gonna end for another few hours, so if you want you can just crash here if you want. i can just sleep on the couch or something” almost immediately, a grin plasters on atsumus face, and his usually cocky self is back just like that. “i mean that’s rather rude ya know? i wouldn’t want such an angel who had to take care of a drunken asshole to sleep on the couch. you should probably just sleep in your own bed” he grins as he runs his hands through his messy blonde hair, this bitch knows exactly what he’s doing, you think to yourself.

despite a very obvious blush creeping up on your face you respond, “yeah well i’d feel bad if you had to stay on the couch” scoffing, faking offense to your comment “who said anything about me on the couch? plus i heard cuddling is good for hangovers.” OH HOW I HATE HIM. rolling your eyes you playfully act annoyed, but you couldn’t be any happier

“hm well i always wanted to cuddle with that dumbass from the volleyball team who i have a crush on” you retort with a light laugh. now it’s his turn to blush, already flushed from the alcohol he is now redder than before. “when exactly were you planning on tellling this handsome and talented dumbass?” despite the confident demeanor he was definitely screaming on the inside.

“i figured now would be a good time, but who said anything about handsome and talented.” you reply as you side eye him, but he just can’t help but smile right at you. “so we’re definitely cuddling right?” he asks with a heartful, genuine smile. not being able to deny this lover boy’s smile or even him in general, i mean you’ve liked him for months now, you roll your eyes and respond “ok fine i guess whatever, but find some clothes to change into and take a shower” you laugh as you playfully hit him on his shoulder.

“on it.” he gets up heading downstairs to see if any of his friends have extra clothes they can get him, and to of course tell them about his crush on you. “shit finally, it’s about time you told her you liked her, osamu you owe me $10 and some food” “ok fine suna whatever, but you owe me $5 since he did it while he was drunk.” yes these mfs placed bets on you guys confessing to each other.

reblogs appreciated and admired ૮₍ ˃ ⤙ ˂ ₎ა

[joshs-big-toe]

do you write fics? i NEED someone to write more josh futterman fics. but like where’s he’s subby yk? i just need that man so bad 😭😭

im not great at writing, but i have been WAITING for a request to write a fic! i am not used to writing in second person so if there's an accidental "i said" or something along those lines forgive me!

cw: josh futturman, sub-josh, fem!reader, p in v, oral sex, descriptive smut, fluff in the end

1911 words

"josh!" you called from down the stairs, not getting a response from him. grumbling, you stomp up the stairs, cursing to yourself under your breath. the dumbass was addicted to this video game called Biotic Wars. at least you think that's the name of the game. it frustrated you. it felt like you haven't had a friend in months because of his obsession with this game. finally, your foot hit the top step of the second floor. "josh?" you called out again, not as loudly. you listened, hearing a soft groan come from behind his door. you hesitantly walk toward his bedroom door, stopping to listen for a moment.

"oh, shit, y/n..." you hear him whine on the other side of the door. you gasp and cover your mouth, surprised by the sudden mention of your name. slowly, you crack your door open slightly. you can't see much, but you can see his shoulder shaking and his jeans down around his ankles. your eyes widen as you feel a blush creeping onto your cheeks, as well as a heat pooling between your legs.

"j-josh..." you stutter out while opening the door wider, catching a glimpse of him stroking his dick in a quick manner before his head shot toward you, panic settling into his eyes.

"s-shit!" josh jumped out of his gaming chain, causing it to roll away from him. he reached down, fumbling with his jeans and boxers, trying to pull them up quickly. he tripped, causing him to tumble onto his shelf, falling and knocking it off the wall, causing a loud crash to echo in the room. you watched the chaos unfold in front of you, holding in a laugh. "what," he paused to clear his throat. "what are you doing here?" josh stood up, turning to look at the mess of broken shelf and objects laying on the floor. his hair was messy, falling into his eyes. defeated, he turned back to look at you, his dark eyes looking nervous, chest heaving as he was trying to catch his breath.

"we um, we agreed to hang out today, remember?" a clear flush of pink was dusting my cheeks.

"is it 4:00 already?" he asked, walking over to his desk and looking at the time on his phone. he let a groan and ran his hand down his face. "im sorry," he said, barely in a whisper. you were unsure what to say at this point. you had liked josh for years, but he had never shown interest in you, but god forbid you say anything in the risk that he would actually like you back.

"don't be," you whispered back. he met your gaze, confusion filling his eyes.

"what?"

"i said don't be," you gave him a soft smile. he smiled back softly, walking over and sitting on his bed. you followed, sitting next to him, letting your knees brush against each other.

"how much did you hear?"

"i heard you say my name, but i didn't see much," you said in a very confident and teasing manner. he was looking down at his hands, his face a nice shade of crimson. "what's wrong?" you tease, moving your hand under his chin to make him meet your gaze.

"n-nothing..." he stuttered out. "i just, um," he couldn't get the words out. without thinking, you leaned forward, your lips pressing against his. you heard a small gasp escape josh, but you felt him immediately melt into the kiss. you felt his hand rest on your thigh as he tried to move closer to you. you felt his mouth gap slightly, giving you a chance to slide your tongue in, letting them dance around each other. your hands made their way up into his hair, grabbing fistfuls of it, tugging on it slightly. with that, he let out a guttural groan. "fuck," he breathed onto your lips.

"you have no idea how long i've wanted this," you mumble, adjusting your body to straddle his lap, feeling his cock rubbing on your heat. you began grinding on him softly, making him throw his head back in a stifled moan.

"m-me too," he whined out, grabbing at your ass trying to push you against him harder.

you reach down, grabbing his wrists and making him stop. "no, and be quiet." he looked up at you, a flash of desperation in his eyes. he quickly nodded.

"okay..." he whispered. you got up off of him, pointing at the bed, signaling at him to scoot up and lay down. he immediately did so, you following him to straddle him again, grinding against his confined dick. he bit his lower lip, watching you carefully trying to stifle the whines that were escaping his lips. "please," he whimpered out. you slipped off your shirt, the cold air causing goosebumps to form on your skin. josh bit his lips, eyes hungrily searching your body. you kissed his neck as you worked on the button of his jeans. you trailed kisses down his clothed chest before sliding his jeans and boxers off allowing his cock to spring free, then throwing them into a messy pile on the floor. his eyes followed your movements, hands gripping the bedsheets under him. you slowly began pumping the base of his cock as you brought your tongue down to the tip of his cock, making slow circles around him. his hips moved upward.

"be fucking still," you murmured, grabbing onto his hip with your free hand, gripping it tightly.

"i, im sorry," he whined out. "just feels s'good," his words were slurred together as his head leaned back. you bring your mouth back, wrapping your lips around him, bobbing your head up and down on his length at an agonizingly slow pace. he whined, gripping the back of your head, squirming beneath you. "mmmplease, faster," he gasped out between whines and whimpers.

"so needy," you hummed on him, quickening your speed. he arched his back, his reaction causing the heat between your legs to ache. you ran your tongue on the underneath side of his shaft, sucking on the tip harshly before taking him back into your mouth, his tip hitting the back of your throat.

"fuck im gonna~" you pulled off of him before he had a chance to finish his sentence, not allowing him to have his release. he looked up at you, desperation in his eyes. "p-please y/n, i need to cum," he whined.

"i want to fuck you first, joshy," you grinned before sliding your own shorts and panties off. you moved your hand down to your clit, rubbing lazy circles around it before moving up to him. "I'm going to ride your face, okay? you're going to make me cum before you can," i hummed. eagerly, he moaned out an 'okay' before you straddled his face. you immediately felt his hands grab onto your thighs as his tongue flicked over your folds, causing you to let out a low groan. "fuck, you're doing so good for me," you whispered. you leaned on one hand to brace yourself on the headboard while the other lightly tugged at tufts of his hair. he moaned into your heat as you tugged at his hair. his tongue periodically flicking over your clit, causing tremors of pleasure to run thorough you. you moaned, feeling a heat building up in your core. "fuck josh don't stop," you moaned out. he moved his head back and forth, moving his tongue in and out of you before moving it up to your clit again. before you knew it, you felt your orgasm burst out of you, making your body jolt, throwing your head back in a loud moan. josh moaned underneath you as you rode out your orgasm. you get off him wrapping your hand around his cock, feeling it get impossibly harder with your touch.

"p-please fuck me now," he whined out, unable to contain himself much longer. his eyes were glazed over with pleasure.

"so fucking needy," you mumble as you line his cock up with your entrance, slowly easing yourself onto him, stretching you out. you groaned as he whined, grabbing your hips to push you onto him. this caused you to grab his wrists, pinning them above his head, his eyes not leaving yours. "you're going to be good and not touch me, right?"

"i," he cut himself off with a needy moan as you started slowly bouncing on him, his eyes screwing shut.

"fuck, so big," you said through your own pleasure. "this is better that fucking your hand, mm joshy?" he nodded, his mouth open slightly as he tried to hold it together. you leaned down to kiss him, tasting yourself on his tongue. you quickened your movements, attacking his neck while you grinded on him, making him whine and moan. you let go of his hands, placing yours on his chest to brace yourself to quicken your movements even more.

"c-can i come," he breathed out, eyes still shut and brows furrowed. "please i can't hold on much longer," he groaned. you didn't answer, just leaned down to kiss him again, a much softer and intimate kiss. you felt the heat bubbling inside you again as his cock twitched, insinuating his closeness.

"be a good boy, cum inside," you whisper in his ear, you feeling yourself unfolding as your second orgasm hit, clenching around his cock. he groaned, letting out strained breaths as he reached his climax, filling you with his seed. you leaned down to kiss his forehead as he rode out his orgasm.

"s-shit, y/n.." he heaved. you looked down at him, his hair clinging to the sweat on his forehead. "thank you," he whispered. his eyes remained shut as he caught his breath. you got off of him, laying down next to him, catching your own breath. "hold on," he quietly said before getting up and leaving the room. he returned quickly with a small towel, gingerly cleaning you off before cleaning himself off. he offered you your underwear and one of his tshirts.

"thank you," you slipped them on as he pulled his boxers back on. you didn't notice at first, but they had a biotic wars pattern on them.

"you're an idiot, joshy." you smiled, looking over to him.

"what, i like the game!" he said, slightly offended. you rolled your eyes as he crawled back onto the bed, laying sideways with his head on your shoulder. he draped his arm over your stomach. "you said you've wanted to do that for a while?" he looked up to you, cocking an eyebrow at you.

"shut up," you smiled.

"what, im being serious!" you couldnt help but laugh.

"well, ive wanted to be with you since we were 15. i started wanting this when i went off to school. i missed you a lot. thought about you all the time really." you sighed out, closing your eyes. you felt him smile against your shoulder.

"ive liked you for a while too, was just scared to say anything." you didnt respond, just planted a kiss on his forehead. he sighed. "please dont tell anyone how much of a loser i am in the bedroom," he chuckled sleepily.

"aww not even my best friend?" he grumbled. "fine, fine you big baby." a comfortable silence filled the room, and soon the both of you drifted off to sleep in each others arms.

okay first fic done lol if yall made it through that and for some reason want more, send me recs! ill do 'em! thanks for reading lol

[dirtybitfic]

Ghostface

matt sturniolo x fem reader

contains~ smutt, violence , chasing , threatening calls

your pov-

I was sitting on my couch watching a movie eating some chocolate covered strawberries . I was supposed to be out with friends tonight but they cancelled on me last minute. So i'm all alone in my house bored as an absolute mother fucker.

I couldn't tell you how long i've been sitting here watching movies but i'm getting tired of it so I decided to take a shower.

I made my way upstairs when I heard a loud bang from outside . I would normally be shitting my pants but its storming really hard outside so I write it off .

I grabbed my speaker and connected my phone and started my shower playlist.

I got into my hot steamy shower singing along to the songs as I washed my body . I heard another loud sound outside but again its storming so I choose to ignore it . I just started rinsing out the conditioner in my hair when my power went out.

I immediately freaked out rushing to find my towel in the dark bathroom. I have a major fear of the dark , so much that my heart is pounding and I can feel it in my throat. I finally find my towel and turn off my speaker and turn on my phone flashlight.

I make my way out of the bathroom and down to the breaker in the down stairs laundry room. I have a chilling feeling that runs up my back as I reach the end of the stairs. I look around to see if there is any movement just to be safe . I make my way down the hall to the laundry room and open the door and find the breaker on the wall .

I flip the switch for the electric and the lights come back on and my heart starts to slow down . I sigh loudly as I make my way back to the shower to finish rinsing my hair. I turn the water back on and hop in rinsing the rest of the conditioner out and stand under the hot water for a bit to calm my nerves.

I make my way back out of the bathroom in my towel and enter my bedroom . I had left my curtains open earlier but I made my way over to shut them since I was about to change.

As I was making my way to my closet for a pair of underwear and a sleep shirt my phone rang.

*you answer the phone

hello?

what's your favorite scary movie?

What?

I start to feel a weird feeling in my gut telling me I should hang up but ... I don't

what's your favorite scary movie?

listen im not in the mood for prank calls so fuck off

no need to get hostile the deep voice says from the other line

im sorry but really im not in the mood so bye

I hang up the phone and go to my closet grabbing the clothes I need and go back to my room . My phone rings again. And my stomach drops.

Listen im gonna get pissed off in a second so stop calling me

wait don't hang up

fine what do you want

I wanna know your favorite scary movie

why?

because I just do come on tell me

I don't know . I guess the original scream ...and this call is feeling very familiar now that I think about it

mmm interesting choice why do you like the scream movies

reasons that I will not be telling a stranger on the phone so bye

I hang up the phone again . I honestly just want to go to bed i'm tired and pissed off now . I take off my towel drying my hair then the rest of the water off my body .

my phone rings again this time I pick it up and I don't hold back.

LISTEN ASSHOLE I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU KEEP BOTHERING ME BUT IM NOT IN THE FUCKING MOOD

your cute when your angry the voice on the other end says with a dark chuckle.

what ... what the fuck did you just say the line goes dead and I start to panic. My heart is racing and my breathing accelerated I quickly throw on my underwear and shirt and turn around to face the door .

I hear a small creak down the hall and I look around my room for anything I can use as a weapon only to find nothing.

I internally curse myself for not owning weapons but in what world would I ever think a man could be in my house playing tricks on me .

I hear another creak and I back up closer to the window . I decided to crack the curtains and look outside to see if I could see someone in the backyard but all I see is darkness and trees swaying from the storm.

I hear another creak this time downstairs. I stupidly decided to tip toe my way to the door and open in and slowly make my way down the hall to the stairs . I hear another creak then another and I immediately clutch my chest feeling my hart beat so fast I feel like I could drop dead any second. One thing about me is fear... excited me it's embarrassing my fear and adrenaline turn me on .

I hear foot steps get closer to the stairs and I whip around the wall so if the person looks up they won't see me .

The only thing is how did the person on the phone know how I looked pissed off. There was no-one in my room ....

I hear steps up the stairs slowly. I hold my breath .

I know you're up there sweetheart a deep voice says and my pulse quickens. The voice matches the one from the phone call .

I slowly tip toe my way back down the hall keeping watch of the stairs as I hear the stairs creek under his feet. I creep across the wall but my back hits a picture and it falls off the wall . FUCK

The person runs up the stairs and I see a man tall and thin with broad shoulders . In a ghostface mask at the top of the stairs menacingly turning his head to look at me . I hold my breathe as he tilts his head . I clench my thighs as the sight. I should be scared out of my mind right now but that fucking mask. It does things to me .

You gonna run he asks his deep voice muffled by the mask.

I immediately turn and run to my room as his steps follow close behind before I can even close the door his foot stops it and he slams in open so hard I fall back on my ass. That fucking hurt.

I look up at him as he cocks his head to the side and I can just tell hes smirking at me . fucking asshole.

He steps in and I crawl back on my hands as I push away with my feet . My breathing is so loud it’s all that can be heard inside my dark room.

this helpless victim look is really good on you he says as he walks to stand above me as my back hits the end of my bed frame.

I kick his shin and he grunts but doesn't move .

FUCK YOU .GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE

I wish I meant what I just said but every part of me wants nothing more than this masked man to stay .

ohhh but thats no fun . You never answered my question he says as he bends down right in front of my face .

yes I did I told you my favorite movie now get the fuck out

not that question ,... my follow up question

wh-what follow up question .

honestly I didn't wanna answer that question it would escalate the situation i'm in right now and I know my dumb ass would enjoy the outcome but im trying to make smart choices by keeping my answer to myself.

You know what question don't act stupid sweetheart he says deeply as he gets even closer to my face .

like I said im not telling you now.Leave before I call the cops

oh I wouldn't do that if I were you

oh yeah and why not

he pulls out a knife and glides it up my thigh causing my muscles to tense . Now im actually scared.

because id have to hurt you ... and that the last thing I want to have to do he says and the blade moves over my arm and under my chin as he tilts my chin up to look at him. I hate that the mask shows none of his face and the dark room does nothing to reveal his eyes under the mask. But I know he's making eye contact with me I can feel it.

t-then what do you want to do to me

answer my question and maybe ill answer yours he says in a deep husky tone

o-okay i... I like scream because of the masks

mmm ... and what do the masks make u feel

i... turned on . Im totally fucked but the fact he has a knife so close to my neck is the reason i'm answering honestly . Not to mention the obvious arousal soaking my thong right now.

atta girl see was that so hard to say he slowly retracts the knife and puts it behind him.

n-no .now answer my question

mmm you really wanna know

yes I say in a whisper as he moves even closer so his mask covered face is right by my ear.

i've been watching you for a while . I have cameras in your house that you'd never know where there ... my breathe hitches as I think about all the things i've done in my house that he could have watched ... embarrassing things id never want anyone to see.

the things I want to do to you are depraved , dark and rough . his hand slides up my thigh dangerously close to my soaked pussy thats clenching from the words he's said.

the worst thing is I was planning on taking you as my next victim . But something so beautiful should never be killed for the fun of it. i've groan to crave you in other ways.Your little mask kink makes this ten times better.

his hand grazes my soaked thong and a small whimper leaves my mouth.

y-you were going to...kill me I gasp as his fingers slip past the fabric and graze my bare pussy.

yes but now... I have other things in mind for you

l-like what I whine as his fingers touch my clit and rub small circles.

like this he says as his fingers plunge into my soaked pussy and I clench around them

hmm I whine as he hits a good spot with his long slender fingers.

do you want me to stop he asks in a low voice.

I shake my head N-no

you like this don't you

I nod my head yes

just a beautiful deranged little mess

I cry out as his fingers speed up and I feel myself close to orgasming. I know this is wrong.. so very wrong but i've never felt so alive in my life. It's my fantasy come to life .

f-fuck oh my I moan as I grasp his bicep.

so... so beautiful he says as his other hand traces my face.

my legs start to shake as my orgasm approaches

you gonna cum all over my fingers

y-yes god yes

give it to me I want to watch you fall apart as you cum on my fingers

his words set my skin ablaze as I cum all over his fingers as whimpers escape my mouth

oh-my god

he pulls his fingers out of me as he lifts his mask to suck his fingers clean .

I notice his nice pink lips and the light stubble on his chin and sharp jawline and the small stubble above his lip .

he drops it back down as I catch my breathe.

what's you name beautiful

y/n

I knew it would be as beautiful as I imagined

what's your name its only fair I know

he takes a second probably contemplating if he should tell me or not.

my name is matt

well matt ... what else do you want to do to me

mmm you have no idea he groans as he cups my cheeks in his large hands .

enlighten me then I say as I grow more excited with each second .

get on the bed and spread your legs wide for me

I get up and sit on the edge of the bed slipping off my thong and spreading my legs wide.

such a pretty little pussy he groans as he kneels at the end of the bed.

his large hands come up to the mask as he slowly slides it off his face and MY GOD HES BEAUTIFUL. Bright blue eyes, sculpted cheeks and rich brown hair that falls perfectly over his forehead.

wow I sigh as I take in his face .

he looks up at me with his beautiful eyes as a smirk lands on his lips.

like what you see

like is an understatement

he chuckles .

he stands up as he slips his shirt over his head reveling an arm covered in tattoos and cut collar bones and broad shoulders.

he leans over me as he smashes his lips on mine in a deep kiss that has my heart fluttering and my body melting into the bed.

I move my hands up over his stomach and over his shoulders to the back of his neck pulling him closer to me by his hair and he groans into the kiss.

he pulls away as his hands move to the bottom of my shirt sliding it up and over my head.

so beautiful he groans as he takes my nipple into his mouth .

I moan as I arch into him as he sucks and nips creating bruises on my tits.

his hands moves to my waist as he pulls me closer to him .

I can feel his large thick bulge through his jeans causing me to moan louder . He unlatches from my tits and hovers back over me .

I move my hands down his body to his belt slowly unbuckling it .

He groans as he watches my smaller hands remove his belt and unbutton his jeans. I slowly slide them down as he kicks them off completely and dear god the bulge confined by his boxers is huge I audibly gulp.

What’s the matter … scared you can’t take it he says with a smirk

I roll my eyes and pull him closer to me by his hips.

I know I can take it I testify as I move one hand to palm his dick. This is definitely gonna hurt .

Mmm we’ll see about that he says as he slides his boxers down and his dick smacks his stomach.

It’s large thick and veiny . I stare unintentionally as his large hand wraps around it strocking it a couple times.

He steps closer to me as he aligns himself with my entrance. I sigh as he rubs the tip through my wet folds .

You sure you want this he asks genuinely which I admire him getting my consent givin the circumstances.

I nod my head . yes Matt I want it I say as I look into his eyes

He groans as he slowly slides the tip in causing me to hiss from the stretch from how thick he is .

He stares down at me watching my face noticeably scrunched in discomfort.

You okay he ask as he stops pushing in .

Mhm your just … really big

I know sweetheart but you can take it he coos and the mention of the Nick name has me clenching around him.

Mmm you like when I call you that hmm

He says in a deep voice causing me to shudder.

Mmhm I whimper as he pushes in deeper

You’re almost there being such a good girl he groans causing me to moan and pulse around him.

He pushes all the way in and I gasp . I’ve never felt so full in my entire life . He stills letting me adjust to his size . I tap his arm after a little bit .

Y-you can move

He starts thrusting in and out slowly causing me to whine. The stinging stretch feeling is going away and morphing into pure pleasure.

F-fuck faster please please I whine and he immediately picks up pace causing me to moan loudly as he hits so deep in me I feel him in my guts.

Such a good girl taking me so well he groans as he keeps eyes contact with me as I writhe underneath him.

F-fuck your so deep I moan as he speeds up pace even more as my eyes shut and my head falls back onto the bed.

I feel and orgasm creeping in and my legs start to slightly shake.

Fuck your so fucking wet for me

He groans as he grips my hips harder maintaining the same pace that has my eyes rolling into the back of my head.

Fuck I’m so close mmm

I moan as I look up at him and maintain eye contact as he smirks at me .

Come on cum all over my cock like the little slut you are

The second those words leave his mouth my orgasm hits me like a train and I shake underneath him as whimpers leave my mouth.

Fu-fuck oh my god I gasp as I come down from my high and he still continues fucking into me at a fast pace.

Fuck you feel so good he groans as he grips my highs and pulls them over his shoulder as he wraps his arms around them holding my calves to his chest . He’s hitting my gspot repeatedly causing my back to arch and my legs to shake.

F-fuck harder I moan and he looks down at me .

Yeah you want me to pound this pussy

I moan at his words and nod my head.

Y-yes fuck yes please

He starts pounding into me roughly and my legs shake uncontrollably.

FUCK FUCK

I can’t help but scream from how deep he is . I’ve never felt this good having sex before and I don’t want it to end.

Sound so pretty when you scream he groans as he pounds into me harder .

I feel pressure building telling me I’m going to squirt .

I grabs his thigh and whine not being able to get words out .

Let it out sweetheart

He coos as I shake under him as I squirt all over his dick .

Fuckk just like that so fucking sexy he groans as I gasp and shake under him.

JESUS CHRIST I scream as I come down and I look down at my stomach to see his dick bulging up into my stomach.

He looks down smirking as he watches the way my stomach bulges with every thrust

Feel how deep I am hmm he says pressing a hand down making me scream

FUCK FUCK OH MY - G -GOD the pleasure he’s giving me right now is beyond anything I’ve ever felt in my life.

I grab his arm tightly as I throw my head back and my mouth hangs open as I breathe so hard it sounds like I’m hyperventilating

Tell me how good I’m making you feel he rasps as his free hand grabs my throat making me look back at him

So good - s-so fucking good I whimper as I feel another orgasm approaching

Such a good girl for me you close sweetheart

He says as I clench around him.

Y-yes fuck I’m gonna cum I whine as I feel my legs shake and the pressure close to breaking.

Cum all over my cock baby come on I know you can do it

I scream out as I cum all over him and I shake uncontrollably.

That’s it doing so good He groans as he fucks me through my orgasm

I come down and I’m still shaking from overstimulation.

He stops thrusting and pulls out I whine.

Flip over on your stomach he rasps and I do just that.

My arms are in front of me gripping the comforter as his hands trace my waist to my ass.

He groans as his hand come down harshly on my ass causing me to jolt .

Such a beautiful girl he coos as I moan

He lines his tip back up to my entrance plunging in deep and hard.

I scream as he pounds into me so hard my legs lift of the bed and kick at his ass.

FUCK SO DEEP I C-CANT

I scream out as I move my hands to try and push him away but he grabs them with one hand and yanks my hair back with the other causing me whine.

I thought you said you can handle me

He rasps as he thrust into me harder and I scream.

FUCK FUCK O-H MY

Yeah is my dirty little slut feeling good

Mmmhm I whine as my legs shake and another orgasm crashes over me out of nowhere .

Fuck keep fucking squeezing me just like that he groans as his thrust get sloppy and he lets go of my hair pulling my arms back straight and my back arches of the bed and he plows into me fast and ruff.

Fuuuck gonna let me fill you up ?

He asks as his thrust get sloppy

Mmmhm fuck please give it to me

I whine as I grab onto his arms as my legs shake uncontrollably.

Fuck god damn he groans as I feel his cum fill me up and his thrust slow down as he fucks his cum into me nice and slow.

He pulls out slowly as I whine .

He grabs my hair and there’s a camera in my face .

Such a pretty face he says as I look back at him and notice he put the mask back on I’m guessing for the picture he just took .

He takes it back off throwing it in the ground.

Come on let’s get you in a shower he says as he picks me up and takes me into the bathroom as I go pee and he turns the water on . I just showered but after everything he just did to me I’m in need of another one.

I get in as he stands behind me lathering me in body wash and letting me rinse it off .

My hair is already washed so we just stand under the hot water letting our muscles relax.

After probably 20 minutes we get out and dry off I go to my room and grab a new pair of underwear and a sweatshirt and sit back down on the bed.

He comes and sits next to me .

Can I tell you something he asks as he looks down at me

Yeah

I said as I looked up at him .

I was never planning on killing you obviously I’m not a murderer I actually found this he says as he reaches down into a bag I guess he had with him.

He pulls out a note book that looks very familiar. My diary I’d been looking for for weeks.

You had left it in a coffee shop and I picked it up and read a couple pages which I’m sorry about that but I saw your number and address in the please return too page and I couldn’t help myself but find out who you were.

I just look at him in shock obviously he read specific pages which led him to what he did tonight

I read the page of your ghost face fantasy and well you know … after watching you for a couple days I decided to give it a go

Damn… I mean I don’t know what to say… is it weird to thank you for making my fantasy come true

I don’t think it’s weird at all to say that

Well I mean I got lucky to be honest your hot and definitely my type which makes it even better

Oh really you think I’m hot he asks with a smirk I shove his shoulder blushing .

