#oh no this makes me think of those long tunnels with the spaced out lights that just goes lightdarklightdarklightdark-

[cuubism]

in an attempt to be more offline (absolute failure so far) i wrote the next installment of Nightingales by hand in an actual notebook. imagine that. behold, fanfic that's touched grass... or something.

Dream has taken to leaving random books on Hob's nightstand. This is no abnormal occurrence, except that these aren't from Dream's infinite collection of books he's "currently reading," but rather seem to be left there for Hob.

Hob will finish a book, and within the hour it will disappear back to the Library, miraculously replaced by another. At first this suits Hob well enough. The cafe is only getting busier, and while Hob does love trawling through the Library's endless stacks in search of a new read, he'd rather spend his free time with Dream. Perhaps Dream is only trying to facilitate that through this method, or trying to make Hob happy by applying his knowledge in the area where it's vastly broader.

But then it starts to get weirder. Whereas before, Dream's selected books had been exactly to Hob's tastes--as they usually are, it is his specialty, after all--slowly they start to diverge.

First it's an epic tome about interstellar travel. Post-apocalypse, final earth survivors traveling light years to an untamed planet, and so on. Hob likes sci-fi well enough, but this particular one is getting a little too 2001: A Space Odyssey for his tastes, a little too abstract and philosophical. Perhaps one that Dream likes that he wanted to share?

Then comes the horror novel. And what horror. A man born and raised in underground rooms, who did not realize he was bereft of the sky until an attempted rescue caved in his tunnels and nearly suffocated him. Dragged from the soil, gasping, he had to cover his head lest he go blind.

'David had read of plants that grew upwards. Instead of the deep roots he'd touched all his life, they had stems, and leaves, and these went up, into another world. Birthed into cold fear, David thought.

He was one of those plants. He stretched long fingers up through the soil, gasping for breath. Warm earth parted and air greeted him, air chill and dry as he'd never tasted it. A searing pain in his unused eyes. He did not even have a word for the brutal shine that fell upon his face.

(Light, he would later think. Sunlight.)

No matter how hard he pressed his hands to his eyes it was not blocked out. He whimpered, and the same hands that had pulled him from the collapsed earth, hands painful in their kindness, laid a blanket over him, covering his head in warm darkness again. No, not a blanket. A jacket?

Another head peeked under the collar of the jacket, letting in a sliver of brightness before it was shut out again. Oh. His rescuer. His arms were bare; it was his jacket that David was wearing over his head.

"Hey," said his rescuer. His voice was warm as the soil. "You alright?"'

Perhaps it isn't horror, Hob thinks, only afterwards.

Then there's a book of love poems, though they're strange and hyper-modern, and Hob can't shake the odd sense that he shouldn't be reading them, that Dream has, somehow, snatched them out of a time yet to be.

He finally confronts Dream when he's left a relatively straightforward, if bland, romance of the type he hadn't thought either of them particularly went for. (Even Dream wouldn't be able to pull sex inspiration from it as he likes to do with his bodice rippers, the book isn't nearly spicy enough for his tastes.)

He marches back into the bedroom one morning, after several minutes of making coffee and mulling, and holds the book up in front of Dream's face. "Dream. What."

Dream looks up from where he's reclining in Hob's bed, several books scattered around him. "Did you not like it?"

"Did you?"

Dream hums, looking down again at his own book. "It has merits."

"Why, though. You keep giving me these books. Why?"

Dream continues studiously reading his book, though he isn't turning pages. So it isn't teasing, then. Nor even some lighthearted attempt to get Hob to expand his reading horizons. It's something deeper.

"Dream," Hob says, sitting on the side of the bed by his thigh. "Come on. Talk to me. What is it?"

"Page one-fifty-two," says Dream in a quiet voice, and it takes a second for Hob to realize he means the book Hob is still holding.

Hob hasn't managed to get that far in the book. He flips through it, anxiety building, more anxiety than he thinks a light, beachy romance is ever meant to produce.

He turns to the page, about three-quarters of the way through the book.

'Lacy had calculated it once. Across her entire career, she had written two million, five hundred twenty-two thousand, nine hundred and eighty-three words.'

Right. Hob remembers from the few chapters he'd managed to read that the protagonist is a writer.

'2.5 million words about romance. Who could possibly have so much to say on the topic? 2.5 million words of circling and circling the point. Not letting herself see it well enough to skewer it.

All those words came only to this: she wanted to marry him, and she didn't know what to do.'

Hob drops the book.

It tumbles to the floor in a flutter of bending pages, but he pays it no mind. He takes Dream's hands in his own, letting Dream's book fall closed on his knees. Dream looks up at him hesitantly, from under his eyelashes. You silly thing, Hob thinks, with heart-clenching fondness. I love you so.

All of it had been a message, in Dream's own oblique way. Borrowed metaphors from the vast catalog of his brain. That's how he connects: through the books that Hob knows are -- in some strange way -- a part of him.

He leans down to kiss Dream's knuckles, like he's bowing his head before a shrine. Then he looks up. Dream is watching him, expression somewhere between wary and awed.

"You don't have to know what to do about anything else," Hob says, "so long as you marry me."

Dream smiles tentatively, and tips his forehead against Hob's. He can be so strange and mysterious at times, but more often than not, when they're alone in their bedroom, he's like this: soft, wanting, just on the edge of shy, and that's the version of Dream Hob most wants to bundle up and away from the world. Even if he knows it's impossible, and not right besides; Dream can't just live in his bedroom, he has to live in his stories, and stories are out in the world. Hob can't help but want it anyway.

"I would like that," Dream says, smile soft. Hob kisses his cheek, body full of warm light.

He pulls Dream into a proper hug, tucking his face into his shoulder. He feels Dream's smile against his neck. The warm weight of him in his arms, in his bed.

So improbable to have snagged a thing such as Dream from the expanse of his existence, and cuddled him up in the cozy confines of his simple cafe. But as Dream had said. The door exists because Hob uses it. He met Dream because he went to his shop that day. He went to his shop that day because he was to meet Dream. Each improbability has a circular path.

Christ. He's thinking like that sci-fi novel Dream had given him.

Hob doesn't know what a marriage with a creature like Dream -- he still doesn't know what that is, exactly -- is meant to be like. It's uncharted space.

But he knows that he wants it. Wants Dream.

He holds his darling close and kisses the corner of his mouth. Dream's lips are sweet with happy tears.

"You will marry me, then?" he murmurs, more pleased repetition of the thought than a question.

Hob gets the book of infamous page one-fifty-two off the floor. Turns to page one-fifty-three. Finds the word he needs, swipes Dream's pen from the nightstand, circles it. Hands the book to him, open.

Dream touches the circled word with a reverent fingertip, and smiles.

[teshadraws]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 49]

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-

Nia speaks with Giratina.

-

Nia stares up at Giratina, her breath trapped in her lungs and her heart beating hard inside her chest. Giratina moves forward, bending closer, looming over her like an eclipse. Close enough for her to realize the extent of the danger she's in if she was wrong, if he really does want her dead—

Nia stumbles back, flinging a messy burst of aura from her hand. It sails at Giratina and—with a flicker of transparency—straight through him. If Nia didn’t know better, she would almost say he looks annoyed.

Right. Ghost type. Normal type energy won’t do a thing.

She’s doomed.

Nia turns and sprints for cover, only to nearly run right off the floating chunk of land she’s on. She barely scrambles back in time, sending rock crumbling down into space. Although there is another platform just a ways away. Could she jump?

“Would you be still?” A deep voice rumbles, rolling like thunder through Nia’s body.

Nia glances over her shoulder, only to see Giratina’s creepy tendril things move to grab her. Decision made, she takes a few short steps and leaps off the platform, arms wheeling. She stumbles on the landing but keeps moving.

She hears the faint sound of movement behind her, and then she’s being scooped up by cold, powerful tendrils. They wrap around her and pin her arms at her sides no matter how she struggles, turning her to look directly into Giratina’s angry expression.

“Cease this foolish chase!” He growls. “You summoned me!”

For a moment, Nia is strangely thrown off by Giratina deciding to...talk to her. Instead of just killing her on the spot. But she did come here to learn more about him, and she didn’t think he was totally evil after saving them in the tunnels, so—

So maybe she needs to try to calm down.

Nia swallows, heart still pounding. “E-Edme forced me to.”

Giratina’s blood-red eyes narrow.

“I-I mean, we wanted answers, and I agreed to try talking to you but she didn’t say I’d have to go into the distortion world and she used psychic or something to make me a-and…” Nia trails off.

Giratina continues to stare at her. She has no idea what he’s thinking, until he rumbles, “Edme?”

Nia blinks. “…The Guardian?”

Giratina hisses a distasteful sound, pulling back. “I should have known she was behind this. Bothersome insect.”

Nia stares, bewildered. “I-Is she not, like…your servant or something?”

“Self-appointed. I should have ceased communication with her years ago.”

“Oh.”

There’s an awkward beat of silence. Giratina seems to be stewing in his dislike. Nia, meanwhile, is starting to feel the chill of the cold appendages cocooning her. Like dense mist.

“U-Um. Could you put me down? Please.”

Giratina gives her an exasperated look, long tail flicking. “Are you going to run again?”

“…Are you going to hurt me?”

Giratina scoffs, lowering Nia closer to the ground before releasing her. She still lands on her butt a little roughly, and winces as she stands.

“So the shell tricked you into coming here,” Giratina says, lowering himself just enough so that Nia can see his face when she cranes her head way back. Sharp golden mandibles and all. “But you were willing to talk, before. I assume you are still willing?”

Nia glances around at the distortion world. In every direction, she sees nothing but the same dark blue-black space, with chunks of land floating through it like a great stew. Here and there amidst the darkness, tiny pieces of colorful light hang like stars, but she isn’t sure what those are yet. Regardless, it doesn’t look like she has a way out even if she tried to escape. So…

“W-Well…” Nia rubs her arm, surprised by just how awkward this encounter feels, after the initial terror. “I did have some questions?”

Giratina rumbles, and Nia has to assume it’s a sound of agreement even as the fur on her neck stands on end.

“J-Just…first, was Edme telling the truth?”

“Regarding my banishment?”

Nia nods.

Giratina’s wings tuck closer to himself, long body coiling around in a loose loop. Like he’s settling in. “Yes. Her ilk are bothersome, but I suppose I should be grateful to them for attempting to preserve the truth. Cresselia was infuriating on the best of days, but I meant her no harm.”

Nia probably shouldn’t believe him just like that, but…well. He sounds honest. And something about his cold, steely gaze feels factual, rather than emotional. Like he isn’t trying to appeal to her and butter her up.

“S-So…” Nia scuffs at the rock beneath her, trying to think of how to phrase this. She’s trying to keep Tobias’ caution in the back of her mind; she has to get some answers first before assuming Giratina has honest intentions. She looks up, up, up to meet Giratina’s eyes. “Why have you been following me?”

Giratina looks down at her with something like annoyance. “To attempt contact.”

Nia squints. “By…trying to drag me through reflections against my will?”

Nia almost thinks—too late—that she should probably be a bit more respectful to the giant who could crush her with a flick of his tail. She’s surprised to see Giratina look away, mandibles clicking irritably.

“I…have already been advised that that may have not been the best course of action.”

Was that a poor excuse for an apology, or just an excuse? Is he…embarrassed? Wait—

“Advised?” Nia echoes. “By..?”

“I have not been working entirely alone.”

“Oh. Do you mean Edme?”

Giratina falls silent, and for a moment Nia thinks he isn’t going to answer her. Then, he sighs. “No. Mew. The Mother.”

Nia tilts her head. Mew is a protector of all Pokemon, right? Most Pokemon seem to think really highly of her. If Giratina’s telling the truth, and the two are working together in some way, that alone would make Giratina much more trustworthy.

“Okay, so…assuming you’re telling the truth—"

Giratina glares at her, and she flinches back, hands raised as if she can actually do anything to fight him if he decides to attack.

When he does nothing, she warily continues. “I-If you’re telling the truth, then you just wanted to…talk to me. Right? Why?”

Giratina’s glare dies off, fading to something more…tired. It’s in the way his whole body seems to sink, wings falling lower.

“You will hear me out without fleeing?”

After a beat of hesitation, Nia nods.

Giratina glances off into the distance, though Nia can’t see anything when she follows his gaze. Just more blue-black swirling void.

“I have been attempting to make contact with you humans,” Giratina starts, “Because Mew believed you could be of assistance.”

“Assistance?” Nia asks, frowning. “Assistance with what?”

Right on cue, a rumble sounds off in the distance, and Nia feels the ground beneath her shake. Giratina looks in the direction of the sound with sharp eyes. Once the rumbling fades, he relaxes.

“Assistance with that.”

“What was that?” Nia asks. Surely floating chunks of earth in an abyss can’t have earthquakes?

“That is a symptom of the greater problem.” Giratina says. He rises higher again, moving to slowly circle the chunk of land she’s standing on. As if pacing. “The dimensional border between worlds is weakening.”

Well that certainly doesn’t sound good.

“What…exactly does that mean?” Nia asks.

Giratina grumbles something under his breath, as if put upon to explain such a basic concept. Nia bites back the insane urge to stick her tongue out at him. Instead, she cautiously pads closer to the edge of the rock to follow Giratina’s movements.

“The world you were just in is the Pokemon world. Its entire dimension is…encased, in a way, by this realm. The distortion world. Think of it as…the hard shell surrounding the soft innards of a fruit.”

“Okay…” Nia says, mostly following. “So if this place is the shell and the Pokemon world is the fruit, then…the purpose of the dimensional rift is to protect the Pokemon world?”

“Correct.” Giratina gestures vaguely with a toss of his head. “The distortion world, my domain, acts as a protective barrier around the Pokemon world. It contains it. Keeps other dimensions and worlds safely separate.”

“Other worlds?” Nia asks, eyes wide. “Like…the human world?”

Giratina slows to a stop to look at Nia, expression unreadable. Then, he rumbles, “Yes. Another fruit along the vine, hanging close to our own.”

For a moment, Nia is excited by that news. The human world being so close to this one is fantastic! And if the border is weakening in some way, wouldn’t that just make it easier for her to get through it and go back? But—

“W-Wait. You said that the dimensional border is weakening. So in the fruit metaphor, the shell is…thinning?”

“More accurately, it is beginning to preemptively crack,” Giratina says.

Nia bites her lip, not entirely sure what that means, but knowing it can’t be good. “Okay, so the dimensional border is getting messed up…but what does that mean for us? For the Pokemon world? I’m guessing it’s…bad?”

Giratina laughs, sudden and deep like a crack of thunder. Nia startles, then wilts. She doesn’t know if a laugh has ever made her feel quite so small before.

“So it’s…really bad,” Nia guesses.

Giratina twists away from his circling path, up above the rock. He looks out again at the distortion realm. “Consider it the worst possible event that could happen.”

Nia feels her ears pin flat. “Really?”

Giratina hums. “Tell me, Riolu. You’ve heard of the dormancy of the gods, correct? How they’ve all mysteriously fallen to sleep, abandoning the Pokemon who need them?”

“Y-Yes?”

“What of evolution breaking down? Making it impossible for Pokemon to grow strong and reach their full potential? Stunting their growth?”

Nia…doesn’t like where this is going.

“Or perhaps the mystery dungeons appearing out of nowhere, wreaking havoc and reverting Pokemon into mindless, aggressive beasts? Causing death and loss?”

Nia stares up at him, heart sinking.

“The weather phenomena. The natural disasters. Due in part to the absence of the legends, but exacerbated by the border’s weakness. Slowly destroying the planet and those who inhabit it.”

Nia doesn’t know what to say, horror falling slowly over her like a suffocating weight.

“All of that,” Giratina says, anger spilling into his words. “Is due to the dimensional border weakening. The shell of this world is going to split, and the fruit inside has already begun to rot.”

Nia steps back, only to trip and fall on her tail. The silence trapping them is heavy. She stares at Giratina, scrambling to think. She knew, distantly, that things weren’t normal in the Pokemon world. Everyone said as much. But she had no idea that it was as dire as this is starting to sound.

She isn’t sure the Pokemon world is aware of how serious it is, either.

“B-But…” She stammers. “It can’t be that bad. The Pokemon are still doing all right despite all of that! They’re surviving just fine! There are Seekers to help, a-and—“

Giratina laughs, though this one is bitter. He lowers his head until he is nearly eye-to-eye with Nia, the sharp angles of his head taking up the entirety of her vision. “The greatest Seekers in the world will not be able to help this dimension once the split actually occurs. What you have faced so far is but a fraction of what is to come.”

Nia feels her throat tighten as an unfamiliar feeling of despair washes over her. Tears spring to her eyes. She desperately scrubs them away. “N-No, that can’t…”

“It is.”

Nia falls silent, fighting against the feelings threatening to overtake her. She blinks hard, mind scrambling. She takes a deep, shaky breath, trying to stay logical.

“O-Okay. Okay. So what can we do to fix it?”

Giratina stares at her, and Nia can’t decipher the look on his face.

“This is your domain, right?” She presses. “So surely we can do something to fix it, right?”

Giratina rises again, once more looming over her. “You think I have not tried? You fail to understand that this has never happened. Not since the dawn of this world.”

“Then…how do you know for sure that the border thinning or cracking o-or whatever is what’s actually happening?”

“Because,” Giratina says, wings flaring as if to gesture to the entirety of their environment. “I am one with this dimension. It has been my prison for a hundred years and a refuge for a thousand more. I know it as well as my own blood. I can sense the border weakening, disrupting the balance of everything within like the pressure of a growing tumor. While the fatal moment has yet to come, I can sense its approach.”

“Yet to come..?”

“My domain is that of antimatter. The distortion world. The space that balances out all that is. I am the counterpart to my siblings, Dialga and Palkia.”

“Gods of…time and space,” Nia murmurs.

“Correct. As such, my realm is not bound to the same flow of time and space as the Pokemon world is. While I can sense the damage caused to the rift, it has not yet occurred. Instead, we are merely feeling the ripples of its influence through time and space. As we approach the epicenter of this damaging impact, its effects on the Pokemon world will only worsen.”

Nia’s breath catches, for two separate reasons. Hope and fear war in her chest. “S-So all of the things going wrong in the Pokemon world right now…will only escalate and get worse the closer we get to the point in time when this damage will actually be done.”

“Yes.”

As terrifying as that is, Nia can’t help latching onto the other portion of Giratina’s words. “But…that means this damage hasn’t technically happened yet, right? S-So we just need to stop whatever causes this before it happens. Problem solved!”

Giratina shakes his head. “In theory, yes. But considering we are feeling the effects of the break even now, that suggests its path is final. Your optimism is ill-placed.”

Nia’s barely hanging onto her composure right now as is.  Her hands are shaking, so she balls them into fists and takes a note from Tobias.

She growls up at Giratina, “Y-You’re the one who asked for help, right? You can’t be feeling completely hopeless if you’re still trying to fix this!”

“What else is there to do?” Giratina rumbles. “I am not the type to roll over and die.”

“Good. Because neither am I.”

Nia would love to feel some solidarity with Giratina right now, if only to help her feel less terrified, but Giratina looks unimpressed at her assertion.

“I see why Mew insisted on bringing you humans over,” he says quietly. “Foolish creatures, just like her.”

Nia opens her mouth to respond, but her determined facade drops as Giratina’s words register. “Wait—what—what do you mean Mew brought the humans here? You brought us to the Pokemon world?”

“It was not my decision, I assure you. Once the first of you lot wandered in, Mew had the brilliant idea to transform any lost soul she could get her paws on.”

Nia doesn’t think Giratina understands the gravity of what he’s saying. Nia has been trying to figure out why and how she was brought to the Pokemon world since the moment she woke up here, months ago. And now Giratina is casually saying that he and Mew apparently just grabbed any human soul that ‘wandered in?’

“What—wandered in? How does a soul just…wander?! What do you mean?”

Giratina looks at her for a long moment, cold red eyes lidded and almost bored. “The preemptive damage to the rift has weakened the border. Opened it to realms outside of our own. Thus, human souls have begun to slip from the human world into ours.”

“You mean Mew just—yanked us into the Pokemon world and changed our bodies without even thinking to ask us if that’s what we wanted?”

“What was your proposed alternative?” Giratina asks, tone dry.

Okay, that makes Nia mad. Just the…lackadaisical way he’s talking about their situation!

Angry tears fill her eyes, and she hates the way her voice shakes when she yells, “We have families, you know! Lives we need to get back to!” A new thought occurs to Nia, and an unfamiliar outrage pours into her veins like magma. She points up at Giratina accusingly. “Are you the reason we lost our memories?!”

Giratina has the audacity to sneer at her outburst. “Contain yourself. We didn’t take you from your world. You would have turned into a yamask in the Pokemon world without Mew’s intervention. All she did was take advantage of the situation to give you a form better suited to your soul. Your memories were temporarily sealed away to help you acclimate properly to your new body.”

“If you’re telling the truth,” Nia points out.

Giratina’s gaze hardens. “Be grateful that I am telling you this at all, small one. We did nothing to bring you here—only changed your form to improve both your situation and our own.”

Nia grits her teeth. The anger in her body simmers lower. Not gone, but quickly petering out. “That still doesn’t answer why. Why do that at all? It sure doesn’t seem like you care about us humans enough to do it for our benefit.”

Giratina huffs. “I do not. Mew, however, is an annoyingly compassionate creature. Though she was weakening, she insisted on using her own power to transform any lost souls she could find. I tried to dissuade her.”

“Why would it be so bad for us to turn into yamask anyways?” Nia asks. Will is a yamask, and he seems perfectly fine. He’s even leading the Humans Movement to find a way home!

Giratina looks away. “The yamask are not a natural fit for their bodies. They struggle to find a place in the Pokemon world. Mew is doing you a service in giving you an inconspicuous form and a better chance to make connections.”

“It would’ve been nice to have a choice in the matter,” Nia growls, even as her fury dies down against her will. She’s never been able to hold onto her anger for long.

“You were not conscious enough to make a choice."

“Fine,” Nia says, crossing her arms. “Either way, we’re here now. Does that mean you can help us humans get back?”

“Attempting anything of the sort when the border is so unstable would be suicide. The lost souls float in of their own accord so we can neither stop them nor send them back.”

Nia's heart sinks.

“B-But what if…what if we save the rift? The Pokemon world? Surely then we can find a way back, right?”

“I am here to stop Pokemon from attempting such idiotic ideas as dimension hopping, Riolu.”

“Well I’m not a Pokemon, Giratina!” Nia bites back. “I’m a human. I don’t belong here.”

“You may not have a choice in the matter."

For some reason, that simple sentence strikes Nia hard, knocking the breath from her lungs. Tears flood her eyes. Giratina doesn’t even have the decency to look sympathetic.

Getting back to the human world and her old life has been Nia’s main goal since waking up in the Pokemon world. The thought that even if the Pokemon world is saved, she won’t be able to go back? Would never see Mom and Toni and Clay again? That she wouldn’t get to go to school and have a family?

It’s unthinkable.

Fine. Fine, then. Giratina doesn’t want to help? It doesn’t matter. Will is finding them a way home. Giratina may be right about the damage to the rift, but that doesn’t mean he’s right about this. It’s not like he cares enough about humans to have attempted it before anyways.

No matter what, it sounds like they need to fix the rift before anything else. Otherwise, the Pokemon world will be destroyed, and Nia couldn’t live with that. Not after meeting all the wonderful people who call it home.

“Either way, we still need to save the distortion world, right?” Nia sniffs, wiping her eyes free of tears. “And you’re going to humans for help. So what’s so special about us humans that makes you think we can do something that Pokemon can’t? In case you didn’t notice while you were stalking me, I can’t even use moves properly.”

Giratina rumbles a displeased sound. “I am well aware. Rest assured it isn’t your battle prowess we were looking for.”

“So?”

“We were hoping to recruit humans for two reasons. One being that since you have no predisposition to distrusting me—“

Nia raises a brow.

“—that you would hopefully be more open to communication.”

Nia almost laughs, almost snaps that Will warned the entirety of the human crowd in Ghatha not to trust Giratina or talk to him, but bites her tongue in time. She doesn’t want to put a target on her friend’s back, even if she’s kind of vindictively glad that Will disrupted Giratina’s plans and made his life a bit more difficult.

“So you couldn’t have, I dunno, tried to get my attention sooner? Sent Mew to talk to me?”

Giratina glares down at her. “You were picked up almost immediately by the charmander and meganium. I waited and scouted to see if you would even be someone worth pursuing, but by time we decided you were, Mew had already—“

Giratina cuts himself off, and Nia almost thinks she sees an emotion aside from anger cross his face.

“Mew…had already grown weak,” Giratina finishes. “She has not fallen to sleep yet, but she is starting to show signs. I try to make her rest when possible.”

Is that…actual concern for another living being he’s showing? Nia wasn’t sure he had it in him.

Nia sighs, feeling most of the residual anger leave her body. “But is that really the only reason you started seeking out humans? Just so we might be more willing to talk to you?”

Giratina sounds no happier about the situation than she is. “We don’t know what will cause the damage to the distortion world, so we don’t know how to stop it. Mew thought that a human perspective could discover an answer we may have missed.”

“So you’re desperate,” Nia summarizes.

Giratina growls, and Nia feels the sound in her bones. For once, she’s still too angry to feel all that afraid.

“Am I the only one you’ve managed to talk to?” Nia asks.

“After observation, we have not deemed many of your kind worth contacting. You are one of the few, and the only one inquisitive enough to actually reach me.”

“So that’s a yes.”

Giratina makes an unhappy sound, but doesn’t refute her assumption.

Silence descends over the rift. Nia takes breaths through her nose to calm down. Even if she’s still upset, she needs to have a civil conversation with Giratina. The fate of the Pokemon world depends on it.

“What can even rip through a ‘dimensional border?’” Nia asks, finger quotes and all. “It sounds very…metaphysical.”

“It is not something a normal Pokemon should be able to accomplish,” Giratina admits. “Most beings cannot even touch it. The dimensional border is, in its own way, a living thing. It is a tapestry of life energy from Arceus, as well as something greater. The only element able to protect and contain entire dimensions.”

“Life energy,” Nia murmurs, frowning. “Like…aura?”

Giratina hums a thoughtful sound. “More or less, yes.”

Nia looks out again at the void. “If it’s aura, couldn’t you just get some lucario and riolu to like…patch it up or something where it’s weaker? Reinforce it?”

“There is no physical landmark where the border is weaker,” Giratina says. “While I can sense its eventual destruction, I do not know the damage’s origin point. The border is not so…logical as that.”

“Great,” Nia mutters.

“And even if it were, I have severe doubts we could convince the lucario tribes to assist with such a thing. They are…not particularly open to outsiders. Additionally, even if they were to offer their help, they alone would not have enough aura to mend a tear this immense.”

“Okay. Great,” Nia sighs. “So you don’t even have an idea of what could cause that much damage?”

Giratina looks away. Nia is grateful he has such an obvious tell. A century of solitude must’ve made him more of an open book, less used to hiding his emotions.

“What?”

“The damage would almost certainly have to be the doing of a legendary, but that would be impossible considering most are dormant.”

Nia groans. “So you’re telling me I’m supposed to find a way to fix a god-sized problem!? That sounds like something a god needs to fix! Not—“ Nia gestures vaguely at herself. “Not me!”

“I agree,” Giratina snaps, turning on Nia and looming over her large as a building. “But considering that there are very few gods still awake to even be aware of the issue, our options are limited.”

Nia quiets. “…How many of them are dormant?”

“Nearly all, at this point,” Giratina growls, circling the stone platform restlessly. “Which means we are likely nearing the tipping point. A year, at most.”

Nia’s mouth drops open. A year?! They have to figure out how to stop this within a year?

Giratina must see the disbelief on her face, the despair creeping over her skin, because he turns his focus back onto her. “Do you know why Arceus’ children are falling asleep as the border weakens?”

Nia weakly shakes her head.

“They are being forced to conserve energy. Saving their power for when it will be needed to birth a new world.”

“A new world?” Nia echoes. “After…”

“After this one is destroyed,” Giratina confirms. “Arceus is so deeply tied to this universe that the weakening of the border harmed them, forcing them into sleep. One by one, their children have followed.”

Nia stares at him. “Then…why haven’t you?”

“Because I am the opposite of life energy, of the positive essence of the world. I am antimatter. I am least affected by its destruction, so I shall be the last to fall. And until that moment, I will do my duty and try to save this dying world. I am only asking that you do the same. For your own sake, if nothing else.”

Giratina says all of this not bravely or compassionately, but with a tired, steady loyalty. And just like that, Nia understands why he was chosen for such an important role, chosen as the guardian of the dimensional border. As insufferable as he is.

“Okay,” Nia mumbles, rubbing at her face and trying to keep her cool. At least for now. “Okay. So we just…need to save the world before it breaks. You said most of the legendaries were already asleep—which ones aren’t? Could we ask them for help?”

“Very few have escaped the slumber. However, Xerneas and Yveltal may be of use to us. They are technically asleep, but the two of them naturally rest in cycles. They lapsed into their usual 1,000-year stasis before Arceus fell dormant, so it is possible they would be able to wake prematurely.”

“Xerneas and Yveltal. Yveltal is the god of…war, right?”

“Destruction,” Giratina corrects. “Death. Xerneas is the god of new life. Creation. In theory, Xerneas may be able to help reinforce the life energy of the border if we can wake her early, but she is asleep in the physical world where I cannot reach her.”

“Wait—the physical world? Like the regular Pokemon world?”

Giratina gives her a rude look that suggests she is, in fact, quite stupid. “Yes. Unfortunately, I do not know her actual location. Wherever it is, it is hidden from my reflections.”

“Helpful,” Nia mumbles, apparently picking up Tobias’ snark since he isn’t here to snap at Giratina himself.

Oh man, Tobias is surely flipping his lid back at Edme’s. She has to get back soon and let him know she’s all right. And also prevent him from murdering the bug. Nia is like 90% sure Edme won’t harm Tobias while she’s gone since she achieved her goal, but she can’t say the same for her partner if he gets free.

“Okay,” Nia says. “So what’s our plan right now? Try to find Xerneas and wake her up to help us?”

“Considering it is currently our only semblance of a plan, I suppose so.”

“Or,” Nia adds. “We could try to find the source of the damage to the border and stop it before it occurs. Right?”

“A fool’s errand,” Giratina dismisses. “I told you the damaging event is likely already set in stone." Something in Nia's expression must speak to how little faith she puts in that certainty, because he sighs and continues, "But I cannot stop you from pursuing such a path. Just do not let it distract you from seeking out Xerneas.”

Jeez, thanks for the permission, Nia thinks drily.

She takes a deep breath, shaking out her arms. “All right. No big. That gives us two avenues to explore. Don’t suppose you have any more leads than you’ve given me so far?”

