#so here u go - partially in effort to make my brain drop it

[mongoose-king]

If you don't have war crimes at home, store-bought is fine

[hansols-yoda-boxers]

CNS Spin Off - Sweetness - Finale

Lee Seokmin x Chou Tzuyu

Word Count: 1620

Seokmin’s hands were sweating. And his arms. And his legs. He was pretty sure every part of him was sweating which was not at all ideal because he really wanted to look and smell nice. He had spent the whole last week planning out this date to make it perfect. He got the food, he’d readied one of the guitars, he was currently hoping the whole sky didn’t cloud over. It was partially covered, above them, but off in the distance the horizon was not. They would still be able to see the sunset.

He hoped.

Despite his nerves, as Tzuyu approached down the path a big smile broke out across his face. He didn’t know if she liked wearing dresses. Most people didn’t wear them at camp, they weren’t the most practical clothing choice. But she had apparently packed one and broken it out for the occasion.

And she looked stunning.

“You- You’re- That’s really- It’s v-very- Pretty.” He finally managed. Tzuyu giggled and he felt lucky for the thousandth time that she found his floundering so endearing.

“Seokmin,” she said, taking a hold of his hands. “You don’t have to be nervous. It’s just me.”

Seokmin didn’t think in a million years he could ever explain why “just me” was such an understatement. Just her. Only her. How could it ever be?

“I’ll try,” he said. “Follow me.”

Tzuyu kept a hold on his hand as he led her down the path. It wasn’t far where he’d set up and soon they came to a little clearing along the lake. Tzuyu let out a little gasp at his set up. He had a small barbeque to cook for them, he’d laid out blankets and the guitar and pillows to sit on. He’s brought a picnic basket full of food. Very carefully, he’d lit candles and placed them around the edge of the blanket.

“I-I had to ask Seungcheol if we even had candles,” Seokmin mumbled. “S-So some of them are different sizes o-or they were burned once or twice before. I know it’s not-”

“It’s perfect,” she smiled. She let go of his hand before excitedly running over, settling herself on a pillow.

Seokmin followed her. He settled next to her and she scooched closer to him as he set a fire in the barbeque before putting two patties on to cook.

“This is such a nice spot,” she hummed.

“I looked around to find one. I know we come through here a lot but I still thought it would be good for a d-date,” His voice was a little small. He knew it was a date but something in the back of his brain kept telling him he had misunderstood. That she wouldn’t want to go on a real date with him.

“It’s a beautiful spot for a date,” she said. “We can nearly see the sunset.”

“Y-Yeah,” he wasn’t sure if he wanted to spoil his plans for later just yet. “It’s a good view.”

Seokmin reached for the picnic basket he’d brought, pulling it closer to them. Tzuyu let out a small gasp when she looked inside at the food he’d brought.

“How did you get all this?!”

“I’m really nice to the cook staff,” he mumbled. “A-And I bribed Shinwon for some stuff.” He reached around in the basket, pulling out a small pack of cookies.

“H-Here.”

“You-” Tzuyu looked incredibly touched. “Did you remember I said these were my favourites?”

“Of course I did,” he grinned. “How could I forget?”

“It’s such a silly little fact,” she said, taking the cookies.

“Not to me,” he said. “Nothing about you is silly. U-Unless you’re trying to be silly. If you make a joke of course I’ll laugh, I-I just meant-”

Seokmin fell silent as Tzuyu pressed a kiss on his cheek.

“You’re so thoughtful.” She said.

“I-I-I try,” he mumbled, unable to stop the smile that was breaking out across his face.

“You are,” she said. “You put so much thought into this. You made it so pretty. You didn’t have to do all of this for me.”

“Of course I did,” he chuckled. “How could I not? Of course I put in a lot of effort for you. I like you so much.”

Tzuyu smiled at him, taking his hand and squeezing it. “I like you so much, too.”

“I-” Seokmin stopped, the smile starting to fall from his face as he looked over at the barbeque, the smell of burning coming from the patties. He quickly flipped them over and let out a whine when he saw they were burnt to a crisp on the bottom.

“Oh no.”

Tzuyu just giggled. “It’s alright. There’s lots of other snacks in the picnic basket.”

“Yeah,” Seokmin sighed. “I’m really sorry, I should have been paying attention.”

“I don’t mind so much when you were distracted talking to me,” she said a little shyly.

Seokmin turned off the grill and they turned to the basket. He tried to put the slip up out of his mind. It wasn’t the end of the world but it wasn’t his planning either. He tried not to kick himself for it but talking to Tzuyu helped. As they ate the snacks and fruit that he had brought they talked about their plans for the school year and favourite things and any topic that came to mind. 

As the sun sank lower and they finished eating he thought he ought to move onto his next plan.

“I know we both like music,” he said, grabbing the guitar. “So I wanted to play something for you.”

“What song is it?” She asked excitedly.

“I-It’s uh- I kind of wrote it?” He said.

“You wrote me a song?” Tzuyu gave him the sweetest look as he nodded with a bashful grin. He liked that she was excited but it made him even more nervous. Tzuyu shifted onto her knees, smiling and bouncing a little as Seokmin checked the tuning. Even though he had tuned it already the weather had it out of tune again. He turned the tuning pins, listening to the notes and fixing each one until he got to the high E string. He twisted it a little tighter to tune it.

There was a loud “Twang!” as the string snapped.

Seokmin’s jaw fell open as he looked at the guitar, some sense of betrayal filling him, as if it was the guitar’s fault.

