#rich people need to get a grip or die and i’m completely serious

[the-casbah-way]

do the snobby uni students complaining about the strikes realise we’re all closer to being the underpaid lecturers than the mps who put them in that position. do they realise we’re all on the same side and you should always support strikes. do they realise people don’t strike for fun and it’s a desperate last resort. do they realise how bad things have to get for people to be forced to strike. do they realise the strikes are supposed to be disruptive otherwise they won’t work. do they realise we’re not going to be tested on any material we didn’t get taught and the uni always alters the assignments and deadlines accordingly if there is strike action. do they realise not everything is about them

[whatifyoulivelikethat]

potent but not real, m | kth

pairing(s): taehyung x reader

summary: You kill people. Kim Taehyung doesn’t. He assisted you with one particular kill and then he kissed you. And, like a needle of methadone, the two of you chase the high again and again, knowing there is no hope for you. But there is for him. All Taehyung has to do is to walk away from your eyes.

warnings: rated M (18+) for language, mentions of murder (non-graphic); sociopathic reader; unprotected sex (fem reader, sex in an office after hours, f-receiving oral, fucking against a desk, (symbolic) lipstick-covered motel sex, m-receiving oral, cowgirl); implied angst; non-idol!AU - office worker!Taehyung x assassin!reader (John Wick-esque)

Inspired by Methadone by Rise Against. The italicized bits are parts of the lyrics sprinkled throughout the story. If you like rock, check ‘em out!

--

The last time was a five-star hotel, but this time was a dingy motel, and you dressed appropriately. Thin-strapped flimsy black dress, kitschy animal print fur coat, strappy heels, and torn stockings, stumbling along the halls, ignored by others because you were mumbling under your breath, empty bottle in your hand, hair astray and makeup smeared.

No one wants a dirty-looking prostitute, and especially not a crazy one.

If anyone bothered to look at your face, they would have noticed how beautiful you were, caked under layers of makeup. They would have noticed that despite your erratic steps and nonsensical words, your eyes were shockingly clear, observing everything, hawk-like and hyper-focused. They would have seen that you took care not to move your left side too much, the thick fur hiding a barely-there lump.

You tipped into a door and tripped into the motel room.

The door instantly snapped closed behind your fallen body.

Locked.

love like a needle full of methadone

You rolled onto your back, looking up. Kim Taehyung stared down at you.

How did it come to this?

potent but not real, left you wanting more lipstick track-marks bleeding wet

It had only been a job, a woman this time. The higher-ups usually had you take the women. It was easy, but you needed an in, and Kim Taehyung had been that in. He was aware of what was happening and he was getting paid to keep his mouth shut. The first time you met him had been calm, neutral smiles as you greeted the tall, dark-haired man. You had worn appropriate office attire, slightly ill-fitted pants, starchy white dress shirt, big glasses, prim bun. Taehyung had greeted you at the door of the company he worked at. Your role was an outsourced advisor to help the company heads improve productivity and workflow. Taehyung led you around the floors, showing you various things, but none of it mattered. What mattered was the information Taehyung would provide you after hours. Names, schedules, addresses.

The woman had also worked at this company.

Had.

You did not ask for the reasoning. Embezzlement? Public shame? Had blackmail on someone? Had sex with the wrong rich man or woman? It didn’t matter. People die in senseless ways every day and one more meant nothing to you. That was your great skill, a skill unmatched by any other.

No remorse.

Perfect for the murder business.

And, like one truly born from the Eastern cultural mindset, instead of trying to get help or cure yourself of your apathy, you monetized your skill by becoming an assassin.

for us child, the stars refuse to shine why for us child, do the stars refuse to shine?

You followed the woman for weeks. The timing was important. Patience was key. Blending in, a different guise every week, a different method planned every day. The thing about killing for hire was that if you didn’t want to be caught, you couldn’t have a pattern. If you didn’t settle on a method, it couldn’t be connected back to you. That was the way you liked to do things.

The perfect weapon, a dangerous method.

The higher-ups were impatient, but you didn’t care. You knew what must be done and, when you’re the one doing the dirty work, you didn’t let them question you. If they wanted this to end a different way, they would have used a different assassin. But they chose you for a reason. You always had the cleanest kill, completely untraceable.

No one would ever know the Circle was involved.

It was a spotless erasure.

The reward was hefty, and, throughout the years, you earned far more than any human needed in their lifetime. Money was never your drive, but you took it all. You knew your own worth. Your work was too good to be underappreciated.

Taehyung was in on it. He knew it was going to happen. He gave you the name, the address, her usual timetable. He presented it all to you, without question, on a shadowy, starless night. You stared into his dark brown eyes, wondering why he could do such a thing. He held your gaze, dark hair pushed back, sculpted brows, serious expression. You wondered if he was broken like you, but that sort of thing was impossible.

There is no one as unhinged as you.

“Why are you this business?” he asked quietly in his deep, baritone voice.

It wasn’t accusing or beseeching. It was simply a question, no flaff attached to it.

“Because I’m well-suited for it.” You tapped the side of your head. Unsmiling. “Some screws fell loose when I was molded from the clay.”

Taehyung kept his gaze on you, blinking slowly. You expected him to recoil in disdain, be confused, or simply retreat from your unsmiling, vacant demeanor. Instead, he took a step closer.

“You shouldn’t need screws when molding from clay.”

One step closer, looking down, casting shadows all over his face.

“You only need screws when you’re making a machine.”

Taehyung leaned in and kissed you.

we wound up back here again

Fucking.

It was always a means to an end, something you did to fulfill that carnal need, a need that you did not understand very well, but it was there, and, like a starving beast, it demanded to be satisfied. Taehyung kissing you in a random office twelve stories up in a random skyscraper didn’t mean much.

But there was no consequence either.

You grabbed his head and crashed your lips to his again.

The risks were low. You knew everything about Kim Taehyung. The higher-ups of the Circle briefed you on him. You had his education history, knew every apartment he had lived in and every girlfriend he had ever dated. Had access to his credit card history, his medical records, everything.

He knew nothing about you.

Taehyung didn’t know you had no traceable past, didn’t know you had no home, didn’t know you belonged to the most powerful group of assassins the world has ever had the misfortune to create, didn’t know how many nights you spent in and out of consciousness, body traumatized and stitched back together, for you, a tool of the Circle, to be used once more.

This was your choice. Anyone could get out.

You just have to ask to die.

You sucked on his tongue and he groaned in your mouth, hands sliding between your arms to grasp your buttons and undo them one by one, thrusting his tongue in your mouth as he did so. Your breathing deepened, surrounding yourself with his warm herbal scent, fingers sinking into his cheeks, your shirt coming apart and his hands diving in, kneading your breasts with his strong hands.

Saying nothing.

There was nothing to say, because it was senseless, foolish, the worst idea imaginable. Yet, despite your demure and borderline unflattering appearance, Taehyung could see your hawk-like and hyper-focused gaze. You caught him watching you, not just your body, but your eyes, taking every opportunity to observe them. You could see his mind memorizing the shape, the iris color, the position of every lash.

Against your lips, he whispered, locking you with his stare.

“Your eyes are art to me.”

Taehyung knew. He must know that you were a highly trained assassin, which was only a pretty word for paid serial killer. It made you the lowest of the low, the worst kind of human being, the kind that does not deserve compliments or sweet nothings.

He pushed your head back and licked your neck, up your trachea, collarbone to chin, leaving a long, wet stripe of saliva.

The unnatural action made your shiver in his hands.

He kissed down, scooping your breasts out, nicking your skin with his teeth, not asking, but aware that you could break his neck at any second. The Circle could call you right now and tell you Kim Taehyung needed to die and you would kill him without hesitation or remorse.

His lips closed around your nipple and his dark eyes were on yours once more.

There were no stars tonight.

The world that you and Taehyung had created in this spare office was only lit from below by the unsuspecting city through the window.

He sucked hard. He used teeth. He licked and pulled and streams of saliva dripped down your chest, your body shuddering in his hands, hands falling back onto the desk and leaning back, Taehyung over you, your shirt falling down your upper arms, the euphoric rush almost unbearable, too much feeling for your empty heart.

No talking, no words, nothing but sound. Gasps, slurping, kissing down your stomach, skin being scraped with teeth and hands, Taehyung’s dark eyes on your face, always on your face, and you looked down at him, watching him undo your slacks, never losing control, not even as he pushed your panties down and snaked his tongue in between your folds. Your jaw clenched as his warmth invaded yours, your hand fitting on the back of his head, curling your fingers in his hair, a solid grip that could not be broken unless he finished his job. His tongue slid in and flicked your clit, stroking its ego, your hips grinding into his face, nearly suffocating him, but Taehyung said nothing, his stare never leaving, almost unnerving, but you didn’t care.

Slicker, stronger, rougher, his lips closing in, sucking and licking, teeth nicking your clit, his hands on your ass and nails digging in, pushing you to him and lengthening the stroke of your hips to his face, flooding his mouth with sweet honey and his ears with savage snarls, his eyebrow cocking, the only indication that he was asking for you to cum, fingers splayed over your ass cheeks.

You sucked in a breath and bucked into his face, hissing, clit almost painfully throbbing, and Taehyung finally shut his eyes, groaning as he drank it all like he was trapped in the desert and your leaking core was his oasis.

He didn’t bother murmuring your name.

It wasn’t your real name anyway.

like unstable chemicals combining only to explode

Assassins don’t need to procreate.

You were given options.

You chose complete removal.

Your uterus was probably in some biohazardous landfill, rotting away.

The only visible scar was mixed with the thousands all over your skin. It didn’t mean much to you.

Taehyung removed his face from between your legs, strings of your cum all over his chin. They snapped and hung downwards, so viscous that they just suspended there. He wiped it up his skin and licked it off, breathing hard.

Maybe that was all he wanted, but that was not all you wanted.

You yanked him up by his tie, nearly making him choke, and then his orgasm-stained breath was in your face. You pushed his face to the side, fitting your chin to his broad shoulder and inhaled that comforting herbal scent, the scent of Taehyung, and you unbuckled his pants, pushing them down, sliding your hand under the waistband of his underwear and pulling his already hard cock out. He gasped into your neck, grabbing your arm, but you growled, pumping his length roughly, making it swell to its full girth in your hand.

You knew how big he was. It was recorded in his medical record.

what would it take for you to notice

You pulled one of your legs out of your pants, fitted it around his waist, and shoved him inside you, grimacing, your ass against the desk. Taehyung pulled his head back, dark brown eyes wide, shocked that you took him so fast but, to you, pain was life, and this was nothing. In fact, it was welcome pain, being stretched out, sinking down on him, maintaining eye contact.

“What if–”

“It’s not possible for me to get pregnant anymore.”

He searched your eyes, looking for the lie. He mouthed the word, anymore, and there were questions, but you cared not for them, slapping your hips to his and he gasped, grabbing your leg and fucking you hard, right into the desk, sloppy, wet, but so much force, lifting you a little to sit you partially on the wood and then pound you harder, practically impaling you with his large cock. Even then, your back didn’t arch. Even then, your head didn’t tilt back. You were panting, primal noises at your throat, and his eyes were on yours, and then your moans and his moans matched, both of you committing arson, setting your worlds ablaze with lust, your nails scraping against the desk and his nails piercing your thigh, leaving bruises and marks.

Taehyung leaned in, a heavy sigh and wanton hiss, your hot breath mixing with his, loud slaps of skin on skin, his cock brutally slamming into you, your pussy tightening all around him. In an instant, one particularly jarring thrust and you felt the rush igniting all your nerves at once, a wordless gasp between your bodies as it all crashed down on him. He grunted, jaw set, closing one eye at the force of your orgasm milking his out, cramming your tightness full of his release, hot strings painting your insides, wasted in the name of senseless desire.

i am a heart on fire and all the world's a fuse so don't get close

And now, in this dingy motel, dressed like a cheap whore, you looked up at Kim Taehyung, clad in a plain green sweater vest and t-shirt, light wash jeans ripped up and showing off his muscular legs. He stood out more than you, his strong and handsome features far too difficult to disguise, but he was no one of note, a simple company man who would never be investigated for anything because he was insignificant on paper. There was nothing for Kim Taehyung to hide.

Nothing except his nights with you.

the trouble and the worth am i better off on my own?

You got off the floor and went to the bathroom to wipe off your face, frowning at the amount you had piled on to mask most of your features. Taehyung waited patiently, as he had all this time. He didn’t want to see you with all that on either. You washed your face and came out of the bathroom, shouldering out of your fur coat and draping it on a rickety chair, nearly collapsing it with the weight.

Revealing your gun holster.

It sat on your left side, within easy reach of your right hand. You had a limited number of bullets. You never wasted your shot. This wasn’t an action movie. You unclicked the buckle holding it against your body and set it on the table, the modern tool of murder looking ominously black against the cheap wood, machine-carved patterns trying to make it look fancy, but the poor staining gave away all the mechanical mistakes.

“Is that for me?”

You looked up to the deep voice.

Taehyung gazed back at you, expression unreadable, but clearly referring to the gun. His hair wasn’t styled, black-brown curls shading his forehead, parted in the middle. Hands in his pockets, ass against the end of the bed.

“No.”

A simple answer with no further explanation.

The Circle did not instruct you to kill Taehyung, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t at some point.

They were ruthless.

Taehyung was not looking at your skimpy clothes or your bare arms and legs. His eyes were on yours, as they always were, revealing his intent, hiding nothing. He had an intimidating stare and you had a pointed one, sharpened to drink in every observation until it was a part of your memory.

There was a bottle of red wine open on one of the nightstands, with one used wine glass.

Taehyung spread legs for you, as he did many times before.

You sometimes wondered why he continued with this. There was nothing he gained from it other than the actual sex itself. Did he feel sorry for you? Did he do it because fucking a murderer was an unattainable high in itself? Did he like you? Was he just killing time like how you killed other human beings? In some way you had contaminated him, and now Taehyung could not go back to his vaguely innocent life.

It didn’t matter what the reason was.

Better you not know.

He pulled one of his hands out of his pocket, opening an object with one hand. It was a black and gold tube of red lipstick. Shockingly red, far too expensive for someone like you, with those iconic overlapping C’s. He twisted it up. His other hand appeared and beckoned you to him.

You stepped up. Taehyung handed you the tube of lipstick, looking up at you, unsmiling but strangely satisfied. He produced a cheap pocket mirror from his other pocket. Held it in front of you.

You applied the red lipstick from the bullet, right onto your full lips.

Smooth, swift strokes.

Recapped the tube and handed it back to him.

Taehyung tossed it and the mirror onto the bed behind him and cupped your cheeks, kissing you right away.

damaged goods they soon forget in choking dust where we got left

Smearing the lipstick everywhere, red track-marks all over your neck and cheeks, lips and teeth working you. The satin finish was slippery, leaving streaks on his chin as well, heavy gasps of breath mixing between your bodies as you took his face in your hands, kissing him all over too, tangling your fingers in his hair and pulling it back, painting smears like bloodstains all over his golden tan skin, Taehyung moaning depravedly under you.

Your teeth scraped right against his Adam’s apple and his eyelids fluttered, quickly righting themselves to look at you through his long, dark lashes.

He reached back and felt around for the tube of lipstick, holding it out to you once more.

The mirror was face up on the bed, reflecting a small slice of this particular circle of hell you and Taehyung had created in this motel room.

You took the red lipstick.

for us all the stars refuse to shine

His vest and t-shirt disappeared, suddenly fading into the background, body pushed back onto the bed by your strong hands, toned chest exposed and you climbing over him, lips painted already, quite accurately despite the mess on your face already. The tube was once again recapped, rolling across the cheap duvet. The bedsprings shrieked, metal grating against metal, but that was a common sound in this sinful place, a place where all bad deeds come to be executed.

Adultery.

Drug use.

Death.

All of the above, sometimes.

You stared into those dark brown eyes and sculpted brows, beautiful lips parted and smeared with scarlet, all the way down to his collarbones and you leaned forward, kiss prints all over his pecs, Taehyung’s rumbling deep baritone above you, noises of pleasure and praise, nonverbal but just as communicative, breath hitching as you sucked on his skin, adding purple to the red. Your tongue flicked against his dark nipple, staining it with red lipstick, the floral taste in your mouth now, but it didn’t matter. The pleasure more important, lips closing around the hardened nub, flicking it with your tongue, your hand trailing down his chest.

Taehyung touched your hand and turned one of your nails inward.

Your fingers curled and you raked your nails down his torso.

He moaned above you, arching his back to receive more pain.

so tap the vein and light the match we burn like stars before the crash

Every time, it felt better, more intense, your nails and your lips on his hot skin, his sound above your head, the depth of his voice vibrating his chest cavity. Down, down, undoing his pants, yanking down his underwear, and soon they faded into the background too, his naked body before you, covered in slashes of red lipstick, gasping for breath, dark brown eyes on yours.

He didn’t say your name, because he still didn’t know it.

There was nothing to know.

You didn’t have a name.

The orphanage picked one for you all those years ago, but it was no longer a part of you, lost in a fire that tragically killed your paper trail, turning you into a meaningless existence, merely a cog in the Circle’s machine. Cared for and shrouded by the shadows, adding you to a part of their watch.

You were a very important cog, but a cog nonetheless.

“Taehyung.”

Those brown orbs widened, stained lips parting.

“Yeah?”

There was too much fondness in that low tone.

but for you there's still a chance, just let go

You just stared at him.

His breathing deepened, swallowing hard. His long fingers buried into the cheap bedding, his eyes darkening as his chin lowered, licking his lips slowly. He watched you from underneath his lashes, cocking an eyebrow.

“Do whatever,” he finally breathed. “I’ll take anything.”

Your gaze flickered down and he was already hard. Something about your eyes. You dropped down, tongue sliding out, wetly running over the thick length. Taehyung sucked a breath through his teeth, hand coming up to wipe his mouth and plant back down on the bed, staining the sheets with marks of your meeting.

You wrapped your lips around it and it pulsed in your mouth, getting bigger as you lowered your head, still looking at his face, watching him shiver and groan at your lipstick-covered lips enveloping his throbbing cock. You took it all, hitting the back of your throat, so fucking much that you could barely breathe, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was the sheer ecstasy painted over Taehyung’s handsome features, turning into drawn-out gasps as you began to move, bobbing up and down, your hands on the bed, neck straining from being stuffed full of cock. You could smell him every time you reached the base, that warm herbal scent flooding your nose, his thick length twitching in your mouth, fighting the tightness of your throat. You hollowed out your cheeks, tongue rubbing against the bottom, and Taehyung’s pitch hiked, biting his lip, lashes fluttering, pants shallowing.

“Fuck, oh, fuck…”

He was already filling your mouth to the brim, swollen head punching the back of your throat, bruising it in all the right ways, your moans trapped in your chest as you sped up, sucking harder, your fingertips brushing against his skin and spreading the lipstick-laced saliva all over his balls, adding to the sensation, Taehyung crying out as he looked into your hyper-focused eyes, his own pupils blown so wide they seemed to overtake the iris, starless and consuming all the pleasure you gave him.

He clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth, suddenly gasping as he came, shooting into the roof of your mouth, the scorching heat splattering against your throat and pooling there, so much and so thick that for a second you stopped to roll your eyes back, drinking his strong taste, before shoving his cock into your mouth again, fucking his cum down your throat so your were forced to gulp it down, barely breathing, enjoying your self-produced lightheadedness and Taehyung’s wail of protest, too sensitive to take your sudden rough pace, hand clawing at the air.

You slowed, licking him all over, soft, so soft, so much saliva, his stiff cock still dribbling out his orgasm for you to lap up.

His eyes on you again.

but now there's nowhere to run and yeah, there's nowhere to hide

And now you were naked, covered in red lipstick and his bites, straddling his lower torso, Taehyung licking between your breasts as you slid your ass down onto his still wet length, painted in Chanel, saliva, and cum, reaching down to reposition him at your entrance, his eyes shimmering, hazing out, high on you. Reflecting your form poised over him, a shadow with no morality.

You sank down and he moaned, low and deep, large hands on your waist and thigh, leading you. The thin walls of the motel did nothing to hide the screaming, the crying, the bed squeaks all around you two, above and below, whispers of devious deeds being performed meters away, but none of these things mattered. Your arms circled his broad shoulders and, as always, you were face to face, hawk-like, hyper-focused, and he was in front of you, fucked-out as your ass smacked into his balls, taking all of him, stretched out to an almost painful point.

He still didn’t know your name, so instead of saying it, his hand lifted and touched your chin, bringing your face to him, a slow, messy, pining kiss, your hips rolling into his, his moans wandering into your lips, eyes half-open to watch yours, your body shuddering with need, imploring you to fuck harder, rougher, to chase your pleasure, to chase it without abandon. You shoved Taehyung down onto the bed and smacked your hips into his, hissing at the jarring sensation of your tight hole being violently expanded by his long, thick length, nails digging into his tan skin. Taehyung harmonized with your lewd moans, husky depth adding to your heavy pants, following your rhythm and bouncing his ass on the hard mattress, hitting your deeper and more forcefully.

His hand fitted over yours, locking his fingers in between your spread ones, clutching tight, louder, louder, metal bedsprings screaming, your pants shallowing, staring down at Taehyung’s face covered with scarlet lipstick smears and dark brown curls sticking to his forehead.

what would it take for you to notice that i am a hand grenade pin already pulled so don't let go 

You wiggled your hips, smacking his hardness against your walls and clenching down, ruining yourself, ruining him, feral cries and satisfied hisses mixing with Taehyung’s deep baritone, one of his hands interlocked around yours, time ticking down and ready to detonate, trapped in the murky expanse of Taehyung’s brown orbs, heartbeat roaring in your ears, so loud it felt like it was the only sound you could hear, everything fading out except Taehyung’s face and you bouncing onto his cock, nails digging into his pecs.

“Taehyung…”

Your voice, wretched.

Like a guitar string snapping suddenly while being played.

You threw your head back, overtaken by the explosive fire racing through your gasoline veins, ignited by your orgasm shattering through your core and firing upwards, pussy convulsing and clutching Taehyung’s cock mercilessly, making his eyes roll back and his head slam into the pillows, knuckles white as he gripped your hand tight, whining on the top of his lungs, the high shooting from you to him, cock jolting and spurting thick gushes of cum upwards, right into you.

A violent crescendo of illicit ecstasy.

Someone smashed something against the wall next door, most likely a lamp.

You slumped onto Taehyung’s chest, body trembling with shivers of pleasure. His torso rumbled, struggling for breath, releasing your hand and wrapping his arms around you. Nothing romantic about being covered in red lipstick, saliva, and cum dribbling out of your hole.

Taehyung shoved his chin into your hair and trapped you there for a long while.

as we chase the sun my shadow slows us down

You didn’t say anything as he cleaned you up and you cleaned him up, both sitting in the narrow, half-full, yellowed tub, far too close together, practically in each other’s lap, using bleached hotel towels to wipe off the lipstick and cum with lukewarm water.

You raised your head, hair stringy and clinging to your skin.

His dark hair was plastered to his natural glowing tan.

You leaned forward.

Taehyung waited.

You pressed your lips to his.

A touch.

you're better off and i know

You drew back.

Remembering your gun sitting on the table outside the bathroom.

Remembering the man that you had shot hours before, staging it like a suicide.

What did that man do? You didn’t ask, didn’t know. Didn’t want to know. An old man who maybe had grandkids, great-grandkids. Maybe he ruined the lives of his hired labor, staining them with sin. Maybe he was at the wrong time and wrong place. Maybe he was guiltier than you, taking victims and leaving them to suffer with traumatic memories that could ever be erased.

You stared into Taehyung’s eyes, feeling no remorse.

