#so many fics have a member of the greens turning on each other

[alyrie-targaryen]

"An enemy who fears you will only hesitate so long as the threat outweighs their desire to be free of you. To an enemy who loves you, the loss of you is the threat."

I am thinking of the differences in how Alyrie Targaryen is going to handle the Blacks versus how Phassa Royce intends to deal with them and figured it out. Alyrie is going to fully embrace the familial connections between them to make the war as painful as possible to wage against the Greens. She wants them as entwined emotionally as possible.

They are going to be family.

They are going to love each other.

They are going to find the thought of betraying the other abhorrent.

You don't hurt family.

You don't kill family.

You protect your family.

[woso-dreamzzz]

Pipsqueak's Halloween

Ellie Carpenter x Daniëlle van de Donk x Child!Reader

Summary: The seventh of my Halloween-centric fics

When Ellie first found out how seriously you and Daan took Halloween, she hadn't expected this.

She'd expected some trick or treating, of course. Maybe some horror movies, child appropriate obviously. There may have been pumpkin carving but Ellie hadn't ever considered she would be sitting in the car by herself.

She drums the side of the steering wheel, eyes narrowed as she leans forward to check through the windscreen.

All the other families she spies aren't you and Daan.

It wouldn't be difficult to spot either of you.

You're both wearing very stupid Teletubby onesies that makes you stick out from a mile away.

But, yet, you're both nowhere to be found until maybe half an hour (and two packets of skittles) later when Ellie spots one red and one green furry onesie come sprinting up the road.

Daan's yelling something that Ellie can't hear, mouth moving.

Ellie frowns, trying to lip read.

You're yelling something too.

You can't quite keep up with Daan's pace, you're still a kid after all, but Daan's half tugging you along, a tight grip on your hand.

In the end, Ellie loses the lip reading battle and just rolls down the window, sticking her head out of it.

"What?!"

"Start the car!"

"What?!"

"Start the car!"

"Huh?"

"The car!" You interrupt, opening Ellie's door and clambering in, climbing over her to go tumbling into the back," Start it!"

Ellie barely has any time to react as Daan also uses her now open door to climb in. She hauls herself over Ellie's body, slamming the door shut at the same time on her way to the front passenger seat.

"Start the car!" You both snap at her as you spy someone else come running down the street towards you.

"Okay, okay," Ellie says," We're going. We're going."

She throws the car in reverse, backing out of her parking spot as the man who ran after you yells and shakes his fist.

"Did-Did you two do something to him?" Ellie asks," He looked pretty angry."

"I don't know," Daan says," Some people just have those kind of faces. It was nothing."

"Really? He was pretty angry."

"Some people just don't know how to take a joke, Ellie," You say from the backseat.

Ellie frowns, angling her rear view mirror to look at you properly.

You've got the same innocent, butter wouldn't melt in your mouth smile that you wore when Ellie found all of her bras hidden under the sofa cushions and her phone chargers in the back of the fridge.

"Alright," She says, slamming on the breaks," What did you two do? Huh? What did you do this time?"

Ellie isn't used to being the voice of reason of the family.

That's normally Daan, which is another surprising thing for people outside of the family to realise. But Daan's been your mother for years now and she's used to all your tricks and even though she can be a bit childish herself, she's still trying to raise you as a functioning member of society.

So, usually, Daan is the voice of reason in the family.

Especially on occasions where she catches you and Ellie attacking each other with Nerf guns in the early hours of the morning.

But there are times, like this one, where Daan's childish side comes out and Ellie comes to the startling realisation that two Van de Donks is maybe two too many.

"Ellie, you're in the middle of the street," You say, still smiling innocently at her," You can't park here."

"There's no cars coming," Ellie says," And stop deflecting. What did you do?"

"Ellie," Daan says, wearing a matching smile," Why do you think we did something?"

"Because men running after you down the street, you demanding I make a break for it, all on Halloween means you were up to something."

You giggle. "You're so silly, Ellie. Turn right here."

"Are you really giving me orders right now?" Ellie deadpans," We're not moving until you tell me what happened."

"That's fine," You say," We can walk."

Ellie switches on the locks.

"We egged his house!" You say instantly and Daan groans.

"You weren't supposed to tell her!"

"You egged his house?!"

"Yes," Daan says," She just told you that."

"You-You can't go egging people's houses! It's wrong! It takes ages to clean up and-and that man had a right to be angry with you!"

From the backseat, you shrug.

"Yeah and people shouldn't be getaway drivers for people who egg other people's houses. I guess we've all been incriminated here."

[90sbee]

Sometimes a saviour is a soldier afraid of peace

Levi Ackerman x Fem!Reader

4.4k words. Also on ao3.

He looks at her in quiet admiration.

He doesn’t deserve her. But again, he doesn’t really deserve anything. He already has gotten too much: spoiled by the sweet possibility of life when all his comrades have fallen, their bodies twisted, mangled by titans and enemies alike.

Levi hardly cries, but he wants to cry in that moment. She turns on the stove for him, and rummages through his cabinets. She finds two cups and a sob is trapped inside his throat.

He doesn’t fucking understand why she stays, why she puts up with his sorry ass but, damn it. Damn it if he at least doesn’t try.

The war is over, but the demons still haunt Levi. Luckily for him, the last member of his Squad seems focused on remaining by his side as they both face this new enemy: peace.

This was !!! My first fic written in English, actually. Also my first (and only time so far) writing for aot. Levi is such an angsty angel, and this story wouldn’t leave my head, so I had to end up writing it, ofc. This has been in the drafts for... months. Too many months already. And tbh I'm not a fan of how it came out. But. Posting it in case someone else can enjoy Levi finally getting some love and comfort, sjsjs.

Content: Use of 3rd person pronouns. No use of y/n. Mostly Levi's pov. Reader was part of his Squad. Post!Rumbling Levi. Written with the manga ending in mind. A lot of fluff, rude Levi even if he doesn't mean it (but reader knows he means no harm). Healing. Spooning (Levi as the little spoon btw. He deserves it).

Warnings: depressive thoughts, self confidence issues. Mentions of past violence (but nothing gruesome, it's all in passing). SFW. No beta reader we die like everybody in Aot here.

They always meet. Every single day, she leaves her little flat to find him near the fountain in the Marleyan park, eager to push his wheelchair and pass some time with him.

Levi doesn’t understand. When Onyankopon, or Falco, or Gabi let her take the wheelchair, he just ponders. He could understand why they would accompany him: because he is old? because they feel pity of him?… But her?

Nonetheless, every single afternoon, she comes to him. He doesn’t recall when this custom began. It’s like slowly, but surely, she started digging a place into his routine. She was part of his remaining squad, and he really didn’t see any point to her bubbling-self still being by his side.

Still, he appreciates her visits. She exchanges pleasantries with Gabi, already smiling. Why is she smiling?

“Hi, Captain,” she says. Should he feel mocked? He isn’t a captain anymore and the title feels too much, even if it’s comforting in some way. Levi doesn’t reply. He just nods, silently acknowledging her presence. “Is it okay if we go to the stalls for a while, Captain?” She inquires, as if it was the first time they did it, and not a weekly occurrence. His jaw tenses. He doesn’t understand, still. She surely pities him. She has to.

He agrees to her proposal, though.

“Sure,” he replies, barely any emotion on his face.

She smiles at him. For a moment, they look at each other. She sees that familiar scarred face, a grey eye gazing into her soul. He sees the older face of her remaining squad member, some wrinkles next to her eyes, her figure dressed in green. For some reason, he liked that colour on her.

He doesn’t share that with her, though.

“Let’s get going,” she adds, a little chuckle in her voice — he can hear it — as she starts pushing the wheelchair. They check out the little shops that are already so familiar. Sometimes she signals a piece of jewellery or clothes. She asks for his opinion, or points at a silly artwork, in hopes of making him laugh.

When the cold starts to set in, she stops them in front of a coffee shop.

“Wait here a second, Captain,” she tells him.

“Where would I go, anyway?” He wants to say, snarky, but he doesn’t really bother in opening his mouth. He stays silent still, perking his head up to see what’s she’s doing.

“Oi. coffee?” He complains.

She directs her gaze to him and chuckles, paying the vendor.

“I know you like tea but it’s time to broaden your horizons,” she explains. She comes up to him again, and hands him one of the cups. He sighs, but accepts the drink still.

“What is it this time?”

“Just chocolate. Hot chocolate,” she answers, already sipping hers.  She lets out a content sigh when the warmth of it starts to fill her belly.

“I don’t like chocolate,” Levi mutters under his breath. He is lying and she knows it.

“Tsk. That’s not true. Everybody likes chocolate.”

“… Fine,” he sips his drink and, admittedly, enjoys it. She hands him her drink so she can push the wheelchair again, and he takes it, guarding both cups on his lap, a familiar action for the two of them now.

“Where do we go?” She asks.

Levi shrugs. “As if I had a choice.”