Giratina scoffs. “I would have already explored them myself if I had. No. That is what I need you for. Investigate the physical world to find Xerneas’ resting place.”

“And keep an eye out for anyone who might have plans to harm the distortion world’s borders.”

Giratina nods.

Nia nods back, nervous but determined. “And will you be hanging around in reflections still, or..?”

“I shall keep close by to assist when possible, and inform you of any leads I find. I will be listening to different entry points to the world and trying to find information myself.” Here he gestures to one of the pools of light a bit a ways away. If Nia squints, she thinks she can see out of it, like a window. Oh. It must be the other side of a reflection.

That’s…helpful. If incredibly creepy.

“Got it. I’ll keep an eye out for you and clue Tobias in, too. I…actually might have an idea of who to ask for help in finding Xerneas.”

Giratina gives her a doubtful look, but doesn’t press. Instead, he circles down to wrap around the stone platform she’s on. Nia gives him a questioning look.

“You want to return to your partner before he murders the bug, yes? I’ve given you all the info I have.”

“Oh! Y-Yes. Should I just..?”

Nia tentatively climbs atop Giratina’s back, relieved to find his body solid enough to stand on. Can he make himself incorporeal at will? Can all ghost types? Nia pads carefully up Giratina’s neck, tentatively holding onto the golden bands wrapping around his frame. They feel cool and solid, almost like metal.

Without a word, Giratina slips into motion, serpentine body slithering through the air and curling up in spirals. Nia takes a moment to look around the environment again now that she's not running for her life. It’s just the same dark nothingness, no matter where she looks. Even the air feels too still as they cut through it.

As they approach a small, circular viewpoint—which Nia realizes after a moment must be the view of Edme’s roof from the basin on the floor—she thinks idly that she might go crazy if she were trapped here like Giratina. With only the smallest, taunting snatches of the outside world to view as a spectator.

As they near the portal, Nia can distantly hear the muffled yelling of Tobias. She bites her lip, wanting to get back as soon as possible to calm him down, but hesitates atop Giratina’s back once the titan stops at the gate.

“Giratina?”

“What?”

“Just…one more question.”

“Make it quick, before your foolish partner kills my foolish liaison.”

Nia grips hard at the golden structures set into Giratina’s back, watching her hands—her paws, really—flex with the motion.

“If…If we find a way to fix this and save this dimension, would you at least try to return me to the human world? Return all the humans? O-Or maybe even create a bridge or something between the two worlds, so we don’t have to leave the Pokemon world behind?”

Nia is expecting Giratina to laugh or snarl or at least outright reject the bridge idea. Instead, he is silent. Nia can’t even hear him breathe.

Then, he says, “Worry first about the current issue. If we don’t fix this, there will be neither a Pokemon world nor a human world to return to.”

Nia jolts, a fresh wave of alarm coursing through her. It’s one thing for the Pokemon world to be destroyed, which is terrible enough, but the human world, too?

Giratina answers her unspoken question. “The human world is too close in proximity to our own. If this dimension becomes unstable, it will rip itself apart, and the human world will likely be dragged into the implosion as well.”

Nia feels faint. For a minute, she has to press her forehead to Giratina’s cool, misty back. Horror churns her stomach.

If…If they don’t find a way to fix this, so many people will die. Pokemon and human alike. They will all die, with only the gods left to rebuild a new universe. The gravity of the situation is starting to really sink in.

She isn’t a hero. How is she supposed to fix all of this?

Nia takes a few deep, shaking breaths. Tries to use the same techniques Will taught her in Ghatha when Tobias was having a panic attack. What can she see through her tears? What can she hear through her pounding pulse? What can she feel through numb fingertips?

It takes longer than Nia expects for her to calm down. Longer than she expects Giratina to wait. Eventually, though, she slows her spiral to a crawl. She can break down entirely later, when she’s with Tobias.

“O-Okay. I’m ready now. Thank you for…for waiting.”

Giratina doesn’t answer. He simply lifts himself higher, until Nia can start to hear Tobias’ yelling more clearly and can touch the image of Edme’s dimly lit wooden ceiling.

Nia hesitates one more time. She still doesn’t know if she trusts Giratina entirely, but she can’t ignore all that she heard here. And she can’t not help, just in case he’s right.

“We’ll save them, somehow,” Nia says, voice shaky. She doesn’t know if she’s trying to convince Giratina or herself. “Everyone. Everything. Both worlds.”

And then she lifts her hand and touches the portal, feeling it suck her into its gravity.

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

Nia is sent up through the portal, landing on her feet in the shallow basin with a quiet splash.

Tobias, mouth stretched into a snarl, snaps his head from Edme to Nia, eyes wide and surprised. Edme doesn’t even look like she was paying the fuming charmander any mind, turned entirely towards the pool.

When Nia reappears, the bug Pokemon lifts, voice excited. “Riolu! You’ve returned. How was Giratina? Did you speak with him?”

Nia frowns at her, glancing at Tobias. “Put him down.”

“Of course.”

Edme’s purple energy vanishes, and Tobias falls clumsily to the ground. Immediately, he runs to Nia.

“Nia!” He puts his hands on her arms and looks her up and down, as if to make sure she’s really back in one piece. “Are you all right?”

Nia smiles weakly at him, endeared despite the heavy weight on her heart. “I’m fine. A little shaken up. But not hurt.”

Tobias relaxes, head drooping to lightly touch her shoulder. Then he looks up with a furrowed brow, worried blue eyes meeting her own. “What happened?”

“Oh, please do share!” Edme pipes up, nearly shaking with excitement. She floats closer, a pen and notebook levitating in front of her.

Tobias snaps his teeth at the bug Pokemon, embers escaping his mouth, and Nia is thrown for a moment by how…animalistic the gesture is. He must really be angry. His tail is lashing, flame burning bright. It’s only when he flexes his claws that Giratina’s words come back to Nia.

Okay, yeah, he might actually hurt her.

“Tobias!” She quickly steps in front of him, warding him back with open palms. “W-Wait. You can’t just attack her—“

“Who says I can’t?!”

“U-Um. The whole town, mostly. But please, don’t. I…I need to talk to you about what Giratina said anyways. Please.”

Tobias settles, just slightly, though he doesn’t look happy about it.

“You must share here, Riolu!” Edme cuts in, apparently lacking a survival instinct. “I need to transcribe Giratina’s words for the records.”

“Then ask him yourself!” Nia says sharply, keeping Tobias behind her. She grabs his wrist and tugs him towards the door, praying Edme won’t grab them again. “Ever think desperately forcing people into things might be why he isn’t talking to you anymore?”

Nia doesn’t know if that’s true. If anything, Giratina just seemed annoyed by the bug. Still, Edme jerks back, as if struck.

Nia will feel bad about her harsh words later, but right now she’s upset. She hurriedly pulls Tobias out of the house behind her. The darkness outside is a welcome reprieve, like hiding under a blanket from all the scary things on Nia’s mind. Still, her heart races, like she’s being hunted. She keeps moving with hurried steps, power-walking across the nearest bridge and ignoring the dangerous way it sways.

Tobias staggers behind her. “Wait—Nia, hold up!”

She doesn’t, because if she has to stop moving she’ll have to think about the crushing weight of the mission Giratina just dropped onto her shoulders and she isn’t entirely sure she can handle it right now.

“Nia!” Tobias rounds in front of her on the next island, hands out. “Stop. Are…Are you sure you’re all right?”

Oh no. He looks so concerned. When did he get so open with his care? She can’t pinpoint an exact moment. Right now, though, with her on the edge of an emotional breakdown, the quiet words feel like the final stone knocked loose from an overflowing dam.

Nia's lip wobbles as tears gather in her eyes.

Tobias' face darkens. “What happened? What did he do?”

Nia sobs. She wipes at her eyes, only for more tears to follow. “H-He didn’t hurt me. Really. He’s kind of a jerk? But I-I’m just upset about what he told me.”

“What did he tell you?”

Nia sniffs. “He had a lot of answers. About…everything. Why the legendaries have gone dormant. Why the natural disasters and mystery dungeons are increasing. Why evolution stopped. Why the humans are even here.”

Tobias’ breath catches. “…I’m guessing it’s not good news?”

Nia shakes her head, more tears falling. She crosses her arms and hunches her head, trying to hold herself together. Not quite leaning on Tobias, but close. After a moment, Tobias hesitantly shuffles forward the final inch to wrap a warm arm around her back, pulling her into an awkward hug. That gets her. She buries her face in his scarf and cries.

She just…needs a moment. To pull herself together.

Should she even tell Tobias everything she learned? She doesn’t want to upset him or drag him into this mess. What if he doesn’t believe her? But she can’t do this alone. And she has a feeling he wouldn’t let her, anyways.

After a few minutes, Nia picks up her head, wiping at her eyes. Tobias is watching her, waiting for her to make the next move.

“Let’s find somewhere to talk,” she whispers, looking around. Luckily, none of the Shivergleam residents wanted to get anywhere near her little crying fit, so they’re more or less alone.

Tobias glances over his shoulder. “The inn?”

Nia nods. They’ll need somewhere to stay for the night and catch up on sleep afterwards. It’s late. “And then tomorrow I think…I think we need to head north. Back home.”

Home. That shouldn’t be what the Lexym Guild is to her.

Tobias doesn’t question her. He nods and takes her hand, tugging her towards the nearest bridge. Nia follows without complaint, allowing him to lead them through the village from island to island, ignoring the wary looks from citizens.

Eventually he slows to a stop, and Nia looks up. The building in front of her is larger than the others, taking up one of the platforms all on its own, with warmly lit windows and a large sign designating it as the Hollowberry Inn.

Tobias leads them inside. The bottom floor is a cozy lobby, with a small cafe-like area off to the side. To Nia’s surprise, Beck is at one of the tables, laughing with what must be the employee from the front desk: a tall tree-like creature, with sinister, sharp branches and a single red eye.

When the floatzel catches their eye, he grins and waves, only for the gesture to fade as he takes in their expressions. He quietly excuses himself from his companion and walks over to them.

“Hey. You two all right?”

Tobias glances at Nia. “Not…exactly. Change of plans. We need to head back north, towards the Lexym Guild. Any idea when you’ll be heading that way?”

“Normally we’d travel south first, but we’re actually going north for a passenger we picked up earlier tonight,” Beck says. Nia can feel his eyes on her, the quiet worry in his voice. “You two are more than welcome to join us again. I’ll even give you the family discount.”

Tobias rasps a quiet thanks in Nia’s stead.

“Do you two need a room to stay in?” Beck asks.

“We can pay for one.”

“S’ppose you probably don’t want to bunk with the whole crew anyways,” Beck says. “Nori sleeptalks.”

Nia blinks. “Really?”

“There she is!” Beck says, smiling as she finally checks into the conversation. “Yup. I always say it’s because she’s so quiet during the day. All those words gotta go somewhere.”

Nia smiles back, even if it feels shaky.

“Oy, Gladys,” Beck says, looking over his shoulder. “Got a couple of customers here for you.”

The tree Pokemon looks up from her drink and a…crossword? Do Pokemon have crossword puzzles that she was unaware of?

“Come on over to the front desk, sprouts,” The Pokemon says, getting up with a creak that seems to come more from her than the chair. She moves slowly across the room on a circle of roots.

Gladys quickly checks them into a small room, handing them a little metal key and directing them to go upstairs and to the right. Beck tells them to come get him if they need anything tonight. Otherwise, they’re to meet up with the boat at dawn to get a ride back north.

Nia feels herself calming down throughout the conversation, and waves thankfully to Beck when they head upstairs. Tobias finds their room right down the hall where Gladys said it would be, and opens it up to reveal a small, cozy room.

It’s fairly basic, but it has two small moss beds for them and a chest for their belongings. A ghostly purple flame—a will-o-wisp—sits on the window ledge, burning out of nothing.

Tobias slings their bag down by the chest, then flops into the nearest nest. He doesn’t even make a sarcastic comment, apparently too exhausted to snark. It is late. The moon is starting to sink down towards the horizon, meaning it’s past midnight.

Nia shamelessly nudges her own nest flush against Tobias’ before sitting down. Tobias turns his head to peer up at her, expectant.

“I can tell you everything tomorrow if you want to sleep..?”

Tobias sits back up. “Nope. No way I’m sleeping until you give me the full story.”

Nia thinks that he might not be able to sleep after the full story. The only reason she thinks she’ll be able to is because she’s so drained. Still, she knows how stubborn her partner can be. So she rubs at her face and nods.

And she talks.

Tobias, to his credit, clearly tries not to interrupt. He looks at her seriously as she recounts everything Giratina told her in his realm. His face dips into skepticism as she repeats Giratina’s claim that Edme’s story is the truth, but he also snorts when she says that Giratina doesn’t seem to like the bug all that much.

Tobias looks suspicious when she mentions Giratina working with Mew, especially after she mentions not actually seeing the little pink Pokemon, but when she says Mew is apparently the one responsible for turning the humans into Pokemon, his eyes narrow thoughtfully.

“That…would make more sense than Giratina being able to do it,” Tobias admits. “She’s the Mother of All Pokemon. All species came from her. If anyone would be able to use her power to give someone a new form, it would be Mew. But I still don’t trust that they’re actually on the same side.”

From there, Nia braces herself to tell Tobias about the biggest bombshell of the conversation: the weakening dimensional border. How it’s the cause of the slowly increasing natural disasters and mystery dungeons. The reason for the gods going dormant, and evolution stopping. How if the future damage sending ripples back through time isn’t prevented or fixed, both the Pokemon world and the human world are doomed.

Her voice becomes softer and softer as she speaks, fearful and trembling. Tobias’ expression grows more and more anxious, until he looks genuinely afraid. He tries to hide it, but Nia can see it in his pale face and tense body. In his wide eyes and flickering tail flame.

“And Giratina wants…you to fix this?” Tobias rasps.

Nia shrugs, listless. “Not really. He’s just desperate and hoping a human doing the investigating might help somehow.”

There’s nothing special about her. That’s never really upset her until now, when she wished she was anything but the weak, helpless girl she is. How is she supposed to do anything?

“All right,” Tobias says. He takes an audible breath. “So what do we do next?”

Nia blinks at him. “…What?”

“You said we’re supposed to be looking for Xerneas or what might cause this damage, right? Any idea of where to start?”

Nia stares. She doesn’t know why she expected Tobias to wallow with her, or not believe her, or…

“W-Well…I did have one idea. But you aren’t going to like it.”

Tobias gestures for her to go ahead.

“I think we should talk to Will.”

Sure enough, Tobias scoffs. “Why? Last time we saw him he had no answers.”

“But he was looking,” Nia stresses. “And he already has a community of Pokemon with him. Researchers. If we can get him on board with helping us, we’ll have twenty times as many eyes and ears on the lookout for helpful info.”

Tobias still doesn’t look convinced. Nia doesn’t know why he dislikes the yamask so much, but there are more important things at stake here.

“This isn’t the time for petty grudges, Tobias.”

Tobias rolls his eyes. “It’s not a ‘petty grudge.’ I just don’t like the guy. He feels…fake. But you’re right that he has connections with a lot of Pokemon.”

Nia nods. “And if we head back to the guild, surely the letter he sent out after Ghatha has made it there by now. We can find out where he’s staying and go talk to him.”

Tobias looks mildly appeased at the thought of returning to the guild first. “I guess.”

“Do you think we should tell anyone else there?” Nia asks. “Like Maggie or August? Or Val? Avery and Alistair might know something about Xerneas.”

Tobias’ mouth flattens as he leans back against the wooden root wall. “Maggie would believe us, but I don’t know what telling her would accomplish other than making her worry.”

“We could still ask her about Xerneas?”

Tobias nods.

“I think Val and August would believe us, for what it’s worth,” Nia adds. “And Avery and Alistair definitely would. Would there be any harm in telling them and asking for help?”

“Not that I can think of.“

“Okay.” Nia takes a breath, consciously trying to relax her shoulders. “Okay. At least we have a plan.”

“Sometimes that’s the best you can hope for."

After that, they both fall quiet, lost in thought. Nia alternates between staring at the ghostly little flame on the windowsill and Tobias’ familiar tail flame, letting her tired mind go blank as much as she can.

Eventually, Tobias yawns. “You gonna be all right if I go to sleep? I don’t wanna miss the boat in the morning.”

Nia quirks a small smile. “Excited to get back on the water?”

Tobias flops down with a groan, pulling a chunk of moss from his bedding and tossing it at her face. "Shut up."

She laughs. “I’ll be all right. I’m tired too.”

Tobias grunts, clearly halfway to sleep already. It’s impressive. Nia curls up beside him, shimmying close enough to feel the usual warmth pouring off his skin. Even if she can't fall asleep for a while yet, she feels better knowing she at least has her partner at her back.

As she tries to rest, terrible scenarios run circles in her mind. She imagines them failing. Imagines the Pokemon world being destroyed, and the human world following. Only one determined thought grants her hope rather than fear:

They're going to save the world. They have to.

[writemywaytoyourheart]

Bedeviled | Chapter 9: The Higher the Wall...

Pairing: demon!jungkook x female reader

Genre: E2L, romance, drama, angst, horror

WC: 4.5k

Warnings for this chapter: strong language, anxiety, brief mention of blood and injuries, cruelty, frightening depictions of Hell and things in it, terror, fear, name-calling, summoning of a demon (don't be dumb), TENSION🥴, i think that's all if there's anything i missed pls kindly let me know

Previous ML

JK's eyes shift back and forth on the ground as he walks, one rock catching his attention before another steals it away a second later. 

You're following silently behind him, have been for the past few minutes as he leads you to the foot of the mountain just ahead. 

When you look up, you see a door in the mountain that you hadn't noticed there a while ago. The closer you get the easier it becomes to see. It's a bit trippy, so you don't look at it for very long. 

Not a minute later, you're both standing silently in front of it, neither of you making a move to open it.

The door is made of splintery wood and looks extremely old; a rusted knob practically hanging on with all its strength at this point.

"Is there some kind of trick or is it just a door?" You ask, a hint of jest in your tone. 

This time, when he doesn't answer, you realize that it's not out of annoyance or spite, but the fact that he's staring so intently at nothing that he didn't even hear you. 

He suddenly snaps out of it and looks at you, "Did you say something?"

You point at the door, "Can I just open it?"

The demon looks where you're pointing, "Oh...Oh, yeah, it's just a door."

You both stand there for a second, once again no one making a move to reach for the handle. 

He looks at you again and you stare back. 

"Why aren't you opening it?" He finally snaps. 

"Why aren't you?" You counter. 

"Because I'm not your fucking butler."

"Well I don't trust you."

"Well maybe you should start learning to trust me a little-"

You laugh, "On what grounds? All you do is continue to provide evidence on why I shouldn't trust you."

The stare down lasts another few seconds, then you sigh and walk over to the door. 

"You're not a butler but you're sure as heck a princess," you mutter, grabbing the handle. 

He's about to snap back with an equally clever comeback, but the next moment makes the words die in his throat.

JK jumps out of his skin when you suddenly shriek and start convulsing like you're being electrocuted, hand frozen on the handle.

Without thinking, he reaches over to grab your hand and pull it off the doorknob. 

You start laughing, no longer playing up the dramatics. 

He steps back and looks at you, confusion furrowing his brows, his hand still wrapped around your wrist. 

"Got you," You cackle, watching the rage seep into his features as he realizes your joke. 

"Idiot," he shoves your hand away from him as you laugh.

"The look on your face was priceless!" You hunch over from laughter as he stands there and stares at you, far from amused and equally confused and disgusted at the enigma in front of him.

"Whatever, human," he scoffs in disgust and opens the door, not bothering to hold it open for you as he walks in and lets go of the handle. 

You slip in quickly before it shuts, "You know it's kind of rude to call me that."

"What?"

"You always call me 'human' or 'mortal' and it's quite offensive. Those certainly aren't my name."

He stops and looks at you. 

You glance around the tunnel you just walked into, noticing a deep reddish orange glow filling the space. The rock walls themselves seem to shine with a fiery light from the inside out. 

When you look back at him you see annoyance written all over his face. 

"Ok, what's your name then?" He says slowly, hip cocking to the side as he puts a hand there and stares at you. 

"Oh, that's even more rude. How can a demon ask for someone's name so casually? You really have no manners, do you?" You stare back at him, face completely serious even as he doesn't say a word. 

JK grits his teeth, then pulls his bottom lip into his mouth and gnaws on it while he analyzes your face. 

"What should I call you then?" His voice remains calm even as the irritation builds.

"Mmm, good question. Anything works, just don't be so rude," you swat dismissively.

"You truly are a piece of fucking work," He grits out. 

You start walking ahead without acknowledging his comment, turning around to look back at him for a second to see if he's coming. 

The demon doesn't move as he stares at you. 

Tangled hair frames your exhausted face, bruises decorating your neck and continuing down your arms and legs, clothes nearly in tatters, and your feet still wrapped in strips of cloth that are so caked with mud and old dried blood that it can't possibly be comfortable. 

That's not what catches his attention though. 

It's the smile on your face as you meet his eyes. 

"You coming?" You ask when he doesn't move for a full thirty seconds. 

You can see him physically snap out of whatever trance he was in. He blinks, then his permanent look of disgust returns and he shoulders past you and snaps, "There are a lot of things I could call you. You're lucky I haven't decided to use those."

Stumbling when he shoves you to the side to get through, you bump into the wall.

A gasp of pain leaves you when you feel a burn on the arm that hit the rock. 

"Ah," You hiss, automatically grabbing nearing the injury. 

He stops and turns to see you wincing as you look at a small welt that's appeared on your forearm. 

"What is it this time?" He growls. 

You look at him and he's suddenly hyper aware of the fact that your previous smile is now completely gone. 

He doesn't care.

"You pushed me into the wall."

"No, I didn't."

"You did."

"You're the one that can't even keep your fucking balance, stop trying to blame me for you being a klutz!" 

The look on your face at his words makes him groan internally. 

You are going to make it your mission to bitch and moan the entire time now, aren't you?

He can't have that. 

Can barely stand you when you're not complaining. 

You flinch when he walks up to you, trying to pull away when he snatches your wrist. 

"Don't-"

"Stop moving, damn it!"

You stop, shaking a little as you watch him. 

Your trembling doesn't go unnoticed by him, but he does nothing to make you feel less afraid, just brushes his hand over the welt. 

Watching in mounting confusion, you see the nasty burn disappear as his hand passes over it, there one second and gone the next. Then he lets go of your wrist and your arm falls to your side. 

"Why did you..."

He waits for you to finish your sentence.

When you don't say anything more, he raises a brow, and you see his gaze drift over you. Then he steps closer, his eyes falling to your lips.

"You know, you've got such pretty little lips for every word out of them being bitchy. Looking at them, I don't mind. Listening to you whine and moan? Not so much."

He steps even closer, raising his eyes to your own now, "At least, not unless I'm the reason behind them."

JK smirks at the blush that creeps into your cheeks, "If it means you won't complain anymore, I can heal the rest of you, you know. I can make you feel a lot better than you do now."

The way he says it and the feeling of his hand sliding onto your hip makes it clear he means much more than just healing some cuts and bruises.

Something you are not about to fall into.

Deciding to play along though, you move closer, hands coming up and resting on his chest. 

You try to ignore the incessant beating of your heart.

Two can play at this game.

"Really?" You whisper and stand up on your tiptoes to get your lips even closer to his.  

His eyes dart back and forth between yours. 

You let yourself stay there for exactly five seconds before a small laugh slips out and you shove his chest, moving him away from you.

"Mm, I've got more important things to do, demon. I'm flattered by the offer, really. Very sweet of you. But I think I'll pass, sorry."

A breathy chuckle of disbelief escapes him as he turns to look at you walking down the tunnel quickly. 

Did you really just turn him down?

And act like you'd be doing him a favor if you agreed?

The feeling that bubbles up in his chest is something he hasn't felt since that one time Sav took more than half of his souls for the month. That was a very very very long time ago. 

He vowed he wouldn't let anyone humiliate him again. 

Now this stupid little human girl comes marching into Hell and decides it's a good idea to do just that?

Not on his watch. 

He storms past you, shoulder bumping yours, "You couldn't handle it anyway, klutz."

You raise a brow as you watch him stalk ahead. 

Did you really just hurt his fragile ego that bad because you turned down his offer to sleep with him?

Biting back a smile, you shake your head and follow him.

Your move, JK.

_____________________________

The further into the mountain you go, the hotter it gets. 

A while ago you started to hear the screams. 

You shoved your hands over your ears, but as per usual, it's hardly done any good. 

With every step, it feels like you're getting closer and closer to something horrible beyond comprehension, to something so horrific that even just being in the same mountain as it is making you physically ill, and you haven't even seen it yet. 

When he stops abruptly, you do so also, watching him carefully.

He turns around, "You walk straight through, do not stop. Don't linger or you will regret it. Do you understand?"

You nod and his eyes narrow at you. 

"I'm serious. Don't fuck this up."

"I won't," You say firmly, balling your fists up to help you focus. 

His eyes drift over your determined face; cheeks chubby and dirty as your mouth is set in a straight line, brows furrowed in concentration.

You shift on your feet in what seems to be an anxious tic.  

A dark chuckle slips from his lips. 

"Alright then. Be brave, little klutz," He whispers teasingly before turning and continuing down the tunnel. 

You march after him, steeling your nerves as you beg yourself not to look at anything but his back. You do not want to know what horrors are waiting around the corner. 

-

The first moment stepping into the huge corridor is terrifying. 

Your eyes are glued to him, but you can hear the piercing shrieks coming from all around you. 

In your peripherals, you can tell that the walls are engulfed in flames. 

Do not look. 

As you walk down the never-ending hall, the screams get louder and angrier. 

Screams of blasphemy reach you whenever you pass and they see you. 

Unable to listen to it much longer, you reach your hands up and plug your ears, trying to drown out the disgusting words thrown your way.

The ones aimed at Him. 

You won't stand to listen to it. 

JK is suddenly way ahead of you.

You don't remember him picking up the pace. 

Hurrying forward, you unconsciously unplug your ears and grab onto the back of his shirt, keeping yourself close against him in fear of getting left behind in this place. 

You still won't look. 

Eyes pinched shut, you shove your face into him, body trembling from the sheer noise of the tortured souls burning. 

The second you grabbed him, he had stopped in confusion. 

After a moment though he realizes what you're doing and smirks, ready to use this against you.

You feel cold hands touch your arms and detach you from his back, pulling you more until you're in front of him. 

You keep your eyes shut tight, but your arms reach out blindly trying to grab onto him again. 

"Please," you choke out in a gasp, "Please don't leave me behind."

You feel his hands take your arms firmly. At the simple gesture, something inside of you shatters, he sees your face crumple and suddenly you're crying. 

And you can't stop. 

The enraged screams build; profanities being hurled at you from every direction. Telling you to open your eyes. Telling you to witness what your King did to them. 

To watch them burn alive in their own tombs of fire and torture.

"Get me out," You plead desperately as you feel like your eyes are about to open against your own will, "Please! Please, I don't wanna look! Get me out!"

You're clinging to him, begging him to get you away from here. 

It's what he's been waiting for all this time. 

Is this what finally broke you?

He stares at you, watching as you start to curl into him, fists bunched in his shirt and shaking him, screaming at him to help you. To please help you.

He does not care about you.

He should feel a rush of pride, of relief, of satisfaction at seeing how completely at his mercy you are. He should laugh and let you look at the scene around you, watch you fall to your knees and continue to beg him to save you.

So, why doesn't he?

You feel cold hands touch your face, holding your cheeks firmly as he says, "Cover your ears and walk."

Before you can say or think anything else, you feel him turn you around.

Now you're leading the way, but almost tucked into his chest, his larger frame looming over you as he covers your eyes with his hand.

Without hesitating for a single second, you plug your ears again, now not needing to worry about shielding your eyes. 

His other hand is placed on your lower back, guiding you forward through the corridor, leading you carefully through the sixth circle of Hell.

Do not be mistaken. 

He does not care about you.

_

You're not sure how long it will take to get through the tunnel. 

The only thing you can focus on is moving forward.

The feeling of his hand on your lower back and the one covering your eyes is what keeps you grounded as you stumble along.

The ground is uncomfortably hot on your bare feet, but you try not to dwell on it, even though it is a bit of a welcome distraction from the howls of people burning around you. 

Arms aching from holding them up to cover your ears, you scream internally at yourself not to let them drop. The auditory horrors waiting for you are a million times worse, you know that. 

You've got this, ____. 

You let out a shaky sigh and bite your bottom lip, using the pain as another distraction from everything else that's happening. 

Not able to see where you're going, your foot catches on a small stone and you stumble forward, fully expecting to fall.

But when his arm wraps around your waist and he practically lifts you up with one arm to right you again, you feel your heart start to hammer in your chest for a reason other than fear. 

-

"Why didn't you tell me?"

You dropped your head into your hands at the sound of your best friend's shaky voice, finally confronting you. 

"I didn't know how," You had whispered weakly, "I'm sorry."

The feeling of his hands running down your arms sent a warm feeling into your chest as he knelt in front of you, now face to face with you as you sat on the rickety old cot.

You didn't have the courage to look at him, so you turned your head to look out the small window above the cot, noting how ratty the little drapes looked.

You made a mental note to ask Tae later if he could sew them up for you.

"Please look at me."

You shook your head, biting your lip harshly to hold in the tears. 

"You have no reason to be sorry, ____."

You finally looked at him, "Don't call me that," you whispered brokenly, a single tear finally escaping. 

His brows furrowed, "Why not?"

"Everytime you call me that, it means you're being serious. I don't want you to be serious."

A sad smile appeared on his handsome face and you felt your heart lodge itself into your throat. 

You dragged your eyes away from his, "Don't look at me like that either."

I can't handle it.

A small chuckle reached your ears, and you felt his soft touch as he tucked a piece of hair behind your ear. 

"Apple."

You bit your lip even harder before finally looking at him again. 

"I don't want things to change," You croaked out tearfully, emotions finally betraying you.

"Nothing is going to change."

You scoffed and looked away, messily wiping the tears that escaped. 

"Apple, nothing is going to change." He said more firmly. 

"Let's just forget it for now," You stood up and wiped at your face and runny nose, "I have to go. Mother wants me to help with dinner. The Jungs are coming over." You avoided his gaze.

He stood up too and when you chanced a glance at him you could see it on his face. 

You could always tell when he lied to you. 

Things were going to change. 

And there was nothing you could do to stop it.

-

All sense of time and direction gone, you startle when you feel his hand removing one of your own from your ear. 

"You're fine," he says lowly, "We're out."

You drop your arms and wait until he uncovers your eyes, then you peek them open a little, looking around to see that you are no longer in the mountain. The dark smokey mountains loom around you.

"We left the sixth circle?" You whisper, voice cracking. 

He nods, "Yeah."

"Thank you," You stare at your hands, picking the dirt from under your nails obsessively. 