Taehyung took your hand.

Squeezed it tight, so tight his knuckles were white and it felt like your fingers were being crushed.

You let him hold it for ten seconds.

Then you reached over and peeled his fingers off, one by one.

Got out of the tub, picking up the towel from the ground. Drying off your body, not looking at him. Put your clothes back on, hair still wet and cold. Holster on, jacket over it. The second you opened the motel door, you were the drunken, unstable prostitute once again, mumbling under your breath, speaking to voices unknown, pointedly ignored and avoided by everyone around you, even as you stumbled through the city, wet hair swinging, the only reminder that Taehyung had been with you, dripping water onto the sidewalk.

You looked down at your hand.

The hand that could kill.

The hand Kim Taehyung squeezed and would squeeze again, barring you didn’t kill yourself by being in the murder business. When Taehyung finally got out of the bath, he would once again find the large wad of cash you had left.

Money was never the drive.

Kim Taehyung made anonymous donations to various charities in your stead, his accounting background knowing exactly how to fumble the numbers and names. He and you would never be suspected. He was a real human being, one who cared about those around him. He would know where to put the money, know how needed it most. You wouldn’t.

You didn’t know anything about compassion.

You didn’t know anything about kindness.

You didn’t know anything about love.

you're better off and i know and i know

--

masterpost

[minghaocouture]

Pairing: Hong Joshua x Fem!Reader

Genre: Friends to Lovers, fluff, angst

Warning: mentions of a toxic relationship, loneliness, language

WC: 3.6K

A/N: Happy Holidays @yutacrush​!!! You absolutely amazing bean!! ily SO MUUCCCHHH! You are such a joy to be friends with and i hope this fic brings you even half of the joy you bring our group chat <3333 

Age 10

“Sweetheart, this is Joshua. He’s our new neighbor.” The boy across from you stood before you, all smiles and cheer as you cowered behind your mother’s legs. You didn’t have too many friends in school and more often than not, felt isolated from your peers who seemed to almost look down on you. This boy was a stranger, a potential new villain in your life and you wanted nothing to do with him. 

So when your mother left you in the room alone with him, while she and Joshua’s mother went to go have tea in your kitchen. You quickly dashed to the living room and snatched your favorite Whinnie the Pooh plushie off of the couch, and made your escape to the far corner of the room where you crouched down and hid behind the plush bear. As if Pooh bear was the perfect line of defense 

The sound of soft footsteps hitting the hardwood floor had you cowering, covering your eyes as you prayed that he would just leave you alone. When the footsteps stopped you assumed that he had done as you silently wished, left you alone to continue your day in peace despite the wishes of your mothers. So you slowly pulled Pooh bear away from your eyes. Only for your eyes to meet the rich deep brown of Hong Joshua’s, the male who was now crouching down not even a foot away from you.

A small shriek left your lips as you quickly brought your favorite plushie back to cover your face again. Your reaction seemed to prompt a small laugh to leave the male, obviously amused with the situation. 

“I’m Joshua, but my friends call me Josh!” He said, talking to you despite the fact that you were currently trying to disappear into the wall behind you. “You like Winnie the Pooh too? Roo is my best friend!” 

At the mention of baby Roo, you slowly peered out and looked over at him with your eyes barely peeking out from behind the plush bear.

Age 13

“Joshua Hong, I swear if you don’t get out from in front of the tv I’ll make you regret it.” Your threat wasn’t as real as you wanted it to seem. After three years, Joshua knew that you were all talk and no action when it came to him. Which is why he didn’t even flinch at your harsh words, he knew he was safe.

“Your mom asked me to make sure you did your homework while she was gone, so turn off the tv and let’s work!” He was almost too responsible for his own good, at least when someone asked him to do something. Most of the time, he was just a goof ball and you honestly wish that translated over when he had ‘responsibilities’ 

Currently your mother was out on a business trip, so you were left alone in the house so she had asked Josh to keep you ‘in line’ since he lived right next door. Apparently, he was taking that request more seriously than you had expected. 

With an overdramatic groan, you grabbed the remote and shut off the soccer game you were in the middle of watching. At your compliance, Joshua let out a small laugh. 

“You’ll thank me later.”

“Yeah, seriously doubt that Josh.”

Age 16

“Josh! Seriously, that’s what she said to you?”  You were fuming, pacing around your room while your best friend sat on your bed. You had honestly never seen Joshua so...down. This girl had stepped over so many lines and you were livid.

“Yeah, and then she left. So...guess I’m single again.” Even his voice lacked the usual energy it had. It hurt your heart to hear him this upset. 

You took a second to take a deep breath, calming yourself. Now wasn’t the time to be angry, that could come later. Right now, Joshua needed you more than anything. This was about him and the pain he was currently feeling. Your need to punch that bitch in the face could wait. 

You joined Joshua on the edge of your bed, quickly wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling the male into a tight hug. For a moment he was limp in your arms, just resting his head on your shoulder. It was soon followed by the feeling of his arms wrapping around your waist, his hands gripping tightly at the fabric of your shirt as he clung to you. 

This wasn’t the first time you had seen Joshua cry, and it surely wouldn’t be the last, but it never got any less painful. Your heart ached for your friend, the feeling growing stronger as you felt moisture from his tears seeping into the fabric of your t-shirt. You hated it. 

The only thing you could think was that you never wanted to see Joshua like this ever again. 

A week later you were suspended for breaking his ex girlfriend’s nose.

Age 18

Over the years, your duo had become a trio with the addition of Yoon Jeonghan. He was...fun to be around but if you were being honest, a lot of the time it felt like you were being left in the dust. 

It wasn’t that you disliked Jeonghan, you were just...jealous. You kinda missed it being just you and Joshua. It had just been the two of you for so long that sometimes it felt like an outsider had come in and simply stole your best friend. 

Which is why you were currently sitting alone in your bedroom on a Friday night. Jeonghan had taken Joshua out for a ‘boys night’ as a way for Joshua to get to meet Jeonghan’s other friend group. 

You were lonely, and jealous and that didn’t make for a good combination. 

Your solution? Swimming. 

The pool in your backyard was cold, but the chill was something you needed at the moment. The water encompassing your frame as you delved beneath the surface, the ice cold waters completely chilling your core. It was terrible, but it felt better than being lonely.

Popping back up to the surface for air, you flipped over onto your back and stared up at the stars above you. Counting them as you slowly drifted through the water. Your thoughts began drifting from the stars and back to your friends, it was honestly pathetic how you were acting. You knew that Jeonghan wasn’t ‘stealing’ Joshua from you, he was your friend too! It just so happened that he and Josh were...closer, and yet here you were acting like a child because of it. You felt pathetic.

“Dude, what the hell are you doing?” Your thoughts were quickly stripped from you as you heard the familiar, although muffled, voice of the person who had been running through your mind. Quickly you maneuvered yourself in the water so that you could turn and face the back door of your home where Joshua and Jeonghan had just exited from. Joshua moved quickly to grab the towel that you had brought out with you, while Jeonghan moved to the edge of the pool and knelt down to watch you as you swam over with a look of concern blanketed across his face.

“I think it’s a bit too cold for a swim, don’t you little Piglet?” The nickname hit your heart, it wasn’t a mean one. It was an old childhood nickname that Joshua had given you based off of your first interaction, how scared you had been of him. When Jeonghan had joined your friend group he just adopted it since Josh called you that so frequently. 

You brushed off his question, ignoring it in favor of asking your own. 

“What are you guys even doing here? I thought you guys were hanging out with Seungcheol all night?”

Jeonghan reached out a hand and you got the message, taking it as he helped hoist you out of the pool. He let out a small giggle as he watched you shiver when the cold air hit your skin. He quickly began rubbing your arms gently to try and warm them as Joshua rushed over with the towel. 

“Well, Pooh Bear here said he was worried about you, guess his little hunch was right.” Jeonghan tilted his head to gesture towards Joshua, who surprisingly ignored the male in favor of wrapping the towel around you which thankfully provided some much needed warmth. Though that could also be coming from the feelings in your chest at Jeonghan’s explanation. It made you feel better to know that Joshua...hadn’t forgotten about you. 

“Go inside and get dressed, we’re gonna go out for dinner and we need you to not die of hypothermia before then.” Joshua ordered, a stern look on his face as he spoke. It was rare to see Josh this serious, but you supposed that you did just go for a swim in the middle of a chilly autumn night so...it was to be expected.

“Anything you say Pooh Bear.”

Age 22

“I seriously can’t believe Jeonghan, our little Roo,  of all people is the first to get married.” You laughed happily. Sure this day had been coming for months but it was still just exciting to think about. You were doing your best to contain your excitement, but sitting with the two in Jeonghan’s dressing room as he prepared to stand at the altar and wait for his blushing bride, you couldn’t contain your excitement. 

Jeonghan laughed along with you and Joshua as he straightened his bowtie...for the third time in the past 10 minutes. You could tell he was nervous, though you weren’t sure what for, you had seen the couple together and you could tell just how in love they were. It was quite adorable.

“I mean, I’m surprised too,” He confessed, glancing back at you through the mirror. “I always thought you and Josh would get married first.” 

Across the room you heard Joshua cough loudly as if choking on his own oxygen, you flashed him a look of concern until he calmed down before turning back to Jeonghan. 

“Don’t even joke like that dude. Chan would flip if he heard that.” Chan was your current boyfriend, he was sweet if not a little possessive. Something that both Joshua and Jeonghan had spoken to you about in concern.

At the mention of your boyfriend’s name you saw Hannie roll his eyes before reaching up to fiddle with his perfectly styled hair once again.

“Red flag~” He sang out, causing you to roll your eyes. It was frustrating that they were talking about this today of all days. You didn’t notice Joshua’s face harden in something that could only be described as irritation. 

“If she’s happy with him then just drop it, Roo.” hearing Jeonghan’s familiar nickname warmed your heart. “Besides, this is your day. I thought you’d be happy to focus on yourself today.”

“Oh, you’re absolutely right. I’m going to bask in this. Doesn’t mean I can’t worry about my friends.

Age 24

To no one’s surprise, Joshua and Jeonghan had been right. Chan’s possessiveness had taken a turn for the worst. Asking you to cut off contact with your two best friends so you did the only thing you could do. You broke up with him, decided you would be cutting off contact and now you were driving away from your former shared apartment and making the hour trip to Joshua’s new place, hopefully he and his new roommate would be cool if you crashed on their couch until you found a new place.

Despite the fact that you knew this break up was for the best, it still hurt and you couldn’t stop tears from shedding while you drove. The liquid sadness blurring the road as you sped down the highway.

Once outside the door to his third floor apartment, you gave a firm knock. Eventually the door opened to the familiar face of Joshua’s new roommate, Seungcheol. You knew the guy fairly well as he’d been a mutual friend of Jeonghan’s and Josh’s during high school, you never really hung out with him too much but you knew he was cool. 

Seeing your puffy eyes tear filled eyes, he quickly moved out of the way and gestured you in. With a small mutter about going to grab Joshua. 

You took a seat on the familiar royal blue sofa, the plush fabric sinking down and pulling you in as you sat down. It was almost like the sofa was pulling you into a hug and you were grateful for the soft plush fabric. You had left your old Winnie the Pooh plushie in the car with the rest of the belongings you had been able to quickly pack after Chan had stormed out of the apartment. 

You heard the soft sounds of speech as Seungcheol explained to Joshua what was going on, you couldn’t quite understand the words but it was followed by the slamming of a door and the sound of footsteps rushing to the living room. 

All too soon, Joshua was in front of you and you felt the tears well up once more as you explained to him what had happened...why you had left Chan.

“He didn’t hurt you did he? I swear if he touched you I’ll go kick his ass myself.” You didn’t trust your voice so you simply shook your head, sniffling as you tried your best to keep a strong appearance despite the tears. It didn’t work, and he gently gripped your shoulders giving you a once over, looking for any sign of possible injury and letting out a sigh of relief when he found nothing. 

Just as you had done during his break up in high school, his arms quickly wrapped around you. Pulling you as close to him as he possibly could. It was like whatever had kept your sobs held it was completely broken, and soon you were all out sobbing. A complete blubbering mess as you gripped his shirt and buried your face in his chest. 

His hand lifted and gently patted your head, his other hand rubbing small circles on your back as you let out all your welled up emotions. It was all too much for you, everything was too much. 

"You were r-right," you exclaimed between sobs, your voice muffled as your tears continued to stain his sleep shirt with your tears. "H-He told me...told me that..." Just thinking about it made your heart clench as you tried your best to continue. Joshua shushed you softly, trying to lull you into a sense of security so that you could calm down. He knew that you would get sick if you continued to wail as you did. 

"You can tell me later, just breathe right now okay?" His soft calming voice hit your heart, but it was still quite a little while before your sobs died down. Once they did, you explained to him just what had happened. How Chan had told you that he didn't feel comfortable with you hanging out with Joshua or even Jeonghan anymore, despite you explaining that they were just your best friends and going so far as to remind him that he was AT Jeonghan's wedding. 

Despite you being calm, you hadn't moved out of Joshua's grasp and the two of you had simply...migrated. Now the two of you were laying on his insanely comfortable couch, with you resting on his chest. It was far too hard to look up at him right now, your heart hurt too much and looking up at him was just a reminder. Right now, all you needed was just to be in his arms, the comfort of your best friend flowing through you as he did his best to comfort you. 

"You deserve better than him anyway. Much better. You don't need someone who is gonna try to control you like that." He declared, his voice soft and calming as he rubbed your back. It was nice, it felt right. Maybe it was because it was natural at this point, the two of you had been there for each other through everything. "You can stay here as long as you like, I know Cheol won't mind. Hell, we'll even grab Hannie and go to help you grab the rest of your stuff." 

You heard Seungcheol rummaging in the kitchen for something for a minute before joining the two of you in the living room and plopping a tub of ice cream onto their coffee table, along with two sets of spoons. He smiled down at the two of you as he did.

"Just think of us as your own personal bodyguards. I've got a few friends too that could help move stuff. My friend's Hyunwoo and Hoseok are built like they lift boulders for a living. They'd probably be enough to scare away any evil exes." 

Joshua laughed softly at the mention of Cheol's two friends, glancing down at you with that soft smile of his. The same one that always warmed your heart in a way you couldn't describe. 

"We're here for whatever you need little Piglet." 

Age 25

"I am...so sorry, I didn’t mean to- I mean I just...” Trailing off, unable to think of the right words. You couldn’t look Joshua in the eyes, not after you had pressed your lips against his own...after kissing your best friend. You weren’t even completely sure why you did it, yet you had and you had also probably completely ruined the decade old friendship. Guilt welled in your gut. Out of everyone, you couldn’t lose Joshua. He was too important to you. 

As soon as that thought crossed your mind, you seemed to all at once understand the cause of your actions and why you were so scared to lose him. Somewhere along the road, you had fallen in love...with your best friend. Your heart sunk into your stomach, if you felt like this for him then this was even worse than you thought. It wasn’t like Joshua had ever shown any kind of interest in you like that.

“You can do it again if you want.” His words caused your brain to freeze as if someone had frozen you solid. Thoughts raced through your mind as you tried to think of an explanation for why he would say something like that. Confusion etched across your face as your eyes hesitantly lifted from the floor to meet his. “I really don’t mind.” 

“Josh, I just kissed you! I probably broke like, 30 laws of whatever best friend handbook there is!”

Your words simply caused Joshua to laugh, shaking his head lightly as he laughed. It was if you had just told the most hilarious joke. 

“You know I’m in love with you right?” Well it seemed that Joshua was determined to take you off guard today. Though to be fair...you caught him off guard first. 

“Since when? You never acted like it, or like...told me?” 

“I mean, not for Han’s lack of trying. Did you really think he joked about us being a couple for no reason?” Now that he mentioned it, Jeonghan did make...quite a few jokes about the two of you just settling down together and they only got worse after you broke things off with Chan. 

Rubbing the back of your neck in exasperation, your feelings being tugged in so many directions as you tried to comprehend the situation you were in. 

“Okay that explains one thing but like, since when?” You had just realized your feelings but from what he said this had been...a long time thing. A small humorless laugh left your best friend, avoiding your gaze. 

“You remember when we were in High school, and you got suspended for breaking my ex’s nose? Yeeeah.”

“That was...eight years ago Josh!” You were completely struck by this information. He had been secretly in love for that long? It would make sense when you truly thought about it, he hadn’t dated or shown any real interest in anyone after that year. As the pieces connected in your head, you felt Joshua grab your hand and lace his fingers with your own. 

“Yeah, nothing’s changed though. Honestly i’ll probably never stop loving you, even if you don’t love me.” He gave your hand a small squeeze. It felt right, like his hand was made to fit with yours just like it always had. Maybe this was why Chan had felt threatened by Josh, maybe he could tell, maybe he knew where your heart belonged even if you hadn’t known at the time.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that. I think somehow you’ve always had me.” You began, unable to stop yourself from smiling as you saw his eyes light up at your words. “So now, I’m going to kiss you again and then we have to let Jeonghan know that we’re not being stupid anymore.” 

You didn’t give Joshua a real chance to speak again before you pulled him close and once again connecting your lips once again. Your free hand weaving through his hair and your other gripping his hand tightly. Joshua wasted no time returning the kiss, free hand grabbing your hip and pulling you closer. 

In all your life, you had never imagined making out with your best friend, yet here you were locked in an embrace. You gently nipped his lower lip with your teeth before pulling away and resting your forehead against his own.

“You know, we could always just keep it a secret from Hannie? See how long it takes him.” you couldn’t help but laugh at Joshua’s suggestion. 

“I bet it takes him a whole year.”

“I’ll take you on that, baby.”

[apenapaperandadoofus]

Jumin x MC fairytale AU? 👀🙏

AHH sure thing! I love this, and sorry for taking long I couldn't come up with anything until 12am lmao

Jumin Fairytale AU:

The queen had gone missing. It had been years, but no one had found any trace of her. Everyone, even the king had given up.

One day, you suddenly found a strange note on your door. It was a letter, with a weird eye shape on it. You were very confused, but curious nonetheless, so you decided to open it.

"If you want to find your queen, come to the address below." It said. Well that was ominous, and very suspicious. Yet...you couldn't help but feel a weird sort of force pulling you towards it, towards the adventure.

You were the only child of an old, retired knight, and you lived in a cabin in the woods. Your father had gotten sick and died a few years ago, and you could barely buy any food with what little money he left you.

You had to find a few jobs, maybe as a knight, just like your father, but they wouldn't accept you. It sucked, and you had to make do with the jobs they gave you.

But it was your dream to become a knight. And what better way to show your skills, than to find the queen herself? You knew that the reward money was something that could really help you, and hey, why not kill two birds with one stone? Become a knight and earn a bunch of money, that didn't sound half bad.

So that exact night you left and made your way towards the address written on the letter. It was definitely a long way, but you were confident that you would make it.

The first few days nothing much happened, you ate tiny pieces of food and water to make it last the whole journey, but it still wasn't enough, and soon enough you had been left with only a tiny bit of water and a small piece of bread.

To make matters worse, the next village was still a few days away in horse.

Welp guess you're gonna die. You had a good run.

You tried to accept your fate to be worm food, but before you could continue imagining your death you suddenly heard a few shouts and the sound of swords clashing.

You decided to go and see what was going on, maybe try to get in on the fight. After all, you felt it was 100 times better to die in an epic sword fight than starving in a creepy forest.

When you made your way to the sound....well you definitely didn't expect to see a really good looking, nicely dressed guy with the sword, standing in front of a....cat. Yes, a cat. From....gangsters? Thieves?

You were about to leave the place, after doing a double take on the handsome man of course, when one of the thieves seemed to notice you and immediately tried to stab you with a dagger.

Rude.

Of course, you immediately beat the guy into a pulp, soon enough beating down the other three, who had wanted to avenge their knocked out friend. The thing was, at one point, you and the handsome guy started fighting the thieves together. You didn't really understand why, but the two of you were actually really fucking good as a team.

Finally the thieves realized that they were going to loose no matter what so they decided to leave you and the handsome man alone. The two of you stood panting, but didn't really say anything else, until the guy turned to look at you.

"I believe I must thank you for helping me. No matter how good I am with a sword, I don't think I would've been able to handle all of them alone."

"Yeah you tell me. Why did you get into a fight with those guys anyway? Were they trying to rob you?"

The guy looked at the ground and then sighed, a bit of colour appearing in his cheek. "I was....protecting someone."

Immediately after he said that, the most adorable cat came out from behind the man and he blushed even harder, making you laugh.

"So you almost died because....you wanted to protect a cat?"

"I don't understand why you think it's funny, it's a completely reasonable response to want to protect an animal, especially a cat if you see a group of people harassing it." He said, with a completely serious expression on his face that only made you smile more.

"Well...I guess I can respect that....still don't understand why you'd want to get killed for it tough...anyway, I'm Y/N. What are you doing on this part of the forest? Is it a normal thing for you rich people to go out at night and protect cats from the dangers of the forest or something?"

The man blinked in surprise, clearly taken aback for a few seconds before shaking his head. "No. I'm here on a quest to...to find an old friend. I just happened to be passing by when I saw those guys threatening the cat. My name is Jumin. Jumin Han, pri-"

"Wait you're THE Jumin Han?? The prince!? What- what the hell are you doing here, WAIT why are you even telling me your name and status like that, for all you know I could, I don't know, kill you and steal your clothes or something!"

"Is it not usual for commoners to present themselves like that?"

You furiously shook your head. "No! How long have you been out here? I'm surprised you haven't been robbed yet."

"I have." He said nonchalantly.

"You....WHAT?!"

"A few days ago I met a few thieves on the way, they didn't steal everything though since I managed to make a deal with them."

"...HOW?"

"I've been learning how to negotiate my whole life, although some people also say that the biggest reason they agree to make deals with me is because of my charisma and good looks."

"How are you even still alive...?"

He shrugged. "If I may change the subject. I want to thank you for saving me and...my friend back there. Is there anyway I could pay you back?"

You raised your eyebrow but started thinking of anything this guy could give you that could be useful. I mean you were starving so maybe some food would be nice?

Jumin nodded after you told him what you wanted, a bit surprised you hadn't asked for more, and made his way to his horse, which was a few feet away from the two of you. You still couldn't help the smile on your face as you saw Jumin take the cat and put her in one of his big bags, only her white fluffy head poking out from it. As you watched Jumin take out what was left of his stuff, you noticed a paper fall out from his front pocket, and you decided to pick it up. You let out a gasp. That paper....it was just like the one you had gotten in your home. It said something different of course, but before you could read it Jumin took it away from your hands and shoved it in his pocket.

"I'd prefer it if you wouldn't read personal things without getting any permission first. I can give you a bit of food to last until you make it to the village up north...do you have any money?"

You shook your head and Jumin took a small knife out of his pockets and proceeded to slash open some pants he had kept in some of his bags. He quickly handed them to you and asked, "is this enough? That could last you to buy food for at least a month. Now that I have paid you back, I believe I must go. Thank you once again for helping me."

He got on his horse, but before he could leave you stepped in front of it with your arms spread. "Wait!!!" You yelled.

The horse almost had a heart attack and Jumin almost fell down, making him glare at you. "Stepping in front of a moving horse is dangerous. What were you thinking? Besides, I've already thanked you for your help, so we're even. I don't understand why you would need to suddenly stop me like that."

"The paper." You said, making Jumin raise an eyebrow.

"What about it?"

"It's....it's got a weird eye logo on it right? And it talked about....about finding someone....the queen?"