Tzuyu giggled. “I think the guitar got stage fright.”

At least she was good natured about it. “Yeah,” he sighed. “I’m sorry, I guess the strings are a little old.”

“You know, my mother says bad things come in threes.”

Seokmin looked up at her in fear. “Don’t say that!” He hissed, as if the universe was eavesdropping. “Only two bad things have happened.”

“It’s okay,” she giggled. “So far it hasn't ruined anything.”

Seokmin nodded, more to reassure himself than anything, as he set the guitar aside. They closed up the basket and he helped Tzuyu to her feet, taking the time to put out the candles before leading her away from the clearing a little.

“Are we watching the sunset?” She asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “I know we’ve done it before.”

“It’s something I’ll never get tired of,” she said.

Seokmin led her to the edge of the water with a pretty view across the lake. They settled on a rock, peering at the sun on the horizon. Though the sky above was getting darker with clouds, the far horizon was still clear enough to see the sun setting.

Tzuyu squeezed his hand and reached across herself to hold onto his arm. She leaned into him, snuggling into his shoulder and it made his heart leap. A few things had screwed up but maybe it wasn’t so bad. This moment was good. This moment was nearly perfect.

Seokmin started as he felt something drop on his nose. Then something else on his arm. He looked up at the clouds with a frown.

“Did you feel that?”

Tzuyu looked at him. “What was it?”

Seokmin stood up. “It felt like rain.” He stuck out his arms, gazing up at the sky as a few more drops fell on him.

“We should probably-” The words on his tongue were washed away as the heavens opened up. Rain poured down on him as he stood there stunned, mouth agape as he looked over at Tzuyu who had also been drenched in the sudden onslaught.

Tzuyu took one look at him and let out a laugh. A full, proper, howling laugh that made him chuckle a little at the absurdity of it all. Tzuyu got up, still laughing and came over to him.

“So this is thing number three,” he sighed.

“I guess so.” Even in the rain her smile was dazzling.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Things have gone all wrong this evening. I really wanted this to be perfect for you. It turned into such a disaster.”

Tzuyu shook her head with a giggle, cupping his cheeks. “It’s not a disaster.”

“Tzuyu,” he said. “I burned the food, the guitar broke, and now we’re both soaked. How can it-”

Tzuyu cut him off as she pressed her lips to his in a sweet kiss. Seokmin stood stunned for a moment as his heart hammered in his chest, taking a moment or so to relax and kiss her back, his hands grabbing her waist.

“It’s perfect because I’m with you.” She murmured. “I love hearing you talk, Seokmin. But right now, I’d much rather you kiss me.”

Seokmin grinned. “That, I can do.” 

He pulled Tzuyu against him, feeling her arms wrap around him as they kissed again.

[hoardcloneheadcanons]

Rhack Story P5-Meet Angel

Moxxi's eye's leveled with Rhys's, scanning him.

"So…. let me get this straight. Jack and Nisha were dating,”

"U-huh."

“Then you and Jack were dating.”

“Sure.”

“Then you get closer to him and... Jack introduced you to his daughter?”

Rhys let out a low unnerving chuckle.

It wasn’t a laugh, so much as what a laugh might sound like if you left it in the dark for months on end and it started scratching designs on the cell walls.

“Oooh No… Good Guess, I guess? Like I can see how you would see think that. Like, it gets serious then you introduce your significant other to the kids. Right? That’d be Normal? That’d be sane?

As if Jack could ever be normal.

So Nooo.”

He made some mouth-clicking noises on his cheek as he tried to form his words

“She was in a satellite.”

“There’s no other way to start that, he was keeping her in a fucking SATTELITE!

OH God. Um. As you’ve noticed, she is a siren. And Jack couldn’t control her.  And he hates that, but he still loves his little girl, or he thinks he does. So he couldn’t kill her, because he still loves her, but he couldn’t control her so he had to lock her away. In a satellite.

I know I already said that, but it just keeps getting to me that he put her in a prison that wasn’t even on any natural land. It was way out in the middle of space. It was inescapable, she’d have to make her own pod to get out. If that thing blew up she’d have no way of getting out because he wouldn’t leave that amount of escape for her.

I cannot emphasize how much No ONE was supposed to know about her, meeting her was a fluke.

Jack gave me a mission where I was supposed to go inside a pod with a mechanic, and that mechanic was supposed to fix one of our satellites… uh Krios, specifically.

We were taking a weird path to it, it was longer than it should have been, more… arcs. The official reason was that it was supposed to avoid meteor clusters, but that didn’t track. We send our cargo pilots through meteor clusters all the time.

And all we were supposed to do was follow the autopilot to the satellite, fix it up and go back.

And he said that he knew how mechanics liked to cut corners, and he didn’t want the mechanic trying to take a faster path. He wanted us to stay directly on the charted course. If the mechanic tried to take a different path, I was to shoot them in the head.

He gave me an upgrade specifically for the task. It was a gun hidden in my arm. They’d have no way of knowing it was coming.

And at that point I wasn’t sure if he was giving me the task because he trusted me or because I was disposable. I was in a weird place with Jack at the time, It was after the first time I tortured a guy for him. I knew I was a terrible person. And I couldn’t tell if he saw me as competent or disposable.

Because on one hand, I just beat up a guy for him. so maybe he wanted to see if  I’d be willing to kill someone for him. On the other, maybe whatever was important enough to kill a mechanic for was important enough to kill me for.