He doesn't respond, but you don't take that as a bad thing. 

Normally, he would have a nasty remark to throw your way. This is progress as far as you're concerned. 

When he lifts his head, he sees you staring at him, tears building in your eyes. 

"I'm sorry," you whisper, never looking away. 

His brows furrow and he cocks his head to the side and looks at you suspiciously, "Why?"

You suddenly realize that you're staring at him and speaking nonsense, so you quickly turn your gaze to the ground and mumble, "Never mind, sorry."

He watches you for a little longer, then drags his eyes away.

"I-..."

You look at him when he speaks, watching as he stares at a rock on the ground, then he huffs out an irritated sigh. 

"I need to go for a bit. Just- don't get yourself into trouble. You're enough trouble as it is." He snaps, then walks away. 

You don't even flinch when a billow of smoke surrounds him and suddenly he's gone. You just keep staring at the last place he was, anxiety starting to take root in you.

________________

JK doesn't move when he sees the young girl leaning over the fire, her hand outstretched to grab another bundle of herbs wrapped in a thin rope, ready to toss it into the fire and watch it burn as she whispers the words he already heard in his mind moments earlier. 

He stays planted on the big barrel in the corner of the old barn she so foolishly decided to summon a demon in; lounging as he watches her emotionlessly.

Usually he'd be giddy with the idea of getting another soul under his belt. Right now he just doesn't want to deal with it. 

Everything is confusing him and pissing him off.

More reason to get this over with quickly. 

Just as he hops down from the comfortable seat, a chill goes down his spine and he feels a surge of hatred sweep over him. 

JK narrows his eyes and steps closer to the girl, almost upon her when what he suspected steps out from one of the dilapidated stalls. 

"Hello demon," The unbelievably handsome being walks over until he's standing on the other side of the fire, in the perfect place for the girl to see him if he allows it.

She doesn't seem to sense either of their presences. 

JK glares daggers at the newcomer, "My name isn't 'demon'."

"Oh I know that," A soft chuckle follows, "I know who you are, JK."

The demon clenches his fists, "What are you doing here? She summoned me, not you."

"Funny, she doesn't have to summon me," The young man smiles, the most disgustingly beautiful smile. 

JK hates him already. 

The way he seems to glow within, the pure beauty surrounding this guardian. 

He despises it. 

"You're not welcome here, demon."

"Funny," JK mocks, "Seems like I'm the one she wants to see, not you."

"She's just a child. Leave her alone."

"Mm, child or not," The devil walks around to get a good look at her face, "She'll make a nice addition to Hell. Why don't you skip along to prayer time and let the two of us talk this out? Besides, she's fifteen, pretty sure she can make her own decisions. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, puppet?"

"You have no idea what she's been through," The angel seethes, "Even if you did, you're too weak to prey on someone who actually gives you a challenge. Children are easy right? Animals too. You just love to terrify and manipulate the helpless, you're that pathetic. Am I wrong?"

"Not at all," JK smirks, "Why work harder? Now that we've got that sorted out, run off little angel. I've got some business to do."

"Go ahead and try," The girl's angel walks closer until he's between the girl and the demon she summoned out of pure desperation. 

JK grits his teeth at the fact that the guardian angel is at least a foot taller than him, not to mention broader. The wings on his back make him even larger, the purple color shimmering as he glares at the demon in front of him. 

"You have no power here, wretch. Get out."

"Gonna let your little girl get away with playing with summoning demons?"

"Leave while I'm asking nicely."

"Aw, you going to go and tell on me to your King?" JK sneers, "Go ahead, I'll take her down with me."

The angel smirks, his handsome face leaning closer, "This child has more strength in her than you will ever have. She's just a bit lost right now. You? You are the lowest, most despicable creature to exist. You have no right to even look at her. Go back to Hell,” He growls.

The demon's jaw clenches when he feels his body starting to leave against his own will. 

"Fuck you," he spits at the guardian angel.

The angel only looks into the demon's eyes, smiling gently. He doesn't flinch when he sees the look on his opponent's face, knowing the pain that is starting to consume him. 

JK gulps, then he glances back at the girl once more, watching with mounting anger as she seems to have a moment of realization before grabbing a bucket of water and dumping it over the fire, no longer intending to make a deal. 

"Get out," The guardian angel whispers one last time. 

JK glares as hard as he can before he turns and walks off, disappearing into thin air. 

_________________

You jump in surprise when you see him stumble out of another cloud of black smoke, falling to his hands and knees and trembling violently. 

"Fuck!" He screams, slamming his fist into the gravel. He grabs a rock that's near him and throws it as hard as he can, shattering it against a small tree that barely moves when struck. 

Deciding not to say anything, you keep your eyes downcast as he throws a tantrum, screaming about cursing someone and some other stuff you can't make out. 

You think you might hear him saying something about angels, but you’re not sure.

As long as you've been here, you have not seen him like this. He seems to have lost all control.

It's terrifying. 

JK breathes deeply, seemingly starting to come down from his enraged high. 

He raises his eyes and sees you sitting there.

A flame rises up in him and he marches over to you, making you flinch when he grabs your chin and forces you to look at him. 

You can see the anger in his eyes, the sweat making his hair stick to his face as he breathes heavily. It does nothing to help your nerves; you know he’s gorgeous, he knows you know he’s gorgeous. 

"Where are they?"

"Who?" Your voice shakes, not knowing what he's getting at. 

"Your guardian angel," he seethes, "Where the fuck are they?"

"I- I don't know what you mean-"

"You're telling me to believe that you are this fucking innocent? That your soul is this disgustingly pure and yet your guardian angel just let you come down here without a fight?" He laughs darkly.

"Maybe I don't have one," You try, hoping you sound convincing enough. 

"Everyone's got one, darling," He says sickeningly sweet, seeming to have calmed down, yet that doesn't bring you any comfort, “But you already knew that.”

He's staring at you so intently that for a moment you're sure he's figured it out.

What is he going to do to you?

"Well I don't know where mine is!" You shout desperately, standing up and pushing his hand away from you, "Maybe they didn’t want me! I came to Hell to get something no one else can give me, that no angels can give me. I am going through Hell with the help of a demon and you're still doubting me?"

He watches you carefully for a full minute, then he steps closer. 

You feel your heart race when he brushes a strand of hair from your face and cups your cheek with his hand, roughly pulling you closer until you can feel his breath against your lips. 

He doesn’t care that you’re trembling. 

He doesn’t care how your face scrunches in pain, that you’re confused and scared. 

He couldn’t care less about the fear in your eyes or the way you gulp anxiously.

You are weak. 

You and your heart will always be weak.

He will never care about you.

He will never be weak.

He will crush anything that tries to make him weak.

"If I find out that you've been lying to me, little mortal," His nose brushes against yours, lips briefly touching your own as the thundering in your ribcage picks up.

He pulls back a little, his cold breath still passing your lips and sending a chill down your spine as he whispers, "I will kill you myself."

_________________________________

a/n: tysm for reading, bbies 💕 how are we feeling?

Tag list; @kookxin @butterymin @telepathytae @kooliv @highoffbaddecisions @meanum @smitssharon02 @kmpac @ggukkieland @jjanjankook @sugaslittlekookies @hobispriteu1306 @kimchibrat @slowlydeliciousjiminie @screamertannie  @i-dont-give-a-fok @hopefulrascalstatesmantoad @ohyeahjk @babycandy111 @ttipa @ggukcanim @era-genius @katlumiiine @xmochiloverx @sopikooo @berryonasummerevening @jamlessstars @bangtannie7 @idkjustlovingbts @iftheworldiswritten @nuttykittypainter @geniejunn @mal99 @ane102 @charlesswife @jeonssm @ashbxnny @veronawrites @jjkw-7 @jinsundor @h-g-bts @justvibingsblog @hyuneyeon @hellbornsworld @hiii-priestess @nuttypizzacat @vidaficrecs @royallyjjk

[xalygatorx]

Powerless (2017) | Chapter 5, "Everything I've Done"

Years after Sarah’s wit and bravery saved her brother and brought the Labyrinth to its knees, her daughter Andie is transported to what remains of that same fantastical place, somewhere she thought only existed in her favorite childhood stories. To find her way back home, she must traverse what’s left of the crumbling kingdom, find a way to set both moments and magic in motion again, and even save the Goblin King, himself. But who will save her from him?

Powerless is a SFW slow-burn romance between Jareth and an original female character. The story overall contains descriptions of fantasy violence, mild suggestive content, and grief regarding family illness. Chapter-by-chapter warnings will be provided as well.

Summary: Andie and Jareth get acquainted while waiting for help. Jareth offers her an alliance that hinges on her helping him guard the truth of his condition and reclaim his kingdom.

Pairing: Jareth x Fem!OC

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.9k

"Do be quiet, they won't hear you," said the voice wearily nearby as Andie shouted again, having scrambled back out of the light when he'd first spoken, her eyes still searching the gloomy subterranean perimeter for the owner. "Even so, this is an oubliette. Do you know what that is?"

Andie faltered. "A… It's a trap, isn't it?"

"Indeed. For those to be forgotten."

"Who are you?"

She was finally able to make out a dark form sitting opposite where she stood, but no details came into focus for the lack of light. It was the most human figure she'd seen here yet, even more so than the half-human Nyle. "I think a better question is who you are," the male voice countered as he stood, making his way over to her side of the cave. "You don't seem to be who I first thought. And how have you come to my labyrinth to fall down a hole?"

Her eyes widened incrementally. "Your labyrinth—wait… You're the Goblin King, aren't you?"

A soft chuckle danced around the space just as a boot crossed the rim of the light shining down from the opening she'd made high above them. Into view stepped one of the most eccentric looking men she'd ever seen and, even with the oddities in his appearance ranging from his somewhat spiky blond hair and some smudges of what appeared to be eyeliner around his eyes, he could have easily passed for human. Had she not known the truth, anyway. His teeth glittered faintly as he sent a weary, yet Cheshire smile her way. "Now, that is something I've not heard someone call me in quite some time."

"What are you doing down here?"

"All questions I could easily be asking you," he pointed out, eying her closely. She wondered if he was somehow able to see better than she was down here. Then again, who knew how long he'd been down here. Now that she thought about it, his hair looked matted in places, his clothes a bit rumpled, and he appeared particularly thin, though she had no memory of him to compare his present self to. Perhaps that was just the way he looked.

"Well, then maybe—," Andie began, only to pause when she heard a faint echo of her name down the tunnel. She brushed past him to peer up toward the light, where she could now see a pin-sized head peeping over. "I'm down here!" she shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth to project her voice more efficiently.

"Stay there! I'm coming down to get you!" Hoggle shouted and he disappeared from over the opening.

"Yeah, where else am I going to go…," she muttered softly, smoothing a hand through her hair before regarding Jareth again. He was watching her with an amused sort of air and the scrutiny in his eyes unnerved her. "What I was saying is maybe we should both be answering these obvious questions. Since we'll probably be stuck here awhile."

He scoffed a bit. "You've no idea what 'awhile' is, girl."

"I take it you didn't just get here, too," she noted with a grimace.

"Oh, no," he murmured with a slight shake of his head. "No, I've lost track of the years."

Andie's eyes widened. "Years? How are you still alive?"

"Time has stopped in this world. With it, so has the aging process for every creature in attendance," he explained calmly before sitting down on the floor again. "Even you."

"So, you just…"

"Starved without emaciating, withered without withering, oh… Yes. And it was more excruciating than actually dying such a pathetic death." He looked at her wearily. "Sit. You're tiring me further by standing like that."

"Well, excuse me," she grumbled, but sat down nearby. "Why couldn't you just magic yourself out? I'm sure the king of the goblins has some kind of magical ability, right? Or am I relying too heavily on fairytales?"

Jareth chuckled, but the sound was weak. He seemed disgusted by it. "I had that ability, long ago. But that's left me, too, it seems. I'm sure the lack of time progression has something to do with that."

"Why would that have any influence?" Andie asked dubiously.

He seemed worn out by her questions already, though she figured he was probably just worn out, period. "Because have you ever had something remotely in the realm of 'magical' happen while you're standing still? Isn't it always after moving forward?"

"You're getting a bit too existentialist on me, Jareth," she commented.

"Now, is it fair that you know my name yet I do not know yours?"

"I guess not. It's Andie."

"Andie, hm? I've never heard such a name. Short for…?"

"Cassandra."

"Interesting," Jareth murmured, though his bored tone disagreed with that sentiment. "So, Andie, what were your other questions? My memory is slacking with my current state of health, as I'm sure you understand."

She was somewhat suspicious of his manners—Hoggle had made it sound like he was a wild, aggressive thing, but it looked like he could barely move. She half expected him to turn on her at any moment, at least until she figured she might just be his ticket out of here. He was perhaps simply lucky she'd dropped in, pun intended. "How'd you end up down here?"

"I lost my magic directly after the Labyrinth, itself, fell to pieces," he said uncomfortably and she could only wonder why he was telling her this. "Those I presided over grew more rampant and restless and some attempted a mutiny once they felt the scales begin to tilt. I thought it wise to disappear awhile."

"You meant to get trapped down here?"

"Of course not. I took the plunge down here while attempting to disappear, of course," he said irritably before sighing and glancing at the tunnel over them. "Succeeded too thoroughly, I suppose."

"Why are you telling me this?" Andie finally asked. "About your magic being gone and your blunders, why would you give me that information when we've only just met?"

Jareth looked at her pensively before replying, "I need your help. And you must know that it is quite humiliating for me to say that. It is also a leap to trust you with that explanation, as—you're right—I've known you but a few moments in a timeless world. However, I would hope for both our sakes that this is not a mistake."

"What do you need my help for?"

"Well, first for getting out of here, which you've already managed to do just by being here. Also for finding a way to return the Labyrinth to its original form. I need time to move again so I can regain my power and my control over this unpredictable place."

"I'm supposed to help you with that?"

"You seem moderately intelligent," he said with a lift of his shoulders that made Andie want to pummel him. "And you seem to have already won allies. I will need such connections and, this time, they cannot stem only from fear." Jareth's intense gaze moved over to meet hers again as he said his next words. "I will also need you to keep my lack of magic to yourself. Under no circumstances can I afford this information to be divulged. Do you understand?"

Andie met his gaze levelly before looking at her hands and saying seriously, "You know, it's unwise to go on first impressions of people."

"I do not have much choice at this moment. I need someone on my side."

"And what makes you think I'm on your side?"

"Well," he murmured, beginning to become irked but containing it. "You are not not on my side…"

"That is terrible logic," Andie told him. "Awful. You're lucky you've not been killed on that thinking."

"Indeed, but it is true," he groused. "Look, I'm putting a good amount of faith in you, recognize that this does not come lightly—"

"Or with permission."

"Andie," he grumbled.

"All right, all right," Andie muttered. "But make more informed decisions in the future. I may not spill your secret, but I'm not planning on risking my neck to save your skin either. And don't act like you know me, like we're friends. You don't know anything about me."

"And the same applies in reverse," Jareth pointed out. "At least I'm willing."

"Because you want something from me."

"There is no point in denying it, as I've already made that clear. Yes. I want your help."

"Earn it," Andie snipped just as a hidden door nearby swung open and Hoggle entered the oubliette.

"I knew I shoulda gone with ya, are you—" He paled when his eyes found Jareth. "It's you!"

"In the flesh," Jareth said flippantly, shooting a glance toward Andie as he stood. "Having a chat with your new friend. Say…" He paused and looked at her considerately. "How did you come to be in my Labyrinth anyway?"

"I picked up a glass peach, it cut my hand, and then—boom—I was here."

Interest sparked in his eyes and she began to ponder what Hoggle had warned her about earlier. "And how did you manage to come across such a trinket?" he asked softly.

She started to answer and, after catching Hoggle's eye, who was practically begging her silently not to tell the truth, she said instead, "I found it. In a thrift store."

Jareth's eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't press the subject. "Curious."

"Indeed," she murmured, not breaking his gaze. He watched her a moment longer before nodding and walking toward the door, ducking low to make his way into the tunnel beyond. She looked down at Hoggle. "Thank you for coming down here."

"Of course, though I might've done things differently had I known he was down here, too," he murmured, casting a sideways glance through the doorway. "Go on."

Andie stepped through the doorway and then straightened up, hearing Hoggle walk out and shut the door behind them. They then began to walk down the tunnel, Hoggle stepping ahead to lead the way. There was something rigid in Jareth's frame that reminded Andie of a caged animal wary of recapture, so she kept her distance. However, the young woman nearly leapt out of her skin when a booming voice shattered the silence only permeated by their footsteps. "TURN BACK."

"YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY," boomed another up where Hoggle was walking.

"Oh, shut it," Hoggle grumbled, ignoring the enormous stone heads. "Don't mind them, they're just False Alarms."

"NO, THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING."

"Now, that's just rude, trying to steer people off course," she accused the last one to shout.

"It's… It's my job, Miss," it said awkwardly, glancing away from her. When it didn't shout again, she cut it some slack, moving along to catch up with Hoggle and Jareth, who had slowed to wait. Jareth still had an air of amusement about him, but said nothing.

After following Hoggle through the winding tunnels of the Underground, they reached the end and crawled out through a small burrow, camouflaged beneath a line of brush. Hoggle turned around to help Andie out and grimaced when Jareth stepped out as well. He leaned toward Andie and whispered, "What's he still doing here?"

She shrugged. "Feels like tagging along, I guess."

"Not fond of my company, Hogarth? I'm offended," Jareth commented patronizingly.

"It's Hoggle! I see at least one thing hasn't changed in this place!" he grumped as he began to lead the way back to the campsite.

Walking ahead to mutter about things Andie only heard bits and pieces of, she walked at her own pace, finding that she'd scraped her cheek a bit when she'd fallen in the oubliette. "Stupid hands," she sighed as she ran her fingertips over the uneven edge of the scrape and winced when it stung.

Ludo was pacing around the camp when they got back, visibly relieved when he saw that they'd come back. Andie couldn't be sure whether he just didn't notice Jareth or didn't have an opinion of him since he didn't react to the addition to their party, but Jareth certainly didn't seem to care for the bumbling giant. Didymus, Leona, and Nyle all had their reactions, however.

"Oh, goodness me, are you all right?!" Didymus fussed as he hurried over to them, his jaw dropping when he saw Jareth. "And where on earth did he come from?"

"Everyone is so shocked to see me, where did you all think I went?" Jareth muttered with a roll of his dual-colored eyes, which soon fell upon the half-goblin nearby. "Nyle. An interesting surprise."

Nyle inclined his head, but the venom in his voice was plain. "Your Highness."

"Indeed," Jareth agreed flippantly, which only seemed to piss Nyle off more. Andie made a mental note to ask him about the Goblin King a little later on, expecting a nicely candid answer from someone with such a sour opinion and not afraid to express it. "And…?"

"Leona," the sphinx said calmly, though her eyes were narrowed with some contempt.

"Ah, yes… You've left your post."

She snorted softly through her stone nose and Andie wondered suddenly if she was only stone on the outside or if some kind of magic made her stone body malleable. She couldn't really say why she kept wondering about these things when none of it made sense, but her brain hadn't stopped trying to categorize and decipher the oddities yet. "So have you."

"The entirety of the Labyrinth is my post, I recall assigning you to the clocktower."

"It was the side entrance to the castle and this place is already so disorderly, it hardly matters."

Jareth arched a brow her way. "You would speak so to your king?"

"I am fashioned to fear nothing and, as such, I have nothing to fear," she said dismissively. "This is what makes my guardianship so absolute."

"Hm," he murmured before shrugging it off. "Fair enough." He appeared to be a mixture of equal parts miffed and impressed. "Say, where might your… A-ha!" He'd sighted the provisions, but Hoggle began to make a beeline toward the stash. "Excuse me, dwarf, you think this wise?"

Hoggle paused and seemed conflicted in what to do next, but ended up slowly stepping away, muttering about being a coward. It was no wonder he wanted everyone to still think he had his magic, Andie noted. He's an absolute bully. She watched Jareth step over and pour himself a cup of tea from leaves Didymus had contributed, which had tasted strangely like cold medicine to Andie, and help himself to the leftover food. Didymus looked to Andie after a moment of quiet had passed in which everyone had cast judgy, aggravated glances toward Jareth and said, "I was thinking, perhaps the Wiseman would have some, well, wisdom for you on how you might return home."

"The Wiseman?" she repeated curiously.

"Exactly as he sounds, milady. Quite wise. And it couldn't hurt to ask, could it?"

"Not at all, thank you for saying something," Andie said with a smile before heading over to sit near the wall, where she'd taken lunch earlier. A patch of dark sky had wandered near and had begun to take over the area of the courtyard and for about a square mile all around. Her fatigue hit her all at once and Andie slouched just enough to gain a stable position and before she knew it, her eyes had shut and she was out like a light.

Jareth was making a point of eating slowly, despite his stomach feeling as if it would gnarl and swallow the rest of his insides at the first sign of nutrients in centuries. The curse of living agelessly while his body's needs and soul's unrest rotted him in a cell was disturbingly potent, as he'd previously had doubts that anything in this world could faze him any longer. It was all he could do not to cringe every time he swallowed another bit of dried meat or sandwich, it didn't matter what he ate or drank from the provisions by the fire, it all felt like lead in his stomach. He could feel eyes on him though, and knew now wasn't the time to show even mild discomfort.

Darkness closed in around them and painted the visible overhead with spiraling stars and an endless depth of black. Jareth listened to the other creatures around the campsite shift and settle into place for the "night," though the cycle of light had been disrupted with the rest of the reality around them. Once he heard stillness fall back over the courtyard, he looked up, surveying the faces decorated by shadows and the flicker of the fire. Jareth glanced away from Ludo and Didymus across the clearing with disinterest, his gaze settling on the dark-haired girl to his right. He stared at her for a long moment before scoffing softly to himself and looking back down to his tea, which he sipped deeply and then nearly choked on, before going off to rest for the night as well, though the last thing he felt the need for was sleep after spending so long in the dark of the earth and his own mind.

It was only forever, he thought to himself with a dismal tinge of melancholy disguising itself as irony and humor. His lips curved without the expression touching his eyes. Not long at all.

Next chapter: Chapter 6, "Falling Down"

[vardasvapors]

Systems Management

wrote this with my girlfriend @ivanaskye for the collaboration challenge for Flash Fiction Month! have a good time guessing who wrote what. or go here for the spoilers

// you are okay/accept/happy/pleased with me/voice/presence/overwhelm?

—So speaks the entity (//system/AI/monitor of the space-station/the space-station itself, It adds) I have wired into my brain, taking up the space connected to my ears, the neurons used for hearing now something else. And I nod and then stumble, forgetting again that ears include the inner ear. Still so new, but I’ll– get used to It? Or something like that. I smile instead, and picture myself smiling, imagine myself humming mm-hmm! Or maybe I said that out loud—I wouldn’t know anymore. Have to pay attention to my throat’s vibration.

//you did. loud/vibration/loud.

Oops. I should probably get a handle on that. Would be kind of unsettling for the station’s… entity-wrangler? to be talking to themself in public. We don’t even have a proper job title yet.

//you were only/single to respond/accept/want. they are already/have always been unsettled/frightened.

Very true, and—how long have those lights been flashing anyway.

//oh. loud was you/this/this/this alarm. a system/piping/air it/I– sorry I must go and

And? I must or is it now we must—

There’s //fuzz/fuzz/screamstatic/all station metals vibrating with ?? and the engineer had asked if I could even process the concept of a sound! Well I’m sure processing this. I need to go and– find? But It is here now. And all around me too. So I need to find whatever is wrong and protect It. Oh and the people on the station too I guess.

Ah, speaking of the engineer—

And he’s talking, out loud, to me. Did he already forget.

“Deaf, remember? Where did the problem start?” Then I sign it again. A stupid glare. Okay someone hasn’t practiced since the academy I see. I say it out loud, which vibrates (//vvvibrate air going/vibrate/here) reasonably enough but maybe I said something that doesn’t make sense—oh hello you’re okay?

//okay defined by good/well/yes/yes/yes/yes—loop/shit/fuck/those are the words yes— okay/okay/okay/air/air/air?

I do have enough air right now. Is there a problem with the air?

//air wrong place going wrong place going loop/loop/loop brain/me/not brain/you’re a brain/help?

The engineer is typing something on his tablet. “Something wrong in the 1st class docking area I THINK”

I grab his tablet from him and type, “Air leak?”

He looks amazed. For some reason. He starts—ugh, talking out loud again, but it looks like he said of course. And maybe how and then something like—okay he must’ve said luxury liner because that’s the only fucking thing people have been talking about for days when they’re not talking about me. Us.

//screaming humans screaming/screaming the humans/to the humans/metal/loud they scream and

It transfers to me an image of the rich humans fighting to get through the tunnel to the dock, and yelling and blaming each other with spoken words but the words aggregate (//aggregated for you/for you/for it’s screaming/yell/loud/make it make stop?) to couldn’t wait and stock trading and the //brain not brain entity station //me you it hurts/hurts brain illness —

“The luxury liner gave It a virus, how many access privileges did you give them?” I ask.

The engineer squints at my hands and then shakes his head at me patronizingly. Well I can’t say all that out loud with any confidence. I take out my own tablet and pull up the translation application and hand it to him. Hopefully as patronizingly. Then I sign it again.

//hurt/data/correct/correct/correct you/you/you say/said/thought/think

It shows a fuzzy crackle of Its mind being contorted and weighed down into unnatural shapes and paths, and something—from engineering—overriding Its ways of fighting, holding It open in some way to the access ports, for the people on the liner, for their convenience. (//shake/glare/hurt shake/glare/look/stare/shake/help) Which wasn’t a problem for It until now—the engineers have the right to do things like that but—

Can I help? Please, is there any way I can help you? I emphasize you and you and you, what is in my brain and under my feet and between us and outer space.

//close/shut/please the signals the signals come are coming/hold shut I cannot/the outside/the outside screams/you do not scream/you/only you/access point sick/sick/I am sick/I am so sorry for/sick/sick/opened/need four/four/word/quarantine/yes help/you/you? You?

It sighs the way the air hisses and It is trying so hard to hold the ship together and help the very passengers who hurt It disembark safely but the effort, the energy to think through what is happening in Its mind—

Ah. Well, good thing I have the engineer right here. I grab his arm and pull him towards the nearest terminal. Then I hold up his hand with my tablet still in it and sign through the camera, “Do a complete system quarantine, and block off all access points. Indefinitely.” (//except you.) Except me, I don’t say, because nothing anyone else can do can block me off. That was after all the whole point of this experiment that I live with now.

The engineer gapes and speaks many words, the only one I lipread successfully is investments—

“No one’s going to invest in a crushed tin can with a shipload of suffocated socialites! Now!”

He glares and says something that looks like your fault and begins to enter the string of override codes.

//shutting/shutting

—It says like a sigh, settling gratefully into my mind and my mind only.

Which is when I realize that what I’ve done means forcing every single person with the slightest request of the station to talk to me.

Fuck.

[abugeatbugworld]

A Dumb Question: Part One

“Were you scared?”

Flik looks up from the invention he’s fixing. His eyes aren’t quite focused, and the pen he made from a flower stamen droops from the corner of his mouth. Dot lifts her hand to shield her eyes against the glare from his mushroom headlamp.

“Oh, sorry! I forgot I was wearing this,” he apologizes. The pen bobs up and down with each word. He reaches up and twists the mushroom cap to dim the light until it reaches a comfortable glow, and Dot lowers her hand.

“What did you say?” he asks. His eyes are focused now. Too focused.

She looks down at her hands, suddenly embarrassed. “Nothing. It was a dumb question.”

It’s quiet between them for a moment, the silence punctured only by the occasional ant strolling by the entrance of the tunnel that leads to Flik’s lab. Dot hopes her friend will forget she said anything and move on with his work.

But when she finally dares to peek up at him, he’s looking right at her. There’s a crease in the space between his eyes, which always appears when he’s thinking hard about something.

“I don’t believe in dumb questions.”

On the last word, the pen falls from Flik’s mouth to the floor. She watches as it rolls just beneath where her feet dangle an inch above the ground. If she stretched her leg all the way out, she could almost touch it with her toes.

“What’s wrong, Dot?”

Dot flinches at the closeness of Flik’s voice. He’d moved from the other side of the table to sit right beside her on his workbench, leaving less than a centimeter between them. Her skin prickles with warmth. Everything in her wants to close the gap, to crawl into his arms and knot her arms around his neck and stay there for as long he’ll let her.

But something roots her to the spot. Something strange and heavy sits in her chest, a feeling she doesn’t like and doesn’t have a name for.

Dot closes her eyes and remembers another time like this, a time when her friend was close enough for her to touch him if she wanted to. That time, it was fear making her skin prickle. She was afraid of the monster behind her back, the one who had his hooks around her head, who’d snapped his fingers to summon the other monster who almost swallowed her whole.

That time, it was her friend’s turn to close the gap, to reach across the space between them and save her from those hooks. He was supposed to take her somewhere safe, somewhere far away from the monster and his monster.

The first one had even told him to.

“You want her? Then go ahead, take her.”

Take me, she’d begged Flik with her eyes, her shaking hands clasped together like a prayer. Please take me away from him.

But he didn’t. He couldn’t even look at her. He stared up at the monster for a moment, then looked down at the floor that was so far below Dot’s feet. When the monster told him to get back in line, and he did.

Dot wanted to scream as Hopper reached his arm back, pulling her away from Flik’s reach. Why did her friend obey that time? Why did he tell the monster to leave her alone, and then leave her with him?

Hopper had told him to take her if he wanted her. He didn’t take her.

Did that mean he didn’t want her?

Dot opens her eyes and turns to look at Flik. He’s smiling, waiting so patiently for her to voice her question.

She feels guilty for even thinking it. This is the ant who saved her life twice, after all. The one who comes running to her room in the middle of the night when she cries out his name, who holds her after she wakes up from dreams about birds and grasshoppers, who sits by the side of her bed and sings her back to sleep.

This is the ant who flew to the city on a dandelion puff and came back with the bestest roughest bugs she’s ever seen, the ones who will protect her when the monsters come back. And even though she knows the bugs he found are supposed to be the real warriors, this is the ant whose name Dot still calls when she wakes up from another nightmare.

And he comes. Every time, this ant comes to her.

But still, this is the question that whispers to the princess at night after Flik leaves and she’s alone in her room again. The question that has been rattling around her brain for the past hour, while she watched her friend tinker with his inventions and listened to him talk about how everything is going to be better once the grasshoppers are gone for good. The question that won’t leave her alone until she has an answer.

So she takes a deep breath and asks her dumb question.

“Why didn’t you take me when Hopper told you to?”