Jumin's eyes widened and he got down from his horse, making his way towards you. He narrowed his eyes, his voice and expression cold. "How and why do you know about the contents of this letter? Don't tell me...are you working for them?" He was about to grab his sword and take it out but you gave a little help and quickly tried to get the piece of paper from your pocket, making JUMIN stop dead in his tracks.

"I got one too! It said it was about finding the queen....Lady Rika right? I...I don't exactly know who gave it to me, or why, but one day I found it in my doorstep and well...I didn't really have anything to do."

"Can I....can I see it?" He asked, and you slowly nodded, handing him the paper. Jumin's expression turned to one of surprise and shock, gripping the paper tightly. He looked as if he wanted to cry, but before you could say anything he cleared his throat and regained his composure.

"I see. I am very sorry for almost fighting you, I didn't know if you were related to this group or not. Your letter...it had directions. Mine doesn't. It's clear the person wanted you to meet them there, maybe even see the queen, but why they would send you I don't understand. I don't remember you having any relationship with her."

*Well yeah you could say that. Umm, maybe the letter was meant for my dad, he used to be a knight in the palace but he changed jobs as soon as I was born. He passed away a few years ago. Maybe the weird person wanted him to come instead? They probably didn't realize he was dead."

"I am...very sorry about your loss. But you're right, if your father was a knight, and one that worked with the queen specifically, I could see why they would send him the letter. They probably wanted him to be the one meeting them there."

You nodded and then quickly took the letter back from JUMIN, making him look up at you in surprise.

"My...uh...prince. It's clear that we both have the same objective, that is, finding the queen. I have directions for this specific place...it's obvious they didn't intend for us to suddenly meet. So how about we make a deal?"

He raised his eye brow. "A deal...hmm....go on."

You smiled and clapped your hands together. "Well you see my dear prince, I could do the honor of bringing you to the plac! I could be, in a way, your guide. You'll definitely find some clues about the queen there, or who knows! Maybe that's where they've been keeping her! What do you say?"

Jumin placed a hand on his chin and looked at you quizzically. "And what would you like in return. If you were only aiming for the reward money you could've easily gotten the queen by yourself, no need to get me involved. So what exactly do you want?"

"Excellent question your highness! What I want is to be a knight. An actual knight. And once this mission is done, if you come and promote me or whatever, I could end up being one! Just like my father."

"You want me to make you a knight...that doesn't sound too hard, I do know a few people who could squeeze you in the group...alright deal. You guide me to the queen, ans I give you a position as a knight."

"Awesome!!! Now we just need to get going! And a few rules, before we go. You have to promise me that you'll make me a knight. Promise me." You said. Jimin looked at you, directly in the eye, and then nodded. "I promise that after all of this I will do everything in my power to make you a knight."

"Pinky promise?" You smirked. Bt JUMIN only looked at you puzzled. "Uhm....do you know what a pinky promise is exactly?"

He shook his head and you had to try so hard not to laugh. His confused expression when he saw you offering your pinky was the most adorable thing ever. You but your lip and tried to explain as best as you could, what q pinky promise was and how it worked.

"I see...so if I break it I'll have to chop my finger off?" He asked.

"Oh, uh well we don't have to go to that extreme. But you cannot break the promise!"

"Alright. Since you are talking about rules then I'll add a few more." You nodded. "First of all....you can call me just Jumin. We don't need the formalities and it'd be refreshing to have someone call me my by name for once. Second, you have to swear your life to Elizabeth the third."

....

"Excuse me?" You asked.

"Elizabeth the third."

"Yeah but uh, who is that??"

Jimin quickly turned around and pointed at his bag, and as if on cue, the cat that was in there poked its head out and meowed.

"You...you called your cat Elizabeth...the third?"

"Is there anything wrong with that name? It was the same as my great grandmother's and a personal favorite of mine "

"The name is pretty but...don't you think it's too fancy for a cat?"

Jumin immediately looked as if he was about to take out his sword once again and hit you with it, but he also looked as if he was about to break down and give you a lecture of 4 hours as to why the cat should have a fancy name, and you did NOT have the time to listen to that.

"Oh actually, uhm, J...Jimin?"

"Jumin."

"Uh yes gesundheit. I actually understand completely, Elizabeth is a beautiful name for a...uh...cat. So why don't we get moving? The queen isn't, you know going to appear by us sitting here discussing pet names. Let me just quickly go and get my horse!" And so you slithered away before Jumin could say anything else.

The two of you got everything ready, and you quickly took off to the north, where the queen was supposed to be located.

Then, as you rode through the forest, Jumin looked at you as if he wanted to say something, but then he kept closing his mouth. And then he opened it again and closed it. It kept going until you grew tired of it and asked what was up.

"I just....I feel like we haven't talked about how you don't like Elizabeth's name. Cats are very elegant creatures, who definitely deserve more praise."

Did Jumin spend the next two hours talking about cats? Yes, yes he did.

But the whole time you couldn't help smiling. This was definitely going to be one interestinf trip.

OH boi

Anyway tell if if y'all would like a part 2 pfttt I swear I could write a whole novel on this!

It was actually really fun and I L O V E D writing Jumin, although I've got no idea if I captured him perfectly!

Prompt idea from:

Give me a character name and an AU

[leviathanswingman]

killing me softly, chapter 12: actions speak louder than words

Lucifer was sitting in his study, stacks of paperwork on his desk in front of him. He was meticulously working, going through paper after paper. The big celebration was in a day and he still had a lot of catching up to do. After having pulled another all-nighter, he had almost finished all of his tasks. Next to him was a trash bin, filled to the brim with white and blue rose petals, a few single buds mixed in with stems and thorns.

Exhausted, he allowed himself to rest for a moment. In front of of him were a cup of coffee Barbatos had brought over and an untouched slice of apple pie which Beelzebub had unceremoniously dumped in front of him. Lucifer took a big gulp of coffee and leaned back in his chair, letting out a deep sigh. The warm coffee felt like medicine to his sore throat.

As he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath of the rich scent of roasted beans, suddenly, the doors burst open and Asmodeus barged into the room.

Surprised, Lucifer almost threw the cup of coffee over his shoulder. Quickly, he kicked the overflowing trash bin under the desk, almost making it tip over in the process. It swayed dangerously before finally coming to a halt.

„Asmodeus!“ he growled as he got up from his chair. „How many times have I told you to knock? Looking at your behaviour one could assume you'd been raised by apes. I suppose you must have a fairly good reason as to why you have disobeyed my rules once again.“

Asmo smiled at him recklessly. „Oh, I do! I'm on the most important of missions!“ he exclaimed as he crossed the room and walked around the table with a spring in his step. Elegantly, he then sat down on top of Lucifer's mahogany desk, one leg crossed over the other.

„If you don't want me to cancel all of your beauty subscriptions, you better speak up. Now.“

“Oh come one, Lucifer. You wouldn't do that!”

Lucifer held eye contact with his brother as he picked up his DDD and dialled a number. “Good evening, is this-”

“No!” Asmodeus yelled as he grabbed Lucifer's DDD and threw it out the window. From far away they could hear a distant thud, followed by an angry yell. “OW! If I find out who threw that DDD, I swear to fuck-”

“Sorry Satan!!”

Then, there was the sound of a garbage can getting kicked out of its socket and Asmodeus shrugged nonchalantly.

For a moment, Lucifer simply stared at his brother. Normally, now would be the perfect time to punish Asmodeus, make him learn from his mistakes and most of all, make him refrain from overstepping his boundaries ever again. However, Lucifer was extremely tired. The last two days he had worked tirelessly, attempting to make up for the time he had spent in Lord Diavolo's chambers. Adding to the exhaustion that came from his overworked mind, Lucifer was also suffering under the fits of hanahaki that had gotten progressively worse over the last two days. The only blessing that had emerged out of this situation was the fact that his enormous workload was effectively keeping him apart from Diavolo.

With Lucifer holed up in his study and Lord Diavolo busy preparing for his guests, there was no time left to mull over that pesky disease. Everything was working completely in Lucifer's favour.

“Are you trying to sign your death warrant?”

“Not actively, no,” Asmo answered, tilting his head playfully.

“Oh, really? I can make that happen, you are aware of that?” Lucifer threatened half-heartedly. It took much energy being threatening and angry, energy he definitely couldn't spare at the moment. He just had to make it through the celebration, both literally and figuratively.

Lucifer was most aware of the fact that he did not have much time left. Aside from the obvious hanahaki attacks, his breathing had worsened immensely and he had started to get random nose bleeds.

As Yuuta would say, he felt like hell, which was quite ironic, taken his current place of residence. Lucifer had one last task left to fulfil: making it through the celebration without raising any suspicions. If he managed to do that, he could die without regrets; could die with the knowledge that he didn't have to sully Lord Diavolo's name.

After Barbatos had caught him, resting in Diavolo's arms, he had spent evening after evening laying out all of his options and had come to one conclusion. If he were to allow himself to be with Diavolo, if he were to alleviate their relationship to a romantic level, he would sooner or later bring shame to Lord Diavolo. As the current demon prince, a romance with his right hand man would be one of the biggest scandals all around devildom. Although the demon king was not present at the moment, he would certainly not be willing to give his blessing for a union like that.

Lucifer snapped out of it and sighed deeply. In moments like this, he couldn't help but feel a saddening kind of softness. After all, this was one of his last days with his brothers. Almost his entire life he'd portrayed himself as the serious, untouchable older brother. Today, he was allowed to be lenient for once.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and turned to Asmodeus. “Pray tell, what is this mission of yours?”

A quick smile flashed across Asmo's face. “Actually, you are my mission.”

Lucifer raised his eyebrows in a silent question. “I am your mission? In what way is this supposed to make sense?”

His little brother put his hands on Lucifer's shoulders and beamed with excitement. “Well, sorry for saying this, but you look terrible, like absolute garbage.”

“You know you can't hurt my feelings with crude language like that. I'm a busy demon and work always comes first. So what are you trying to accomplish?”

Asmodeus sighed in annoyance. “You don't get what I mean. You probably have to be at Diavolo's side the entire party, right?” he questioned, head cocked to one side.

“It's a celebration, not a party, but yes. It's what's expected from me. Diavolo and I will be responsible for our honoured guests.”

Asmodeus didn't skip a beat. “Looking like that?” he murmured sweetly, yet still loud enough for Lucifer to hear.

Of course, Lucifer had allowed himself to be somewhat kind during his last days, but that didn't mean he'd let his brother bully him without reason. With a strong hand, he whacked Asmodeus in the back of his head.

“Ouch! What was that for?? Lucifer, you're such a meanie! I was just trying to help!” Asmo wailed. “Don't you think you should look perfect for the party? It's no secret that you're blessed with good genes, but right now, you're looking like a zombie!” He rubbed the back of his head as he averted his eyes. “Don't you want to look good for Lord Diavolo?” he added, his expression obviously fake lost in thought.

“What was that last part about?” Lucifer asked coldly, a sickly sweet smile painted on his face as he gripped Asmo's wrist a little bit too tight.

“Oh, did I say that out loud?” came the answer. “Whoopsie.”

“Stop it with your little games, Asmodeus. We both know you have come here with an agenda. Knowing you, there's no way to persuade you to just leave it. So what are you here for?” With a deep sigh, he twirled his hand in a circular motion, signalling his brother to keep talking.

Asmodeus basically lit up. “I'm giving you a makeover!”

Lucifer simply glowered at him. As soon as Asmodeus recognized the look on his brother's face, he corrected himself.

“I'm not saying you need a makeover, after all you are gorgeous Lucifer, I just think you need a bit of last minute skin care to perfect your complexion. Both your exhaustion and hana-”

At the mention of his disease, Lucifer threw Asmodeus a threatening look, making him freeze in place for a second.

“Both your exhaustion and your illness,” he corrected himself, “have taken a toll on you. Wouldn't our beloved guests get worried if they caught you walking around like the living dead?” Asmo concluded.

After a few moments of silence, Lucifer surrendered and sat down on his chair. Deep down he could tell that this wasn't just another one of Asmodeus' shenanigans. There was a bigger picture he wasn't quite aware of.

Still, that didn't erase the fact that his brother had a valid point. If he were to attend the celebration looking gaunt and exhausted, people would eventually end up gossiping. Lord Diavolo already had a hard time proving himself to be as good of a leader as his father had been, rumours about his overworked right hand man were the last thing he needed at the moment.

Lucifer felt a petal working itself up his throat again. He coughed once, trying to alleviate the discomfort, but to no avail. Given the fact that Asmodeus was already in the picture, he felt little shame in pulling the trash bin out from under his desk. Forearms leaning heavily on his thighs, he leaned forward and quickly heaved a load of petals into the already overflowing trash bin. For a few moments he stayed in that position until he could feel his elbows digging into his thighs harshly. Tomorrow, there would probably be bruises there. Lucifer now leaned back, letting the back of his head hit the chair's backrest.

“Do not say anything, I don't need your unnecessary comments,” he said, voice croaky. “Save it.” Suddenly,he felt something trickling down his nose. Blood.

Asmodeus squeaked at the sight of it. “Tip your head back! Tip your head back, oh my god!! Wait, don't tip it back I think you're not supposed to do that! Towel.. towel!” He hurried across the room, scurrying to find anything to stop the bleeding. Eventually, he found one of Lucifer's handkerchiefs and ran back to his side.

“That's not necessary,” Lucifer started as he held the palm of his hand pressed to his nose, blood trickling down to the slightly protruding bone of his wrist.

“Just let me do this!” Asmo exclaimed as he shoved the handkerchief in Lucifer's face. Lucifer let out a few grumbles, but still grabbed the handkerchief and held it to his nose. “So, we were discussing your plan?” he continued their former conversation, acting as if nothing had happened.

Asmodeus looked at him intensely and for a second, a look of suppressed anger cracked through the mask he had carefully crafted. However, it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. After breathing out heavily, he fixed his bangs with steady fingers and put on a smile.

“Of course. So, I've been thinking about what we can do to make you look less like you're about to drop dead and more like you're drop dead gorgeous, right? I still have a few amazing creams and tinctures which can save you from literally anything. We are going to use those on you. With that, problem number one will be solved,” he snapped his finger, “just like that.”

Lucifer folded the bloodied handkerchief in half and pressed it back against his nose. He wasn't the biggest fan of all of Asmo's flowery perfumes and creams; admittedly, the heavy scents gave him migraines, but if it would help him look more presentable for his last duties, he would have to suffer through it. “I understand. What else?”

Asmodeus clapped his hands once. “Problem two is mostly me being nitpicky, but I just know it will make you shine so much more and take everyone's attention off your illness. I'm not trying to be rude here, but you do have a track record of being terrible at hiding,” he motioned towards the full trash bin, “that. You have to show me your outfit and I'll work out how we can perfect it.”

Perfection. Exactly what Lucifer wanted to portray, almost to an obsessive degree. Everything had to be neat and tidy for his final performance.

The bleeding had finally stopped and Lucifer threw the handkerchief into the bin on top of all the sickly smelling petals and buds. “Alright then, follow me to my chambers.”

“So?”

Asmodeus was standing in the middle of Lucifer's room as he waited for his brother to bring out his fit for tomorrow's party. He knew Lucifer could tell something was up, but seeing as he had only a day left and his pride to maintain, he had budged. Well, he had budged very reluctantly. Taken the fact that they were talking about Lucifer however, it was a wonder he had given in to begin with.

When him, his brothers and Yuuta had formed their plan, Asmodeus had immediately known what exactly he had to say to Lucifer to get him to involuntarily cooperate. Catering to his pride had been their only realistic option and it had worked incredibly well.

We're not gonna let you go, you stubborn brother of ours. We're annoying like that and you are all that we have left, Asmodeus thought to himself for a moment.

He was nervous to a certain degree, but out of all of his brothers and Yuuta, he was the one with the most viable poker-face.

Asmodeus prided himself in being distracting and eye-catching, turning conversations around was his forte. Now he completely had to rely on those skills of his. Everyone was depending on him to make this work somehow. He hid shaking fingers behind his back as Lucifer stepped back into his field of view, holding a pristine black suit. It was neither too plain nor too ornate, perfect in a marriage of respectability and beauty. Thoughtfully, Asmodeus nodded his head as he circled the suit once, looking at every inch of fabric closely.

“We can work with this. Waistcoat and shirt?” he then asked, his pointer ghosting over his lips.

“Red waistcoat, the dress shirt is a regular black one,” Lucifer answered, handing over the suit to his brother. Asmodeus laid it out on the bed, careful not to crease the suit.

“The waistcoat is a good choice, but drop the black dress shirt.”

Lucifer furrowed his eyebrows. “What is wrong with a black dress shirt. It's professional yet elegant.”

“That's exactly the point. This is not a business meeting, this is a party.”

“Celebration,” Lucifer cut in.

“Par-ty,” Asmo insisted. “Lord Diavolo and you are there to entertain and mingle with the guests. Dress like it. Aren't parties there to impress and wow the crowd?” He winked at his brother. “Or do you want me to have all the attention to myself? Oh Lucifer, I didn't know you were this considerate! Anyway, the shirt gets switched out with a black dress shirt made out of lace, no getting out of this one.”

Lucifer glowered at him. It was almost hilariously obvious how badly he wanted this situation to be over. “Are you done?”

“Am I done? I've barely even started! Show me the shoes!”

After crossing the room again, Lucifer brought over a pair of elegant, black dress shoes. Asmodeus stared at them in blank horror. “Ew. Ew ew ew. Nope, we are certainly not doing that!”

With a bit too much force Lucifer sat down on the bed, barely suppressing a deep grumble. “What's the problem now?”

“What's the-? Everything! Lucifer, how did you manage to woo Lord Diavolo with clothes this unadventurous?!”

“I told you before, I do not-” before he could finish his sentence Asmodeus raised one finger and dashed out of the room.

Lucifer sprung up from his bed and quickly grabbed the nearest handkerchief, coughing into it violently. His throat hurt to the point that one, two, three more buds didn't matter all that much anymore. He tasted blood, but kept coughing until what had been clogging up his windpipe dislodged. Two bloodied buds were now lying in the handkerchief between his hands, a blue rose and a white rose.

Images of those mesmerizing eyes, all honey and smoke, flashed through his mind again. Nowadays, the mere mention of Diavolo was enough to send Lucifer into painful fits. Still, he had made his decision and he was going to have to live with it. Or rather, he had to die with it, but that was just semantics right there.

Just as his breathing calmed down again, Asmodeus barged back into the room, holding something in his hands.

In the middle of wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, Lucifer looked back up, realizing what exactly his little brother had brought over so excitedly.

“You cannot be serious about this.”

Asmodeus flashed him one of his signature smiles, a smile few could say no to. Although Lucifer was different from regular demons, even he himself found it difficult to refuse his little brother when he exuded this kind of energy. But Lucifer knew his brothers better than anyone else. Asmodeus' smiles were infused with his powers. Whether he did this on purpose or not was a completely different question though. Awareness generally lowered the impact Asmodeus' powers had on you.

“Yep! I'm completely serious about this. I will come by 2 hours before the party starts so I can do your make-up.”

Without batting an eye Lucifer crossed his arms. He had worn make-up on multiple occasions, a little bit of concealer or foundation here and there to hide his tiredness and exhaustion. Knowing his brother however, this was not going to be where it ended.

Apparently Asmodeus saw the distrusting look on Lucifer's face, since he hurriedly scrolled through his phone, turning it to Lucifer to show him the picture he had just looked up.

“Like that,” he said. “Doesn't that look just darling? We'll use a little bit of red eyeshadow, which will work great with your eyes, then apply a tiny bit of eyeliner and then finish it off with mascara. Subtle yet enticing.” Slowly, he looked up at his brother who seemed to study the photo for a moment.

“Enticing? I would rather say it's quite daring, taken the fact that I am Lord Diavolo's right hand man.”

Asmodeus sighed deeply. “I promise, I'm not trying to make you look like a whore! This is gonna look so sophisticated! You're gonna look hot!”

Finally, Lucifer gave in, not because of his brother's last comment, but because it was his last day with his family. With Lord Diavolo. Going out meekly had never been quite his style.

“For once, I entrust myself to you. Do not disappoint me, Asmodeus,” he threatened, but his brother was barely listening to him as he had already jumped up and hugged Lucifer tightly, nuzzling his chest with his head for a moment. Surprised, Lucifer froze for a moment, but then resorted himself to awkwardly patting Asmo's head. A few moments later, Asmo let go again.

“It's settled then, I'll see you tomorrow!” he beamed before leaving the room with a spring to his step.

Lucifer sighed deeply as he let himself sink back onto his bed. Suddenly, his eyes settled on the clothing item Asmodeus had brought over before. Boots with a heel, approximately four inches in height, which would reach over his knees, hugging the beginning of his thighs in an almost promiscuous promise, made of the richest of leathers. They were beautiful works of craft, there was no denying that.

Lucifer's gut feeling was telling him that tomorrow would be the most interesting of days. No matter how much he would have preferred a calm passing, the fact that his brothers were involved in some way or another told him that chaos would inevitably ensue. After all, it always did.

There was only one certainty about tomorrow's evening in the ballroom: it would undeniably be Lucifer's last day alive.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6 , Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 13

*nsfw chapter

taglist: @el-does-photography

[dwaynepride]

the unfortunate case of nonchalance

PART I - WHERE TO START

summary: jethro and his gang arrive to a new town, and they’re surrounded by rich folk. but then, he meets somebody unexpected.

words: 1,855

warnings: female reader

tags: @fairytale07​ @jrenn10​ @f4nboi​ @purplestarsr5​ @ladyzombiielove​ @littlemiss3ma​ @minikate--24-05​ @consultingdoctorwholock​ @dressed-up-just-like-z1ggy​ @ms-allenbrown​ @ikbenplant​ @dylpickles1267​ @diaryofafan17​ @specialagentlokitty​ @pageofultron​ @stanathanxoox​

author’s note: part 1 of a new series. this is actually a part of @thranduilsperkybutt​‘s writing challenge. my prompt was cowboy au + secret relationship trope.

PART II

February 16th, 1889

Well, this is the first opportunity where I’m able to sit and write.

Moving East out of the plains has been damn hard - nobody likes being this close to civilization.

Hell, I hate it. Seen more people on the trail the past two days than we used to see in a whole week, back West. It’s necessary; we all know that. Still, I hear Anthony kickin’ up a fuss whenever we see another caravan.

It ain’t so bad, now that we got a place to settle down. For now, anyway. It’s well-hidden, at least. It’ll do the job until our problems in the West die down, and we can move back.

If we’re lucky, Anthony might take a bullet while we’re out here. Save us all the trouble of keepin’ him reigned in, this time.

Dr. Mallard told me there’s a town nearby. From what I gather, it’s mostly aristocrats and artisans and rich folk who live there. Not the kinda folk we run into often, but the law won’t think to look for us here. Not for a while, at least.

So I’m gonna head into the town tomorrow. Have a look around, see what we’re up against. Anthony wants to come along. Says he wants to start sniffing around, despite my warnings that we’ve got to act like upstanding citizens of the law. It’s too risky to start making trouble.

He says he understands, but I’ll keep my eye on him, just the same.

Tim and Abigail will go along with him. They’re much less rambunctious, so I don’t fear they’ll get into much mischief.

All in all, despite the money that no doubt comes through this town, I predict it will be a very dull place to lie low.

But maybe that’s what we need, right now. There’s been too much excitement, lately.

February 17th, 1889

Just as I thought - this town is full of men and women too concerned with stories and the arts to pay attention to much else. I counted five clothing shops on the way in. And only a single gun store.

I’m not even sure the saloon sells proper bourbon.