She looks at him still, and when he can see her, barely from his peripheral vision, he sees a softer face. She’s waiting for his reply. He looks at her, looks at her lips. She isn’t smiling anymore. Levi sighs, suddenly feeling guilty.

He doesn’t understand still why she does this for him.

“Captain?” She says, just above a whisper, since there are people around them and they both just want to have a calm evening, without the risk of being recognised.

Levi nods before he even opens his mouth.

“The bridge.”

“Good,” she agrees as he sips from his drink again, guided by her. He does feel warmer. Levi inspects the people around him in silence, letting himself be carried, taken to a nicer place. “Hange would have like this,” he thinks. He looks down to suddenly realise he is clenching his fist, hard. “If you could even call it a hand…”

“We’re here, Captain,” she announces, letting his wheelchair rest next to a bench, overlooking the water. She takes a seat next to him, and Levi hands her the drink. He wonders if she noticed how tense he’s been feeling today.

“Be quick with that, brat, or it will get cold,” he warns, as if to pre-emptively shut down any words from her. He’s not sure he could handle it.

She just nods.

“It’s still warm,” she mentions after a moment.

The sunset is taking its place on the sky, a beautiful palette of oranges and pinks against a very flat horizon. A reminder of what was once lost.

“Good,” he says.

Levi looks at her. She is still looking forward, features illuminated by the falling sun, breeze caressing her face. There is something in his heart that aches, but he doesn’t want to think about that. He doesn’t dare to. Levi is old, too old, and too broken. And she only pities him.

He coughs to catch her attention, though.

“Hmh, yeah?” She immediately says.

“I heard the Scouts were going back to Paradis tomorrow,” he begins, the question lingering in the air. The small group was leaving first time in the morning.

“Yep.”

Levi blinks, expecting her to say more, but she doesn’t. He doesn’t want to ask. It feels… too much. He feels too exposed doing that, lower lip trembling.

“Are you going?” He finally dares to ask.

She turns back to him again, and looks at him with the sweetest gaze. Levi doesn’t miss how she looks at his lips first.

“I’m not.”

“Why?”

“I don’t have anything there,” she replies, matter-of-factly. Levi wants to hit his head against something, still uncertain about what that means. Does that mean that she has something here? Someone?

She must notice his doubts, so she lowers her gaze. “I mean. You know I lost my family during my first years as a Scout. And knowing that we tried to stop Eren… All the military forces in the island won’t be very happy to see me. Or any of us. I’ve done my part. I do not want more fighting.”

“… Right”. That still doesn’t answer his question, but it is enough to satisfy his curiosity without seeming to eager. He sips his drink again: it’s getting colder.

“You didn’t want to go, Captain?” There it was again, that fucking title that felt like a joke. He chuckles, not looking at her anymore but rather at the sunset.

“Why do you still call me like that?” He spits back.

“Captain?”

“Yeah,” His tone is unintentionally rude, but he can’t help it, not even around her.

“Well… It’s a sign of respect, don’t you think?”

Levi chuckles, amused.

“I never took you for a polite person.” He doesn’t want to look at her still. She hasn’t added anything, said anything else. What is she thinking of?

She looks at him. There’s a warmth in her belly which has nothing to do with the chocolate anymore. She knows: Her Captain has been way more vulnerable and open since the Rumbling. The little gestures that he could so easily hide before are now an open book. Or at least she feels that way, since she was always one to look at him.

It was so easy to just… stare at him. Admire him in every sense of the word, even now. When they were both soldiers they would fight alongside each other, against innumerable dangers. He was barely visible in the spectrum: always so fast, always so precise. A ray of dark hair and strong limbs, destroying everything to provide peace, to provide protection.

There was no point in denying how she felt about him… Except, maybe, to him.

“I don’t think I would like going back to Paradis,” she finally adds, finishing her drink. He seems to reflect on that idea for a moment, before nodding. He wants to ask why but he doesn’t dare to. “I’m just… comfortable here,” she finishes with a sigh. “This is okay.”

“That’s good,” he says, barely a spark of enthusiasm in his voice, but enough for her to notice.

She looks up at him again. And he feels tiny and scared suddenly, because she looks at him with wonder and care. Levi doesn’t mean to, but he ends up letting his drink fall from his hands, whether due to his nervousness or the state of his hand after the war.

“Shit,” he spits, upset.

“Sh, it’s alright, Captain.” In a second she is picking up the cup, handing him a handkerchief to dry his hands. She walks a few steps to throw both cups into a trashcan and is again, by his side. Such a quick interaction so as to ease his shame, he could notice it. “Are you alright?”

Levi still doesn’t know. He doesn’t know why she still treats him with such respect, why she seems to care so much for him. But he wants to find out, somehow. He barely nods, but she notices it.

“Good,” she says, while taking the handkerchief back. She is about to put it into her bag again when she feels a hand grabbing hers.

Levi.

He doesn’t even say anything. He doesn’t know how. She seems to understand, though, squeezing his hand, softly. Levi quickly lets her hand go, his cheeks going red. She gets behind the wheelchair again, as the sun is about to disappear, and Levi can hear her chuckling.

“Let’s get you home, Captain.”

He stays quiet, unsure if he could even say something useful.

There’s so much he doesn’t know how to say. How to do.

While she is pushing his chair he notices it again. A slight tremor in her right hand. “My wrist seems to ache lately… Must be from holding the blades for so many years,” she had explained in passing a couple weeks ago. He realises that it’s probably taking a strain on her to push him every fucking day.

“Oi,” he says.

“Yeah?”

“Stop pushing me. I can handle it,” he explains, tone serious.

“Oh, no,” her hand is trembling still. “It’s fine, it’s no bother for me, Captain.”

“… It’s an order,” he commands after a moment. She stops in her tracks and he can hear a gentle laugh coming from behind him.

“It had been a while since that, huh.” Confidently, she places one of her hands on his shoulder, gently tapping it. Levi smiles. Barely curving his lips, but he does. He is about to be brave, hold her hand on his shoulder when she removes it from him. “Shit,” he thinks. “Too slow… Too slow? Slow for what? Tsk.”

Despite his missing fingers, he can still push his wheelchair quite properly. It also helps that he can see his street far ahead. She walks comfortably besides him, a silence and gentle ghost as his most devoted companion.

Yeah. There’s definitely something aching in his chest. He had been noticing the past days, feeling getting more painful as they both approach his place. And it has nothing to do with his faulty joints or damaged body or excessive age.

When they reach his door, she asks for his key. Levi gives it to her, his hand lingering for a second too long, reflecting on the brief touch of hands as she grabs it to unlock the door.

He is tired.

And he feels incredibly silly when he realises he doesn’t want her to leave.

“There we go, Captain. I help you in?” she suggests with a bright smile, opening the door.

“… Yes.”

She steps inside and pushes the chair into his living room, almost getting it next to his couch.

“That’s enough” he decides, in a semblance of independency he still wants to maintain.

She nods. “Okay… I guess… I’ll get going, Captain.”

Levi lifts up his gaze. He wants to ask… He wants to know… He savours her image for a moment, her tired expression and the way her dress now looks clumsy and wrinkled but he doesn’t care. Before, before everything had ended up like this he would remind every single cadet to iron their uniforms, all the outfits presentable, so as to look like respectable soldiers and honourable bodies if the occasion arose. Now she can have the privilege of looking messy. Of not worrying about death so often.

“No,” he mutters.

“Huh?” she inquires, taking a step forward.

“Shit,” Levi thinks. “I… I want tea,” he makes up a quick lie.

“Oh, sure. Yes, Captain.” She leaves her bag on the couch and goes into the kitchen, getting a kettle full of water.

He looks at her in quiet admiration.

He doesn’t deserve her. But again, he doesn’t really deserve anything. He already has gotten too much: spoiled by the sweet possibility of life when all his comrades have fallen, their bodies twisted, mangled by titans and enemies alike.

Levi hardly cries, but he wants to cry in that moment. She turns on the stove for him, and rummages through his cabinets. She finds two cups and a sob is trapped inside his throat.

He doesn’t fucking understand why she stays, why she puts up with his sorry ass but, damn it. Damn it if he at least doesn’t try.

He stands up. His body still holds that ability, though his legs get tired rather quickly. He can still walk, so he does until he reaches the kitchen. She is still deciding on the teas when she sees him.

“Oh, no, Captain, please, just don’t…”

He interrupts her, grabs her waist carelessly and pushes her towards the couch, barely moving her.

“Let me handle it myself.”

“Levi…” She whispers, their faces inches apart.

“Go. Sit,” he mumbles, biting his lips and sending his eyes lower, so as to avoid her face.

“Are you sure?” She inquires a moment after, still close to him. He notices she has a hand on his waist as well, a protective aid making sure he stays on two feet.

“Yes,” he says, more commanding this time. He grabs that hand of hers and pushes her away gently now.

She nods, understandingly.

“I’ll be in the living room,” she adds.

Levi nods at her, making sure she finally gets that ass of hers in the couch. He is now faced with his kitchen. Most of the cups and teas, everything has been moved lower, so as to accommodate to his wheelchair. Slowly, he kneels, searching for a specific flavour for her. When he finally finds the peppermint and rose one, he mentally cheers. He stands up again, slowly, as if to show confidence, making sure from his peripheral view that she isn’t coming to his aid.