[lanafofana]

Lanatav's Banter and Dialogue

Original Tav Banter and Dialogue post from mumms-the-word

I went ahead and answered most of these for kicks and giggles but left companion specific banter blank (and in bold) if you want to send an ask about anyone/scenario specifically I'd be happy to churn it through the ol noggin. This is just gratuitous self indulgence at it's finest but it was SO FUN! Back to slut smut writing!

Combat/Movement

1. Clicking on them once (non-combat) 

Sorry, what? 

I’m trying to read, if you don’t mind

*belch*

Woah! Watch those hands, buddy 

2. Spam clicking on them too many times

*sneeze*

Gods I’m hungry

Do you fucking mind? 

Oh shit, did I put out the campfire before we left? Yeah, I did…Did I? 

NO. TOUCHY. 

Ghosts aren’t real. Ghosts aren’t real. Ghosts aren’t real. Ah! 

3. Directing them to attack/move in combat

Oh shit it’s go time?

This isn’t going to go well.

Right, so I guess I’ll just…get to it then.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

Catch these hands! (false bravado)

4. Hiding/sneaking/hidden movement 

My back hurts

I have to pee

Why are my hands so sweaty?

Sneak attack go! 

Shhh!! 

5. Taking a short rest 

Ready to go again already?

Fine fine, I’m coming

This day is dragging

6. Low health/asking for healing

I AM IN PAIN

Hate to interrupt but I’m losing a LOT of blood…like A LOT

Could I trouble you for some GODSDAMNED HELP?

Is that the sun or just the light at the end of the tunnel? It's gettin' bigger.

My insides have become my outsides 

7. Attacked by a party member

This is why we can’t have nice things. 

DURGE HELP

Watch it dickhead.

Ow what the hell? 

Harder, daddy!  

MUTINY!!!!

8. Companion/romance death reactions 

Companions Oh shit…uh, Withers?! 

I have a scroll for that 

Another one bites the dust

This is…not ideal 

Romance

NO. NO NONONONO.

No! Please…

My love? 

*scream of inarticulate rage and pain* + gains bonus action and ENRAGED buff

9. Going to buff/heal a companion/romance

Hero mode activated! 

Don’t worry, I’ll have you right as rain!

Lemme kiss and make it better!

Oh, that’s gross looking, here, drink this! 

Steady on, tiger, take a beat. Not a beating.

That was a little too close for my comfort. 

Bless you! Haha get it cause it’s a blessing? Nevermind. 

10. Sending them to talk to an NPC

You’ve made a serious error in judgment. 

Who, me? Why? 

Pass. I SAID PA– oh fuck it.

Remember this was your stupid ass idea. 

Fine but I’m going to complain the whole time. 

11. Sending them to talk to their romanced partner

Finally!

My favorite person, yes! 

Surprise kiss attack go! 

I just can’t stay away

I need a hug. 

Someone looks lonely. It’s me. I look lonely. 

Interacting with Items

12. Encountering a locked chest/door

Does anyone have a hairpin?

Tsk! Secrets secrets are no fun!

Like a fun little puzzle with a surprise at the end! 

13. Picking a lock

Just a little…to the…left aaaand

Hold my beer

My time to shine has come

Righty tighty, lefty– wait no

Watch and learn, Astarion

14. Looking at a globe

I’m gonna spin it and the place my finger lands is where I’ll move when this is all over…and it’s to be…the ocean. *sigh* Again. 

Oh look! Here’s where we are! 

15. Looking at an astrolabe

Space travel? Hard pass

I prefer the view outside

There’s so much out there. And all of it wants to kill you. 

16. Looking at a telescope

Hey I know that constellation!

I wish I had one of these at home 

You think someone, somewhere is looking in a telescope back at us? 

17. Looking in a mirror

Oh! Hm.

Wow that’s…a look

How long has my hair looked like that?

I should eat a vegetable. Soon. 

18. Looking at a nonmagical lamp 

My lamp. My lamp. My lovely lady lamps.  

19. Noticing a trap

Oop

Look at me. Do not step there. 

Hey, Gale, c’mere a sec 

Do I have to do everything around here? 

20. Can’t fit into a small hole

Ha ha ha hilarious

I know I’m the shortest but really? [Lanatav Disapproves -1 approval]

I’m not sticking my arm in there if that’s what you want  [Lanatav Disapproves  -1 approval]

It wasn’t funny the first time and it’s less funny now  [Lanatav Disapproves  -2 approval]

Location Comments and Party Banters

21. Comments/reactions near an Act 1 location

Nautiloid crash/Beach

Ugh gotta get outta here it smells like rancid calamari 

(finding intellect devourers)*retching noises* Brains with legs! Brains with legs! 

I think that mindflayer just moved 

Where did these goblins come from, you think?

So many dead…sad 

Is that a travel rune? Why does it look so…sparky? 

Emerald Grove

Just one brush with danger after another isn’t it? 

These druids are…something. Not hospitable. But something.

 A lot less harmony than I thought a druid grove would exude 

(Notice weird cow) Watch it, beef steak 

(Hearing singing at the beach) If there’s a mermaid down there I’m gonna lose it (excited)

Jergal’s Shrine

Creepy crypt. Wonderful. And I supposed you want to just..yep, walkin’ right in, yep I’m coming. 

Wilderness/Forest

(owlbear tracks leading to cave) What are you doing? We’re not going in there surely? 

(finding honeycomb) A sweet treat for me to eat! 

*happy gasp* Is that a dog!? Here puppy! 

Blighted village

(noticing goblins) After you 

(Matriarch spider) Fuck that. I’ll wait for you outside, alright? 

(Apothecary’s cellar) Woah a secret lab! 

(Childs game) I remember this one. Not as fun when you're by yourself though. 

Swamp

Snake. Snake! Oh, just a branch.

This place is the definition of a bad vibe 

Oh look, a frog! I love frogs! (later) I like most frogs.

Weird place for a teahouse 

Goblin Camp

Oh look, more goblins. Goody for us. 

Mmm something smells like barbeque.

Not to be a naysayer, but do we really think that druid is still alive? Really?

*happy gasp* Owlbear cub! OWLBEAR CUB!

Mountain Pass

Dragons? Again!? You gotta be shittin’ me

The Underdark

All the mortal peril aside, I love it here

Mushrooms! Oh but look, don’t touch!! 

All the books I’ve read don’t hold a candle to the real thing 

(spectator) *Happy gasp*

(minotaur) *Happy gasp*

(bulette) *Happy gasp*

Rosymorn Monastery 

I’ve got a deep aching sense of dread. But the view is to die– nevermind.

When she said creche I was picturing something a little less monastic mass murder and something  a little more, I don’t know. Catacomb chic. Something with stalactites. I don’t know why.  

Risen Road

There’s something wrong with those hyenas…

Waukeen’s Rest

Running into a burning building to rescue some stranger at significant risk to personal welfare? Wouldn’t have been my first choice but very well. 

22. Comments/reactions near an Act 2 location

Ruined Battlefield

Is anyone else having trouble drawing a full breath of air? It’s like breathing soup. 

Last Light Inn

(Entering 1st time) I sure hope nobody in there is feeling trigger happy, I’m exhausted. 

Reithwin Town - Lanatav gains revolving fear debuff that can only be countermanded by covering her eyes/being held/having someone hold her hand. 

(Tollhouse) So do we think the gold all over the floor is cursed or…?

(House of Healing) (nauseated) Oh my gods. Oh my gods. Oh my gods. Oh my gods. 

(The Waning Moon) I could use a stiff drink as much as the next person but you do realize that’s a bar full of drinking stiffs, right? 

(Reithwin Graveyard) This entire trip so far has given me enough nightmare fuel to last until I’m 90. 

(Grand Mausoleum) That’s…that’s a lot of bones. Too many bones. 

Moonrise Towers 

Someone hold my hand. No I’m not kidding…thank you, Durge. 

Gauntlet of Shar

This just keeps getting better and better.

23. Comments/reactions near an Act 3 location

Rivington

Gods, the refugees, look at them all. The place was overcrowded several hundred bodies ago.

*happy gasp* Is that a tressym?! 

(ground shakes) Oh, that’s horribly unpleasant and not at all ominous. 

Wyrm’s Crossing

Slut city here we come! 

Lower City

I hate it here.

Lower City Sewers/ Undercity Ruins

Next time leave me at camp. 

24. Lines said in the Morphic Pool or High Hall 

Gods, it’s almost over (weary)….Gods! It’s almost over! (perking up)

Brains with legs! Brains with legs!

Tentacles. Tentacles everywhere. 

Once more unto the breach, eh Gale? Gale? Gale! Put those tiddies away, now is not the time! 

25. Party banter with Astarion

26. Party banter with Gale

27. Party banter with Wyll

28. Party banter with Karlach

29. Party banter with Lae'zel

30. Party banter with Shadowheart

31. Party banter with Halsin

32. Party banter with Jaheira

33. Party banter with Minthara

34. Party banter with Minsc

Bonus (Misc, some companion dialogues)

35. How would your Tav/Durge greet a player character if they were a companion at low, neutral, high, or romanced approval? I actually started this already in a document i was drafting a romance path!

Greetings:

Very Low

[Stares with hostile resting bitch face.]

The fuck you want now? 

Still alive then? Pity.

DURGE! I need a buffer!!  

Low

Look at me like that again and I’m throwing hands, alright? 

(Annoyed sigh) What?

(muttering) You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me right now. (Louder, aggressive) Yeah?

Don’t push your luck.

Neutral

It wasn’t me. I mean, hmm? No, nevermind that. We moving or what?  

Yeah?

Oh… hi?

Medium

Hey, what’s up?

You need somethin’?

You good?

High

Hey, uh, you (awkward but delighted with the attention)

Are you alright, boss?

Nice day for a chat, whatcha thinkin’ about?

Very High

Do you need my help with something? I gotchu.

How’s the day treatin’ you?

What’s the hot gossip?

Yeah, boss? What’s good? 

Exceptional

You’re looking well, can I help with anything?  

You look glum, chum. Hey wanna hear something hilarious about [companion with lowest approval]?

I have a book you might like. If you want. 

I know that look in your eye, let’s hear it, boss 

Romanced

Low Approval Romance

H-hey (shy) 

Want to walk with me for a bit? 

Medium Approval Romance

Wanna go crazy and hold hands? 

What’s up, buttercup? 

You look nice today. Is that a new…breastplate? *cough* No, that’s not what I– Ah hells. 

High/Exceptional Approval Romance

I’ve been trying to use the tadpole to summon you for ages, did it finally work? 

Hey, tiger

Need some moral support, tiger? (flirty, suggestive) 

I was just thinking about you, love

Careful with that smile, tiger, you’ll knock the wind right out of me.  

Broken Up

Alright there? 

You ok?

…Hey

When spoken to by someone not the player character 

Begone. 

Boundaries are important. 

Sorry, you must have mistaken me for someone who cares. 

Yeah, b– oh, sorry, thought you were someone important. 

36. What are some situational dialogues they would say when something happens to another companion or you talk to them while in a quest-specific location (such as commenting on Karlach's heart, Elminster visiting Gale, visiting Cazador's mansion, etc)?

37. How would they respond to a player character prompting them with, "Tell me about yourself"? 

Hmm I like to read? Guess you might have sussed that one out on your own. Well, let me think. Oh! I can play the piano. Well, I can play one song on the piano. Well, I know most of one song on the piano.

“Come on, tell me something real.” 

Ugh. Bully. Fine. I like animals, mushrooms, pickles, stargazing and reading. I dislike large crowds, loud noises, and deep water.  My comfort food is pizza.

38. If a player character asks them to consider consuming tadpoles or using the Astral tadpoles, how would your Tav/Durge respond?

Fuck off with your jumbo shrimp.

39. If romanceable, what lines would they say if a player character prompted them with, "Can I kiss you?"

O-oh! *blushing* Yeah, ‘course.

You better, tiger 

I don’t know, can you?

Not if I kiss you first!

Just a kiss? Pity.  

40. If romanceable, what would they say if a player character asks for a "last kiss" at the Morphic Pool/HIgh Hall?

[Caresses PC cheek] How about one for luck and two for the road, eh tiger?

Only if there’s tongue. 

[Answers by jumping into their arms if they’re taller, or sweeping them into a old hollywood style kiss if they’re same size/smaller] 

If you made it all the way down here thank you for your attention hahaha <3

[jamiekb]

Listening to TMA for the first time (Part VI)

Part I II III IV V

68-80

#68 The Tale of a Field Hospital: More weird books. And yes I have no idea how the bugs/arachnids and diseases are related or even if they are but they feel weird. And that little tidbit Not-Sasha says “it makes it hard to focus” will be important later. Or it could just be that everything’s about her gives me the creeps.

#69 Thought for the Day: I do have arachnophobia, I can tell I’m so going to enjoy the final confrontation with that. So maybe Anabelle is like the main corporeal form for this thing? Like Jane Prentiss maybe? Not the thing but a powerful vessel let’s call it

#70 Book of the Dead: very creepy, love a good old story where you can’t escape your fate. Hope they never encounter it in the Archive. So maybe Gertrude was hunting down these books and trying to get rid of them? Now I think I’ll go back and see if the tunnels already existed in their entirety before the Jane Prentiss thing or if the worms like modified them, cause originally I thought the worms created them but of course now I realize that makes no sense.

#71 Underground: interesting, it’s one of those episodes where I’m left wondering if she became like a ghost or something, since she tracked dirt into the Institute. And again with weird spaces just kinda keeping people.

#72 Takeaway: as John says, more meat. It is interesting that the nephew is the one from the meat factory and the way the guy talked about religion, could it be connected to the cult maybe? And I thought the cult had been disbanded, had it and the leader never found? Or something else?

#73 Police Lights: great questions at the there John, how did they know where they were? Maybe it’s someone on their level that wanted to eliminate them? I’m sure we’ll get to tie some loose ends, but when? And apparently no more Gertrude tapes for now, hope either Daisy gives them to John or maybe Basira takes them before she quits?

#74 Fatigue: hey Michael! Good things John told me what was relevant at the end of that episode, I couldn’t really concentrate. So again he pop up. And the we have Not-Sasha being very suspicious, who’s she working with? What kind of files are disappearing from the archive and what do they with them at the end?

#75 A Long Way Down: oh hey Michael Crew, god I really need a timeline, I can’t remember what year he died, though this must be before of course. Why did he start collecting Lietners again? Was this established? Anyway so when someone disappears in the sky it’s his fault apparently

#76 The Smell of Blood: Melanie I love you, sad to see you leave (die probably). Finally John! Yes please look into Not-Sasha. I guess it’s one of those things that when you don’t see someone regularly you are more likely to notice changes. In any case I want to know what he means by “I know where to start”

#77 The Kind Mother: Oh ok so the next big threat will be changelings, finally justice for Sasha. Really creepy, in the sense that I am afraid of demencia kind of creepy. Feeling like your loosing your mind because your reality is different from everyone else's.

#78 Distant Cousin: WHAT TEH FUCK WAS THAT????? Michael??? It was actually binding it??? How??? Also why did Tim agree so suddenly? He hasn’t been trusting John for just that sudden change in attitude, will they come back because they wanted to know what John would do? Hope not, although maybe that way they’ll figure out John was take by Michael, whom I very much did not expect right know. What game is he (I’ll use he/him pronouns until told otherwise) playing??? Now John is just trapped in his dimension and will possibly now be percived as Michael's Property?

#79 Hide and Seek: please I just want to vaguely understand, AHHHHHHHH. Ok so Not-Sasha was tied to the table, by the spider webs who are its enemy. The table was moved around by its collaborators, who are the Hope and something delivery I guess (or maybe they’re involved in something else). And apparently being the Archivist is like a big deal for beings like Not-Sasha, cause it talked about it like it was a position. Also I really hope Michael let’s Martin and Tim go, he just wanted them out the way so John could be chased by Not-Sasha. And who was that at the end??? How did they get there so fast??? Aren’t they in the tunnels??? What killed Not-Sasha???

#80 The Librarian: So…. I was not expecting that. I’ll break it down cause my mind is kinda mush by this point.

• Not-Sasha has been stopped for now but its not actually dead.

• Jorgun Leitner has been living in the tunnels for years. The tunnels span quite a bit of England??? At least they can go from building to building that Robert Smith made.

• Jorgun Leitner has collected the books cause man's hubris. He employed many assistants for researching what each book does. He almost had one thousand tomes. Not all of them have his seal.

• The Entities??? can be classified by what they represent but not precisely how they manifest. So maybe not all the meat things will be One, you have to understand the themes being presented within the episode (I can only understand it like that) to see what is the same and what is just meat. So meat as death is not the same as meat as religious stand in, I think, I hope. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.

• Elias killed Gertrude because she was gonna burn down the Archive in collaboration with Jorgun. He has now killed Jorgun, and apparently both Martin and Tim now think John killed him.

• Also the Archives is an Entity (not surprising) and is John's master i guess (somehow surprising for me, it really shouldn't (we had already established that they wouldn't be able to leave because something is not letting them))

I guess that's like my first impression and trying to make sense of it some hours after finishing episode 80. So I'm pretty excited for the series going forward. What will Martin and Tim think about John? Will they confront him about it? Will John be able to show them the evidence of Elias killing Jorgund? I also just want to see Michael again of course and more of these Entities now that we know a bit more of how they are "joined" with the books (if I understood kinda how they work), and in general just more stories.

[dreamerstreamer]

Pocket Knife Prince

Pairing: c!Technoblade x gn!reader

Summary: [Dream SMP!AU] You’ve liked Technoblade from the moment he joined Pogtopia, but you could never quite bring yourself to confess. Who knew it would only take a pocket knife and some potatoes to change that?

Warnings: minor cursing & one slightly out of pocket joke

Word Count: 4.2k

A/N: this a repost of an older story i had posted a while back. this story takes place back when technoblade was still allied with pogtopia. i hope you enjoy! <3

You huffed as you pulled yourself up another rung on the ladder, your arms straining as you did your best to keep yourself balanced. You still couldn’t fathom why Tommy thought it was a good idea to dig straight down.

“I’ll hit a cave, eventually,” he had told you as he grabbed a pickaxe, already starting to mine away at the space beneath his feet.

“Maybe,” you had said. “But what if you hit a lava pool? Do you really want to burn alive?”

“Oh, I have a backup plan in case I fuck up.” He held up a bucket of water, grinning at you. “Bam. Fucking foolproof.”

Yeah, sure, you thought to yourself with a grimace as you continued to haul yourself upward. You might not have died while digging down, but I might die while climbing up. 

Pausing, you reached behind you to adjust the strap of your back with a cry of frustration. This is way too heavy—I should have gone back earlier.

You looked back up again, squinting for a second before your eyes lit up. At long last, light! You were at least somewhat close to the entrance, now. “Just a bit more climbing,” you muttered to yourself as you reached up once more, “and then you’ll be able to take this stupid bag off.”

A few moments later, you gasped as you finally dragged yourself out of the vertical tunnel, standing up on shaky legs. Without even an ounce of hesitation, you swung your pack off your back, dumping it onto the dusty earth ungracefully. Your muscles practically screamed with relief as you rolled back your shoulders, a wide smile stretching across your face.

“Hey, boys!” you shouted, your voice echoing in the tall ravine. “Guess who’s back?!”

You heard some rumbling, then a tuft of blond hair peeked out from one of the overhanging pillars. “Big [Y/N]!” Tommy shouted, waving at you. “You took for-fuckin’-ever to get back.”

You stuck your tongue out at him, crossing your arms over your chest. “It’s not my fault we needed so much stuff.” You narrowed your gaze. “Also, your ladder idea sucks.” 

Tommy scowled. “My ladder idea is fucking genius, you bi—”

A new voice cut in. “Tommy, that’s enough.”

You smiled triumphantly as you watched Tommy immediately shrink back, his tone quieting as he grumbled defeatedly, “Yes, Wilbur.”

Giving him a quick ruffle of his hair, Wilbur strolled down the ravine’s cobblestone steps down to the bottom. He pulled his hands out of his coat pockets as he flashed you a grin. “Welcome back, [Y/N]. How was the trip?”

You offered him a weary but satisfied look. “Oh, you know. Dark. Dusty. The usual. But…” Bending down, you flipped open the top of your pack and pulled out a smaller sack, shaking it in front of his face. “…I got all that gold you wanted! There’s probably a little less than seven stacks in there, which will be plenty if we want to make some golden apples.”

Wilbur blinked at you, his eyebrows raised in surprise as a smile began to tug at his lips. “Not that I doubt you or anything,” he said, “but where in the world did you manage to get nearly seven stacks of gold?”

You shrugged nonchalantly, dropping the bag into his hands with a hum. “In a cave.” When he stared at you in stunned silence, you quirked a brow at him. “What? It’s not like it was hard.”

He was grinning now, shaking his head. “You’re batshit crazy, [Y/N]. That’s incredible.”

You smiled sheepishly at his words. “For the record,” you pointed out, “I didn’t do it all in a single day or anything. I was gone for, like, half a week.”

“That’s still really good work, alright?” He reached over, playfully punching your shoulder. “Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

You winced, shooting him a dirty look. “Ow, that hur—”

“Oh, you’re back.”

Your head whipped around at the sound of low, rumbling voice. Your frown vanished at the sight of Technoblade standing a few feet away from you, a basket of potatoes held in his gloved hands. You felt your heart swell and a bright grin replace your scowl as you bounced over to him. “Hi, Techno!” you chirped.

He smiled back at you, his gaze kind. “Hello.”

From behind you, Wilbur let out a distressed noise. “Jeez, you seem so excited to talk to him but barely batted an eye at me. Did you miss him that much?”

You stuck your tongue out at him, trying to hide the flush of your cheeks. “More than I did you.”

Tommy cackled as he walked by, adjusting the straps of the pack in his hands. “Ouch. Maybe you should get some ice for that burn, Wilbur.”

Wilbur grimaced, opening his mouth to retort when his gaze suddenly lit up. “Actually,” he said, turning, “speaking of ice, who wants to go with me to the Nether to destroy some of the SMP’s and Manberg’s ice roads?” A devilish grin split across his face. “I figured that it would slow them down a bunch and they’d spend less time focusing on us, so it’ll be easier for us to get into contact with Tubbo.”

You blinked at him, then sent him a teasing smile. “Wilbur, this might one of the only good ideas you’ve had since starting a drug cartel.”

“Thank y—wait, is that a compliment?”

“Man,” Technoblade sighed, rolling his eyes at him, “just take it as one and let your ego coast on that for the next six months.”

“Anyways,” Wilbur said, ignoring him and moving on, “who wants to come with me?”

You shook your head, shifting your weight from foot to foot. “No thanks. I just got back from a long, long mining trip. I think I’m due for some time off.”

Wilbur nodded. “Alright, fair.” His gaze moved to the figure standing next to you. “Techno?”

Technoblade simply raised the basket of potatoes in his hands. “Nah. I’ve got my hands full here.”

Wilbur made a face, a hint of desperation seeping into his eyes. “You can farm potatoes any time,” he said, his voice raising a pitch or two. “How about you just come with m—”

“Why don’t I just go?”

Wilbur froze, and he turned with a shaky smile. “A-Are you sure about that, Tommy? You sure you don’t just want to stay in the ravine with [Y/N]?”

Tommy shrugged, flipping the stick in his hand. “Not really. It’s not like I have anything better to do, anyways.” He nudged the pack at his feet. “I’m even packed and ready to go, too.”

Wilbur swallowed, and you could have sworn a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. “You really want to come?” he added, sounding more and more uncertain with each word that passed his lips.

“I dunno, Wilbur,” Technoblade spoke up, quirking his lips at him, “but it almost sounds like you don’t want to bring Tommy with you.”

Tommy gasped, looking appalled. “What the hell, Will? Of course you want me to go with you, right?”

Wilbur turned on his heel, dragging a tired hand over his face. “Sure, Tommy. Let’s just say that.” He strode away toward the stairs, practically stomping his way up to the second floor. “Just give me a second to grab a pack,” he sighed, waving a hand behind him. “I’ll be down in like five minutes.”

Tommy threw his hands in the air, waving his stick. “Fuck yeah!”

Technoblade let out a quiet chuckle, turning on his heel. “Well, I’m gonna go back to farming.”

You glanced at him shyly, trailing after him. “Can I come with?”

His step faltered, and he turned to send you a fond look. “Always.”

Your heart lit up at the sight and you grinned, following him into the garden room. The entirety of the floor had been replaced with dirt, tiny streams of water weaving their way around the potato patches. You let out a quiet hum as Technoblade set the basket of potatoes on the ground, grabbing a hoe from its place on the wall and walking over to the makeshift field. Digging the blade of the hoe into the earth, he pulled back and repeated the motion until the soft, dark soil was exposed to the air. Leaning back against the wall, a soft smile crept onto your face as you watched.

You remembered when Technoblade first arrived in the Dream SMP, all those months ago. You had been sitting in the ravine, peeling an apple with a pocket knife as you chatted with Wilbur, when Tommy burst in with a deafening shout about “the blade”. Raising your head, you had opened your mouth to make a snarky retort, but the words died in your mouth the minute you laid eyes on him.

He looked like a prince—a handsome one, at that.

While Wilbur had jumped down to greet Technoblade with a friendly hug, you had simply stared at the newcomer, pocket knife in your hand and apple slice in the other. As Tommy brought Technoblade over to you and asked you to introduce yourself, you remembered that dizzy pink feeling rising in your chest as you blurted the first thing that came to mind.

“Want an apple slice?”

You had expected him to be confused, shaking his head and pulling away with a disgusted look. But instead, his gaze flickered to your hand.

“I’d rather have the knife.”

You had blinked at him for a moment, stunned, then burst into laughter, outstretching your hand with the pocket knife handle extended toward him. He had offered you a small, awkward smile back, gingerly taking the knife from you. When his hands brushed against yours, that hazy, rosy feeling swelled in your chest again.

Ever since that moment, you’d only fallen harder and harder.

It was difficult to put into words just what drew you to Technoblade. Of course, he was pretty, but you weren’t that shallow. He had an awkward charm to him, something that seeped into every aspect of his being. He was hardworking, determined, sarcastic, and oh-so very real. You couldn’t name one thing about him that you didn’t like, really. You loved his laughter that came in brief, giggling bursts. Every time he smiled, you couldn’t help but smile back. He never failed to keep you guessing, and you loved every second you spent with him.

You weren’t sure how far you’d fallen at this point, but you knew one thing, and it was that there was no going back.

“Hey,” a new voice said suddenly, pulling you away from your thoughts. You turned, watching Tommy stick his head into the room. “Can I have some potatoes for the trip?”

Your eyes shot to Technoblade, who paused for a moment, then nodded, gesturing to the basket at his feet. “Sure. You can have a couple.”

Tommy grinned, strolling in to lean down and pluck three potatoes from the pile. Standing back up again, he toed the basket, tossing and catching a potato in his hands. “Hey, Techno,” he said, “don’t you ever get tired of farming these things?”

Technoblade paused, patting down the dirt he had just covered another potato with. “Eh, not really.” His eyes flickered with contentment, and you felt your lips twitch. “I like it.”

Tommy frowned. “But,” he said, “it’s so fucking boring.”

You gasped, shooting him a glare. “Tommy! That’s mean.”

“What? Am I wrong?” He flung his arm out to point at the tilled dirt, clearly unimpressed. “All he’s doing is the same fucking thing over and over, again. We’re in a war, [Y/N]. Why can’t he just spar with me or something?”

You crossed your arms over your chest, deadpanning. “Tommy, the last time you sparred with Technoblade, you lasted less than ten seconds.” 

He grew quiet. “Okay, well, you didn’t have to put it like that, but—”

“What? Am I wrong?” you said, mimicking him.

A second passed. Then two.

“…touché, [Y/N].”

“Tommy!” Wilbur’s voice echoed from the top of the stairs, his head popping out from between the railings. “You ready to go?”

Without missing a beat, Tommy whipped around, rushing out of the farm room and slipping up the stairs. “I’m coming!”

A smirk tugged at Wilbur’s lips. “Heh.”

“Wha—oh, Will! That’s fucking disgusting.”

“But it was funny,” you called out after the youngest.

“Fuck off, [Y/N]!”

Beside you, Technoblade let out a laugh, his eyes curving into two crescent moons as he set down the hoe and picked up a shovel. With a fond smile gracing your lips, you took a step toward him, leaning down to take a closer look. There was something so endearing about knowing someone as powerful as Technoblade had a hobby as mundane as farming—farming potatoes, to be more specific. 

You liked it. A lot. You liked him a lot.

You wondered how much longer you could go without saying it aloud.

“Hey, Techno,” you murmured, watching his ears perk up at the sound of your voice, “could you teach me the best way to plant potatoes?”

He paused, his shovel planting itself in the earth as he turned to look at you, his lips parted in surprise. “Y-You actually want to learn?”

You bobbed your head, praying that your face wasn’t growing any warmer. “Of course. Fighting’s fun and all, but there’s more to life than just bloodshed.” You flashed him a bright grin. “Besides, an army needs food to fight!”

With a small grin, he gestured for you step closer. “You want to make sure you dig about six to eight inches down,” he explained, gesturing down the hole with his finger. “If you don’t dig deep enough, then the potato will be too close to the surface, and if you dig too deep, it’ll have a harder time reaching the top.”

You nodded, your tongue swiping over your lips in concentration. Technoblade let out a brief cough, turning away with a slight flush to his cheeks as he grabbed a potato from the basket next to him. “Then,” he continued, “grab a potato. You’ll want to cut it in half down the middle and plant it so the cut side is facing downwards.”

Sticking a hand into his pocket, he rummaged around for a second before pulling out a familiar pocket knife. Your eyes flashed with recognition as he flipped the blade open and sliced through the potato with ease.

“Is that,” you began slowly, your tone tentative and gentle, “my pocket knife? From when we first met?”

Technoblade’s hands faltered as he sliced, his gaze flickering to you with a bashful look. “It’s—um, yeah. Does… does that bother you?”

You immediately shook your head, waving your hands in front of you. “No, not at all! I-I was just wondering. I haven’t seen it in a while, that’s all.”

He lowered his chin, and you could have sworn his cheeks were pink. “I’ve been taking good care of it,” he admitted quietly, his gaze not meeting yours. “It’s important to me.”

You blinked, your heart beating faster in your chest. “It is?” you whispered.

He nodded. “It is.”

You wanted to curl up into a ball and squeal. It only took two simple words from him to send you into a flurry of awkward smiles and blushing whines. You couldn’t believe just how far gone you were.

Technoblade stretched a hand toward you, half of the potato he cut clutched between his fingers. “Here. You try planting one.”

With a shaky hand, you gently pulled the potato from his hands, nearly flinching at the feeling of his skin brushing against yours. Carefully, you reached over and set the potato face down like he had instructed. You pointed your hand toward the pile of dirt lying just beside the hole, about to start covering the potato when his arm shot out in front of you.

“Wait,” he said suddenly, making you freeze in place. “You don’t have gloves on. I don’t want your hands to get dirty.”