Though, Anthony seems to be fitting in, well enough. He can keep a pleasant conversation with any rich man he meets - a skill I scarcely care enough to learn. But I suppose it was a good choice to bring him along-

The journal is knocked from Jethro’s hands as someone slams against his shoulder from behind. It falls to the dirt, as does the bags of the person who’d knocked into Jethro. And even though his journal was knocked clean out of his hands, Jethro himself wasn’t much bothered. Because the collision barely moved him and it seems like whoever just bumped into him is suffering more of the consequences.

“I’m very sorry!” A voice says hurriedly. A womanly voice that wasn’t so prim and proper as the other women of this high-end town.

Jethro bends over to collect her bags - brand new, apart from the new dirt stains received from the collision. And the woman picks up his leather-bound journal; thankfully, it had landed shut.

They both straighten up, and Jethro instantly meets your eyes for the first time. Very pretty, he notices, if a little guilty for all the trouble you’ve caused. Dainty little strands of hair fall into your face, and the dress you wear is much too expensive for Jethro to ever be able to buy. And yet, you wears it so simply. He can’t tell if you’re just so rich that this dress is meaningless, or if you purely don’t care.

You speak, and Jethro’s eyes blink once. “Pardon me?”

A small laugh comes from you; light and nervous. “I said I was sorry. For bumping into you, like I did. I suppose I wasn’t watching where I was going. I can be a real clutz, you see.”

You still hold his journal with two hands. Fingers drum against the leather. He huffs and shakes his head. “No, ma’am. The fault is mine for not anticipating your arrival,” Jethro says simply.

And he hadn’t meant it as a joke. It was a simple fact, told in his deadpan way. Still, the nervous look on your face shifts into a wide smile. You’re laughing; light and happy and in a way Jethro wasn’t quite expecting. “Perhaps you’re right,” you say. And when Jethro hands your bags over, you gives him the journal back.

“Are you a writer?”

He’s dusting off the leather, barely listening to your question. “A writer?” He echoes.

“You know, a storyteller.” When Jethro glances back up, you motion to the journal. “I do enjoy a good story. And you seemed rather lost in whatever you were writing.”

Your eyes....your eyes held a sort of enraptured curiosity that Jethro himself hasn’t had in a long time. The type of curiosity that has you questioning a stranger with a journal because they may be a fascinating person. But he was just a man; just Jethro. And your words prompts a light smirk to his face. “Do I strike you as the type to entertain others, ma’am?”

You pauses. Shrug your shoulders as your emboldened smile softens into a smirk. You must smile a lot, he thinks. “Perhaps. I’ve only known you a minute, and you’re already more interesting than many of the men in this town. That’s quite an achievement, Mr....”

Jethro hesitates. He knew coming into this town that he didn’t want to give out his name very willingly. Maybe the law will recognize it and that would cause more trouble than he wants to deal with.

And yet, what harm could this woman do? A woman so soft and sheltered, she mistakes this rough cowboy for a city-dwelling storyteller.

“Gibbs,” he finally answers.

He sticks out his hand, and you smile while taking it. Jethro hears, loud and clear, when you tells him your name. And he hasn’t the mind to notice how soft the skin of your palm is. Your last name - it’s so familiar.

Familiar, as he’s seen it printed over almost every store and shop in this town.

So he gives a slow nod, releasing your hand. “I did not realize I was talking with a celebrity,” Jethro teases. And he expects some pushback from that little jab - women always seem to dislike his brand of sarcasm. They call him rude, and they may be right.

Instead, you grips your bags tighter. Jethro catches a bit of pink in your cheeks, and it makes his stomach tight with no good reason. “My father owns many of the stores in this town. It’s not a fact I share with others, Mr. Gibbs. I feel as though it causes people to treat me different - as though my opinion of them may sway them to my father’s favor.”

Seems like a hard life, Jethro jokingly thinks to himself.

Seems easier to have fake friends than government agents following you across three states.

Jethro stuffs his journal into his coat pocket before looking back to you, bobbing his head with a smirk. “Trust me, ma’am; I will treat you no different than I would any other woman,” he vows. And he’s mostly serious.

You smile again. And even giggle, this time. It’s a nice sound and even after Jethro tells himself to be polite to the daughter of the town’s most powerful man, he finds he doesn’t have to try very hard. You’re nothing like the other people Jethro has encountered in this god-forsaken town.

Maybe because when you look at him, Jethro doesn’t feel like the dirty old cowboy he knows he looks like to everyone else.

His thoughts are cut short by your cross little sigh. “I’m afraid I must go now. I’m expected back home soon,” you tell him regretfully.

Your reluctance was painfully visible, and Jethro is determined not to show his own. Besides, he wasn’t here to make a friend or charm a lady; no matter how pretty she may be. “Then I’ll save you the burden of a long-winded goodbye. I hope you have a good day,” Jethro tells her.

After giving you a single nod, he turns away. Takes several steps toward the saloon - that’s where Jethro reckons Anthony might be, anyway. Following some poor rich bastard in there to get him drunk and pick his pockets. And he thinks he’s about to make a clean getaway.

But your voice calls out. Calls his name in a way that makes Jethro’s feet freeze in their tracks. He almost doesn’t turn, but his head is arching over his shoulder anyway. Watching as you smile and waves him goodbye. “I hope to see you around! Perhaps one day, you’ll let me read the story you’re writing.”

That makes Jethro scoff, but he says nothing as you continue on your way. That expensive dress of yours even has some mud stains from where your shoes kick it up, but your don’t really seem to care.

And as you disappear around the corner, he shakes his head. Such an unforeseen encounter in a town where Jethro only expected to find uppity, rich men and women. And for the daughter of the town’s patriarch, no less, to completely shatter his expectations - well, Jethro found himself wondering if he really would see you again.

His thoughts are broken when Jethro hears a familiar voice calling out. Shaking out of his reverie, his head swivels around until finding the voice’s owner. Anthony’s hand waves in the air, and he starts jogging over.

Jethro can’t help but glance back to where you disappeared from.

But the Italian stops beside Jethro, wearing a big grin that usually gave him a bad feeling. “Afternoon, boss,” Anthony greets.

Jethro only grunts, and as he starts walking, his friend falls into step beside him. “Have fun screwing around?”

“Believe it or not, I wasn’t screwing around. Just the opposite, in fact.” Anthony suddenly steps closer, shoulder to shoulder with Jethro. Aware of the prying eyes and nosy aristocrats eager for gossip. “I think I figured out a way to rustle up some money,” Anthony says lowly.

Jethro scoffs, face forming a frown that Anthony can hardly see under the brim of his hat. Though, he’s already well acquainted with his leader’s sourest faces. “This idea of yours legal, Anthony?”

“Strictly speaking? Not really.”

Great.

“That’s never stopped us before, though.”

No, Jethro answers reluctantly. It hasn’t. And that’s what pushed them away from the West and everything they’ve worked for. Because of those less-than-legal schemes.

And hearing Anthony suggest a whole new one, in a town where nobody knows their checkered past...well, Jethro has a pretty wide pit in his stomach. Deep, aching; familiar in a way that has him thinking about the past. Has him thinking about what led to Shannon’s death, all those years ago.

Glancing to Anthony, and seeing how excited he looks about his dangerous plan, Jethro just starts thinking about the girl who thought him a storyteller.

[starlightsearches]

Oh my god yas I’ve been waiting for these to open I love you writing so much and was wondering if you could do a Armitage hux x reader based on the song quartet at the ballet from Anastasia or at least the quote “Someone holds her safe and warm,Someone rescues her from the storm” thank you so much 💘💛🧡💖💓💗❤️💜❤️💗💞💕🧡💛💘🧡💛🧡💖💓💜❤️

Stay Alive

You are so sweet! I’m so glad you like the stuff I write; I’ve made this for you, hope you enjoy!! (I’ve never done a song prompt before! My initial concept for this was so sweet, and then . . . this happened instead. Hope you like it 🥺) 

Requests are closed  ✨

Armitage Hux x Reader

AN: I’m pretty much incapable of writing an actual oneshot apparently, so maybe we’ll see a return to this story later (if there’s any interest of course 😉) 

Warnings: Kind of angsty. Canon-typical violence, threats of violence against the reader, mild allusions to sexual assault, and language.

You're running, running without thought—running without paying any mind to the burning in your lungs, your legs, your heart—because the second you stop, they'll find you. The streets that you’ve learned so well are empty, and for a moment you're overcome with a gripping panic, as if you're being pursued by more than just the men you've cheated. It feels like you're being chased by ghosts—ghosts of the people you've hurt, the lives you've ruined. The thought only makes you run faster. Your blaster is gone. There were three, maybe even four of them, if you counted right, if they didn’t have others in the shadows. You can’t fight them off, not on your own, so you'll have to hide and pray that they won't find you.

Commander Armitage Hux's informant is late, and it's freezing—little flakes of snow falling into the alley and dusting his hair, his shoulders. The blood is gone in his legs, and his fingers are stiff as he clenches them at his sides, the cold reaching through the leather of his gloves and digging its way straight to his bones. He's been waiting for more than an hour, but he can't return to the ship, not without something to show for all his efforts. He'll wait a few minutes longer.

A shiver runs through his body, and he shoves his hands under his arms, watching the clouds of his breath dissipate in the night air, hoping to hold on to the little amount of body heat he has left. He tells himself that it will be worth it, to lose a few fingers. This intel could lead to big things for him—another promotion, a Star Destroyer under his command. A way out. No, he'll wait as long as it takes. Even if it kills him.

His eyes flash to the mouth of the alley when he hears it—a scuffling sound, footsteps close by and he perks up, hoping his patience is about to be rewarded. He doesn't have time to feel surprise when your shadowy figure appears, running full speed, crashing into his arms with urgency, with need.

"Please, help me," there are tears in your eyes as you grasp at him, your hands moving desperately from his arms to his shoulders to the collar of his coat, pulling, grabbing, clutching at him. There's only a sliver of light by which he can see you, and it cuts your face into fragments. Your eyes, your jaw, your nose, flashing in and out of view in the moonlight. Even in pieces, he finds you beautiful, and he can't think of the words he has to say, words that would calm you. "Please, they're going to kill me," you sob, trembling against him, and Hux is overcome with a strange but not uncomfortable sensation. There's something familiar about you. Something vital. He needs to protect you.

It's not exactly what you were hoping for, but at least the stranger you've found at the end of the alley is a man of action. As soon as the words leave your mouth, he's moved you into the space behind himself, shielding you from the entrance with one arm. It's not a moment too soon, either. Your friends have arrived.

"There you are, sugar," the voice echoes against the darkness, and they appear, stepping into the black of the alley one by one, all of them looming much larger than your would-be protector, completely blocking the exit. You can't get a good look at him now, but you don’t think he’s much older than you are, and much less prepared for any kind of fight. Now both of you were going to die, and it would be your fault. Shit.

"I think you should leave," he says. His words are clipped and polished, an Imperial Basic accent that stands out, especially on a planet like this one, but his voice is steady and calm. Confident. He has no idea what he's dealing with. You can see him in profile in the dark, his shadow just slightly darker than all the blackness around him. He's got a soft, handsome air, a rich look, but his eyes are hard and serious, and you're forced to do a double-take. He's got the look of a killer in his eyes. The shiver that runs through you has nothing to do with the cold.

"This isn't your business, boy." It's Tyrie speaking, you can tell, and you watch him, watch as the shadowy form of his blade flies through the air before landing back in his open palm. You huddle closer behind the man in front of you, using his body as a shield. Tyrie won't kill him, not yet. Based on his accent and the material of his coat under your fingers, you can tell he's got more credits to his name than most people around here could even dream of. There would be a lot of questions if someone like him went missing, and you know that Tyrie knows this, too. "I'm asking you to leave, and I'll only do it once."

"What do you want with her?" Out of the corner of your eye, you see it. His hand is moving, glacially slow to his side, brushing the hem of his coat out of the way. You almost let out a gasp from the relief, before you catch yourself and smother it with your hand. He's got a blaster. You just pray that he's a good shot.

"That little thief stole from us," Braterr, the biggest of them, says, folding his arms over his chest, "and she's gonna pay us back, one way or another." The other men laugh, and your stomach reels with nausea. You had hoped they'd at least kill you quickly. The stranger has a grip on your arm, holding you in place, and it tightens. It's like a message, like he's saying I'll take care of it. You worry your lip between your teeth; you aren't used to letting someone else take care of anything, especially not when your life was on the line.

Tyrie steps forward, holding his blade aloft, and even in the darkness it glints. "Turn her over to us, we'll take-" The sound of his blaster hurts when it hits your ears, echoing around in the tight space, and the other men don't have a chance to turn and run before he's hit every single one of them, the mouth of the alley littered with bodies, the smouldering wounds in their chests glowing red. You're not looking at that though. You're too busy staring at the shiny First Order-issue blaster in his hand. At the insignia stitched onto the sleeve of his coat, illuminated by the fragmented light of the moon. You are so, incredibly fucked.

You had lost your blaster, but you still had your blade, and it's pressed to the delicate skin of his throat before he can even lower his weapon. You maneuver your way around him, pulling him closer to the entrance and into a small pool of light, keeping the blade where it is, setting your jaw and your eyes so he knows that you mean it. You finally get a good look at his face, and his expression is solemn, maybe even mildly annoyed, like getting killed in some dingy alley would only be a minor inconvenience. 

"Drop it," you say, and he complies, his blaster clattering to the ground by your feet , and he raises his hands behind his head, staring you down. You keep your eyes on him, kicking it out of his reach. You knew better than to try and use it; those fuckers had all kinds of sensors to keep them from working in the wrong person's hands.

"I thought I recognised you," he murmurs, and his throat trembles against your blade, a thin sliver of blood appearing, the skin around it growing whiter, "you're a wanted woman."

"So I've been told." You know he's stalling, waiting for a chance to get the upper hand. You should get it over with, now, but you've already hesitated. It's unlike you. Besides, you know his plan. What could a few more minutes hurt? He might have information that you could use. "Where is the Order looking for me?"

"Kijimi, last I heard." That's good news. You're staying under their radar. Or, you had been, at least, but it seems that you've fucked that up now.

"It'd be a shame if they heard any different," you press the blade a little deeper, for emphasis, and he winces. You've never been known for having a conscience, but leaving him here to bleed out did seem pretty callous. He had saved your life. Maybe you could come to some kind of an understanding.

"I don't see why I would need to convince them otherwise," he responds, and you smile to yourself. How typical. Another cowardly officer; it's a miracle the First Order had lasted this long.

You relax only the slightest amount—that's all it takes before he's got you. Even as it's happening you're not sure how he does it, but suddenly the blade is out of your hand and he's got an arm around you, securing you in place with a grip much stronger than you would have guessed, the metal of your blade at your neck, the cold edge of it biting right at your pulse.

"Make it quick." You're not going to beg, or cry. Not going to let him see you sweat. This is what you get for being generous, for letting your guard down. This is what happens when you think you can trust someone.

Nothing happens. He's got your back to him, pressed up against him so that you can’t see his face, but you can feel his body heat whispering up against your skin beneath the layers you wear, too thin for cold like this. You soak up as much heat as you can, while you're still able to feel it. You wish you could have the sun on your skin, just one more time, but this will have to do. 

"The Order wants you alive." Hux has decided to speak as little as possible. He's trying not to breathe, trying to keep still, trying very hard to think about anything else besides the feeling of your body against his. He has to focus. You could be very useful to him, more useful than his no-good informant, but he'd have to get you back to the ship first.

"I've got a set of binders, on my right. Reach back. Cuff yourself," he says, releasing one of your arms and pulling back on your neck, pressing the flat of the blade in deeper. The column of your throat falls into a streak of light, the muscles of your neck tensing as you stretch, but he forces himself to look away, to watch your hand as it fumbles at his side, as your fingers brush away the hem of his coat. He's sweating in his gloves.

"Do you always keep these on you?" There's a judgement in your voice, a hard, bitter kind of laughter as you secure one hand, then the other. You shift against him, moving with more force than necessary, broadcasting your anger, and Hux turns his eyes towards the sky, begging himself not to feel it.

"Yes," he says, spinning you around by your shoulder so that you face him, pressing you up against the wall as he checks the cuffs. He can breathe again, finally, but he avoids your gaze. He doesn't want to see the venom in your eyes.

You watch him retrieve his blaster from the floor of the alley, sure that now there's little point in trying to escape, alive at least. He was a damn good shot; you wouldn't make it too far, cuffs or no cuffs. You've been bested, and it makes your blood boil. You’ve always said that you’d rather be dead than beaten—so why don't you run?

"Do you know why they want me?" You sound weak when you ask it, and you bite at your lip, strong enough to draw blood and bring you back to your senses. He wasn’t going to tell you anything. He didn’t owe you anything. But you’ve wondered—ever since you were first tipped off to their search—you’ve wondered why they wanted you.

He watches you with careful eyes, and you wait for him to say something. His expression is guarded, but you think he might be considering sharing the information that you need. Instead, he rests a hand on your shoulder guiding you towards the mouth of the alley.

“I’m not sure,” he says quietly, staring straight ahead, and you look up, searching for any more information in his countenance, finding nothing. You try to be subtle as you look over your shoulder, hoping for some place to run, to hide. There was a chance, if you were fast enough, smart enough, maybe you could escape.

“You don’t have to worry,” he says, and you snap your head back, nervous that he’d caught onto your plan, “you’re safe.” A guilty feeling swims in your stomach; he thought that you were afraid of those men, of more of them coming after you, and you were thinking about how to get away from him. You want to hit yourself, but you satisfy the need by biting your lip again instead. You need to snap out of whatever this is, and fast. The first chance you get, you should take him out. 

“Am I? Safe?” You ask instead, watching him. You deserve to know, after all, if you were just postponing the inevitable. He hesitates again. You should run.

“You’re safe with me,” he clarifies, and it doesn’t exactly make you feel better, but then again, it doesn’t make you feel worse. 

Hux knows that he shouldn’t be making promises like this. He’s not sure what his father wants with you, after all, but he can’t forget the way that you looked at him in the alley—the tears in your eyes, the feeling of your hands as they held him so tightly in the cold dark. He wants to keep you safe, and he can’t just leave you here. No, he’s going to protect your enemies, and from his father, and if he’s lucky, he’ll manage to stay alive.

[bowsie22]

Pingxie Week 2021 Day 2

Summary: For a city with such a high rate of criminal activity, Wu Xie has always been safe. Now if only he could figure out why? Photography student Wu Xie/Triad leader Xiaoge

It was weird. Despite being open for eight months, Wushanju had never been robbed. The stores around it had all been robbed multiple times in that period. He’d never been attacked on the street, despite multiple robberies happening every day. Pangzi put it down to Wu Xie’s stupid luck, but Wu Xie thought it was weird. Anytime he was cornered, or a Triad member came into the shop for their protection money, there was always a moment. A moment where the men would stare at him like they knew him from somewhere and they’d run. Literally run from him like bats out of hell. It made no sense. And he knew it was a weird thing to be upset by, but he was.

Which led to now. Wu Xie, in a moment of stupidity, decided to go into the city at night to complete one of his final projects for a photography class. Sure, he had his own store/gallery/studio, but that was more due to his uncles making sure he could look after himself. And to a lesser extent, Pangzi. But he still had to finish college, no matter what Sanxing said. And after taking his two-year break, possibly due to an emotional and mental breakdown after the disappearance of the love of his life, Wu Xie was more determined than ever to ace his courses and make his uncles proud. And again, to a lesser extent, Pangzi.

Hence the moment of stupidity. While the city was beautiful at night, it was also dangerous. Especially for someone was still trying to get himself back to full health after the aforementioned disappearance. Not that Wu Xie couldn’t defend himself. He had learned something from Heiye and Pangzi.

So, he wasn’t too nervous about being followed by the two men creeping behind him. Honestly, they weren’t subtle. He wasn’t surprised by the bruising grip on his wrist, as the men pulled him into an alleyway, slamming him against the wall. Wu Xie groaned as his head bounced off the wall, attacker one holding him against the wall, attacker two standing in the mouth of the alleyway, cutting off any escape attempt.

“Ok, suppose my luck had to run out sooner or later.”

Pangzi always said that his sarcasm would hurt him. Never mentioned a mugger slapping him around the face though. Spitting out the blood, Wu Xie realised a second too late that he should have aimed away from the expensive looking shoes.

“You little bitch.”

A punch to the gut had Wu Xie gasping for air, the one to the back of his head had him on the ground and the following kicks to his stomach and chest had him spitting up more blood. Typical. The first time he gets robbed and he’s going to get murdered too. Attacker one grabbed his hair, forcing Wu Xie to his knees. That was a knife against his throat. Oh God, he was really going to die here.

“Whatever you’re doing, make it quick. Traffic is starting to pick up.”

At those words, a car drove past, Wu Xie wincing as the lights shone in his eyes.

“Shit!”

He was thrown to the ground, the two men backing away from him. Looking up, Wu Xie could make out the scales tattooed on their necks meaning that they were from the Zhang Clan. Shit, why were the Triad attacking him, he thought robbery was a bit beneath them? More concerning, why weren’t they doing anything anymore? The two were staring at him, wide eyed and pale. Wait a minute, why were they scared? They were the ones who attacked him!

“Shit, it’s him. We’re not meant to touch him. He’s going to kill us!”

“No, he’s going to torture us and kill us in the most painful way possible. The top of the list. The one person in this city, this country that you are not meant to touch and you chose him!”

“We were behind him! It’s not like we were given a picture of his ass! Look, don’t worry I know what to do.”

Wu Xie had a head injury. That was the only explanation for attacker one to slip a business card into his pocket and beg him to visit their boss and explain that this was all just some terrible mistake. What kind of self-respecting Triad member did that? Reaching for his phone, Wu Xie decided that it would be a tomorrow problem. Right now, he needed to contact Pangzi and make sure neither uncle heard about this.

“Are you serious? No!”

Pangzi swiped the card from his friend’s hand, glaring at the younger man.

“Like hell you are walking into a Triad building. To do what? Speak to the boss, demand reparations of some kind?”

“Of course not Pangzi. I just want to know what happened last night.”

“You didn’t hit your head that hard Tianzhen. You got attacked last night and had to be treated for bruised ribs, a sprained wrist and get stitches on that head wound.”

“I know all that. I meant after that.”

“After that you were concussed and probably imagining things!”

“So, I imagined that business card into reality?”

Groaning, Pangzi dropped the card in front of Wu Xie, recognising the stubborn pout on Wu Xie’s lips.

“There’s nothing I can say is there?”

“You can say that you’ll drive me there and wait outside like a good friend.”

“Damnit Wu Xie.”

Wu Xie was used to people staring at him. He was emotional, loud and the nephew to two of the wealthiest people in the city. But something was different about this. Normally people looked down at him, the rich boy who used his uncle’s money to open his own shop/studio. Or he was looked at like something to be used. Get into the Wu heir’s good books and you have an in with the brothers.

Here though, people looked afraid of him. Steeling himself, Wu Xie stepped away from the entrance, heading for the receptionist. Taking the card out of his pocket, Wu Xie pasted his biggest, friendliest smile on his lips and waited for the young man to hang up the phone. Considering he worked for the Triad, the man looked fairly unthreatening. Long hair, glasses, nice jaw bone, Wu Xie supposed he was attractive, if not a bit twinky. Hanging up, the man smiled nervously at him.

“Hello sir. The boss will see you now.”

“What?”

“Kan Jian here will show to you to the head office.”

Wu Xie was so distracted by the man’s blazer with the sleeves ripped off that he was standing in an elevator before he knew what was happening.

“I’m sorry, what the hell is going on?”

“Don’t worry sir, the boss will explain it all. Just two more floors aaaannd here we are!”