She isn’t. He catches her averting her eyes, though. A confirmation that she has been staring.

He decides to stare as well. Supporting himself on his weakened legs, he waits for the kettle to boil, while looking at her. It’s as if she could notice that, because her head doesn’t move, still fixated on an indescriptible point in his living room.

“Oi, what you looking at?” He says, a bit more light-hearted.

A smile forms on her lips before she even turns her head towards him. She doesn’t answer. Just keeps smiling at him.

“Fuck,” he thinks when he realises he has also slightly curved his lips.

Quickly he turns towards the stove, the kettle already boiling. Levi carefully fills the cups with water, letting the leaves rest. He lifts his gaze up to her for a second but it is already enough for her to notice.

“Need help with the cups?” Her, always so worried, so in tune with his needs. No need for words.

“Of fucking course.”

Still, the only answer he gives her is a polite nod. She stands up, approaching him.

“I’ll handle it, Captain. Just take a seat.”

He lets out a sigh, taking himself to the couch and plopping himself there.

“It’s hard,” Levi thinks as he sees her come back to the living room, two cups in her hands. He accepts the drink, his gaze not leaving her features. “I… I can’t.”

He knows he can’t accept kindness: he doesn’t know how to. Still, he tenses his jaw and forces himself to sip the tea as she takes a seat next to him.

“Peppermint, huh?” She hums mostly to herself.

 “… Yeah,” comes out of his mouth, unsure, less braver than expected. Is he insecure? Has he made a mistake?

“Good choice” She declares and he breathes again, realising that he had been holding his breath. “Bet you already knew that, right?” She adds, cocking her head.

Levi looks at her again. He has been avoiding her eyes but he hadn’t been trained as a soldier to back down in times of peace.

“I did,” he says, his tone firm, a very weak attempt at showing confidence still. “It’s the one you would always ask for when we would have meetings with the Scouts.”

“It’s good tea.” Her tone seems softer now.

Levi hums, too deep inside his mind to notice it.

She wonders. Wonders if he has ever realized that the only reason she would wander through the headquarters late at night was just to be found and reprimanded by him, the way she would be easily entertained by Levi’s stern face. Wondered if Hange had ever told him about the time she had fallen asleep in their office and woke up, mumbling his name, much to Hange’s delight, though they had promised to keep it a secret.

He looks down at his legs, at his carpeted floor.

He wonders if she had ever noticed the way he would mindlessly lick his lips after looking at her, the boring uniform suddenly a beautiful outfit, making her stand out. Wonders if it was too late to tell her that, yes, after Hange and her had found him, and stitched him up, that he had heard every single word she had uttered near his heart, softly pressing her timid hands on his chest. There hadn’t been time then to discuss anything or even think if it had meant anything else than old scouts being protective of each other, but now…

They finish their teas in silence. It isn’t uncomfortable, rather the opposite, despite the fact that Levi has started nervously tapping his feet against the floor. It is dark outside already, the light from the lamps flowing into Levi’s house, a dog barking a few blocks away.

She stands up, makes sure to wash her cup in the sink and put it away before returning to him.

“Captain?” She mutters. No need for more words.

Levi hands her the cup with slow movements, as if trying to prolong that insignificant action for as long as possible. And when she is already about to head into the kitchen, little plate and teacup in her hand, he decides to be brave. No more lying to himself, no more being a coward. Too many people have died, have bleed, have sacrificed the little they had for a selected group of survivors to be able to live. To enjoy the remaining Earth. For the little ones that survived to be able to find some meaning. Something worth all the pain.

Basking in the fear serves no one. In fact, makes all the death meaningless.

So, Levi looks up at her and grabs her hand, even if he is scared still. Trembling fingers dancing on hers until they secure her hand softly in his. He feels warm even if he doesn’t know what to say, how to convey what he feels. Such a shadow of the man he was. So stupid now.

Levi just wants her to say.

She gasps at the contact but quickly composes herself. A shy smile showing up on her face. They stay like that for a moment, neither daring to break the silence.

“Levi?” She asks after a moment, moving closer to his face, as if asking for permission.

He can only look at her lips in reply.

She shortens the distance between them and kisses him on his lips. It isn’t a big kiss, too flashy or provocative: just a tender contact between two broken people. As soon as he has processed what was going on, she has already moved forward, pressing a kiss on the tip of his nose.

And then, even higher, another kiss on his forehead, her lips remaining close to his face. Levi can’t say anything. Barely reacting. But when she looks at his eyes, she is greeted by the sweet glimmer of tears in them.

Levi. Happy, at last.

And as if reading his mind, she utters: “Do you want me to stay, Levi?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

She complies. In the quiet, late hours of the night, Levi wakes up, his body feeling too rested already. It was a habit hard to break, he wouldn’t sleep much anyway. He sighs still, feeling her body pressing against his, holding him from behind. She has one hand on his shoulder, the other keeping him safe and secured, hugging his waist close. He dares to smile and grab that hand across his belly with both of his hands, so as to make sure that it is real: he is being held. There is someone else with him. Levi isn’t alone. Someone is taking care of him. Someone he’s been devoted to for so many years.

He wants to nuzzle up closer, hide in her chest or neck and feel more.

But he doesn’t dare to. He can’t allow himself to do that yet. 

So he stays awake in silence, hearing the soothing and steady rhythm of her heartbeat.

Levi still doesn’t understand, though.

He doesn’t want to think of why she has chosen him, how he got this privilege so late in his life, when all hope seems to be lost and the thought of a partner didn’t cross his mind at all. He also doesn’t know what to do with this gift, this blessing. Why? How? He is such a crippled shadow of what he used to be. Slow, so consumed by roughness and violence and so useless now.

He has always had something to fight for: his life, his friends, his Squad, Erwin, Hange. Yet since the Rumbling he has just… fallen behind. He is just existing and it seems like his body has finally caught up to his age: no longer agile and strong, but a weakened man, finally leaving the survival mode that has characterised every single aspect of his life. He doesn’t have any goals or dreams now. Everything had been slowly trampled down like the titans destroying all land and all life.

He shivers, remembering that day and holds her hand tighter.

Once he had completed the promise made to Erwin, his last order, he had nothing more. No more commands. No more slaying titans.

Just existing.

He doesn’t want that. He has been a fighter, a rebel, a monster his whole life. He only knew of endurance and compliance with the spirit of life, of resistance. He doesn’t know of anything else: the calmness, the quietness, the routine walks and just reading books and sitting on his porch… That is not him. That isn’t life. Being able to choose things for himself, devour life gently and enjoy it instead of painfully trying to keep it close, to grip it between calloused fingers… Peace isn’t familiar.

He has nothing to devote himself to, nothing to prove or fight for.

“Yeah,” he thinks. “Everything is… meaningless… Or it was.”

He closes his eyes, relinquishing himself in the warm body against his.

Some things… Some things have meaning still.

Her.

The way she would scrunch her nose when laughing or buy him drinks or attempt to make him laugh or wear that damn stupid wrinkled dress and — “Fuck.��I know her so much by now…”

She had been a Scout too. She had fought and devoted her heart and did everything a Scout had to do. She had fulfilled her duty in the same way he did. She has survived and she doesn’t regret a single thing. Not even this life.

She is at peace.

He wants to sob.

He doesn’t understand peace. Sure, it was his goal, what he always dreamed of, but, damn it. Levi had never thought he would actually get to see something resembling it. Unlike her. She understood what it was: she has accepted peace with open arms and a smile that — fuck, somehow— has been shining on her face throughout the years. Despite so much pain and death…  She still allows herself to fucking live in peace. She forgave herself for the death, for the pain and crimes and let go.

He isn’t sure if he can do the same.

Peace is foreign, strange even. An oddity. And he isn’t stupid, he knows that time would run up someday and that things would turn against them for a second time.

But, still, the promise of the rest of his life in peace lingers.

He could have it.

He fucking could.

Levi reflects on those thoughts for a moment, silent still.

He thinks he can get to an agreement. Maybe, when she wakes up in the morning, he can try to spill his soul to her a little. Try to understand how she handles this life, how she can get up in the mornings after killing so much, and just have tea with him.

But for now, in the quietness of the night, as the old warrior he was, he does the only thing he knows: he promises to dedicate his heart once more.

He finally has a reason, a purpose, something worth protecting again.

Levi lifts his hand, crossing it on his chest the way all Scouts would do. But he doesn’t press it on his heart, but rather, moves it to hold her hand, the one resting on his shoulder. He squeezes it gently, suddenly feeling too overwhelmed by her. By the silent love she had been proclaiming to him all these years and that he couldn’t reciprocate before.

Yes. Now it is the time.

Levi would dedicate his heart once more.

To her and only her.