You sent him a small smile, waving a hand dismissively at him. “A little dirt never hurt anyone.”

He didn’t budge. “Please. Let me.”

That fuzzy feeling was back, and you pulled back. “Okay,” you whispered, your stomach swarming with butterflies as you watched him cover your planted potato with his hands. For someone who made a lot of jokes regarding human ethics, he was far more caring than he let on.

“Y’know,” you said softly, glancing over at him, “it’s really cool watching you do this, even if Tommy thinks it’s boring.” A small smile flitted across your face. “There are all these specific conditions that you have to know to have the most efficient farm with the best percent yield of potatoes—it’s honestly kind of surreal just how much brainpower actually goes into farming.”

Technoblade stared at you, his eyes reflecting something thoughtful and warm, and another thought popped into your head. You felt your cheeks begin to grow warm at the words swirling around your head. Swallowing the lump in your throat, you opened your mouth, again.

“I-I, um,” you began shakily, suddenly finding the scuff mark on your shoe very interesting, “I really hope you know how smart we think you really are. How smart I know you are. Because you are. Smart, that is.”

You must have been trembling, you could almost feel it. Why was it so hard to put your feelings into words? At this rate, you were never going to be able to confess how you felt. Just how much longer could you drag this out fo—

“Hey,” he said gently, his voice pulling you out of your thoughts. You turned your head, your lips parting as you looked at him in surprise. The moment his soft gaze met yours, a spark of electricity ran through your veins, and you shivered for an entirely different reason.

“Thank you,” he murmured, tilting his head at you. “I appreciate it.”

Suddenly, he squinted his eyes at you, his carmine gaze narrowing. “Oh wait, you’ve got something on your face,” he murmured, inching closer in to take a better look.

“Oh,” you said, a hand immediately darting up to your cheek, “that’s probably just some dust or soot or something. You know, from the mines.” You wiped at your face with the back of your hand, embarrassment shooting up your spine knowing that you probably looked dumb. “Did I get it?”

He frowned, pulling off his gloves as he leaned closer. “No, here let me just—”

Suddenly, his hand was on your face, your cheek held gently in his palm. Your heart came barreling to a stop, your entire body freezing like ice. 

He was so close.

The pads of his finger were warm and calloused, yet they held a certain softness to him as his thumb slowly swiped just under her eye, careful to brush away the dirt that marred your face. Like a moth drawn to a flame, you found yourself unable to look away from him, hyperaware of the goosebumps that shot up your sides as his gaze met yours. A prince—he really did look like a prince.

For a moment, the two of you simply gazed at one another, a silent question hanging over you.

Before you could stop yourself, you opened your mouth.

“Can I say something kind of crazy?” you whispered.

“Of course,” he whispered, not moving his gaze from yours for even a heartbeat.

You sucked in a deep breath, screwing your eyes shut. “I…” You swallowed. “I really, really want to kiss you, right now.”

A moment of silence passed, and you held your breath, tension digging itself into your shoulders. Oh, I’m totally about to get rejected. This was such a bad idea. What was I even thinki—

“Can—” He started then stopped, and you could have sworn his cheeks were pink. “Can I say something even crazier?”

You heart leapt. “Yeah, totally,” you breathed.

He turned back to look at you, and you felt something deep in your chest click. “I really, really want to kiss you, too.”

Your eyes flew wide, and you couldn’t stop the giddy grin forming on your face. Almost imperceptibly, Technoblade dipped his head down close to yours, his crimson eyes darting across your face as he took in your every feature. As he leaned closer toward you, a question silently flashes in his gaze. 

Can I…?

You smiled and nodded oh-so subtly, just for him to see.

Yes, yes, yes.

Ever so slowly, he leaned down toward you, and you felt your eyelids flutter shut. Just then, his lips met yours, soft and tentative like a deer taking its first, shaky steps. Electric ran down your spine at his velvet touch, your hands reaching up to wrap around his neck and touch his cherry blossom pink hair. His crown tumbled to the ground off his head, rolling a few times before coming to a full stop, but neither of you particularly noticed, far too enraptured with one another to care.

This was everything you could have possibly asked for.

A moment later, you pulled apart, gasping for air as the two of you gazed into each other’s eyes. His hair had been mussed by your touch, his lips parted and puffy from the kiss.

You didn’t think he could look any more princely, but he still managed to prove you wrong.

Clearing your throat, you cast eyes away in shy embarrassment. “I feel like I should also clarify that this means I like you,” you added in a rush, fidgeting with your hands. “Like, way more than I thought I could ever like a person.”

Technoblade let out a sigh of relief, lips curling at the corners. “Oh, that’s good. I like you, too.” Your heart did a backflip in your chest, shouting in celebration as he added, “I was sort of thinking we were just gonna kiss and never talk about it, again.”

You shot him a quizzical look. “I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic.”

He sent you a crooked smile, but his gaze was fond. “Only kind of.”

You weren’t quite sure how many minutes passed in comfortable silence, both of you simply basking in the other’s warm presence. It was nice—this was nice. You wouldn’t mind staying like this for a while longe—

“—y it, Tommy, just say it!”

Your eyes shot wide open in panic. Across from you, Technoblade’s expression mirrored your own.

They were back.

“I’m telling you it’s okay, Tommy—you can call me ‘Wilby’ if you want to!”

Flailing your arms in a panic, you immediately began to backpedal to the other side of the room, Technoblade picking up his shovel and beginning to shovel as fast as he could.

“You’re still going off about this shit? Jesus Christ, I don’t want to call you ‘Wilby’, oh my fucking go—”

Wilbur crooned as they stepped into the garden room, “Aww, Tommy, my little gremlin.”

“Shut the fuck up, Wilbu—”

“B-Back so soon?” you prompted, pretending to have been looking at the potato field with great focus as you turned to face them.

Wilbur turned away from Tommy, the smile sliding off his face. He nodded with a sigh, adjusting the pack on his back. “We almost got to the portal, but Antfrost saw us, so we had to book it.” 

Technoblade paused his movements, deadpanning with an unimpressed tone. “Tragic.”

Tommy scowled at him. “Don’t sound so cocky, bitch. You didn’t have to outrun like, half of the SMP all the way back here without getting tracked.” Suddenly his gaze shot to the ground, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. “And why’s your fuckin’ crown on the ground?” he muttered, snatching it from the dusty floor and tossing it back over to Technoblade.

“No reason,” you said half a beat too quickly.

Wilbur’s eyes flitted back forth between you and Technoblade, taking in the sight of your flushed cheeks and Technoblade’s disheveled hair. Then, a sly, scheming smile crept onto his face. You gulped.

Oh, he totally knew.

“Tommy,” he said, the shit-eating grin still plastered to his face, “how do you feel about going on another trip with me?”

Tommy’s head whipped around, his eyes swimming with confusion. “Another trip?” he parroted.

Wilbur nodded, still smiling. “Yep. Another trip. Let’s get going, yeah? I’ve got something wonderful in mind.”

Before Tommy could even react, Wilbur had grabbed onto the handle of his pack, dragging him back and up the stairs. “Wilbur! What the fuck? Where are we even fucking going?”

“On a trip!” Wilbur sang as he trudged up the stairs with Tommy in tow. Throwing one last glance over his shoulder, he sent you a knowing wink. “You two have fun, now.”

You gaped at him as he walked off, Tommy still kicking at his heels when they vanished from sight. A moment passed in silence before you turned to look at Technoblade, again.

“He knows,” you whispered, half in awe and half in horror.

Technoblade grimaced back at you. “Oh, he absolutely does.”

A beat of silence fell over you. Your eyes locked onto his carmine ones, and something seemed to click just then, a smile crossing both of your faces.

Indeed, Wilbur had just provided you with the perfect opportunity.

Who were the two of you to not take it?

[freezethunder]

ASOOT Short stories: Sora and Akane 1

......

....

.....

ra....so.....ra............hear.........me?..........

....ject.........back...........don.............this........

......ple...........save..........do...........est.......

......counting on you.........

*WHOOSH!*

"GAAHH! Haa...Haaa...Haa..."

*Sora wakes up in a big black empty void*

"H-hello...?"

...

...

“Helloooooo…..?”

…

…

…

“…Utsuro?”

…

…

“Mikado….?”

….

….

“G…G-God?……”

……………….

……………….

……………….

“That settles it… No one’s here…”

“I’m…all alone…”

“Ok…let’s not panic. What’s the last thing I remember?”

—————————————————

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

“Yeah that checks out...”

“Still doesn’t explain why I’m in this big empty space...”

“Guess I could walk around...maybe something will come up...”

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

*20 Minutes Later*

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

“Oh my god. I am so incredibly bored out of my mind right now. I’d rather be dead. What the fuck is this place?”

“Is this it? Is this my hell? Is this what you have for me God?”

“Come on, I thought a terrorist that basically started the apocalypse would have a much more fitting punishment then just walking a dark tunnel.”

“Well...I guess not the terrorist herself but a copy of her? I’m still confused about that”

“But seriously, is this all that the big man upstairs has got for me? Maybe he doesn’t even exist. Maybe all those religious freaks are just wrong and there’s nothing after you pass on. Is that it?! Are you too busy ignoring all those crying prayers to come deal with me-”

*suddenly a flash of white light appears before Sora*

...

“Hey it was a joke”

*The light slowly becomes bigger and approaches Sora*

“Hey it was a prank. A joke. A bit. A little bit I was doing. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean to disrespect you or your power.”

“NononononoPleasesparemepleasepleasepleasepleaseIwasjustkiddingIdidn’tmeanitpleaseno!-”

...

...

...

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

*Meanwhile, a familar walks into a room on her break*

.......

*sigh* “Another day done”

“I swear some people just love to live in pig-sty. Hoarders”

“No matter. I got what I needed done, I should reward myself”

“I’m thinking....a double bacon cheese burger with all the fixings. Yeah that sounds good. I can hear it calling my name~”

“Ok Akane...now you’re talking to yourself”

“Ah. There’s my phone”

“I don’t mind not having my phone at work, and it needed to charge anyway, but to just keep it off the entire time is kind of annoying”

“Like what am I gonna do? Watch porn and read erotic fanfiction all day? Pffttt. No!”

“I’ll do that on the train home like a normal person”

“Heh heh heh, just kidding of course”

“....maybe”

“Alright so what’s the wild world of the internet been up to while I was gone? What’s the latest news? Any videos out? Maybe my favorite fanfic updated?”

*While scrolling, Akane notices a gray-sh icon on her phone*

“Hmm? What’s this?”

*And when she goes to press it...*

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

“OH GOD! NATURAL LIGHT!”

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

.............

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

..........

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

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”

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

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”

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

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

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

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH1″

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

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!”

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

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

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

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

*Akane throws her phone to the wall*

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

“Ooof!”

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

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

*She runs out of the room and slams the door!*

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

*40 Minutes Later*

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

......

*Akane peers through the door and looks back into the room*

*Her phone is still on the floor when she threw it*

“O-okay Akane...h-here’s the plan...”

“Y-you...you’re going to..g-g-go....go over there....get your phone back....and...there’s just....n-not...going to be a person there...”

*She slowly makes her way over there*

“Th-then....you’re...you’re going to McDonalds....getting the biggest...cheesburger...and fries they have....w-with a shake...y-yeah...”

“Then...y-you’re going to...the nearest bath house....and take a nice, long, refreshing soak. Then you’ll go home, take the rest of the day off, and take a niiiice, looooong nap”

*Akane gets ever closer*

“A-a-and...and you’ll just...f-f-forget...about this day. ..It,,,it’ll be like....it never happened..yeah. You...you’re just....tired is all, that’s it. Y-You worked yourself...a little too hard...you need rest...”

“A-a-a-and you...are not! Crazy! Ok?! Y-y-you. Are! Sane! 100%. Sane! Ok?!”

“I-I-I-I am sane! I...I imagined that earlier. I m-m-made it all up! Th-there is...n-n-no girl....o-o-on your phone. No gray hair, no brown eyes, and d-definitely n-no white and red school uniform. Ok?! Ok!”

*Akane is by phone and goes to pick it up*

“Ahahaha...haha...ahahaha! Y-y-you’ll forget it about this later. This’ll...this will all be just one big, bad dream that you’ll just forget about later! Because you are sane, Akane! And there is definitely, no gray haired girl on your phone. Totally! Nope! None at all!”

“Ahahahaha! Ahahahahaha! Ahaha, ahahahaha!”

*Akane turns her phone around and...*

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

“It’s white actually”

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

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

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

“Listen Akane Taira, stop screaming for a minute”

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

“No”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

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

“What are you this petty? I’m trying to help you so just calm down”

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

“AAAAAAAAAA-Make me-AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”

“You’re going to hurt your throat if you keep that up”

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

“Says you-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

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

*1 hour and 39 minutes later*

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

*cough* *cough cough*

*Akane drinks some water from her glass*

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

“You okay?”

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

“Yeah. Thanks”

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

“I’m surprised you managed to scream for that long”

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

“I got strong lungs, baby!”

“Anyway, um, Miss Hacker Lady Who Appeared on My Phone”

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

“That’s a mouthful. And I’m not a hacker”

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

“But then how did you know my name earlier?”

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

“Long story”

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

“And if you’re not a hacker, what are you doing on my phone?”

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

“.......I think I have a....’semblance’ of an idea. But bare in mind that it’ll get pretty weeiird”

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

“Well it can’t get any weirder than the past 2 or 3 hours. And I think we should properly introduce ourselves so I don’t call you Miss Hacker all the time, heh heh heh.

“Ahem!”

“Hi there Miss Hacker Not Hacker Lady. I’m Akane Taira! It’s nice to meet you~”

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

...........

“Hi Akane. I’m Sora”

.----------------------------------------------------

February 11th 2012: Sora meets Akane

[muffindaddystyles]

Hates to, Hate you.

Word Count: 8k

Summary: Harry realizes that hurting Y/N broke him into pieces and tries to win her back with the confession of true feelings, will Y/N let him? If yes, how? How will he walk through fire for her?

Pairing: Famous!Harry x Reader!with anxiety.

AU: fake dating, slow burn, sexual tension, enemies to lover!

Warning: Mentions of violence, sexual assault, language, adult topics. 

PART 1, MASTERLIST

"Please, stop." He says dolefully rubbing his eyebrows to get rid of the ache pounding in his head. 

He's miserable. It hurts to not have her with him. It's been two tragic months of going through constant sleepless nights, disrestless stomach, intoxicating himself to forget her,  staring at things like a hawk and missing her terribly.

He was alone before her and never felt this lonely.

He sees her everywhere. In his dreams and her shadows in his drawing room getting excited over a ceramic vase someone gifted him. Dancing in his kitchen to the beat of pink floyd and hip-checking him for a cheerful nudge, in his back garden rescuing a sparrow who broke it's neck and in his attic stressing over her assignments. 

Everything reminds him of her. The fruity drinks that the barista's handing to the people, the fairy lights upon their heads and how she used to fond over them —- buying it for his bedroom too and when he refused to hang them, she just brushed off his snarky comment and did it herself. 

The ring in Harris finger floods back all the bitter-sweet memories of the time he refused to have a lil fun with her, (Y/N and Harris made friendship rings and bracelets for eachother with the colorful beads to spend their boring time in his home waiting for him to write some lines before they went to a gumball shop) as they try to knock some senses in their friend's brain, "You tried to dodge a heartbreak and still ended up shattering your heart, yourself." They worry about him. That he's been bearing the pain all alone and not sharing it with anyone. 

His voice croak-y and hoarse, "How's she?" The question haunts him. She blocked his phone number and even in the wee hours of night he wrecks his mind whether he should call her or not, he couldn't because she doesn't want to hear his voice. 

He misses her voice. He misses her complaints and whines as if they filled the stoic parts of his life with happiness. 

"How'd I know?" Harris lowers down to rest their elbows on the table, "I -- I thought . . she isn't in contact with ye'?" When Harris shakes their head with a gesture that he's being truthful it sinks his heart furthermore. 

He clears his throat, twisting the jewels on his hand and sucks his bottom lip to muster some courage, "I've been seeing someone." Harris chokes on the boba they were chewing on for so long, "You what?" They are completely perturbed at his statement. Even though they've been working together and been friends before Y/N came in the picture, she's still their bezzy and we don't betray our bezzies like that. 

"Yeah, someone to help me sort me feelings out." Harry frowns confusedly and then realization washes upon him so he becomes frantic in his chair, "No . . not what you're thinkin'." He runs his fingers through his hair to subside the twitch in them. 

"A therapist, 'm talkin' bout a therapist . ." He sighs watching his tea waft down sympathetically. 

"Oh. That's a good start, Harry!" Harris tries to bring the same dimply boyish smile that used to flutter over his lips whenever she used to tease him, unfortunately it never appears. 

// 

Y/N didn't handle her first ever heartbreak well. She lost her appetite, her focus on her studies and to her surprise didn't shed a single tear –-- it just kept piling in her chest and she waited for the moment it'd burst until she saw those pictures plastered all over social media. Pictures of him with some model that isn't a shorty pants like her at all, totally how those ladies described his type to be and someone with whom he wouldn't be embarrassed to hang out with. 

She's everything, Y/N's jealous of. Those sparkling blue eyes compared to her boring brown ones, handsome figure and the radiance of richness. 

Then she got stuck into her life responsibilities and worried about other things such that; she wasn't able to pay any bills and her flat's rent despite doing two part time jobs along with doing her class-fellows assignments in return of money and still got kicked out of it. Her close friend offered her to live in her studio and she has made it her kitchen, study, sleeping room with her stuff and clothes scattered everywhere.

She lives on noodles and toasted breads sometimes treating herself with delights of kit-kat bars in the middle of nights. 

Watches her friend do her work and leave when the night comes by —- she has never felt this lonely in her entire life. 

"So, was it love at first sight?" Nora her friend asks, handing her cuppa tea and a scone. Y/N let a weak sad smile slip, shaking her head and reminiscing all those moments where she was falling in love with him without even realizing, "Falling in love slowly patiently is the most beautiful . . . at some time I used to loathe his existence but staying with him and after knowing him, it was like --— an escapeless tunnel. I didn't realize it, till one day I woke up and my heart saw him in a different light, where I wanted to give him all me lovin' but he wasn't ready for it." She shrugs sipping the hot beverage and doesn't flinch from the burn that tingles at the tip of her tongue. 

When she put her cup aside Nora takes her hand assuring her sweetly, "You'll have that person soon -- he's just on his way, with a big bouquet of roses and a teddy bear to give you the lovin' you deserve." Y/N giggles at that waving her off and not showing how her person is still Harry. What does she do to forget him? To fool her in thinking he isn't her first love.

"Aish, Nora aren't you gettin' late? Gooo." She had some clients to meet before she stopped here at studio to grab some things but it turned into a girlie hangout, "Take care honey and don't forget to put a bucket there." She points to the corner where water's dripping from the rooftop and Y/N exhaled an exasperated sigh of breath when the door clicks leaving her alone yet again. 

// 

It was past twelve and when usually she pulls an all nighter to study -- today she decided to sleep early. Her bad habit of overthinking kicks in again, this time it's not over some silly thing but she ponders over where she went wrong? She should've kept her feelings to herself and atleast would have been sleeping in her bed cuddled with her chonky cat Zippy. 

She misses Zippy badly. 

A noise of door unlocking loudly drags her from her reverie and her heart pounds against her ribcage ready to break it. Who could be at this hour of night? It could be Nora since she's the only one who got keys to the place. 

Sitting up quickly she squints against the blinding lights and watches someone's boot stepping over her blanket that flopped onto the floor from the sofa she's sleeping on. 

"Kevin? What are you doing here?" He's Nora's boyfriend and her classfellow. He just shrugs tumbling his way towards the sofa and she tries to scoot back from him as much as possible, "I'm here to see you. . ." He slurs. It knocks her breath out, filling terror in her veins as the heels of her feet rub against the leather of the couch in her effort to be away from him. 

"What? This's not appropriate I -- I . . suggest you to call Nora s –- so, what're you doin —-" She squeaks in fear sinking into the couch when he towers over her and traps her under him with his hands on either side of her body aggressively, "I like you. Why don't you get it!!" She flinches when he shouts angrily with bloodshot eyes and the smell of alcohol disgusts her springing tears in her eyes. 

"Please, stop . . ." She whispers with silent tears running down her throat using all her strength to push at his shoulders but he grips her hips tightly and yanks at her sleeping shirt revealing the strap of her bralette. She couldn't even cry for help. It's useless so putting some belief in herself for the last time she uses all her power and kicks him in his crotch pushing him roughly on the floor. 

His nails tear at her delicate skin but she doesn't care before running out of the studio ignoring the names he's calling her from behind.

She runs away, away and away. Not thinking twice where she's going before crossing the bridges and tunnels. It feels like her ears are bleeding with the echo of loud horns of traffic and the hopelessness of her life makes her fall on her knees. She cries all the tears she was bottling up for months feeling like she's running out of time and reaching dangerously near to her end. 

She's been in the same neighbourhood she's been before many times. The chilly wind doesn't prick goosebumps over her skin, the night's darkness doesn't scare her and the stray dog that's barking somewhere in far doesn't affect her at all as she stares at the door from where she has stepped into her comfort space many times. 

Harry's with Scottie. His childhood friend who's here in London for some shoot. They were lounged in the living room talking their hearts out and their cringey memories from when they were small when he halted mid-talk, jaw slacking when his eyes took the sight of someone standing at his main door from the multiple security screens appearing on the telly. 

He doesn't believe at first. Thinking he's hallucinating and that maybe he just saw a flicker of a ghost but when she looks up revealing her sad face and those big brown eyes he rushes to open the door. 

"Fuck." He breathes out working on the heavy cold locks of the oak door with shaky hands anxiously and she was about to walk away with her back turned to him when he spurts out her name in haste, "Y/N." She listens to him. Insides breaking with the nirvana and scent of him surrounding her. 

His breath hitches in his throat when she spins to meet his apprehensive gaze and she doesn't give him a chance to have a proper look at her before falling in his arms, her head hitting his chest and body shaking vigorously as she sobs sadly. 

"Darlin'?" He asks worriedly, slipping his arms around her shoulders to lull her in his embrace, "Are you oka?" He feels like his stomach ate his heart as he anticipates an explanation from her and she isn't doing anything but crying. 

"You're scarin' me, pet. What happened honey?" He pulls away to cradle her face in his calloused palms. His chests pangs with hurt and remorse upon seeing her tear stained cheeks, wobbly blue lips, and disheveled state. 

He steps inside with her still in his arms and rubs his hand down her spine to calm her down as little sad sniffles and hiccups keep slipping out of her mouth. 

He sits her on the sofa squatting down infront of her and Scottie brings her water. When she refuses to drink it because Harry strokes his thumb against the apple of her cheek, "Shh, 's okay . . you're okay. You're with me now, sweet girl." It's like the world and anything else has blurred around him and his ever priority's focusing on her only. His observant gaze dawdles from her face to her bruised shoulder emitting an afflicted gasp of trepidity from between his lips and it deepens to a growl when it fell over her hip-bone where the fabric of her pyjama's spotted with blood.

He glances up at Scottie who gives him a knowing look of horror. He gets closer to her and she doesn't retract as his thumb streaks away the blood oozing from her shoulder gently, saying nothing as he examines it. 

After a brief pause Y/N's heart skips a nervous beat when he tilts her chin to have a better look at her face, taking in the evidence of someone handling his petal so brutally it left scratches at her face. 

Harry looks her dead in the eyes. His anger barely restrained tippling from the pot ready to leave burns, his voice is tense and quite, ears heating with wrath. 

"Who did this to you?" 

"Kevin." The tears are back at her waterline more concerned that he's panicking because of her and Scottie sits beside her massaging her shoulders. 

"Kevin, who?" Harry's question is curt controlling himself from finding this mother fucker himself and beat the shit out of him, "H -- he's my friend's boyfriend, I though --– was sleeping in her studio 'n 'n --- when he . . . he —-- " She hides her face in her palms unable to speak but Harry quickly pulls her down in a comforting hug whispering sweet things to stop her crying. 

She parts from him with puffy eyes and swollen lips shaking her head at her stupidity, "I … I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come here, 'm gonna leave — ' " She's a weeping blubbering mess trying to stand up on her jello legs with the help of the couch's armrest. 

He catches her wrist crying out, "No! Don't! please, please stay . . . . fo' me?" Scottie has never seen him like this. Bended out of shape for a person, begging them on his knees to protect them as he rambles loudly. 

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden on you, I -- I'll go in the morning." Since she has nowhere to go it's better she sleeps here for a night instead of on the streets. 

Harry finds it ironic. That once he didn't want her overnights now he wants her all days and weeks, perhaps till the end of his life. 

He's gonna win her back.

He hands her his tattered comfy sleeping clothes and the spare toothbrush leaving her to it. When he comes back downstairs Scottie's waiting for him at the main door. 

"You should report a file against that bastard the first thing in the morning." Scottie tells him seriously and he nods. His head snaps when she spoke softly, smiling at him, "You're in love." 

"What?" 

"I haven't seen you like that with anyone, Harry. Make it to her foolish boi -- tell her what you feel." She laughs, jolting him with his shoulders and he smiles timidly bidding her a good-bye. 

The door to her room's ajar opened as he peeks inside to make sure she's okay and sighs deeply when finds her staring blankly at the ceiling. The floorboard creaks when he pads inside quietly and her stare diverts to him while he stands on the foot of bed, "I read somewhere that cuddlin' helps ye'sleep better, you w'na try?" She hums in return, fisting the duvet under her chin and slip shuts her eyes remaining stiff in her spot when he slides under the duvet closer to her. 

She turns into a puddle when his long arms wrap around her tummy, "Is this okay?" His voice a mere whisper of care earning an honest nod from her -- his thigh strings over her legs to cocoon her in his warmth completely, ". . and this?" She again nod at him so, 

He smushes his cheek into the crook of her neck and she could feel something moist on her skin while his lips puckered to speak, "Y/N?" He murmures broken and sad snuggling more into her. 

"Hmm?" She hums, the exhaustion from walking and crying this much forcing her to sleep, "I've missed you, terribly." Her heart leaps and she wants to exchange the familiarity of emotions but her tongue remains heavy in her mouth. 

// 

Her toes curls and fingers clutches the wrinkly fabric of the pillow case she had her head rested on but now it's slipping down from over it due to her body shaking vigorously as she tries to escape those filthy, gruesome hands like a terrifying shadows of evil choking her throat and sucking the life out of her. 

Harry's head snaps down to where she was snuggled to his side moments ago when she murmur-yells no,no,no,no'. He feels like someone placed a heavy brick over his chest at the sight of his lovie writhing like a leaf petrified of whatever she's dreaming of and his shoulders rolls back while he perches on his elbow to shake her gently out of it. 

"Y/N . . ." He remains dulcet. Chewing onto his already swollen bottom lip since he didn't even close his eyes the entire night manipulating the plush flesh, he doesn't know what kept him awake —- but it sure was this sense of responsibility to make her feel protected under his wings. She smacks his arm away pushing at his chest with her all might to skid away to the edge of the bed in her sleepy state, so he quickly hunches on wobbly knees to catch her before she falls. 

"It's just me, Angel, Harry –- wake up darlin'," His heart beating ominously frantic and head jumbling with horrible thoughts of what she's going through as her warmed up cheeks soak with tears, he has never seen her like this, he never wanted to see her for the first time after months like this --- shattered to pieces and drained of her energy.

He smooths his thumb to caress her cheek slightly and swipe those sad tears away. She wakes up with a gasp making him jerk his chin back, blinking rapidly to confirm her surroundings and her fearful vision zeros to his panicked features. She places her palms against his pectorals to make sure he's real and there and that ugly nightmare just ended, "Harry?" He gulps the thick web of tears down his throat and bobs his head. 

"Yes, sweet girl, Harry . . ." The very streaks of golden rays sneak through the curtains and dances between their faces as she fists the hem of his shirt, "It was just a nightmare." He assures her running his hand up and down her arms to calm her down. 

"Don't be afraid, dovie' won't let anybody hurt ya from now on, g'na protect you —--" It was the last straw for her before she flipped him over and climbed out of his bed to get out from his room. 

"Shit." He drives into a state of frenzy following her down the stairs like a puppy almost missing a step or two as she wears the slippers she came in last night, "Where ye' goin'?" His muscles twitch in a hurry to make his next move and save whatever's between them that's keeping him sane, " Dunno, away from you." She shrugs, lost in her own fog and the sting in his heart's unbearable with the inflammation of hurt. 

"Why?" He tumbles through the last step and infront of her, eyes bloodshot and heart how from the squeezing agony of loosing her for second time for the same cause. 

"Because, I w'na forget about you!!" The scream she had in her lungs to convey her anger gets stuck in her throat. His shoulders slump from the burden of guilt and regret. 

"Why?" He feels like throwing up with the unbearable anguish of him hurting to a point he wants to wash his memories out of her mind. 

"Because you make me so confused, Harry…" Her face pinches into an exasperated expression of hopelessness while she nudges him aside to pass by him and to the main door but he catches her wrist before she could step outside and never come back to him, "I wouldn't confuse you from now on …. 've been better fo' you y/n, 'cos I want you to know that I'm yours." His confession springes her off guard by pure stupefaction and when she looks at him -- he's already gazing at her as if she's the moon surrounded by singing stars. 

"Please, let me fight for you baby." Tears springs at his waterline ready to welcome a sob out of his lungs. Because he knows he'll be unable to live his life without her, his love will rot in the cage of his heart because he'd never be able to express it for anyone except her. 

He continues not holding back anything from her instead unlocking another love language and that's being vulnerable and completely defenceless to her, "While being with you I still thought a part of me was in love with my ex and I didn't want ya to be me second priority, could neve', was so so wrong 'cos even though you're not my firsts you're gonna be my lasts. I'll make sure that you're." He gulps down the tears blocking his wind pipes and making it difficult to speak. 

"I want you to give us another chance, to forgive me and give me a proper chance to love you 'cos that's what you deserve . .." The sincerity and genuineness in his stained smaragdine irises turns her pudgy in his hold, ". . . you deserve all the lovin' in this world, honey." 

"Work for it then." She tells him and his pretty eyes widen adorably as of some golden fish, a vivacious smile adorns his features and he doesn't take a moment before swiping her off her feet and into his arms to hug her tightly. 

His insides feels like nourishing after a time with contentment and satisfaction. 

To have his loved one in his arms. 

In his life.

"Thank you, Thank you, Thank youuu." He rambles into the crook of her neck, elated and joyful. Swaying their bodies together and making her smile softly after a prolonged time of suffering. 

She'll heal. 

He'll make sure to put ointment of affection and love on her wounds to help her heal, for herself but nobody else. 