Oh shut up Matt

Well … would you ever want to go on a date with me like a normal date no crazy fantasies involved

I’d love that and … you wanna stay over tonight I’m sure exhausted and I know you probably are too

Sure why not he says smiling getting up and walking to the opposite side of the bed and laying down pulling me into him.

We cuddle and drift to sleep

The end 💋

[agaypanic]

Hey could you write Benny with a popular cheerleader reader? Not the cult type tho

Benny Weir With A Cheerleader Girlfriend Headcanons

Masterlist

Request Something!

A/N: here’s some headcanons to tide yall over while im gone lol also idk how things are in canada so im pulling experience from my high school in america lol

***

Your cheerleading friends honestly have no idea why you’re with Benny

They think you could do better; everyone wants to either date you or be you

But you don’t care at all

Benny may be considered a “loser” by some people, but he’s a hot loser

“You’re staring again.” One of your friends muttered, just loud enough for you to hear, while you and the rest of the squad shook your pom-poms. All of the students were filing into the gym for a pep rally, and your boyfriend immediately caught your eye.

“I’m allowed to stare.” You responded with a giant grin, discreetly waving at Benny when he spotted you. He waved back before getting his friends to follow him to the first few rows of bleachers, trying to get a spot as close to you as possible.

“How did you even meet him?” The girl next to you asked. “I mean, there’s no way you guys run in the same circles.”

“He was a friend of a friend.” You answered. You were really good friends with Sarah, mainly because she was dating Jesse Black. But the two of you remained friends after he had left school, and she had introduced you to her new friend group. Most cheerleaders labeled them the geek squad, but you didn’t care. If anything, they were very refreshing to be around. “Now he’s my boyfriend. Simple as that.”

“He looks like he’s never felt a woman’s touch.” Your first friend giggled. You looked up at the bleachers to see Benny and your friends sitting in front of you in one of the higher rows. Your boyfriend stared at you intently with a goofy grin while everyone else talked amongst themselves.

“I like my men like that.” You said. The gym was almost filled, so the conversation would have to wrap up soon. “And trust me, he’s definitely felt a woman’s touch by now.” Although he couldn’t hear what you were talking about, you winked at Benny, making him blush.

Benny goes to every event that you have to be at

Even if it’s an away game or competition

He loves cheering for you and supporting you

He never pays attention to the game or anyone else on your cheer squad

“Benny, you don’t have to come.” You said for probably the hundredth time as you put on your uniform. Benny lay sprawled out on your bed, watching you straighten out your top. “It’s an hour-long ride both ways, and you don’t even care about football.”

“That may be true, but I still gotta cheer for my girl.” He reached for your skirt, lightly tugging on it until you were standing at the edge of your bed in front of him. Benny sat up, letting you stand between his legs while his hands gripped the backs of your thighs.

“I thought it was my job to do the cheering.” You jested, pushing back some hair from his face. “But still, you’ll be getting home late.”

“I don’t mind.” Benny persisted. “Was thinking that I’d go on the rooter bus, and then when we get back, we could get some dinner or something.”

You smiled at the idea. Food definitely sounded good. You’d eat before leaving, but you didn’t want to risk making a mess of your uniform or being late to the bus.

“How did I get so lucky?” You sighed, leaning down to kiss Benny. Even when you went to straighten up, he tried chasing your lips for another peck.

“I’m the lucky one,” Benny corrected you. A hand left your body so he could look at his watch, and he then quickly patted your thighs. “We better get going; we can’t miss the buses.” In a panic, you jumped away from him and grabbed your bag. While speeding down the stairs, Benny replaced the bag in your hold with his hand, slinging the bag over his shoulder.

When the two of you got to the high school, he speed-walked you to the bus that the football team and cheerleaders were supposed to ride to the game on. Benny made sure to give you a kiss before handing you your duffel bag.

“See you in an hour, babe.”

“Can’t wait.”

Gets really jealous when other people look at you in a certain way

He knows you’re popular and desirable, but it still gets on his nerves a bit

Especially if it’s a jock that wants you

Since he started dating you, homecoming week felt like torture for Benny. The dress-up days were fun, and he enjoyed the dance and hanging out with you and his friends.

But the day of the homecoming game absolutely sucked.

For some reason, it was tradition that on the day of the homecoming football game, the cheerleaders would get assigned a football player and wear their jersey for the day, plus the game itself. Benny usually didn’t care so much. At the end of the day, you were solely interested in him. Plus, it was just a piece of clothing.

But this year, the jersey you were wearing belonged to a guy who didn’t seem to care that you even had a boyfriend.

“How does it fit?” The football player asked as you situated the shirt you were wearing. Benny glared at him from down the hall. The guy’s name was Josh, or Jake, or something similar. Benny didn’t really care enough to know.

“Fine, Jason.” You answered before opening your locker. Jason leaned against the wall, looking at you like you were a piece of meat. Benny suddenly wished he was a football player, just so he could see “Weir” displayed on your back instead of “Graham.”

“Maybe after we win the game, we can hang out or something,” Jason suggested, and Benny wanted to throw up at the thought. “You look really good in my clothes; I kinda wanna show you off.”

You shut your locker, giving Jason a bored expression.

“Yeah, well, I look better in my boyfriend’s clothes.” You looked past Jason to see Benny, who was eyeing the both of you. You smiled and started walking to him. “Speaking of, I see him so… bye!”

The second you were within reach, Benny had a protective, almost possessive, hold on you. He kept glaring at Jason, who scoffed at the two of you and walked away. You finally took his attention away from the boy by planting your hands on his cheeks and kissing him.

“What are you so worked up about?” You asked, but you already knew the answer. You pulled Benny down the hall so you could go to class.

“Nothing.” He answered, which the both of you knew was a lie. He muttered something you couldn’t hear, and there was a sudden yelp behind you. You looked back to see Jason spinning in circles, trying to look at something behind him. Looking closer, you notice that a tail had sprouted out from his backside.

“Benny!” You meant to say it in a reprimanding way, but let out a giggle as you turned back around.

“What?” Benny asked, smiling slightly. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Sure you didn’t.”

“Hey, do the cheerleaders do this jersey thing for other sports or just football?” Benny asked curiously.

“Just football, I think. Why?” Benny shrugged innocently.

“Just wondering. Was thinking of maybe joining the hockey team or something.”

“Oh, I’d wear a jersey with your name on it any day, baby.”

[kaihuntrr]

one-year anniversary!

HI. oh my goodness can you believe its been a WHOLE YEAR (and a day, im posting this a day later OOPS-) since i started working on this au? i dont think i started working on the chapters until... the -ber months? but the general brainstorming started now and oh my GOD the amount of changes that has happened while working on this au is insane! im absolutely floored with how much people enjoy this au, and while im too busy to be posting art (im doing some personal work!) i have all the time in the world to talk about how much this means to me.

i've written things in the past, but i havent for the LIFE of me worked on such a long project such as this (we're only halfway through act one of FIVE!) and learning and growing with such wonderful betas and partner (ehehe @mewhoismyself hello there) is just so wonderful <3

SO! in order to make this anniversary special, i've decided to post a little cut/practice scene from act two! this couldnt make the cut with what the plot has in mind, but i figured itd be best to have some nice moments with scott and martyn, eh?

OH! and before i go, the next chapter will be posted a day earlier! <3 im going abroad the day after the original chapter posting date, so i need to rest. i think this back half of the fic is gonna be really something <3

anyway, i wont keep you here for longer. i hope you have a fun time reading this, just as much as my partner and i had fun writing this so many months ago <33

Martyn tried to listen as Scott rambled on about what he’d been up to, how nice it had been to see his friends again. He even tried to let the small twist of jealousy at Scott being so happy over seeing someone else wrench his attention back into the moment, but it didn’t work. The face of Pearl kept flashing in the forefront of his mind, her eyes and jagged scar glowing unnaturally under the moonlight. 

“Oh, and…,” Scott continued to ramble on, but Martyn still couldn’t focus. It seemed that Scott had noticed as his voice trailed off and he looked at the blonde with a tilted head. “Martyn…?”

Martyn gave a grumbled response. His mind blocked out the world around him as he pictured brief flashes of the island, the hollow and desolate stares of the people, the wicked laugh coming from Pearl….

Scott sighed. “Martyn….”

Martyn could still feel a slight buzz in his head from where he was hit. How much blood did he lose back there? He didn’t know. All he knew was that he was glad to be alive. Glad that he was here, still breathing, like everyone else. Glad that he was–

“Martyn!”

Martyn jerked as Scott’s face was suddenly inches from his own. Scott’s lips were twisted into a pout and his eyebrows were drawn into a scowl. “Huh- sorry, what?”

Scott sighed, letting his head fall forward, “So you weren’t listening to me….”

“No!” Martyn said quickly, throwing his hands up. Panic leapt in his chest, making his heart beat faster. He didn’t want Scott to think he was ignoring him…! “No, I- I’m… I’m sorry…,” he hung his head. “I’m trying to listen- I’m not meaning to ignore you, I just….” Martyn looked down at the sand beneath him. Guilt welled up in his throat. He’d been so eager to see Scott while he was away, and before he’d gotten back, and now that he was actually here… Martyn was ignoring him. He was making Scott feel ignored.

Martyn shook his head, forcing a huge smile onto his face. “So, you said you saw your friends, right? Did you have fun-? Oh, what am I saying, you just said you had fun- haha…,” Martyn scrubbed the back of his head, then straightened up, rolling to his feet. “Hey, do you wanna go see if we can find your bird friend? I bet it’s missed you too!” He pointed towards a path leading up to the forest, “Bet he lives in there somewhere…!”

“Um- Martyn…,” Scott trailed off looking after him.

Martyn took a few steps backwards, away from Scott, and spread his arms, hoping he’d follow. “Or we can go down to the beach! It’s a nice day, it’ll feel great to splash in the water a little.”

“Martyn.”

“Or- oh, we can go see the decorations they’re setting up for the festival down in the center of town. You said you were excited right, so we can-!”

“Martyn!” Scott snapped. 

Martyn stopped.

Scott took the few steps to close the distance between them, laying his hand on Martyn’s arm, then sliding it down to take his hand. He tilted his head, giving Martyn big sad eyes. “Martyn, talk to me…. What’s wrong?”

It was hard for Martyn to not crack under Scott’s gaze. “It’s just…,” he trailed off, trying to put his thoughts into words. He was just engrossed in them a second ago, but now, trying to tell Scott, he couldn’t think of what to say. “I… uh….”

“You’re alright, Martyn,” Scott rubbed his thumb over Martyn’s hand in a small, circular motion. “Take your time.”

A small pause fell over him. Martyn could hear the slow ebbs of the waves before he managed to speak. “I can’t get her out of my mind,” his voice spat with venom. Pearl’s sadistic glee, her manic grin, her ever-looming presence burned in his head. Martyn’s grip unknowingly tightened around Scott until he looked the other in the eye. His grip on Scott lessened as he looked away. “What good can I be to protect you, when I can’t defend myself from one person?”

“Who said I needed protecting?” Scott raised an eyebrow, his tone still soft but with a hint of skepticism as he leaned to the side to catch Martyn’s gaze again. He let out a weak chuckle and moved his other hand to rest on Martyn’s cheek. “Besides, you can’t protect me from everything.”

Martyn leaned into the touch, not caring how warm his cheeks felt as Scott’s delicate hand pressed into his skin, lightly grazing over the scar Pearl caused. He closed his eyes as he let out a sigh and drooped his shoulders. “But I want to…,” he muttered. He looked at Scott, his face scrunched with worry. “I don’t want you getting hurt at all, Scott.”

“There’s going to be times where I get hurt, Martyn,” Scott narrowed his eyes and withdrew his hand from Martyn’s cheek. Martyn was wide-eyed, only for Scott to hold the hunter’s other hand. “When that happens, all I’d ask is for you to help me get back on my feet.”

Martyn could feel his nerves freeze up at Scott’s warm hold. His gentle stare and concern on his face nearly caused Martyn’s heart to explode. A million things swirled in his mind as the breeze wafted over. “I can’t help it,” he lowered his head, biting his lip. “You should be protected, with all the chaos going around–”

“What chaos?” Scott cracked a smile and shook his head. He shrugged, letting go of one of Martyn’s hands as he gestured around. “All there is to see is you, me, and the beach. Nothing to worry about, right?”

Nothing to worry about for now, but so many things could happen in the blink of an eye. Martyn could practically hear the sound of the sea princes’ ringing in his ears, the one from his dreams laughing as its mouth opened wide to swallow Scott as he screamed-.... 

No. Martyn needed to be prepared for anything, so nothing bad could ever happen to the people he cared for. Nothing. Never again. 

“I still want to fight for you,” his voice was barely a whisper in the wind, cracking a bit from the emotions that crawled up the back of his throat. But seeing Scott’s attentive look, with the slight tilt of his head, Martyn knew he could hear him. “Can I at least do that?” he pleaded. He needed to-. He needed to. 

“You may,” Scott nodded, giving him a small smile. Then his eyes narrowed as a smirk crept onto his lips. “So- I’d like to see how you fight.”

Martyn opened his mouth to respond- just in time for a woosh of breath to leave him as his back hit the ground. Martyn gasped, blinking for several seconds as he tried to figure out he’d gotten laid flat out on his back… with a certain ginger pinning his shoulders to the sand.

“Yikes…,” Scott teased, his eyebrows rising, complimenting the wide grin on his face.

Martyn sputtered, his face immediately flushing beat red. “I wasn’t ready! Sneak- sneak attack…!”

Scott laid one arm across his chest, propping his other elbow on top of it and laying his cheek in his hand. “Most things will take an opportunity for a sneak attack, when presented with one.” He kicked his feet in the air, as if he was lounging on a couch reading a book. 

Martyn flushed all the way to his ears. “Redo!”

Scott leaned his head down, smiling at Martyn in a way that was almost sickeningly sweet. “Are you waiting for a written invitation?” 

Martyn grabbed Scott by the shoulders and surged upwards, knocking the ginger off of him. Scott laughed as he slipped his grip, ducking under one of Martyn’s arms to wrap his arms around Martyn’s torso. 

Before Martyn’s brain could fully process that, Scott had rolled Martyn over top of him and planted him flat on his back again. 

Working on instinct more than pre-thought, Martyn wrapped his arms around Scott’s shoulders and kicked off the sand. He knocked his thigh against Scott’s hip, bumping him off balance just enough to send them rolling over again.

But Scott didn’t end up on his back underneath Martyn. 

Somehow, mid flip, he’d slithered around Martyn’s torso, ducking his arm again and getting outside of his hold. Martyn ended up with his face in the sand and a knee pressed between his shoulders, shoving him down further.

Martyn was about to push himself up with his arms, using his strength advantage to throw Scott off of him, but Martyn froze when he felt something sharp curl around his throat. 

He couldn’t move. He couldn’t even swallow. He could barely even breathe. 

Suddenly the sharp points of crescent bladed scythes were touched against his neck so delicately. Suddenly the sharp claws of a hungry beast wrapped around his throat, pricking the skin above his jugular. One wrong move and she’d slid his throat. One wrong breath and the beast would tear him to ribbons.

A figure above him bent down to whisper in his ear. 

“I win!” Scott chirped brightly. He laughed as he withdrew his fingernails from where he’d curled them around Martyn’s throat. “You really do need more practice. Though I’d be happy to oblige…,” his voice turned sing-songy as he plopped back on the sand, his arms holding him up.

Martyn slowly pushed himself upwards, staring down at the sand where his face had been in utter bafflement. Why had that felt-? Why was he-? Why was his heart beating so fast? Why… did he feel like he’d just been hunted…?

“That- that uh…,” Martyn stammered, not really sure what he wanted to say. “You’re a lot better fighter than I thought you’d be.” He turned his head to look at Scott, pushing himself up so he was sitting on his knees.

“I know,” Scott smiled widely, tipping his head back and forth, “Do I impress you, Martyn?” He smiled and hummed teasingly, his eyes narrowed in a joyful satisfaction. 

“Always,” he breathed, a lot more genuine and heartfelt than he’d meant to. Scott’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Martyn felt his face flush and he looked down at the sand. Well, he was in this far. “I think you’re amazing.” 

“Thank you…,” Scott said with a shy little smile. A light hint of red dusted his cheeks. He looked… really nice like that.

Martyn shook his head, roughly clearing his throat. “Well um, as- as fun as this was… I was actually referring to- to my gun combat more than my hand-to-hand.”

“Uh huh,” Scott answered with a small smirk, not sounding like he believed him. “Well, maybe I could help you with that as well.” 

“You know how to use a gun?” Martyn asked, more than a little shocked. How… how much did he really know about Scott?

Scott opened his mouth, then closed it. He looked to the side, then looked back at Martyn. “Noooo…?” he admitted, grinning sheepishly. He sighed, rolling his eyes a bit, “To be honest I thought you were still flirting, not that that was a serious question. And now, well… I’m just embarrassed.”

“Oh.” Martyn tried to hide his sigh of relief. It was one thing to just not know that Scott was a capable fighter -he was a tavern keeper who dealt with rowdy drunks all the time, Martyn honestly should have expected it- but it was another thing to not know that Scott was a trained gunman. For some reason they felt different. Martyn felt a grin split his face. “Would-... would you like me to teach you…?”

“Teach me what?” Scott’s eyebrows pinched together for a brief moment, then shot up towards his hairline, “How to use a gun?”

“Yeah,” Martyn grinned, “It’ll be like the time I was taught!”

“When were you taught?” Scott tilted his head.

“I think I was… seven? My parents knew I wanted to be a hunter, so they taught me,” Martyn hummed, looking out at the beach. He could remember the eagerness in his voice when he asked his parents to teach him. He only knew of the dangers through them and the people he lived around, but he knew his heart was calling out to the sea more than anything else.  “I needed practice, like everyone else, but I’m a natural. A crack shot, they’d told me!” He laughed. Shooting a target from far away was much easier than fighting with swords or his bare hands. 

Scott blinked, processing Martyn’s words. He slowly turned his head to Martyn, eyes widening in shock as all sense of his playfulness dropped. “You were a child when you learned how to use those?”

“Yeah…? I wanted to be a hunter, Scott, so I learned early.” Martyn looked at Scott and shrugged, feeling the ginger’s gaze on his skin felt… different. Martyn learned how to use guns to be a hunter, not to– oh. Was Scott thinking Martyn would…? Martyn shook his head and raised his hands up. “But I can’t shoot a person. A sea monster is easy because they’re big and stupid, but a person…?”

Scott had a judgemental look on his face as it scrunched up. He pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them, resting his head on it as he sighed. “Ending a person’s life is hard, and I’m happy you haven’t shot anyone, but…,” he trailed off. Martyn leaned closer to Scott as he raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you think it’s a little concerning?”

“What’s concerning?”

“You learned how to shoot things, how to kill things, as a kid,” Scott looked away, gripping his arms tighter as he watched the waves flow in and out. “Every life has a purpose; from you, to me, and even the beasts in the ocean.”

Martyn narrowed his eyes. Exactly what purpose could those monsters serve? Being ocean terrors? An effective way to kill humans and destroy ships? To bring fear in the hearts of children? To kill Ren- Jimmy? Why were there monsters in the ocean? Why should there be? 

“They’re monsters, Scott.” Martyn hissed, anger rising in his voice.

“They’re animals,” Scott hissed back, his face pinching into an expression that was almost pained. “They’re just animals….” 

“They’re heartless, cruel, and always starving.” Martyn huffed, pulling out his gun to examine it under the sunlight. Horrible beasts. Disgusting monsters. Murderers. “They’re such horrible, unnatural beasts that every mechanic in the world works to develop better guns and weapons to kill them all.” 

He didn’t fully notice the way Scott shied away from the gun in his hand. “You’re lucky you don’t need to leave the kingdom to see those ugly things,” Martyn spat.

“Ugly…,” Scott grumbled, turning his head away, like he was offended by the notion. “Well, I’m sure most of them would think the same about you.”

Martyn blinked, giving Scott a double take. Ugly…? 

Scott let out a sigh as he stretched and uncurled his legs and arms to stretch out in front of him. He picked up a small handful of sand and watched it fall through his fingers. “Every life is precious, every life is running on limited time. I’m not an idiot. I know things die. But there’s no reason to cut it shorter than it needs to be. ” He smiled wistfully, tossing the rest of the sand forward. “The sea is… scary, but maybe if you had an open mind, you’d see there’s more to it than monsters.”

Martyn followed Scott’s gaze and stared. Was there anything more to them? Surely not. The fondness in Scott’s voice was hard to believe- but the man has never even seen any beast to Martyn’s knowledge. The fond tone that Scott spoke about those- those monsters with… it honestly made Martyn angry. Those monsters took away the people he cared about. The people he loved. People he cherished. Jimmy, Ren… and so many other innocent people lost their lives to the sea, Lizzie’s parents…. The ocean took all of them, and there was nothing to blame but the monsters that infested it.

“They’re monsters, nothing more than that,” he spat, emotions in his chest wrenching into a tight knot that made it hard to breathe. He swung his arm out to the side, bringing his gun up in front of his chest as he rose to his knees, almost looming over Scott. “I know what they are, Scott, and I know I’m doing all that I can to protect you and the rest of the kingdom from the beasts that would just as quickly swallow you whole as they would crush you into pieces!”

“There’s no need for you to be so hostile about it,” Scott snapped at Martyn, his eyes narrowing into a cold glare that felt like icy daggers stabbing into Martyn’s face. Scott stood up and brushed all the sand from his clothes with a sigh. “I understand.” He walked closer to the water, just enough for the waves to lap against his shoes and tightened his fist, as if preventing to lash out.

Martyn blinked. “Was I-?” he muttered to himself. 

He looked out at Scott standing in the surf. He looked… sad. The guilty feeling in his chest built up once more. 

All of a sudden, Martyn remembered just how happy Scott looked with his birds fluttering around him, with the canary nuzzling his palm. Oh-. Scott was an animal lover…. No wonder he-.

Martyn was messing everything up. First he’d ignored him, and he was pushing Scott away by getting angry. Martyn quickly stood up and ran across the beach towards Scott, “Oh, Scott, I’m sorry–”

Scott turned to look at him, a flat expression on his face.

Martyn felt his heart twist, “I- I’m sorry. I- I didn’t mean to make you feel….”

“Upset?” Scott supplied.

“Yeah…,” Martyn bowed his head. His hand twitched out, reaching for Scott’s but giving up and retreating before he could take it. Martyn turned his head away and bit his lip. “I-... I made you-....”

Scott stepped closer and held out his hand. “No need for that, silly hunter,” he smiled sweetly. Martyn took it almost immediately, surprising them both. Scott let out a chuckle and bumped his shoulder next to Martyn’s. “I’m not mad,” Scott said softly. Martyn believed him. He looked… sad instead. 

“I don’t want you to–”

“You’re just fine.” Scott assured him with a smirk. “It takes a lot more than a simple disagreement to make me actually upset. We’re okay, right?” 

Martyn bashfully nodded, resulting in a wide smile from Scott. Was he… really okay? Or was he just hiding how he felt? For Martyn’s sake? Martyn hoped it was the former. 

Scott put a hand on his chest, giving Martyn’s hand a small squeeze. “Just… try to keep an open mind, alright? The world can be… stranger than you might think.” He smiled a little bashfully, “I might have- a surprise or two… to share, eventually.”

“Like how you can kick my butt in hand to hand?”

Scott’s face split into a wide grin, his eyes lighting up with laughter. “Just like that.”

Martyn felt himself smiling, a laugh escaping him as he squeezed Scott’s hand. Yeah, they were okay.

[darkestspring]

yandere targaryen pt 2

a/n: i’ve been waiting for write part two for a while but i’ve been busy with other requests and work and my brain has 1000 ideas but i can never focus on one, im starting a yandad daemon series soon so look out for that but part one to this series can be found here. i hope you enjoy!!! as always i dedicate this to @missglaskin​ for always inspiring me and being such an ammazing write like wow!!! we’re pretty blessed to be able to read your amazing content huh. and special dedication to @frankcastleonlyfans​ for listening to my stupid ramblings about maegor and my other targaryen series. enjoy!

it seemed as though everything had changed the moment that alicent had married your father, rhaenyra’s anger never ceased and she kept you with her at all times

daemon was still exiled and continued to write you letter, promising to take you away. wouldn’t that be fun, he’d write, an adventure for just the two of us.

you did think it was fun but you were careful not to mention the letters to anyone.

alicent had given birth to your younger brother, aegon II and you had adored him from the moment he was born.

rhaenyra hated that you spent so much time away from her. she hated that her father had marrried her friend. she hated that she was expected to marry. all she had was you and even then, alicent was trying to steal you away.

on aegon’s second name day, it all came to a head. rhaenyra ran away after confronting her father over trying to marry her to jason lannister. she had taken you with her into the woods in her rage.

viserys and alicent had both demanded that you be found. even if ser criston cole ran aftet the both of you, it was dangerous. you must be safe.

rhaenyra clung onto you as she walked further in, you were all she cared about.

“sister, do you love me?” she’d ask you, her eyes settled on you with intensity. you had smiled at her. “of course, i do. i love you and alicent and father very much, aegon too.” the answer left her dissatisfied, she wanted you to love her more

in the end of your trip, both she and you were covered in blood, leaving alicent to panic over you. what had happened to her sweet girl, her beloved daughter.

it had all been a blur after that, rhaenyra had gone on tour to choose a husband. it had been suggested that you marry as well but viserys denied it for now. he wished for your happiness above all.

rhaenyra had sobbed into your shoulder when her request for you to come with had been denied. you were her sister not alicent’s, why could you not be with her. rhaenyra left with sorrow as you waved at her from a distance.

you had gotten much closer with alicent and aegon. he followed you everywhere and you thought it was cute. your own little shadow, viserys had remarked playfully once.

alicent had given birth once more, to a girl named Helaena, you adored her even more, always taking her with you when you explored outside. she would watching the animals and bugs as she rested her head on your shoulder. what a lovely thing she was.

months later, rhaenyra returned without a husband, earning ire from your father and daemon returned, leaving you full of joy.

you had flung yourself into his arms when you had caught up to him after your father had hugged him

he had hugged you just as close, his precious girl. he had missed you too much.

maybe that’s why it hurt just as much when he left. alicent had told you that there were rumors that rhaenyra had been with your uncle in a brothel, you refused to believe it. not your sister.

everything seemed to be getting once, you had to say goodbye to otto tearfully as he left his position of hand of the king. rhaenyra was engaged to leanor valeryon

even when rhaenyra returned to prepare for the wedding, alicent clung to you more but wouldn’t tell you why. she would glare at rhaenyra with such intensity and you felt lost at every turn.

you felt like things were getting out of hand, especially when ser criston had killed ser joffrey. you had begged your father to spare him. you could not lose someone you cared for. you had begged rhaenyra to understand. you had held laenor as he sobbed.

why were the winds changing? why was everything going bad? why were your maids changing every day. Alicent clung to you more as everything changed.

Marriage is not a suitable thing for you, she’d tell you when you asked to be married off, to help support your family. I need you here with me, my lovely daughter. I need you most, please don’t think about leaving.

a chill went down your spine at the look in her eyes. had alicent always been this possessive over you? always wanted to keep you so close to her? you wished you had an answer.

[sungbeam]

OFF THE RECORD ▷ PART TWO (EP9-17)

nonidol!ji changmin x fem!reader

everyone thinks ji changmin is cute and harmless, but you know that's not who he really is.