It went great for a bit. The ship moved itself, and I didn’t have to do anything.

It was awkward. The shuttle was about the size of a small room, and the mechanic and I were just sitting on opposing benches across from each other, trying not to make eye contact.  

She didn’t like to talk, and I was just staring at a corner. I was trying not to get attached just in case I had to kill her, so I wasn’t very chatty either. It was just a job to her. It was just a job to me too.

But half-way through the autopilot shuts off. Debris  is creating a magnetic interference and it’s making the system glitch out.

And the mechanic- she said something like “fine, I guess we’re going to have to go manual."

And I told  her “No we have to wait it out. I don’t know the route and the autopilots off."

She told me she knew the route to Krios, that she’s done this repair job before

And I ask her “Do you know the route we were using, or do you know the old faster route? Because we’re only allowed to use the current edition. It’s company policy.”

And as soon as I say that she looked ready to punch me in the face.

“Are you serious?  I’m losing money while we sit here. I don’t get paid by the hour I get paid by the job, and I got other jobs to do. My company’s going to be down my throat.”

Hyperion is a client of her company’s. She was an out-of-house contractor.

Anyway, while we’re having that discussion the debris comes flying at us. You know, the debris causing the interference? It’s a trash shuttle, a big one, about the size of the shuttle we’re on. And the lid is pointy. I don’t know why they design them like that but it’s terrifying. and it was partially opening so that robot limbs are leaked through.

I froze. All I could think about was  that after  spending so much time terrified of Jack, I was going to be killed by a flying trash can.

While I was distracted, the mechanic, whose name I was specifically did not learn, shoved me out of the way, got to the controls, and steered us out of the way of impact.

Trash compactor collided with a meteor that was behind us. Parts flew everywhere and she continued to steer the ship until we were out of the field of scrap.

Then we get a moment to breath, and the auto-pilot turns back on and kilometers off course.

So based on my mission directive, I had to kill her.

And I got as far as readying the gun on my arm before I realize that I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be the guy who killed someone after they saved his life. I’d already done things I regretted for Hyperion, this wasn’t going to be one of them.

Instead, I started panicking. And the mechanic thought I was just freaking out  from our near-death experience with the debris.”

Rhys mimicked her  dry gravel the best he could.

……

“Dude, we’re out of the debris field. We’re alive, calm down.”

“No you don’t get it, we’re both fucked, we’re both dead. I’m suppose- We’re supposed to be killed if we go off path. Hyperion has too many secrets and they don’t like orders being disobeyed, even dumb ones.”

I remember she took a moment to look at my face to realize my panic was real. That I wasn’t lying.

“Fuck, I can’t change my identity again. My sister just adjusted to her school, we just got stable. I can’t do this again.”

I remember her inhale, how quickly she changed from frustration and fear to solid resolve. I remember her looking into my cybernetic eye with hatred, and I didn’t blame her.

“Fine. Fine. We’ll leave. I guess that’s the only option. I’ll take this shuttle as far as it can go, drop you off on some unknown planet, take my sister, and try to get somewhere safe. It’ll suck to restart again but it’s my only option, so lets go.”

Once she said it I realized that the nearby planet she’d probably drop me on would be here, Pandora. And I had to visualize what it would be like to build a life here. And I had a moment of cold fear where I just considered my options before I realized there was a way where neither of us had to give up our lives.

I put my left hand on her shoulder.

“Wait, maybe there’s another option. The data from the mission logs from the shuttle and my eye are probably going to give us away, but it’s going to have  to go through a communication’s satellite first.

I’m going to jam the signal and hopefully the magnetic interference is causing a delay. If I can get to a communication satellite, I can alter the data a little bit to make it look like nothing happened. No one needs to  know we got off course. No one needs to lose their job. Your sister doesn’t have to switch schools.”

She looked skeptical, but she was as desperate as I was.

….

So, we drove over to the nearest communication satellite.

or what we thought was the nearest communication satellite.

When we were… six clicks away? 400 meters? I noticed that we were arcing away from the dock we were trying to land on and the mechanic told me she lost control of the shuttle.

She lifted her hands up, and the steering wheel kept turning, no human control, and no autopilot engaged. The control panel was glowing a faint blue, so light you could swear it was some odd reflection from the stars.

 And suddenly I got this splitting migraine.

Right now, all I have is glass and this eyepatch. But all the circuitry relating to my old Hyperion-tech eye was tied into my nervous system, all too close to my brain. I’d been getting mild headaches and buzzing in the brain since the start of the magnetic field interference.  But when we got close to the satellite it felt like something was drilling into my head.  

I keeled over in pain and got dark spots in my vision.

Then, while I was on the floor I heard a female, robotic voice say to me,

“I’m sorry I had to take control of your shuttle. There are turrets attached to the outside of this satellite that I cannot control. They will shoot you if you come closer.

I am sorry for your predicament. I am partially responsible.  I am doing my best effort to make amends. I am currently erasing your shuttle’s data systems and your eye’s memory banks to make it look like you were never here. Jack will not find you. It is fine. You need to turn around.”

Do not tell Rita Greene I am here.  Knowledge of my existence will only bring harm to the people who possess it. I am sorry I had to contact you, but it was the only way to communicate.”

I didn’t know what I was hearing at the time. The best I could guess was a highly advanced surveillance A.I. that Jack was hiding, and who had power over my tech. I was afraid to disobey her, and eager to believe something had saved me from needing to rebuild my life on Pandora.