The elevator doors opened onto an office that even his uncle Erbai would be jealous of. A wall of windows looked over the city, there was a fully stocked bar against one wall, a couch beside it, while a large TV took up the majority of the wall opposite. Directly across from the elevator doors stood a large, wooden desk, mahogany if Wu Xie were to guess, these desks usually were. More importantly behind that desk sat the boss, the head of the Triad. And Wu Xie’s waste of an ex who had abandoned him two years ago.

“Xiaoge?”

His ex-boyfriend was the head of the Triad. And still, Wu Xie was annoyed to say, stupidly handsome, especially in an all-black three-piece suit. Wu Xie had always been weak for a man in suits, especially when it was Xiaoge.

“It always felt like you were hiding something from me. Never would have guessed this though.”

Accepting the drink from the other man, Wu Xie tried to ignore the eyes running over his body and the frown on Xiaoge’s face.

“Wait! You’re why I’ve never been robbed or attacked. Until now at least. Why?”

Xiaoge settled onto the couch beside the younger man, an odd look on his face. Wu Xie knew Xiaoge, knew that he always needed a minute or two to think over his words.

“It was the only way I could keep you safe. I always knew I’d have to take over. Zhang Rishan gave me a few years to be normal. I wasn’t expecting to meet you and fall in love. When I took over, I sent out a picture of you and informed everyone that touching you meant instant death. Clearly, not everyone understood.”

“This is why you had to leave, isn’t it?”

 “This life isn’t safe. If I involved you, you’d be in danger. I had to keep you safe Wu Xie. You were and still are the most important person to me. If you got hurt because of me, I don’t know what I’d do.”

“Wasn’t that my decision to make!? Xiaoge, I was a mess after you left. I didn’t eat, I didn’t look after myself, I dropped out of university! You leaving ruined me. And now you tell me it was to protect me and you did it because you love me so much? What am I meant to say to that?”

“Tell me what to do. Wu Xie, please. I’ll do anything to make it up to you if you’ll let me.”

Wu Xie looked at his ex, mind racing. He knew what Xiaoge was expecting. That Wu Xie would give him some impossible task. But damnit, Wu Xie loved him. The last two years had been the most difficult of his life. Wu Xie had spent the entire time feeling like something was missing, searching for Xiaoge in every crowd, dreaming about him every night. Even just being in the same room as the other man made him feel better.

“Dinner. At the fanciest restaurant in town, tonight.”

Xiaoge looked at him, a small smile on his face, the one Pangzi always used to call his Wu Xie smile.

“Dinner, that’s it?”

“That’s it. And a very long, overdue conversation.”

“I can do that.”

“Good, see you tonight Xiaoge.”

Wu Xie turned to the elevator, making sure to add extra sway to his hips, aware that the older man was watching him. When the elevator doors closed behind him, Wu Xie realised that Pangzi was going to kill him for this.

Eh, worth it.

[k7l4d4]

Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 4 Part 2

Here is another piece of Midnight Striga! Everybody Clap Your Hands!!

‘Life,’ Luz mused, ‘is utterly random.’ She slowly turned her latest find over in her hands. An Archive Terminal, a portable link to the information distribution magic system known as Archive. How Eda got her hands on it, Luz didn’t know, but it was an amazing boon for sure. Somehow, the device had full connection, accessing the open source information of Archive; admittedly, this should’ve been impossible in a normal Terminal, which meant she probably had a black-market unit.

Luz smirked. This wasn’t the first time she had handled illegally modified gear, and it probably wouldn’t be the last; the real issue was keeping this thing in good shape. Black-Chapter Magic Items, tools that had been deliberately modified to make illegal operations easier, were typically made to break down easily once they served their purpose or if they became separated from their owners. In the end, she was fairly sure that wouldn’t be a problem, and she just got one of the best teaching aids she could possibly get in her current situation.

Her face shifted into suspicion. On second thought, it shouldn’t be possible for her to have gotten this in her current situation. Luz’s luck had been odd ever since she’d arrived on the Isles, and strange coincidences were starting to pile up, including the appearance of this Terminal. Still, there wasn’t much she could do about the odd goings on around this place, and she couldn’t afford to turn away something this useful, shady circumstances or not.

“LUZ!” King’s voice rang out, jarring Luz from her thoughts. Taking quick stock of her supplies for when she went in for work, Luz sighed, preparing to face the lovable tyrant-wannabe.

“King, whatever this is better be important, please.” Luz groaned, making her way through the door, stuffing the Terminal into the pocket of her jacket. “I really don’t think Eda will be too happy about you interrupting her-” She cut off, eyes widening at the sight before her. Boscha, the bratty girl who had tried, and failed, to give her grief on her first outing into Bonesburough, witnessed her showdown against that creep Adegast, and newly minted Devil Slayer, was currently sitting on the couch, King pacing next to her, looking incredibly uncomfortable. “-Sleep.” Luz numbly finished.

“Oh, so you live here.” Boscha said blandly. Luz suppressed a shudder, the girl was far worse off than she had feared; it was like she had no life in her at all, as if she had nothing other than a desire to keep going. Or maybe she was misinterpreting this? Either way, it was creepy. Boscha slowly pulled herself to her feet, rolling her neck. “Sorry you’ve got to see me like this.” She said, gesturing at her attire. It was only then that Luz realized that the girl’s clothing was coated in holes and damaged patches, some areas even having the frayed look of burned fabric, yet also damp. Oddly enough, or maybe not if Luz’s suspicions were correct, Boscha herself looked completely fine, if not a bit drenched by the now raging rainstorm outside.

“Yeah,” Luz drawled. “Funny how things like this just happen, you know?” She plopped herself down in the nearby chair, gazing at the potentially dangerous girl in front of her. “So, I hate to be rude for once, but why are you here, exactly?”

Boscha gave a slight lift to her shoulder, a faint blush to her face. “I was practicing in the woods, trying to get myself back to normal, when I spotted the clouds forming.” She looked down at her clothes, a slightly perplexed look on her face. “I was prepared to track down a cave or something after I realized I had no way of getting to shelter in time, when I spotted this place.” She gestured to the house surrounding them, both tuning out Hooty’s preening from outside at the attention. “And I rushed for the barrier, hoping I could get through. I was willing to beg for shelter if I needed to, but…” she looked down at her hands, sliding them over her face in mystified wonder. “The rain caught up to me.” She gave Luz a critical look. “How, exactly, am I not a boiled up husk right now? Just what exactly did you do to me?” She finished, a hint of genuine emotion entering her voice; fear. 

“You mean besides saving your life?” Luz asked dryly. Her face shifted into a look of consideration. “To be honest, I’m not sure how much I can tell you.” She held up a hand, holding off any protests. “But that’s mostly because this isn’t a usual situation by any means. Usually implanting a Lacrima will just grant you a boost to whatever magic the Lacrima is based off of. End of story, close the book and all that.” Her eyes snapped to Boscha, a serious look on her face. “However. This isn’t the usual circumstance for something like this, especially not the type of Lacrima you got implanted into you.”

Boscha made a confused noise. “You keep using that word, Lacrima. What even is that?”

Luz snorted. “It’s the proper term for that magic crystal you snagged that night I fought Adegast. Or, more accurately, it’s the proper term for crystals like it; raw magic condensed into the form of a crystal, and chock-full to the brim with power.” A worried grin stretched across Luz’s face. “If I’m being honest, the fact that you have that thing stuck inside you now is honestly pretty terrifying, but it was either that or let you die, not to mention the fact you’d have taken the school with you.”

Boscha slowly nodded, processing the information. “Okay, so that thing was pure magic. What kind?” She folded her arms over her chest. “I’d like to think that I have a right to know just what was messing with my head.” She left out her worry about it happening again.

“Heh, fair enough.” Luz agreed. Her hand idly reached for one of the spare sheets of paper she had left lying around, gripping it. “But first, you hungry?”

The question surprised Boscha, but she nodded, not wanting to pass up free food if it was being offered. Of course, she expected it to be actual food, not… a rolled up piece of paper that had been set on fire.

She turned to Luz. “Are you serious?”

“Uh huh!” Luz glibly stated.

“There is no way I’m going-” Boscha started, only to cut off as a heady scent filled her nose. She slowly turned back to the offered paper, nose twitching. “Going to…” She trailed off, eyes glazing, a line of drool starting to dribble down from her mouth. With a blank look in her eyes, Boscha’s jaw widened… and clamped down on the flame. 

With a blissful sigh, she contentedly chewed on the flame, and there was no mistaking she was eating FIRE, seeing as she hadn’t even touched the paper the flame was holding onto. As she chewed, a rich, earthy flavor, like the best vegetable soup she’d ever tasted, filled her mouth. As she slowly swallowed the flame, a look of bliss, the kind that only came from good food, crossed her face… only to switch to dumbfounded shock as she started to process her own actions.

Turning a baffled look to Luz, who was grinning like the cat that got the canary, Boscha tentatively asked. “Did I just eat fire?” At Luz’s slow, grinning nod, Boscha gave a groan, cupping her face in her hands. “What did that thing do to me?”

Luz’s grin faded. “Well, for starters, it turned you into a Devil Slayer, the Flame Devil Slayer from what I can tell.” As Boscha whipped her head up in shock, Luz continued. “Basically, Slayers are mages whose magic is specifically designed to combat and harm specific forms of beings that are ordinarily beyond the abilities of Human Mages to combat.” She leveled a look of warning towards Boscha, who became still under the intense stare. “As a Slayer, you are stronger, faster, more durable, and have an instinctive bond with the element or concept your magic manifests as, and can absorb sources of your element to replenish your magic and as a substitute for food.”

Luz crossed her arms, and leaned back. She just had to wait and see how the girl was going to respond to what had just been dropped on her. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed King walking off, grumbling about not being able to concentrate. Aw well, his loss.

Boscha stood in place, utterly still. If what the human was saying was true, it basically meant her goal had just been radically changed. Before, she was just trying to get herself to a point where she didn’t have to worry about losing it and killing someone, and gaining control of her magic again was the first step to that. But now, what was the point? The way the human said it, she was basically a Demon-Killing weapon. People could never be safe around her entirely, not here, not in the Demon Realms, and certainly not on the Boiling Isles.

Whether this human realized it or not, her actions had irrevocably changed Boscha’s future. Boscha grit her teeth, temper rising from the cool numbness that clouded her mind so easily ever since that fight she had at the school. Why. Why was this happening? Was she really so awful that something like this was necessary!? As her thoughts started to spiral, Boscha’s fists sparked into flames.

“What kind of crap is this?” She muttered, drawing a confused look from her host, the human cocking her head in bewilderment. “First, I lost control and put a bunch of people in the healer’s offices, then I burned Skara, and now I gained some kind of crazy Human Magic that’s totally wrecked my control!?” 

Her voice was growing hysterical, a frantic edge filling it. “By the Titan, I get it, I’m garbage, a worthless nobody who thought she was bigger than she was, but why is this happening?” She collapsed back into her seat, energy draining out of her, her emotions pouring out in a haze of angry tears. “What am I going to do with myself now?” She looked at her hands, the memories of each and every demon she had brutalized over that four day haze coming to the forefront.

A clinking sound drew her attention. She looked up, seeing the human, Luz. She had set a glass of water in front of her. “So, are you done with your little pity party?” Luz asked, giving Boscha a look of sardonic amusement.

Boscha’s temper flared. “What was that?” She bit out.

“You. Having a pity party.” Luz bluntly stated. “Because that’s basically what’s going on.”

Boscha shot to her feet, flames bursting in her hands. “You have no idea what I’ve been going through! I’ve lost almost everything! My friends, my social life, my world view… EVERYTHING!!” She shouted.

“Yadda yadda yadda, I’m in pain and want to take it out on someone.” Luz deadpanned. “Got it.” With a furious shout, Boscha lashed out with her flames, blood red light flaring, only for Luz to catch her arm and lock it to the side, any showing the slightest hints of strain. She raised an eyebrow. “Cute.” Lightly pushing Boscha back into her seat, Luz got in close. “You aren’t the only person who’s got issues in the world, you know? The way you feel is totally valid of course, but acting as if you’ve got nothing left helps no one, especially yourself.”

Boscha snorted. “What could you possibly know about what I’m going through?” She slammed a hand down on the table. “I hurt people, I hurt my best friend! And to make it all just a little bit worse, it turned out I was going to explode, and the only thing that could prevent it ended up costing me my magical ability. I have to learn everything from scratch now!!” She turned slightly teary eyes towards Luz. “How could you possibly understand what’s happening to me?”

Luz sighed, knowing this wasn’t going to be pretty. Working her sleeve up, she showed her upper arm to Boscha, who reeled back, prompting a bitter grin from Luz. The sight of the scarred tissue running from her shoulder to her elbow was certainly stomach turning to look at. “I am intimately familiar with losing control of your magic, and the type of injuries, physical and emotional, that can cause.” Once she was sure Boscha had gotten as good a luck as she needed, Luz rolled her sleeve down, placing both hands on the sides of her face, staring at the girl. 

“You are still alive.” She said simply. “Is this a massive change for you, something that you had no control over? Absolutely. But you are still alive, and that means you can change it. You may never get back what you lost, but you can make a new life for yourself, forge new connections and new bonds with others. You have to start over with your magic? Fine, so you have to start from scratch. That just means you can relearn it, and maybe learn something new.” She gently placed Boscha’s shaking hands between her own. “I said before that I would be willing to help you with making the world make sense again. That offer is still on the table. Just let me help you, okay?”

That fateful confrontation with Skara flashed through Boscha’s mind again. Tears pricked at her eyes. “You're right.” She slowly nodded. “I can’t give up just because I got some news I wasn’t expecting. This is a setback, not the end of the world.” She slapped her cheeks. “Gah, I can’t believe I let myself get stuck in my head like that! So embarrassing.”

Luz chuckled. “Hey, it could be worse.”

“How so?” Boscha dryly asked, still reeling from how much her moods had shifted over this conversation.

“You could’ve said all that in public.” Luz grinned impishly.

Boscha blinked, before paling. “Yeah, that would’ve been way worse.” While she didn’t care about social standing and jockeying as much anymore, she still had enough self-respect and pride not to be indifferent to public embarrassment.

Luz stood, stretching herself out. “Well, now that we’ve got that bit of awkwardness out of the way, do you have any more questions?” 

“Just two.” Boscha replied, holding up two fingers in response. “Firstly, how did I manage not to get burned by the rain, and secondly, do you think you could help me get my magic under control?” She said her second request with a note of desperation. She really wanted this issue with her control to be done with.

“To the first, as a Flame-Element Slayer, the amount of heat needed to hurt you is so much more than the heat in the rain that it basically instantly cools on contact. No more issues with Boiling Rain for you, right?” Luz grinned at Boscha’s look of relish at the thought of not having to worry about one of the Isles’ most common and annoying forms of weather, before her smile gained a slightly sadistic edge. “And to the second, sure! Of course I can train you. No problem at  all.” She chuckled. Boscha had the feeling she may be in danger at that moment.

[6blackfilin9]

Just decided to show that I'm still alive over here

So guess it's LongShitpost Time

A very long post about The Batman's (2004) Penguin

And well, I've been thinking about making it for about a year, so.. here we are, watching me behaving like an easily surprised kid babbling about Oswald and how much I admire him and why

Actually nothin' important or highly moral here. If you still wanna read then just forget it's talk about a character from a kids show, I take this sh🐧t seriously and barely speak English

I like to take a lot of screenshots but can't use here all of them uuUUuUuuUUUUUGH

It's all about the 1st episode of 2nd season of The Batman (mostly, I also mention other my two fav episodes with Oswald)

I like it so much cuz this all just starts with "cat-mouse play" kind of cooperation which leads to "well guess you two will be chillin' in jail in pure mammalian harmony" and ends up with "oh no no no, this is your thievish girl, so you take her back"

"— You two pointy-ears make such a cute couple: his and hers."

"— Hm, made for each other."

I just crack up at this plot line so much

But well, being more serious, this episode unveils some of Oswald's personality traits quite vividly.

Going back to the first episode when he appeared, from the first sight it looked like the most of the time he acts like a mindlessly arrogant jerk who has no clue about what he’s doing, as most of kid-show villains, and tends to lose his temper fast , but if you look closer you’ll see that huge amount of his conduct lines are just a part of the games he plays

Like, he came to the Bruce's party just to take the damn list of guests, that’s the goal

But because of his behavior in public's eyes he wasn't the "strange quiet guy who's been looking around for all the time, than took the list of rich guests from butler and than left while there are robberies of rich people occurring in the city". He was "arrogant snobbish freak who thinks he's some sort of royalty (despite his family lost its place at the top of Gotham's society) so he acts around them as if they were peasants", so, for everyone it looks like the only thing he came for was attention, plus, influenced by negative emotions, people didn't notice such a potty movements as putting some paper in his jacket. I mean none even managed to notice that he stole the motherf🐧cking tray

(Well, for sure Oswald's quite snobbish about his family and it's "blue blood", can’t deny that, though he doesn’t behave that defiantly all the time and the only time when he completely loses it, cracks and explodes about this was when he became enraged hearing Alfred's words whom he took hostage in Bruce's house. That was a very bad day for him)

And come on, Oswald had patience and intelligence to figure out how to teach different predatory birds like ravens and owls, who actually tend to be wayward and even agressive time to time, to steal damn stuff from houses and how to make those f🐧cking badass high-tech umbrellas himself

So, cool man

If that episode showed his enormous arrogance, devotion to his family, resourcefulness, intelligence and hidden potential, this one shows how cunning, selfish, cold, ruthless and at some point insightful he can be

Back to the episode, it literally opens with the start of the strategy competition between Oswald and Selina

First they meet they start with a direct verbal flight for the Cat statue, which Oswald wins. So Selina, willing to get what she wants, desides to get down on a more manipulative subtle level playing love interest

So, of course Oswald gets stunned at first, I guess not every girl treats him this way every day, but he effectively uses this state to figure out his following plan and actions, and immediately starts behaving as a school boy in love.

So the man literally changed his tactics in a couple of seconds and figured out the new plan with the new “puppet” involved. Selina didn’t even notice anything thinking that she managed to hook him up easily so she now can manipulate him as she wants.

(guess Bruce was right, these two are worth each other: both prideful as heck)

So later their game enters the new fervent phase: they both play love interest in front of each other, and Oswald nailes his role just perfectly, making Selina even more convinced of his naivety so she reduces her alertness completely.

But guess he enjoyed this at some point. Like, Selina is a charming beautiful woman able to maintain a pleasant conversation with couple of dry sarcastic notes, so, I think this shade of sincerity helped him to play his part

And well, for quite huge amount of time Oswald makes that devil face with crooked grin which makes him look like a f🐧cking Satan, or just beings grumpy hardened journalist who had seen some shit which makes him look like he's about to have a severe breakdown, but here as he is around Selina in the first part of the episode he's completely calm like a damn fat cat, serious, focused and straight-faced, that's just gorgeous

He cracks up a bit ahead of time just once, when she manages to get the Bird statue

But as it goes to the showdown he doesn’t show even a hint of genuine sympathy or regret, he’s just like “well get reked Selina” and takes English leave

Well, I know it’s a kids show, Bruce saves the day and stuff, but Oz did literally put the bomb in the f🐧cking handcuffs so in case one of the two tries to put them off before the police arrive they actually f🐧cking die. I mean, that's kinda rough. But at the other hand it’s quite nobly but shortsighted of him to leave his enemies alive having a chance to interfere him later

And well, maybe Oswald isn’t good at etiquette, but he have never beaten Selina or any other lady if it came to close fight, while Batman did. Ozzie is a gentleman, shame on ya Bruce

And just to be said, the motherf🐧ucker didn’t even blink when the f🐧king half of his god damn umbrella was cut off right in front of his f🐧cking face. And oh my god, how f🐧cking firm Oswald's grip is that the hella heavy umbrella all made of f🐧cking metal didn't even swayed from the impact in the most stout place. Badass.

And just for a second, Oswald managed to dig to the bottom of that legend about the Bird and Cat statues and started putting the plan into action only after he had found all the necessary information about it (which he had to translate himself from ancient Egyptian), so that the first time he used it, it didn't turn out that he missed something and summoned some ancient shit so now the whole world is in danger (as it happens with villains in movies sometimes).

(The saddest part is that the only single thing that prevented the shit from happening was immense amount of luck. mean Bruce has all kinds of gadgets for literally any situation and knows literally everything just in case. Like, it was very useful of Bruce to study ancient Egyptian just in case someone decides to use egyptian artifacts for evil stuff. And they were so f🐧king lucky the the birds weren’t hungry and didn’t try to peck their faces off while they were climbing the god damn lighthouse which is already hella dangerous even without the maniac birds trying to knock you down)

Well, what do we have so far

Even if Oswald does have some temper issues, he's capable of making some keen psychological tricks, making strategies and keep his head above water, the only thing that actually hampers him is his own pride (like in the episode with Team Penguin. He does have some leadership qualities but he turns from leader into boss quite quickly thinking of himself only)

And, importantly, he is being at some level realistic and objective realizing that none actually takes him seriously.

He understands that for most of the people he’s just a deformed and depraved man with a funny voice, who’s also a descendant of the aristocratic family which ran out of money and lost former authority.

And he uses it for his own good. He couldn't if he didn't, otherwise he'd choose way less twisted ways of behavior

He knew what would the people at the party see in him, so he could predict what behavior would cause the result he needed.

He understood Selina wouldn’t take him as a serious opponent, seeing him as a lonely slow-witted man or whatever, being sure that she can hook him as any other in such an unpretentious way she thought she would be able to make him do all the work instead of her. His awareness made her plans all exposed and clear

But all this negligence combined with his pride does hurt him though, no doubt. There’s a whole episode about it, when he occupied Bruce’s house.

He has his own reasons to envy and hate Bruce, by the way. They both are from rich families, both intelligent, strong and talented, but Bruce is more young and handsome, plus, his family business remained successful. At this point he is much more luckier than Oswald

I mean even if it gets to falling Bruse safely falls on tent and Oswald falls on the dirty ground through hell, fire and high boiling water (I don't give a shit that it had been made for the comedy matters)

Basically, the only thing Oswald is doing is trying to restore not only the family’s honor, but also his own with help of money and growth of his authority. Maybe even to show others and himself that he’s something more than just a garbage. That he's something more than he seems to be at the first sight

But as far as I can see Oswald has never been that type of poor kid with low self esteem crying in a shower with the lights off and who then starts to hide behind the wall of arrogance as he grows up. I mean right in this episode he says that his mother had always told him that he was a handsome one, so I think his parents loved him, maybe even spoiled at some point, and gave him confidence and warmth he needed.

Though well, to be fair, children are cruel, and of course they would react to the child who lookes like a victim of a crazy geneticist's experiment in a very specific way. Some would avoid him no matter what it takes, for sure some would get used to him and communicate normally, but some would mock and bully him severely. So of course he would start to protect himself

But sadly he went in wrong direction, since his confidence became arrogance and his ways became much more twisted and radical

Even as an adult he’ve chosen a really slippery slope, though. He could've chosen a different path, but (as I guess) he couldn't overcome his sense of injustice and his resentment towards people around him, who actually neglected and loathed him. So he just sank in his negative experience and sharpened himself as the lone survivalist, which made him egotistical to the point when he doesn't care about the others and can actually stumble in some situations, being sure he can't be wrong

His actions can't be justified, but they can be explained. Oswald is really very understandable character

So

There is actually no moral of the post

Just me coming to conclusion that The Batman's Oswald appears to be quite deep in the first seasons

Yes, I just wasted about 5 minutes of your life, and you can't take those back

But I can leave you with a question besides frustration

Why in the bloody hell are they holding each other?!