That may have been the cheesiest ending ever written but !!!! He deserves it, I know. Also someone stop me before I write for Hange, the feelings got to me indeed. Dividers by @/cafekitsune @/saradika and @/vase-of-lilies

[starlightkun]

sugarcoated brain [teaser]

⏯ teaser word count: 723 | full fic: 13.7k ⏯ genre: punk band frontman!shotaro, venue manager!reader, shotaro is whipped, reader is emotionally unavailable, is it a slowish burn or is it angst?, whatever it is ur reading a starlightkun fic so there’s a happy ending :), ft. eunseok/sungchan/wonbin as shotaro’s bandmates welcome back boys & wayv as reader’s coworkers ⏯ warnings: not necessarily a warning but since i do generally avoid describing the reader’s appearance in my fics, i wanted to give a heads up—reader works at a punk/alternative concert venue and is generally in/around that scene. reader is mentioned and/or implied to have some tattoos and piercings (other than earlobes) ⏯ extra info: set in the same universe as filler episodes, but u don’t need to read that in order to understand this one, filler eps!sungchan and sugarcoated!shotaro r just in the same band! also the title is from a 5sos song lol ⏯ estimated release: saturday, november 16, 2024 3:00 p.m. eastern time

“Is that sanitary?” Eunseok’s voice announced Roses for Eyes’ arrival that particular afternoon, as you sat atop the bar counter, scrolling on your phone in one of your few moments of peace and quiet around Venue:Hell.

“Kiss my ass, Eunseok,” you replied without even looking up.

“Yeah, I’ll get in line,” he retorted, making Sungchan and Wonbin laugh.

That finally prompted you to slide your gaze up, just in time to see the three of them laughing over by the stage as Shotaro flipped them all off over his shoulder, making his way towards you. He had two cups in one hand, one with a bright green straw in it, and the other without a straw, and you saw that the other three band members each had a plastic cup with a straw sticking out of them as well. You silently watched Shotaro approach, raising an eyebrow at him once he’d stopped in front of you.

“We were getting boba on our way here, and thought we’d grab you one, too.” His cheeks were a bright pink as he held the unopened cup out to you, and fished a packaged purple straw out from the front pocket of his black jean jacket.

“Who’s this ‘we’ that you’re talking about?” You asked humorously. “They all apparently think getting me boba is kissing my ass.”

Shotaro straightened up, puffing his chest out. “Actually, yeah. Fuck ‘em. I got you one because I thought it’d be nice to get you one too since you do so much for us every week. It’s uh-It’s honey milk tea, because I didn’t know what flavor you liked.”

“Thank you, Shotaro.” You accepted the cup and straw from him graciously, to a chorus of snickers from the spectators on the other side of the floor. “Honey milk tea is more than acceptable.”

“But it’s not your favorite?”

“I don’t have a favorite.” You set the cup on the bartop beside you to stab the straw into it.

“You—Hey, are those mine?” He seemed to have finally noticed the sunglasses perched atop your head.

“What? These?” You teased, tapping the plastic accessory arm on one side of your head.

“I was looking for those today!”

You took them off, offering them out towards him. “You left them here last week.”

Shotaro took the glasses just to turn them right back around, take a step closer to you, and place them back on your head, a fond smile on his face as he did so. “I think you look better in them, actually. You can hold onto them for a little longer.”

You swallowed, your chest suddenly feeling too tight for your heart, and six eyes suddenly feeling like way too many to be in the room with you two right now. You chuckled, trying to keep up the congenial tone as you once more pulled them off. This time, you folded the arms and tucked the sunglasses into Shotaro’s jacket pocket for him. “Thanks, Shotaro, but I can’t take your sunglasses. They’re really rockstar sunglasses anyway, not for someone like me.”

At that moment, you grabbed your boba tea and hopped off the bar, scooting out from between him and the counter. You avoided looking at the others, beelining for the back office.

When Shotaro had to come get his in-ears from you just a few minutes later, you gave him the same pleasant smile as usual, handing him the case. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” He tapped the case against his palm, the sound dampened by the fingerless gloves he was wearing that day. “What did you mean? When you said someone like you.”

“Wh—About the sunglasses?” You’d hardly expected him to confront you about that comment at all, much less alone now, just you and him in the office, no peanut gallery. While six eyes had felt like too many, this felt far too intimate. You somehow felt more exposed than before. “Like I said—They’re cool rockstar sunglasses, that’s what you are. You should wear them you know, up on stage, being all cool and stuff. I’m crew; no point in me wearing them while I’m sitting back here where nobody can see them.”

He frowned, but thankfully didn’t try to give them to you again. “I think you’re cool, Y/N.”

With that, he left the office.

⤷ masterlist

[r7leee]

right where you left me | f.o.

this fic is for @liseytopia and i’s lovely fic exchange. hope you like it, tysm for putting the extra time into making two i seriously don’t deserve you 😭🫶🏻 hope you like it <3

pairing: finnick odair x fem!reader

summary: you haven’t seen finnick since the games; at least the true finnick. ever since he got whisked away to the capitol, you haven’t seen his old self. but, one day, things change

warnings: angst angst angst, hurt/comfort, sad little finnick, cursing, friends to strangers to lovers

word count: 1,392, should take about ten and a half minutes to read (longest to date 🤭)

listen to: right where you left me - bonus track by taylor swift

IN THEORY, IT wasn’t a long time since finnick’s games. only six years. in the long run, that means nothing. you could waste six years at any other point in your life easily. but not these six years.

you and finnick had a bond. close friends, you were. you looked out for each other, came to the other’s rescue. whether it was for a bad dream, bad day, bad family, or anything else, you’d always come running for each other.

you’d patch the other’s wounds, wipe away the other’s tears. whenever somebody needed a shoulder to lean on, the other was there.

you should’ve been there for finnick when he got reaped, but you weren’t. you already dodged a bullet by not getting picked, so you were just trying to rid yourself of anxiety after the female tribute was called. but, it all came back when you heard the familiar name roll off the capitol member’s tongue. “finnick odair.”

your heart stopped. nothing could've prepared you for that. your head immediately shot to where he was standing. his face dropped. he looked like a figure made of wax; unmoving, unalive.

it took a jab in his back by the peacekeepers to get him to move, but his eyes immediately found you when he did.

"no," you whispered. "no, no, no, no." tears welled in his eyes as he mouthed "sorry," and that was it. you were expecting the world to collapse or something, anything, but nothing happened. everyone just went home.

it might've been better if the world ended right then and there, you thought, because finnick was gone forever, and hell, he was starting to be your world. you didn't even watch him on tv. you avoided the situation as much as possible by sleeping.

you almost went to you two's favorite spot, a creek near his house, every once in a while, but you couldn't bring yourself to. too many memories.

that was until it was announced finnick won. news of the century, it was to you. you remember waiting on his porch with a bouquet of flowers you snagged from the meadow earlier. but he never showed up.

maybe the train was late. but that train was late for a day, then two, then a week, and at that point, you'd far given up. you had to admit you'd maybe never see finnick again.

when he did finally show up, it had been a month since his victory. you were out grabbing some food at the market when you saw his face; beautiful blonde hair, tousled as always, and green eyes that looked like emeralds in the daylight. you could recognize it anywhere.

"finnick!" you yelled, completely dropping what you were doing. his head turned to see you, a soft smile on his face.

you almost cried seeing him. you immediately engulfed him in a hug, but he didn't really wrap his arms around your back. he didn't enjoy the hug; he just tolerated it. you didn't seem to notice or care at the moment, though. "oh my god, finnick, where have you been?" you asked, excitement pouring through your eyes.

"needed to take a victory tour for the capitol. did you not watch on tv?" he asked, chuckling slightly. the question almost set you back. why would you? who actually watched anything after the games?

"no. didn't know there was one. glad to see you're okay, though. god, i haven't seen you in ages," you practically beamed. he didn't seem to care, though. what was wrong with him?

"happy you care," he smiled before turning back to what he was doing. any conversation you had after that seemed like you two were just meeting. like you were complete strangers.

that’s how it remained for a while. finnick and you rarely talked, only when you were next to each other. you still waved hello to his parents, and they still asked if you'd like to come to dinner, but you had to refuse. you couldn't face the man you once called your friend. most times he was doing things for the capitol anyway, so it's not like it was hard to avoid him. he wasn't even in 4 half the time!

and that's how it stayed, this near-constant torture, for six years of your life. you made other friends to cope and nearly forgot about the boy you used to hang out with at fourteen. his presence was just a distant memory to you. you almost despised him for leaving you as suddenly as he did.

you thought you'd never come to his aid again. until one random day.

it wasn't much different than any other. you got a house for yourself and you, so far, didn't have any complaints. finnick's house was relatively close to the heart of 4, so you often passed by it while running your errands.

the sight of his house brought unease to you. you couldn't even look at it without feeling sad. even if you didn't want to admit it, you really missed finnick and you'd rather cut out every aspect of him than think about him.

that was until you heard something. it sounded almost like a cry. the sound was so faint you could almost barely hear it. you walked a bit closer to your ex-friend's house, and sure enough, the sound got louder.

it couldn't be from the house; his walls weren't that thin. the only place you could think of was behind the house. you checked to make sure nobody was around before sneaking around to the back side of his house.

the sight before your eyes you surely weren't expecting. poor finnick, the boy you used to know so long ago, was hugging his knees into his chest, all but sobbing.

suddenly, your sadness and guilt hit you like a brick. you ignored everything between you two at the moment and gently knelt down next to him. you weren't sure if he heard you, so you tried your best not to startle him. "you okay?" you asked.

he jumped slightly, not expecting anyone to be at his aid. especially not you. his eyes suddenly filled with a kind of comfort. "i can't lie, no," he admitted. you got down to his level, sitting beside him against the house.