Rita was the mechanic whose name I was trying to avoid learning. I verified that the data was altered, and then I lied to her. Told her I was in pain because I was hacking from a distance. She asked me why we lost control, and I said the autopilot must still be glitching. I’m not sure if she believed me. She believed me enough to see if my plan work, I think she trusted I wouldn’t put my own life at risk.

We turned around, fixed the Krios satellite. Went back to Helios, and no one killed us. No one mentioned us breaking any rules.

I waited for days for someone to kill me, to realize I didn’t follow orders and gut me, but it never came. Jack never found out.

That was the first time I met Angel. I thought it would be the last.

I was wrong.

[goodtimingz]

prompts 4+6 day jae?

prompt list

send requests here :)

4. “True love is when you bully each other, but you know, it’s in a funny romcom way” 6. “Ew, did you just kiss me? On the lips?”

AN: college!au jae, you two are neighbours in your mixed dormitory. ps: this is based on dorms in my country where we don’t share a room, it’s mixed gender and we share common areas ie dining hall, bathroom, kitchen etc.

1.6k / Young Love.

Ever since the first day of moving into the dormitory, you had always imagined having a cute neighbour who you’d say hi to every morning and get to know. However, that was supposed to exist only in your imagination. Actually interacting with a cute guy would be stiflingly awkward. You knew you’d see each other at your worst (coming home from a late night with make-up smudged and bed hair), and even worser (first thing in the morning in pj’s).

Whether it was unfortunate or fortunate, your neighbour happened to be a very cute boy. A loud, annoying, cheeky cute boy.

Every other night there was always something. On the first night it was loud music. The following days were filled with guitar playing - which is fine. However, it was the same riff over and over again and it drove you insane. Then it was his friends, loud laughter at 3am in the morning, 4 other boys would spill out of his room saying loud goodbyes across the hall. There were some good times though. Like sometimes he’d send you a cheeky wink whenever you met eyes, he’d always wave at you in the dining hall, and whenever you told him you had an exam he’d try to be quieter. But you hadn’t really interacted until one particular event.

On this particular day the weather was so nice. Your room was hot, even with the windows wide open. So, like you’d seen many others do you decided to prop your door open with a chair while you studied. Jae apparently took this as an invitation, because sometime after lunch he’d plopped down on the chair wedged between the door and decided to have a full on chat.

The two of you talked about many things, like what instruments he played and what your hobbies were, what you both thought about college so far and homesickness. You were surprised. He actually had an ability to be serious and real. At first you had been a bit blunt, not expecting him to want a genuine conversation. “I haven’t had the guts to actually talk with you before.” Jae commented shyly, pulling on his sweater’s sleeves. You bit back a surprised expression. That had been the last thing you’d expected from him.

“Let’s change that.” You’d smiled, rolling your desk chair closer to him and resting your head in your hands. Jae grinned, nodding before turning his head away to glance around your room again.

~

From that point onward you talked with Jae a lot. You two would text everyday about random things, and whenever there were loud sirens outside you’d joke that the police were there for Jae.

When it was dinner time the two of you would usually walk down and eat together, and he’d invite you to his room until the early morning just to talk about things while you both pretended to study.

Slowly but surely you grew closer and the end of semester one came quickly. You both decided to stay over the break and spent almost every day doing random things that weren’t related to college - for once. You’d hike together, go ice skating or catch a movie, just a lot of things that didn’t require studying afterward and it felt ridiculously nice. On a particularly frosty night, Jae had texted you at 10pm interrupting your usual lie-in-bed-and-think-about-everything hour.

Jae: surely we go to the lookout point tonight

Y/N: jae it’s literally -10 degrees rn, u wanna die??

Jae: we can cuddle to stay warm ;-)

Y/N: i’ll leave that for brian to do

Jae: nooo just me and uu :)) you don’t have a choice i’m coming over rn

Y/N: wear a scarf so i can choke you later for making me catch a cold

True to his words, Jae burst through your door before you could even find socks.

“Y/N! Long time no see!” Jae teased, star-fishing on your bed where you had just been lying.

You rolled your eyes, pulling on a coat. “What’s your plan anyways?” You questioned, turning to see him making sheet angels (like snow angels) on your bed.

“I don’t know, let’s just chill there.” Jae’s voice was muffled by his face in your comforter, and his hair was completely disheveled by now. You shrug in agreement, standing over the boy as he peeled himself off of your bed.

The walk was cold, as you’d expected. It was peak winter time at the moment, and the lookout was a steep 15 minute walk. Despite silence falling over the two of you for a bit, your brain worked fast in thought. Over the past few weeks, you’d been considering an idea that you weren’t really supposed to be thinking about. That idea being, liking Jae.

You had always considered him a friend, from day one. But seeing him everyday, hearing his laugh and his voice and learning so much about who he truly is, felt like soul food. Which brought on the idea that maybe you’d formed a slight crush on him that was being hugely muted by the heavy ‘friendzone’ blanket hanging over the two of you.

“We’re here Y/N!” Jae puffed, resting his hands on his knees, slightly bent over to catch his breath.

You laughed, walking past him and onto the lookout structure. This is the kind of place you’d want to be proposed to at. Not far out of town and yet far enough that there would be no interruptions. The night view was breathtaking. You stared out for awhile, not even noticing Jae walk up behind you as he placed an arm around your shoulder.

Your breath hitched. Play it cool, you thought while nervously forcing your shoulders to relax. Friends do this all the time, right? Maybe he’s just feeling sentimental.