▷ genre, part warnings. e2l, childhood friends gone bad, (extra) slow burn, fluff, angst, crying lol, mentions of childhood trauma and parental manipulation, arguing, bittersweet galore, nct ten is there for the sole purpose of being nosy like the rest of us or for being a 2nd male lead who knows!, swearing, hurt/comfort, kissing!, ji changmin dancing (need i go on), symptoms of panic/anxiety, a lot of non-tbz moments sorry i meant it when i said extra slow burn, im literally writing abt people who dance like gods but im a plebian w two left feet i have no idea what im looking at except for hips—, pining haha...ha (more subtle until the end), he's in a bathrobe near the end sorry children

▷ PART TWO WC. 17.6k

love in unity series m.list / otr part one

a/n: if u haven't read part one GO AWAY GO READ PART ONE ??? WHAT'RE U DOING HERE

EPISODE NINE: OFF THE AIR

IT was common knowledge that the week before finals week was referred to as the dreaded Dead Week. Campus was barren, coffee shops and libraries were packed, and almost everybody lived in some variation of sweats, hoodies, and eye bags. You were actually holed up in the research lab (yes, again) because your deadline to get this paper to your graduation advisor was literally looming over your shoulder, and though you were practically done, you were too paranoid of not catching some dumb typo before you turned it in.

Plus, the coffee in the lab break room was free and sponsored by your resident graduate student supervisor, and beloved older brother figure, Qian Kun. God rest his workaholic soul and empty pockets.

There weren't many people here this afternoon; most had retreated to their own homes or offices or wherever they dwelled during the Week of the Dead.

Then there was Ten.

"So do you guys just wither away here by yourselves?" Amongst the empty workbenches, his words seemed to unnecessarily resonate. From his perch in Kun's office, he spread his arms wide to gesture to all the empty space.

Kun pressed his fingers to the space between his eyes. "Yes, now let me wither in peace."

"No, I don't think I will."

You felt yourself smile. Ten had come in a few hours ago with lunch for both you and Kun. Supposedly, when he had heard that the two of you habitually ran on only coffee and dreams during Dead Week, he took it upon himself to swing by the nearest fast food restaurant and pick up a very belated lunch for you both. You’d chomped down on it with Kun in his office, but as soon as you were done, you retreated back to your desk.

The sky outside of the research laboratory was already beginning to bruise to a gray-blue-purple, the color of a dusty blueberry. Soon, you would have to surrender yourself to the night and head back home, but hopefully before that, you would decide that you were at least too tired to continue staring at these same seventeen pages for hours on end…

All three heads perked up at the sound of the laboratory building door opening and closing in the distance. None of you were exactly expecting anyone, especially when people usually indicated when they would come into work. You craned your neck from your workbench to see who had come in—

“I’ll only be a minute,” you heard and recognized your colleague Jacob Bae as he strode in from the outside corridor and into the main laboratory floor.

He met your eyes and smiled. “Hey, Yn.”

“Hey, what’s up?”

He let out a sigh as he jogged past your desk and headed toward a cupboard in the back corner. “I forgot that I left my—” His voice cut out as he ducked into the dark cupboard and withdrew a giant plastic tub. From the plastic innards filled with paper, he fished out a specific packet of paper shoved into a flimsy manila folder. “Forgot my thesis draft.”

You coughed out a laugh. “Dude.”

His grin was innocent and boyish, standard Jacob. “What? A guy’s gonna forget some things sometimes.”

“Is that what you tell your girlfriend?”

He sent you an unimpressed look. “Ha ha, Yn. Very funny. For your information, she’s more forgetful than me sometimes.” He stuck his tongue out at you as he passed by your workbench, and you, as the very mature person you were, stuck your tongue out back at him. It was only fair.

A cough sounded out from the entrance to the laboratory, and you turned your head to find Changmin, out of all people, standing awkwardly in the doorway. Peering out from behind the corner of the wall, however, was his friend Sunwoo from that other night. And yanking Sunwoo back behind the wall was Chanhee. Strange.

Someone (you suspected Chanhee) gave Changmin a firm shove into the laboratory, sending the latter stumbling in before he caught himself and regained his balance. He was swaddled in a dark colored puffer jacket and a red scarf, his red-tipped nose and cheeks bitten by the cold. For the first time, he looked smaller than he was, almost shy or nervous. You hadn’t encountered this Changmin in a long time.

He wasn’t one to look vulnerable out in the open like this.

As Jacob passed by Changmin, he clasped his shoulder in reassurance.

“Hi,” Changmin said slowly as he approached your workbench.

You were still a little dumbfounded that he was here again. “Uh, hi. What’re you doing here?” The argument the two of you had earlier in the week replayed in your mind, and you almost grimaced. You’d both said even more hurtful things, and you supposed you had just been so sensitive that your brain just automatically went into defense mode to protect yourself.

No, you hadn’t been there that night for him. You hadn’t expected to see anyone there at that time of night. That was the whole point of you going so late. You had been trying to get yourself to go into the practice room on your own, but the longer you had stood there, staring at the door, the more you realized you couldn’t do it. It still didn’t sit well with you, how affected you were by your mother’s past words.

Changmin kept his distance, but he came close enough that you could hear what he was trying to say without the others listening in too much. “I was wondering if we could talk.”

You blinked. “Talk? Like right now?” Your eyes darted to your computer screen and the practically finished paper displayed. It wasn’t like you wanted to keep working on it, but your heart beat startled at the sudden thought of having that very important conversation right now, when you weren’t ready.

He caught onto your movements though. “No, no—I mean,” he stammered, recovering with a quick swipe of his tongue over his lip, “just whenever. It doesn’t have to be now. I just figured it’d be best to get that… out in the air, you know?” I think it’s what we’ve been needing all this time. Something proper; no more yelling matches.

For a second, you thought you could see some of the old Changmin in this one. It wasn’t like he had changed, per se, it was more like he was finally showing that part of himself that you had been missing all along. You swallowed, nodding. “Okay. Yeah, I’ll, uhm, text you sometime tonight after I turn this paper in.”

He nodded back at you. “Yeah, cool.”

When you saw him begin to back away, a thought suddenly occurred to you. You called out to him to get him to stop, and you could have sworn that there was a gleam in his eyes then. “Changmin—about Sumin…” You inhaled deeply as you fought for the right words to express your next thoughts, “be gentle with her, okay?”

Even then there was a pang in your heart as you uttered those words. Sumin had texted you all about her interaction with Changmin a day or so ago regarding his “interview”, and she had been gushing about her crush on him. She had even asked you how much you knew about him and if you could give her a crash course in all things dance or even Changmin. Suffice to say, you felt trapped between a rock and hard place, but you didn’t want to let her down. (You’d always wanted to be a big sister; you didn’t want to push her away because of feelings that you were too petty to address.)

Changmin’s head tilted to the side as he made a confused face. “Huh?”

You sighed, “You seriously didn’t notice?”

“No, actually,” he quipped.

You pursed your lips; why weren’t you surprised? It wouldn’t be very cool of you to reveal Sumin’s crush on him if that wasn’t what she wanted. You would have to be subtle, but also not subtle, then. “Just—” you made a vague gesture with your hands, “—don’t be brash.”

“Brash?”

“Don’t be mean,” you amended.

“I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”

You thought even Ten rolled his eyes from where he was in Kun’s office. “You’re hopeless, really.”

Changmin’s face pinched, and he was moving back closer to your workbench. “I’ll have you know that we’re both hopeless.”

You deadpanned. “Now I’m pretty sure we’re not even in the same ballpark,” you muttered in exasperation. “Whatever. Your friends are waiting for you, Changmin.”

His lips pressed into a line. He glanced quickly over his shoulder where his friends were pretending to not be eavesdropping, then looked back at you. “Okay, yeah. Just don’t forget.”

“I won’t,” you promised.

EPISODE TEN: OFF THE MARKET

CHANGMIN glanced up at the entrance to the coffee shop, matching the sign in the window to the one he had searched up on his GPS app. It seemed to match from what he saw.

Today was the Friday of Dead Week, a handful of days after he dipped out of his interview with Sumin and confronted you at the laboratory. He had consulted Chanhee that day, regarding his mess of feelings about the situation with you, and Chanhee had practically forced him to go with him and Jacob to the laboratory. (Sunwoo just happened to tag along because he, apparently, felt left out.) Changmin wondered how Chanhee could have possibly known that you would be there, but Chanhee dismissed his worries by assuring him that after he asked you, he would feel a lot better and less like a hot pile of shit.

Chanhee was right, as per usual. Not that Changmin was going to admit that aloud to him ever.

But today was important because of two things in particular, and they both had to do with things that occurred several days ago. The first item on the agenda was going into this cafe to finish up that un-started interview with Sumin. After he had given her his number that day, she was swift to send a greeting text to him to set up a time and place to meet. Changmin actually had yet to visit this coffee shop in particular, but then again, he was a bit partial to the one Jacob introduced to the group last quarter.

Your words of advice, or caution, rang in his ears like the bell that twinkled above the door as he walked into the building. Be gentle with her. Don’t be brash. Don’t be mean. What did all of that even mean? He liked being interviewed, especially when it was about dance, so why would you think he would be anything but well-behaved? Part of him thought it was based off of the two of your interactions for the past three years, but he knew you had the good sense to know he didn’t treat just anyone like he treated you.

The thought remained fresh in his mind even as he scanned the room for a familiar face.

Sumin was seated in a secluded booth in the corner of the coffee shop. When she saw him, she waved him over excitedly, slipping her compact into her purse. Her laptop was left on the table in front of her, but unopened. Huh, maybe she just got here, too.

Changmin slid into the booth across from her. “Hi, sorry, were you waiting long?” He asked as he shouldered his jacket off and set his bag on top of it.

Sumin perked up a little bit. “Oh, no! Don’t worry. Did you have a good week?”

“Ah, as good as the week before finals can be, I suppose,” he chuckled, leaning back against the booth seat. His eyes darted to the unopened laptop still in the middle of the table and he cupped the back of his neck. “Did you wanna order anything to drink? Or have you ordered already?”

She shook her head, her hand reaching up to fidget with the end of one of her curled locks of hair. “Hm? No, I didn’t order yet! I was waiting for you so we could order something together—I mean, at the same time.”

“Cool, yeah,” he cleared his throat, signaling for one of the workers’ attention with a wave of his hand. “We can order and then get started.”

“Ah, ha, right.”

Once orders were taken, Sumin finally cracked open her laptop and got a couple things set up. Changmin patiently waited for her to get all settled, his eyes wandering about the shop and absentmindedly observing the workers behind the counter as they bustled about to prepare drinks and pastries.

Sumin coughed, “Okay, I figured that recording is a little unnecessary, so I’ll just be jotting some notes down on my laptop.”

Changmin bobbed his head. “Sounds good.”

She shifted in her seat, her posture straightening, as she figured out how exactly to start. “I hope you’ll be patient with me since I haven’t been doing this for a long time, but Yn gave me some pointers to start with,” she said sheepishly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“No problem! I totally understand; take your time.” He cocked his head to the side unconsciously, “Yn didn’t offer to sit in for your interviews?”

“Oh! Uh, she did, but I insisted that I was feeling confident enough to do them on my own,” she laughed lightly. “Definitely a bit nerve-wracking, but I think the interviews with Juyeon and a few of the other dancers went well earlier in the week.”

“Hey, I mean, I admire your courage,” he said with what he hoped was an encouraging enough smile. “Just take your time with it, Sumin. We’ll make sure to get you all the info you need.” There. Was that what you meant by not being mean? Wasn’t this just being considerate, though?

His foot tapped against the ground absentmindedly as he thought about the next thing on his agenda after this interview: talking to you. It was weird, having to almost set an appointment to have this very needed talk, but as you had said, you texted him your availability and the two of you just happened to both have this evening free. He just needed to finish this interview… There was still plenty of time.

His words to Sumin seemed to make her shoulders relax a little bit, and she jumped right into her first question. Changmin would answer as thoughtfully as could, which wasn’t too difficult seeing as he was literally talking about one of the things he was most passionate about in this world. He could probably talk about dance and his love for dance for days on end. Sumin, in turn, would skillfully and naturally continue the conversation so it felt a lot less like an interview, and more like an interaction between friends about dance.

Perhaps he didn’t even realize when the questions became less about his experience about dance and more about him; when Sumin gradually stopped typing notes down on her laptop and instead leaned her chin onto her hands to watch him; or when she suddenly asked—

“Is that your ideal first date then?”

Record scratch.

The words on Changmin’s tongue died instantly, and his brain scrambled to process what she had just said. “Sorry?”

Sumin’s eyes widened, her cheeks flushing. “I—I mean, you were talking about going to see live dance shows with your former partner and I just…” She shook her head with an embarrassed laugh, “Sorry, was that too forward?”

Changmin blinked once, twice; dear god, he must have been running his mouth without even realizing. “I was talking about Yn?”

That ripped Sumin right out of embarrassment—well, it was closer to mortification. The color on her cheeks had turned pale. “Yn is your ex?”

Fuck— “No, no, no! She’s not. She’s definitely not—”

Sumin covered her face with both of her palms in distress, a sentiment that was definitely shared between both parties in the booth. “Oh my god, and I’ve been telling her all about my crush on you, too. I must have looked so stupid.”

His eyes flew open. “Huh?!”

“Please, I’ve been so obvious, Changmin!”

Not to me, he thought. Jesus, was he really so blind? Was this what you meant this whole time? Changmin waved his hands around in an X formation, trying to reign the conversation into some level of sanity. “Sumin, I can assure you, that you definitely weren’t obvious until you literally just said it,” he began. “And so we’re clear, Yn is not my ex-girlfriend. She was my ex-dance partner and friend, but not a significant other.” As much as it sucked to admit that—

Sumin slowly lowered her hands from her face with the light reflected in her eyes wobbling. “Oh… okay, I guess that makes sense then.”

Changmin let out a haggard sigh, holding his hand to his head. “Yeah, well… I guess I should say that I’m sorry, but I don’t really share the same feelings for you?” He shook his head to himself, trying to rephrase: “What I mean is that I’m not exactly looking for a relationship. I’m kind of messed up right now.” Understatement of the century.

She pursed her lips, but nodded. “I get that. Thanks for being so cool about it.”

“Least I can do,” he said, clasping his hands together over the table.

“So,” she drawled with a wince, “I take it this interview is over?”

He brushed a hand through his hair. “If you have everything you need and there are no hard feelings?”

She inclined her head in the affirmative, and that was that.

— ✶

Even on a Friday evening, if it was the week before an exam season, the library study rooms were always packed, one occupier after the other. Attempting to score one was the equivalent of launching a stakeout, complete with charging cables, two cups of coffee, and a will of steel (to wait hours for a room to open up). Someone must have been looking out for you though as you managed to snatch a study room as soon as you arrived on the second floor of one of the main student libraries on campus. When you and Changmin had exchanged an, albeit brief, bit of texts, you both agreed that meeting somewhere that could serve as common ground would be good for the both of you. It had to be semi-private, as well, since neither of you wanted to let anyone else in on your private, personal problems.

The library study rooms were your solution, and maybe this was the universe’s sign that this discussion needed to happen.

As soon as the door closed gently behind you, you set yourself up in one of the chairs around the small, rectangular table at the center of the room. Changmin said he would be a couple minutes late because the bus had been late to pick up his stop and Chanhee was borrowing his car, so you texted him to let him know which room you were in.

While you waited, you attempted to ease your mind by scrolling through social media and flipping through emails and returning to social media, and wait, did you ever get a reply back from that one TA? All the while, your knee would bounce up and down ceaselessly, your fingers shaking and cold and numb. You were perhaps seconds away from your throat closing in on itself again, but then the door opened.

Changmin murmured a “hey” to you as he closed the door behind him and lowered himself into the seat across from you.

The room was quiet. “Hey,” you said back, clearing your throat.

You watched as his nostrils flared slightly as he exhaled. “What did you mean by ‘when did I stop caring’?”

You were a little startled that he decided to start right away, but on the other hand, relieved that he did. You wouldn’t have known how to begin anyway. “When did you stop caring?” You parroted in case you hadn’t heard him right. If you weren’t mistaken, he was referring to what you had said that night in front of the practice rooms.

He gave a nod. “Yeah, I was thinking about what you said…” He scratched his jaw, continuing lowly, “...y’know, on the bus ride over here. And I just don’t understand where in the world you got the idea that I ever stopped caring about you.” He met your eyes then, and you could see the tightness in his jaw, but the gleam in his irises.

This wasn't about being right anymore; it was about making things right.

"You—" you grappled for words, finding yourself pinned down by Changmin's relentlessly piercing gaze, "—I just got so much radio silence from you."

"You were giving me the same excuses."

"Because it was the same, exact problem," you fired back. "And, okay, so they were excuses, but god, Changmin. I could just see how with each passing day, you looked at me differently because I was late or I told you I couldn't make it. Didn't I give you reasons why? Just that disappointment and cold shoulder…" It broke my damn heart.

Changmin's arms were crossed over his chest as he considered your words, his tongue poking the inside of his cheek. "I never," he began, "thought poorly of you, Yn." It sounded like he was struggling to piece together the right words, too, and he choked down a swallow. "I was going through a lot of shit around that time, and my patience was always paper thin by the time it was our usual practice time, y'know? It was never you specifically I was mad at."

He paused for a moment. His head hung, and he picked at a stray thread on his jacket cuff. "My parents said they wouldn't support me if I majored in dance."

Your heart stopped clean.

"They basically said I'd have to finance myself for all four years if I wanted to make dancing a career," he said with a flippant, helpless gesture. "I was given some scholarship money from the school, but it was nowhere near a full ride. So I was stressed the fuck out because I knew I needed to win those comps to get more money. They were cool with me dancing as, like, a hobby or a way to get into college, but as soon as I told them my intended major was dance?"

Well, shit.

Horror pooled in your gut, the kind that started up at your shoulders and spider-crawled down the length of your spine. "I'm so sorry, Changmin. That must have been so much pressure for you, oh my god."

This entire time, you'd been under the impression that his parents were fine and dandy with their son becoming a dancer. He'd always had a natural, prodigal talent for the art form. He was the absolute cream of the crop from your class, and you couldn't believe they could be anything but proud of having a son like him.

But you supposed you shouldn't have assumed. There was a cost to being a hypocrite.

Changmin nodded, but it wasn't very affirming. It was like he had heard it all before and had already accepted it all grimly and reluctantly. "Yeah, well… I won all those comps, but what did I lose in the process, y'know?"

He gestured to you. "I just thought I'd always have you to run back to, but you were going through your own stuff. I'm not trying to pin the blame on you—it's… just that… you were my best friend. My partner."

"It's funny you say that," you said then, drumming your fingers anxiously against your leg. "I thought I could rely on you, too. And I definitely drifted away from you, but it was because of my own reasons."

Changmin nodded, settling his hands on top of the table and leaning in slightly.

Still, every time you told someone, you could never get it right. But maybe you could get it right this time. "You know how my parents got divorced and I said that my mom had changed?"

His forehead creased then, and he nodded again.

"She started yelling a lot," you said. "Would always make me listen to her scream in my face about how dance was useless, how dance would never help me in the real world, how I was absolutely awful at it and that I should be focusing on something worth my time." You swallowed, continuing on, "And when I told you I couldn't make it or that I was late, it was because she started refusing to take me to practices and competitions and shows.

"And I mean—I tried really hard to keep going, Changmin, I really did." You raised your eyes to meet his and found him staring at you still, but this time you saw that glisten in his eyes again. The tension in his jaw had slackened, and had been replaced with that same dread you had while he was telling you what happened to him. "I thought that I could get past what my mom kept telling me, and that once I got to the practice room—I just needed to get to the practice room—it would all be worth it."

There was a stinging feeling in the back of your eyes, at your tear glands. Your vision was blurring and you blinked back the traitorous tears.

Changmin pursed his lips, his face contorting slightly as he too tried to contain the emotions welling up in him. "And then I shut you out."

"We shut each other out."

"Why—" he rasped, his hand coming up to cover part of his mouth, "—didn't you tell me? I would've—god, I would've—" He didn't know, actually, but all he knew was that he would've been better. Would he have though? Truly? Would you have?

"I didn't like talking about it," you confessed, sniffling. You were ashamed of yourself, both then and now. You raised your hand up to wipe the corner of your eyes. "I'm sorry."

"No, fuck, don't apologize." He stood, arms opening and palms turning upward like an offering, "C'mere."

Both of you, teary-eyed messes, stumbled out of your chairs to close the distance in each other's arms. It was the feeling of finally holding each other after three years that made the two of you break down completely. The study room's quiet was filled with sounds of messy, blubbering sobs—hands grappling at the other's jacket, faces shoved into the warmth of a neck or shoulder.

Two pieces of a puzzle having finally been reunited.

This was where you belonged.

"This was all I wanted," you bawled into his shoulder.

It seemed to make his body tremble harder. "I would've given it to you—god, I would've given you anything. I'm so goddamn sorry."

"Hey," you mused half-heartedly, "if I'm not allowed to apologize, then neither are you."

He gave a watery chuckle. "Okay, fine." His wet eyelashes fluttered as he closed his eyes and tightened his hold around you. "That must have been awful, Yn. How…? Just how."

You rested your cheek against his toned shoulder. "Somehow… I don't really know. I'm proud of you, though, you know? I'm really proud of you."

"Thank you. I'm proud of you, too." He sniffled, mouth pressing against your shoulder. "All this time, I thought you hated dance and hated me."

"Oh, god no," you sniffled, sucking in a breath. "I—I knew I couldn't be strong anymore; I didn't want to disappoint you." And when you could no longer attend those practices, you had believed it would be better to not be there to drag him down. You thought that without having to wait on you every time, he would have been all the better. You see now that perhaps you were wrong in your logic.

For a moment, the two of you stood there in the other's arms as words settled and feelings sunk in. The realization that this tension between the two of you was possibly over now was crazy.

"For the record," Changmin murmured, "you're a great dancer. No matter what your mom told you, you'll always be a great dancer."

You laughed a little, shaking your head. "Not anymore, I'm not."

"That's where you're wrong." He pulled away from you and you saw the tears staining his dimpled cheeks, but the smile he was giving you was something out of a dream. He gently, playfully punched your arm. "You're still my partner, after all."

EPISODE ELEVEN: OFF THE SHELF

EVER since Changmin, Chanhee, JC!Yn, and her roommate Kei decided to change the weekly grocery shopping session to Saturday mornings, Changmin had never been so grateful for such a change until now. It used to be on Sunday mornings during the fall quarter because JC!Yn volunteered at the local children’s club on Saturday mornings, but since the Sunny Side Up Club had begun closing its doors on the weekend until summer break, her Saturdays had suddenly freed up.

Kei, as usual, had waltzed off in search of her own shopping list items, leaving JC!Yn and Changmin with the shopping cart of groceries and Chanhee sitting in the middle of it, cross-legged and swaddled in a pink hoodie.

“That’s awful,” JC!Yn lamented as she slowly trailed after Changmin while pushing the cart. There was a frown etched into her face, as well as Chanhee’s, while and after Changmin had caught them up on the events of the previous day’s talk with you. “I mean, I know some parents are super strict about their kids studying, but…” She shook her head, “You’ve both been through a terrible amount of shit, man.”

Chanhee nodded his agreement, peering up at Changmin who was at the helm of the cart, staring at the label on a container of canned corn blankly. “Yeah, for sure. How’re you holding up, Changminnie?”

Changmin shrugged half-heartedly and rather mopey. “As well as I could be.”

“Well, are you guys good now?” JC!Yn asked. “Y’know, after clearing all the air?”

Changmin made a face at the canned corn, but handed it to Chanhee to place amongst the other things in the cart with him. “I mean, kind of? Not really?” He scratched the side of his head, and his two friends looked on at him, then exchanged worried glances. Usually Changmin was the one cracking jokes, but to see him in such a state… “It’s just a little awkward now because we’ve been on ice around each other for years. Going back to normal shouldn’t be easy, should it?”

Chanhee pursed his lips, his head tilting from side to side. “That’s true. When you guys were still in grudge era, you let all the angst between you do the talking.”

“Angst? I was not angsty, for your information.”

Both of his companions scoffed their disagreement. “Every single time her name was brought up around you, you gazed far off like some kind of angsty main hero,” Chanhee retorted. “Like Kevin at that one dinner when we were interrogating Eric.”

JC!Yn laughed. “That feels like so long ago.”

Changmin sent her a look, the corner of his lips tilting upward like the arch of his eyebrow. “That’s because you and Jacob act like you’ve been married for ten years.”

Her face heated at those words, but she held her chin up in pride. “I’m gonna pretend this is your jealousy talking.”

“Oh, please,” he quipped back and turned back to the shelves to hunt for any other familiar labels that would trigger his hunger. “If I wanted to be so grossly in love—”

“Then you’d go find Yn?”

“—Then I’d go find Y—HEY!” Changmin sputtered as his cheeks lit up like the can of roasted red bell peppers in his hand. Chanhee and JC!Yn exploded into equal fits of delighted cackles, the former extending his arm back so the latter could return his fistbump. Changmin scowled through his flustered haze. “Whatever; taking advantage of my vulnerable state is not cool, guys.”

Chanhee beamed up at his best friend with the kind of smile that no one could be mad at. It was impish, adorable even. “Aw, it’s only ‘cause we love you.”

“Gross,” Changmin muttered, wrinkling his nose dramatically, then nudging his glasses up his nose.

As she stopped the cart behind Changmin, JC!Yn rested her arm against the bar and let her chin sit atop her fist as she and Chanhee watched Changmin scour the shelves again. “Didn’t you say you had feelings for her back then, Changmin-ah? Would you say they were still present or not?”

He sucked in a breath at the question as he let the question marinate in his brain. After yesterday’s world-altering talk with you, neither of you were able to stay too long afterward to catch up. You’d both, unfortunately, been called to your own separate summons. But this morning, when Changin had woken up with the information having been properly processed in his brain and given him room to overthink as he did… Truthfully, he had no idea where the two of you stood with one another. It wasn’t going to be the same, not like childhood and not like the past three years.

He didn’t exactly know what to say to you now, only that there was still that emptiness in his chest. He hadn’t expected the feeling to go away, but he also hadn’t expected it to remain. What was he supposed to do? He was pretty sure you didn’t even like him like that back then, so there was no way your feelings would have changed in that sense over the past three years. Some said that distance made the heart grow fonder, and while Changmin wasn’t one for cliche lines, he did feel an ache for you. He wanted to make up for lost time. Even if you didn’t feel the same way he had back then, it didn’t mean that he still felt the same… right?

“I think we lost him,” came Chanhee’s very loud stage whisper.

Changmin shook out of his mind and leveled a glare at his two friends. “I’ll think about it.”

“Didn’t you just think about it?”

“Hey, if JC!Yn-ie can take an entire quarter to tell Jacob-ssi her feelings, then you can give me like, five minutes to think about mine!” He squawked, waving his arms around in the air like one of those car-wash balloon people that flopped around in the wind. Except this one was high on emotions and his round lenses were slipping down his nose, adding to his overall mad man-like look.

JC!Yn deadpanned, shaking her head as she began pushing the cart after Changmin. She muttered under her breath, “He’s just astounded that he has feelings for someone, JC!Yn. Let him be touchy today.”

Chanhee, who had heard her speak to herself loud and clear, twisted around to grin and pat her arm reassuringly. “He’s just malfunctioning because he might actually have a chance now.”

“I can hear you!”

Chanhee chuckled, and the sound was villainous.

The three of them, as per routine, met up with Kei at the checkout lanes. There was one occasion where one of the workers was so tired that they tried to scan Chanhee and make them pay for him, but other than that, most people just offered him a sweet from the jar on the counter. As groceries were bagged up, and Kei was caught up on the situation at hand in verbal bullet point format, she took only a moment to suggest: “Why don’t you invite her to the dance showcase?”