"what's up?" he sniffled, drying his eyes with his hand.

"just...life. i have to go back to the capitol soon and i don't know if i can do it." you wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"you don't like it there?"

"no, not at all." he threw his head back, letting in a big gulp of fresh air. "they’ve done things to me. ever since the games, i've just been...i don't know, different."

you thought back to the month of his arrival. the sudden loss of all emotion from him. “ya, i can tell.”

“shit, i’m sorry,” he cupped his face in his hands again.

“wait, no, don’t apologize, hon.” you weren’t even sure why the nickname slipped out. It happened without you thinking. he looked up with his eyebrows furrowed. “it’s not your fault.”

“did you call me hon?”

“not important right now, what i’m trying to say is i forgive you. for everything. none of it was your fault. the games do things to people and i understand that, so don’t feel bad. i just want you to feel happy.”

he barely paid attention to your words. he just smiled, slowly realizing the best part of his life was back. finnick didn’t mean to leave you like he did, but he didn’t want to hurt himself; get too attached to you just to get ripped apart.

when you noticed his grin, you almost damn near melted. you hadn’t seen him like this since you were kids. you sighed, tears threatening to spill out your eyes. “you look so pretty,” you said, cupping his cheek with your hand.

“you do too.” without thinking, his eyes darted to your lips. you sniffled before leaning in and closing the gap between you two.

the kiss was possibly the best of your life. it was filled with remorse and passion and “i’m sorry”s, and “i love you”s.

once you pulled away, you rested your forehead with his. “don’t ever leave me again,” he mumbled, tone soft.

“i don’t know how i could.”

[spookyserenades]

Trouvaille - Chapter Two

Pairing(s); BTS OT7 x Reader

Genre/Themes; Hybrid!AU, themes of the supernatural and the occult, religious themes, violence, hurt/comfort, horror, romance

Rated; 18+ for swearing, violence/gore, future sexual themes. Reader discretion is advised.

Word Count; 20.8k

Trouvaille Masterlist

Trouvaille playlist

Updates on the 7th of each month

Hi everyone, Dana here again! Welcome to Chapter Two, and thank you for reading and sending lovely responses to Chapter One. In this chapter, you'll meet more members, and the plot will continue to thicken in the coming installments. If you have any questions or comments about this fic, I'd love to hear from you. Again, if you'd like to be added to the taglist for Trouvaille, just let me know! Please enjoy this update, and thank you for your support :)

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Two hours of sleep revived Y/N enough to wake up feeling somewhat alive again, a nice, hot shower rinsing the scent of bruise cream down the drain. Wiping condensation from her mirror, she tightened the towel wrapped around her body before hastily slapping jasmine lotion on her skin. Though it was the end of August, late afternoons had started to become breezy with the bite of autumn in the air, a gentle draft floating in from the rickety window in her bathroom. 

Fresh with a new pair of waffle-knit cream sweatpants, fuzzy socks, and a soft gray long sleeve tee, she reveled in wearing loungewear in the middle of the day for once – no more itchy scrubs! Satisfied with her comfortable clothing, Y/N scooped up her laptop off of her crowded desk, humming a tune while heading out to check on Seokjin again. She wondered where the other two were and if they decided to take a nap as well, or if they were wandering around the house. There were many nooks and crannies she hadn’t included in her tour, opting to show them just the bedrooms and living spaces. That way, they had more things to explore themselves. 

Tiptoeing into the entryway of the green room, she nearly dropped her laptop in surprise. Seokjin was sitting upright, head turned to look out the only window unobscured by the drawn curtains. His ear flickered, picking up on Y/N’s sharp intake of breath, and gripped the water bottle he was holding tightly as his head swiveled to look in her direction. 

It was the first time she got a good look at his face, full lips dropped open in shock, wide vibrant orange eyes rimmed with black lashes, sharp jawline set bracingly. His coloring seemed to be back to normal, but she wanted to get closer to make sure the fever was on its way out. Although, now that Seokjin was awake, Y/N wasn’t really sure what to say to him.

“Hi, sorry I startled you,” Y/N broke the ice, Seokjin twisting the material of the Good Charlotte shirt in his hand nervously. Tentatively, she placed her laptop on the table in the hall next to a vase. “Can I come in?”

Seokjin cleared his throat after attempting to croak out a response, beginning to move from the bed, something Y/N wished he wouldn’t do so soon. 

“Y-yes…” he hoarsely replied, face screwing up in discomfort as he tried to swing his legs out from under the comforter. Y/N hurried into the room, holding her hands out in alarm. 

“Oh please, don’t get up just yet! I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” Y/N exclaimed, rushing to the side of his bed while he halted his movements. She noticed how he froze as she got closer, so she refrained from getting too near at first. 

“I… don’t even remember getting here,” Seokjin confessed, continuing to wind the shirt in his fist. 

“You fell asleep on the ride back, Hoseok and Jimin helped you in and out of the van. I think you might have gotten a fever from having to shift suddenly when you changed at the shelter. I’m sorry, that was foolish of me to ask of you,” Y/N hung her head low, busying her hands by collecting the used facecloths on the nightstand. 

“No! I mean, um, it's alright. It’s actually pretty uncomfortable to be shifted into animal form for extended periods of time,” Seokjin assured her quickly, his hand shooting out to touch her wrist briefly so she could lift her head, features melting into a sheepish expression. Shellshocked by the contact, her skin tingled where his gentle fingers had brushed for a split second before they were gone. Y/N searched his eyes, watching as he averted her gaze distractedly, focusing his attention on the window outside once more. His expression was still melancholic as he watched the breeze rustle the foliage in the backyard, eyes far away. 

“How’s your side?” Y/N asked gently, tossing the face cloths in the hamper by the door. Ear twitching again, Seokjin’s lips turned downwards into a frown. Not exactly the reaction she was looking for. 

Seokjin, fingers trembling, lifted the bottom of his shirt, exposing the patch of gauze, a little gasp falling from his mouth. The gauze was clean, bleeding stopped, and Y/N was proud of herself for cleaning up the site so well, her nerves dissipated a degree. 

“You– did you do this?” Seokjin’s fingers grazed the gauze, shoulders sagging as his hands stopped shaking at once. 

“Uh… yes, I did. Again, I’m sorry, I don’t usually touch people without their permission, but I wanted to make sure infection didn’t set in so you could heal quickly,” Y/N felt like sticking her head in sand with the flow of the conversation. 

Seokjin shook his head quickly, back to fidgeting with the shirt. “Oh, I’m never any good at saying what I mean, I’m grateful that you fixed it… thank you,” he scolded himself under his breath, Y/N’s eyebrows pulling together in confusion. It was instances like this that made her desperate for a little background information on the hybrid’s history, so she could understand why three out of seven so far seemed guilty for receiving kindness of any sort. 

“Seokjin, how are you feeling, fever-wise? Do you need some Advil, are you hungry?” Y/N inquired, setting a new bottle of water on his nightstand. He eyed the bottle as she spoke, seemingly neither here nor there. 

“I’m better, I think, the chills are gone. Really, I don’t want to trouble you with cooking for me,” Seokjin mumbled, cheeks going pink. Y/N scoffed watching the shadow of doubt cross over his face. 

“And I don’t want you to worry about something silly like that. Before I saw that you were awake, I was going to check on you and make some lunch for all of us,” Y/N explained, watching the wheels turn in his head. “I’ll bring your’s to you in a bit.”

Seokjin pushed the comforter off of himself, growing antsy. Anxiety rolled off of him in tangible waves, etched in his features. 

“Should I help?” Seokjin tried very hard to keep discomfort off of his face as he twisted to get off the bed once more, stubbornness in his personality becoming apparent to Y/N. It was endearing, if anything. She stopped him by dragging the comforter back over his legs, and before thinking too much about it, placed a light hand on his shoulder to ease him back against the pillows. His ears twitched in reaction to the touch, small protests coming from him as she uncapped the fresh bottle of water and placed it in his hands to replace the empty one. 

“While I appreciate the offer, you should rest for a little while longer. How about this, instead of bringing lunch in here, I can help you out into the kitchen when it’s done, and you can eat with us all,” Y/N compromised, knowing that eating alone can be alienating for some. Besides, being cooped up all day was likely making him feel stir-crazy in an unfamiliar home. 

Seokjin brightened a little with her offer, the corner of his mouth curling upwards shakily, shimming downwards into the bed a few inches. Obediently, he took a few swigs of the water. 