“Y/N...” Jae mumbled, quietly almost like he didn’t want you to hear it. You bit on your lip, turning to look up at him cautiously. His face was close, closer than you’d expected it to be at least.

Everything kind of felt paused from then. When you met his eyes, the sound of the traffic in the distance silenced. Suddenly the cold didn’t bother you anymore. The slight breeze felt like nothing. Every part of you was focused on Jae, and more importantly what exactly what would happen next.

He glanced down at your lips and time stopped. His lips were wet and they looked too good not to kiss.

Jae bet you to it. Before you could process what was happening, you were leaning in to meet him in the middle. As expected his kiss was gentle, soft and warm. His arms moved to your waist, pulling you closer (which was quite difficult since you both wore big coats in attempt to keep out the cold).

When you pulled back, your mouth moved before your brain.

“Ew, did you just kiss me? On the lips?” You teased, watching as Jae grew bashful. That expression was too cute, you wanted to reach out and squeeze his cheeks.

“Don’t act like you didn’t like it Y/N.” Jae winked back, regaining his composure. He was right, except you didn’t just like it. You loved it and you probably loved him.

You two had passed around the ‘I Love you’s’ a few times, but it was always understood platonically. Which was partially still very true, but you knew that now there was definitely another level to it.

You sighed contently, a smile resting on your lips as you turned to admire the view again. (wdym, jae is the view) You felt Jae follow your acts, glancing over to see the same cute smile on his face. Even without words, there was a new mutual feeling shared between you and him.

~

When the two of you arrived back to your dorm, you were slightly dreading being a part from Jae. The night had been so nice with him and your new feelings that you never wanted the time to end.

“Thanks for tonight Jae, I love you,” You smiled sweetly, leaning onto your door to admire Jae. The ‘I love you’ was the same casual ‘I love you’ that it had always been. You two loved each other more than what the romance movies explained the phrase as. You loved each other’s company, each other’s personalities and just each other’s soul.

“I love you too Y/N.” Jae grinned, mirroring your stance across the hall. As you turned to open your door you couldn’t refrain from the scream that escaped your lips.

Jae.

Jae’s face was pasted all over your walls. You gazed around in shock at his efforts before spinning around to glare at the blonde boy who smirked behind the phone he held up. “H-how???” Is all you could stutter out.

“The boys helped me, just incase tonight didn’t go as planned.” Jae laughed, walking closer to fully capture your expression.

“I take it all back, I hate you Jae!” You grumbled with your arms crossed. (To be fair you secretly loving the sound of Jae trying to stifle his laughter in the hallway).

Jae slipped his phone away only to poke your sides until your folded arms dropped - to smack him. “Y/N!!! True love is when you bully each other, but you know, it’s in a funny romcom way.” Jae fell into a fit of laughter after you shot him daggers again.

“Looks like I’m sleeping in your room tonight.” You smirked, watching as Jae fell silent and a blush appeared on his cheeks.

No way would you let Jae get away with this. The prank wars began, but first you would show him who’s boss.

“Lead the way.”

[jujywrites]

the saga of JujY failing at titles continues Written as part of the Veterans Secret Santa headed up by @alemanriq, a fantasy-ish AU (as always I can’t do canon settings) for @ilunefulltsinn/@cactasi! Happy Vets SS yeeeee~ I hope you like it, and that I did your fav justice!! Something I cooked up super fast after going through my prompt-stash (a certain bit of dialogue~) PS belatedly cramming in refs from this fic, plz scuse

Hange had a problem she had no idea how to solve.

What spirit, deity or species of nymph was she supposed to give thanks to for such a momentous discovery?

She was trembling so fiercely the bush she was hiding in started to rustle loudly, and anyway she couldn’t quite see, and really she should confirm the truth of what she (thought she) was seeing–

With a deep breath, she eased out of the foliage and crept to the edge of the riverbank to better see the dragon on the other side.

The tree-filtered sunlight beaming down turned the dragon’s black scales partially iridescent. It wasn’t moving, though Hange could see it breathing shallowly. It wasn’t large; a foot long at most, maybe eight inches around.

She would have to get closer to be sure.

Straight across the river she went, sturdy knee-high boots keeping the water from swamping her legs. Then, carefully, she squatted to observe the creature at her feet.

A small pair of wings– no, only one, the right one was a nub– rested along the dragon’s body. She squinted, leaning closer, looking for… yes, and there was the gold band along its back, from just below its head down to its tail.

The Gilded Onyx. So rare it was thought to be extinct. And here was a living, breathing specimen in the woods so close to home. Hange clasped her hands and gazed up at the sky in silent gratitude, then knelt beside the dragon and touched a palm to its flank only to yank it back with a hiss. No wonder it hadn’t stirred from her approach; the poor thing was much too hot. She put her hand back, breathing slowly. Not to hot to carry, then, just a momentary shock.

Getting to her feet, she bent down and scooped up the dragon as gently as possible. Even though it was unconscious it could still wake enough to lash out, and it was definitely full-grown, though a bit small for its age if her estimate was correct.

“Let’s go home,” she murmured, speaking aloud to strengthen an already-firm resolve.

****

She eschewed the traditional “I’m home” she usually trilled out so as not to disturb the armful of dragon. Levi’s shoes weren’t by the door anyway, which was good because that meant she had a chance to figure things out before he got back.