All eyes went to Changmin, even as JC!Yn pushed the cart out with the group.

Changmin chewed his bottom lip. “I would, but... I dunno. I don’t want to trigger anything for her.” He winced to himself, “It would be really cool to have her there, of course! But I literally saw her in the practice room a week ago and she looked like she was seconds away from having a full-on panic attack.” As much as inviting you to watch him perform for the first time in three years thrilled him (and nearly sent him into cardiac arrest), he had seen you that day—blanched, struggling to breathe. He couldn’t imagine just what thoughts were running through your head then, especially after hearing what you had told him yesterday.

He was so—god, he was so angry at your mother. He knew about the divorce and the negative effect it had on her, but for her to practically take all that energy out on you? It was something simply unforgivable. His heart hurt for you.

Chanhee dipped his head in a slight nod, mouth curved down into a frown again. "That's fair. But I mean, it wouldn't hurt to ask, would it?"

"I just don't want to come off as insensitive, especially after three years of the cold shoulder." Your words from yesterday had penetrated him deeply—he hoped to never make you feel abandoned ever again.

Kei peered around at Changmin from the other side of JC!Yn. "If it counts, I don't think she'll take it as being insensitive, Changmin."

"She might feel better about getting, y'know, a personal invitation from you," JC!Yn chimed in. "Even if she isn't comfortable with going, she'll know you're thinking of her."

Changmin pressed his knuckles to his lips, bouncing on the balls of his feet anxiously. It was amusing, and perhaps a little concerning, for his friends to see him like this. He flapped the ends of his sweater sleeves in the air like he was hyping himself up. "Okay. Okay, yeah, I'll invite her to see me perform."

He raised an arm into the air toward the sky. "The next time I see her, that's what I'll—"

"Oh, look, she's right there," said Chanhee, pointing in the distance from his cart throne.

Changmin squeaked, "She's what?!" He slid behind JC!Yn in a very poor attempt to hide himself from the oncoming party.

Said party consisted of you, Yeri, Mark, and Ten—again. Except, instead of the coffee shop across the shopping mall, it was the parking lot on his friends' turf. Mark and Yeri were the first to see Changmin's friend group, both of them making unsubtle glances at Changmin. They passed by with friendly greetings, excusing themselves as they argued over the possibility of the store having watermelon (the answer was no; sorry Mark).

You and Ten lagged behind slightly, seemingly deep in conversation. The latter listened intently, but he felt eyes on him and looked up. His eyes twinkled as he made eye contact with Changmin—Changmin couldn't tell whether or not he liked that feeling.

You realized that he was looking outward and onward, and so you followed his gaze. Your eyes widened a tad at the sight of Changmin's friend group manifesting out of nowhere. "Hi guys," you said with an awkward smile when you and Ten met them in the middle.

"Hi Yn-ie," Chanhee giggled, turning around to wag his eyebrows at Changmin.

Changmin threw back a very unimpressed scowl. He let a smile grace his face just as he looked back at you. "Hey Yn, Ten."

JC!Yn unsubtly began pushing the cart to uncover Changmin. "Hey, you two. Changmin was actually just talking about you, Yn!"

Traitor! Changmin's jaw dropped.

Ten grinned. "That's really funny, 'cause Yn was just talking about you, Changmin."

You glared daggers at your friend with the same level of betrayal in your eyes as Changmin expressed. At least you were both getting thrown under the bus.

Kei nudged him. "Don't you have something to say to her?"

"We'll get out of your hair!" Chanhee chirped, patting the side of the cart as JC!Yn resumed her pushing on the cart past you and Ten. "See you at the car, Changminnie!"

As Changmin's last line of defense walked away with JC!Yn and the shopping cart prince, Ten inclined his head to you. "Should I stick around for this?"

You sighed under your breath. "Probably not. I'll see you inside?"

"Whatever suits your fancy," he mused, shrugging. As he passed by Changmin, he winked, then whistled some random tune as he went on his merry way.

"So what's up?" You asked him then. It seemed to be a cozy morning for you as you fidgeted with the ends of your big, woolen sweater. There was something delicate about the way the corners of your lips curled up into a smile.

Changmin cupped the nape of his neck. "Oh, uh, I know we had that whole talk yesterday, and I was wondering if you'd wanna come see my performance at the winter showcase on Friday?" He added quickly, "No pressure, of course. If you're uncomfortable, then you don't have to worry."

Your lips pursed together in a slight pucker. "I'd actually love to go. I mean—" you swallowed, "—I haven't gone to one since freshman year, but I'd love to."

"You can leave whenever you start feeling uncomfortable," he assured you, but he was smiling widely now. "It'll be cool to, y'know, have you in the audience."

"That means a lot, Changmin," you said earnestly, your smile sweet. It was almost weird to not have you frowning or glaring at him. It felt… good. It felt really good. “I will try my best.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets as he rocked on his heels, teeth biting down on his bottom lip to suppress the eager grin threatening to come out. “That’s all I could ask for.”

EPISODE TWELVE: OFF THE CHARTS

YOU were late. You were extremely late, actually, and to be honest, if you had known the bus was going to break down in the middle of the stupid road, you would have gotten off and walked. But then again, you were practically buried in all of the bundles of flowers you wanted to bring for your friends performing tonight. There were four bundles in total that you bothered to pick out just about two hours ago, one for Minho, one for Jungwoo, one for Ten, and of course, you could not forget one for Changmin.

When Changmin had personally invited you to come see his performance tonight earlier in the week, you couldn’t deny that the feeling made your chest warm and fuzzy. Even as you trudged your way up the stairs to the front of the performing arts building, you were filled with adrenaline and antsy energy. You’d waited so long for this, hadn’t you?

The last time you had come to see the winter showcase was in freshman year, the year the Daily asked you to write a review piece on one of the performers debuting that year, and even that had been enough of dance for the years following. It would be nice to know, this time, that you were wanted in the audience. (Changmin would have wanted you in the audience all this time, but you didn’t know that.)

Because you were unquestionably late, the doors to the hall would be closed shut now.

That was why having a friend like Boo Seungkwan was paramount.

“Thank you,” you gasped as one of the doors to the performance hall burst open and allowed you into the warmth of the lobby. You could hear the bass of whatever song was on and the audience’s cheers from here.

Seungkwan swept half of the bouquets from your arms with a click of his tongue. “Yah, you’re insane for taking the bus all the time. Yeri even asked to pick you up!”

“I know, I know!” You cried, the two of you scurrying over to one of the doors in the hall. “I panicked at the last second to get flowers and then I had to go all the way to the shop on fifth! By the way, did you know they’re open until 11?”

Both of your voices quieted as you slipped into the darkened auditorium. The stage was the only part illuminated in blinding, searing hot spotlights. You had just walked in on a brief break between acts as performers switched on and off stage. Seungkwan led you to one of the rows of seats in the nosebleeds that was relatively in the middle.

All of your friends practically occupied the entire row, and they lit up in delight at the sight of you.

“Yo Yn!” Mark whispered as he leaned over Yeri. “You’re actually here!”

Yeri reached over to squeeze your hand as you took the open seat next to her, and Seungkwan took the last seat in the aisle. “I’m so happy you’re here, Yn-ie.”

Doyoung and Kun peered out from around Mark, and you recognized a couple others from the NCT frat and RVE sorority further down the row. “Hey guys,” you said quietly to them as you wrangled your purse into your lap and adjusted the flowers in your arms, “how much did I miss?”

“Not much at all," Doyoung replied. "It's just been a few of the first years."

"We've got a little while until the older batch," Kun said with a wave of the program in his hands.

You nodded your understanding and settled into your seat to get comfortable. The performances went on one after the other. There was a mix of all different genres, ranging from contemporary ballet to tap and popping. Because everyone in the final winter showcase were in some kind of dance course on campus, a lot of the acts displayed a ton of experience already, even as first-years.

The longer the night went on, the less you believed your antsiness was a result of a nervous tick, but rather the bottled up adrenaline building up from watching all the performances. At some point, you realized you weren't even analyzing the performances anymore, but rather, sitting in awe of each one.

When a brief intermission was announced, Yeri and one of her sorority sisters squeezed past to head to the restroom while a few others from the row headed out to stretch their limbs and find some other friends. You and Seungkwan lingered in your seats, discussing your favorite performances so far, as well as how your finals weeks had gone for each of you.

"I'm just so glad we have spring break now," he groaned, his head hanging with exhaustion. "I might have skipped tonight if that meant I could sleep early."

"You would have regretted it though," you pointed out to him.

He gestured with his hand. "Right, you are." He let out a sigh as he raised his head and met your smile with a tired one of his own. "Well, Yn, you did it. You're watching your first full winter showcase. How do you feel?"

Your gaze flickered back to the stage. The house lights had come on for intermission, leaving the stage drenched in darkness. You could have sworn you saw the heavy red curtains shudder as if someone had poked their head out to view the audience. You remembered when you and Changmin used to do that when you were kids.

You turned back to Seungkwan. "I feel surprisingly okay," you confessed. "I was a little nervous before, but I think that I'm doing good."

He nodded. "Good. I'm glad you're here."

"Thanks, Kwan." You exhaled. "I didn't fully realize how long this was gonna be," you mused.

Seungkwan raised a brow at you. "Well, didn't you only stay for like, Changmin's performance last time you were here?"

"Well, yeah—"

The house lights suddenly shuttered off, and people rushed back to their seats. Your friends who were coming back squeezed past you and Seungkwan, effectively cutting off your conversation from before. The last half of the night would be handed over to the students who were majoring in dance and had been a part of the program for over two years.

You were properly in awe of the next performances. They had decided to put Ten out first, dancing to a song called Baby Don't Stop. He had mentioned the song to you once, but you hadn't really thought much about it until now. It was a side of Ten you hadn't seen yet since you had never seen him dance properly, but… you were definitely going to need to gush about this to him afterward.

You were pretty sure the crowd didn't quiet down for five performers in a row, as crazy-talented dancers such as Minho and Jungwoo followed after.

Each performance was incomparable to the next, and soon, you were sucking in a breath to the sound of Changmin's name being announced.

You slapped your hands onto Seungkwan's and Yeri's on either side of you, both of whom squeezed and shook your hands back as the curtain rose.

The lighting began a deep, electric purple, painting Changmin to look like a dark silhouette on stage. You almost couldn't make out the details of his white and black suit-like uniform. It was dynamic and unique with the suit cut outs and gloves, and he paired it all with an eye look that made his eyes feel darker and smokier.

He was still at first—until a set of horns, like trumpets, blared from the speaker's and he began striding forward.

You heard Mark gasp from two seats over. "Holy shit, he's dancing to Action Figure."

You vaguely recognized the title, but if you were thinking of the right song, then the room was about to get a lot louder. Unconsciously, you squeezed Seungkwan and Yeri's hands as you leaned forward and lingered on the edge of your seat.

The performance was everything you expected and more. Changmin was, as you had expressed before, the absolute cream of the crop. Each movement was brought with sharp precision, like the blade of a knife. Even during the slower bridge portion, he somehow executed the legato-like movements with a crispness of 4K HDR quality.

Everyone in the room held their breath (or screamed it out) with each sultry gaze, each lick of his lips, each smirk—a great dancer, a great performer; he would forever be one of the greats. That, you were very certain of.

When the song came to an end and he raised his head to peer at the audience through his bangs, you and everyone else erupted into applause, whistles, yelling—all the works. Your heart palpitated so hard in your chest that you thought it was trying to mimic his own dance. You were practically shaking from all of the bottled energy, and…

"Wow," you breathed out as you leaned back in your seat as the stage was reset for the next act. Your knee began bouncing fervently, sending the flowers in your lap up and down as well.

Seungkwan murmured his agreement, "Whew. I can't tell if I'm attracted or intimidated."

You snorted, patting his hand with your palm. "Both?"

"Probably."

You laughed, your hand lifting up to absentmindedly press against the base of your throat and sternum.

You couldn't help but think about what Changmin had revealed to you that day. How could a pair of parents not be absolutely floored to have a son as talented as Ji Changmin? It was so unbelievable to you, but you couldn't imagine how it might have felt to suddenly have all that support be ripped out from beneath your feet like his support had been.

The performances following would finish off those of the solo category. Afterwards, a handful of groups performed, including repeats of a few performers. Minho and Jungwoo had performed a stage together (Finesse, if you weren't mistaken), while Changmin and Juyeon made a return to the stage with another sultry hit by the name of Light a Flame.

By the end of the night, you were eager to head backstage to see your friends who had just performed their hearts out.

Plus, the bouquets were wilting.

Once the house lights had thunked to life, and the crowd was beginning to lessen, the row you were seated in with your friends stood together. Some of them were going to head straight home, but a few others planned to stay back to congratulate the performers on a night well done.

"You guys ready to head back?" Mark asked while nodding toward the stage with his hands shoved into the pockets of his puffer vest.

The high you were on was gradually fading out, and you had to clear your throat. "Can I meet you guys back there? I think I'm gonna take a quick breather and then just go in through the backdoor."

They were more than okay with accommodating you, encouraging you to take as long as you needed. Mark and Yeri both took the remaining two bouquets from your arms as Seungkwan ushered you out the door to take that breather.

As you hit the cool, early-March air, you wrapped your coat tighter around yourself and inhaled deeply. All around you, people lingered and chatted with each other, gushing about their favorite performances and reenacting the most memorable parts. You smiled to yourself when you overheard a group of boys near you talking about Changmin's tasteful choice in music, as well as the cohesion of his entire performance, ranging from not only the music choice, but down to the costuming as well. (And the choreography, of course. Everything about his performance, as emphasized, was breathtaking.)

With a sigh, you began rounding the building toward the back entrance.

Now that you had the space to deconstruct your thoughts, you realized that although you felt an indescribable amount of pride for your friends, you couldn't help the pit forming in the bottom of your stomach. In a way, you envied the performers onstage. You wished you had held on a little longer; maybe then, you could have been one of the people on stage tonight like you had wanted when you were just a teen.

When you reached the back door, you managed to gather your strength and let yourself in.

Like that day you had taken Sumin backstage, it was all hustle and bustle, but ten times that. Pandemonium erupted as performers raced past you left and right trying to find their friends, fellow performers, and even the location of their hairspray. (They should have put their name on it, you thought cheekily, but even then, it might not have worked still, you supposed.)

You kept your arms crossed over your chest as you squeezed past people toward where you were hoping to find your friends. As you walked into the dressing room corridor, you nearly collided with a silky dress shirt.

"Yn! I can't believe I found you," Ten chuckled.

You laughed, wrapping your arms around him in an affectionate embrace. "Ten! I can't believe you found me either. It's a madhouse here." You scanned the faces and bodies buzzing about for any sign of your friends. "Have Mark, Yeri, or Seungkwan found you yet? They have the flowers I was gonna give you."

Ten's lips curled up into a smile as he pressed a hand to his chest. "Gasp, you got me flowers?"

"Yes, and please never say 'gasp' aloud ever again," you winced.

That only made his smile grow. "No promises. But what'd you think of the show tonight? I'm glad you stayed the whole time."

"It was incredible! You were incredible," you amended with your eyes likely the shape of stars. "Who gave you the absolute audacity to be so talented, sir! I swear I heard some girl faint a couple rows behind me," you joked.

His eyes narrowed into sly, little crescents. "Oh? And did you faint for mine, too? Or did you save that reaction for another special someone?"

You flushed, your eyes averting to anywhere but the nosy feline before you.

Ten threw his head back in a loud guffaw. "Okay, okay. I see how it is. He's been looking for you, by the way."

Your eyes went wide. "And you wait until now to tell me?"

"I wanted my dose of Yn affection, too," he shrugged, giggling like a schoolgirl. "Plus, the look on your face was well worth it."

"Sometimes I hate you."

"Some is not all," he pointed out.

"—you said she was over here? Yn!"

Yours and Ten's heads turned and you watched as Changmin's eyes found yours in the crowded room. He began pushing his way toward you, sweat still dampening the strands of hair and falling into the collar of the dark blazer he wore for Light a Flame.

Ten snickered under his breath. "Well, I'm gonna go find Mark to get my flowers. Text me later, 'kay? Okay!"

Before you could blink, Ten had disappeared into the masses. You swore that man was so slippery sometimes.

You glanced back in the direction that you saw Changmin coming from,but when you couldn't find him, you frowned. It really was awfully hard to find people in here…

"Boo!"

You swore your soul left your body for five seconds. You whirled around, glaring daggers at the impish squirrel man who somehow ended up behind you. "You're such a menace."

Changmin grinned so wide it looked like even his dimples were strained. "Sorry," he wheezed, not sounding sorry at all. "The opportunity presented itself on a gold-plated platter."

"You should feel very lucky that I wasn't holding lemonade this time."

"Okay, but why were you drinking that without a cap on the cup? Did they not give you a plastic lid or something?"

You felt the corner of your mouth lift. How was it so easy to recall these things? "It's just the universe telling you to end your pranks."

He shrugged helplessly. "I can't help that you are so easy to sneak up on."

"You're gonna say that when I somehow heard you asking if I was in here from across the room?"

"That's because I let you hear that; there's a difference," he said, leaning against the corridor wall next to you. He looked you up and down, tongue darting out for a moment. "Thanks for coming tonight."

You leaned your shoulder against the wall next to him. "I enjoyed myself," you said in reply. "You did really well tonight though, Changmin. It was a great performance."

He grinned, and his tongue had to poke the inside of his cheek. "Just great?"

You raised your eyebrows at him and decided to bypass that question for the moment. "Did my friends give you your flowers?"

Changmin showed his empty hands and you deadpanned.

"What?" He giggled. "I'm just stating the obvious."

"You're so infuriating sometimes."

He gently bumped your shoulder with his. "Nothing new."

Nothing new, indeed. It was strange, actually, falling into this kind of easygoing, light-hearted banter. You'd seen how easy it was that night in the lab, but this was nice, you had to admit. Banter and arguing were two different things, you learned, and the latter always took such a toll on those involved.

How did the two of you stay away for so long? Maybe you were both too prideful, too afraid to break the ice.

Changmin's expression sobered a little as he observed your expression. "What're you thinking about?"

You blinked, glancing over at him. "Nothing, just…" Your voice lowered to something like a whisper, "I missed this." I missed you.

And as you met his eyes again, you knew that he had heard you. He swallowed, roughly. "Me too."

EPISODE THIRTEEN: OFF THE CUFF

THE quad was in bloom with the coming of spring and spring break. It was tradition at your university to take pictures and to take a stroll through the freshly bloomed cherry blossom trees lining the rectangular lawn. Only in spring did the trees reveal their beautiful, baby pink flowers, so it was optimal to go frolic amongst them while they were full.

Changmin had been dragged out by Chanhee. Well, he liked to say that Chanhee forced him outside, but in reality, Changmin had put just as much effort into his appearance today as Chanhee did, just not as formal. And luckily, it wasn't just the two best friends who were out with them among the crowd of people, but also the entirety of their friend group—plus the significant others, too.

"I hate this more than Valentine's Day," Sunwoo grumbled as he blew a curl out of his eyes. He was referring to the couples all around them taking pictures and holding hands and kissing.

"You're telling me," Kevin sighed as he messed with the settings on his camera for the pictures he wanted to take of the scenery. "At least on Valentine's Day, people won't photobomb you."

Sangyeon had his phone out and was already taking photos of the blooming flowers around him and in the trees. He suddenly turned his phone around, set at point five zoom. "Hey guys, look here and smile!"

Everyone in the shot (all the singles: Chanhee, Changmin, Sunwoo, Kevin, Juyeon, and Hyunjae) slapped smiles onto their faces. As soon as Sangyeon put the phone down, their smiles dropped.

"Who was that for?" Juyeon asked as he slung an arm around Sangyeon's shoulder to peer at the eldest's phone screen. He made a groaning noise before peeling away. "Ahhhh, 'The Girlfriend'. I see."

Sangyeon cocked a brow at him. "Have you finally accepted that I have a girlfriend?"

"Nope."

Sangyeon's eyes looked up and away in exasperation, before he shook his head and returned to doing whatever he was doing.

Changmin surveyed the crowded quad with disinterest. He scanned all of the faces present around him; too many to count that was for sure. Jacob and JC!Yn had separated from them almost immediately; Eric and his girlfriend were off being cute or something; Younghoon and his partner hadn't even traveled here with most of them; but at least Haknyeon and his significant other stayed with them for the first five minutes to make conversation about the dance showcase a few nights ago.

He sighed. That was how long ago it had been since he last saw you. (My god, he sounded like some kind of lovesick teenager, waiting by the landline for his lover to ring him up—)

On the other side of the quad, you and your friends had just arrived to do the same exact thing Changmin's friends were. But as soon as you saw the crowd, you were five seconds from simply giving up.

"We'd get like, one flower, and that's it," Seungkwan argued to Yeri who was trudging forward despite the load of people around.

Yeri huffed. "Not if you don't try, Boo Seungkwan."

He made a noise of disgruntlement, his head lifting up and nostrils flaring. "Oh my god—"

"Yn, my wife, defend my honor!"

You snapped up straight, tuning back into the conversation. Mark and Jungwoo trailed somewhere behind the three of you and if you weren't careful, you'd lose them, too. "Huh? Oh, well, Seungkwan…" Your voice trailed off, and your eyes wandered to a specific gathering of trees further down the lawn from where you currently were.

It was unfair how he was framed like a K-Drama shot: the slow motion pink petals drifting around him, his lithe body gracefully leaning against the dark bark of the cherry blossom tree, the green sweater vest layered over a white shirt and pants. You gulped—he looked way too pretty to just be standing there—

"—hello? Earth to Yn?" A hand was waving in front of your face and someone was poking your shoulder.

You shook away from them, eyes wide like a child with your hand caught in the cookie jar. "Huh?"

Seungkwan and Yeri sent you curious looks. "You were staring at Changmin," said Yeri, arms crossing over her chest.

Seungkwan let out a dramatically wistful, little sigh as he scratched the side of his head. "You're so lucky that Ten's not here; we are so very merciful compared to him."

You rolled your eyes, even though they were right. "I wasn't staring! I just—I couldn't tell if it was really him or not."

"Because I'm just so breathtakingly beautiful?"

"Definitely n—what the fuck," you yelped, nearly leaping out of your skin again at the right of Changmin's dimpled smile as he seemingly appeared out of thin air right next to you.

Changmin erupted into howling laughter, folding over onto his knees as he slapped his leg once, twice—

"You're not even that funny," you grumbled, side-eyeing both him and your friends. (Guess you really did lose Mark and Jungwoo…)

Seungkwan and Yeri did not hide their own laughs very well, but they definitely weren't knee-slapping themselves.

"How'd you even cover so much ground that fast?" You queried, whirling back on Changmin.

He lifted a shoulder in a half-hearted shrug, his hands resting in the pockets of pants as he stood in a relaxed posture. His skin was unfairly pretty in this lighting, like his smile. "I harnessed my inner squirrel."

"You mean your inner furry?"

Seungkwan and Yeri chose this moment to slip away, calling out something like "we're just gonna go walk a tree" before bowing out. Changmin feigned an expression of offense, pressing a hand to his chest. "Rude! It's called athleticism."

You wrinkled your nose. "Like you know what athleticism is."

"I'll race you to the stairs over there right now—HEY, CHEATER! I DIDN'T SAY GO—" Despite his indignant squawk, Changmin's cheeks hurt from how hard he grinned as he raced after you toward the stairs at the other end of the lawn.

— ✶

"So… no Ten today?"

After a daring race, you and Changmin settled on top of the stairs overlooking the entire lawn. The sun hung at golden hour position and painted the landscape and people below in beautiful, buttery gold wash. You even swore you saw Chanhee chasing after Sunwoo with a handful of loose cherry blossom petals, no doubt to dump into the latter's hair.

You looked over to where Changmin was leaning back onto his palms next to you. "This again?"

He pursed his lips. "Well, I mean," he drawled, "you guys are pretty close. I just figured you'd do this kind of thing together."

"That's fair," you conceded. "Uh, he's actually on a trip with a couple of his frat brothers this week. Something like backpacking in Switzerland."

Changmin gave an indulgent nod of his head. "Wow. Switzerland."

"I know, right?"

He peered out into the distance, eyes squinting against the strength of the sun, but he looked like an art piece nonetheless. “You and Ten aren’t, like, together? Are you?”

You tilted your head to the side. Interesting question. “No, we’re friends. I think in the beginning it might have felt like something on that level, but we’ve both—I think we’re both on the same page where we stand with each other.” You didn’t know why you were telling him so much; he’d only asked you a question. But speaking of being together with someone… You coughed, “Sumin told me what happened during the interview a couple weeks ago.”

Changmin smiled sheepishly, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. “Oh, ha, she did? I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised.”

“You really didn’t know?”

“That she liked me? No,” he laughed with a shake of his head. He leaned forward onto his knees then, turning his head to the side to look at you with his fingers laced over his knees. “Who do you take me for, hm? I couldn’t just assume she had a crush on me.”

You feigned a look of disagreement, and he gasped, shoving your upper arm playfully. “I’m not that bad!” He exclaimed.

“You could be that bad,” you teased.

You watched as his expression cooled and the air around the two of you shifted. There was an earnestness in his eyes now, emphasized by the brilliance of the setting sun reflecting across his smooth lines of his face. “Have you ever thought about, you know, like trying to dance again?”

You weren’t sure what prompted this change in subject, but you gave it a thought. “I definitely have,” you said honestly, “I just can’t really step into a practice room without getting nervous.” You picked at a stray thread on your pants as you spoke and felt his gaze on you. “That night—the one when you saw me in front of the performing arts hall really late at night—I was trying to get myself to go in. To at least… try, y’know. Maybe prove to myself that I could work up the courage to go in, but I couldn’t.”

Changmin was quiet for a moment. His knees angled themselves toward you, and he leaned forward so his chest practically laid over his legs. “I said a lot of bad things to you in senior year,” he said lowly. “They were stupid—I was stupid. And—and if your anxiety with practice rooms comes from me, then—”

“Changmin,” you interrupted and captured his attention. You shifted to mimic his body positioning, so your eyes were level and you were both just as small as the other. “I said really shitty things to you, too.”

“I told you that you should quit,” he rasped. He had to turn his head so you wouldn’t see the silver pooling in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Yn; I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean any of it.”

You heard his sniffle over all of the chatter from the lawn below and you moved closer to him until your legs and arms were pressed together. You wrapped an arm around him, only for him to raise himself up and practically drape himself over you, his arms looped around your upper body and his face tucked into the side of your neck. Your heart tripped over itself in surprise, but you let yourself lean into his body heat.

“I’m sorry, too. I know you didn’t mean any of it. I didn’t mean any of what I said either.” You breathed for a moment and sighed, simply allowing him to stay in your arms for however long he needed. “I think,” you started, “even after three years, I still blame myself for letting all of that get to me. Sometimes, I want to go back in time and slap some sense into myself; maybe tell myself that I shouldn’t have let what my mom said bury itself so deep inside me. I mean… where would I be now had I not listened to her?”

Changmin pulled away then, resting his forearms on his legs again, but he didn’t back away from you. “You were just a kid, Yn. You can’t blame yourself.”

You rested your cheek against your fist. “I know. It’s hard not to, though.”

“I know.” He took another look at you, and you felt his eyes really take you in for a moment. The corner of his lips lifted. “Are you happy?”

“With?”

“With how you turned out? Where you ended up?”