I mean come on

Few hours ago they revealed mutual betrayal, he almost killed her, dropped her on the froor so she couldn't run away with the thing he needed, and now they hold each other flying away on a jet-umbrella

And don’t f🐧cking tell me they do this because of the fear that if one of them falls the other will too

No f🐧cking way

Just imagine flying on the f🐧cking jet-umbrella, you will cling to it so tightly that one day you will take it into your grave with yourself because you will not be able to unclench your f🐧cking fingers after a single flight, but instead of holding the motherf🐧cking umbrella they hold each other

So is it a weird joke or a very thick hint?

Who knows

[afy2018]

A New Legend

Harsh wind swept through the air in loud gusts, kicking up clouds that rolled over the desert in a grainy fog. A human trudged alone through the cool air, a bag strapped across her chest and her face completely covered with goggles over her eyes. Her terrain coloured clothes whipped and flapped in the high winds. She stopped and tightened her belt for the fifth time that hour while her goggles got clouded over again. This planet was unforgiving but it was home for her, a decrepit haven for criminals and outcasts. No real names here, not even to trusted employers such as her own at the Tosche Station or Chalmun's Cantina. Sometimes she didn’t really even know her name. Better for her though, safety for an unlucky descendant of the Mandalorian Knight, Dorjander Kace.

Sara held her saber close to her heart, walking to Mos Eisley for work again. She came up to the residences on the outskirts of the town. Maybe she could get some food from Mick and Leo while she had time. They usually spent a lot of time in Mos Eisley, a secret home away from home for them. She wiped the sand from her goggles again as she neared the matmatas. She glanced at the house numbers, searching for the correct address before rapping on the wooden door marked 30. A large rugged man opened the door with a wide grin when he realized who was standing before him. He yanked her in by the collar.

“Where have you been?” Mick asked.

“Working,” she laughed, removing her goggles and mask.

“Luckily we don’t have to clean up after you,” Leo joked from the doorway. “Here for another refill?”

“And to catch up. I’m not that much of a freeloader,” Lance sighed pulling her hair back into a neat bun.

“You should really settle down, find a friend to share with while you’re working,” Mick suggested, searching for some older rations that had to go.

“Then I’d have to actually spend my money on food and shelter.”

“See, you really are a freeloader,” Snart confirmed with a side smirk. “So where are you coming from?”

“Jabba’s Palace.”

“Again?”

“He’s just needing someone to smuggle droid parts onto Tatooine from… Naboo, I think. I’ve just been going from here to his palace for the… fourth time. What have you been doing?”

“The usual. Stealing droids and fixing them before resell. Makes good money.”

“Here,” Mick cut in, holding a bag of food. “Some dewback jerky, hubba bread, and the rest of our womp rat soup -which I would eat first.” He nodded handing the bag to her.

“What would I do without you guys.”

“Get food from someone else, I would assume” Leo considered. “Now go on your merry little way, bother another bounty hunter.”

“Wait, come on, I haven’t seen you guys in months. How’s it going with Ray?”

“Great, really. Kind of weird,” he began.

“He means that he’s deep in love and doesn’t know how to act,” Mick explained with a playful nudge to the ribs.

“Okay, that’s enough. What about you and that guy. The rich boy?”

“Oliver? Nothing. I don’t see him. I moved on to this other girl, but she’s too busy with her family’s business to have any sort of relationship.”

“We should tell her,” Mick broke in.

His partner side-eyed him, “Why did you make it sound so ominous?”

“Tell me what?” Sara asked.

“There’s a large group of people who are getting together in secret trying to overthrow the Empire. You know, the Sith. They’ve been coming here to recruit as many people as they can. Apparently, there have been some older kids joining. We’ve been thinking of going as well.”

“I never would’ve thought that you’d be part of a rebellion.”

“I’m not usually serious, but life is only so long, Sara. We need to do something with it before we die. This is way bigger than us, bigger than everyone. It’s important,” Leo tried to convince her, crossing his arms and grabbing a medallion from his pocket. He glanced down at it and sighed before looking up at Sara. “Now, I know that you may not care, but by next month, Mick, Ray and I will be gone.”

“So this is goodbye?”

“Hopefully not, but maybe.”

Sara nodded and hugged Leo and Mick. “You guys have been like brothers to me. You saved me and brought me here. I’m so glad that I got to meet you two. Thank you.”

“I hope we see each other again, and that this isn’t really goodbye.”

Lance nodded and turned away. “I’ll think about it.”

“If you change your mind, they’re planning to come back by the end of the year.”

“Okay,” she nodded. “Well, I’m going to the cantina to get a drink, you wanna join?”

“Of course, but you’re buying.”

“My treat then.”

~

Music blared from the stage as the musicians in the corner livened up the dark room. Aliens of various races drank and talked at the bar, the table, or against the wall. People walked in and out, checking and stealing from one another as they passed by. It was shady and suspicious, but it was home for these people, she guessed. Maybe hold her belongings a bit closer. That’ll work, hopefully. The foreigner warily approached the bar, not that she really tried to fit in anyway. With her hair tied back in a tight bun, and in traditional garb to protect her skin. She rapped on the bar and waited for the bartender to turn around. He glanced at her, looking her up and down before nodding.

“Tatooine Sunset.”

He grunted in response and filled a glass with the sweet liquor. He slid it over to her, waiting for her to pay him before letting go of the glass.

“So what’s your name sweetie?” A young Rodian asked in his native tongue.

She smirked at the alien and chuckled “Yeah I’m too old for you, tyke.”

“Just tell me your name.”

“Ava.”

“Beautiful. I’m Greedo.”

“Well, Greedo, while I’d like to sit and chat, I don’t have a lot of time to… play,” she smiled. “Sorry.”

Greedo cocked his head to the side, turning away to a corner where a few other shady aliens sat. Ava watched him talk with his friends. She shook her head with a slight grin and went back to her drink. A hand roughly grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. The alien garbled at her in a foreign language that she couldn’t really comprehend. Ava turned back to her drink, finishing it in a swift tilt of the glass. A young humanoid alien tapped her on the shoulder.

“He doesn’t like you,” he explained.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized with a scoff.

He clutched her arm, yanking her back into the conversation. “I don’t like you either. Don't insult us,” he warned her, tightening his grip on her arm. “You just watch yourself. We're wanted men. I have a death sentence in twelve systems,” he bragged.

“I’ll be careful then,” she smirked in annoyance and turned away to end the conversation.

“You’ll be dead!” he hissed with a vicious grin.

Another human quickly walked between them. She pressed her hand against Ava’s shoulder to nudge her away. “This little one isn't worth the effort. Let me buy you something-”

The alien shoved the human into Ava and whipped out his blaster. Ava reached for the lightsaber at her hip. The blonde looked at her and put her hand over the weapon.

“You can’t use that here,” she warned her.

“No blasters! No blasters!” The bartender exclaimed.

The two aggressive aliens turned away and walked out of the bar. Ava turned to the blonde and smiled.

“Thank you.”

“It was nothing. You’re not the only tourist I’ve had to save. Tatooinians don’t really like… us. In fact, most people don’t trust us or anyone who wields a weapon such as yours. You have to be very careful,” she explained in a hushed tone. “So obviously you’re not from here. Where are you from?”

“Nowhere you know.”

“Try me.”

“Is that common here, bar fights?” Ava asked switching subjects.

“Of course. You’re most definitely not from here. Tatooine is a very shady place. People are always fighting. Honestly, I’d be suspicious if an hour went by without a fight,” Sara smiled. “Well, hey, if you’re not too busy, my friends and I are having a quick drink. Wanna join?”

“... Why not,” Ava nodded.

“Great,” Sara smiled, sliding back over to her friends. “This is Leo, Mick, and I’m Sara.”

“Hi, Ava,” she greeted them.

Leo smiled and drank from his tall glass, leaning against the bar. “So what brings you to Tatooine? Obviously not the weather or people.”

“Just a new adventure.”

“Well, you must live on the wild side then if this feels like an adventure and not just a death sentence.”

“Don’t mind his sarcasm, here, have this,” Sara offered, sliding her drink to Ava.

“What is this?”

“Bantha Blaster” she smiled.

“What does it taste like?”

“Sweet and fizzy,” Leo explained. “They drink it all the time.”

“I swear by it,” Lance grinned, leaning towards Ava as she ordered another drink.

Ava sniffed the drink; Endor, she thought, it reminded her of Endor. She inhaled and took a swig from the pink and green liquor. The bubbly concoction fizzed and popped on her tongue before a very sweet sugary sensation coated her taste buds. It burned at first, but then warmed her throat and became tart at the end. Ava coughed at first, and chuckled, shaking her head.

“A little strong?” Sara asked.

“Yeah, but good. It’s a very fun drink.” Ava smiled, covering her mouth. “So you’re from this area?”

“Not really. I’ve spent the past six years here, but I’m originally from a different planet.”

Leo leaned over to Sara, whispering to her. “You know, it’s great to see you head over heels. I haven’t seen you reveal this much since we met.”

“What are you talking about?”

He pulled back, turning to Mick. “I think we should go back home. We need to get packed.”

“Leo,” Sara called.

“I know, but we must go. See you ‘round, little canary,” he teased on his way out of the cantina.

“Mick!”

“Gotta go.”

Sara huffed as she watched her friends leave, shaking her head and downing the Bantha Brew. Ava also finished her drink and cleared her throat.

“Well, I’m glad that we had this time to talk. Sorry for driving your friends away-”

“Huh? Don’t worry about them, Leo’s just weird like that. You know, I can always show you around Mos Eisley if you have time.”

“Yeah, why not.”

After they escaped the cantina, Sara pulled off to an alley to her guest’s concern. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to out you for having that,” she gestured to her saber. So, how did you get your hands on such archaic tech?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You can’t hide it from me, I literally saw you almost whip that thing out in a Post-Empire Tatooine. This is their playground. Did you at least bring a blaster?”

“Yes, I guess it’s just a force of habit.”

“Was that a pun?”

“Huh, oh Force, ha, no,” she chuckled.

“You’re an intriguing sort, Aves, but you’ll be dead in ten minutes with that thing strapped to you.”

“Well, no offense, but I’m not going to hand this over to you.”

“I understand, just try not to reach for it unless you’re in deep trouble.”

“Now for that tour, you promised me?”

“Oh yeah, of course. Follow me.”

~

Hours seemed to pass in minutes to Ava, she had never met anyone like her. There was something about her, the mysterious way that she knew everyone and yet they never revealed her true name. Sara wasn’t offended by it and only laughed, responding with a variety of sarcastic phrases. She felt the end of this journey with her new companion nearing as the suns set, finally cooling the air again. Ava sat on the edge of a short wall dividing a stretch of road that was secluded from the main streets while Sara watched the citizens pass them by. The few people who did pass by seemed focused on other things like surviving or thriving in this city.

“You know, I really don’t know much about you, Little Canary,” Ava admitted.

Sara sat down next to her, shrugging, and looked her in the eye. “No need to. We don’t need to know everything to respect one another, just enough to understand.”

Sara turned to her and pursed her lips. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head before she fell to the ground. Ava rushed to her before feeling electricity stun her. Her body tensed as she dropped to the sandy ground. A pair of feet approached her before reaching down and pulling her up by the collar. A pair of pink eyes glared at her, their smile revealed a set of sharp teeth behind thin lips. It sighed and whispered something to someone behind them.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was dark - Lance thought as she woke up - pitch-black and empty. She heard the sound of shuffling feet nearby. Sara shifted to her knees, focusing the Force to her sight. It felt nearly impossible, years had passed, repressing her powers to stay alive, but in a moment like this, anything was game. She looked around the room, flickering between her force sight and the darkness that suffocated her. She spotted someone with her, crawling to the wall to get up. Their heart pounded in fear and familiar clanking meant that they were sporting a pair of handcuffs. Sara carefully got to her feet and neared them. She held out her hands, reaching for the other prisoner before making contact and clutching on to their shoulder.

“Who are you?” she whispered. “Ava?”

“Sharpe,” they responded. “I’m Ava Sharpe.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Good,” Sara nodded, her response more of a note to herself than to be comforting to Ava. She sat beside her, “Why do I recognize that name?”

“I’ve probably shown up for a bounty a few times.”

“That’s it! Wait, why? You seem like the kind of person who’d follow the rules to the T.”

“A prude?”

“... Kinda… yeah.”

“Most people say that,” Sharpe sighed. Gripping Sara’s hand, she continued, “I’m- I was- a guard for those who remained of the Jedi Order.”

“What’d you do?”

“I… abandoned my post and may have been spotted by the Empire. I’ve been trying to hide for a year now. Do you know where we are?”

“No, I can’t see a damn thing.”

“The last thing I saw was a scary looking guy. It had pink eyes and… waxy skin. There was this tentacle thing wrapped around his neck. He looked like a demon,” she almost shivered.

“What about his teeth?”

“Sharp, almost like a monster.”

“I think I know who it was. And with that, welcome to Jabba’s Palace,” Sara sighed.

Light began to flood from the ceiling. Sara shielded her eyes from the brightness and took a step in front of Ava. Once the pit was fully open, Sara looked up, meeting the smirk of Bib and Jabba as well as the prying eyes of other bounty hunters and guests.

She chuckled and shook her head, “Hey, Jabba! How ya doin’ buddy?”

“Lance, sa i fun gee cheekta down ya?” The Hutt asked with a bellowing laugh.

“He does remember my name,” Sara shrugged.

“Who is that?” Ava asked.

“That is Jabba the Hutt, these are his goons, and this is his pit.”

“His pit?”

“Greedo has doe bounty che cheekta.”

“Well, I found her fair and square, Greeds, I think she’s technically mine,” Sara charmed to no avail.

“You stole her!” he yelled down into the pit.

“Okay, fine, I’ll back off. Just give me a moment” Sara sighed, turning to Ava. “A moment, to meld.”

“Me-”

Sara swiftly grabbed Ava’s jaw in her hands and kissed her.

‘Ava, focus.’ A voice echoed in her head. ‘A monster will come out. We have our sabers, we can take it down.’

Sara pulled away, nodding to Ava. She twisted on her heels and shrugged to Jabba.

“Now what? You gonna help me out?”

Jabba let out another bellowing chortle and tapped Bib on the shoulder. The pale alien smiled and went out of view. A gate behind them raised with a deafening creak. Ava reached for Sara’s hand, grabbing her saber with the other. She switched it on, the two golden blades whirring and burning the dusty air. Sara let go of Ava’s hand and grabbed her double-sided saber and disconnected them before turning them on, a thin orange blade coming out of the one side and a blood red blade out of the other.

“What, did you steal those?” Ava asked as the monster stepped out.

“Only if illegal mining is stealing.”

“Practically the definition,” she joked with a side glance at her guide.

Sara got into a ready stance, a slightly familiar surge of focused adrenaline running in her blood. She felt her breathing slow and her sensitivity heighten, feeling the beast’s heartbeat pounding in her chest. A oneness with her ally who road the same aura as her. Ava whirled her staff in a neon blur, a flourish to intimidate as they stared down their opponent.

The monster roared and shook its head, the rolls of skin shifting and stretching with spikes poking through while its muscles flexed in anticipation.

Sara sprinted up to the monster, sliding under at the last moment to slice its leg. Ava pulled the beast close and held out her saber like a spear to stab it. It screamed and slapped her away, sending her across the pit and flat into a wall.

Lance slipped behind it, running up the wall and using the solid dirt to leap onto its back. She stuck her blade surely through the spine and slid down, red blood leaking and coagulating around the wound.

The beast shrieked again, collapsing to the ground and pawing at its assailants. Sara walked up to the face and forced her saber through their eye, watching it scream and writhe on the ground. Its final breath caught in the back of their throat.

“New record?!” she called up to Jabba, but the gawking group of hedonists was gone. Sara growled and ran to Ava, turning off the sabers and attaching them before holstering it and kneeling down to her. Although she wasn’t bleeding, she was still probably injured. “Ava, you okay?”

“Yeah,” she groaned while struggled she to sit up. Ava took her hand and stood up, leaning against Sara.

“Let’s get out of here,” Sara suggested and earned an exhausted nod.

They walked through the gate, a dark corridor greeting them until it suddenly lit up, leading a way to the stables. They could hear the distant calls of captive animals.

Ava straightened her back but continued to lean against Sara. “Why’d you kiss me?” she inquired. “Melding doesn’t even require touch.”

“I just… I thought…”

“I don’t mind, just wanted to know why.”

“Oh… it just felt right.��

“It felt right?”

“Look, I’m sorry if that’s not how you go, I just needed anything to get you off your mark.”

“I never said I didn't like it.”

“Well, it was implied.”

Ava grabbed Sara’s collar and pulled her close, kissing her gently. She slid her hand up her throat, tucking her fingers behind her ear before finishing their moment with a peck on the cheek.

“What was implied there?” Ava asked.

“That you are very interested,” she blushed, biting her lip. “We should go, come on.”

She took Ava’s hand and rushed down the long hallway to the open desert. Sharpe tugged on her shirt and pointed to a landspeeder.

“Quicker transport.”

“We may have gotten stuck here because of you, but I’m so glad we met,” Sara prodded while they sprinted to the vehicle.

“Did I at least make your day a bit more exciting?” Ava asked, limping behind Sara with a hand pressed against her ribs.

“Oh yes.”

Sara opened up the hatch, trying to hotwire the speeder as Ava climbed in. Grunting quickly filled the halls as twenty gamorreans ran down the hallway.

“Um, would you mind hurrying up, Sara?”

“Really, what seems to be the problem?” she sarcastically jibed.

“The guards.”

“I know,” Sara sighed, sitting up.

“What are you doing? Keep working!”

“It’s done.”

“Drive, they’re getting into some speeders.”

“Shit,” Sara cursed, starting up their land speeder.

“Go!”

“I know!” Sara yelled, speeding off. She grabbed her blaster and shoved it into Ava’s chest. “Take aim.”

Sharpe huffed and aimed the gun on the back of her headrest, shooting at a guard and knocking him off the bike. She aimed at another, getting the gas tank and watching it slow down and leak out in the sand. Ava pointed her blaster at another bike closing in on them. The guard shot at their speeder, catching the headrest, barely missing Ava’s shoulder. Ava force pushed the bike away, making it tumble away in the sand and blow up. She sat back down in her seat and regarded the dry terrain.

“Where are we going?”

“Mos Eisley, we need to meet up with Mick and Leo.”

“Why?”

“They’re leaving soon. So, I was thinking that maybe we can bum a ride.”

“Well, where are they going?”

“They’re joining the Rebel Alliance.”

“I’ve heard of them. Wait, they work closely with the Jedi.”

“Then we’ll protect you,” Sara promised, looking into Ava’s dark eyes. “I promise. You’re one of us now.”

“What do you think of the cause?”

“I’m game for anything that means I can escape this place. I’m past this point in my life.”

Sara brought her hand under Ava’s chin and pulled her in for a brief kiss before focusing back on the road.

“We pledge out property, our honor, and our lives.”

“Long live the Rebels.”

[ayma-nidiot]

“Don’t Speak Their Names” - Shrimpshipping fic Chapter 32

This chapter can be found here on AO3.

Chapter 32 - God-Shattering Star

“Oh, cry me a river, Rex!” Weevil glanced to the battle below; many of the Club members had already died. Joey, Mai, Yugi, Téa, Tristan, Atem, and Duke were the only fighters who hadn’t sustained any serious injuries against the massive Earthbound army. Even Phuckdis and William were riddled with gashes, yet refused to retreat with Dr. Balls. “So your allies still cling to life like a drowning man onto a rock. Cute. Not that it will do any of you any good!”

“Rex…” Mako crawled on the floor; luckily for him, Espa retreated from the battle before he got hurt at all. “Don’t listen to him! You’re… hah… You’re the only one who can… save us…”

“Mako, don’t…” It was just then that after recalling the fight with Nortius, Rex had an idea. “Wait a second, Amber.”

“Papa, what is it?”

“I want to try something out. Why don’t we try fusing, just like Mako did with Jinzo?”

“But we don’t even have Polymerization! Those who do either are incapacitated or otherwise occupied! And you can’t even fly… If you fell to your death just like Kaiba, and all because of a stupid and ill-timed experiment, I…”

“Argh, we’ll both die anyway if we do nothing!” Rex pumped his fists in the air. “Show a little bit more Raptor spirit, why don’t you?”

“Papa… Okay. I trust you.” So Amber spoke as she half-shifted, and Rex began a long freefall.

“You really are a blooming idiot, aren’t you?” Weevil would have laughed longer, but stopped when he saw Rex glow pink. “So you think you can- Huh?”

“What’s… What’s happening to my boy?” Ptera wondered as Spinos tended to her wounds.

“Don’t tell me…” Phuckdis began. “Rex is…”

Before Rex could fall very far, Amber had completely fused with him, and he grew angel’s wings that soon turned into Rabidragon’s wings. Even if only by a little bit, the gloomy weather began to dissipate, replaced by an enormous pink glow at the top of KaibaCorp Tower. 

“What is the meaning of this?” The shining presence of Rex - with his bow, fluffy white shirt, golden pants, and Rabidragon’s ears and tail - intimidated Weevil. “Just who do you think you are, that you can challenge me? Well, no matter! I’ll kill you right here, as I intended to do from the beginning! Take this!” 

“...” Rex didn’t say anything as he simply held his bow at his side, and grabbed the chain whip before it could hurt him.

“It’s… Impossible! Aaaah!” Weevil reeled backwards when Rex threw him. “How can a weak rabbit like you stand up to me? ”

“It’s because…” Phuckdis made his presence known. “Rex is the true God-Shattering Star.”

William bowed in reverence with his brother and the remaining members of the Club. “He is the light that will save us all.”

Espa could still see Weevil and Rex, even from his hospital room. “Is that you, Rex Raptor?”

Joey looked up at Rex’s true form with a hint of jealousy. “That’s more powerful than anything I could cook up with the Claw of Hermos. I suppose that runt isn’t as weak as I thought him to be.”

Rex finally opened his now-crimson eyes and began to speak in a distorted voice. “Weevil… No, Earthbound God Sanpedro. I will kill you, right here and now, and free my beloved Weevil Underwood from your clutches.”

“So now you want me to die? That’s rich! What a fool. Come on, boy, come try me!”

“Hey, let me help too!” When Joey rushed up to Rex, he could feel an invisible barrier push him backwards. 

“Joey, this is my fight alone. Why don’t you just take out the small fry and let a pro handle this?”

“Hahaha!” Despite the fact that there were still several hundred Earthbound soldiers left, Joey couldn’t help but laugh. “Even when he’s some almighty angel… god... thing, he’s still definitely that silly Rex Raptor. Well, my dude, consider my morale boosted! You heard the man, guys!”

“H-How dare you address the God-Shattering Star that way?” Phuckdis was clearly offended. 

“Aww, come on, lighten up! Or you can just, I don’t know, sit there and relax while us duelists take care of the bad guys.”

“Or I can just, you know, show you just how strong us shapeshifters are!” Upon hearing Joey’s words, Phuckdis felt his strength anew, as did his brother. “I cannot fly, but that doesn’t mean I cannot fight!”

“Headstrong and reckless like your ‘God-Shattering Star.’” Duke chuckled. “Well, then, you better do a good job proving how strong you are!”

“You’re a poet and didn’t even know it!” Tristan quipped.

“You see, Weevil?” Rex stared at the nearly-soulless shell of his boyfriend. “You picked the wrong side to fight for. You have no friends there.”

“‘Friends,’ huh…” Weevil stared absentmindedly at the fighting below, especially at Joey and Atem. The chain whip rattled in his hands as he shook in anger. “Must be sooooo nice to have them! It must feel soooooo nice to be able to get palsy-walsy with people who didn’t give a shit about you just four years ago!”