True, he’d dealt just fine with the pixie infestation in the attic– no, fairy infestation (her cousin was perpetually annoyed by her inability to tell them apart). He didn’t have any problem helping her rehabilitate those kitsune cubs last fall, either, although that had been right after he’d moved in…

She ran through the multitude of creature-related incidents as she wandered through the house in search of a cool place to put the dragon. Her research had told her that Gilded Onyxes were for the most part docile, only aggressive when defending their offspring. Or when they felt threatened. This one had allowed her to pick it up, but then again it was in a poor state… It didn’t much matter, though; she wasn’t about to dump the dragon back in the woods.

There wasn’t enough ice to fill the tub with, and besides, that would probably send the dragon into shock. Besides that, it would take too long; the dragon’s heat had begun to make her sweat when she’d been barely halfway back home, and that was definitely a bad sign.

She groaned quietly, wanting badly to tug at her hair, which her cargo prevented her from doing. “What am I going to do with… you…?”

She’d looked down while she spoke, and now her heart thudded painfully. The dragon was looking at her.

Its eyes were an icy blue, cloudy but still sharp. It gazed without blinking, and Hange felt something blaze to life in her brain so viscerally she gasped, nearly stumbling.

Most Onyxes had green or gold eyes, sometimes even black. Never blue. That thought was distant, subsumed by the maelstrom of feelings without names whirling through as she stared back, incapable of movement.

tnhgK ouMh

“What…”

thAk uouyh

“You’re welcome?” she squeaked to the faraway garbled voice in her ears.

The dragon’s eyes fell shut, and Hange jolted into movement like a switch had been flipped, the heavy emptiness of a lost connection notwithstanding. “What the hell was tha-aaat,” she singsonged under her breath before, “Don’t thank me yet, you aren’t well.”

Though she didn’t remember getting there, she found herself in the kitchen, in front of the fridge. Well.

“Well.” She opened the door and saw the bottom shelf was empty. That would do, as long as the dragon stayed coiled up. She gathered said creature up delicately and laid it on the shelf with the same care.

“It’ll be dark in here, but…” She chewed her lower lip, thinking. “You’re barely conscious right now.” With a heavy sigh she shut the door. “I’ll check on you later. Right now you’ve got to cool down.”

After a moment’s thought, she went about preparing a cup of tea.

****

The front door opened and shut when she was curled up in her favorite chair in the living room just off the kitchen, empty mug on the floor, sketchbook in her lap, pencil in hand. “Welcome back,“ she called, the twin thumps of his shoes punctuation.

“Hey,” he said when he walked in; she leaned to kiss him and he squeezed her free hand. His gaze dropped to her sketchbook and his eyebrows rose. “That’s pretty cool.”

“Huh?” She looked down too and saw a disembodied dragon head staring back. “Oh, yeah. Thanks.” Something gnawed at her, but her happiness at Levi’s presence covered the feeling over.

“Gonna get something to drink. You want anything?”

Her foot bumped into the mug, cutting off her automatic agreement. “No tha–” no no no wAIT She clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the squawk threatening to come out. Panic glued her to the chair, and she could only sit and listen. To the fridge door opening, the clank of cans, the door closing.

Silence for several seconds. Then the fridge opened again. More silence. Fridge door shutting. Hange screaming internally all the while. With effort, she put on her best neutral face and stared down at her sketchbook.

“Hange.”

“Hmm?” She glanced up, blinking nonchalantly for good measure.

Levi stood in the doorway, glass of lemonade in hand, face betraying nothing. “Question.” His free hand rose to his shoulder, thumb pointing back to the kitchen. “Why is there a dragon in our fridge?”

I can explain, her mind yelled. “…It was hot.” She honestly couldn’t tell if he was more concerned about the dragon or its location.

“Huh.” He sipped from his glass. “Why not the bathtub, then?”

Well, you see, the state it was in called for drastic measures; Onyxes really need to have a temperature of– “You’re not angry?” she blurted.

One side of his mouth twitched. “Perplexed, yes. Hoping you have a more long-term plan in place, yes. Angry, no.” A smile briefly curved his lips. “Really, Hange, you ought to know me better by now.”

God, she loved him. “W-Well–” She bolted up from the chair and tossed her sketchbook onto the seat. “I should get him out of there anyway, I didn’t set a timer to check on him again, so.” Him?

Levi stood aside as she hurried into the kitchen; she could feel him hovering behind her as she stared down the fridge door.

“It didn’t move when I saw it,” he said. “Just looked at me.”

“L-Looked…?” Hange pulled open the door. Sure enough, the dragon had moved so that its head faced outward. Its eyes were clear and bright now; the sensation from earlier settled in to fizz at the base of her spine. “Hello, beauty,” she said softly. “Feeling better?” She reached out, ignoring Levi’s warning inhale, and placed one hand along the dragon’s body. “You must be. That’s a much better temperature. Let’s get you out before you get too cold.”

She slid both hands under as much of its body as she could hold, a delighted gasp slipping out of her as the dragon moved up around her arms to coil once along her shoulders. “Well, hello,” she exclaimed, unable to keep back laughter. “Aren’t you friendly all of a sudden,” and, “ohmigod Levi lookatthis, look!” she screeched softly, turning to him with starbeams zooming through her stomach.

His eyes were wider than she’d ever seen them. “What the hell?” he breathed, then, “Can I touch it?”

“My partner here wants to say hello,” she said to the dragon, who was now resting its head in her palm and looking at her. “Is that okay?”

Something hummed in her mind, flavored with agreement. “He said yes,” she said finally, faintly, turning to face Levi.