“Alright, I can do that,” Seokjin conceded. Giving him a bright smile, she walked over to the bookcase in search of something to keep him busy.

“By the way, sorry about your shirt. I had to fish out one of my old concert tees after patching you up, the other one had gotten stained…” Y/N scanned the bookshelf, plucking the one she was searching for off of the middle shelf. “How about a book while you wait for lunch?”

Turning back to him, Seokjin was pulling the shirt away from him so he could examine the print, an odd look on his face as he read the text. Back at his side, she presented him with the embossed copy of The Fellowship of the Ring. He took it carefully, palm sliding over the gilded cover. Y/N switched the lamp on beside him so he could read. 

“Thank you…” Seokjin cracked the book open, bringing it up close to his face so he could stare at the illustrated map of Middle Earth. His eyes were clouded with something she couldn’t place; something between nostalgia and grief. “I’ve heard of these movies, before.”

“I have the extended version box set on DVD. We could watch it, sometime,” Y/N grinned, Seokjin’s cheeks rounding out as he broke out into something adjacent to hope.

“I’d like that,” he replied quietly, Adam’s apple bobbing, eyes downcast.

The last thing Y/N wanted was to make Seokjin cry, though she had no idea why he had reacted to the subject of Lord of the Rings the way he did. There was no way she was prying, but it almost seemed like he was flipping through a scrapbook of memories from the past rather than a novel. 

Sticking around felt strange, and Seokjin was absorbed in the map still, so Y/N decided to take her leave. Inching towards the door, she wondered how, or if, she could avoid provoking such a melancholy reaction from Seokjin in the future. 

“I’ll come and get you in a bit!” Y/N called, leaving the door open. Retrieving her laptop from the table, she resumed her journey to the kitchen. Along the way, she kept her eyes peeled for Jimin or Hoseok; the basement door was left partially open, but there was no sign of the fox hybrid. The hallway and foyer were empty, so she assumed the two were still in their rooms. 

In the kitchen, she set up her laptop for later. She wasn’t quite sure what to make for lunch, as it had been a while since she had gone to the grocery store. On the island, there was a large loaf of Italian bread and some lovely heirloom tomatoes her mother dropped off two days prior. Y/N was fairly sure she had some more ingredients to make sandwiches out of the bread, if she cut it lengthwise and then into four. 

Checking out the sad state of the fridge, shelves empty but a few bottles of condiments and cartons of fruit, she groaned. While working at the hospital, she often got pizza locally or ate with her parents – and her cabinets reflected it. Spotting a package of mozzarella and a little jar of pesto, she pulled them from the fridge, humming as her stomach growled uncomfortably. It had been hours since she had eaten, herself. 

After laying down a thick layer of pesto on the bread, layering mozzarella slices with the tomato, she seasoned everything with salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil before separating the loaf into four even sandwiches. She stuck the sandwiches on a baking tray to crispen up in the oven, and emptied a large bag of kettle-cooked potato chips into a bowl, placing it on the breakfast nook table for everyone to help themselves. Getting plates out from the cupboard, Y/N sliced a few peaches from the fruit basket and arranged them on the plates and set the table with napkins, silverware, glasses and a pitcher of water. 

With the sandwiches in the oven for fifteen minutes, she had enough time to prioritize items on her list on her laptop. The most important: calling her family, Ben, and the bank, which she’d tackle after lunch. Second, was ordering the phones and at least a week’s worth of clothes for all seven hybrids. She would make the haircut appointments last, and maybe even poke around on hybrid databases to see if she could get more information about her hybrids. 

There was a website that hybrid owners could plug in the specific number that gets mailed to them shortly after adoption along with the official papers, not unlike a social security number. Once plugging in the number to the database, medical history becomes available to the owner, as well as information relating to the hybrid’s past, and upbringing. Of course, she would have to wait at least a week for the official adoption papers to come in the mail, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t check out some of the other features of the databases. 

Contemplating on whether or not to draft up a script to read to Ben simply to get through the phone call later on, she passed a hand over her face. She had never kept a secret from him, and though it was only several hours after the adoptions, making a major life decision without consulting him even once made her feel rotten. Besides, she hadn’t called to check in on how Daisy was faring, which made her feel even worse. Talking to her parents was a whole other ordeal – her mother, she predicted, would be thrilled that Y/N decided to adopt a hybrid. However, the fact that there were seven of them, and they were all men, might temper her excitement. Her father, as she could only guess of his reaction considering he ran hot and cold most of the time; would either call her crazy or ask if any of them needed a heart check-up. Groaning, she dreaded both phone calls equally. 

The scent of basil and toasted bread began to perfume the air, alerting her of the perfect time to round up the hybrids for lunch. Pushing herself off the barstool, she headed to Jimin’s room first. Past the closed door of her grandfather’s old office, the late afternoon light illuminating the house from the sunroom at the end of the hallway, the door to Jimin’s room was sandwiched between the two. It was the part of the house that got the most sun, perhaps why Jimin had chosen the blue room in the first place.

Stopping in front of the door, Y/N took a deep breath in, hoping she wouldn’t be waking him from a nap, and knocked twice. 

“Jimin? Lunch is just about ready,” Y/N called, blinking as she waited for a response. Seconds passed, before she heard a scuffle against the floor and the closing of the bathroom door within his room. The door opened, the scent of lavender shampoo smacking her in the face, Jimin’s serene face appearing in the doorframe nearly making her swoon. He’d showered, judging by the wet strands of sandy hair that were slicked back, allowing Y/N to get an unobstructed view of his sculpted face. She was at a loss for words, Jimin placing the towel around his neck on the door handle to dry as he stepped out into the hallway. 

“It smells good, what did you make?” Jimin asked, giving her that same intense eye contact he had in the van as he stared down at her. Gulping, Y/N recovered by tearing her eyes from him, picking imaginary dust off of her shirt. 

“Caprese sandwiches! I have a bit of grocery shopping to do, the fridge is looking a little depressing. I’m thinking of ordering everything online, but in that case we can’t pick our own produce. Then again, we could go to the farmer’s market tomorrow,” Y/N babbled while Jimin made a noise of approval, trying her best not to walk stiffly next to him on their way down the hall. She was rambling, the way she always did when she was nervous, but it was hard to calm down with such a handsome man clinging on to every word she spoke. 

Jimin followed her towards the basement in tandem, a sort of bow-legged shape to his stride, hands clasped behind his back. It was a shame he had to put the clothes he traveled in back on after his shower, Y/N hoped that she could overnight some other options for everyone. 

“I heard Hoseok in the kitchen earlier, getting water, so he should be awake,” Jimin informed her, studying the way she lifted her hand to knock on the door with minor amusement. “He’ll hear you if you call.”

“Um, okay,” Y/N laughed shakily, not entirely comfortable with both yelling down to Hoseok and the way Jimin watched her so closely, like she was some kind of colorful lizard. Wedging the basement door open a bit more, she called, “Hoseok, come get some lunch!” Cringing at the sound of her voice echoing down the stairs, she swore she heard a light snicker from Jimin, but didn’t dare turn to blind herself with his megawatt smile to confirm.

The sound of Hoseok’s light footsteps bounded up the stairs two at a time, and Y/N figured she should go ahead and get Seokjin. Hoseok’s flushed face appeared from the top of the stairs, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple, and Y/N wondered if he was the first one to make use of the gym. 

“I’m gonna go get Seok–” Y/N started, turning on her heel, before squeaking in surprise at the sight of the very hybrid she was about to fetch leaning against the staircase landing. Sleek black tail flicking back and forth lazily, he regarded the three of them with an expression that almost read smug. 

“H-how long was he standing there?” Y/N murmured to Jimin, who looked like he was biting back a shit-eating grin. So this was how it was going to be. 

“The whole time,” Jimin answered, Hoseok cracking up behind her. Face scarlet, Y/N felt a little foolish for babying Seokjin so hard when he could clearly get up and about, and was even more embarrassed she hadn’t even realized him standing there in the first place. Too busy trying not to trip under Jimin’s gaze, she supposed. Regardless, she was slightly humiliated. 

“I’m okay now, I swear,” Seokjin assured, speaking directly to Y/N. Standing on his own two feet, Seokjin was tall and even broader than she originally thought, the material of her old shirt pulling against his shoulders and across his pecs. Overwhelmed, Y/N nodded dumbly, a shock of electricity shooting through her as Hoseok brushed past her, his hand briefly steadying her shoulder as he went. Hell. 

“With the way you were passed out in the car, I thought you were on the precipice of death,” Hoseok clapped a hand over Seokjin’s back, the latter’s tail swishing in an agitated manner contrary to his amicable expression.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re lucky I didn’t puke on you,” Seokjin pushed Hoseok away, trailing after him in the direction of the kitchen. 

“Actually, it was Jimin who was cradling your top half, Jin. Try again,” Hoseok sang, reaching back to grasp his tail so Seokjin wouldn’t get a hold of it and yank. Stunned at the spectacle, Y/N peered up at Jimin curiously, who was politely waiting for her to lead the way. Finally unfreezing, she hurried to the kitchen.