“Weeves?!”

“You… YOU FUCKERS WILL ALL PAY!” Weevil dove as fast as he could, with all the anger he could muster ready to fuel his strike upon Atem.

“You coward! Get back here!” Rex couldn’t dive anywhere near that quickly, but tried to keep up as fast as his unborn baby would allow him, holding onto her for dear life.

“Eh?” Joey noticed Weevil coming for him before anyone else did, and braced himself with the Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword. “Atem, look out!”

“Amulet Dragon, protect us!”

Weevil had originally planned to strike everyone in one blow with the chain whip. But being the deceptive little shit he was, he decided on a different mode of attack - bypassing all of the monsters and encasing his two most hated enemies in spider webs instead. “Ha! Syke!”

“Ggh!” Already, Joey was up to his neck in spider webs - yet for some strange reason, his sword arm remained free, as did the sword itself. The webs would not give way, no matter how hard or often he slashed at them.

“W-Weevil…” Atem could hardly talk, as the spider webs gripped his throat tightly. “I… I thought we were friends!”

“Me? Friends with you?! What a joke! Do you honestly expect me to believe a word of bullshit coming out of your mouth after the suffering you’ve caused me? Do you honestly think that after all you’ve done, I’d consider you a friend?” Weevil cackled as Atem writhed in pain. “If anything, you’re lower than the dirt underneath my feet!”

All the commotion awakened Heka. “F-Father… No! Dear gods, what’s happening to my father?”

“Boy! How does it feel to know that your father is no longer the King of Games?”

“Leave… him alone!” Heka flung a flimsy arm, releasing a ball of light that Weevil easily blocked. 

“Hmm… Nah, I think I’ll pass on that. In fact, I’d rather kill him before your very eyes!” Weevil approached Atem, with the intent to decapitate him with the chain whip. That was, until Rex blocked him in the nick of time, drawing Weevil’s attention away from his two captives. “Humph. It’s you again.”

“Damn right!” Rex’s smile faded when not long after he blocked the attack, his bow began to crumble. “Uh… Uh-oh…”

“Hah! Some ‘God-Shattering Star’ you turned out to be! Looks to me like you’re the one who’s shattered!” 

“Crud… I kind of need a weapon!” Rex picked up a sword from one of his fallen allies, but it was so weak that Weevil shattered it with his bare hands, grabbing Rex by the throat right after. “Ngh!”

“Before I kill you right here and now, tell me something, Rex. Why did you defend these guys?”

“B-Because… They’re… my… cough… cough…”

“They accepted you so easily, just because you play by the rules… Why is friendship such an easy thing for you, yet I could never make one friend? Why do Joey and Atem and literally everyone else in this fucking city love you and think I’M the worst duelist there ever was?”

“Don’t… Don’t I count, Weeves?” More than the iron grip of Weevil’s right hands, Weevil’s words hurt Rex. “And your own daughter? Have… cough… Have you already forgotten what we’ve all been through? We’re… willing to… forgive you… Just… Ugh!”

“Not another word out of you! The Earthbound Gods are the only friends I need now! Not you weaklings!” Ignoring the twinge of pain in his heart, Weevil lightly ran the chain whip over Rex’s left arm, barely enough to draw blood. “I’m going to fucking kill you!”

Weevil was so far gone into his own madness that Joey was certain he wouldn’t be able to hear him now. “Psst… Rex.”

“J-Joey?” Rex turned his head around, just enough to see Joey.

“You said… cough… that you needed a weapon, right?” Joey held up his sword arm. “Ya’ think this will be good enough?”

“That’s…!” Flashbacks of his Orichalcos duel flooded Rex’s mind. That’s the sword that sent my soul to the Great Leviathan! But if there’s no other choice, then…

“It’s now or never! Think fast!” Joey threw the Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword at Rex, hoping to the gods he’d catch it and put it to good use.

“If that sword can’t cut the spider webs, then what makes you think that Rex will somehow magically put it to good use?”

Rex felt the sword land in his right hand, and had a clever idea. “By doing… this. ”

“G-Gaaaaah!” Weevil howled in pain when Rex did the unthinkable - completely cutting off his right arms and thereby freeing Atem and Joey from their bonds. He stared at Rex wide-eyes. “You would dare hurt me? Aren’t you scared of losing the love of your life?”

“Yes, I am.” Rex pointed the sword at Weevil’s face. “But the thing I’m even more scared of? Seeing Weevil Underwood beat himself up and become a destructive monster where a man once was.”

“Ugh, you were always so talkative!” Weevil flew higher and dove at Rex like a peregrine falcon. Rex took to the air as well and parried this attack with the sword, but not without some recoil. “Just one of the many things I hate about you!”

“Hah!” Rex repelled Weevil with the sword, enough to put a slight dent in the chain whip. “Your psychological tricks aren’t going to work on me now, Weevil!” 

“But maybe a variety of attacks can!” Weevil shot spider webs from his left hands that stuck to Rex’s butt-length hair and part of his shirt.

“Tch…” Rex didn’t like the sensation of sticky things in his hair, but grinned and bore it for now. “Am I supposed to be scared by the fact that you’re still part-spider?”

Weevil smirked as he barraged Rex with the chain whip. “Oh, I still see the fear in your eyes, Rex Raptor. A fear that you will lose the father of that child you’re carrying.”

Weevil’s words reminded Rex of his more painful contractions that got ever closer - yet being the bold man and duelist he was, he paid them little heed.

“I’ll give you credit for one thing,” Weevil spoke while he beat his wings faster, deadlocked in battle, trying to crush Rex with the chain whip. “You’re quite the warrior. And you’ve changed since your Orichalcos duel with Joey. It appears that you’re not going to let something like mere words rile you up.”

“But I can tell my words are riling you up…” Rex whispered closed to Weevil’s ear, catching him off-guard, before stabbing him in the shoulder with the sword. 

“Ngh…” Finally in pain, Weevil could feel his strength dwindling.

“Weeves…” Rex stared at his boyfriend - and stabbed him in the left thigh - in sorrow. “You can’t honestly mean that you want this… any of this! Don’t you remember seeing your daughter for the first time on the ultrasound? A-And how I told you all those years ago that I want nobody but you? How fast our hearts were beating when we confessed our love?”

“You… dino brain! Ack!” Weevil could no longer repel Rex’s attack and fell a few feet downwards. “I thought I told you that you can’t sweet talk your way into killing an Earthbound God!”

“You called me ‘dino brain’ again…” Tears of joy pooled in Rex’s eyes. “I know you still love me… Once the Rex Raptor has his sights on you, you can’t get rid of him.”

“Actually, I can ,” spoke a voice that was clearly not Weevil’s.

“Is… Is that you, Watda?” Weevil’s real voice finally came out.

“It appears to me that you’re going to be useless now, Uru… So it looks like I’m going to have to take matters into my own hands.”

“No… No!” Weevil thrashed about in the air, confusing Rex. “Leave Rex and Amber alone!”

“Weeves, what’s going on?” Rex couldn’t hear Watda’s voice.

“Goodbye, you damned useless rabbit…”

Weevil couldn’t control the ball of dark energy coming out from his right hands. “Wait… Watda, stop!”

“Ah!” He wasn’t fully confident that he could block this evidently stronger attack, but Rex enveloped himself in his dragon’s wings. 

And Rex wouldn’t have to block the attack. For before Watda’s attack could hit him, Weevil managed to separate from Watda, taking the full brunt of the attack last minute.

“W-Weeves!” The strength in Rex’s eyes now gone, he watched in horror as his boyfriend froze in the air before beginning a rapid descent into Domino City’s concrete. “Oh my gods… No… You’re going to come back, just like you did last time… right?”

“Even an Earthbound God and the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon can’t survive a 1000-meter fall. You saw it yourself when Cusillu, Aslla Piscu, and Kaiba all died.”

“Shut… up…”

“Now what are you going to do, since your beloved Weevil Underwood lies dead?” Watda laughed as his shadows grew fiercer. “You’re nothing without him, you weak-ass monster. Nothing!”

“That’s… That’s not… Oh!” Before Rex could aim his sword at Watda, he suddenly felt amniotic fluid trickle down his legs. He shook so badly that he lost grip of the sword as it plummeted after Weevil.

“You’re in labour, hmm? Looks to me like you have two choices: one, continue to fight me and risk losing your baby; or two, going back to ground level to give birth. But with that second option, there might be a sliiiiight chance I’ll destroy the world. Either way, you lose! Hahahahaha!”

No, he won’t, spoke Amber’s voice.

“Ngh… Amber, you’re still there?”

I’ve been with you the whole time, Papa. You’ve got to finish this fast!

“But how do you expect me to do that? Especially since… your Daddy is…”

There is one way. Now that Daddy has been separated from Watda… Papa, I’ll give you all of my strength. Use it to finally banish this mongrel to hell, where he belongs! Amber de-fused from Rex. In fully shifted form, she engulfed Watda, leaving only the Earthbound God’s chest exposed. In the process, lights sprung from the ground as the bow regenerated in Rex’s hands.

“Ggh! Let go of me, you wench!” Watda struggled to no avail.

Before Rex could process what was going on, he coruscated like the northern lights, and he stretched out his new angel’s wings. His hair grew past his legs, and brown locks encircled his arms.

“Oh my…” With the Earthbound army now vanquished, Phuckdis could truly behold his people’s chief god.

“That’s my boy!” Ptera cheered. “Give that bastard what for!”

“Hehe!” Rex gave his mom a thumbs up. “One kick-ass arrow, coming right up!”

“What are you doing?” Watda could feel his time at an end.

“Watda!” Rex continued to growl as he pulled his bowstring back, and his body and weapon grew ever brighter. “Go back to the shadows! Hyaaaaaaaah!”

“It’s…” Watda could say little more as the glowing arrow impaled a giant hole in his chest. “It’s done… I’m… done… Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgh!”

“Finally, something we can agree on.” Rex’s descent back to Earth started slowly, but upon reaching six feet above ground, he reverted forms and fell into Spinos’ arms.

“God-Shattering Star!” Phuckdis and the remaining Club members ran up to Rex.

“Is… Is that what I’m called? Heh, sounds pretty cool…” Rex would have rested if he didn’t wonder about Amber. “Wait a second, where’s Amber? Where is my daughter?”

“Rex!” Mokuba pointed to an approaching Joey, who carried a heavily mutilated Amber in his arms.

“Amber!” Rex got up from his prone position to hold Amber, whom Joey had gently lowered to the ground. “No! I… I thought we got him! I thought we defeated Watda together!”

“W-We did… But at a cost… What did you think I meant when I said ‘I’ll give you all of my strength?’”

“Amber…?” Rex couldn’t even hold Amber’s right hand anymore, as it began to fade into nothingness. “What’s happening? Please… This isn’t happening!”

“My… My granddaughter…” Ptera cried as Spinos and Tricera consoled her. Not a single eye was dry as Rex’s friends and allies watched the scene unfold. Even Espa and a newly-healed Mako could see what was going on.

“But… But we only got to duel once!” Joey got down and cried with Rex. “And you haven’t even dueled Espa yet! I thought you were going to win back his Serpent Night Dragon!”

“Joey… My friend…” Amber reached out her left hand to Joey. “I… I just wished I had… acknowledged you as such… earlier…”

“Amber! No, please don’t die!” Pretty much every body part Rex tried to grab at faded away, except for Amber’s head, shoulders, and left hand. 

“Die? No, I’m just about to be born…” Amber placed what was left of her left hand on Rex’s baby bump. “I can’t wait to see you again and forge our bonds anew.”

“Amber…?” Rex cried as Amber chuckled one last time before her future self was no more. “AMBER! NO! Oh… my gods… Sniff…”

“My love!” Heka, who had just fully healed, ran to Rex. He had only seen future Amber for a brief spell before she died. “Oh, no… My heart…”

“Heka, I’m so sorry…” Rex hugged his daughter’s boyfriend. “Not only for your mother’s death, but also for Amber’s…”

“Forget about me! You just lost your daughter!” Heka cried into Rex’s shoulder as Atem consoled him too.

“Amber… I… Aaaaargh!” Rex suddenly doubled over as the remainder of his amniotic fluid gushed out all at once.

“His water has already broken… Rex is going into labour!” Mokuba announced. “Someone call an ambulance!”

“It’s for real this time, guys!” Joey got up and dialed the campus emergency number. After that, he knelt down again, trying to calm Rex down in any way he could. “Rex, hang in there. We’re going to get you help!”

[sohin-ace]

Dio - Eternity

This is cross-posted from Wattpad and available on AO3.

Enjoy~

You stood at the entrance of a particular alley in the dead of night. The same alley you always stood at when you waited for clients.

The night was cold and the icy air hit your lungs painfully, freezing you from the inside. Your hands were numb and flushed red as you rubbed them together, trying to get some desperate amount of heat to warm them up.

Tonight, you were waiting for him. You've known him for years, way before he moved from the city to live with the Joestar family. But he recently came back to you and started asking for your services.

"My apologies," You heard from behind you. "I made you wait out in the harsh cold." The man said, his voice deep and quiet he slowly approached you.

You turned around only to be met with the blonde man you were expecting. You sighed with relief upon seeing his face.

"Dio..." You breathed out with a smile, your breath visible in the night air. "It's fine, I didn't wait long."

You wanted to get straight down to business as you reached inside your pockets, but before you could even try, he leaned down and grabbed your hands and engulfed them in his much bigger ones.

You gasped slightly. His hands were surprisingly warm and almost burned against your frozen ones, but it felt nice.

"It has been quite awhile since last time, Y/N. Let's take our time tonight." He looked down at you and squeezed your hands a bit tighter, feeling them warm up by the minute.

"Don't you want your merchandise and get back? It's pretty late too... Or should I say early?" You chuckled and looked up at him as he gave off the ghost of a smile. "You should just take it and go home quick. You don't have to pay me tonight, since it's you."

"No I have the money. I just want to cherish my time with you." You quirked an eyebrow in surprise.

"Oh? That's new. I didn't remember Dio to be this affectionate." You teased a bit but softened your tone. "Why do you sound like you're going to die soon?"

"Don't be stupid." He spat, "You're closer to death than I'll ever be, look at what you do for a living."

You gasped dramatically, pretending offense. "Hey! Don't judge me, Mr. Attorney who buys drugs!"

He released your hands and glared at you as you giggled at his expression. You hit a sensitive spot. You reached for your pockets again and took out a small pouch. You opened it to reveal a bundle of tablets to him.

"I don't know many people who would order this one, so I shouldn't be mistaken." He nodded and you secured the bag again and handed it to him.

"Thank you." He hid the product inside his coat and you looked away, worry evident in your eyes. "What's the matter, Y/N?"

"Dio... I don't usually ask my clients questions because it's really none of my business, but you're important to me..."

"Oh? Then ask away as you like, darling." He replied almost teasingly as he took in your soft trailing voice.

"Who are these for...?"

He paused for a second, his smug grin faltering from his face and his eyes cast in a strange shadow.

Dio could trust you with a lot of things, but he would never give away his own plan. Despite what you did for a living, you were a good person. If you knew the truth, you would for sure turn your back to him.

He couldn't take that risk. He thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully.

"I think what you are asking is, are those for me? No need to worry, those are not for me."

You sighed in relief. "When I started selling them to you, I warned you about the doses and the side effects."

"I am aware, Y/N."

"Those are deadly, Dio. Be careful."

He puffed in sheer amusement, making a cloud of condensation in the process. Oh how adorable you were when you were worried about his safety. Him, a complete demon. The last person to worry about.

He laid a big hand on your cold cheek surprisingly gently, lifting your face up to meet his amber eyes as he leaned down to your level.

"Y/N, keep on fending for yourself, like the strong woman that you are, and stop fretting about me, as I am a strong man as well."

You stared at his hypnotizing orbs and laid your hand to rest on his own as you nuzzled in his warmth, closing your eyes. "Hmm... If all my clients were as charming as you, I would go out of business so fast."

He smiled and let go of you as he gave you your amount due. You weighed the bag in your hands and looked at him with wide questionning eyes.

"Th-... This is way too much...?"

"Keep the change." He simply stated, putting his hands back in his pockets and you scoffed at him.

"Are you looking down on me, Lord Dio?"

He smirked at you, knowing well you were only half serious. He wished he had more time with you to drive you even more crazy. You neatly put the money away in your coat and wore your best smug expression.

"Joke's on you, Brando, I'm already used to robbing the rich."

"Good for you, Dealer Queen." He mocked and you joined him in his laughter. "Well, as much as I enjoy your company, it is time for me to go. I am... Unsure of when I will come back."

You showed him a reassuring smile. "Well you know where to find me, Dio. Same place as always."

"Sure. Don't stay out too long, Y/N." He turned on his heels and started walking away as you called out.

"Okay. Tell your brother I said Hi!" He turned his head around and deadpanned at you, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Yes, I'm telling my goody-two-shoes brother the local drug dealer said Hi."

You burst out laughing as rolled his eyes and finally left, ready to pursue his evil plan. Once he was done with all of this, he would come back to take you, he promised to himself.

"You just wait..."

You walked alone in the dark streets that you knew like the back of your hand. You were directing yourself back home after finishing all your business.

Fleeing away from the stinky alleyways and taverns, from the drunkards, prostitutes and drug addicts, even though you were partially to blame for their demise.

A lot has happened during the last few weeks and you didn't know what to think anymore. As you neared the Thames, you heard a noise behind you. Footsteps on snow, to be exact. You tried to ignore it, but the anxiety-inducing, padding noises were getting louder and louder.

Whoever he was, he was following you, for sure.

"What the hell do you want?" You spat without even turning around, gripping the small knife you kept in your pocket tightly.

"You wound me, Y/N. At least face me if this is how you greet an old friend." You'd recognize that deep voice anywhere. You gasped and whipped around to look at him.

"Dio?!" You smiled and approached him, sighing heavily with relief. "You scared me! Don't creep up behind me like th-..."

Your breath cut short as you walked up to him and got a better look at his features. You noticed something was different, but you couldn't quite put your finger on it.

He showed you a confused look as to why you went quiet so suddenly. You squinted your eyes slightly at your blonde friend.

"Have you... Done something to your eyes...? You look so pale too, Dio are you okay...?"

Dio decided he would go straight to the point. He was looking for you for a reason and he would not beat around the bush.

"Y/N, I came for you." He spoke honestly and your eyes widened slightly.

His tone was different than usual and something told you that he didn't come to you as a client tonight. Nor as a friend, either.

"For me...?"

"I realized something crucial. Humans have their limits," You didn't say anything and listened closely to his words, taking in his grave tone. "But I have walked beyond humanity."

"Beyond..." You repeated with confusion, trying to process what he was talking about, but he just continued.

"I rejected all of it in order to go further."

You couldn't understand any of what he meant, but you knew he was dead serious and it scared you. That intense look in his blood red eyes piercing right into your soul made your heart pump faster in your chest.

"...What do you mean... Dio?" You said, voice shaking between heavy breaths.

He took out an ominous looking stone mask and you stared down at it, eyes wide and mouth agape. What was that? What was happening?

"Y/N... join me. There isn't much people in this filthy world that I can trust, but you... I want you by my side. Come and spend eternity with me."

He offered an inviting hand towards you. You glanced from his hand to his face and gasped as you finally noticed his sharp fangs coming out of his mouth. Just, what did he become?

But before you could voice your thoughts or even react and him sensing your hesitation, he forcefully grabbed your wrist and pulled you right against him. He wouldn't take no for an answer.

"D-Dio wait-!"

You struggled, but he wrapped his strong arms around you, locking you flush against his solid chest. You tried to push him off, but it was useless, he was way stronger and bigger than you were.

Your mind was racing, you never felt this scared in your life. You knew Dio had always been a tempered man, but never had he ever brutalized you in any way, shape or form. You couldn't recognize him.

He secured one steel arm around you, making sure you couldn't move away, only to then bite on the hand that was holding the mask. Immediately after, he slammed the stone mask onto your face, smearing his blood on it in the process.

You gripped on his hand and the mask in a desperate attempt to remove it as it effectively muffled your screams and whimpers.

"PLEASE DIO, I-" You were sharply cut off by the mask planting its appendices right through your skull, killing you instantly, leaving him in a haunting silence.

Your soft cold hands slid from his wrist and you went completely limp in Dio's arms as he held you close, preventing you from collapsing to the ground.

The mask shook and abruptly retreated its grip on you, slipping from your face and revealing to the blond the sight of your peaceful expression. Your face now pale with death and your lips darkening with blood.

"Absolutely gorgeous." Dio breathed out, admiring his work of art under the moonlight.

You were already a beautiful woman before, but now you were just stunning. The look of immortality suited you best.

Just then, your lids twitched slightly and your eyebrows furrowed, signaling your awakening to him.

"A-aah..." You groaned, feeling a burning sensation in your dry throat. You weakly grabbed on Dio's coat for support as you looked up at him, his familiar face welcoming you back. "Dio... What happened?"

"How do you feel, Y/N?"

"I-...I'm thirsty... I'm so thirsty it hurts..." You whimpered with pain and confusion and Dio tightened his protective hold on you.

"Shhh, it's okay, calm down." He shushed you with a soothing voice as he studied the fragile look on your now crimson eyes.

Perfect. It was just perfect. Everything was falling into place and with you beside him, his goal was coming even closer to his reach.

"Don't worry about a thing, Y/N. I'll explain everything to you in due time. For now, sleep."

Your mind clouded, you could only obey as you closed your eyes, falling slowly into slumber.

You trusted Dio blindly, and not having much to lose anyway, you didn't mind anything that was occuring.

You could hardly be blamed, most people trusted the man carelessly as well, that is how charismatic he was, after all.

He hoisted you effortlessly in his arms and walked off, ready to take care of you. He looked forward to this new life with you.

Oh how eager and motivated he was to get rid of Jonathan now.

[sluttyten]

37. “Because i love you god damnit!” + winwin

“Because I love you god damnit!” + winwin

Sicheng, code name WinWin, was your partner in crime. You’d saved the world a few times (but who’s counting?) and you’d been paired together on numerous missions to assassinate high profile people, to put things right by stealing from the rich and breaking up international smuggling rings, things like that.

You were good at your job and so was he because neither one of you had anything else other than the job. You had no family, no friends, no semblance of a life. If you weren’t on a mission in some way, then you were at Headquarters training others or practicing for yourself.

But you always had WinWin, and he was the closest thing you had to a friend or family.

So it was fortunate that he was always the one sent on missions with you. You trusted him to always have your back in situations such as this, when he quite literally had your back.

Standing atop the building with icy winds whipping at you from every direction, Sicheng’s back was pressed against yours, your weapons aimed at the enemy surrounding you.

Your finger doesn’t slip on the trigger necessarily, but you’re not entirely ready for the moment when you begin firing. WinWin reacts in the same moment, instinctively following you as your weapons discharge.

The air fills with the sound of stray billets, rapid fire. The icy wind smells hot, the spray of blood splashes over the rooftop, but that’s not all. Some of the enemy still stand.

WinWin grips your arm, and before you have a chance to say or do anything, he’s throwing you toward the opening to the building’s stairs. You stumble and go and he’s right behind you. You feel the familiar heat, the brush of his fingers on the exposed skin if you’re back when the edge of your shirt lifts in the breeze.

The stairs are just there. And then you hear a strange pop, a grunt, and then a weight slams into your back, throwing you forward and inside.

Your belly catches against the railing, and you hang over it looking at all the many levels down that you nearly just fell. Behind you WinWin scrambles to kick the door shut and he jams it with something. You hear banging and shouts on just the other side of the door. It won’t hold long, and you both know it, so you set off down the many stairs.