“How do you know that?” he said, voice low, but he held out his hand. The dragon nudged it, blinked, then very slowly traveled up his arm, across his shoulders, and back around like it had done with Hange. She watched as their gazes met and Levi went pale, a choked-off noise escaping him. Was that what she had looked like when it happened to her? What had happened to her?

“Levi,” she said gently, and two pairs of eyes settled onto her. She scrunched one hand into her hair but didn’t pull. “You’re okay.” She’d meant to ask, not state, but…

“Um. Yeah.” He shook his head, lightly, and cleared his throat. “So,” he began after several moments’ silence, “Do you th–” He stopped, looking at the dragon. “Are you hungry?” He had the same tone he’d used with those cubs; Hange’s chest felt warm.

She waited. Pulled her hand out of her hair.

“I-I–” Her heart flipped; Levi never stuttered. “I think it… uh, he. Said yes.”

The dragon turned to her, and hunger twinged at her stomach. “Yeah, he’s hungry. Come to think of it, I might be too…”

Levi made an agreeing noise.

She grabbed an apple and handed it to Levi, who asked, “What do dragons eat, anyway?”

“Depends on the species,” she said as she looked through the fridge. “My research seems to indicate that… uh.” She turned, container of strawberries in hand. “Actually, I don’t rightly know. I mean, it’s a frigging Gilded Onyx, I thought that species was extinct, I mean it could be an omnivore or a carnivore or–”

She tried to reel herself back in at the same time Levi put a hand on her shoulder. “Good place to start,” he said, nodding at the strawberries.

“They’re soft, so…” She popped a small one into her mouth, then chose another one and held it out to the dragon. “Careful, it’s pretty juicy.”

Its teeth grazed her fingers as it took the whole strawberry with one chomp.

“Guess he is hungry,” Levi said over her tiny squee. The dragon nosed into the box, eating up more whole strawberries with abandon.

“Hold this while I get a towel, he’ll be all sticky,” Hange said, giggling uncontrollably as she shoved the container at Levi. “This is amazing. Absolutely amazing!” She grabbed the first towel she saw, bigger than necessary but–

“Whoa–”

She turned to see the dragon slither to the floor and curl up.

“I didn’t do it,” Levi said, hands up in defense. “Wait, is that… steam…?”

Squinting, she took a half step closer–

–and the room filled with a cloud of smoke, her mind rattled, the room tilted–

She sucked in great gulps of air from her spot on the floor, back against the cabinets. Her heart was racing, she couldn’t see Levi… but the smoke was fading and something made her scramble to her feet.

She rubbed at her eyes even though they didn’t sting, scraped a hand through her hair. She caught sight of Levi looking gobsmacked, on the other side of… of…

Her jaw dropped. The man in front of her was so tall she had to look up to meet his gaze, a task made all the more difficult by his broad chest, powerful shoulders (his right arm missing past the elbow, she noted, matching the missing wing), and long legs that all drew her eyes like a magnet.

He was also naked, she realized, face flushing. That made looking up easier. His eyes were the same icy blue, the gold band translating to blond hair.

“H-Huuagheee,” Hange managed. She pressed her knuckles to her teeth and inhaled, distantly registering Levi’s “What the fuck.”

The man blinked slowly, then inclined his head. “Excuse me for startling you,” he said, and his sonorous voice nearly sent her right back to the floor.

Get ahold of yourself, goddamnit, her mind screeched.

“I needed energy to transform,” he continued. Then he smiled; Hange’s knees trembled. “Those strawberries were just enough.” Juice stained around his mouth. Completely inappropriate thoughts bumped around her head.

Movement in her peripheral vision. Levi had reached her side, hand to his mouth and face bright red and that was interesting. (The last time he’d looked like that she’d been wearing a tuxedo for some dumb gala they had to go to for one of his old friends, and they almost didn’t leave the house, and why was her brain heading that way right now?)

“You’re a shifter,” she forced out, moving her hand from her mouth.

“Yes. As are others of my kind.”

“Dragons in general?” Levi ventured, and she looked at him in surprise. His voice was remarkably steady given his still-flushed face. “Or just your… species?”

She sensed Levi freeze as the man’s eyes fell on him. “I do not know other dragon shifters, but the Gilded Onyx clan is comprised of them.”

Her thought process began to rumble, putting words into her mouth faster than she could talk– almost. “Then… you’re not extinct. Not extinct, in hiding! There are others like you!? Most shifters are pariahs I think, oh, you must not be from here, you’ve come such a long way, also gosh we really need to find you some clothes–”

Levi’s hand on her arm quieted her to fast breaths.

The man’s eyes were warm with amusement, and her spine tingled. “Oh. Yes. Please forgive my impropriety; it has been some time since I’ve been among other humans.”

“Um.” She thrust out the forgotten towel in her hands. “For now,” she said, ignoring another choked noise from Levi and also how her stomach swooped as she realized the towel was basically a loincloth on this guy. “My name’s Hange and this is Levi,” she half-shouted, wincing internally, “and what may we call you?”

“In this form I go by Erwin.” The man– Erwin– bowed slightly. “It is a pleasure to meet you both.” Then he took her hand and kissed it, then took Levi’s hand and did the same thing, and she was pretty sure they both made identical noises.

Erwin straightened, eyes wide, and was that a blush on his cheekbones? Hell, she was in such trouble. “Goodness, forgive me again. Old customs are difficult to forget.”