You held your breath. It was a good question, and as you turned to search yourself inwardly, you came to a couple of conclusions. “In a way, I am. It’s probably just bitterness and regret I feel when I wonder what could have been, but maybe things happen for a reason.”

He nodded, his hand reaching up to pick out a stray leaf that had fallen into your hair. “We can always make up for lost time now,” he said. “We never did get to finish that duet.”

EPISODE FOURTEEN: [GET] OFF THE GROUND

THE next day, you found yourself standing outside the back door to the performing arts building. Because it was spring break, a large helping of the student population had abandoned campus as soon as their finals were over, leaving the place barren except for the area with the cherry blossoms. You stood next to Changmin, the latter holding his bag by the strap over his shoulder. You had been staring at the door for more than a minute now, trying to slow the palpitations of your heart.

“We can leave whenever you want to,” he murmured to you, the back of his hand nudging yours. “Let’s just try.”

You got yourself to nod.

The hallways were uncharacteristically quiet compared to the previous couple of times you had been back here. Since there was no one else here, you and Changmin got to pick whichever practice room you wanted. The largest one was the winner, and the lights flickered on to wash the shadows away. You immediately moved to one side of the room to set your things down, and Changmin went to his corner by the speaker. He was already hooking up his phone to the aux cord, but kept one eagle-eye on you as you inhaled the sight of the empty room around you.

As usual, your throat began closing in on itself, and you coaxed yourself into taking deep breaths.

You started out on the floor in front of the mirror, your legs crossed over each other and Changmin’s phone in your hands. Changmin had shouldered off his white athletic jacket, and began stretching as you swiped through the selection of music on his phone. The two of you collectively agreed for you to start off just watching. Once you were comfortable in the practice room environment, and if you wanted to dance, you would join him whenever you were ready. If you were never ready, then you could continue to just watch him and cheer him on during the practice.

You watched him card a hand through his hair as he peered at himself in the mirror behind you. “I always thought this mirror made you vain,” you chuckled, your hand having settled into your lap instead of at the base of your throat.

He furrowed his brows at you. His hands rested on his hips, the muscle in his forearms emboldening from the action. “Rude. I think you were the one who made me vain.”

“The fuck? How so?” You challenged.

“You always said you admired my facial expressions and my pretty smile,” he grinned at your reaction, snickering to himself. “Did you pick a song yet?”

You watched him dance. For the first few songs that played on shuffle, he was simply warming up his body and freestyling to whatever he heard. You knew Changmin was no stranger to people watching him dance, but there was something still so intimate about watching him in this space. You could watch him create things like magic, as well as watch him fumble and laugh at his own misgivings. Except, instead of doing it all by himself, his eyes would find yours and smile.

Next quarter, Changmin was supposedly signed on to be a TA for one of the dance courses, so he asked for your opinion on a few of his ideas for choreographies he could teach.

After showing you his second idea, he gestured to you then looked back at himself in the mirror. “What do you think? I’m not sure if writing something for each nuance in the beat would be a bit too much or if it’s something that should be used as a challenge routine.”

You hummed in understanding. “Well, if it’s an intermediate dance course, then I think it could be worked up to. Are these people dance majors or… maybe minoring in dance?”

He nodded when you said the latter. “Supposedly, they aren’t necessarily dance majors. But yeah, I agree—it could probably be brought out later in the quarter instead.” He made a motion with his hand as he backpedaled a couple steps to give himself more room between you and him. “Could you rewind to the first verse again? I wanna see something.”

You obliged him and rewinded the song to his desired timestamp. He tried out another possible set of choreo, but ended up stopping halfway through the chorus.

Again and again, you rewinded the song for him to try something new, but each time, he was met with his own dissatisfaction.

You suddenly stood, setting his phone on the ground with the song having been rewinded just slightly before the intended timestamp. Your hands were shaky and your heart was probably beating at an unhealthy speed, but you needed to try out something.

Changmin’s eyes opened wide as you came to stand next to him, but he said nothing. Instead, he let you loosely show him what you had concocted in your head while watching him go through trial after trial.

Before you knew what was happening, the two of you were weaving your ideas together, taking pieces of his original choreography and amending it with yours. You had watched him from the beginning so many times that you didn’t need long to pick up on the rest. By the end, the two of you had danced the entirety of the song together, your chest rising and falling fast with the speed of your breath.

Changmin released an exclamatory yell, thrusting his fist to the ceiling, then clasping your hand with his. “Let’s go! I really like that, Yn,” he said with his face split by a shit-eating grin.

Your heart was bursting again, not with nerves, but something you hadn’t felt in a long, long time. You brushed the hair from your eyes, a satisfied beam set on your face. “I like it, too.”

There was a sheen akin to pride in his eyes. “I wanna show you something,” he said, walking over to his phone with a skip in his step. “Stay there! I wanna teach you this bit of choreo that’s been living in my head for a while now.”

And so, you followed Changmin’s instructions as he put on a groovy-type beat. The routine was simple enough—looks-wise. But if you knew anything about the things Changmin choreographed, the difficulty was all in the subtlety and technique. When you were younger, the appeal between you and Changmin as partners were that you were practically foils for each other. While Changmin ruled the arena of sharp, focused isolations and movements, your area of expertise laid in bigger, fuller movements like that of a brushstroke. When you had watched Juyeon and Changmin’s performance during the winter showcase, you supposed that was why they were able to complement each other well. It was essentially what you and Changmin were, in combination.

The longer you and Changmin danced, the more your chest filled with air and warmth and love and happiness. The guilt and fear from before had melted away to reveal this suppressed portion of you that had been hidden for a long time.

At some point, the two of you were just messing around, and ended up sprawled on the polished wood floor of the practice room clutching your stomachs while choking on laughter.

Changmin rolled onto his side, eyes still squinted in delight as he tried to get a grip of his breathing. “Is your back okay?” He managed to wheeze between gasps and howls.

You wiped a tear that crept out from your eye. “No! I just tried carrying a fifty-something-kg man on my back. Do you think I’m okay?”

“In my defense,” he said, peering down at you as he rose into a sitting position and leaned back onto his palms, “you claimed you were stronger than me and could be the base.”

“A warning would have been nice!” You exclaimed. You rolled onto your stomach, laying your chin over your arms. “No one in their right mind just jumpscares people like that.”

“Have you met me?”

“Fair enough.”

A remnant of that merriment remained on his lips as he felt around the floor around him for where his phone had fallen out of his pants pocket. He caught a glimpse of the time, sighing, then raking a hand through his hair. “It’s already one o’clock. Are you hungry? Wanna get lunch or something?”

“Sure, what do you feel like?” You asked, eyes following his movements as he clambered up to his feet and tucked his phone back into his pocket.

He pressed his lips together in thought, humming, “Dunno. Fast food maybe?”

You rolled into a sitting position, similar to the one he had been in just moments before. “Okay.”

“Come on; let’s get up then.” He offered a hand out to you, and you clasped his forearm tightly.

In one fell motion, Changmin swept you upright and to your feet—but he used a little too much pulling force, and you were stumbling into him, palms pressed flat against his chest, and his arms coming around your waist. You held your breath as the two of you fought to stabilize the other.

“Shit, sorry about that,” he muttered from above you with a low chuckle.

You opened your mouth to reply, but as you raised your head to meet his eyes and not just his Adam’s apple, you lost all your breath. There was barely a hairsbreadth distance between your face and his. Changmin came to the same determination as you had and his eyes went wide.

A curious thing happened. His pupils dilated, and his eyes darted down to your mouth and his tongue swiped over his own to dampen them.

Your breath as you exhaled was as unsteady as your heart rate.

You felt his hold on your tighten slightly; his Adam’s apple bobbed. And then he was leaning forward, his eyes fluttering closed—

He kissed you then.

His lips were soft over your own with the slightest bit of pressure, nose nudging the side of your cheek.

Your hands moved up the plane of his chest to grasp his toned shoulders; he shifted his left hand to cradle the back of your head.

Wait, what is happening—

You both pulled away, as if the same thought had echoed through both of your heads at the same time.

Panic leapt into the two of you and you jolted away when the distinct sound of Boss by some group called Neo Culture Technology blasted throughout the quiet practice room.

"Fuck," you swore. You glanced back at Changmin and saw the question, the uncertainty, the—you couldn't even tell. Your mind was everywhere and nowhere at once. You could still feel his mouth on yours. "That—that's Doyoung's ringtone. I have to take this."

"Okay," he whispered inaudibly, and you slipped out from his hold.

With your back to him, he rubbed his hands down his face and an indescribable emotion seized his chest. He rubbed a thumb over his lips…

"Doyoung, you need to calm down," you said as Doyoung's voice quite literally rambled at lightspeed into your ear.

You heard your friend take one deep breath, then repeat, "I think one of these final draft files are corrupted. I'm freaking the fuck out right now, and I know you're not out of town, so if you could please—for the sake of my sanity—come to the office and help me!" He was pleading, begging, and Kim Doyoung did not beg. He sounded like one hair-pull from dropping down to his knees.

In any other context, you would have wanted to record this for the history books. Any other context.

Your eyes darted over to Changmin who was still standing in the middle of the room, hands tucked into his pockets, and gaze pinned to you.

You couldn't just—leave? Could you? Not after that—

Then you caught Changmin nodding his head in the direction of the door, his head cocking to the side in silent question. Do you need to go? He mouthed.

You pursed your lips with a reluctant nod. Something's wrong with the paper.

Then go. We'll talk after.

Talk. Yup. You started grabbing your things and you squeezed your phone between your ear and shoulder. "—okay okay, Doyoung. Can you stop wasting your energy for me, and tell me exactly what the screen is telling you?"

You began making your way to the door, but halted in the doorway. You hesitated, turning back to look at Changmin. You really shouldn't leave—but you had to.

"Yn."

You grabbed your phone and pressed the speaker into your shoulder. "Yes?" It sounded breathless.

Desperation gleamed like silver in his eyes. One did not often see that emotion from Ji Changmin. "Don't shut me out."

EPISODE FIFTEEN: OFF THE BOOKS

THE first person that came to mind was Choi Chanhee. "What—"

"I kissed her!" Changmin blurted, hand slapping over his mouth.

"You what?!"

— ✶

You were breathless, brain muddled, a hot mess of a shitshow, when you got to the Daily. The rest of the Board members were on break, including your resident tech expert, so you had assured Doyoung that you were free if he needed anything. (If you weren't deeply regretting that now though.)

You had fast walked all the way from the performing arts center to the Daily's newsroom, effectively cutting travel time down from ten minutes to seven, even with your bag of items. Though, it definitely didn't help your headspace. You could hardly think about Changmin, the kiss, and a corrupted file all at the same time. Not to mention, you finally managed to wrangle Doyoung off the phone with you so he could go splash water on his face to calm the fuck down.

The newsroom was dark when you got there, but you saw the light from Doyoung's office shining down the corridor. He was seated behind his desk, his expression a lot more calm than he sounded from the phone, but his face and bangs were a bit damp, meaning he had actually gone to wash his face. Good.

He saw you trudging down the hall, your baby hairs flying everywhere, and your breath coming out in pants. He noticed the bag slung over your shoulder and had the nerve to ask, "Oh, were you on the way somewhere?"

You sent him a pained stare and collapsed into the chair on the opposite side of his desk.

"You look stressed."

"Changmin and I kissed."

Doyoung's eyes nearly fell out of his head and his body was half an inch from falling out of his chair. "HUH?"

Your head craned back against the back of the chair. "I know."

"Girl, why are you here then?"

"You said it was an emergency!" You cried, straightening. You didn't even acknowledge the fact that Doyoung had just called you "girl". "Now, let's work this file situation out."

Doyoung moved his laptop further away from you. "Oh, nuh-uh, Missy. You're gonna just send me your copy, and then you're gonna go on your merry way back to Mr. Dancer Man and kiss him again."

Your face scrunched up. "Hello?" What was in the sink water in this building…

"Did you talk about it? Are you two dating now?"

"Doyoung," you whined, scrubbing a hand over your face, "you literally called right after we kissed."

Doyoung made a noise of disappointment. "Damn, I'm never gonna live this down."

"Seungkwan's gonna call you a cockblocker for the rest of your life," you muttered in agreement.

He snorted. "You said it, not me." He sobered then, closing the lid of his laptop so he could lace his fingers over it and fix you with a serious expression. "So how do you feel? Tell me what happened."

You twisted and dropped your bag to the ground by your feet, moving your chair closer to the desk so you could drape your upper half on top of the cool surface. "We were dancing—"

"Really?"

"Mhm," you hummed against the table. "It was… it was really nice, Doie. I actually had fun. And then we just—I don't even know—we played around a little and he was helping me up off the ground, and suddenly we were kissing."

Doyoung's brows furrowed together. "Ah, I see. Did he kiss you or did you kiss him?"

"He kissed me, but I didn't stop him." You could recall the look in his eyes with a striking amount of clarity. "I… I don't really know what it all means, or what it means to me. I'm a little confused, if I'm honest."

He sighed. "And that's okay. I think this is something you definitely need to go back and talk to him about though, hm?"

"Yeah."

"But Yn," he continued, reaching over to rub the top of your head and get you to look up, "did you ever have feelings for the guy?"

You slowly raised yourself up from the table with a frown on your face. "When I was a kid, I didn't really see anyone else but him," you confessed, almost unconsciously. You hadn't known what the feeling you harbored for him was back then, but maybe you could seek to understand it now.

Doyoung made a vague gesture with his hand as he sat back in his chair. "Well, that's a start for sure. But you and he have been on rocky terrain for years now. You're not kids anymore and a lot of things have changed." He was right, in some sense. You and Changmin had spent three years convincing yourselves you didn't need each other. Perhaps it had been the opposite the entire time, but what did it all mean?

"I'm glad to have him in my life again," you said quietly. "I think I've always felt… different about Changmin than any other friend I've had before, y'know? It was just unconscious in a way."

"Would you want to act on that then? See where it goes?"

You let his questions resonate around your head for a minute. But the more you thought about it, the more certain you became of your answer.

— ✶

The back corridors of the performing arts hall were just as dark as it was when you had left. For a moment, you were afraid that Changmin had left. But as you neared the practice room from earlier, you could make out the sounds of voices drifting from the cracked open door of the room.

You strained your ears—who was that with Changmin?

You reached the door, quietly pressing yourself against the wall to peer in through the cracked doorway. There, sitting opposite Changmin on the practice room floor, was Chanhee.

"—think about it, Changmin," said Chanhee as he dropped his friend by the shoulders to keep him from sulking. "She kissed you back. Don't you think that means something?"

"She could've just been caught up in the moment," Changmin countered. "She could've—" He made a frustrated noise and threw his hands out in front of him, "Maybe I just don't want to be disappointed."

Chanhee frowned. "Disappointed… that she doesn't return your feelings? Changmin, can you be honest with me for a second?"

He gave a solemn nod.

"Those feelings you had for her when you were a kid—have they ever gone away?"

You had to back away from the door and press your palm against your mouth. But because of that, you weren't able to catch Changmin's answer. Your heart slammed against your ribcage, your hands shaking as your thoughts raced in your head. You had to open the door now. You'd already intruded when you eavesdropped on their conversation.

Sucking in a breath, you pushed the door open wider. No going back now.

Changmin and Chanhee were both frozen in place when you poked your head into the room. The former paled in the warm-toned practice room lights, and you saw him gulp.

"Yn!" Chanhee laughed nervously as he and his friend both scrambled to their feet. His car keys jangled noisily from where they hung on a clip from his belt loop. "Uhm, I think I should leave," he said, clearing his throat and brushing past you.

You grabbed your arm as you shuffled into the room and gently kicked the door closed behind you.

Changmin cupped the back of his neck. "How much did you hear?" He asked, not even bothering to hide the open glisten in his eyes, the pure vulnerability lying stark on his face. It felt like you were seventeen again, standing alone together in the practice room, not really sure what the other person would say or do or feel.

"What did Chanhee mean by you having feelings for me when we were kids?" You asked.

The silence was palpable. "You really didn't know?"

No, you shook your head, definitely not. "I—I mean, no. Not really. I guess I always thought… I don't know what I thought."

He braced both hands behind his head now, his eyes tilted back toward the ceiling. "Yn," he said before looking you in the eyes again, "every time I saw you, I saw someone who put the fucking stars in the sky. If you watch any of our videos from back then—" He pushed out a haggard breath from his mouth. "I could never not care for you, could never stop caring for you. It hurt a lot when we stopped being us because I thought I…"

His hands fell to his sides, helpless. "I thought I lost you. And then it felt like you hated me, so I tried to hate you, too. And then we worked shit out. And then…" Changmin brushed his bangs back and was unable to look you in the eyes for longer than a second with each glance. "I'm sorry I kissed you. I don't want to lose you again, Yn."

Your heart thundered in your ears so loud that you almost thought he could hear it, even from so far away. You got yourself to take a step forward, and then another.

Changmin waited as you walked closer to him, his lips pressed together.

You inhaled. "Changmin, I can't say for sure what I felt for you back then, and I definitely can't articulate my feelings for you as well as you just did—" His eyes clashed with yours, that energy colliding, "—but I'm not sorry you kissed me, or that I kissed you."

You thought you heard his breath hitch for a moment.

"I don't want to lose you again, either," you said and tentatively reached for his hands. Never in your years of knowing him had you known a moment where his fingers trembled like they did now. "And I—I really want to see where this goes. Would you want to see where this goes with me?"

His fingers curled around yours as he nodded. "Yes."

EPISODE SIXTEEN: OFF [MY] FACE

"WHAT about that one?"

"Don't touch that one."

"Will it burn my skin off?" Changmin asked in a sleepy daze as one hand rubbed his eye and the other reached for the gallon of liquid that sat behind a locked cabinet with a clearly marked DO NOT TOUCH. DANGER. plastered on the side.

"Yes," you said without looking up from your organic chemistry textbook.

Changmin's hand dropped immediately and he turned to send a look your way. "Well, that's not very safe."

His hoodie-covered head began bumbling back over to you through the maze of workbenches. It was the first week back to school from spring break, thus, the very first week of the spring quarter. You and Changmin were currently in your regular lab space that you unofficially dubbed your study area. Kun was in the break room probably half asleep over a bag of shrimp chips, and Ten… Ten was somewhere around here. Maybe he got lost down the hallway looking for the bathroom or something.

Changmin had come to hang out with you though, even though he was practically a walking baby giraffe as drowsiness possessed his whole being. But he insisted on staying until you went home.

"It's actually just distilled water," you said with a chuckle. "The lab professors just don't want people using it because for some reason, the convenience stores around here are always out, and they don't want to go hunting for more."

You felt him drape over your back with a fwump. "I love when you talk dirty to me," he said through a rather large yawn.

You grinned to yourself, shaking your head. "Okay, I think we need to get you home."

"Not before you take me to dinner first."

"Are you sure you're not drunk?"

You packed your things up quickly, especially when you saw Changmin nodding off while standing upright. It was already around nine o'clock by the time you said good night to Kun and located Ten (yeah, he'd gone looking for the bathroom and almost gotten locked in a supply closet instead).

Changmin tried to convince you he was okay to drive, but by the way he couldn't even figure out that his keys were hanging on his belt loop, it was safe to say that you were driving tonight. The drive over to Changmin and Chanhee's apartment was an easy one since they lived in the university district and the streets were quite barren at this point. You helped him up to the apartment, greeting Chanhee who was in a fluffy pink robe and matching headband.

"Hi Chanhee," you sighed as you pushed Changmin into the bathroom to shower.

Chanhee looked on in ill-concealed amusement. "He'll be much better after he showers," he reassured you from his perch on the couch. You saw the page-long math problems spread out on the coffee table and held in a gag.

"Dear god, I hope so."

Chanhee directed you to where Changmin's room was and you dumped both yours and his backpacks on the floor by his desk. You actually had yet to step foot in here until now, so while Changmin was doing his thing in the bathroom, you let your eyes roam all around the room. It was relatively clean (emphasis on relatively) with walls that were minimally decorated. There was a whole separate rack of shirts and jackets left outside the small wardrobe, and you recognized a couple of them.

You leaned over his desk to see what he had posted on the wall above it. There were a couple dozen printed photographs of him and his friends, as well as an award or two that were big in name and no doubt special to him. You felt yourself smile; you didn't have to be up here, but you liked seeing his smile in all of these pictures.

And then you saw it.

There was a printed copy of a review pinned amongst the pandemonium of memorabilia. The layout of the page was incredibly familiar, and with widened eyes, you realized that it was a review from the Daily's Opera Glasses.

In fact, as you squinted and skimmed, it was your review from freshman year. It was your (anonymous) review about his debut winter showcase performance.

Wow.

You barely registered Changmin shuffling into the room in slippers and a bathrobe of his own, his dark hair still dripping with water.

He passed you a glance while heading for his wardrobe. "Hey, do you wanna stay over?"

You definitely weren't prepared for that question. "Stay over?" You parroted dumbly. "Also, you have an Opera Glasses review printed out?" Your hand gestured to the sheet of paper pinned to the wall.

Changmin's head turned and he abandoned the wardrobe to walk over to you and his desk. You pressed yourself against the wall to the side to give him space to look. "Ah," he said with a boyish grin, "that was yours, wasn't it?"

"How the hell could you tell?"

He leaned in close to you, bracing an arm above your head. The smell of his shampoo was strong and you came to the realization that he was still in a bathrobe. His tongue darted out to wet his lips. "You don't think I could tell what your writing voice sounded like?" He asked, his voice suddenly lowered.

You inched forward, a dare. "Are you gonna get dressed, Changmin?"

His smile widened. "I could," he teased.

"Hey! Can you guys close the door or keep it down? Some of us are single and have math homework!"

Both you and Changmin laughed at Chanhee's outburst even though your face was definitely heated up.

Changmin took advantage of your unassuming state and pressed his mouth to yours, tasting your laughter on his tongue until you could only taste his in return. It was a dizzying sort of kiss, his arm still above you and his other curled around your waist.

When he pulled away, he bit his lip around a smirk. "I'll get changed now."

Criminal. Absolutely criminal.

He indeed got changed. And so did you. Apparently, he was being serious about you staying the night, and soon enough, you found yourself buried beneath his covers and swept in his very clingy arms. Not that you were complaining; he smelled nice.

You and Changmin laid facing each other in the darkness of his room. Round spectacles sat awkwardly on his nose bridge since the side of his face was pressed against the pillow, but he said he wouldn't take them off until he was just about to drift off.

"Yn-ie."

"Hm?"

He giggled, turning over and reaching over the side of his bed for something. You were about to question what he was doing until he quite literally shoved his wretched Chucky doll into your face.

"What the flying fuck—" You glared at the toy and its creepy stitched face. You had been startled by it, but you had grown used to it after having to deal with his obsession with the damn thing in the last two years of high school.

Changmin hugged the abomination to his chest as he snickered loudly.

"I thought you got rid of that thing."

"You clearly don't know me well enough."

You began to sit up and make a show of throwing off the covers. "I'm leaving—"

"Wait, wait, wait!" He blubbered, grabbing your upper arm and yanking you back down onto the bed next to him.

He leaned over you, his Chucky doll still tucked in the crook of his arm, as Changmin pouted. The glasses were practically sliding off his nose and his hair was sticking up in the back. What a duality. "I don't want you to leave."

"I'm not cuddling with Chucky, Changmin."

"But—"

"I will go ask Chanhee for an extra blanket."

Changmin's pout contorted into a scowl. "I'll murder him."

You wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of this conversation. "I think you need to go to sleep."

He flopped back onto the bed next to you, reluctantly setting Chucky back down on the floor next to the bed where the wretched thing had been hiding this whole time. You suppressed a shiver.

Finally able to breathe easy, you settled back into Changmin's arms. He tucked you against his chest, his chin settled on top of your head. You felt him shift as he took his glasses off and reached behind him to set them on the nightstand.

You were just drifting off to sleep to the melody of his heart beat when: "Yn?"

"Hm?"

His lips pressed to the crown of your head. "I missed you."

You knew what he meant. You pressed a kiss to his chest and heard the shuddering breath that fell from his lips. "I missed you, too."

EPISODE SEVENTEEN (EPILOGUE): [ON OUR TERMS]

THE problem with the restaurant was that it reminded you of something like the word "home". The sign above the door was made with some common font that one could find on Microsoft Word and you were pretty sure they only took cash, too. There was a reason you had chosen this restaurant in particular, and it was because you thought that eating at a place with your comfort foods would, well, comfort you. But you had been staring at the front for a minute or two now, and you weren't sure it was working.

From beside you, you felt someone take your hand in his. "We don't have to go in," said Changmin, his expression blank and reserved as he looked at the eatery, but softened a considerable amount when he looked over at you.

Your mother was waiting for you in there, somewhere. You wanted to finally talk to her—maybe make some peace with yourself. You'd told Changmin about it, and he insisted on coming as moral support.

You squeezed his hand and he squeezed back. "I can't just not go, Changmin."

His touch was gentle as his thumb grazed over the back of your knuckles, just as gentle as his voice was, "You don't owe her anything, Yn. You deserve an apology from her and you deserve closure, but you don't owe her anything. Not after what she put you through."

You were quiet for a moment and your free hand brushed over the hollow of your throat where the tightening sensation was.

Changmin added, "I'll support whatever decision you come to."

You considered the restaurant again. It had always held a great amount of significance and comfort for you. Did you want to ruin that with a potentially sour conversation? For all you knew, this could end incredibly poorly.

But… there were some things that needed to be done.

You steeled your resolve. "Ready?"

Changmin, all dapper in his dress shirt and pants and styled hair, flashed you a dimpled smile. "Whenever you are."

a/n: wow ... anyways lol thanks for getting through that madness, and hope u enjoyed!! pls do consider reblogging, commenting, or sending an ask to my inbox teehee i would really appreciate it ! now, onto hyunjae's ! >:)

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[bitwynn]

Not a fan

A SAGAU Impostor AU Songfic

Song used: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

...so I caved. Yep. Starting a new series even though i already have one. To be fair, i felt like i needed a break from that series since that beast needs a whole lotta world building and im planning for it to get into some heavy fucken subjects. This one tho is more chill and light-hearted, since theyre all just a bunch of kind of disconnected one shots that are all kind of connected. So like-- when this series gets a lil longer, you can literally start from any fic since its all connectedly disconnected. A better example was my original idea of me just writing the end goal where they finally defeat the impostor like-- directly after the Castaway fic to rlly show how connectedly disconnected it is but i refrained myself since i wanted to write more wanderer. Been playing as him a lot but i havent rlly done the archon quest yet lol but hes just a blast. Hes an annoying lil shit (affectionate)

Blue for Barbara, Yellow/Gold for Zhongli, Green for Wanderer, red for Diluc, Italics is Reader/General, Combined is Everyone. Colors only used for singing parts.

---

Is this the real life?

You were running again, the spears and arrows of the Millelith chasing you all across Liyue.

Is this just fantasy?

Zhongli was by your side, steadfast as a rock as he shielded you from their weapons-- both with his Jade Shields and his body.

Caught in a landslide,

A loose rock almost sent you tumbling down into the depths of the Chasm, Barbara grabbing you just in time.

No escape from reality.

Diluc recognizes the path you were taking towards Tiangong Gorge, immediately rushing off to the Chasm's Maw and letting loose Dawn-- his phoenix rising up into the sky like a blazing beacon, just buy the rest of you more time. He'll rejoin you once again, he knows the path you'd take. He's your main afterall.

Open your eyes,

The three of you make it, the relief from seeing the glow of the blue Waypoint almost bringing you to your knees.

Look up to the skies and see,

You stumble in, Barbara hauling your arm over her shoulder as Zhongli collapses the tunnel behind you. You may be Overseer of Teyvat but he is the Overseer of Liyue, and its stones still answers to his call. There is nothing left but the browns and greens that creep towards the borders of Liyue.