You make it down several flights before you’re about to ask him why the fuck he shoved you inside the stairwell like that, and that’s when you finally look at him.

The white sleeve of his shirt is drenched with red and he holds his arm at a strange angle. He grimaces.

“Got hit in the shoulder. I wanted you to escape, but the second you set off they were all aiming at you. I had to block them.” He groans and staggers into the wall, leaving a bloody streak behind. Overhead, the door bangs open at last, the echoes of the enemy’s voices magnified and descending quickly.

“Why did you do that, you idiot!” You hoist his arm over your shoulders, trying to drag him down the stairwell quicker even as you hear the others tramping along the stairs, creating so much noise that you’re very grateful of so you can hear how close they are, gauge your likelihood of survival. “WinWin.” There’s no answer, so you jostle him possibly a bit rougher than necessarily. “Sicheng! Answer me. Why would you do something so incredibly stupid as that?”

He groans as you tug him through a doorway off the next landing and start running along a passageway.

You start to ask him again, and he hisses, suddenly totally alert as he shoves at you, pushing himself sideways so he crashed into a wall.

“Because I love you, god damnit!” He hisses and cradles his arm as he slides to the floor. “I’m in love with you, which is stupid because that’s one of the first things they were supposed to have trained out of us, but maybe by then it was already too late for me.” He looks up at meets your gaze with his piercing one. “By that time I’d already met you. I loved you from then. And you’ve always been such a good soldier, good at taking orders, do you have it in you to love anymore?”

You wonder what he must think of you. Cold? Calculating? Incapable of love?

You reach for him, drag him to his feet again as you hear boots crashing down the stairs, growing closer. “We have to get out of here if either of us plans on surviving. My goal is to get us both out alive. Does that work for you?”

He nods and grimaces, helping you help him hobble along.

“And how can you think I can’t love?” You ask him, holding him up as he stumbles. “Why do you think I didn’t abandon your ass years ago? I love you too, you absolute fool. And tonight we might both die for it. We just need to reach the rendezvous point.”

Your hands are covered in WinWin’s blood as you support him. Your hand slides over his back and you can’t bring yourself to actually look at his wound, but judging from the amount of blood, you’re guessing it’s some serious damage.

“Call Headquarters,” WinWin gasps. “They’ll send a dispatch to pick us up. All we need to do is get outside. In my pocket.” You shiver your hand into his pocket and come out with a phone that you hurry to dial the secure number on.

“Tagging your location,” comes an automated voice. You keep moving along this passageway, searching for any possible exit. “Please don’t end the call. Tagging your location.”

“Come on, come on!” You cry in frustration.

WinWin’s growing heavy again, his breathing more labored. The end of the hallway comes up quickly and you take a left, praying you’ll see a sign.

A green glow from a turn just ahead gives you hope, and when you drag WinWin around the corner, you see a marked exit door, which you quickly shove open. You step out onto what appears to be a rooftop of a lower level of the building.

The cool night air bites at your exposed skin. The phone pressed to your ear hums. “Location tagged.” A chime, and then, “Help will arrive in two point f—“

WinWin drops to his knees, and then completely onto his side.

“Sicheng, look at me!” You slap his cheek lightly. “Look at me! Come on! You can’t give up now. You just told me you love me. Don’t you want to stick around long enough to hear it back?”

His lips tilt into a very weak smile. His eyes flutter. Your fingers slide over the back of his shirt as you try to lift him into a sitting position, and you realize for the first time that he’s been hit more than once. Blood soaks the back of his shirt entirely.

I’m training they instilled a cool, collected mess in all of you. They tried to burn away emotions and other unnecessary things. For so long, you thought they succeeded, but sitting here now with your partner bleeding in your arms, you feel the sagging weight of emotions inside of you.

Tears prick at your eyes. “Sicheng.”

His eyes flutter and he lifts a hand weakly to your cheek. His fingers are wet on your skin, and it takes you a moment too long to realize they’re wet from your tears. He’s wiping away your tears, watching you cry for him.

The wind picks up and you want to curl around him and just sob. You want to protect him from the world.

“The lights...” He whispers, his breath warm against your face. “Look.”

You bite back a hiccuping cry, and you look up.

Not lights. A helicopter. Saviors.

They land a short distance away on the rooftop. You struggle to your feet, lifting him up with you, and he tries to help but his strength is fading. You run as quick as you can toward the helicopter, ducking against the force of the blades whirring.

WinWin collapses inside and you clamber in after him, turning around just in time to see the enemies running out through that exit door, sprinting toward the helicopter as you start to take off.

You swing your gun, aim and fire. Aim and fire. Aim and fire.

If you lose WinWin, you want to take as many of them down as you can in revenge. But he still gasps for breath behind you. You hear the flurry of activity as one of the crew moves him and starts to administer first aid.

When the building’s rooftop drops out of sight, the figures no more than specks in the distance, it’s then you collapse backwards.

A blanket is wrapped around your shoulders and you find yourself shifted closer to Sicheng. He’s stretched out on a cot tucked safely away, and you take his hand, and let out a sob of relief when he squeezes back even faintly. You rest your head on the edge near to his head.

“That was too close of a call.” The pair of you have never experienced a mission like that before; you’ve never seen either of the others as close to death as this. You feel tears freely flowing down your cheeks, feel Sicheng’s breath steady and real on your skin. “I love you too, I really do, you damn fool.”

[naptoons]

Triggered-Joel Pimentel

warnings: Sexual Content, Cheating,Mild Language, Alcohol reference.

Theme: Angst

A/N: this is a part two of story of us , this is requested by @cncogirl18 ! i hope it’s great and it meets your request!. Read the first part here!

joel and i have been getting more and more distant for the past 2 years. sometimes i blame it all on tour, sometimes i blame it all on maybe he’s cheating. maybe hes fallen out of love with me. but to be honest i blame it all on me. i pushed him away because im not ready for the limelight. im not ready for the flashing cameras and gosspi pages. most dont even know what i look like, they just thought i was a fanpage commenting under his posts all the time. some he didnt respond to so it didnt look so obvious.it’s been on my mind all day, even my friends noticed it, urging me to go home and talk to him about it. but i cant. maybe  cant because im afraid of the answer.

 leaning back in my chair picking at the peeling skin on my thumbs. debating going to joel’s apartment or heading to the party richard invited me to for his daughter. i might as well go home first, maybe get a nap. getting up from the chair, i grab my keys to his aprtment, heading for the door.

arriving at his apartment i walk in the house,hearing the noise of heavy breathing and muffled moans. the grunts that only i would know. but apprantly im not the only one whom knows it. biting the bullet of crying, i walk towards the living room dropping the keys in the bowl. after today i dont think i wanna come back. walking past the room to the bathroom i hear the voice of someone farmilar.

“i told you, you never loved her, you’d come back to me papi” emlila swoons him in, joel sighs with his feet shuffling against the carpet “why cant you admit it?!” she yells at him “she is nobody anyways why do you care so much?” feeling anger in my broken heart i swing the door open, gritting my teeth against my jawline, the atomsphere turning colder than stone.

“yeah joel, im fucking nobody” i choke through my clogged airways

“baby-” cutting him off i smack his hand away from my frame, i grab my back packing all of things “bre listen it didnt mean anything!” his voice breaking and pleading to get my attention, joel grabs my arm but i push him back making him hit the edge of the dresser groaning in immersed pain. but i feel no remorse.

“if it meant nothing why the fuck did you do it?!” i yell through the tears, i tried to be strong. to not cry in front of him. he didnt deserve my tears, he didnt deserve anything from me at this moment. “get the fuck away from me joel, i never want to see your fucking face ever again” grabbing my packed bag i place it on my shoulders before stepping out the room, i look back at emailia to see her smiling.

“you think you have everything right now, but if he did this to me, what makes you think he wont do it to you?” i pour my venom on her, her smile slowly falling flat and changing into anger “misery loves company, i hope you guys are miserable together karma is a bitch” with my words i feel my shoulders become lighter, running downstairs i hear joel yelling my name behind me, getting to the front door i slam it behind me getting in my car.

“what a fucking fool i am” i breathe out “thinking we could ever be something, neither of us was ready” i grab my phone calling lunay as i back out of his driveway, the tears begin to roll down my cheeks clouding my vision all i can see if dots of red and white lights.

“hola mami” lunay’s voice hones in on my ears. insatly my voice cracks trying to keep it together, i just break down and cry gripping the steering wheel as my knuckles drain the blood from them. “hey bre are you okay? where are you?”

wiping my face i inhale heavily “joel cheated on me” i let out “can i come over?” i ask, before hearing the answer all that fills my ears is the skid of tires on the road, and the reverb of a collision. The vision I once had colored like a void.

Pitch dark.

Opening my eyes to the angelic light, I groan as it burns my cornea, covering them with my fingers I sigh heavily. “Welp I guess that’s a sign to use night mode” I let out, slowly regaining my eyesight looking over at a puzzled wreck of a cousin. Smiling slightly I reach for his hand “hey, what’s got you so tangled up Charlotte?”

“You’ve been unconscious for three weeks, that’s what, and get a better joke that was corny” Christopher smiled slightly at the end, but I could tell that smile was fake. “And I’m wondering should I kill someone” his voice taking the form of malice.

“If you were to do that you couldn’t see your precious cousin” I smile followed by his scoff “wouldn’t say precious” he insults me. Lunay walls into the room sighing of relief “wow, did y’all really think I was going to die?” I laugh “y’all had no hope for me huh? What a sha...” getting my sentence cut off by his hug around my neck, I smile softly my fingers rubbing his back. “Hey you” I let out. He must’ve been so worried.

Lunay has been taking care of me for a whole month. I had to go to recovery, I lost a little bit of feeling in my legs so I started walking little by little, they also recalled my brain is a little fuzzy prior three minutes before the crash. Sadly it didn’t make me forget I got Joel cheating on me. With the girl who tried to break us up even before a label. I guess she got what she wanted. I haven’t seen or heard from Joel since that day. Part of me wants to reach out. But another part says “fuck him he pushed you away” tapping on the bow empty cereal bowl I hear the chunks of shoes hitting the floor.

“Aye mami, you okay?” Lunay rubs my shoulders, moaning at the tension in my body I nod my head slightly “are you sure? I’m here for you if you need a shoulder to cry on”

“Hm no I’m tired of crying, I’m moving on now”

“Aye nena! That’s right, you can do better” he encourages me. Lunay was throwing a party at his house tonight for a celebration on winning an award. I joined in even though Lunay told me I didn’t have to I just couldn’t be soaking in my sadness. It’s not going to fix anything so what’s the point of moping? Grabbing the drink on the counter I gulp it in one shot feeling it burn down my throat rapidly. Every cnco member was here but Joel. Made me wonder is he trying to avoid me? Why should he? He cheated on me he shouldn’t have any shame he knew what he got himself into. He shouldn’t have any shame it’s what he wanted anyways.

Drinking down another shot Richard furrows his eyes at me smiling I wave at him “what’s up Richard? You scared to drink?” I ask him

“Scared of you drinking, I don’t think you’re in the right headspace to be drinking nena” his lips fall in a flat line leaning against the counter, grabbing the bottle of liquor I grab my red solo cup this time.

“I think I’m just fine, I can’t sit around here and fucking waste my time in being sad, it’s been a whole month Richard, im fine” I crack open the cranberry juice to fuse with the liquor. “So stop worrying about me okay?”

“I’m worried about the both of y’all, hoping neither of you collapse first” Richard mumbles while walking away, I wanna ask him what that was about but I’m stopped by Lunay. With the biggest smile on his face.

“Hey? You good having fun?”

“Never better! Let’s dance” grabbing his hand with my left I sip with my right, everyone was bumping and grinding on their designated partner. Everyone here was having a great time. No one had a mask on themselves. Drinking, smoking falling in love in his backyard. Five cups down and the world was spinning. Taking off shoes and dancing on tables. I was dancing it away.

The pain away. Fuck it still hurt.

But there’s always three sides to a story.

His. Mine. And the side neither of us talked about.

Giggling on the couch I lay my head on christopers shoulder “hey cousin how are you?” I slur followed by a hiccup “I haven’t seen you since the hospital what are you up to these days?” My face felt hot and was probably showing hues of red. Maybe even pink.

“Babysitting two broken people is what” Christopher groans, he was rarely serious so this caught me off guard. Being to drunk to even ask I hug him.

“Aye, there’s no use in worrying, you gotta have a hurricane before the rainbow, I’ll be okay I promise”

“I hope so, we don’t want any more collateral damage” he hums in my ear.

The party was over and I watched as the few people that stayed over, Lunay was cleaning up trash until he saw me laying in the couch. “Mami, go to bed, or would you like me to drive you home?”

“Id rather not be alone” I mumble, almost throaty, suppressing the cries I want to let out. I can’t I’m done crying. I’ve been doing it for a whole month.

“Hey” he bends down to my level, running the pads of his thumb on my cheek “you’re never alone I promise” his eyes twinkled in love, I’m feeling the same way I did towards Joel. How can this be true? Have I moved on that quick?

Richard went back to Joel’s apartment, just as he was about to knock on the door, emailia opens it, her face showing signs of panic. “Wheres joel?” She asks

“And you think I would tell you? Plus that’s why I’m here to see was he here” Richard smugly answers

“So wait, hes not with you?” emailia asks

“Nope” Richard grabs his phone dialing his number, but to his demise it goes straight to the voicemail. Richard mumbling a soft curse word under his breath. “His phone is off”

“Oh my god fuck” she paces while chewing on her thumb, Richard looks at her with no sympathy but he just knew his mind had to ask.

“So what lie did you tell him hm?” emailia turns around on her heels looking back at him dumbfounded

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me I didn’t stutter, Joel is completely and utterly in love with bre, what did you say?!” Richard snaps are her, feeling Christopher pull him back slightly, “rich calm down”

“I didn’t tell him anything! He told me he felt bre was fading from him, and the more he tried the more she pulled, all I said was maybe she found someone else”

“Then took his sadness as your advantage to comfort him” Richard spits, walking away slowly

“You know damn well I love him!”

“If you did he wouldn’t be in this situation” Richard mumbles before getting in the car. “So? How are we going to find Joel?”

“We can’t, he’s been so secretive lately. Who knows where he is, the only thing I can think of is just wait for band practice or for him to come home” Richard sighs heavily “this is a fucking hurricane”

The bright sun beams on my eyelashes, squirming I feel a arm wrapped around my waist and the feeling of a chin in my shoulder. Slowly lifting the covers I gaze upon our naked bodies entwined together. Sighing and softly cursing to myself I sink my head deeper in the pillow.

Lunay and I hooked up.

Drunk hookup.

Slowly getting up from the bed I grab my clothes putting them on one by one. Until a hear a husky groan “good morning” he mumbles, my luck. Smiling I make it back to the bed sitting in front of him.

“Good morning” I whisper back

“How you feeling?” He asks

Embrassed.regretful.sad.

“Good, I had a good sleep”

“I imagine so” he jokes, getting up from the bed slowly “look bre, I don’t wanna be your rebound, I know this is the worst timing but, I’ve had a crush on you for the longest, and seeing how broken you are hurts me” freezing at his sudden words I looking down at the my tangled up fingers, “I want you to find what you mean to yourself, I want you to fix yourself, even if that means talking to him again”

“Lunay, I can’t even look him in the eyes and not want to cry”

“So? Isn’t better than wondering and drinking alcohol, not to mention losing your mind not knowing what to do” Lunay grabs my hand kissing my knuckles softly “bre, you deserve love okay? Don’t think that there won’t be someone out there for you”

Nodding my head I decided to face him head on. To talk about the problems I’ve never discussed.

Arriving at Joel’s apartment my stomach drops in depths. Never thought I’d come back here. Having ptsd just by looking at the snowflake walls, the way his plants on his patio are slowly decaying. He really isn’t doing to well just like me. Why is this so hard on him? I’m the one that should be triggered.

Knocking on the door I wait for his answer, the door swings open, smelling like a strand of weed. “Richard I told you-” his sentence is cut off by the sight of my eyes glued in his. “What are you doing here?”

“To talk” I answer

“What is there to talk about, I made you look stupid” Joel sighs

“yeah you’re fucking right you made me look like a fool, but I can’t blame you, maybe I pushed you towards that resort, not saying what you did was okay, but maybe the way I treated you inflicted this” I sigh leaning against the wall “can I come in?”

Joel opens the door for me to come in, closing the door behind me I see the mess his living room is in, I see the empty beer bottles and burned out half blunts. The edibles wrappers over the floor. Looking back at joel I see his hand is wrapped in a gauze. What has he been going through? I grab a bag as I start picking up his trash, “no it’s okay I’ll clean it up” Joel suggests but I grab his hand leading him to the couch.

“Let me help you, let someone help you okay? We gotta stop shoving people out” I stammer through my tears. Finish with cleaning up the mess, Joel and I sit on opposite sides of the couch.

“I’ve had two boyfriends in my lifetime, and when it got past two years, shit just started going downhill, one was abusive and one was a pathological liar and a drug addict” I start off, Joel’s eye filling to the brim with water, with just one touch they would pour down his lips. “It’s tiring opening and closing parts of me just to repeat the cycle, and when you cheated on me, I just saw you as the rest, I yelled at you and blamed you, I claimed you ruined everything, I wanted to fight you guys both, knowing she’d probably sue me or charged me with battery”

“In that heat of the moment I was willing to catch a case for it, cause you know me, when I get mad I get big mad, weeks after my accident I was going to call you, maybe even text you but I couldn’t, when I typed on the bubble I Tried my hardest not to disrespect you After what you did, man, what you expected?” My eyes looking at the tearful golden boy, his cheeks and nose were pink, so was his ears, glistening cheeks swelling up at the minute.

“I felt so Triggered, when I hear your name but also I was Triggered, because I am not okay, I was getting drunk partying hooking up with people all because I still missed you, Of our memories All you meant to meAll that history All that's history” my fingers trembling to grab his hand, caressing my thumb over his.

“But ain't no me and you without you in it, so I just wanna say I’m sorry, I pushed you away and made you feel like I didn’t love you, because I now know I do, I really do love you joel” the tears now falling out of his eyes, mirroring mine in the same gesture.

“I’m sorry too, I should’ve never talked to her about our problems, I should’ve came to you, but it isn’t your fault, I was the one who decided to have sex with her in our bed, no matter what I should’ve came and talked to you” Gravelly his voice echos the room, pulling him towards me, I wrap my arms around his head, letting him sob into my hoodie. As I begin to cry along with him.

“We’re both you blame, all we needed was to communicate” my wobbly voice whispers on his ear. “I accept your apology Joel, just promise we won’t run away from each other” feeling his body stop shuttering his head pulls out hovering over me.

“Yeah, I won’t run unless you promise to not run, and let’s better ourselves” Joel sniffs

“I’m not going anywhere, maybe someday we’d could be something more than friends again, you have my heart joel. We just need to fix ourselves before becoming one, but I don’t mind taking it slow with you”

“No labels? Just chilling?”

“Yeah” I smile caressing his face “slow burns”

“Slow burns”

[davos-steelserpent]

continued from here with @thecrimsonwxdow:

Yelena made sure now to step on any of the vines surrounding her as she stood up. She took a small step forward, leaving her makeshift thrown behind her. She’d fully intended to make one for him as soon as he sat down next to her but she could wait, it was clear he had a different plan in mind as to how to get Yelena to quiet her mind and meditate properly.

However, she didn’t know this plan would include making correct assumptions about her past. It was almost unsettling how on the nose Davos was when he spoke about her. Was she that easy to read? She didn’t think so to the average person and Davos surely was anything but average. She just stayed quiet neither confirming nor denying his claims. Though, she didn’t have to. She’s already spoken about entering hand-to-hand combat with a hypothetical enemy. She just didn’t want to delve into why and how she learned to fight. The Red Room was still a sensitive topic, so if she could avoid having to speak on it she would.

“I didn’t think you were a wizard,” she clarified her comment. “Though, if you were, I’m sure I would’ve realized by now.”  From what she’s seen so far, the gods or goddesses with magical abilities sure weren’t afraid to show it.

It took Yelena a second to realize she was still holding his hand and slowly, without making it seem as though she was repulsed by him or something of the sort, she pulled her hand away and placed it by her side. “Well,” she let out a breath, “if my way ends up blocked by something or the other, fighting seems like the only reasonable answer.” Perhaps it wasn’t the best nor the healthiest answer but the people placed in her way usually wouldn’t want to stop to talk out their problems.

As willing as Yelena was to listen and learn from Davos, she hadn’t been expecting for him to ask her to punch him. She raised an eyebrow, hesitating for a moment as she wasn’t too sure if she heard him right. Though, she figured he was completely serious when he placed his hand up. “Alright, you’re the teacher here.” Brushing her back over her shoulders, she shifted so her right foot was in front of the left. Pulling her arm back, she slowly connected her fit to Davos’ hand. She tried her best to listen to Davos all while paying attention to the punches she was throwing at him.

Wide eyed, she looked at him as he gripped her knuckles in his hand. She watched him carefully as she clung to his every word. He spoke as though he was a poet. It was almost distracting. However, he was very different to her teachers in the past. He wasn’t insulting her, calling her worthless. He was.. patient. He was giving her plenty of good advice, though she was a bit distracted by him.

It took a second for her to answer, pulling her hand away again. “No, you’re correct.” She assured him. “Almost too correct. Have you been researching me or something?” She was teasing again as none of what he mentioned would show up on a simple Google search. “All I know is force, Davos.” She shrugged a single shoulder. “I’ve been fighting since I was fifteen. I don’t fight much nowadays, I guess these powers have made me more calm. More relaxed. But will that last once this is over? I don’t think so.”

When Yelena offered nothing in return of Davos’s assumptions at first, he did not press her for information. Her past was her own, just as his was. Why she learned to fight was not his business and it would not alter what he planned to show her. He learned that very few grew as he did with the desire to fight already at their core. Many needed to adapt or die and chose not to waste away under the negligence of others. 

“It would be beyond all bounds of hypocrisy for me to speak to you as if I were a man of peace,” Davos assured Yelena. “Violence is, at times, the only reasonable answer. I prefer when we face such problems here that can be solved with physical conflict. I know my place in such chaos. The current...” he struggled for a word to adequately describe how much he hated and was confused by the current turn of events and sighed, “calamity is vexing to say the least.” 

Yelena seemed hesitant to strike at him at first, but when she obliged, Davos watched her, making sure she understood. She seemed intent on his words and he hoped that meant she was eager to learn, even if she was doubtful of her capabilities.

At Yelena’s question Davos shook his head. “I would not know who to ask for such information. No, I understand what I know of you from what I have learned from others here and from my own past. That and I would now know how to find you on the internet had I access to it,” he offered, attempting at a jest. He’d been able to find his brother, but he was very rich and therefore very well known here. 

Davos nodded in understanding at Yelena’s admission. He was correct that she had been fighting for several years and that it was how she handled her life. “I mean to degrade nothing you do in your tactics. To have a goal, to see victory in your mind, to desire it and refuse to let obstacles block your path in pursuit is commendable,” he encouraged her. “Such a path will simply not assist you with meditation, though you will find that meditation will assist you with your usual path,” he assured.

After a long pause, Davos decided to exchange a piece of his own past with her. “I grew up learning how to fight. Training is all I knew before I came here so I learned both in tandem. It is much easier to learn as I did. It is difficult to master an opposite. You know how to be unyielding as stone and as untamed as fire. I offer to teach you how to flow with the stubborn tranquility of water and shift direction as quickly as the winds,” He held out his hand to Yelena again and gestured to the vines and blossoms, ready to follow her and have a seat.