“Jin?” She whispered to Jimin, who stooped to hear her. A strand of his damp hair fell forward, brushing the side of her neck.

“Those two arrived at the shelter together. They were one of the first ones of us there, took a liking to each other,” Jimin spoke softly in her ear, husky voice making her shiver. It was relieving that the three hybrids that she had brought home first all got along well, but it did concern her that she’d potentially be disturbing the easy peace so soon by bringing home others. She’d pick their brains later that night to get a sense of the others, considering Jimin, Hoseok, and Seokjin didn’t have a problem interacting with her. 

In the kitchen, she showed them where to sit at the breakfast nook while she pulled the sandwiches out of the oven. They were perfectly toasted, and the scent alone triggered a loud grumble from her stomach, which she was positive the hybrids could hear. Hurriedly, she placed the baking tray on the island, using a spatula to slide the sandwiches on the plates with the peaches. They were chatting, too quiet for her to hear, but she adored the way the kitchen was already filled with life, loneliness be damned. 

Balancing three plates in her hands at once, she carefully made her way to the booth, putting a plate in front of each hybrid, excited for them to finally get some food in their stomachs. Hoseok whistled again, a particular tune becoming familiar to her already, and she dashed to retrieve her own plate and settle down next to Seokjin. Pouring herself some water, she wiggled in her seat happily as she reached for some chips for her plate. Napkin in her lap, she paused, noticing the sudden silence around her, and lack of chewing. Looking up from her plate, she frowned. 

“Something wrong? Does it smell funky?” Y/N sniffed the sandwich, wondering if the cheese had gone bad, but it smelled heavenly. Jimin ducked his head, clearing his throat awkwardly. 

“No, no, we were just waiting for you to start first…” Hoseok fiddled with the stem of his water glass, face closed off a tad. Frowning further, Y/N recalled this habit from her father’s friend’s hybrid, who would never begin eating until he did. It was something they were trained to do as children in labs, she was told by her father, which always made her stomach turn – and she couldn’t believe she forgot. 

“Oh, God. You don’t have to do that, ever, dig in while it’s hot! Please,” Y/N pleaded, already hating when people watched her eat, and wanting to sink into the floor. Glancing at each other sideways, they hesitantly began to help themselves to chips, Jimin spearing a peach on his fork slowly. Deciding to speed up the process, Y/N took a larger-than-normal bite of her sandwich, trying not to moan from the flavors melting on her taste buds. The last thing she remembered eating was a sad hummus wrap during her lunch break yesterday, so the cheesy sandwich was exactly what she needed to soak up any gin left in her body.

Seokjin’s elbow kept brushing her side as he ate his sandwich, cheeks filled with food as he ate with gusto. In fact, the three of them ate with such speed, Y/N found herself the last to finish her own sandwich, Hoseok batting Seokjin’s hand away for the last few salt and vinegar chips. She giggled at Seokjin’s offended expression, eyes blown comically wide, Hoseok shooting her a wink. Thankfully, she had swallowed the peach she had been chewing, because she definitely would have choked with that whole exchange. 

“That was delicious. Ah, I forgot how good tomatoes can be,” Hoseok sighed in satisfaction, passing a hand over his stomach as he leaned back on the cushy booth. Y/N caught Jimin catching a drop of peach juice dripping down his fingertip with his tongue, averting her gaze quickly before he could realize he was being watched. 

“Our neighbors grew them in their garden. The Robinsons, I’ll introduce you to them, they’re very kind. Mrs. Robinson is my mother’s closest friend,” Y/N informed them, chewing on her last peach slice thoughtfully. She had been meaning to go over to her neighbor’s for a few weeks for tips on starting a garden next spring, and how to go about restoring the rusted greenhouse towards the back of her property. It would definitely be a fun project to include the hybrids in, gardening was rewarding and would be very convenient to be able to pick an abundance of produce for the growing number of mouths to feed in the house. 

“So, you’re close with your parents,” Hoseok said this like a confirmation of a fact, rather than a question, but it didn’t bother Y/N. The assumption he made was correct, her parents were ever-present in her life and constant support, and even thinking about them briefly made her feel uncomfortable for not consulting them about the adoptions. She nodded, collecting plates and utensils from the hybrids. 

“Yeah, we’re pretty close. They come around here frequently, so I ought to beat them to the punch and pay them a visit before they surprise us,” Seokjin handed her his plate, thanking her quietly as she stood to take them to the sink. Spinning back to the fridge, she opened up the freezer, the suspicion that she had chocolate coated ice cream bars under a bag of frozen dumplings confirmed. “Ice cream, anyone?” 

The hybrids were by her side as soon as the words left her mouth. Apparently, these were the magic words, and she tucked that information away for later.  

Handing each of them a wrapped bar as they loitered around the kitchen island, she got to work on rinsing the plates and shoving everything in the dishwasher. Seokjin sunk into a barstool across from her, memorizing the details of the kitchen appliances and the way she loaded dishes into the machine. Meanwhile, the other two began to bring leftover items from the breakfast table to the dishwasher, ice cream coating their lips as they bickered back and forth. Cleanup went a lot faster with a few additional hands, even if they were preoccupied with enjoying their frozen treats, and it felt like they had enjoyed hundreds of meals together before. 

“Y/N, can we take Jin on the tour of the place?” Hoseok asked suddenly, after tossing his popsicle stick in the garbage drawer Y/N was scraping chip crumbs into. Brightening, Y/N saw this as the perfect opportunity to slip away and make her phone calls. Now behind Seokjin still slouched on the barstool, Hoseok playfully rubbed his shoulders, the former blushing and attempting to peel Hoseok’s hands away from him. “Now that he can walk, of course.”

“Oh, go ahead! You can pick a bedroom you like, just like they did, too – you don’t have to stay in my old childhood bedroom,” Y/N dried her hands on a kitchen towel, promising herself she would clean out that old wardrobe as soon as Seokjin moved out of the green room. Stumbling to his feet, Seokjin tried to catch Hoseok by his ear, hobbling after him. The men started to head towards the hall, Jimin pausing next to Y/N while Hoseok’s lively laugh echoed in the foyer. 

“Are you coming?” Jimin asked, head cocking curiously. Shaking her head, she pocketed her phone, which was practically burning a hole in her thigh. 

“I have to make a couple of calls, I trust you and Hoseok to show Seokjin around just as well as I could,” she assured, leading him out into the foyer. Jimin scratched the back of his neck, Y/N smiling fondly at the sound of Hoseok’s bright laughter as Seokjin pushed him around. Jimin joined the others, Hoseok eagerly ushering Seokjin down into the basement and waiting for the coyote hybrid to follow. 

Sighing, Y/N dragged her feet to the patio, deciding she might as well get comfortable if she was in for an earful. Calling Ben, first, was likely her wisest option, considering he would definitely be the more disapproving between him and her parents. She groaned as she unlocked her phone, four messages since last night left unread.

Ben Alpin: Morning, granny! Someone is settling in nicely~ 

The first message had an attached image of Daisy seated at Ben’s glass dining room table, a comically tall stack of fluffy pancakes in front of her. She had on a pair of Disney princess pajamas Roy had picked out on a trip he had gone on with Ben months ago on a whim – talk about foresight. 

Ben Alpin: You must be hungover, huh? Give me a call so we can check in, we want to see you Sunday for brunch!

Ben Alpin: Y/N, are you okay?? 

Ben Alpin: Call me!!!

She could put off the call no longer, she had a feeling if any more time passed, Ben would end up on her lawn. Settling on a lounge chair, noticing the sun starting to set sooner now that the summer was coming to a close, she took a deep breath and let the line ring. He picked up on the second ring.

“Jesus! Did you just wake up? How many episodes of Hell’s Kitchen did you watch while polishing off that bottle of Hendrick’s last night?” Ben bypassed hellos, the sound of a tinkling baby xylophone and childish giggles coming through the receiver. 

“No, no! I’ve just been a little busy today, I’m sorry for making you worry,” Y/N breathed, wondering how the hell she would even breach the subject of her last 12 hours. “How’s Daisy?”

“Y/N, she’s an angel, I swear. Did you get that picture? I actually cooked this morning, can you believe it? Roy almost died from shock,” Ben gushed, and Y/N couldn’t remember the last time he sounded so joyful. 

“Those pancakes looked delicious. I can’t believe those pajamas fit her so perfectly, too,” Y/N stalled, smacking herself in the face. She had to just bite the bullet. 

“Roy’s out shopping for her clothes now. I wasn’t allowed to come, he said I’d go over budget,” Ben chuckled, saying something unintelligible to Daisy while leaning away from the receiver. 

“Uh… Ben, I have to tell you something,” Y/N rushed out, biting down on her lip hard. 

“What? Do you need Roy to swing by and fix something?”

“No, that’s not it. Listen, it’s about last night at the shelter.”

“...What about it?” Ben asked slowly, the sound of him walking into another room making her even more nervous.