“That’s fine!” she squeaked. “Not a problem! Please don’t apologize so much!”

“Then I will thank you instead. For saving my life.”

“Of, of, of course!!” She stood a bit taller, in more familiar territory. “I couldn’t have just left you like that.”

“You certainly ended up in the right place,” Levi said, and when she looked he had one of those half-smiles that showed up when he felt comfortable. “She’s well-acquainted with all sorts of creatures.”

“That is quite fortuitous. Ah–” He swayed slightly. Hange tensed. “I’m rather thirsty.”

Levi had a full glass in hand before she’d blinked, and she watched him watch Erwin drink it down. “Maybe you’d better sit,” he said.

“Perhaps so…”

Hange pulled a chair away from the dining table as Levi brought Erwin over, raising her eyebrows (he has no pants on); Levi gave her A Look, so she kept her mouth shut.

“Do you need anything to eat?” she asked, taking the water glass for a refill.

“No, thank you,” Erwin said as he took the glass back. “I am mainly fatigued. Perhaps later.”

“I’m–” Levi’s voice cracked. With a huff, he tried again. “I’m going to find you some clothes.”

oh no don’t leave me alone with him

“Feeling a bit better?” she asked Erwin, heart jittering.

He nodded. Then his eyes moved from hers (she could breathe slightly easier), and he sipped from the glass, and he said, “I have a request to make of you.”

“Uh?” One hand went back to her hair, digging into her scalp. “O-Okay…”

He shook his head. “Both of you, I suppose.”

A heavy sigh announced Levi’s return. He had some articles from one of Hange’s fieldwork getups: a pair of cloth breeches and a cloak. “This is the best I could do,” he said to her with a shrug. “We’ll have to go shopping, I guess.”

“Much appreciated,” Erwin said.

“I’ll show you to the bathroom so you can change,” Hange said, but Erwin held up a hand.

“I must make a request,” he gave a quick smile, “before I lose my nerve.”

Hange held her breath through the brief silence.

The words came out in a rush. “May I impose on your hospitality for some time longer? That is, if you have the room. I do not yet have my bearings, so–”

“Absolutely,” Hange exclaimed at the same time Levi said, “Wait a minute.”

“We can set up the couch,” she insisted, turning to Levi. “We can’t just kick him out!”

“There isn’t enough food,” Levi said, equally insistent. “What– what if word gets out we’re harboring a shifter?”

“First, we can buy more. You’re an omnivore, right?” She looked at Erwin long enough to catch his nod, then back to Levi. “Second of all, why do you care that he’s a shifter all of a sudden and third of all, there’s no one nearby for word to travel to!” She laughed, wildness skittering in her veins. “If that’s all you’ve got you’re grasping at straws, Levi.”

She turned back to Erwin before Levi’s reddening face could affect her. “You’re staying,” she said, managing to keep the smug tone from her voice.

“As long as you’re in agreement,” he said slowly, eyes landing on Levi.

“It appears we are,” Levi said, tightly. He pushed the clothes in his arms toward Hange. “You should get dressed. Such as it is.”

“Bathroom’s this way,” Hange chirped. She waited for Erwin to stand, then started walking.

“Are you sure this is acceptable?” Erwin asked once they were out of Levi’s earshot. “I believe I will only need a day or so.”

Hange shrugged. “It’ll be fine. Day’s been kind of weird. Anyway, here we are.” She turned to him, trying and failing not to look at his right arm. “D-D-Do you need–”

“No. Thank you.” Another brief smile as he took the clothes. “It is an old injury. I’m quite used to it.” And he entered the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Levi was still in the kitchen, in the exact same position she’d left him. He spoke at the same time she opened her mouth. “Sorry. I freaked out.”

“S’okay,” she mumbled, reaching for his hand. A question jostled its way from her throat. “You feel– felt? That… the thing??”

“It’s like someone hot-wired my brain.”

“Oh thank god,“ she sighed, tilting her head back a moment. “I thought I was–”

“–going crazy. Do you think he–”

“I don’t know. But, but, you get why I wasn’t… I’m not. Ready.”

“To let him go.” Levi’s mouth twisted into a smirk. “We’re like a pair of stalkers or something.”

“Ohmigod shut up,” she hissed, slightly hysterical giggles slipping out.

“I know, I know, it’s nothing like that.”

Something flickered in the back of her head, and she turned just in time to see Erwin enter the kitchen. Heat crept up her neck at the sight of him in her cloak and breeches; he was a great deal less distracting now, and yet. He was wearing her clothes.

“Allow me to thank you for lending me your attire,” Erwin said. If she didn’t know any better she’d swear there was a slight tease in his voice. But there wasn’t. She was being ridiculous.

Still, she could only nod. And hide a wince at the sudden vice grip Levi had on her hand.

“We’ll have to expand your wardrobe soon, though,” he said, doing quite well at hiding the tremor in his voice. “Hange goes through those things like wildfire. Always getting into scrapes.”

She snorted. “He isn’t wrong.”

“Consider me intrigued,” Erwin said, and okay he was definitely smirking now; Levi’s hand went slack and she heard him inhale shakily. “I would enjoy hearing about your escapades, should you have time.”

“I’d be happy to,” and her voice was breathless and she wanted to slap herself.

She glanced at Levi and cracked a smile.

Whatever lay ahead of them, one thing was certain: she’d have to conduct some up-close and personal research.

[techyblogger]

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submitted by /u/Almightypull007 [link] [comments] July 12, 2019 at 11:23AM