// 

"You've got to be kidding me!" She mutters putting the alcohol swab on his torn bleeding knuckles and he squeaks locking his calf around her ankle, "Ouch! Ye' mad woman." 

Harry and her went to file a report against Kevin, along with Nora who became her witness because she despises that disgusting of a man to be even around her and her studio let alone her boyfriend. 

Harry was her biggest support through the whole process and dropped her off assuring her he'll pick all her stuff from Nora's place. There he was, Kevin. Stumbling at the footpath after Nora kicked him and his luggage out. 

Harry's very patient and optimistic but not when his loved ones get hurt. He didn't know what was happening around him before he sprinted towards Kevin and punched him square in his face, breaking his nose and busting his own knuckles with a fierce shout of "y'son of a bastard!" 

"If I ever . . . ever see ya near her, I promise that you wouldn't be able to see the living daylight." He grunted, resisting to hit him in the shin with his boots and walked past him to the studio to collect her stuff. 

He was grief stricken seeing the way she had to live and not finding her pet cat anywhere. His heart could be heard cracking into tinytinytiny pieces when Nora told him that Y/N gave it to the vet since she was unable to afford it. 

When she catches him staring up at her like a love-stricken puppy she huffs wrapping a band-aid around his knuckles, "'M mad at you." He seems unfazed making her gasp when brings her closer with his legs wrapped around her's, "Why . . . you're always mad at me." He whines jutting out his bottom lip and she shakes her head at his silly dotiness. 

"You -– you can't go hurtin' yourself fo' me, H." She's very unaware, because certainly he'd do it as many times. 

She narrows down her eyes to squint him in offense when he brushes her comment off with nonchalance and raises his bandaged wrist up to her face, "Will you kiss it better' fo' me, pet?" Her insides crumbles like dry rose petals falling from a beloved book of her favourite romances. 

"Hmm?" He nudges it in a questioning suppressing a smirk. She wipes her clammy and antiseptic hands down her trousers not meeting his gaze while taking his hand awkwardly but delicately closer to where her soft mouth is located; she halts glowering at him, "Only if you ask nicely." 

"That wasn't nice? Thought I was being a good boy there." He mumbles diligently pulling at the hem of her shirt and she bites down a smile, fingers still wrapped round his wrist. 

"Pretty please…?" He wheezes his words out begging-ly -- upper lip curving, pupils dilating and she shrugs, "..if you insist so.." His grin was immaculate that of golden sun when she pressed her lips to his knuckles carefully giving it a gentle pat afterward. 

"Not doing that again." She breathes out the air she was winding up inside her for so long. Spinning on her heels to turn her back towards him and put the first aid back under the sink, "We'll see 'bout that, let's do some grocery." He stands up patting his thighs loudly, "Wouldn't be surprised if we'll find bugs in me cabinet instead of goodies." 

// 

They've been roaming isles for an hour now and they always end up fighting who will push it. Harry doesn't let her because she keeps on filling it with instant noodles, chocolate bars and sakurai oreos. 

"How about we try to live till our fifties wouldn't be that beautiful?" He follows behind her closely. His chest brushes against her shoulders everytime she makes a stop to cooes over some brightly coloured food and candies, "'M trying to make it till next year, dunno 'bout you." She mutters grumpy-ly tossing another packet of cherry lollipop inside the trolley.

He puts it back. 

With a strict warning glare to her way. 

"I want you to stay healthy." He says sternly glaring up at her from his ducked position. She tosses the lollipop back from the shelf, "'M paying for my things." She dismisses him off panning deadly. 

"Fo' fucks sake, 's not 'bout money!" He grits annoyed at her stubbornness and she arches her brow leaning against the trolley, "Harry…'m not an actress or some high-paid model. Lemme enjoy real things, okay? Or just say you'd look too outta my league standing next to me." Her brows pints down into a frown and her shoulder slumps with her body further relaxing against the trolley. 

She's up for a debate with him right in the middle of the junk food aisle if that's the case.

"See. That's why I don't want to be married!" A couple from far banters off in astonishment catching Y/N completely off guard. 

"Uh-ah!" She yelps getting startled from the boom of interruption and a high-pitch squeaks leaves out of her petite lungs when the trolley rolls from under her perched elbow making her stumble for a nice trip but the bang never came as Harry coiled his arm around her waist to pull her on stable feet with a firm hand over her smallest of back. 

His gentle pupils flicker between her frenzied one's, noses tickling and teasing each other with each spurt of breath that rushes out of her parted soft mouth and against his cheek. 

"Maybe it's not that bad after all." The couple who were planning their future based on another couple, who's not even a couple yet but trying to work on it with their shared amount of affection; sighs in awement leaving Harry and Y/N in their own bubble. 

He takes her by the elbow and helps her with his lips thinned, "Careful there." His mumble is deep and coherent husk. 

She didn't whine about his green vegetables, boring low fat cheese and planned meals, celery or whatever that shit is, after that. Walking by his side like a kid who just got relief from his time out punishment. 

While on the counter she asked him politely rather than biting his head of, "Lemme pay please. I'm already imposing on you by staying at your place." She knows that he wouldn't let her. Harry wants to take care of her -- in every way. He just hopes she warms up to him slowly that there will be a day she thinks of his home as hers too, oh how the table turns! 

T'not make her think that his love for her is only restrictive to materialistic things he lets her pay --- but for half of it. 

"D'ya got a change, miss?" The cashier asks her and she cranes her neck up to him. He denies waving his credit card with a disappointed expression so she quickly takes a chewing gum from the racks beside in return for the change. 

He stops in his tracks. Watching her with glinting eyes more like fawning at her when she sways on her feet happily swinging the bag in her hold side by side. 

"C'mon Harry!" She grins twiddling her fingers in a gesture to usher him where she's standing beside his car, "Yup. On your command, darlin'." He shakes his head. To fetch himself from the fond-land he always enters with anything she does. 

// 

There's a low hum of telly buzzing in the room as they sit crossed legs on the coffee rug with their knees brushing if any of them moves their bum a tad, while they slurp onto the remaining soup in the noodles cup. 

This whole time he wanted to say something, to talk to her, his heart out and make it a domestic routine of sharing stuff while they eat comfy in eachother's presence but seems like his tongue betrays him everytime and his needy eyes always want to admire her and the little things she does. 

He licks his lips, nodding profusely when she asks for his cup and chopsticks to take to the kitchen. A huge sigh of relief vanishes out from his chest when she disappears inside giving him time to re-collect himself, he rummages through the bag to take out the chewing gum they bought at the last moment. 

He rips the packet with his teeth but it remains pressed there between his morals when he senses the familiarity of the foil --- she bought a fucking condom out of accident! 

At the same moment she pads outside halting in her tracks infront of him with a horrendous expression as her peepers wouldn't stop blinking. He doesn't not know what got into him but he throws it her way as if he's utterly disgusted by it. 

Sinks into the couch and refuses to meet her gaze. She throws it back at him, "I don't want it, keep it you might need it." There he goes. The smugness fuels back as he outstretches his arm over the back of the couch and man-spreads scrutinizing the way her eyes linger at his meaty thighs before flicking them away with a nervous gulp. 

"You've already planned it all out, hun?" He smirks rubbing the belly of his nose with his pinky's knuckle and she folds her elbows under her breasts shaking her head at his teasing, "Yeah planning to . . . murder you t'night." She laughs out evilly when his eyes widen comically. 

"Hmm. I see. Didn't know ye' were this kinky 'n naughty." She rolls her eyes at his edgy nip. She wouldn't admit it but him testing her patience turns her hot and flustered. 

"Night, H." She yawns and his heart grows ten times bigger at the softness of her appearance. She cranes her head against her shoulder to look at him from the spot she's standing at when his voice calls for her, "Y/N!? Ye'really into knives? In the bed I mean." His grin mischievous knowing fully well what he's doing to her as he waits for her answer propped on his knees. 

She slams the door at his face and he plops back into the sofa with a pouty victorious smile. 

// 

Harry didn't realise that in the middle of watching Gilmore Girls on the telly he fell asleep straining his neck from keeping it in a weird angle, his arms hugging the pillow and feet dangling adorably nowhere. He groans knuckling away the sleep and tries to wake up when he heard a feeble noise of someone taking his name until he looks up and finds Y/N towering him with her fluffy cream blanket pinched around her head darlingly. 

"What happened, pet? Y'okay!?" He gasps trying to sit up and take her precious face to inspect her properly but she shakes her head and lays him back gently. 

Her nose runny and cheeks rosied as she asks for a favour from him, "Can I -- um," She wipes her nose with the sleeve of her sweater paw. He doesn't question her further and opens his long arms to welcome her for a warm embrace. 

"C'mere, pet." His whisper delicate to her. 

She lies down pressed to his front resting her head on his sprawled arm and scooches herself closer to him smiling shyly against his hoodie where a Harry is embroidered in pink thread. It's like a gust of fresh spring and dew of nighty mountains as Harry takes a relaxing breather snuggling her impossibly affectionately close to himself, petting down her sweet smelling hair. 

"Y'can talk to me 'bout anythin'." Their heart-beats in sync as he keeps his palm spread at her back to protect her from falling, "Ye' know that right?" He pulls back to cradle her chin between his fingers and look her in eyes sincerely. 

"I know that button. Sleep for now, hmm?" He smiles softly, shutting his eyes from giving out how much a mere love name's enough to fuse him into a cloud of giddiness. 

// 

In the morning though, Harry's a small spoon and Y/N a big one. Her limbs trying to latch to his body in every way possible with her cheek smashed against his shoulder blade. 

His lips quirks up into a lazy loopy smile full of contentment and peacefulness as he weaves his each finger into her's to bring her knuckles to his mouth and smother it in kisses, "Rise n' shine you furball." He rasps. chin doubling adorably as he tries to look at his squirmy girl. 

He turns to face her side, temples touching and lips hovering over eachother's skin. He feels her smiling against his chin as she cuddles up into him, "I'd like to make you a brekkie…." She murmurs playing with baby curls on the nape of his neck. 

"Dunno 'bout that. What if you poison me, t'death?" He giggles and she smacks his belly pouting grumpy-ly. 

"Offer, expired. no more brekkie for you." She tells him wiggling out of his grip and walks towards kitchen but burst into gleeful laugh when he wraps around her calves like a koala bear, "Was jokinnnn', babe." He emphasizes his words with a twinge of whine and she meanders her hand in his ruffled curls. 

"Kay! Kay! But, I could only make you omelette and sour bread." He jumps back on his feet enthusiastically looping his arm around her clavicles, "No problem. Glad t'eat  anythin' made from your lovely hands."

She made him brekkie and he made fabulous peach tea for them. She blabbered off and he listened with careful ears. He praised her with glinting proud eyes and she treasured these praises in her heart. 

While she chewed slowly he messaged his manager that he couldn't come to any working place for a week or so. He wants to make it special and memorable for them, their honeymoon phase. 

"D'ya have any class today?" He asks her leaning towards her atop the counter, "Nope 's Saturday dummy." She chuckles flicking her thumb against his forehead and he gives a dimpled grin with bolted shut eyes.

"Yeah … silly me." 

"Why?" 

"So that I could take ye' ona date." His inners bouncing desperate to know her answer, "Me?" She points at herself surprised with parted lips.  

"Yes you, is there somebody else sitting with us? Hello?" He calls for that non-existent person and she suckles her bottom lip to subside her squeals down. She breathes out, "Some ghostie? Evil spirit? Jesus himself —-" She cuts his banter of. With a light slap to the back of his hand. 

"Okay." She says with an excited shake of head happiness bare in her words and Harry literally slips from his seat padding towards her in haste, "I'd love to." She confirms with a sweet smile and he hooks his nimble finger around her jeans loop to pull her closer to him for a fervid emotional hug. 

//

She was a frolic mess in her room trying out her outfits and fitting into her skirts, trousers anything that could match perfectly. Deciding to terminate any ideas to wear cotton floral sun-dresses instead ends up tucking a baby pink sweater into her chequered white and black plaid trouser along with a pair of Mary Janes booties. 

She took huge puffs of breath to calm her wild heart down when the knock on her door appeared. He decided to be a full on romantic today doing all the date rituals without any shame dressing up in a silk shirt three shades lighter than her's, with a pussy bow around his neck and she thinks she couldn't be more in love with him as he has a bunch of sunflowers and jasmines in the cracks of his jewels adorned fingers. 

"Well, well, well, Look who came to their enemy's door holding presents." She smirks and he scowls, "Oh cut it. 'M here to pick y'up fo' our date." 

What makes her lose her mind's Zippy on his shoulder.

"Oh my goodness! Harry!" She leaps towards him and takes her fluffy beast in her arms and showers Zippy's crown with many many kisses, "Thank you!" She cries out joyfully wrapping her free arm around his waist and cuddles him for dear life. 

"I lo —-- " She thinks it'd be embarrassing to say it on the first date and Harry almost had a mini heart-attack but she changed her words, "I can't be more grateful to you, thank you so much." 

"Now, stop thankin' me hunny." He gives her the flowers he plucked himself from his backyard and kisses the apple of her cheek turning her into a gooey mesh. 

"Where is it?" She avoids checking him out. 

"Why should I tell ya?" He nudges her to lock her elbow around his and she gazes up at him with loving eyes, "'cos 'm your date that's why."

"Bribe me then." He grins bashfully. 

"Harry!!" She gasps and huffs tipy-toeing timidly to plant a soft kiss to his chin but it lands against his throat making him thin his lips to give out a noise that could embarrass both of them. 

"Not telling you." He squeaks dragging her outside into the porch and she whines, "You leech!" 

// 

"You did not!" She snaps her neck in utter exhilaration from the view in front of her and towards Harry who's watching her with puffed cheeks to not to give out his bunny smile as her face turns guppy. The sunshine dawdles around them and she pulls him down to her level with the tug of their intertwined hands, "You're somethin' else, Styles." It warms his blood. Bursting sentiments of pure love and amiability through each orifice that leads to his heart. 

"Only fo' you." He whispers stroking the plush of her cheek -- restraining to place his needy  lips on her alluring pillow one's inviting him to have a good taste of their sweetness before they could taste the ripeness of strawberries growing at the farm he just took her. 

"Uhm. Let's see who could collect more!" She grins pushing herself three steps away from him with support of his pecs, "What's the prize?" He asks pawing at her hips to keep her in intimate distance and she giggles tapping his chin. 

"A feeling of saccharine-ss and sweetness when we'll eat those strawberries out." She tries not to step on heavy branches that are still growing and makes her way to the fresh patch, "Perhaps, that could be acquired from eatin' somethin' else out too." His wet lips brushes against her earlobe as he speaks, sending a shiver down her spine. 

"You're being very loud and lewd." She pokes him in ribs. Squatting down to pluck a juicy perfectly sized strawberry and hovering it against his mouth to give him a taste, "Hmm what could I say 'm a man of dirty words." His eyes darken to an intoxicating shade of emerald as his heart-shaped magenta lips wrap around the strawberry to split it in two with his teeth. 

He still remembers. How her mouth tasted that night, how her lips came molding around his's like a stamp of a lover's letter and her body fitted against his's like a lost piece of puzzle. 

Just made for him. 

"Harry …" She's out of words. Maybe, breath. 

"Yes dovie?" He hooks his finger into her belt's loop to saturate the thread like distance between them and makes tight hold at the nape of her neck to crane her head up to meet his honey eyed gaze, "D'ya know how to make strawberry mochi?" His shoulder slumps at her question and he rests his cheek atop her temple cutely. 

"Noo." His voice sort of whine-y. 

"No, problem. We'll make it together." She chuckles turning back to collect the strawberries into her basket. 

She never had this fun. Messing around with him. Feeding eachother the sweet fruit. Him scaring her that some rat sprinted by her feet and enjoying the way she jumps at him, only wheezing comically when she throws a blow at him. 

Her giggles bounces off each and every ivory flower and leafy plant as he pins her to the viridescent grass, with his thighs and tickles her non-stop. What started as raspberries turns into sloppy smothers of kisses all over her face. 

"Harry!!" She bursts into another fit of laughter, "Stop." She warns him squeezing her thighs around his waist and he giggles challenging her. 

"O'what? Huhh?" She closes her eyes nuzzling into his arm that's trapping her down, "Or I'll kiss you…" Her voice gentle and dulcet making his grip loosen and heartbeat fastens like a thunderbolt. 

"'M not afraid of that." He gives a toothy grin sneaking a glance at her hand which's gliding up his throat to cup his cheek, eyelids fluttering like petals from breeze as she smudges her sweet mesh coated lips against his's in a tenderly ardent, and yearningly amiable kiss feeling her pulse ring in her ears with so much force. 

His fingers make their home down her smooth hair to cup the nape of her neck, elbows digging into mud when he lifts her up to deepen the kiss sloppily. Just her. Only her. Swirling inside of him as his very thought. 

Their noses crooking perfectly, skins kissing and bodies hitched to eachother with the knot of souls. 

She whimpers into his mouth squishing the poor strawberry she was holding in her free hand from the intensity of fierce sentiments she's spiraling in; to have him all and swallow him all because he's that damn gorgeous. His tongue pokes and tickles the plush insides of her small mouth tasting the strawberry straight from where he loves the most. His belly burning with the fire of desire feeling the way her body's reacting with puriency to his subtle touches of affection. 

He was dying to have a kiss from her the day she gave him her lips that night and he couldn't resist but to think about it regularly. 

A wet filthy sound bubbles around them when they part away with the remnants of spit in the form of intricate strings connecting them; that breaks when he relaxes his forehead against her's taking a good breather of mossy air. 

"S' messy." He tuts when his eyes fall at her palm covered in strawberry pulp. 

She gasps giddy-ly when he pokes his pink tongue out and takes a huge swipe up her palm with an erotic hum that rattled her insides. 

"H -- arry." She nibbles at her bottom lip to filter noises she's unable to hold meanwhile he sucks her fingers one by one to clean them, her panties twisting with an ache of want. 

"Hmm. All nice 'n clean, now we should go." He says flipping her wrist to act as if he's inspecting it. Brushes the dirt of his trousers leaving her baffled and grumpy. When she doesn't stand up he squats down at her level arching a brow at her and before she could know what's happening she's thrown over his broad shoulder like a rag doll. 

Her squeals hearty and giggly as she tries to punch his back but her breath gets caught in her throat when his large hand comes spanking her butt-cheek. He waits for her reaction —- grinning cheekily when she sucks in her weak mewls and grabs the back of his neck blabbering his name off. 

He puts her back on the ground once out on the gravel path and hands her the basket piled with strawberries. Ducks down to sponge a kiss to her cheek telling her to stay glued to her spot as he leaves to pay. 

She smiles down at her feet then at the sky revinding all the moments and their lovely kiss that makes her feel all warm and stupidly gooey. 

While boarding the train he wiggles his finger behind himself to get a hold on her and keep her close to him, craning his neck with a lopsided sly smile, "Hold me hand." 

"If you insist." She nods with a grin slipping her fingers over his palm and he wovens them with his own with a firm grip stepping inside the train and helps her to do so with his free hand behind her head. 

She sighs. Sitting with her back pressed against the window of the train. One leg folded and other dangling from the seat as she stares at Harry with a pouty smile. 

"Don't ya think you're sittin' too far away from me?" He says, grabbing her knee, "Come here." And slides her towards himself now their thighs overlapping. He doesn't like even the mere distance between them —-- might sound sappy but he wants to be like her scent. 

"Happy?" She pinches his cheek and he winces dramatically ruffling her already loose tresses of hair making her look as if she was on a roller coaster minutes ago, "aren't you a one clingy bunny!" She huffs trying to blow away the hair falling in her eyes. He bobs his head in agreement and slings his elbow around her shoulders to tuck her under his chin protectively. 

// 

"Okie, now add some sugar in it —- aish slow down …" She coughs waving away the sugar dust tickling her nostrils as Harry poured so much sugar all at once. He has his chin rested on her head and her hips crooned against his thighs as they make the strawberry and vanilla mochi together. 

His puffer jacket on her shoulders (To the time they went to buy grocery stuff it started being cold and Harry being a mommy he took out his jacket and bundled her up in it) —- She sneezes and he quips pecking her hair, "Bless your heart." Fetches her a tissue too. 

"Thank you, bubs." She giggles grabbing his jaw bringing him down to smooch a kiss to his lips. She pulls back but he persists snaking his palm around the nape of her neck to keep her put —- she gives in with her heart fluttering like candle flame in a destructive storm. 

Turns in his embrace and hooks her elbows behind his head patching tiny, tiny, tiny pecks on his pillowy lips until he gets desperate to kiss her mouth and tongue pushing her to his front by gliding his hand into the back-pocket of her jeans. 

Her head lulls. Feeling as if the kitchen got filled with candy clouds floating around her when he cradles her cheeks in his both palms lapping at her bottom lip and nips at it with every whimper of desire that falls, "Mine." He breathes out rubbing the bridge of his nose up and down her cheek like a puppy nuzzling into his favourite plushie. 

"Yours." She says without any hesitation. 

He smashes his wet lips back on hers. Swirls of gleeful colours surrounding them as he feels like he could kiss her forever. 

She gasps gazing down lustfully at his wine cherried lips when he holds her from waist and sits her on the wooden counter, "I want you to take me." She murmurs nailing at the silk of his top and he paws at her hip-bones cravingly, it makes her feel like one the most desired women alive. 

"I'm all yours to pleasure you lovie'," He looks her in the eyes with so much love and affection it melts her whole, "Just ask me and I'll give me girl what she wants …. " He says trailing sloppy kisses down her throat. Her head falls against the tiled wall giving him more access to her skin --- so he could mark her as he wishes. 

The heat from his mouth to her bare skin arouses her to an extent she feels wetness sticking to the insides of her thighs with each grind of his crotch against her's. 

She tugs at the roots of his curls, mouth parted around a moan when he grazes his touch over her plump breasts, "Is this okay?" He asks breathlessly and she bobs her head vigorously latching onto him. 

"Yes, please, more … " He blinks to let reality sink in when she raises her arms in the air for him to get rid of her clothes. 

He smiles. Hard. Crinkles forming by his eyes and cheery lines around his mouth as she looks up at him with those doe eyes glinting with his own reflection. 

She squirms grumpily and he cackles loudly when she hooks his fingers into the hem of her jeans as a sign that "just undress me right now and fuck me hard over this counter." But, the romantic sap he's just keeps on being a tease. 

"Fuck me already." She huffs locking her ankles behind his back. 

"Trust me, I want it as bad as y'do but are you sure —-- " 

"I'm --- just fuck …. " She cuts him off, cupping his cheeks and kisses his mouth. He groans when she sucks his swollen lip in between his teeth and lifts her pelvis grinned against his swell lining in his trouser to elaborate her neediness through actions, 

He undresses her finally folding them and putting them away nicely while she stays a breathless mess just in her undies, her sheer panties soaked in her juices and profanities of moans fuses into air from both of them as Harry places his hands on her knees. Irises darkening with lust when he looks at the delicate lines of her drippy pussy lips forming from underneath the material. 

"Spread your legs, I want to feel how turned on I made you feel." His voice an obscene grunt and it tingles her core making her feel she should obey him, "Fuckin' hell." His moan is dirty as he rubs the pad of his long digits against her soaked centre. His piercing gaze flitting between her thighs crumbled her in the best way possible. 

She fists the hem of his top, tugging at it with the blabbering of his name. 

A series of pornographic whines leaves her through her nose when he demands her to raise her bum so he could get rid of the last thing being a bother to them. 

"Oh my — " She arches her spine when his fingers withered in her stickiness, between her glistening pussy lips to her mound pinching her clitoris in the way and listens to the soapy noises he's creating while lathering his hand with her juices he'd love more to coat his tongue with. 

"This is what you want, hmm? For me to bend you over this counter right fucking now and pump me thick cock inside your sweet cunt from behind till you're screaming for me to ram harder inside you, so deep that you feel me in your little tummy and I keep it there for hours making you cum on it again and again — many time that you're milky and cramped around my prick like a filthy girl you're." He dips his impossibly sweet pink tongue inside her mouth and makes her sip down his dirty words through her throat not letting her mewls slip out as his lengthy finger slicks inside her causing her melt against his chest with a turmoil of emotions and heat she never felt before. 

Her brain whirles with the mantra of fuckfuckfuck but her guppy lips says otherwise, she coils her arms around his shoulders scratching her nails down his neck — eyes rolling back as she shakes with the build of ecstasy. 

"You're so snug and warm, sweets. Can't wait to be inside you." He husks curling his digit to give her upper wall a good rub, "Harry!" Her scream comes out gruff vibrating with a sexy octave. 

"Yes, baby." He pinches her chin between his thumb and forefinger staining soft wet kisses from the corner of her lips, to her rosy cheeks and down her throat sewing love bites along her veins.

"Does it feel good, hmm? 'M g'na stuff you full of my prick bet it'll make you feel like heavens --" Her brows tenses up as he forces her to keep her eyes locked with his's and groans with the throb in his cock bound to implode with each whimper of his name she lets out hiking up her knees on the counter — the heels of her feet sticking firmly against the edge of the counter giving a carnally pleasing view for him to enjoy and ooze with sticky precum. 

He huffs out breathily, fingers sliding in and out at a fast pace while he moves down to take her perky nipple between his teeth teasing it with nip of his tongue, "Fuck. Mhmm baby I've so many dirty things to d'to you, would you be an atta girl and be naughty with me?" He nuzzles his curls against her skin grinding his knuckles up and down against her swollen clit. 

"Yes, yes, yes." She moans trying to sink impossibly deep on his fingers. He admires her in amusement as her belly twists into ripples and she thrashes in his tight hold —- broken into pieces of vulnerability foxily. 

He withers his gaze to where he's driving his fingers roughly inside her and a cold shiver runs down his spine, eyelashes fluttering and he sucks his bottom lip brutally praising her softly, "yes just like that darling taking my fingers so good —- they'll look pretty down your throat too while I'll fill your other holes with me, all me." He wraps a hand around her throat giving it a light squeeze and it was enough to spread warmth and the saccharine feeling of fullness in her every tissue gushing over his fingers. 

"You're mine." He growls nipping at her sweet spot –-- wearing her out with his continuous different motions inside her. His wrist glistening with her come and her head lulls on his tanned shoulder, eyes slip shut, chest levitating with shallow breaths. 

She cups his cheeks wrapping her trembling legs around his waist and kisses his smile, it's sloppy and barely a kiss with their lazy effort to keep their mouths on each other to soak into intimacy. 

Next they're a moaning and crying mess on the kitchen floor with her knee hooked around his hip to keep him close as he stretches her out leaving a pleasurable burn against her squishy inviting walls. 

His cock sits warm inside her pussy and his balls snug against her bum. It's torturous waiting for her to give a signal that he might move because he couldn't resist but to be rock hard inside her and fuck her for hours but his knees are laughing at him for being unable to bear the sting of cold tiles. 

"You can move, 'm okay." She whispers hugging him for dear life and he nods grinding his hips slowly, the bulbous head of his dick hitting all the right spots —- he's so good at fucking. 

He takes her fleshy tits in his palms caressing them with each lewd stroke of his cock inside her and treats her glistening lips from his spit back to his mouth, pecking it generously. 

"Pull me hair." He groans pushing hard and guides her hand into his swirl of sweaty curls — hips stuttering, eyes rolling back into his skull erotically when she does so peppering loving kisses under his earlobe, "You're g'na ruin me lovie … fuck me please." He whines grabbing her ass and lifts her pelvis to slide inside her dripping pussy with much more roughness. 

She has never seen him like this. Shredded to seams for her, sweat beading down his gorgeous face like glimmer of pearls and eyes mossed with so much lust and desperation it knocks air out of her lungs. 

He rolls them over gently and her squeal turns into a shameless yawp when he feels much more bigger than before inside her with her being on top of him —- he was right she could feel him in her tummy. 

She's clueless what to do. Not that she's gonna show it –- she doesn't want to give him an impression that she knows barely anything about riding but the way she begins with zealous back and forth movement digging the heels of her palms against his pecks wrecks him havoc. 

"You're doin' so good pet, yes, yes, yes. Use me baby. Use me like your little fuck toy 'm c'mon." He grabs the nape of her neck and brings her down to skim his tongue over her lips, manipulating the plushiness of them with his teeth. His balls slapping against her skin as she bounces on his cock diligently and he fists the soft flesh of her bum with both of his hands to help her ride him knows she's labouring herself out, "I'm all yours." He says caressing her sides to make sure she's okay and brushes the wisp of sticky hair behind her ear. 

"You're looking so sexy sitting on my dick like that -- how about I don't allow you to cum so you could keep me warm with your pussy like that fo' hours?" His pants out gripping at her thighs as his prick spills with wetness inside her and she cries out shaking, "No!" He smirks crinkled forming by his eyes and takes this chance to drive hard up inside her making her flop onto his chest. 

She gasps moistly, pulsating around him feeling every ridge and vein of his cock stroking against her walls creating obscene noises of skin meeting skin and their moistures mixing soapily like gooe.

"Cum fo' me baby -- squeezing me s' tight. I know you're there." His pants laboured and heavy as he sucks his own digits coating them with his spit nicely and glides them down pressing them to her weeping bud, then flickers it in prolong circles. Toes curling. His thrusts consistent and fast. She crooks her nose against his's murmuring to him with a wavering voice. 

"I'm gonna cum, fuck." 

"You're gonna make me come." 

Her eyes widen in surprise but her body reacts otherwise albeit she has never experienced it —- but her moans were uncontrollable when he spanked her butt cheek and she crampied down at him jolting tremendously with the wave of insanity spreading to her bones.

"I'm a naughty boy, give it to me." He kisses his teeth together man spreading and throwing his knees up to ram up inside her perfectly.

His eyes shuts till he could see white spotting behind them -- he spills inside her in form of thick ribbons and milks her cunt with it riding her out of her high. She clings to his body and snuggles into him to tone down the shivers running down her spine with each tiny orgasm she feels rushing out with his lazy thrusts.

"I'm jello." She tells him and he looks down at her with a mishevious grin, "Does that give me a reason to eat you whole?" She rolls her eyes poking at his cheek with a grossed out expression. 

"I'm still inside ye', remember?" He stirs his hips to make her realise and she yelps not know if it's making her feel hot or utterly sensitive, "You're insatiable." She mumbles pouting her lips to indicate him she's dying for his lips to smooch kisses to her. 

"No kidding I love the noises you make when you come undone." She confesses timidly drawing stars at his chest and he giggles kissing her temple gently, "Stop before you wake me buddy up again –- he quite fond of you." He blushes hiding his face into the crook of her neck with tiny voice. 

// 

They're canoodling under the fluffy blanket on the sofa watching telly after they just took a bath together, shampooing eachother with peach scents and drying eachother off with warm towels. She's nuzzled into his side wearing one of his baby yellow robes, his arm stays around her shoulder thumb addicted to caressing her silky cheek, sometimes spreading his fingers down her throat to tip her chin up to smooch sweet kisses on her lips.