I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy,

Your little group exit the cavern, the fresh air of the rainforest cooling the sweat on your backs and you see Haypasia's "little neighbor" peeking up from behind a leaf.

Because I'm easy come, easy go,

The tiny Aranara, though a little hesitant that more people could see him now, takes your hand and guides you through Avidya Forest. Thank goodness you had caved from your siblings nagging and finally done at least a part of the Sumeru quest.

Little high, little low,

You were still unfamiliar with the lands of Sumeru, trusting your little lettuce friend to lead you to a place of safety, of rest.

Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me,

Lettuce, as you had affectionately named him, lead you all deep into the rainforests of Sumeru all while deftly avoiding the little village of forest rangers and the rangers themselves. You hadn't said a word to him but you knew, deep in somewhere, that he would be leading you somewhere safe. Somewhere protected.

Though this... wasn't what you expected.

To me.

He turns to your group, the smell of tea faintly wafting from the pot he was tending. "I don't think I need to introduce myself, do I?"

-

After the short but silent panic that washed over the three of you (it took the you and Barbara 5 minutes to even get a centimeter pulling Vortex Vanquisher out the cave wall while Zhongli aggressively apologized to him), the four of you were sat on the floor watching the Wanderer tend to the bubbling pots of food he was making.

There was a strange... very not tense(?), and very awkward energy in the air as he set aside cups and bowls for all of you, his own cup still full with steaming almost black water. Zhongli was very noticeably trying not to stare at his oversteeped tea.

Little Lettuce had already left, presumably to keep an eye on the area or watch out for Diluc. You didn't want to use him as a shield or a way to break the ice or something but god-- the energy in the air was just so uncomfortable.

You all watched Wanderer in this terse silence prepare your food, his soft chopping of the grilled unagi sounding like death knells in your cave. He took each of the bowls he set out, placing a considerable amount of rice in each and a small handful of dried seaweed and sesame seeds. Bringing out a jar of umeboshi from his inventory, he placed each slab of unagi with a single umeboshi atop the bed of rice and seaweed.

He pours out the tea onto the rice, 1, 2, 3... and stops. He cocks his head. Frowns.

"Wasn't there supposed to be four of you?"

And the silence was broken.

"W-well, little lettuce already left--"

"Not the aranara-- wait, you named him lettuce? Tsk, whatever. Where's the other one? The red one?"

"Oh, uhm, Diluc?"

He nods, the small scowl on his face almost carved into him. You feel your face heat as you turn your face away from him.

"He ran off. To the Maw. Let out his burst as a diversion to buy us time --but he'll find us. He'll come back. He knows the way, he knows how I think, he knows what I'll do. He'll come back."

Wanderer sighs, disappearing the extra bowl. You're not sure whether you said all that to stop his retort or to diminish your own worry.

You're shaken from your thoughts by Barbara holding your hand. She gives it a squeeze, and you squeeze back, thankful for the comfort.

"Are you just gonna keep staring at your food or do you want to die of both exhaustion and starvation?"

"Okay, eating now!"

You're handed a warm bowl of Shimi Chazuke, Wanderer's specialty. It didn't look like its in game icon, only having the plump umeboshi on top of a bed of rice and seaweed with the pale tea glistening in the light. But you had come to learn that many things in game didn't translate directly, there sure as hell no quest or mention of a "Divine Overseer, and yet-- and yet.

You bring the bowl up to your face, the warmth soaking into your aching, tired hands and its steam gently caressing your face. You mix a portion of the rice together with the tea, scoop it up, and put it into your mouth.

And practically turn into jelly at the taste.

"Umai...!" you moan, savoring the taste of it all.

The fresh rice soaked in the bitter tea tasted amazing, each bite slowly turning into a different flavor as the oils and sauce from the grilled unagi gradually mixed in with the rice. Cutting up a bit of the eel with your spoon, you mix it with the rice and your mouth burst with deliciousness.

The eel was grilled to perfection, plump and juicy and flaky. And with the addition of the tea, it introduced flavors you hadn't even imagined from a simple grilled fish.

As you were about to burst that plump little plum, the Wanderer stopped you, a strange look on his face. He handed you a handkerchief.

"Wipe your face, the flavor's gonna be off if you mix it with your tears."

Stunned, you took the handkerchief. "Oh."

It... had been a long time since you've eaten good food and found a place to rest. Too long.

You hold it close to your chest, eyes squeezed shut as you tried to calm down. After a moment, you wipe away the sweat, and tears, and snot, and grime that had accumulated on your journey. It had been such a long time since you first found kindness in this world, even if that kindness came from an emotionally stunned automaton designed to be a god.

You chuckled to yourself, a wet little thing, as you realize that you kept weeping harder and harder with each swipe of the cloth. You bury your face in it, the handkerchief practically soaked with your tears as you take a few calming breaths to finally stop your tears.

"I'm... I'm sorry, I-- its been a while since I've... yeah. Uhm..."

You take a breath, still wet with your snot. "I, uh... I'm gonna keep this, I uh-- ruined it. I'll, I'll clean it though! If you want it back."

Wanderer, handily ignoring your breakdown just earlier, cringes in disgust. "No thanks. Keep it, you need it more than me if you decide to bawl your eyes out again."

Despite the harshness of it, you soften, tucking the offending handkerchief away. "Thanks." "Don't ever mention it."

He reclines back into his little designated space in your cave, and hesitantly stokes the fire with his anemo vision. You pick your unfinished bowl of chazuke, umeboshi still waiting to be eaten. It was good to know that at least there was a few things that didn't change now that you're here.

"Are you finished yet? Stop gawking at your food and finish it so I can do the dishes."

Yep, some things just never change.

You finally finish your meal with the silence in the cave now something much more comfortable, the crackling of the fire and the quiet rushing and clanking of dishes almost lulling you into a sense of "you don't have a bounty placed on your head and are definitely not running from anyone and everyone for fear of them betraying you and handing you over to your megalomaniacal doppelganger".

Wanderer, having lost the argument of who does the dishes against Barbara, was definitely not sulking in his little corner and absolutely not fiddling with his new(?) anemo vision. "So, why'd you come here to Sumeru anyways? I know you definitely were not looking for me, considering the fact you tried to impale my head on sight. Which to be fair," he chuckles at Zhongli's sheepish face, stood near the cavern entrance. "I would do the same."

You absentmindedly plucked the strings of your Windblume Lyre, the instrument becoming a sort of stimming/coping device, helping you deal with everything that had happened to you. He hummed to himself, the cogs turning in his head. "I can't think of any other reason why you'd come here-- finding and trusting in me is a huge gamble that you won," he clarified, turning away from Barbara's blank stare. "the ancient Khaenri'ahn technology scattered around Sumeru won't be of any use if you were considering taking the fight to your impostor, the Irminsul Tree could be a good reason but I can't see any way you'd use it to help you, though knowledge is always good to have anyways."

He scoffed, reclining into the dirt of your cave. "Archons, imagine how ridiculous it would be if you just ran here because you had no choice but to! Like a bunch of scared animals, ahaha!"

You slowly sink behind your lyre as he continues.

"In my time here, you're infamous for always evading their grasp-- heck, there's even an entire division of scholars here dedicated to just trying to figure out how in the world you do it. Some say you're a master at faking trails, some say you have some sort of... psychic power that lets you read the mind of your enemies so you can anticipate their moves."

He shrugs.

"Honestly, I'm more inclined to believe that last one-- in my brief time as your Vessel before your descent, you somehow managed to find information about me, despite my entire existence being wiped from the Irminsul Tree. Add to that the experiences that your other Vessels had, and it's a pretty compelling case." A sigh. "Shame that probing is one-sided though, a peek into the mind of the 'Divine Deceiver' or 'Overseer' or whatever fancy title you call yourself would be quite intriguing. Who knows what schemes are you cooking up in there. Now tell me,"

He straightens, eyes boring into yours from where you were, at this point, hiding in shame behind your lyre. "why are you here in Sumeru?"

"Aha... ha... haaa..." If you had a pyro vision, your face would be on fire by now. You had to turn away, the warmth of embarrassment creeping down your neck. "Well, uhm..." You clear your throat, gulping as you try to even find the words to explain how much of a legitimately normal person you are, who was practically forced to grow brain cells specifically for scheming because if you didn't you would die.

"So, uh...ah he he he... heh..." you take a breath, a shaky grin on your lips. "So, you know how reality is sometimes stranger than fiction?"

He raises an eyebrow.

"Well..."

You vaguely gesture, hoping that your flailing would get your message across.

He stares at you. He stares some more. He blinks.

"No."

"Yeah."

"No..."

"Yeah...

"NO."

"YEAH--"

His mouth drops in shock as he tries to process what you're implying. The rumors painted a... much prettier and mightier picture of you than the both of you thought.

"I-- you-- wha-- how-- what?!"

He takes a breath, chest rising despite his lack of a need for air. He pinches the bridge of his nose, and you get the feeling that he's restraining himself from grabbing you by the shoulders and shaking you stupid.

"So, you're telling me. That the 'Divine Deceiver' and their little posse made of a literal god, the once-captain of Mondstat's Knights of Favonius, and Mondstat's most renowned healer idol, have, quite literally, been running around like rats all over Teyvat and somehow, somehow staying alive by a thread?!"

"I KNOW MAN, I HAVE NO IDEA HOW WE'RE STILL ALIVE--"

"Oh my--"

He begins to growl, a black orb of anemo energy collecting in his palm. You squeak as you try to scramble to your feet, his face full of rage.

And the whirling winds in your cavern suddenly stops, Wanderer dismissing the dark energy in his hand. "Oh, relax."

He blows a raspberry at you, as you groan and sit back down. You bring your lyre back out from where you unconsciously disappeared it and clutch it like a lifeline.

"God, I never knew your idle could be that scary."

"...Idle?"

Barbara waves off his question, a sheepish expression on her face as she fixes her curls back into place. "Its... complicated. You'll learn more about it as you travel with us." She hands him the used and cleaned bowls and utensils. "You... will travel with us, right?"

He scoffs, taking the bowls and disappearing them with a flash of light. "Of course I will. Its literally in my name. Besides, I have nothing that ties me down anymore so I might as well wander with you guys."

She smiles at him, ever sweet and ever kind. She settles back down near the fire, drying her soaking hands. Though Zhongli is still taking watch by the cavern entrance, you could see the slightest look of pleased approval in his face. "Though if you are going to be travelling and running from the law with me, we need to make a plan instead of scurrying around like rats."

And at that, the entire cavern groans in exhaustion. "Not now, please." "We'd like to have some rest first, Wanderer!" "Please, fuck, no-- I've had enough scheming for 3 thousand years--"

"Wait, so you did have a plan going into Sumeru?!"

You wave him off, hands going to rest back upon the strings of your trusty lyre. "Well, it was more of like... a guideline? A safety net? We had a couple ideas on what to do if we ever ended up in Sumeru and we, yknow, ended up in Sumeru so we'll probably do that."

You pluck a couple strings as you remember what you "planned". "I hadn't finished the Sumeru main quest yet and I hadn't unlocked all of the Statues of the Seven yet either. We were thinking of unlocking all the Statues first since, without them, my 'all-encompassing' game map is jack shit here in Sumeru, and then we were thinking of finishing the main quest to both progress the story and better the... political? climate here along with a few other benefits. After that..."

You make a face, much more aggressively playing at your lyre. "We really didn't want to split up the party but, I kinda wanna finish the main story quest in the Chasm but also we need to collect all the Dendroculous and Electroculous for more stamina and stuff. But also, I kinda wanna visit Dragonspine since..." You let yourself trail off, the makings and ideas of plans evident in your voice.

Wanderer merely stares at you for a moment, the game terms flying over his head as Barbara mouths at him, "I'll tell you about it later". You sigh, dreading the planning of tomorrow as your fingers calm on the strings. "But, we can plan tomorrow. Please. We almost died multiple times again." He sighs, relenting. "At least you have the skeleton of a plan."

"Yes!"

Humming, you sink into the soft ground, thanking the soils of Teyvat for giving you some comforts in this trying time. What little grass in the cave caresses you in gratitude, as you pluck at your instrument.

The Wanderer sighs, as he prepares a small pot of tea. "You've been messing with that thing all night and its about to grate at my ears. Do you even know how to play?"

You chuckle a bit, sheepish as you hand the lyre over to Barbara who plays a quick, jaunty tune with a flourish. "Well, I can sing...?"

He sighs again, bowing his head and resigned to the confirmation that you were much more... ridiculous than the gossip and rumors painted you as. "Then why are you the one with the lyre?"

You shrug as Barbara starts up another little song. "Gives me something to do with my hands. Helps me calm down. Diluc and Barbara have been teaching me though when we have the time."

Your soft smile at Barbara's song turns cheeky as you turn to him. "Wanna hear what they've taught me?"

"Sure, better than forcing this inane conversation."

You giggle maniacally as you smile at Barbara, the singer immediately catching your drift. "Follow me?" "To the ends of the earth."

You laugh, as she tunes the instrument to the right notes. "Not like that you sap!" "I know, I know! But yes, of course. His song right?"

You nod. "Yep."

"'My' song...?" Wanderer tilts his head in confusion, before realization dawns on his face.

"Hey, just because it has my-- ...that name, does not immediately mean its 'my song'."

The two of you handily ignore his slip up, you drinking some water in preparation for singing and Barbara testing the lyre if its in tune. "Oh, please," you say, sitting up. "you haven't even heard the full thing yet! It's definitely your song."

He sighs, leaning back against the cavern wall. "Very well then. Indulge me."

-

You start, reciting the beginning "poem" from memory. Barbara watches and waits, fingers hovering above the strings. Wanderer cocks his head, clearly interested. She begins playing as you get halfway, the lyre an excellent substitute for the piano. You continue, the Wanderer scoffing a little at the poem's mention of a poor boy needing no sympathy, but you pay it no mind. He hasn't heard the rest of the song yet.

"Mama,"

Barbara picks up on her playing, wringing the lyre out for all its worth for those deep chords and piano-like sounds.

"Just killed a man,"

You summoned the small drum you bought from a merchant in Inazuma in preparation.

"Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger now he's dead,"

You close your eyes, swaying to the tune of the song.

"Mama, life had just begun,"

You didn't need to open your eyes to know that he's really listening now.

"But now I've gone and thrown it all away!"

You quickly tap on the drum, trying in vain to mimic the band's performance.

"Mama!, oooh,"

Zhongli was sat at the entrance with his legs crossed and humming along.

"Didn't mean to make you cry,"

Wanderer was still. You could almost hear the turning of the cogs in his mind.

"If I'm not back again this time tomorrow,"

The steady beat of the drum was a stark contrast to the deep, heavy feeling inside his chest.

"Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters."

His Vision pulsed, as his hand unconsciously came to caress it. Was this what it was like to have a heart?

Barbara's fingers were gentle on the strings as a set of footsteps approached the entrance of the cave. You could hear Little Lettuce's pitter-pattering and the dulcet tones of Zhongli and Diluc's voices as they catch up in the short time they've been separated.

"Too late, my time has come,"

He had closed his eyes, listening intently to the music as the waves of sound rocked him gently and deeply into his sea of memories.

"Sends shivers down my spine,"

He can see it now, those old fleeting moments of happiness before they were all ultimately destroyed.

"Body's aching all the time."

He could feel it, suddenly hyper aware of his joints and limbs. The feeling of phantom strings and hands pulling and pushing him like he was some puppet. (But it wasn't like he was ever anything else.)

"Goodbye, everybody. I've got to go,"

He could hear it, everyone's cries and wails of despair filling his ears as he sailed towards Inazuma City to beg the Shogunate (his mother) for mercy that they would not grant.

"Gotta leave you all behind to face the truth."

He could also hear the Doctor's cackling laughter as he began to weave his web of lies, webs that would replace the strings that she had put on him. That he had cut away.

"Mama!, oooh,"

He could see it, the light shining through the patches in the walls and the roof of that old hut. The kind and innocent smile on that sickly, young face.

"I don't wanna die,"

He could see it, red, red, red lapping up and eating away at the walls and roof of the house. Red, red, red all around them. As if he was asleep in a meadow of flowers. (or sinking into a pool of blood)

"I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all.!"

You all gave him his moment, deep in his sea of memories. Diluc was wordlessly playing the zither, an imperfect substitute for an electric guitar. He'd noiselessly joined into your impromptu concert after he was caught up on the situation by Zhongli who had promptly disguised the mouth of the cavern as some kind of rock formation.

As he played, you thought back to the Wanderer's words. To the moment you first heard him say that-- his character teaser. Your heart had clenched back then, tears pricking the corners of your eyes but you couldn't help chuckling at his words-- that ever iconic song playing in your head. But you know that there was nothing to chuckle about here, Wanderer holding the brim of his hat in an almost vice-like grip. His jaw is clenched.

You all silently agreed to let the solo drag on at least a little bit longer. He takes a sharp breath. (You all know its his way of saying his thanks.)

Barbara begins plucking the lyre in a jaunty little tune, and you couldn't help but crack a grin. The atmosphere's heavy, but it's beginning to lift anyway.

"I see a little silhouetto of a man,"

The Wanderer scoffs, already knowing the next few lines by heart thanks to you. You all readily ignore the wetness in his sound.

"Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?!"

You were surprised at everyone joining in. Wanderer especially, being caught so off-guard that he jumped in his seat. "For the nth time, no I won't!" Barbara giggles as you push onwards, a manic grin on your face.

"Thunderbolt and lightning!"

Diluc only smiles at the mildly disgruntled Wanderer, his Divine Overseer and Mondstadt's Deaconess having stood up to sing their hearts out. "I'm pretty sure that's not gonna be the last time you say that to them."

"Very, very frightening, me!"

The singing duo once again became lost in the music of the song, belting their hearts and lungs out for their one audience member. Said audience member could only crack a smile and reply, "I had a feeling."

"Galileo, Galileo,"

You had all but screeched out said scientist's name as you pointed to Zhongli. When faced with the Wanderer's incredulous look, he could only gain a fond look in his eyes, shrug and say, "You get used to it over time."

"Galileo, Galileo,"

"Wait, you're all used to this?!" Barbara's sheepish as she answers. "They sing as a coping mechanism. We kind of picked it up over time as well." Diluc shrugs again. "It's better than alcoholism."

"Galileo, Figaro! - Magnifico, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,"

Wanderer cringes-- despite this, a smile is growing on his face. "You don't have to vocalize the echoes, you imbecile!" You merely put a hand to your forehead, aiming to up the drama with your next lyrics.

"I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me,"

He feels the tug of old memories, of old traumas still clinging to his skin. But he pays them no mind, knowing he must march onwards to the future. A future paved by a ragtag group of wanted divine beings and important people that are beginning to worm his way into his chest.

"He's just a poor boy from a poor family,"

Oh no. He's feeling it again.

"Spare him his life from this monstrosity!"

He cannot help but watch you all sing.

Barbara's fingers fly on the strings.

"Easy come,"

He felt what he felt back then, before she had forsaken him.

"Easy go,"

He felt what he felt back then, before he was fooled into thinking he had left him-- left them.

"Will you let me go?"

He felt what he felt back then, before he was torn away from him with no bigger enemy to blame but his own mortality.

"Bismillah! No!"

It was affection. It was care.

"We will not let you go!

(Let him go!)"

Oh archons, he's starting to care.

"Bismillah! We will not let you go!

(Let him go!)"

For hundreds of years, he's hardened his heart and closed himself off from everyone and everything. Sworn to scrub himself clean of human emotions.

"Bismillah! We will not let you go!

(Let me go!)"

And yet, for those same hundreds of years, he had never fully closed himself off-- never fully scrubbed away the feeling of... feeling.

"Will not let you go! (Let me go!)"

He couldn't help but glance at those two, fingers flying across the strings of their instruments. Humans, can they really be trusted?

"Will not let you go! (Let me go!)

His eyes slowly drifted to the other two, one ancient and the other practically a newborn. Can the gods really make him feel anything other than loathing?

"Never let you go!

(Never, never, never let me go!)"

He takes in their entire performance, all of them being their pure, complete, and unadulterated selves. With no masks to keep on, or roles to maintain. Merely singing, and dancing, and playing these instruments just for the heck of it.

"Oh, oh, oh!

No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

For centuries, he has roamed this world-- seeing and meeting many new people, and yet never regarding any of them as his companions.

"Oh, mama mia, mama mia!"

Would he be able to regard these people as such?

"Mama mia, let me go!"

Would he be able to trust them, like the did with the others? To stay and not break their promises with him?

"Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me,"

Would he be able to hold on to them, and they not let go as they had been claiming over and over?

"For me!"

Well, he has no choice in the matter. He's stuck with them now, as wanted fugitives.

"For me!"

Only time will tell if they forsake him like those before him. At least he's safe in the comfort that the world had forsaken them as well. Just like him. He hopes that strange sort of kinship makes you understand. He hopes it makes you stay.

You whooped with joy as Barbara absolutely nailed that note, Diluc quickly shredding on the zither afterwards. You would've given it to Zhongli but-- the man hasn't played a guitar before. And you need a certain "je ne sais quoi" to really pull off what Queen was doing. ...Also, you needed the sound of a guitar for the song.

You glance back to the Wanderer, mostly silently listening this whole time. He was lightly bopping his hand to the beat. You smile, taking whatever victories you can get. "Beelzebub? Really?" You blow a raspberry at him, preparing for the next part of the song. "I'll tell you about it later!" You clear your throat.

"So, you think you can stone me and spit in my eye!"

Diluc hits that sick riff.

"So, you think you can love me and leave me to die?!"

Barbara, even if she's practically undetectable underneath Diluc's strumming and your-- excuse me, Zhongli's drum beating, is still managing to bring up and compliment every single one of you performing.

"Oh, baby!"

You swear, if you all weren't wanted fugitives forced to live on the LAM because of a crime you didn't commit, you'd be a killer band.

"Can't do this to me baby!"

You do gotta thank Zhongli for subtly swiping away the drums from you-- you frankly weren't quite sure how you'd be able to focus on giving this song the power ballad it deservers while also playing an instrument.

"Just gotta get out,"

Despite all your peeking on Wanderer for his opinions on the song and to check on his emotional state, you weren't exactly omniscient. You were, afterall, still performing and still getting lost in the music.

"Just gotta get right outta here!"

So you didn't notice the twinge of an... almost fond emotion lacing his face as he watches you rock out to this classic. What can you say, Diluc kills it on the zither.

The sound builds and builds, Barbara layering on top of it and you not being able to resist the urge to air guitar to it as it slowly reaches its crescendo... And crashes back down, Zhongli and Diluc humming along to the sound.

"Ooh, yeah, ooh, yeah,"

You gasp for breath, the end of the song finally coming up. Diluc's energetic playing slows down, signaling the finale.

"Nothing really matters,"

You feel sweat dripping down your skin, having danced and moved around-- possessed by the power of the song.

"Anyone can see,"

You lean your back against the cave wall, relishing in its coolness as you bring the song to a close.

"Nothing really matters... Nothing really matters, to me..."

You sigh as you sink, pleased and satisfied at everyone's performance.

"Any way the wind blows..."

Zhongli finishes it off with the rapping of the drum, mimicking a cymbal crash to his best ability. Barbara beams at the Wanderer, who looks like he's regretting singing along to that last part.

"So," you ask, out of breath. "what'cha think about the song?"

Wanderer waves off Barbara's tired but happy smile, poofing the fourth bowl back into existence and busying his hands. He prepares Diluc's Shimi Chazuke as he hums.

"Well, despite it being a complete emotional roller coaster and the utter gibberish that it contains, I suppose that its worthy being called 'my song', as you will."

"I'll fucking take it! Fives all around guys, good job!" You quickly double high five everyone in the group-- Zhongli letting you slam your hands down on his, Barbara being a quick pair of one-two taps, and Diluc just lightly bumping his full hands into yours. You turn to Wanderer, waiting for him to high five you. "You too, hat boy-- you joined in the song, you get some fives."

At least Diluc had the decency to look away when he huffed in amusement. "Hat boy?! Let me tell you, I've gone through many names and titles during my journey. And each one is more eminent than any ordinary mortal could ever imagine!"

As he said these words, his heart slowly sank to his feet as he saw the stupid, cheeky smile growing on your face. "Yes, yes... But! and I quote, 'they're all just water under the bridge to me now.

Call me whatever you like. Go ahead, let me see what you can come up with.'" The Wanderer's eye twitched.

"And that's the best you can come up with?! If you know me so well, oh, great Overseer, then you would very much know that I'm also telling you to not disappoint me! Tell me, All-Knowing Guide, am I not disappointed?!" You snorted, too tired from the day's events to feel any sort of proper fear and trepidation at this situation. "Then, I'll just keep thinking of names until something sticks, mushroom head." You pat his head. "Now, how in the world did you even get here Lulu?"

He sips from his bowl full of rice and tea. "Doro44 Sumeru Chasm sneakpeek. Would've gotten here faster if the place wasn't absolutely surrounded by treasure hoarders and Fatui. Had a bit of trouble finding it as well, since it was behind some rock walls." He grabs a small twig from the ground and starts drawing. "Its a sort of cave that's absolutely overgrown by giant roots." "You dare to ignore me?!"

You flash that same cheeky grin at him again. "We didn't ignore you, we just changed the subject!"

Nope, he takes it all back. He hates all of you.

---

AND THATS A FUCKING WRAP AUGHHHHHHHHH-- broooooo, you would not BELIEVE how hard this was to write. both because Bohemian Rhapsody is SUCH a long song but also because of SOOOO many outside circumstances. like BRUH i was supposed to release this like a day after my castaways fic but NOOOOOOOO-- life got so in the way man. my parents started breathing down my neck for chores, we had to visit my relatives in the province (still in the province btw lol), i got FUCKING SICK BECAUSE OF STRESS AND DUST ALLERGIES and i literally spent like-- my first few days sick making my sickness FUCKING WORSE since our house was literally covered in dust and i was the only one who could clean it fucking apparently. bro, i even spent this goddamn christmas fucking sick. ugh this has been such a hell week. literally the only comfort i found this week was all genshin related AHAHA-- i was playing genshin, visiting the SAGAU tag a lot, waiting for fanfics to update, just generally genshin brainrotting.

ugh thank god i finally released this one. i do have a lot of ideas for this down the road and hell dawg! i even got a request! thats the one thatll be coming up next. i wrote like-- a massive part of this sick and it got sOOOOO out of hand ever since i didnt get to finish it that day so i hope it sticks together well and is mostly coherent. enjoy!! :))

[14th-century-verona-queer]

Sokka HC’s (trauma edition)

just some stuff that I think is true abt Sokka idk

I haven’t watched ATLA in literal years so please correct me if some of my info is wrong

Some of these are probably obvious but I just wanted to give my take on them lol

Ever since the night of the fire nation raid, he’s terrified of fire and even more scared of the smell of bodies burning and the sight of ash. Because although fire is what took his mother and a lot of the tribe members away, the smell of bodies burning and the sight of ash reminds him of the sight he saw that night, and how he was useless to do anything about it, that now burns forever in his memory. Because while Katara is traumatized at seeing the death of Kya, Sokka is traumatized of seeing his tribe members killed and burned in front of him. He’s the kind of guy to break down after the fact of whatever just happened, so he can still fight fire nation soldiers and everything. But the minute he gets off of the battlefield and the adrenaline wears off and hes alone? He makes some excuse about “needing to plan where they’re going next in the peace and quiet because fucking toph and aang make it hard to focus with their earthbending lessons” he breaks down, sobs racking his body and an inevitable panic attack coming as he relives the worst night of his life over and over again for hours, acrid smoke and burning flesh all he’s able to smell, screams of pain and heartbreak all he’s able to hear. (when Zuko comes along it gets a little bit better because he can remind himself the Zuko is a fire bender and hes safe and warm and would never do anything to hurt me. So he just kind of melts into his best friend’s boyfriends arms and it becomes a routine for them. More on that on the zukka post i will get to writing..eventually)

He has abandonment issues because of how unexpectedly Kya died and left him to take care of Katara while she was grieving, and then Hakoda left him to take care of the entire tribe by himself. This is probably why in that one episode (i dont remember which one and im too lazy to find it) Sokka was so adamant about refusing to let Katara go and try to save Haru and his dad, because he was scared that she wouldn’t leave until she got everyone off of the ship, eventually get captured, and spend the rest of her days there, leaving him behind.