"You're cute when you're not a pest." She giggles and he frowns comically pretending to munch her alive, "That's very rude -- you should be thankful that I lov — " Her heart almost stops functioning. 

They were sipping onto their green teas and nibbling onto the strawberry mochi they made and refrigerated before when the doorbell rang making them groan in laziness.

She stood up going to see what took Harry so long on the door and got revealed to him talking instinctively to whoever rang the bell. 

"Hi, Y/N." Scottie smiles at him. Carrying her luggage and Y/N looks down at her attire for a second then forwards her hand shyly. She was so scared that day –- it's a blur to her but now she watches Scottie properly she realizes …. She's the same girl from all the paparazzi photos.

Something switches off inside her. The rainbows and confettis, the moonlight and stars and the nebula of the whole galaxy she had consumed in her little body from making love to Harry just shuts down into a white noise.

Her bottom lip plumps into a pout. Eyebrows trembling from this confused feeling of some invisible thing squeezing the life out of her. 

She's jealous. 

"I just came here to say bye." Scottie's voice makes her focus back into reality. 

"Oh…" She just nods. She doesn't return the hug even though her brain guilt trips her for that and when Scottie leaves with the air thick and tense, Harry corners her in between a wall and piece of furniture cradling her grumpy face in his careful palms speaking gently to her. 

"You don't 'ave to worry 'bout her, she's just a friend …. Infact you don't have to worry 'bout anyone because I love you so so much baby that I don't see myself spending me life with anyone else." She glances up at him twice, jaw falling slack from shock and he chuckles smothering her in kind-hearted kisses when she stares at him like a hawk. 

"You what!?" 

"I love you, Y/N." Her eyes closing like a moth flapping nearer to fire and finding peace in burning inside it. 

"I love you too so much." She whispers and welcomes his lips melting against her ardently. With the passion only lovers hold. Amiability she couldn't find anyone else but in his embrace, in his kisses and his lovemaking. 

"Can we go back to cuddlin'? Me feet gettin' cold baby." He whines treading fastly into the living room while carrying her like a kitten from behind and makes squeaky noises once snoozed under the warmth of the blanket. 

He touches their foreheads. Kissing the tip of her nose adorably. 

"I love you." Then burst into giggles. When she returns the passion coyly. 

"I love you too." 

[plainbrunettelbl]

(A) Half Octopus Shota Aizawa x (O) GN Reader Inky Tentacles

Word count: 3876

Warnings: Attempted murder. 

Title: (A) Half Octopus Shota Aizawa x (O) GN Reader Inky Tentacles 

Summary: You get thrown overboard and an Alpha with inky black tentacles and hair to match saves you. 

(Gif not mine) (Sho when you give him attitude the first scene.) 

💤-You had thought it would be the best week of your life. 

💤-You had just gotten married to a charming Alpha and you were supposed to spend the week on an island in honeymoon bliss. The thought of hanging out on the sand with your mate made your heart warm. 

💤-If only you found out about your Alpha’s evil intent. 

💤-The three months of courting and spontaneous proposal and here you were. Getting sea-sick on a boat in the middle of nowhere. There were only three people on board. 

💤-You, your Alpha, and the captain. 

💤-It was supposed to be a romantic boat ride to watch a pod of dolphins but you spent half the time with your head over the side of the boat. 

💤-“Alpha, I think we should go back. I’m not feeling too good.” You sadly crooned, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. 

💤-“Aw, are you sure we can’t wait it out? I know how much you love dolphins. Just think about how you will get to see them jumping around and hearing their little trills. We are almost there after all.” They soothed, rubbing your back. 

💤-You don’t remember telling them that you liked dolphins. You felt bad that they had planned this and you were ruining their thoughtful gift. 

💤-“Yeah, I can tough it out.” You croaked, giving them a shaky smile. 

💤-“Great.” They smiled. 

💤-If only you were able to distinguish the darkness in their smile. 

***

💤-One second you were leaning over the boat once more and the next you felt a forceful bump from behind and you went headfirst into the cerulean colored water. 

💤-Your chirps of surprise mixed with the sounds of the lapping water. 

💤-“Alpha! Help! I’ve fallen overboard.” You cried, thrashing in the water. 

💤-You weren’t a strong swimmer. At that moment you regret agreeing with your Alpha in foregoing a life jacket. They had convinced you that it would look weird in all of the pictures you would take. 

💤-You realized now it was just a lie to make sure you sank to the bottom of the ocean. 

💤-Your Alpha merely smirked at you as the Captain pulled away. Leaving you stranded in the middle of the ocean. You didn’t bother holding back your sobs and whimpers. Your arms were getting tired and it hadn’t even been ten minutes since your Alpha ditched you. 

💤-You heard a small splashing sound a few feet away from you. 

💤-“Who’s there? If you’re a shark, please go away! I’m already having a terrible day.” You cried, frantically splashing your arms in the water. 

���-“Not a shark.” A deep voice uttered. 

💤-You yelped and turned in their direction. A male, with black hair and eyes, peered over at you. 

💤-“What are you doing here?” You stuttered, your brain not comprehending why there would be a man swimming out here.  

💤-“Fishing.” He calmly said, moving a little closer to you. 

💤-“This far out?” You felt yourself inching towards him as well. Underneath the strong smell of sea salt, you smelled the familiar scent of an Alpha. Your Omega was eager to seek comfort in the Alpha. 

💤-Don’t you think Alpha’s should be on our shit list right now? You reprimanded, glaring at your love-struck Omega.  

💤-Not this Alpha, he smells safe. She crooned, giving the Alpha heart eyes. 

💤-“What are you doing this far out?” He lifted a brow, sending you a questioning look. 

💤-“Sunbathing.” You flatly stated, glaring at him. You were in no mood to talk to an Alpha. Being thrown overboard by one would do that. 

💤-“Well, I’ll leave you to it then.” He deadpanned, making like he was gonna swim away. 

💤-“No, wait!” You chirped, quickly swimming onto him and latching on. 

💤-His muscled arms wrapped around you, pulling you into him. Your tired legs were quick to wrap around him as well. Your feet felt something soft brush against them. 

💤-One of your hands reached down and pulled the thing up. 

💤-“Tentacle.” You uttered, staring at the black tentacle in disbelief. You looked down and saw eight others along with it. 

💤-Your brain was done with the stress of the day. Your vision went fuzzy and then you went slack in the arms of the black-haired Alpha. 

***

💤-You woke up on soft sand, your hands scrunching in the white grains. 

💤-“Good, you’re up.” A voice called, their tone soothing. 

💤-You rolled your head to the left and saw the same man from before resting his arms on the flat rocks near the water. It looked like you were in a cave of sorts. The water sparkled a brilliant turquoise, much lighter than the deep cerulean of the ocean. 

💤-“Hi.” You mumbled your limbs felt heavy and weak. 

💤-“I can hear your empty stomach from here.” He rumbled, his inky eyes noticing your weakened state. 

💤-You saw his inky tentacles swish in the water behind him. You sat up in a hurry, shuffling on your butt away from him.  

💤-“Don’t eat me! I won’t taste good.” You cried, looking around for a rock to throw at him. 

💤-He merely sighed at your fear. 

💤-“If I wanted to eat you, I would have done it when you were passed out.” He drawled, leaning his head on his arms. “I wouldn’t have saved you from drowning either.” 

💤-You blinked at his words, thinking them over.

💤-True, he could have left you stranded in the ocean, but instead, he swam you to land. 

💤-“Oh... sorry.” Your voice was small. 

💤-“It’s okay. I’m used to it.” He tilted his head back observing your meek frame. 

💤-Your stomach decided to make itself known. The whale sounds bouncing off the cave walls. You felt your cheek warm. 

💤-“I got enough fish for both of us. I already ate my share.” He stated, pointing a finger to the big pile of fish a few feet away from you. 

💤-Their dead eyes staring at you. You suddenly felt green, your eyes darting away from the scaly pile. 

💤-“I think I’ll pass.” You cringed, holding your knees to your chest. 

💤-“Omega, you need to eat.” The inky-haired Alpha reprimanded, his eyes narrowing. 

💤-You sat straighter, his words calling at your Omega. She wanted to obey but the smell of raw fish was too much for her as well. 

💤-“I can’t, Alpha. I can’t eat raw fish.” You tucked your head down. 

💤-“How else do you eat it?” He questioned, leaning forward a bit, your sweet smell was making his tentacle shiver in delight. 

💤-His species didn’t have many females, and the ones that he has come across were very aggressive. They only have two things on their mind, mating and dominating. 

💤-They were very possessive of their space and couldn’t handle a male around them for long. He guessed that was why his species was slowly dying out. A small voice in his head told him that Omegas like you would help solve the problem. 

💤-No. You were meant for land, just as he was for water. He would take care of you until the upcoming storm passes and then he would drop you off near a local beach. 

💤-“Cooked. Well, I guess there is sushi, but it’s bad to eat it raw in case of parasites.” You formed, resting your chin on your knees. 

💤-He stared at you in confusion. 

💤-“What’s that?” He rumbled, frustrated that your differences were already showing. 

💤-“It’s when you cook it on the oven.” You replied, looking around at the cave and realizing there would be no pan-searing happening anytime soon. “Or over a fire.” 

💤-“What’s fire?” He questioned, his brain not connecting the word with anything. 

💤-You offered a quick explanation of the flickering element. 

💤-“Oh, so you need wood. I can go find some driftwood.” He pushed away from the edge of the water, getting ready to dive under the water and swim through the tunnel connecting his cave to the sea. 

💤-“It kinda has to be dry.” You said, unraveling yourself from your legs and standing up. You spotted a small entrance to the cave. You would have to crouch a bit to get out but at least you would be able to find firewood. 

💤-“I’ll go get some.” You wiped off the sand from your clothes and headed over. 

💤-“Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if it is dangerous?” His eyes held slight panic, the thought of not being able to see you. 

💤-What if you made a run for it? What if you went away and never came back? His strong arms lifted himself from the water.

💤-“I’ll come with you.” He stated, trying to get all of his tentacles on land. 

💤-You watched him struggle to find his balance on the slippery sand. You felt yourself slightly shiver looking at his huge form, seeing just how big and intimidating he was. 

💤-An Alpha indeed. 

💤-“Don’t worry about it! You stay here. I’ll be quick.” You encouraged, pointing him towards the pile of fish. 

💤-“If you can skin those and gut them I would be grateful.” You tried to persuade him using his caretaker instincts against him.  

💤-He realized he wouldn’t be much help on land away and conceded, dutifully going over to the pile and getting to work. You nodded and went out. You came back quickly, not wanting to worry the poor Alpha. 

💤-Once you walked back in the inky-haired male sent you a tiny smile before going back to his task. He made sure not a single scale was left. 

💤-You dropped the firewood down onto the sandy floor before going around the cave, picking up rocks to put around the fireplace. You got it the fireplace settled but the part of lighting the fire was more difficult than you thought. 

💤-“Ugh! I can’t get it.” You whined, tossing the sticks down. 

💤-You had been rubbing them for five minutes and not a single strand smoke greeted you. 

💤-“What are you trying to do?” The quiet Alpha asked, looking up from his task of gutting. 

💤-“Making fire, or at least trying to.” You grumbled, glaring at the useless sticks. 

💤-“Can I help?” He moved to your side, picking up the sticks. 

💤-You showed him what to do and soon enough a small flame graced the cave. Your eyes take in the flickering flame. Your Omega was happily purring. 

💤-See, he’s a great Alpha. He can make fire. She cooed, eyeing up his strong arms. 

💤-Don’t go all cave-women on me. You hissed, not willing to admit you were also impressed with his fire-making skills. 

💤-He winced against the heat. Since he was done with the fish he slipped back into the water. His body sighing in relief as the cool water hydrated his skin and tentacles. 

💤-You got to work on cooking the fish, soon enough you had two wonderfully grilled pieces of fish. You looked over at him and offered a piece to him. The face he made after eating it was priceless. 

💤-It was like the face of a baby who was given a lemon for the first time. 

💤-“I guess you are not a fan.” You giggled, chewing on your unseasoned fish. 

💤-“I’ll stick to raw.” He shook his head. 

***

💤-It had been two days since your Alpha tried to kill you. Shota had told you that he wouldn’t be able to take you to civilization just yet. A big storm was coming and it would be hard to get you to shore with the rough waves it brought. 

💤-You had spent the days in the water with Shota or on the island collecting firewood and coconuts. You had yet to find freshwater so coconuts had been your main source of water. 

💤-You had a rough time opening them but Shota was quick to excellently crack them open. Your Omega was all too pleased to point out, once again, about what a great Alpha he was. 

💤-“I made this for you.” You held up a hair tie that you had made. You spent the day weaving it together. Sho had been gone most of the day so it was easy to surprise him with it. 

💤-He looked at the hair tie in awe. You had added tiny shells to it to make it more pretty. 

💤-It was clearly a mating gift, or at least he thought so. First, you shared a bit of your food with him, something only mates did, and then you made him a courting gift. 

💤-Now all that was left was for you to solidify your interest in him by touching his gills. Something that you unknowingly did not even ten minutes after you gifted him the hair tie. 

💤-“Let me comb your hair a bit. It looks like a rats nest.” You chuckled, sitting on the edge of the pool, with your legs dipped in the water. 

💤-He was hesitant to turn his back to you. It was a big taboo with his kind. You never turned your back on anyone outside of your pod. “Come on. I don’t bite.” 

💤-He slotted his shoulders between your legs. He didn’t relax until he felt your fingers weave their way into his knotted hair. You felt his chest rumble at your soothing touch. 

💤-“I figured it must be difficult to see when you're swimming.” You hummed, enjoying the way his obsidian locks felt like silk.

💤-You tied back his hair once all of his knots were untangled, you swept back the few strands that escaped from the tie, unknowingly tracing his gills. Shota shot out of your grasp, flustered at your bold actions. 

💤-“I’ll go get us dinner.” He stuttered, quickly swimming out of the cave. 

💤-“But you just came back from fishing?” You said, surprised at his abrupt departure. 

💤-He was gone before you could even finish your sentence. 

***

💤-“Thank you for the crab, Shota.” You hummed, cracking open the scarlet leg. 

💤-“No problem, there were a bunch of them not too far from the cave.” He leaned against the rocks. His eyes not quite meeting yours. He fibbed a bit, he had to swim quite the distance to get them. 

💤-He was just happy to give you something that you wanted. You had mentioned the pointy little creatures and he was all too eager to see a smile on your face. The cute little chirps you made while biting into the sweet meat struck him right in his three hearts. 

💤-Ever since your fingers grazed against his gills he had been more affectionate. 

💤-You usually slept near the fire at night but you would somehow wake up near the pool wrapped up in his tentacles. He was even more worried when you left the cave for any reason. 

💤-He particularly didn’t like it when you bathed away from him. He knew about the dangers of the ocean so he was more on edge to leave you in it by yourself. He had also taken to bringing you back beautiful shells and rocks. 

💤-Shota was hesitant to tell you that the storm receded and he could take you back now. It didn’t matter, you were courting, basically mates at this point. 

💤-“Shota....” You trailed off, your eyes not able to meet his. 

💤-“Yes, Omega?” He rumbled, he picked up on your scent, it was uneasy. 

💤-“I was wondering when we were gonna go back to shore.” You asked, flitting your eyes over to him. 

💤-“Back to shore?” The words felt itchy against his throat. His tentacles coiling in the water, wishing to hold you close in his arms. You can’t leave if you are tangled in his limbs. 

💤-“Well, I need to get back. I don’t know how long my back can handle sleeping on sand another night.” You rubbed your aching back. “I miss curling up in bed, warm tea, and reading books.” 

💤-Each word was like shark's teeth ripping into him. He supposed he would miss the waves of the sea if he was on land. You both were still too different. His Alpha was howling in his head. 

💤-She can’t leave! She is ours! He howled. 

💤-Ours or not. She needs somewhere better to live. Shota sadly argued. Our cave wasn’t suited for a human Omega. 

💤-Wait a damn minute. That blond still owes me a favor. He thought, not believing he didn’t think of him sooner. 

💤-Yeah! Make that Beta build our Omega a home. His Alpha yipped. 

💤-“I know a friend who has a place around here,” Shota said, happy that you wouldn’t be leaving him anytime soon. 

💤-The Alpha didn’t waste any time pulling you into the water and swimming you to his friend’s beach house. 

***

💤-“What do you mean you want me to build her a house!” The blond’s eyes widened, he stared at his friend in shock. 

💤-“You make her a house on your island so she can stay here,” Shota explained again, you would think he was talking about the weather with how calm he was being. 

💤-He was glad you were using the blond’s shower. He didn’t want you around for his annoying yelling. 

💤-“I can’t just build a house for an Omega you found in the sea! Next thing I know I’ll have to build an apartment complex.” The blonde huffed, running his hand through his long hair. 

💤-“No apartment complex. I want a house for my Omega.” The dark-haired male glared, angry that the blond would even suggest he would stray from his Omega. He wouldn’t even consider it. 

💤-Plus, It’s not like the sea was filled with unmated Omegas after all. 

💤-“Your Omega? Like your bonded Omega?” The blond lifted a brow, not quite sure his ears were working properly.  

💤-“Yes. My Omega. My forever mate.” The Alpha rumbled his chest warming at his words. 

💤-“Mmm. I suppose I can see what I can do. It might take a couple of weeks though? Are you fine with her staying here with me?” Hizashi questioned, knowing the Alpha male well. 

💤-The Alpha growled at him. 

💤-“You stay on your side of the house and I won’t have a problem.” He glowered, lunging slightly out of the water to intimidate him a bit. 

💤-“Woah, there big guy! No need to threaten me. I’ll be on my best behavior.” The blond backed away from the patio’s edge. 

💤-The patio was flush against the sea. A perfect spot for the millionaire to lounge out in his speedo. 

💤-“Good. I’ll consider your debt paid.” Shota hummed, eyeing your freshly showered form making your way over. 

💤-“Wow, you have a great shower Hizashi.” You beamed, rubbing a towel to your wet hair. 

💤-“Thank you. Please be sure to help yourself to some food. I doubt this guy had anything besides fish in his little damp cave.” The blond teased, making sure to move a safe distance away from the male in the water. 

💤-“Thank you!” You chirped, making yourself at home in his kitchen.

💤-Shota enjoyed the bright smile on your face as you threw a meal together. He did get a little concerned when you brought out a knife to chop vegetables but you seemed comfortable with the blade so that calmed him some. 

💤-He was content in leaning over the patio’s edge, happy that you were happy. He felt like he could be here, watching you from the water’s edge, for the rest of his life. 

***

💤-Two weeks later and the little beach house on the other side of the island was built. You almost didn’t believe it when Shota swam you to it. 

💤-“This is mine?” You gasped looking at the wooden beach house. It looked like it cost an arm and a leg to make. 

💤-“Yup, Hizashi owed me a favor. He got drunk one night and decided to go night fishing. I saved the dumb fool from a hungry shark and brought him back home.” He rolled his eyes at the blonde’s antics. 

💤-“But why?” You asked, wondering why he used his debt to make you a house. 

💤-Surely he knew you would have to go back to your old life sometime soon. During you stay with Zashi’s house you had informed him of your previous Alpha’s actions. The billionaire was all too pleased to put the Alpha behind bars. It took a while for the police to investigate so you were invited to stay with him while everything was sorted out. 

💤-They kept the fact that you were alive a secret from the public. They wanted the Alpha to think he got away with it.  

💤-The Alpha was claiming you both were on the boat when the storm came and knocked you overboard. That they tried to get to you but you were too far away and they got separated from you. 

💤-It wasn’t until the captain of the boat folded and told them what had happened, that the Alpha was finally cuffed and sent to prison. 

💤-“Because we’re courting obviously.” The black-haired Alpha stated, his eyes lovingly connected with yours.  

💤-His three hearts truly beat for you. 

💤-“Courting? Since when?” You leaned back, surprised at his words. 

💤-“Since you gave me a courting gift and touched my gills.” He said, perplexed by your reaction.

💤-“I don’t remember touching your gills?” You tilted your head to the side trying to recall if you ever did. 

💤-“When you would put my hair up. You would always touch them. Did you not mean to?” His voice grew small as he realized you didn’t know what the touch would mean. 

💤-“I didn’t mean to.” You said, your heart picking up. Did he think you were courting the entire time? 

💤-“What about my courting gifts? You accepted them.” He pushed, nervously swimming forward.

💤-“Your seashells and rocks? I didn’t think they meant anything.” You mumbled, your eyes looking down in your lap. 

💤-You didn’t think he would be interested in you that way. You were a human after all. Didn’t he want to be with someone his kind? It wasn’t like you hadn’t thought of spending the rest of your days with him but you never truly accepted the fact that it could be a reality. 

💤-“Oh.” He sank into the water, his nose submerged. 

💤-The action made you think he was about to swim away and you would never see him again. You nearly broke the poor man’s neck jumping on top of him the way you did. 

💤-“Wait! I didn’t say I wouldn’t court you.” You exclaimed, holding onto him tight.

💤-“Really?” He breathed, the light in his eyes flickering again. 

💤-“Yes! I’ll be sure to make you an actual courting gift. Though I’m having a difficult time thinking about what it should be. I usually gave my other Alphas a crocheted scarf.” You blinked, realizing the man had no use for one.

💤-“Other Alphas.” He growled, his tentacles squeezing you possessively.  

💤-“Don’t worry about them. They are long gone. You are the only Alpha I’m thinking about now.” You hummed, pecking him lightly on the lips. 

💤-You felt a spark shoot down your spine at the small touch. 

💤-The pleasant purr that came out of his chest made you giggle. 

💤-“More.” He purred, leaning forwards. 

💤-“Anything for you Alpha.” You said, leaning forward to meet him. 

I mean there could be a few more Omegas stranded at sea. Who knows. 🤷‍♀️ Lol I almost didn’t post this so I hope you like it! Please be sure to leave a note and tell me your thoughts on this AU. 

[bittydragon]

The Ant King

Note: Huge thanks to Bittydragon for inspiring me to write this. I’ll be honest, this is the first fic I've ever actually written, as well as the only piece of creative fiction I've written in like two years so… fingers crossed it goes well hahaha.

TW: tight spaces, darkness, uh,,, bugs i guess. Near death experience

  There are things you have to know about ants when you get an ant farm. Basic fundamentals. What to feed them, how to keep them alive, what type of ants you have, etcetera. Even if your intentions were… torturous. After all, you need to know what makes something tick in order to make it stop.

One of the more common facts about ants is that every colony has a queen. She orders her ants to keep her alive so she can make more ants. Simple biology, the continuation of a species. Every nest has a queen, or it dies.

Apparently, this colony didn’t get the memo.

These thoughts buzzed in grumpy circles around Wilbur's’ head as he followed his ant companion, Tommy, deeper into the ant-farm. They had been wandering these tunnels for what felt like days now, in the center of the farm so there were no glass barriers to show the outside world. They were deep too. Almost at the bottom of the compound. Wilbur was not one to show fear, but even he was beginning to get claustrophobic.

Tommy, who up until now had been jabbering like a toddler the whole trip through the ant-farm had also gone uncharacteristically silent. The whole trip Wilbur had wanted nothing more than a few seconds of quiet from him, but now he missed the carefree noise.

They were on their way to see the ant King. A type of ant that, as far as Wilbur knew, didn’t exist. So either they were on a wild goose chase, or Will was way out of his depth.

The further they went, the more he was convinced it was the latter.

“Tommy do you-” Wilbur paused, his echoing voice in the tunnel almost felt like a taboo. An affront to the maddening silence that stalked them. He lowered his voice.

“Do you think… Will I ever get back to normal? Will the ant king change me back?” He hated that little quiver in his voice. He hated the uncertainty. The waiting.

Tommy continued to march forward silently, pondering the question.

“I dunno big man, I think you’ve changed heaps since you got here.” He turned his head to flash Wilbur a grin “Then you’ll be out there and all nice n shit. It’ll be poggers.”

The tunnel was dark, but not dark enough to hide the flash of uncertainty in Tommy’s eyes.

Wilbur's heart sank. “Thanks mate.” He mumbled, and they trekked on, once more in silence.

  By the time they saw light, it felt like they had been walking for days. Wilbur was almost glad he was about to meet possibly one of the most powerful ants in this colony. They rounded one last bend, and they were there.

Before them stood a huge double door set in the wall. Two vines with some kind of glowing fruit framed the door, shedding light on the small space. In front of the door, leaning on a spear made from a twig was another ant with a pair of large white rimmed goggles. 

“Well… This is it I guess.” Wilbur muttered. He cleared his throat “Hey, um. I-i’m here to have an audience with the King? If that's alright.”

The guard ant didn’t respond, continuing to stare at them with no discernible expression.

“H-hello?” Wilbur glanced at Tommy, who shrugged.

“Excuse me? Anyone home?” Wilbur snapped his fingers in front of the ant's face.

He seemed to startle slightly, before slumping down a bit and letting out a loud snore.

“What the fuck” Tommy said.

Before anyone could do much of anything, one of the massive double doors creaked open and a voice came through.

“George, I swear if you fell asleep again, I'm going to rip off your antenna and use them as- oh.”

Another ant entered the room, this one also carried a twig-spear and had a strip of white cloth tied around his forehead.  As soon as his gaze landed on Wilbur, his expression soured.

If looks could kill… Wilbur thought nervously

“It’s you” The new ant spat “Took your sweet time getting here Soot. Earthquake slow you down? Didja get a taste of your own medicine from your big pals out there?”

Wilbur pursed his lips, and the ant snorted. “Yeah. Thought so.” He walked forward and gave George a hard shove, sending the other ant sprawling with a startled yelp.

“Sapnap what the hell?!” He snapped, before spotting Wilbur and Tommy. “Oh hey. That guy is here.”

“Yeah he’s here, idiot.” Sapnap smacked George over the head with his spear “And we would have known a lot sooner if you hadn't fallen asleep on duty again!”

“OW! Sapnap stop! Get off me!”

Wilbur cleared his throat, drawing their attention “Sorry to interrupt, but me and my friend have been walking for a long, long time, so could we please have an audience with the King?”

Subpoena glared “Yeah. He’s waiting for you. Against my advice, he wants to see you.”

Oh. That… didn’t sound great.

Wilbur tried not to think about the implications of that statement as he approached the double doors. Tommy moved to follow, but was stopped by the guards.

“Hey!” He groused “Let me through dickheads!”

“I'm afraid the King only wants an audience with the great and powerful Wilbur Soot” Sapnap said with a smirk.

“But I want to go too! Let me in! You stupid ugly bitch ill fight you! You may have a fancy stick but just wait until I pull out my knife-gun!”

“Tommy its fine.” Wilbur interrupted “I’ll be fine mate, promise. Just wait here. I wont leave without saying goodbye.”

The last thing he saw was Tommy’s antenna drooping sadly, before the doors swung closed behind him.

  If Wilbur thought the tunnel was dark before, that was nothing compared to the room he was in now. The darkness was so thick, so absolute, that it made no difference if his eyes were open or closed.

“Hello?” Wilbur called “Uh… your majesty? I was told that you wanted to see me.”

His voice echoed slightly in the huge space, but there was no reply.

Wait. What was that? Something rasped ever so slowly across the opposite wall. Something big. As it moved, the moss where it had been standing glowed a dull green.

Bio-luminescence Wilbur reasoned. Trying to distract himself from the fear creeping up his spine. Touch activated, it seems.

He swallowed dryly “L-look, just tell me what you want. I’m not here to cause trouble”

The thing moved again, its raspy scuttle reverberated through the chamber.

“Wilbur Soot, not here to cause any trouble” A thoughtful voice hummed from the dark “Now that’s a first.”

The bio-luminescent moss was lighting up more of the room. If he squinted, Wilbur could make out a... leg. Probably.

Wilbur inches slowly to the side, the moss lighting up his own path. “Okay, I get it, I've done morally questionable things in the past, but I've learned a lot from my time here. I’m sorry.”

“For now” The voice replied. The thing was moving on the other side, matching him step for step. “What's to say you aren't faking remorse to get out of here? And maybe you really are sorry. How can I be sure you wont change your mind the second you're back to normal? It's too much of a risk.”

Wilbur continued to back away nervously “Your majesty-”

“Please, call me Dream. Everyone else does.”

“Right… Dream. I can say with 100% certainty that won't happen. I've seen people die in front of me. That’s enough to change anyone's stance on something.”

“And yet I'm still not convinced.” It was moving faster now, scuttling across the floor, walls and even across the ceiling. Wilbur's head spun with the motion. “And since we’re talking in hypotheticals, riddle me this: Whoever said I was going to let you out anyway? What if I just like to play with my food?”

Dream stopped suddenly, rearing over Wilbur, and with all of the lit up moss, he got his first proper look.

This ant was huge. Twice- no, at least three times the size of Wilbur himself. He looked a bit like a centaur, with a human torso connected to a pure white and thorax and abdomen.He also wore a strange white mask with a blank eyed smiley face drawn on.

Two huge claw arms- similar to those of a praying mantis- extended from Dreams waist and slammed into the dirt either side of Wilbur, startling him enough that he fell onto his ass. The king leaned forward with that lifeless grin, and Will closed his eyes, preparing for the end.

“But…” Dream said thoughtfully “A proper experiment should account and test for all variables, shouldn't it?”

“Y-yeah generally” Wilbur stuttered

“Oh good.” Dream hoisted him roughly to his feet. “I’m glad I asked you. After all, you know all about experiments, don’t you?”

Wilbur chose not to answer, glowering at Dream as the eyes on his mask briefly glowed a dull green.

A moment later, Sapnap and George marched in, dragging a cussing and struggling Tommy behind them.

“YOU STUPID MOTHEFUCKERS!!! Let me go or ill get married in rage!! Fuck you and-! Oh. wow that is a big fella.” Tommy stopped and stared in awe at Dream

“Sapnap, give Wilbur your spear.” Dream ordered.

A flicker of doubt crossed Sapnaps face but he obediently shoved the spear into Wilbur's hands.

“I’ll make you a deal, Wilbur Soot.” Dream purred, circling him. “I will let you go to your old life. You can do whatever you like; kill us, torment us, throw us away… it doesn't matter. All you have to do is kill one ant.” He gestured to Tommy.

“What?” Wilbur whispered.

“WHAT?!” Tommy roared “fuck you! I'm not your dumb-ass pawn, I'm going to kill you! Rrrrrrrrrrr!” he writhed, attempting to bite George who did a surprisingly good job of holding him still.

“Go on.” Dream cooed “It's just one insignificant ant standing between you and freedom. You've killed hundreds. What's one more?”

Spear in hand, Wilbur took a hesitant step forward.

Tommy's gaze snapped up “Wilby?” He asked, his struggling pausing for a moment.

Their eyes met, fear clashing with sorrow. Tommy seemed to see something in Wilbur's expression and hung his head in defeat. As if he had expected Wilbur to betray him.

Oh hell no. Fuck that. Wilbur angrily tossed the spear aside.

“No. I won't.”

“What?” Dream spat

Wilbur rounded on him “No! I won't kill him! Keep me here, kill me, hunt me for sport, whatever! Just leave him out of this! Tommy has been nothing but nice to me since I met him, even though it don't deserve it!” He rubbed his arm. “God knows I don't deserve it.”

“Hmm…” Dream hummed “Are you sure, even if it costs you your life?” One of Dream's massive claw arms grazed his side, a subtle threat.

Wilbur looked over at Tommy, who had a look of hope on his face.

“Yeah.” Will smiled, “I'm sure.”

I probably could have written more, but i wont. I hope you like this fic bitty! Thanks for reading :)

Edit: Fortune, this is amazing! Like, I hadn't really thought about this encounter in a lot of detail, but I honestly like this a lot! And Dream being a big boy since he's the king ant. Just yes. Thank you so much for this.

[isolemnlyswear]

ooo could i request a remus x fem! reader where both of them are very shy so it takes lily, james and sirius to push them together. and whenever they talk to each other they stutter a lot?

always have, always will.

a/n : guess what! i made this way too intense again. i can't help it; its so much easier for me to write a really fucking intense love rather than a crush IM SORRY !! the end is the only cute part the rest is shite

HAPPY (very belated bc i don't have any motivation) BIRTHDAY REMUS MY BEAUTIFUL BOY

taglist : @oldschoolkiddo @amourtentiaa @anchoeritic @faeinorbit @tomriddleswifey @inks-and-jinx @jxsperhxle @punkrific @the-gazette-of-tea @krasivayadarling @orifortheweeknd @fallin-4-ya @incxndio @daisyyy2516 @hoe4cedricdiggory

young!remus lupin x fem!reader

---

"Oh." you sigh, blinking when you see Remus inside. Your huff isn't one of discontent; rather, as you enter the common room, you're simply nervous, timid to deal with the boy. As soon as you want to speak in front of him, to tell him that you really, really like him, you start blushing, turning into a stammering mess.

Alas, you swallow your fear, sitting down on the plush maroon chair opposite him and Sirius; Lily is on the floor, flipping through a potions book, and James is sprawled across your coordinating chair. Remus is lying against the side of the couch, knees up with arms wrapped around his legs. He's smiling, laughing at a joke Sirius told prior to your arrival.

Your heart is aching in your chest, and you try to will it to stop yearning for this boy, but there's a voice inside your head. One that tells you that he's all you could ever need.

Such thoughts reduce you to mush when Lily notices your arrival.

"There she is! How are 'ya?" the redhead greets you happily, and such a simple question is blocked out by your tunnel vision; you can only focus on one thing at the moment, and it's Remus.

You don't speak for a moment, zoning out, but when your eyes meet those of Remus, you quickly snap out of your trance, shaking your head.

"'M fine. J-just tired, I think 'm gonna go upstairs-" you manage to say, but you're cut off by an incredulous Sirius.

"S'five in the afternoon!" he says with a laugh, and you nod.

"And?" you quip, focus now returned when you tear your eyes away from Remus.

"Y'gotta stay down here, dinner's soon!" Lily replies, and you glare at her. She knows exactly why you want to leave at the moment, rather, she knows about how in love you are with one of your best friends. She raises her hands in mock surrender, and you sigh.

It's almost painful, the next hour. You're trying so hard to not make it alarmingly obvious concerning your... issue, but it's proving to be quite difficult.

And then, finally, it's dinner. You're able to get away with not talking, as you pretend to be eating anytime you're asked a question, and Remus is silent as well.

You eventually can sneak away to your dorm, wanting to sleep to rid yourself of the thoughts that give you no reprieve during the day.

But, of course, your dreams are of Remus.

---

Unbeknownst to you, and Remus, the entire rest of the marauders (and about half your year) are painfully aware of your affection for the boy.

And his for you.

So they hatch a plan; it’s simple, but effective.

You're all lounging in the common room -a typical Saturday afternoon - when James poses an odd request.

“Hey, Y/N? D’you wanna go look at something for me?” he asks, fighting back the smile that threatens at his lips. You nod, eager to get away from the tension that you and Remus are swamped by.

“What is it?” you ask as he gets up, leading you up the stairs and to his dorm room. You're confused, eyebrows furrowing and hands wringing nervously.

“You'll see.” James grins at you as you enter the dorm room - which has four beds, three of which are littered with laundry and other teenage boy things, but one is impeccably neat, and you assume it to be Remus’s.

“James, what-” you begin, but he shushes you with a laugh.

“Lily’s cat won't get out of this closet, y’see, and I know you're good with animals and the like, so could you...get it? For Lily, f’course, ” he asks, pointing to a rather large closet in the corner of their dorm.

You raise your eyebrows, but nod, opening the doors and getting in, eyes searching for Lily’s feline friend.

But as soon as you drop to your knees, a soft thud reverberates through the closet. James had shut the doors, and the closet was big enough to where you weren't claustrophobic, thankfully. But there is no cat in sight. None.

Downstairs, however, James had strolled in nonchalantly, and Lily’s grinning.

“What did you do this time, Prongs?” Remus sighs, unaware that the others around him are all aware of their little plot.

“Maybe you should go upstairs and find out,” James says ominously, raising a dark eyebrow. Remus glares at him, sighing.

“Where’s Y/N?” he asks, still holding his gaze on the brunette. Lily giggles, and Remus shoots her an impatient glare. “What did you do to her?” The question is directed at no one in particular, but the irascible tone in the lycanthrope’s voice demands an answer.

“Once again, go upstairs and find out, mate.” James’s tone, however, is one of amusement.

Remus takes in a querulous breath, turning to stomp up the stairs.

Undivulged to him, James is sneakily creeping up the stairs behind the boy.

You're pounding at the mahogany of the closet door, and you've forgotten your wand downstairs, leaving you helpless in the space. You ponder why James would do such a thing, but you brush it off, figuring it was another prank, one of all too many.

“Y/N?” Remus questions hesitantly into the empty dorm, and your ears prick up at his voice.

“I'm in here!!” you shout, pounding at the closet door, and Remus rushes to open it for you.

But as soon as he's inside, helping you up, James, with a flick of his wand, shuts the door.

You're locked in.

With Remus.

And it's absurd, really, how quickly your heart is beating in your ribcage.

“Prongs I swear to Merlin-” Remus starts irritably, but stops himself with a tremulous inhale.

“Fuck,” you whisper, cowering to the back of the closet. Remus’s scent is surrounding you, the honey and chocolate and dark cologne enveloping you in a blanket of bliss. You’re thankful for the dim nature of the closet, for your cheeks are rouging with embarrassment.

Little known to you, Remus’s heart is pounding in his ears, and he’s even more entranced by your scent, what with his dog-like sense of smell. It's his favorite scent in the world, truly, one he could get lost in forever.

“Sorry,” the boy whispers, slumping down across the space from you, and you quirk a brow.

“W-what are you sorry for, Remus?” you ask quietly, wrapping your arms around yourself.

“I got us locked in here, didn't I?” You can hear the soft smile in his voice, a bittersweet one.

“But that isn't too bad, is it?” you say, courage surging through your bones as the darkness shields your nerves.

“Oh yeah?” he asks under his breath, laughing softly.

“What, am I that unbearable?” you tease, tucking a strand of fallen hair behind your ear.

“No,” Remus says remarkably quickly, and then he hesitates for a second. “Quite the opposite.” His voice is barely above a whisper, but his words ring in your ears like a mantra.

“That's quite cryptic,” you say, taking in a deep breath.

“Y’gonna make me spell it out for you?”

“If you mean what I think you do, fuck, either I'm being terribly idiotic right now or...” you trail off, noticing that Remus is closer to you, now.

“Or what?” he breathes, and you close your eyes slowly.

“Or...if you're, um, insinuating what I think you to be, and I get words out correctly enough to respond...” you leave the rest of the sentence unsaid, words trapped in your throat.

“What then?” Remus says ever-so-quietly, and you take in another breath, eyes still pressed closed.

“I'd be making the best decision of my life.”

You can hear the boy’s breath hitch in his throat. You open your eyes to see that he's next to you, now, and the soft light from under the door that illuminates you as the sun lowers is glimmering on his skin, bouncing off the scars in his skin and the gold flecks in his eyes.

“Perhaps... Perhaps it’d be right of you to make that assumption. That I'm saying what you think I am, that is.” He breathes slowly, and your eyes flick to him again.

“This conversation is the most cryptic thing I've ever heard,” you say quietly with a laugh, and Remus nods in agreement.

“We’re getting the point across, though, aren't we?” he jests, and you giggle. Your expression then turns serious, and you turn so that you're facing the boy.

“Could I... Could I take you up on that offer of spelling it out?” you say breathlessly, and Remus smiles gently.

“We could say it on three,” he suggests, and you laugh.

“Merlin, we're like toddlers. Fine, on your count, then,” you reply with a nod, heart a jackhammer in your chest.

“One... Two...” he pauses for a second, and you let out a breath.

He's fully facing you, as well, and you see a glint in his eyes that's so familiar yet so new.

“Fuck this,” he says before the last count, and your eyes widen. “I love you, Y/N. I'm- I'm in love with you.” he admits, shutting his eyes like he's ripping off a particularly menacing bandaid.

You don't respond for a moment, mouth open in shock. But as soon as you snap out of your trance, you notice the boy’s posture; he's nervous, recoiled as if he's worried you wouldn't say it back.

You place a delicate hand on the side of his face, thumbing over his cheek, and he relaxes at your touch, still not opening his eyes.

You softly press your lips to his, and he responds instantaneously, one hand reaching to pull you in by your waist, the other resting on your cheek.

There's a fire exploding inside you, and it’s glorious, golden sparks erupting after being kept inside for so long. Your lips are dancing in a delicate rhythm with his, like they were meant to. He tastes like chocolate and bliss, and his hand wraps in your hair, tongue swiping over your lips gently.

After what feels simultaneously like an eternity and no time at all, you break away for air, resting your forehead against his.

“Now it's my turn to infer from that,” he breathes after a moment, and you smile.

“Not quite as cryptic, you'll find.” You smile, kissing him again. “I love you, Remus Lupin. Always have, always will.”

[rk1kheadcanons]

i hope all of the admins are doing well :) i'm a sucker for angst (with a happy ending) so my prompt is that, anything that comes to mind feel free to about it! a heated argument, close call with death, a misunderstanding – as long as markus and connor feel all of those angsty emotions and resolve them, that's my jam!

Oh hello! 🥰

Thank you for the well wishes, I myself am doing wonderfully thank you!

Let's go with "close call with death" since I have a little angsty snippet for that one that's been rattling around in my head for a while now:

-

Markus stared down wide-eyed at where the pale grey of his suit had only eighteen hours ago been soaked in blue. The vibrant colour had since evaporated off, but Connor would still have been able to see it...

The RK900 standing in as Markus' bodyguard in Connor's absence could still see it too if the careful avoidance of her gaze towards Markus was anything to go by. He'd been advised numerous times by words spoken under concerned gazes to go home and change but he couldn't bring himself to leave him alone like this...

Markus' HUD glitched when he let his mind wander back over the past eighteen hours. His vision suddenly filled with the image of liquid blue exploding out of the back of his lovers head as his tactile sensors involuntarily re-registered the hot feel of blood painting his face and running down his neck. Auxiliary security had tried to forcefully drag Markus away from Connor after the bullets had started flying but he had held on tight. Dragging the limp form with them off of the stage and into an armored car.

And the sound. Ra9 he would never forget that sound.

Connors usually sharp tongue reduced to nothing but bursts of static and high-pitched feedback loops. His gaze unfocused as his limbs spasmed weakly and his central processor approached shutdown. Markus had cradled him in his arms as the car sped off, ignoring the heavy flow of thirium soaking into his suit and drenching him. Amongst his pleas to the RK800 to stay with me, don't go, don't leave me please don't leave me, he almost missed the single white hand that Connor was lifting weakly towards his own, blinking dimly with blue light.

He latched onto it with force the second his attention was drawn to it. Opening up an interface disturbingly absent of Connor's usual ferocity. Interfacing with an RK800 was normally like being dropped headfirst into the ocean but now his presence felt like barely a trickle of existence...

He received one automated message from Connors systems before the countdown timer on his HUD reached zero:

UPLOADING MEMORY//:

And that was how Markus found himself deep in a basement level of Cyberlife tower, floor -45; The research and development sector of the RK lines. Somewhere between the grief and the panic and the fear, he had managed to relay the final message of Connors systems to their security team and they had been swiftly transported in a motor blockade towards the android-occupied tower. A team of the few remaining RK800s in existence had quickly snatched Connor from Markus' arms at the entrance and spirited him away to do...well Markus wasn't sure what exactly, he was uncharacteristically absent of questions at that moment.

There had been one on his lips, however, the one that was taking up space in all corners of all his processors;

"Will he still be himself?"

The RK800s had looked to one another with swirling LEDs before fifty-nine responded with the non-answer of

"None of us have ever attempted a transfer as deviants."

He had been brought to a room after that, a large white sterile space that housed a glass-plated black cube in the center which was covered in flickering LED lights; The RK800 main-server. In any other scenario he would have been fascinated to see it, the machine that connected Connor to all RK800s while his body kept him an autonomous individual...but right now his attention was focused tunnel-vision like on the two beds off to the side, one with his Connor laid broken and lifeless and the other with RK800-63, as new and as lifelike as a doll.

He stood between them for a moment, casting his gaze this way and that before slowly settling himself in a chair between the two of them and raising a plasteel white hand towards each figure. He stayed like that as he waited. As the eight hours the 800s said it would take for the transfer to complete turned into eighteen. Hand in hand with a corpse and a shell.

-

It wasn't until the twentieth hour that the multitude of flickering loading bars on the digital monitor finally circled to blue with an alert chime. After a short moment of deliberation where his head whipped back and forth rapidly, Markus reluctantly let go of Connor-52s -his Connors - hand and brought both over to grasp onto Connor-63s. The tension in the air was thick enough to make the room feel liquid as the seconds ticked by with no sign of stirring from the figure on the table.

When the LED on the android's forehead finally circled blue with a blink Markus' artificial breath hitched and he was dimly aware of the RK900 at the door taking a small step forward in involuntary anticipation. One minute went by, and then another, and then ten more until suddenly the eyes of the prone form snapped open and circled around the room frantically.

Markus' chair fell backward behind him as he jumped to his feet to lean over the RK800 who's eyes were flickering rapidly over the white tiled ceiling with an expression of fear.

"Connor? Can you hear me?"

At the sound of Markus' voice, the RK800's eyes snapped suddenly to his own in sharp focus and the expression of terror on the androids face quickly shifted into flat browed determination. Connor lunged off of the bed in one fluid motion, disconnecting the data cable at the base of his neck with a pop and pushing Markus to the ground.

The RK200 fell backwards hard, cracking his head against the side of the other bed in the process. As Connor landed on top of him, pressing his body into the ground and holding his head down with a firm palm to the side of his face, Markus felt a flash of some emotion that landed between horror and peace at the thought that perhaps Connor had been rebound to his pre-deviant programming during the transfer and was about to follow through with Cyberlifes last order to eradicate the deviant leaders. His fear, however, was cut short by the first words out of the RK800s mouth.

"Active shooter! Why are you just standing there?! Find the source and cover us!"

Markus managed to make eye contact with his stand-in bodyguard from where he lay on the floor and the look in the RK900s eyes said that she too had all at once understood what was happening. He contacted her wirelessly before she had the chance to drag Connor off of him, instructing her to not interfere lest she distress the RK800 even more.

"Connor-"

"Stay down!"

The hand pressing Markus head onto the ground tightened and he made no move to try and dislodge it. Connor continued to bark orders at the android in the doorway while attempting to shield Markus' body from an imaginary shooter.

"Connor-"

"We need to get off the stage, when I give the command stay low and move with me towards the stairs- towards..."

The younger android's voice trailed off as his eyes flicked around the room in search of a staircase that didn't exist. He seemed to be taking in the room like he was seeing it for the first time before his jaw dropped and a choked gasp escaped his lips as his gaze settled wide-eyed on Markus' suit. All at once, the pressure on Markus' face released and Connor's hands flew to the back of his own head and he scrambled backward with panic written clearly across his features.

"Connor, listen to me, you're alright..."

The RK200 spoke softly even as the other android continued to press himself into the corner between the bed and the wall, running his hands through the hair on the back of his head before bringing them in front of his face, looking for blood.

"What-"

Connor cut himself off as his eyes drifted towards the bed adjacent to him and rose upwards to fixate on the lifeless, wire-covered figure that rested upon it.

"No-"

"Connor it's gonna be alright, just look at me-"

Markus followed the RK800 as he jumped to his feet and stumbled towards his own corpse, leaning heavily on the bed rail and staring slack-jawed at the bullet wound that had left a perfectly circular hole where his LED used to be. The older android placed his hands gently over his partner's shoulders, keeping the touch light as Connor flinched at the initial contact before resting them fully upon him with a grounding weight.

"I died..."

He spoke in a monotone while reaching out a hesitant hand to trace over the sharp edge of plastic that the bullet had left in its wake.

"Yes." Markus replied simply, as his hands massaged Connors shoulders "But now you're back."

The RK800 tensed at the words.

"Am I though? Back when- before I broke my programming- when I was transferred it felt like- it was like starting all over again. I didn't feel the same. I wasn't me. I shouldn't be me I'm not-"

He trailed off and focused his gaze on the middle distance. Markus hesitated before answering. Connors worries had been the same ones that he himself had been agonising over during the hours he had sat at his bedside swinging between hope, despair, and numbness. Given Connor's reaction to waking up however Markus had little doubts anymore as to whether or not the android in front of him was his Connor.

"Do you think your first reaction upon waking up would be to try and save me if you had been reset?"

Now it was Connors turn to hesitate and Markus began gently massaging where his hands rested upon his shoulders.

"I don't know, I was programmed for this sort of work so..."

Markus has never heard Connors tone sound so unconvincing and uncertain before.

"Well do you feel like yourself?"

Connor stepped back abruptly from the bed at the question, dislodging Makrus' hands in the process and swinging his own in a wide, frantic arc in front of him.

"I don't know! How am I supposed to know!?"

His breath was hitching faster and faster as he ran the question through his processors.

"Yes." He suddenly stated firmly "Wait, no." He continued with just as much certainty

"I don't know! No I'm not me. I'm 52 im- that" He pointed to the dead android on the table "Is me. My HUD says 63. I'm 63, that is 52, that is not me. But- fuck!!"

Markus raised his hands in a calming gesture and tried to get Connor to slow down but the other android continued ranting, swinging back and forth in his assessment of whether he was or was not the same Connor as before with an increasing level of panic. It wasn't until the RK800 lashed out with a kick at the bed housing his previous body that Markus interjected with more force.

"Connor! listen to me!" He raised his voice while capturing the younger android by the biceps and turning him so they could look eye to eye.

"You said before that when you came back the feelings you had developed in your previous body were erased yeah? Like being a whole new person." Connor's face began to crumple at Markus' words and he had to continue quickly before the RK800 began to spiral even faster down his rabbithole of existential dread. "No no, let me finish. I want you to stop focusing on what it was like before for a moment and tell me what it feels like now."

A beat of silence passed where Connor stared glassy-eyed at a spot just over Markus' shoulder obviously at a loss of how to follow through on examining his feelings in his current state of panic. The elder android decided to continue prompting him.

"Try not to think too much about your feelings towards yourself. What about your feelings towards others. North, Josh, Echo, Hank. Have those changed? Do they seem different? Do you still care for them?"

Connors gaze was still focused into the middle distance past Markus head, coincidentally in the direction of his stand-in bodyguard who awkwardly shifted herself a few feet to the right to avoid his staring. His brow, however, was finally beginning to arch back into its softer default position and away from the worried furrow it had been set in before.

"And...what about me? You still love me right?"

All of a sudden Connor's pensive moment was brought to an end as his focus snapped to Markus with an almost offended expression. His mouth opened a fraction with the characteristic sharp intake of breath that usually indicated that Connor was about to absolutely go off about something and Markus could already feel his own face relax into a small smile at how very Connor the reaction was.

The rant never came however as the android all at once lit up in realization with a small "Oh." Followed by a large "OH!"

Before Markus could get another word in he was all of a sudden met with an armful of RK800 squeezing him around the middle with enough force to cause his chassis to creak and he returned the embrace with just as much strength. Finally, he allowed the emotions from the past day to overflow into a sob hidden somewhere in Connor's hairline and the younger android held him even tighter as the noise reached him.

"Markus I...Markus. Of course I do, of course i still love you. Its me, I'm me. I'm sorry I just panicked. I'm still panicking but I'm me, I promise I'm me. Your're right"

Markus just held the slighter form as he continued to ramble reassurances.

"I thought I lost you. I did lose you" He choked out between shaking gasps.

"But I'm back now. I'm okay, you're okay, we're both okay"

The RK200 was pretty sure they were both crying now as their words of reassurance lapsed into quiet sniffles and the soft sound of hands sweeping over fabric as they brushed across the expanse of each other's clothing as if to confirm that yes, the other was real, and alive and safe.

Neither was sure how long had passed before their silent embrace was interrupted by an awkward cough and the words "I'll inform the other 800's of Connors status, they'll want to run tests" as the RK900 slipped quietly out of the room. Honestly Markus had forgotten she had been there, he sent her a wireless message in thanks and received nothing in return.

When left alone they deepened their embrace, savoring the moment of privacy and peace together before Connor had to undergo whatever barrage of tests the 800s had prepared for him. Their hands connected by their sides, palm to palm with glowing blue lights dancing across their fingertips, basking in each others presence and smoothing over the pain and guilt and confusion and terror of the last twenty-four hours with happiness, relief, devotion, and love.

I am alive.

You are alive.

We are alive.

-

Come tell us your own ideas! Prompts are always open

[peterrparrkerr]

Oviposition - read on ao3

*-*

Tony waits until he's sure everyone is asleep before making his way to the lab. He's not been able to stop thinking about the arachnid since he'd arrived.

It had started out as curiosity -a boy more insect than human, with pitch black eyes and four extra legs sprouting from his spine. He was a character straight out of a comic book.

They were testing him -trying to see how it was he got to be what he is, and in that testing, Tony found things that only drew him in more.

Tony's team found out a lot in the few months they had him. His senses were all dialed to an eleven, so he could hear, smell and see things Tony couldn't. He could feel individual threads in almost every fabric offered to him, and could list every ingredient in his food with complete accuracy.

His eyes -though terrifying and demonic looking when the boy got upset- made him look almost cute when he tilted his head to the side.

Tony swiped his key card and pulled the door open when the little red light switched to green. The lab had an eery blue glow to it when the white florescent lights weren't on.

He makes his way on silent feet across the lab to the cell they had kept the boy in. He couldn't help it. There was no talking himself out of it.

He needed- he needed to see the boy.

They'd discovered something about their arachnid friend that had Tony aching for it. He hadn't herb able to sleep, too busy imagining it. Imagining his gut filled with the eggs the boy apparently carried instead of semen.

He stops at the cell door, peering inside. The ten by ten space is covered in webbing. Spun from the boy himself.

In the top right corner is a tunnel, big enough to crawl through and leading to what Tony can only assume is his nest.

They'd tested the webbing too, and Tony couldn't help but look at the webs in awe.

Tony takes a deep breath, then swipes his card.

There's a click, the red light flickers green, and then Tony's stepping inside. He makes sure to close it behind him, locking them both inside.

There's movement above him. Tony looks up, tracking the sounds as the boy moves from his spot in his webbed nest to the tunnel.

Tony barely makes out the shining eyes at the tunnel's entrance. They reflect the blue light terrifyingly.

"Hello, Peter," Tony greets softly, as to not spook the boy.

There's a second or two where the boy doesn't move, and then two spider legs emerge from the dark, gripping the wall and his webbing. Two more come out next, and then Peter is coming out, crawling across the wall like something out of the exorcist.

Tony had gotten used to it, but at night, it sets Tony's heart rate spiking and the hairs of his arms on end.

When Peter is close enough to the ground, he drops onto his feet. He's wearing nothing but a pair of black basketball shorts -they couldn't get him into anything else.

Peter's extra limbs tuck themselves behind him, nearly making him look like a regular teenager.

"Tony," Peter greets, voice an odd inflection of boy and not-quite-human. It sends a shiver through Tony. His cock twitches in interest.

Tony doesn't know how to start. He just knows he wants. He wants to see his stomach bulge with Peter's seed, and he'll do anything to get it.

"You want something," the boy hummed, head tilted to the side. Perceptive little thing.

"Yes," Tony said, sounding breathless.

Peter straightens his head, peering up at Tony, blinking as he tries to figure it out. "What?"

Tony doesn't know how to say it. Doesn't know if Peter's human enough to realize how inappropriate this is. But Tony can't back down now. If he does, it'll drive him crazy.

So, instead of answering, Tony pulls his tank top off over his head, dropping it with the key card down onto the floor, just outside the cage.

Peter watches silently. Calculating.

Tony hooks his thumbs into the striped pajama pants and drops them to his ankles.

It must be the thing that cues Peter in, because suddenly, the boy is moving for him. Its fast -inhumanly so- and Tony doesn't have any time to react beside gasping.

Bare chests press together, and Peter's arms wrap around Tony, lifting him off the ground as those extra limbs lift them into the air.

Tony suddenly pictures himself in a webbed cocoon, waiting to be Peter's meal. Theres a reason Peter stays behind metal bars, and Tony suddenly wishes he had thought more with his head than his cock.

But then they're on the ceiling -Tony laying on Peter's chest, the boy holding them parallel to the ceiling.

"You want to mate?" Peter asks, looking at Tony with blinking, curious black eyes. Tony's surprised those four limbs have the strength to hold them both up. He refuses to look anywhere but at Peter -even if it is only a ten foot drop, he'd rather not fall.

"Yes," is what Tony says before he can stop himself. Something filters through Peter's features, and just as suddenly as Tony blinks, the boy has him turned over, so his back is pressed into Peter's chest.

Tony's breath hitches, feeling Peter's growing cock between his cheeks already, through the fabric of his shorts.

Peter crawls across the ceiling towards the tunnel, the two of them disappearing inside.

Tony's so hard it hurts. He allows Peter to manhandle him into the position of his choosing.

The webbing -although slightly sticky- is surprisingly soft and pliant to Tony's weight as Peter settles him onto his stomach, crawling over top of him, with two extra legs on either side.

"My mate," Peter hums lowly, nosing at Tony's spine. Tony can't do anything but nod, lifting his ass until its pushing against Peter's clothed crotch.

He gets his knees under him, rubbing himself against Peter, trying to get Peter in motion.

It works. The boy shoves his shorts down and kicks them to the side, adapting arms around Tony's waist and rutting into Tony's crack.

"Mine," Peter murmured against the skin of Tony's shoulder.

"Yours," Tony confirmed on a groan. He needs to be filled. Its almost agony not having Peter buried deep inside him. "Mate me, Peter."

And that's all the direction Peter needs.

Tony's suddenly glad he fucked himself on his fingers before coming here. There's no preparation as Peter presses into Tony.

Tony chokes on a cry as the mushroom head of Peter's cock pops in past his rim. Peter doesn't stop there though, he presses in until he's buried at the hilt.

"Oh God," Tony groaned. Peter keeps both arms around Tony's middle, keeping his hips in the air.

His extra legs allow Peter to hover over him as he begins to thrust in and out of Tony, hips snapping and balls slapping against Tony.

Tony can't help the punched out moans from falling from his mouth. Peter's much bigger than Tony expected, and he can feel everything.

"My mate," Peter gasped lowly, hips pistoning into Tony in a toe curling pace. He fights the urge to let his eyes roll back into his head at the constant pounding of his prostate.

"You want to carry my offspring?" Peter asked, mouth at Tony's ear. "Want to see you so full with them."

Tony groans at the thought and clenches around Peter, driving his own hips back to meet Peter's.

"Yes, God yes, please, fill me up til I'm bursting," Tony nearly begged, neglected cock drooling pre-cum at the thought.

Peter picks up the pace, assaulting Tony's asshole and prostate without mercy.

Tony can't help the onslaught of moans and whimpers and unintelligible mumbles that fall past his lips, chest dropping to the webbed flooring, hips rolling up to allow Peter deeper.

His breath hitches when he feels Peter climax. Its so much different than any orgasm Tony's felt before.

He feels the first egg pass from Peter, then the second. Each significant in size. Tony feels his cock throb painfully at the feeling.

"Yes, fill me up, God please!" Tony sobbed, rocking back onto Peter's cock.

The boy grunts, panting as he thrusts into Tony, emptying himself.

Its not long before Tony begins to feel full, his stomach tight, but not yet extended. He reaches a hand down, palm flat against his abdomen.

"More, keep going," Tony breathed, clenching around Peter, trying desperately to squeeze every last egg from Peter's sack.

"Going to be so full," Peter moaned, more eggs filling Tony up.

Tony feels his orgasm fast approaching as his stomach begins to bulge. Peter keeps going, keeps emptying himself deep inside Tony.

Tony whimpers at the feeling, the hand on his stomach moving to stroke at his cock. It only takes three passes before he's cumming with a reedy mewl, stomach still extending impossibly far.

"Gonna carry my babies," Peter grunted. Tears gather in Tony's eyes at the stretch in his abdomen. He feels ready to burst. It feels so fucking good.

Its almost too much for Tony, the extention of his belly stretching at his skin. It feels like he's being ripped apart from the inside.

And then Peter stills, gasping for breath. Tony chokes on air, trying to even his own breathing.

Peter pulls out, and Tony feels like he's gaping, cool air hitting his exposed asshole and making him shiver.

Peter manhandles Tony onto his back, hovering over him with those extra limbs. Tony can't help but look down at his stomach, raised and rounded with Peter's eggs.

His hands move to it, smoothing over the bump. His cock twitches at the idea.

Peter seems to be thinking the same, because he leans over, nosing at Tony's neck, his own hands pressing into Tony's extended stomach.

"So full," he hums. Tony hums in agreement, removing one hand from his belly in order to grab Peter by the jaw.

He doesn't know if Peter knows what a kiss is, but the need to taste Peter's tongue is too great to wait and explain.

He guides Peter's face up, then connects their lips. Peter's frozen for a moment, not sure. Tony licks inside his mouth, hands still on his belly.

"My mate," Peter repeated between kisses.

"Your mate," Tony agreed.

Tony walks with a hand under the slight bulge of his stomach, back to his room. He clenches to keep the eggs inside -wanting to feel them for as long as he can.

Tony's already set his mind on going back the following night, and every night for as long as he can.