(This ones cannon I think but here’s my take on it) He has self-worth issues because of his constant expectations that have been set on him, by himself and by other people. A lot of people reading this are gonna be like well yea he had to take care of the entire tribe by himself! Which, true! Not exactly the best move Hakoda, but what’re you gonna do i guess. But i think his self-worth issues stem more from his need to be the perfect “chief”. What i mean by that is that if he’s doesn’t catch enough fish for the tribe (even if they probably have enough to survive because always working too hard) he hates himself because he isn’t doing enough and they look so skinny and its all my fault because i just can’t catch enough fish. And if the people are cold, or if they’re sick, they expect him to take care of them, but they dont see that he’s a 16 (or younger, he was acting as chief for a couple years before Aang came along i think) year old boy trying to do everything himself with no help. Every day he hears the same thing: “Sokka, we don’t have enough ______! Can you please get more?” So he never ever thinks he’s good enough no matter what he does because there’s just never enough. even if he catches 100 fish for the whole village to eat, he’ll still beat himself up about it because sure they were able to eat today, but they’re not eating enough and he still needs to get more furs for everyone because the winter is only getting colder and they’re getting sicker and they’re all going to die because he’s so useless and can’t do anything right

because of him having to do everything himself, he absolutely hates being offered help. He refuses it practically every single time, because he’s so used to people younger than him counting on him to do something, and if they’re counting on him that means that he cannot fail, and asking for help (to him) is one way of failing. If he asks for help that means he couldn’t do the one thing Hakoda asked him too. It’s super simple Sokka, just take care of the village of like 15 people. And he can’t even do that.

He’s an absolute control freak and micromanages everything, and Katara (the hypocrite, smh) hates it. He needs to be in control of everything because that means that nothing can go wrong unless he makes a mistake. (Which he knows he will make a mistake but at least its his fault and he can find a way to fix it) If he relies on other people that means they’ll make mistakes which means something that needed to get done won’t and he’ll fuck up again and he’ll be worthless, because planning and fixing and engineering and fighting is all he has, all he thinks hes good for. He would rather be solely blamed for not being good enough and screwing up than letting someone like Zuko or Katara or Aang be told that. He was never in control of the war or his mother’s death of Hakoda leaving or anything, so he find some kind of solace or coping mechanism in being able to at least control the village and having some semblance of control (idk how else to explain this! Im so sorry!)

Also because he doesn’t trust anyone else to do it right lol. He’s been taking care of the whole village for such a long time that there’s a very specific way you supposed to do this Katara! It took him such a long time to finally get a rhythm going, get used to how to take care of 15+ people at a time, so any little change to his routine pisses him off and makes him panic because he’s lost the control of the situation and now he’s in an unknown territory where he doesn’t know how to do anything which makes him a liability.

(I’ll probably continue to update this post because im probably not done, and/or make a pt 2 if y’all wanna see that. Won’t be restricted to just trauma next time!)

[heiayen]

luck in disguise - bennett&reader (platonic)

tags: platonic, headcanons, it's more on the comedic side!! you and bennett can't catch a break but... you at least discovered something cool?

summary: ah, a funny trip to liyue with bennett, surely nothing can go wrong! right? (spoiler, it did.)

a/n: iM SO RUSTY crying emoji anyways hello!! @my-white-canvas i got you for the white day event and here's my gift for you~ i followed the prompt you gave cuz it was pretty cute and funny?? and i wish i could write more and better but 😭😭 either way i hope youll like it, have a nice day and take care muah

It started with a nice, sunny day when you and Bennett had no tasks to take care of and could go for an enjoyable trip to Liyue! Just a short trip, to visit some pretty places, eat some good food, get chased by hilichurls, fall into a waterfall…? Oh, dear. Let's go back to the beginning, shall we?

It all started when you decided to go on a trip. A longer walk with your friend was always a good thing, so you asked Bennett if he wanted to go with you. Even despite his bad luck, he was a great companion to have around! So when he agreed, you packed some food and other things you might need, and you two went off on the adventure.

It was… going, somehow. At first, it was pretty okay! You two could talk about random things, enjoying the view of Liyue… until a hilichurl attacked you. And then another one, followed by a mitachurl! Luckily, you managed to somehow defeat them without bigger problems and without losing too much stuff… Well, good for you two!

After that, you decided to set your trip goal on Qingce village. It was a relatively close place, and very pretty too, so why not? You decided to take the longer path, avoiding Wuwang Hill. Look, it's an… interesting place, to say the least, but you two had enough monsters and not-monsters to deal with, alright? Let's go, then!

The walk to the village was actually calmer than you expected, which was weird. Something had to happen soon, and Bennett tripping over air twice in the past five minutes was not it. And, well, just as you thought about it, you heard some crackles of electricity around. You looked around to see a bunch of electro cicins near you. Just how did they appear here, and from where?

It was risky to fight with them around water, especially if your companion was a very unlucky pyro vision wielder, so you decided to simply run away. Or, at least that was your plan because suddenly, you heard a yell coming from the said companion. You looked around to see what was going on, and…

Wait, where's Bennett?!

You heard water splash and a yell, but could find no Bennett around! And you still had electro cicins trying to electrocute you! Was Bennett somewhere underwater? Well, he probably was, so you had to jump in and help him! Well, maybe it was a bit dumb thing to do, but it was all panic speaking… and so you jumped. And to your surprise, you ended… in an underwater cave?

Wow. And Bennett was there, too! Sitting in the water, seemingly unharmed, just with wet clothes and his backpack. Really, this was luck in disguise that he was alright. You looked around at the cave. The cave was… surprisingly beautiful. Full of crystal ores, even some grass and flowers, the water seemed to shine, as if this cave was something more. It was as if Bennett's luck for once didn't bring only bad things! Well, your clothes are wet, and so is your stuff, but! It certainly can't get any worse.

Right?

You two decide to stay for some time in the cave, to rest and then find a way to somehow get out of it. The resting time was spent talking with Bennett, trying to save any of your stuff (you failed to do so), and sharing this one apple that somehow survived the great waterfall fall. It was nice, really nice… until you two heard some wet noises, and suddenly got attacked by a bunch of hydro slimes!

Oh dear. You can't catch a break for too long, can't you? At least Bennett had his pyro vision, so the fight wasn't too long or troublesome, and actually a good laugh when you two were safe. Really, just what else will this trip bring to you? But well, to know the answer to this question, you first need to somehow get out of this cave…

Ah, good luck with that!

[nessieart]

TEETH pt. 12

|| Before the Fall part 4 ||

WC: 5.5k, im so sorry this is so long

AN: Ok um, look. It’s a lot and uh oops? And listen here, CA:TWS is my favorite mcu movie ok? And we’re in it now. I wasn’t really sure i wanted to go this route, but now i am. Don’t worry, there’ll be more Tony soon! Promise! Thanks for following along with me and my writing journey! It means a lot to me! Enjoy.

Eventual Tony Stark x Reader.

Warnings: Canon level violence, cursing, depictions of violence, blood, guns, made up fantasy elements most likely. No y/n used. Nickname usage: Flowers, Poppy.

Summary: Chasing Ghosts might not have been the best decision after all.

Masterlist

Previous || First || Next

-*-

Tony had talked you down from your - anger? Panic? - episode. Now you sat on the floor of the dark hospital room, Natasha pulled Steve off to the side while you murmured answers to Tony’s questions. Your appearance returned to normal after Tony’s voice floated around the room.

“What the hell was that, Rogers?” Natasha whispers to Steve, she has her hands on her hips and a frown on her face.

Steve sighs, his hands also on his hips, he looks at you for a moment. Your knees are drawn up and your arms are crossed over them. There’s a small smile on your face while you talk to Tony, he notices there’s a light in your eyes that wasn’t there before. You look up to Steve then, and give him an apologetic look. He can only smile down at you.

Steve looks back at Natasha, “She’s…different. Special. Supernatural,” he shrugs when she gives him a look. “She’s been a really good friend these past few days and she didn’t have to be.”

Natasha nods, "I've had my fair share of run-ins with supernaturals." Now it's Steve's turn to give her a look. And Natasha shrugs in response. She then pulls the flash drive out from her pocket, “Going after him is a dead end. I know, I’ve tried,” she looks over at you as you giggle at something Tony said. Natasha smirks, “Like you said, he’s a ghost story,” she turns her attention back to Steve.

Steve takes the flash drive from her, his eyebrows lowered and tone serious, “Then let’s find out what the ghost wants.”

-*-

“I just worry about you, Pop,” Tony says quietly. You rest your head in your arms as you play with the wristband. “I know you can handle yourself. But god knows you don’t have to do it alone.”

“I’m not alone, Tony,” you say softly. You look up at Steve and Natasha, they’re whispering to each other, you try not to listen. “I’m with Steve, and his friend. The red head.”

Tony groans, “Spangles and Triple Imposter, great.” You giggle a little, his nicknames for others were always amusing to you. You didn’t care for his coyote puns.

“There’s something I need to take care of before I can come home,” you say without thinking.

“Home, huh?” You can tell he’s smirking and your cheeks heat up a little. “I like the idea of you calling the Tower home.”

“I meant you, dumbass,” you snort. Tony’s quiet for a moment. “Two of my favorite people are in New York anyway,” you shrug.

“Two?”

“Peter and Bruce, duh.” Tony makes an offended noise and you laugh from your chest and it’s full and freeing. It feels good to talk to Tony, he always makes you feel better. Even if you haven’t seen him in months.

A throat clears across the room and you look up at Steve and Natasha, it seems their conversation has ended. Steve has a soft look on his face, Natasha has her arms crossed over her chest with a smirk.

“Hey, Tony,” you say, and he hums. “I have to go, I’ll call you later, ok?” You tell him as you get up off the floor, dusting your pants off after you stand.

“Of course, sweetheart, be careful,” you both say goodbye and the light turns off on your wristband. Two pairs of eyes are on you as you look at them, your face heats up again and you duck your head to look at the floor.

“So Stark, huh?” Natasha smirks, one perfect eyebrow raised.

You chuckle lightly, brushing your palms down your shirt, “Hm, yeah.”

“We’re heading out, you coming?” She asks and your head shoots up to look at her.

“Now, wait a minute,” Steve interrupts, “I can’t ask you to do this, Flowers,” one hand on his hip as the other is pointed towards you.

Your eyebrows lower, “You don’t have to ask, Steve, I’m with you on this. Wherever it goes. I’m here to the end, no matter what.”

Steve's lips part, and his eyebrows raise. He takes in your determined face and posture. He sighs once and nods, “Alright.”

-*-

You decided that waiting outside the mall was best for everyone. Two people trying to be covert was better than three, Natasha had said. You wondered if Leon was ok, or if he was part of the team that was trying to chase you down.

“JARVIS?” You say quietly to your wristband. Yes, Miss? He responds almost immediately.

“You can track people, right?” Of course, what is it you need? “Could you find my brother, Leon?” You chew your bottom lip as you wait.

There’s a dial tone, and then after a few seconds Leon answers.

“Hello?” Leon's voice sounds out from the wristband and you sigh.

“Sunny, it’s me,” you say quickly. “I don’t have a lot of time, where are you?”

“Where am I?! Flowers, you have me worried sick. Where are you?”

You chew your lip again, “Safe,” is all you say, and Leon heaves a sigh. As you’re talking, JARVIS brings up a holo-image. It must be Leon’s location. He was still at the Triskelion.

“You and Rogers have all of SHIELD on high alert because they think you know something about the Director’s death,” he says quickly and quietly.

“There has to be more going on here, Sunny, I think-,” you stop mid sentence, Leon’s dot on the mini map has started moving. You can hear shuffling and people talking in the background. Then a few car doors slam, and the rev of an engine can be heard over the speaker. “Sunny…?”

“I really hope you aren’t with him,” he says your name softly and you can see his dot move quickly out of SHIELD HQ. “I’ll do everyth-“ the call cuts out, and you’re left with tears welling in your eyes.

I’m sorry, Miss. I thought it prudent to end the call. It seems SHIELD was trying to locate you via Leon’s cell phone. Though they would have a difficult time with me in the way.

“That’s ok, J, thanks,” you sniffle. “Keep an eye out, will you?”

Anything for you, Miss. And you smile a little at that.

Five minutes later Steve and Natasha are rushing out of the mall exit near you. Steve ushers you away and into a truck, breaking in and hot wiring it and taking off out of the mall parking lot.

-*-

“Rogers, Steven. Born ,1918. Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Born, 1984. Jones. Born, 1923.”

“It’s some kind of recording,” says Natasha, she eyes you a little when she hears your birth year.

“I am not a recording, Fräulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am.” The computer voice echoes slightly in the giant room. The camera on top of the monitors goes back and forth, zeroing in on each of you.

It’s a little unsettling, you think.

On the monitors, a few pictures of a short man with glasses appear, “You know this thing?” Asks Natasha.

Steve paces around the hulking computer system, examining it, “Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He’s been dead for years.”

“First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body, my mind, however, that was worth saving on two hundred thousand feet of data banks. You are standing in my brain.”

Steve rounds back to his starting position, looking at the camera, “How did you get here?”

“Invited,” he sounds like he’s smiling. Creepy computer matrix face guy. You shuddered.

“Operation Paperclip, after World War II, SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic value,” Natasha informs the group.

“They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own.”

“HYDRA died with the Red Skull,” Steve growls out.

“Cut off one head, two more shall take its place.” An image of a skull and tentacles appears on one of the monitors, then doubles.

“Prove it,” Steve commands. You’re a little on edge, Steve is furious, you can smell it, but he’s hiding it well. You want to comfort him but you don’t know how or if you should.

“Accessing archive,” Zola confirms. The screen flashes with old propaganda footage, someone you assume is Red Skull - because really? “HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize, was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly.

After the war, SHIELD was founded and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside SHIELD. For 70 years HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war.

And when history did not cooperate, history was changed.” Zola finishes smugly.

Natasha steps forward, “That’s impossible, SHIELD would have stopped you.”

“Accidents will happen,” the large monitor shows targets killed by HYDRA. A few assassinations, an old newspaper clipping shows Howard Stark and his wife killed in a car crash.

Tony’s parents. It was all staged. They were murdered. Did he know? Oh Gods.

And you’re very keenly aware that one of the images that flashes is the masked man you met a lifetime ago. The Winter Soldier, they had said.

The final image is of Nick Fury with a big red [DECEASED] stamp over his face.

“HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom,” another array of photos go by. Bloodied corpses of giant wolves, big cats, and - oh - coyotes. Some of them look like poachers with their kill, but you know better.

You aren’t aware of the snarl that lets loose from your throat, or your skin rippling with want to Shift. HYDRA was behind your family’s murders, and those of your friends. You’re heaving in gulps of breath and only come out of it after Steve punches the monitor to get rid of the images that were flickering through dozens of Supernatural killings.

“What’s on this drive,” Steve demands, he puts a hand on your shoulder.

“Project Insight requires…insight. So I wrote an algorithm.”

“What kind of algorithm? What does it do?” Natasha steps closer to the monitor display.

“The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it.” The blast doors start to close suddenly, and Steve goes to chuck his shield to jam it, but it’s too late. Your wristband beeps rapidly as does Natasha’s phone.

“Steve, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic, 30 seconds tops,” she looks worried.

“Who fired it?”

“SHIELD,” you and Natasha say together.

As the computer Zola taunts you all, Steve finds a drainage cover and pulls it off an ushers you and Natasha in, he crowds in on your both and lifts his shield over you all like an umbrella, yelling at the force of holding it aloft.

-*-

You had Shifted to escape the incoming STRIKE team. It was easier keeping up with Steve and weaving through the rubble of the destroyed Camp Lehigh buildings.

Steve placed Natasha’s unconscious form in the backseat of the pickup truck, and you took the front. Steve sped away as fast as the truck would take you all, foot to the floor on the gas pedal.

It was early morning by the time you made it back to D.C. Steve had ditched the truck somewhere off of i-95 a few miles outside the city, and you trotted beside him as he carried Natasha.

By the time you made it to your destination, Natasha had awoken and walked the rest of the way. Steve knocked on the door and a few moments later a figure appeared and answered.

“Hey, man,” Sam hedges, eyeing Steve and Natasha.

“I’m sorry about this. We need a place to lay low,” Steve said apologetically.

“Everyone we know is trying to kill us,” Natasha was leaning on you slightly, your shoulder blades coming up to her waist. She had an arm draped over you.

Sam pauses for a moment to take in the sight of you all. His eyes land on you, and his brows furrow. You lower your head a bit, ears pulled back.

“Not everyone,” he says, and moves to the side to let your group into his house. “There’s a shower in the back bedroom, if ya’ll wanted to get cleaned up. I have some spare clothes in there as well, so help yourself.” Sam looks like he’s just come back from a run, his shirt is damp with sweat and it sticks to him.

Steve nods, “Thank you, Sam, really,” he holds out his arm for Natasha to go ahead of him.

You help Nat down the hallway until she reaches the bedroom door, she puts her hand on your head and says a quiet thank you. Your ears go up and your tail wags just a little bit. When you enter Sam’s small living space he’s eyeing you, and you let out a small yip.

Steve takes notice of Sam’s unease, “Oh, right, you wouldn’t happen to have spare clothes now? Sweatpants and a shirt maybe?” He rubs the back of his neck and Sam just nods a few times and goes to a different room in the back. A few moments later he hands the garments to Steve, who nods in thanks.

Natasha is out in less than 5 minutes, she seems like a whole new person. Steve follows you into the back bedroom and puts the clothes on the bed. He places his hand on your head before he leaves.

You shift back to human and stretch out your limbs, your joints crack in relief and you slip into the clothes Sam let you borrow. Coming back out into the living space, Sam nearly chokes and spits out his orange juice when he sees you.

Steve chuckles softly as he goes into the back room to get cleaned up, Natasha following shortly after, she pats your shoulder as she goes by.

“Hi, Sammy,” you say with a wave. Sam’s eyes are huge as he stares at you, mouth slightly ajar and arms out wide.

He sputters as he tries to speak, his arm up and pointing to the back room, like a giant ass dog didn’t just strut down the hall and come back a tiny woman in oversized clothes.

“You eat breakfast yet?” You ask innocently as you come to stand next to him in his kitchen. He shakes his head at you, eyes still wide in disbelief. “Good, let’s get started!”

-*-

“That supernatural shit is real? Like Vampires and werewolves? True Blood?” Sam hasn’t stopped asking questions once you all finished eating breakfast. You’re very amused at his reaction, he’s taking it better than you thought he would.

You chuckle a little, “yeah, it’s all real, give or take a few things,” you smile over at him. Sam puts a hand on his head and paces around the living space. “You’re actually taking it pretty well, honestly.”

“There were literal aliens in New York a few years ago,” Sam says, turning around to face the group. “So, who’s to say what is or isn’t real anymore.”

They steer back to the conversation at hand, Sam interrupts every now and then to ask you questions about Supernaturals, which you answer.

“So, the real question is: how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?” Steve and Natasha had deduced that Zola’s Algorithm was on the Lemurian Star, a ship that was overtaken by pirates - who Fury had hired - and so was Jasper Sitwell, said SHIELD officer.

Sam puts a file down on the table in front of Steve and Natasha, “The answer is: you don’t.”

Steve picks the file up and you lean over his shoulder to get a look at it, “What’s this?” He asks.

Sam crosses his arms over his chest, puffing up a little, “call it a resume.”

Nat - she told you to call her that, all her friends do - leans in and takes a photo from the top of the file, “Is this Bakhmla? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you?” She looks up at Steve, “you didn’t say he was a para-rescue.”

You lift up a few pages in the file, a photo standing out of Sam and someone next to him, “is this Riley?” You ask. Sam nods.

“I heard they couldn’t bring in the chippers because of the RPGs,” Nat speaks up, “What did you use, a stealth chute?”

Sam hands Steve another file, “No, these.”

Steve smirks, “I thought you said you were a pilot.”

Sam chuckles lightly, “I never said pilot.”

Steve sobers suddenly, putting the files down on the table, “I can’t ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason.”

“Dude, Captain America needs my help,” Sam exclaims. “There’s no better reason to get back in!”

-*-

You’re enjoying a nice iced tea with Sam outside a restaurant, seated near the end of a row in full view of an expensive restaurant, when he looks over at you and lowers his sunglasses and winks.

You’ve changed into a pair of jeans and a shirt, that Nat may or may not have stolen off a rack as you all made your way downtown. Ok, she did, but in her defense, you can’t save the world in gray men’s jogging pants.

You smile over at Sam, “what? Food in my teeth?” And your fangs extend only a little bit, but he notices and he shakes his head at you, laughing.

“Can you two stop flirting for 5 minutes?” Nat’s voice comes over your ear piece. “Or do I have to tell Stark?” You can hear the smirk in her voice and you laugh a little, pretending Sam said something funny so you wouldn’t attract attention.

“Oh please,” Sam says, he turns in his chair and kicks his feet up on the chair you aren’t sitting in. “You’d know when I was flirting, and that wasn’t it.” He looks at you again and winks.

Steve sighs over the comms audibly, “Can we focus please? We got incoming.”

Sam grabs his cell phone and dials the number Nat had given him, holding it up to his ear. “Agent Sitwell, how was lunch? I hear the crab cakes here are delicious.

The good looking guy in the sunglasses, your ten o’clock… your other 10 o’clock. There you go,” Sam lifts his tea in the air and you wiggle your fingers at Sitwell. After a beat Sam continues, “You’re gona go around the corner, to your right. There’s a grey car, two spaces down. You, the pretty lady and I are gona take a ride.”

Across the street Nat shines a cheap laser pointer on Sitwell’s chest.

“Because that tie looks really expensive, and I’d hate to mess it up,” Sam says and then hangs up the phone. You follow him to the car, Sitwell between you both on the sidewalk. Every couple feet Sitwell looks over his shoulder at you.

“Got something to say?” You raise an eyebrow at him when he turns around again.

Sitwell shakes his head, a smirk on his lips, “You’ll be sorry once SHIELD finds you.”

“I think you mean, HYDRA, get in,” Sam shoves Sitwell into the backseat of his car, "and shut up," and you push him aside and sit with him as Sam goes around the driver's side.

Sitwell turns to you, you really want to punch his stupid face in. “Pierce put a KOS on you, you know.”

You sneer at him, “I’ve lived this long, I’m sure I’ll be just fine.” When he goes to speak again your eyes flash at him and he promptly closes his mouth and faces forwards.

-*-

Steve pushes Sitwell through the roof exit of the high rise you all entered not too long ago, Nat following and you standing by the door.

“Tell me about Zola’s Algorithm,” Steve pushes Sitwell further.

“Never heard of it,” Sitwell smirks.

“What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?”

“Throwing up, I get seasick,” he almost falls and stumbles off the edge of the roof, but Steve grabs the lapels of his suit. “Is this little display meant to insinuate that you’re gonna throw me off the roof? Because it’s really not your style, Rogers.”

Steve smooths Sitwells suit down, all smiles, “You’re right. It’s not. It’s hers.”

And as Steve steps to the side, Natasha comes forward and kicks Sitwell in the chest and he plummets off the rooftop. You come over to look over the edge, grinning.

“Oh, wait. What about that girl from accounting, Laura …?” Natasha snaps her fingers, trying to remember a name. Your head snaps up to stare at Steve.

“Lillian, lip piercing, right?” Steve supplies. You’re grinning up at him and he's trying not to pay you any attention.

“Yeah, she’s cute,” Nat answers.

“Yeah, I’m not ready for that.”

You hear the whirring of a jet pack over the edge and a second later, Sam’s in his Falcon suit, wings spread out wide as he carries Sitwell and drops him onto the roof a few feet from where you’re standing. Sam lands gracefully and his wings fold into the pack on his back.

As you approach Sitwell, he sits back on his heels with his hands held up, “Zola’s Algorithm is a program.. for choosing Insight’s targets!”

Steve puts his hands on his hips, “What targets?”

“You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, all kinds of 'supers. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who’s a threat to HYDRA! Now or in the future!”

“The future?” You ask, “How could it know?”

Sitwell laughs, “how could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it.”

You share confused looks with your group.

“Your bank records,” Sitwell continues, “medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola’s algorithm evaluates people’s past to predict their future.”

“And what then?” Steve says seriously, his eyebrows lowered.

Sitwell starts panicking, “Oh, my god. Pierce is gonna kill me.”

“What then?!” Shouts Steve, he’s getting impatient.

Sitwell audibly gulps, “Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time,” he swallows thickly.

-*-

You’re in the backseat of Sam’s car with Nat and Sitwell, you’re in the middle of the two. Steve up in the passenger seat next to Sam, who’s driving.

“HYDRA doesn’t like leaks,” Sitwell says.

“So why don’t you try sticking a cork in it,” Sam snarks back.

Nat leans forward in the seat to come up between Steve and Sam, “Insight’s launching in 16 hours, we’re cutting it a little bit close here.”

“I know,” Steve says, he glances back at her and then you, “we’ll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly.”

“What!? Are you crazy!? That’s a terrible—“ Sitwell gets cut off as something hits the roof of the car and the glass of the window next to him shatters and he’s yanked from his seat and tossed across the highway into oncoming traffic.

You push Natasha to the side as a gunshot is fired into the car from the roof, then Nat pushes you to the side so you avoid getting shot. She jumps into Steve’s lap, pulls his head forward so he avoids a bullet, and then kicks Sam away from another bullet. Nat returns fire from her gun and Steve pulls up the parking brake and flings the person that was on the roof from the car and the figure tumbles a few feet away and corrects himself by digging his hand into the asphalt.

Your eyes grow wide, it's him. The masked man. Natasha goes to shoot at him, and your claws come out as you grip the seats, but before either of you can do something a large vehicle rear ends Sam’s car and you’re all pushed forward.

You're about to crash into the masked man, when he leaps up and latches onto the hood of the car, his knees kicking in the rear windshield spraying you in glass.

Natasha's still in Steve's lap, reaching on the floor for her dropped gun, and as you go to help, the front windshield is smashed in and a metal arm rips the steering wheel out of the car.

"Shit!" Same yells, his hands in the air because he has nothing left to hold onto. Nat finds her gun and fires a few times and the masked man jumps from your car to the hummer behind.

It rear ends the car again and the car begins to roll sideways.

Steve grabs Sam and pulls him, he slams his shield against the door and the trio glide on the broken door as the car flips over them. All you can do is watch as you're taken with the car across the highway.

When the car finally stops rolling, you crawl out of the back window. Cuts and scrapes and pieces of broken glass litter your skin. There's a gash above your eyebrow spewing blood, and you wipe it from your eye.

You barely have a second to catch your breath before there's a hail of bullets in your direction. You've lost sight of Steve and the rest in the chaos, and then you hear a thump, and an explosion from a grenade launcher. Your head swings around and you can see a flash of red ducking behind a car as Nat runs from bullets.

Another explosion and she's leaping the median into oncoming traffic and jumping off the side of the bridge. You can't see Sam in the confusion and decide to follow Natasha. What's a 20ft drop anyway?

You're about to jump when a bullet grazes your leg and you slip and fall 20 feet down, landing on the hood of a car on your back. The wind is knocked out of you as you try and gain your bearings. Down the block, you can hear bullets spray and ricocheting off cars, and you groan and roll off the hood of the car. Yep, that’s a broken rib - no make that two. You wince when you land on your feet and hobble towards the gunfire.

As you look over, you see Steve charging a man with a machine gun, shield raised, and he jumps the car and double kicks the man off the hood. Steve shouts your name and you follow his finger behind you, Natasha’s running from someone and you make your way over to her. As you near her a shot rings out and just when you push her out of the way, the bullet lodges in your stomach, you clutch it and crumble to the ground next to Nat.

You grunt and moan as Nat pulls you next to her to lean against the car, “You idiot, what were you thinking?” She rips a piece off the bottom of her shirt and presses it into your stomach.

You cough up a little blood as you try to speak, it's thick as it coats your tongue, “It’s… fine,” you pant out, “I’ve had worse. It’ll heal eventually. Get out of here!”

She gives you a concerned look, but she doesn’t make a move to leave. So you push her away, “Go!” Your eyes flash and you double over, and spit out more blood. Nat reluctantly leaves your side and runs down the street for better cover.

On the other side of the car you’re leaning on, you can hear fighting. It’s probably Steve, you think. You grab onto the window of the car and pull yourself up, it's a struggle, but you finally manage to do it. When you look through the car window you can see Steve fighting the Masked Man - the Winter Soldier.

You go to Shift, it’ll be easier to fight that way, you’re no use to anyone in your current injured state. Your skin ripples and the fur comes through in waves and disappears. You stumble back, it’s not working.

“What the fuck,” you mumble to yourself. Then there’s a piercing pain where the bullet entered, it shoots through you and you feel it all the way to the tips of your fingers and toes. No. It can’t be.

Silver. The bullets were silver cast. Your brow furrows and you try to Shift again, the pain is excruciating and you fall to your hands and knees, gritting your teeth through the pain. The blood hasn’t stopped oozing out of the wound and you’re starting to feel light headed, your vision going cloudy and dark around the edges when you try to stand back up.

“Bucky?…” you hear Steve say, and your head snaps up at him through the broken window. There, not even 10 feet from Steve is the Winter Sold— no, his long lost, thought to be dead best friend, James ‘Bucky’ Barnes. It makes your head spin and you hold onto the car with both hands, panting through the pain again.

“Who the hell is Bucky?” And before you can blink, Sam swoops down and kicks the Soldier out of the way before he can fire at Steve - who is too dumbstruck to do anything but stare. The Soldier regains his composer to fire his gun again, when Natasha fires the grenade launcher and you lose sight of them and fall back to the ground.

-*-

Rumlow and the rest of his STRIKE team had come in not a minute later, and detained and arrested your group. Steve, Sam, and Natasha in one armored vehicle and you in a large van. Steve and Sam protested and said you needed a hospital, or to at least let one of them accompany you in your truck. They were swiftly silenced and the doors to your van slid closed without a word.

You must have passed out on the car ride. Because the next thing you see are pale lights above you, and you're very aware that your torso is bandaged and your shirt is gone. The sports bra you have on feels damp and sticky. The table you're laying on is cold on your back and you move to sit up, groaning at the effort.

You go to touch your wristband and it's gone, small panic begins to rise in you because you can't get ahold of Tony. Did you lose it in the car crash? Did it fall off between then and here? Or is some HYDRA lackey messing with it and trying to get access to JARVIS?

Or-

In the corner of your eye you catch something silver and shining as it moves in the pale lights. When you look over, the Soldier is staring at you. There's a far off look in his eyes, like he's seeing you but not. You look around the room, it looks like an old run down bank vault. No one else is around, but you can hear voices from another room speaking softly.

There’s what looks like a dentist’s chair in the room with you both, there’s cables and wires and a halo of something you can’t place above it. Monitors around the back are blank, it looks like the cables connect to the chair.

You look back at his face, his hair is a little greasy and longer since the last time you've seen him. The tight black shirt he's wearing strains on his chest as he inhales sharply at your gaze.

You shuffle on the table and slowly swing your legs off the side, clutching at your injured stomach.

"D-do you remember me?" You ask, your voice a little hoarse. Your mouth still has a faint taste of blood and you swallow around the lump in your throat.

The Soldier's eyes refocus and zero in on you. He stares at you for a moment before he shakes his head ever so slightly. Only once. You grit your teeth as you go to stand, holding onto the table for support. You pant as you make your way over towards him. He's standing in the middle of the room and his brows furrow like he's confused.

When you reach him, you have to crane your head back to look into his vacant crystal eyes, "you killed my family." You punch him in his chest, but he doesn't budge. You go to slam your fist into him again but he catches it, in his flesh hand.

The tears you were holding back fall freely as you glare up at him. The Soldier tilts his head and watches the tears fall down your face, he goes to lift his metal arm but it whirs and groans with effort and only a cold metal finger catches the tear at your chin.

It's off putting, the gentle way he touches you. The hand that caught your fist doesn't squeeze or try to keep you there.

"James?" You ask softly, because you see it now. Through his curtain of long dark hair, you can see Steve's best friend from those grainy black and white photographs from the museum. And there's a far off look in his eyes again, like he's looking through you, or maybe he's seeing you and nothing really registers behind his eyes.

His brows crease and his eyes refocus and examine your face, "Petal…?"

-*-

AN: it was a long one and I appreciate you for taking the time to read! thank you for reading! It means so much to me! Comment, likes, RB<3

[x-authorship-x]

time check! it's 2 am ahaha…. After i send this ask, im probs gonna sleep so have fun w this prompt!

prompt 21 - ““We’ll figure this out.” – honestly i’m thinking abt missing nin! shisui running away with someone (who knows who that someone is) or pre uchiha massacre / coup! Shisui and itachi. But honestly do your magic and do whatever the fuck you want !! your writing and creativity will never cease to amaze me tbh

- N

#21- "We'll figure this out."

Even as the words left Shisui's mouth, he didn't believe them. From the tension gripping Itachi's frame, he didn't either.

But they had to, fuck but they had to.

Too much was at stake, the whole world had gone to shit and now- and now...

The Sandaime was dead.

Everything had gone to shit so quickly.

Shisui had been scheduled to meet with the Sandaime one last time regarding the situation with the Uchiha Elders. Kotoamatsukami was powerful, yes, but Shisui had never truly used it before and a trial run ran the risk of exhausting Shisui to the point where he was rendered useless. They'd been planning on a back up, maybe a combination genjutsu using both Shisui and Itachi's Mangekyou, something to stall the Clan's plans until the diplomat from the Fire Capitol could arrive to oversee the amendment of Konohan law... but all of those plans were useless now.

Instead of arriving to find the Sandaime waiting, probably smoking on his pipe, Shisui had staggered into what could only have been a crime scene.

Danzo had murdered the Sandaime, his own teammate.

And he'd framed Shisui for it.

Blank ANBU masked Shinobi - ROOT, Shisui's mind had hissed like a curse - had attacked from all sides, vicious and varied and all aiming to kill. Only Shisui's Shunshin had saved him from death, had sent him lunging back out the window before anything could come of Danzo's strange, shifting chakra signature. The ROOT operatives had chased him across rooftops, signalling to all Shinobi they passed that Shisui was wanted for murder and high treason.

The Daylight Corps had been quick to join the hunt.

Gripped with the kind of terror that launched him straight from panic into a deadly calm, Shisui had used his Mangekyou to leave false trails throughout the forests and then sent a Crow to track Itachi down.

The Hyuuga were looking for him now; it was only a matter of time before they tore his genjutsu to shreds.

Itachi's expression remained pale and bleak. "They had already begun rounding up the Uchiha when I fled," he hushed. If Itachi had been anyone else, Shisui thought he might have shed some tears. Even now, Shisui was close to the same. "They came straight to our house, Shisui. Otou-san was handcuffed immediately, and Sasuke-"

He fell silent. Shisui didn't need him to continue.

It had begun.

Shisui's breathing wobbled as he exhaled, leaning further back against the tree behind him and stretching his aching legs out in front. The speed and duration of some of those Shunshin bursts had been dangerous, even for him.

"I'll have been declared a missing-nin by now."

Itachi folded his arms, ghostly and thin in his ANBU shirt, around his knees and rested his chin on top. He looked especially young and it made their situation feel even more impossible. The two of them, against the whole of Konoha's forces at Danzo's beck and call...

"They'll know that I'm missing and guess I've joined you."

They'd both be declared.

A terrible calm fell over Shisui. It was like an out of body experience, like the serenity of slipping on his ANBU persona. When he spoke, it was as if the words came from very far away.

"We can't go home."

Itachi's eyes shuttered to the side. "There's no home to go back to, not any more." A pause. He bit his lip. "What about Sasuke-kun, my parents? Your sensei?"

Shisui pursed his mouth and didn't allow himself to linger on what Danzo would do to the Uchiha. What he'd wanted to do to Shisui, after framing him. How Inoichi, his Squadmates and friends, might want Shisui dead now.

"We've got to think of this as a hostage situation, Itachi. We'll get some space between us, regroup, get a plan together."

Itachi's eyes were liquid dark. Jaded but trusting. "And then?"

Shisui forced himself to his feet before reaching down and pulling Itachi after him. "Like I said; we'll figure it out."

[rosyandraw]

Nena! I have too much to say I'm actually embarrassed to send you this long ask. I hope you don't mind..... 🥺

Well first Hihi your berry anon here 🫐🍒

How've you been doing? How's life treating you?

I honestly got super excited and happy the other day when I saw your post on my fyp so I sent that all over the place and I didn't even ask how you were.... So rude of me. 🫣

Now going into a deep discussion about nmfy... I need to tell you that I missed your writing you are so talented it always blows my mind. So it was a treat reading your fic again.

This chapter fuuuck you made me feel every single emotion Laurent had ... His love and his anger felt so real 😭 and August... Well I'm going to be 100% honest usually I don't care too much about characters that our narrator doesn't care much about (damen) even more if they are never there. Yet I really like your August, I liked him even more because fics often write him like a perfect person and to me he doesn't feel real. I get that to Lauren, who was a kid with a 10 years older brother, August was/is perfect but reading him like that doesn't feel real. So kudos to your August to be real, to have flaws, feeling beside loving Laurent etc.

About him and Damen..... I'm always with whoever tells the story so in this case Laurent and I'm with him I would also feel jealous as fuck and like I'm the second option. And I keep imagining what would happen if both needed Damen at the same time who would he choose what would happen. 🧐🧐🧐

I think Damen's reaction to laurent and Bastian was so good and in character for a Scorpio. Those assholes I love them and I hate them (my dad and my two best friends are 🦂♏)

I read your answer about him being an Scorpio and I agree completely but something funny to me is that if I didn't headcanon Vere/Akielos as Europe and they were from my side of the world Damen would be a Taurus and Laurent an Scorpio and that make sense to me too. Haha I hc them like you but I think it is funny that they still work the other way around.

Also I don't know how you feel about this but...... August is definitely an Aries... Hear me out he's a natural leader, a good fighter (the best Laurent has seen) willing to die for what he believes/loves. Impulsive with a chaotic maybe even obsessed personality while also makes him lose interest very fast. Aries and Scorpio (damen) are an amazing good/bad relationship because both are very intense. I think an Aries would def kill someone like August did very messy and passionately impulsive irrational and they would 100% call their Scorpio best friend a more dark strategist who won't panic because they are capable of killing too. But he would also be great at planning how to get rid of the evidence. They (we haha im an Aries too) are also kinda selfish which I feel August is like he thinks Damen hates him for mixing him in his secrets yet he keeps calling. But I'm suree you have you hc for him so please tell me everything even if you think he is a idk a cancer soo please tell me everything.

And to finish this crazy thing I saw what you did with Ancel and Berenguer and I loved it and I need moree. ... Pleaseeee I'm begging you 🙏🏼🙏🏼 just lil spoiler just a lil moment of them interacting 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Ps. I still remember all the kinky shit we used to talk for Damen and Laurent so for now Im gonna sit and enjoy the angst but please know that I'll come back with the evidence if we eventually don't get some of it for them hahahaha jkjk fk as you please with your fic you are such an amazing writer that I trust you.

Kisses kisses, thank you for sharing this update. Have a lovely weekend. 💕💜💕💜💕

B🫐

Omg I absolutely do not mind, this is the BEST. It’s so unbelievable that you care enough so please don’t apologise! 💕

I’m good thank you lovely, life has been good! New job, engaged, all that fun stuff haha. How’s life for you?

Gonna put the rest under a cut because teeny spoiler near the end and also so people don't have to scroll haha.

Noooo, you’re never rude my dear!!

Aww I’m so glad you love Auguste, I wanted to do something a bit different with him and I LOVE him personally, he feels very personal to me. I love flawed characters, all of my characters are a mess because people are messy you know?

Haha I know what you mean! I think Laurent’s insecurity is pretty huge. I think if Auguste and Laurent called at the same time Auguste would have to wait haha tbh. Damen would either call someone to go get Auguste or he’d go get Laurent and then they’d go get Auguste.

Damen is… well let’s just say we haven’t necessarily had Damen’s full reaction just yet. Or Laurent’s for that matter. Whoops!

Omg my dad is a scorpio too and so is my stepmother haha

Oooo that’s fun! They do work the other way around for sure. And don’t I love Auguste Aries! I didn’t’ go as in depth for Auguste’s tbh, the only real placement I put down for him was Scorpio Moon, not just as a counterpoint to Damen but because Scorpio is a pretty volatile moon sign imo. But Aries sun I absolutely vibe with 100%, everything you said is perfect and works well with Damen’s character too.

Haha I do have another little glimpse of Berenger/Ancel in the next part, idk if Berenger will ever make an actual appearance in this fic, but you will get a little more about what’s going on with him and Ancel! I promise!!

OMGGG stay tuned because I accidentally wrote something kinky and it wasn’t meant to be there but they just started talking and before I knew it I’d written a 2k kinky scene so. Erm. that is that!!! I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on it when I eventually edit the crap out of it and post haha

(Also Ancel/Berenger is a side pairing in my next fic too, it’s like 15k one shot but they are there and I thought of you when I wrote them in haha)

Thank you my lovely, I always love to hear from you 💕💕

[pwblogarchive]

October 2005

October 5, 2005

there is no beef. just seitan. just getting rattled over nothing. get down with the sickness.

just too much make up and no hearts just egos on the sleeves over here in fall out boy land.

the new panic record hypes itself, so i will shut my damn mouth.

"a kid who tells on another kid is a dead kid".

- petey

October 7, 2005

wow. now way too many updates. i wanted to apologize to everyone at the 9:30 club show in d.c. originally we were supposed to play a show called "shantytown" but the county it was supposed to take place in said that it couldn't happen at the last minute- due to noise regulations or something- we were not given that information. so instead, immediatly following the 9:30 club show we rushed over to a studio and played a small show we had promised we would do. we are sorry to skip out on anyone waiting outside.

some things that dont get enough attention or thanks, so google them:

plain white t's

lifetime (the band we would not exist without)

jason tate

equal studio

the stereo

armor for sleep

rob dobi

fueled by ramen

skyriter

rob hitt

keep on loving/hating.

fob

- petey

October 7, 2005

back on the saddle. i am not crazy or dead or whatever i keep being imed. i am super happy with this tour. been haning with panic at the disco a ton. me and patrick have been writing a bunch of new songs already. the first song we have written so far is called: "you can't spell star without A & R". the band has gotten really tight as friends again. joe is playing video games until his eyes fall out. patrick sits in the back and makes weird smells and amazing songs. andrew hurley is attatched to his sidekickm, i don't think he can breathe without it. and i am just watching it all go down. our bus driver got us a bunch of new bootleg movies. so we watched flightplan. my review would be: dont watch this movie ever. all the otherbands on this tour have been so good to hang out with------ me and nick are working on a new website thats gonna make your little brains get all warm and fuzzy if we put it together right. i haven't updated in forever. so i just want to thank you for always sticking around. and by you- i mean anyone who still even bothers looking around this site or letting us hit your bedroom speakers.

you couldn't be wrong. because i dreamt you alive.

i was just thinking about the summer. and my favorite moment was playing the gorge in washington- cool after dark. just past the bruised sky. you singing the words. a phone call home to the best. forever.

on the message board leave a thread about your favorite moment of the summer.

truefuckinglove

October 11, 2005

just cause you can.

take your shyness pills.

put it all on the line.

every single time.

just when you thought i couldn't get anymore flamboyant.

i got a new vest and some shoes with teddy bears on them.

yikes.

new october fall songs are gonna suprise you.

wait for it. wait for it.

- petey

10/11/05 Q&A

question

Peter, i think you need to have more respect for the other members of the band, like Patrick, i dont think he smells…and fob would be no where without him, or the rest of the guys! so please dont talk about him like that, it makes my heart hurt! thanks, love you guys!

answer

hahahaha. if you knew patrick you wouldnt say that. that kid is my best friend but not cause he smells like roses. cause he is just the best. dont worry about it. we’ll be friends long after this thing is over.

question

Pete, would you and Patrick be friends if Fall Out Boy never existed?

answer

we would have to be friends. cause i dreamt him.

October 12, 2005

new york city you are so amazing. jay z. william beckett. unreal. i will do a real update later.

i want to let you in on a secret, we are having a decaydance showcase wednesday night.

panic at the disco is playing tonight at the knitting factory with labelmates in octoberfall-

early show. there are still tickets left.

come dance yourself to life.

peter

October 15, 2005

happy sweetest day.

tour is pretty much the only place i feel at home.

for your pretty eyes:

dirty, korean tom cruise and me crash jay-z's 40/40 club

put your ideas in our body, put your body in our ideas: clandestine.buzznet.com

you're nobody until somebody loves you, at least that's half true.

xo

October 19, 2005

how much do we love you for making us number one on TRL. i don't even know what to say --- we always say it - but i feel like we dont say it enough.

people asked about the shirts we were wearing on fuse and trl - we got them up pretty cheap over at friendsorenemies.com - also there is a little video from the hush sound over there to introduce you to our silly little friends.

you love me but you don't even like me.

forget what you heard. brains are sexy.

October 24, 2005

Sunlight. Like the end of the world. In flashes but not mellow. We swim in schools. Down to the bottom. Down forever. I'm always clearing my throat but I've never got a thing to say. The opposite of a fever. The opposite of perfection. It's only you when I go to sleep and when I wake up...

I know that's a strange way of telling you that I know I'm supposed to love you.

I love this tour. Keep s(w)inging.

October 24, 2005

if you are coming to the irvine show on halloween, we expect you to be dressed up. we will be. and we will be having some contests and what not during intermission.

also, check out the new decaydance myspace at myspace.com/decaydancerecords. it's run by our friend adam from fueled by ramen (who also takes care of our myspace page at myspace.com/falloutboy). adam is the programmer who controls the robots in fall out boy's brain. obey him, because we do.

October 24, 2005

its funny the way you grovel when there are no microphones or camera flashes in sight. - take a stand. it makes me laugh. dot coms refresh for the drama.

- petey

[neo-shitty]

hope you dont mind me popping in to your inbox to scream abt whc1 bc you are truly the only person out of my friend circle that has watched it 😭😭 first of all

facts. he can do no wrong.

second of all its been days and i am still processing like this has never happened to me before ?? usually i am a lil :// until the rest of the day when i finish a sad drama but with this im just so heartbroken still. yesterday during a big mental breakdown (unrelated to the drama i am not THAT crazy ok) i realised why it hit me so hard and i think its bc i somehow relate to sieun (anger issues and all /j) and so i somehow projected into his character and so when it all went down with suho i just couldnt deal w it ?? I LEGIT HAD A MINI PANIC ATTACK it felt like it was happening to me 😭😭😭 like he was such comfort for me. he broke the cycle of loneliness and stereotype for sieun and i just really adored each interaction they had. the fact that they would both kill and die for each other makes me bawl my eyes out.

but when it all comes down to it, i understand beomseok, i really do, but i also dont. i dont think ill ever forgive that character, i just cant. i cant imagine how it must have felt for him and i couldnt be able to deal w life either if i was in his shoes, but my brain just cant grasp the lengths he went to hurt people that did nothing but care for him and tried to help him with everything. he's a complex character for sure, one you have to analyze to get, but i dont have it in me to have a single ounce of sympathy after the ending of the drama.

but to think that the parents and the adults were truly at fault here ?? beomseok being abused, sieun abandoned and neglected, suho not really having parents around either (i read somewhere that they are canonically abroad or something?? not too sure), the policemen not taking sieun seriously at first, the teachers seeing the shit happening and not doing anything to stop the bullying... where were everyones parents when all those kids got caught up w the gang? its truly sickening and heartbreaking to think that this truly could be happening anywhere and to anyone.

and it broke me so much bc i could accept beomseok drifting away from them and stuff, but to gang up on suho on his fucking birthday? sieun cooking and decorating with young yi and taking pics for her insta (i strongly believe her and sieuns friendship is SO underrated they were so cute together) and both of them just hid it from everyone to protect suho,, their sunshine ??? the poor boy must have been so confused and lonely on his bday and it makes me :( and then when he saw sieuns cast and went to avenge him ?? I read something about how suho always fought only in self defence but when he saw sieun hurt he crossed the line and fought with the purpose of hurting somebody only bc his best friend was put in danger and that- that broke me.

also i find it funny how i found the drama through a clip on tiktok where jihoon cried at watching the last scene where sieun breaks the window and i was like oh this should be just the right amount of sad for me rn and then i got emotionally damaged. :,)

yeah anyways my fav trope is found family and FUCK all of those who hurt my sunshine bc now im forever heartbroken.

sorry for the rant toffee but it did felt cathartic to write this all out

bar, please don't worry about it. feel free to come back any time you have to yell about it and i'll try to get back to you as soon as i can.

sooho was just too easy to love. we headed into that show blind HAHA we should've known it was too good to be true! i never saw it coming actually.

same !! took me days to get over this too. *hugs* i'm sorry about the mental breakdown, i hope you're feeling a bit better now !! oh the projection must've made the whole thing twice as hard. again, sooho was such a comfort character :( his happy go lucky nature was such a breath of fresh air esp when the themes occasionally got dark. i want that dynamic for me actually (to kill and die for each other, yes). i usually find it corny but it was so well executed here.

oh bumseok :( i think it's valid to simultaneously understand him but at the same time, find what he did unforgivable. i get where he was coming from and how he was just looking for a place to fit in—where he wasn't looked down on. idk how to describe it but when he started misreading the situation (like that whole bit abt sooho not following him on ig but following young yi), i think something in him snapped. he was so fed up with being helpless at home and at his previous school that when it happened a third time, he did everything to get back and lashed out.

I 100% BELIEVE THE ADULTS WERE ABSOLUTE SHITTIEST NEGLIGENT FUCKERS AROUND. like???? leaving a scamming syndicate to be dealt with by high schoolers?????? bumseok's fake ass politician dad??????? sure, sieun's parents were 'present' but emotionally distant, like check on your kids bitches or not have them at all god dAMN. i thought some of the aspects of the bullying were exaggerated bc from where i'm from it never gets that bad but hearing that to an extent, it was truthful about it just left me dumbfounded. how could parents allow things like this to happen under the radar? it's unbelievable and heartbreaking to me.

yeah, i thought bumseok would just join his cool boy squad but he really had to do whatever the fuck he did :D my girl, i know you read my tags and i was vile as fuck towards him but at the time i was just so angry too. also yes! youngyi and sieun's friendship <3 i wish they had more time </3 and honestly, if bumseok didn't do a whole 180, i think the four of them would make such a cute squad. like the way they would protect each other??? hmp :/

'i read something about how suho always fought only in self defence but when he saw sieun hurt he crossed the line and fought with the purpose of hurting somebody only bc his best friend was put in danger and that- that broke me.' i saw that the other day and that broke me to fucking hell i could sell anyone's soul to see them together again (SPECIFICALLY, with the other one being fine and out of comatose yes i would love that for me.

ohhh, i've been meaning to watch that vid of them reacting to whc1 but at the time it didn't have subs. jihoon's acting was so fucking effective like??? the sadness the eyes of that man has can sway me to do anything !! so sorry that you got so much more than just a little sad bout. heading into this drama blind was like bringing a knife to a whole war.

this show made me realize that tragedy could strike any pairing on any show and i wouldn't bat an eye but have the same happen to a found family and then i'm instantly destroyed. THE SHOW ACTUALLY REMINDED ME OF YOUR CHENJI FIC????? FUCK. please do let me know if you ever get around to writing something related to them haha i'm ready to be destroyed.

please do not ever apologize for ranting especially about this show !! i went through this whole phase ALONE last year (watching it after christmas was the biggest mistake, i ended my year DEPRESSED as FUCK) so i'm offering as much help as i can.

[trickstarbrave]

.

actually i also dont hate the idea of the news coming out a lot sooner. like someone gets drunk and bitches abt it and morvani hears abt it. or voryn overhears it at a family christmas party or smth bc his brothers are drunk. morvani then tracking nerevar down telling nerevar "you arent in trouble, voryn isnt in trouble, but we need to talk about this like adults. ignore my other idiot sons who are in deep shit. if you do not respond and talk about this like an adult i will have to get a lawyer involved and i dont want to do that." and nerevar panics bc he just had a baby and he has no money and he still was looking for colleges to go to now that he gave birth and hes hormonal and sleep deprived

so he agrees to meet up. but says hes not flying out, hes exhausted and he will not leave his son alone and he is not taking a newborn on the plane if he doesnt have to. so voryn and his mom go. it goes kind of how it did before. but with nerevar more frazzled and aggressive than usual bc he is very exhausted and doesnt want them taking his baby, saying if they try voryn will never know a day of peace for the rest of his life. morvani is just like "well. i like him even more. im glad to know hes protective of my grandbaby."

but voryn eventually coaxes nerevar into coming back saying he will not be disowned obviously, his mother is here. voryn wants to be involved. he loves nerevar and he already loves their son who is still so tiny and cute. nerevar asks his mom and uncle and they say the ball is in his court, if he loves and trusts voryn he should go with him. but if he doesnt trust him all the money in the world isnt worth it bc it will just make him and steren miserable in the long run. but nerevar agrees if they can write up a contract that they wont like, kick him out and steal his son.

morvani gives them the option of taking the train back with more transfers but she'll pay for a large cabin, or they can get it over with on a plane. nerevar chooses the plane since itll be one way. miserable bc steren's ears are popping and hes a baby. but its easier. he also has money saved up for plane tickets for both of them if need be so he can leave at a moments notice if he has to. araynys is one of the few brothers who didnt fucking plan this and he wouldnt have gone along w it even if he knew so hes allowed to see the baby briefly.

voryn and neht have their own place with the baby. their choice of private nanny or day care (nerevar chooses daycare, he is still jumpy and doesnt want the dagoth family controlling everything). nerevar keeps telling him if he starts to regret it just to let him know as he wants a clean break and to leave with steren rather than having a lengthy court battle and voryn assures him they will talk about it if he ever loses feelings for him and they'll handle this like mature adults. bc he loves nerevar and steren and wouldnt ever hurt them even if he fell out of love with nerevar. bc nerevar is also his friend, not just a romantic partner.

they get hitched btw

can i have a rly cringe modern au nerevoryn idea rq