“Well, I wandered off while you two were meeting Daisy, remember? I didn’t go to the bathroom, I found another room in the back. Hybrids were in there,” Y/N murmured into the phone, eyes squeezed shut. Ben was quiet on the other line for a moment, waiting for her to continue.

“There were more hybrids,” Ben confirmed, sounding confused. “The shopkeeper said they only had one, Daisy.”

“The room was sectioned off for aggressives and exotics, and the shopkeeper already had a potential buyer. I looked into the room, and saw them all in their shifted forms, I saw an injured jaguar, there was a wolf…”

“Wait, wait, wait. Why didn’t you say anything last night? Why do I have the feeling you did something very, very stupid?” Ben exclaimed, alarmed. Y/N swallowed, bracing herself.

“Don’t be mad, please! I had to do something, the man picking them up was going to use them for hunting,” Y/N whined, curling in on herself on the lounge chair. 

“Did you adopt them?” Ben’s voice pitched upwards in surprise, however, he didn’t seem to sound angered. 

“Yes,” Y/N whispered back, almost tearing a hole in her lip.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe it. I’m almost proud you did something without making a pros and cons list and presenting it to me first. But still, Y/N, this is crazy. Are they with you now? You said a wolf and a jaguar?” Shocked by his reaction, Y/N breathed out heavily in relief. 

“I took three of them home today. I have to go back for the others,” Y/N answered, relaxing back on her chair. 

“Three? The others?” Ben repeated, astonished. 

“Actually, there’s seven of them. I adopted seven,” Y/N rubbed her temples, realizing that saying this out loud sounded a lot more insane than it did in her head. 

“Seven!? You adopted seven hybrids?” Ben hollered through the phone, cursing as he shut himself into a room, likely to yell at her away from Daisy’s ears. “What were you thinking? Do you have any idea how much responsibility and work comes with taking care of that many hybrids?”

Chastised, Y/N sucked her teeth, not liking the tone of condescension threading his voice. She was optimistic, not stupid, and knew that she had her share of difficulties ahead of her. 

“Of course I know. I couldn’t just let them get shipped off to their deaths, Ben. Especially when I have the means to care for them,” Y/N ground out through her teeth. 

“I get that, Y/N, and I’m aware that you have space for them in that house, but I’m just worried for you, that’s all. I don’t think you’d be too thrilled with me if I informed you I had just adopted seven aggressive hybrids out of the blue,” Ben drove home, a stab of annoyance jolting through her as she reluctantly agreed with him.

“You’re right, I wouldn’t be. But Ben, I promise you, it’s been so far so good today. The three here with me now are nothing but sweet,” Y/N sighed, hoping she could wrap up the conversation before the sun went down. 

“I don’t know, Y/N. Part of me is happy for you, but I’m still concerned about how you’ll manage to juggle this. You just quit your job, for Christ’s sake! Can I come by this week to meet them?” The sound of Ben scratching his beard anxiously crackled through the phone. 

Meeting the hybrids would likely set Ben’s mind at ease, and Y/N was hoping her friends would welcome them into their circle down the line anyways. Besides, Ben would never stop badgering her about making a half-cocked decision until he sized them up, confirming they were no threat to her. Y/N’s main concern was the wolf hybrid, who had regarded her with hostility; convincing Ben that he was harmless would be no easy feat when she didn’t even know that herself yet. 

“Why don’t you come by on Friday with Roy. We can have our end-of-the-summer cookout. I think it would be nice for the hybrids to meet you and enjoy themselves. It’ll give them some time to get acclimated here before then, too.”

Ben exhaled slowly, and Y/N could picture him shaking his head disapprovingly. She picked at her fingernails waiting for his response. 

“I forgot about our cookout, of course we’ll come. You have to call Laura and Alice, though. I won’t be the messenger for this bombshell,” Ben warned, though a hint of a smile came through his voice. Relieved, Y/N fist-bumped the air, the worst of the scolding over with. 

“Can you bring those special cupcakes again?” Y/N requested cheekily, mouth already watering over lavender cake and s’mores flavored cupcakes – Ben always bought an array.

“I’ll put the order in today. I’m going to have to order about a hundred for the additional mouths, aren’t I?” Ben switched to speaker mode, fingers tapping away at presumably the bakery’s website order form. 

“Get extra strawberry ones! Also, bring Daisy along to the cookout. Laura will be bringing Kai, maybe they can be friends,” Y/N offered, hoping to cut some additional tension. Ben chuckled.

“Brilliant idea, Kai’s only a year or so younger than Daisy, and at that age children learn from each other. We’ll be there. Listen, Y/N – I gotta fly. I think Roy is home,” Ben rushed, Roy’s voice floating through the townhouse looking for him. “Be safe. And call me if anything happens.”

“I will. Talk to you tomorrow,” Y/N bid goodbye, Ben calling out to Roy before hanging up. A significant weight lifted off of her shoulders, and her newfound excitement for the cookout next week had her itching to break out her cookbooks. 

Every year since she was a kid, her grandparents hosted an end-of-summer cookout at the house. Ben had been attending the cookout for as long as she had, when they were young her grandparent’s friends, her parents, and neighbors filled the backyard with music, good food, and a toasty bonfire. As her grandparents got older, the cookouts became smaller, between Ben, her parents and perhaps a few neighbors, before the event stopped when her grandparents moved out. When Y/N moved into the house a year ago, she and Ben had decided to continue the tradition again, something her parents adored, and neighbors appreciated. Everyone brought something to contribute to the meal, and it was a memorable event Y/N was eager to share with the hybrids. Easing into plans for the cookout seemed to be the way to go when calling her parents, before telling them about the new additional guests. 

Standing, Y/N stretched her arms, making her way to the long picnic dining table by the largest willow in the backyard. It could comfortably seat about 30 people, made years ago by her grandfather’s close woodshop hobbyist friend, and was as good a place as any to sit and talk to her parents. Putting the phone on speaker, she brushed a few leaves from the table and noted that it needed a good scrub.

“Honey? How are you?” Her mother picked up her father’s phone, the two always together since his semi-retirement. 

“Hi mom! I’m great, is dad with you?”

“Yes, he’s right here! We’re out on the balcony having some tea, autumn is in the air, honey!” Her mother exclaimed, a huge fan of the seasonal holidays. 

“Hey, sweetheart! What are you up to? Are you going to host our cookout next week?” Her father piped up, sounding somewhat far away. 

“I’m sitting at the cookout table now, dad! How’s Friday looking? That’s when I’m planning on having it,” Y/N shouted like she was trying to reach someone on Mars, her father a bit hard of hearing. 

“Friday’s good, honey! Full moon that night, I’ll bring some cards,” her mother crooned. Her mother was a pagan, and often liked to include others in moon rituals when she could; it was very fun growing up. 

“Okay, good,” Y/N chuckled, pushing hair from her face. 

“Your dad will make the famous mac and cheese! And we’ll bring all of the buns, too, and your mother’s black bean burgers,” her father shouted, his throat hoarse. 

“About that… Could you make some extra? There’s going to be a few more people than last year,” Y/N braced herself, hoping that they’d take the news better than Ben.

“Sure, honey, who else will be there? Did you invite your ex-coworkers?” Her mother asked, slurping her tea noisily.

“No, actually. I have some new housemates,” Y/N replied, hiding behind her hands like her parents could see her. 

“Oh that’s wonderful, Y/N! Where did you meet them?” Her father exclaimed, joy coloring his voice.

“Well, to tell you the truth, they’re hybrids. I’ve made some adoptions.”

Her mother gasped delightedly, the sound of a teacup clattering onto a saucer making Y/N’s ears ring. 

“You did? Oh, darling, didn’t I tell you she would? Didn’t I?” Her mother gushed to her father, who was laughing heartily. That was definitely not the reaction she was expecting, but her mother had been known to have her random premonitions. 

“You’re not mad?” Y/N confirmed, eyebrows up in her hairline. 

“Of course not, honey! How many are there? We’ll make enough for everybody. I’m signing them up for my book club too! When can I see you for all the details?” Her mother rambled like Y/N did, a habit passed down. 

“Seven. I’ll swing by at some point this week and bring them along,” Y/N promised, her father asking her mother loudly how many pounds of pasta he should make. She had severely underestimated her parent’s attitudes towards the adoptions, and had a suspicion they were talking amongst themselves about her solitude behind her back. 

“Seven! My goodness, I’ll have to make some more bean burgers and get them in the freezer. Make sure you do some shopping, honey, your fridge is barren. Absolutely barren!” 

“Yes, mom. I’m working on it, I’m hoping to get to the store tomorrow,” Y/N rolled her eyes with amusement, swatting a mosquito away from her wrist. 

The sun had sunk behind the trees, it must have been close to 4:30, and Y/N’s to-do list was still stretching on and on. With the coming of evening, she started to get even more antsy for the upcoming morning return to the shelter. She wondered who would come back with her, and she hoped they all would.  

“I should get going, you guys. I’m going to order some takeout and make a few online orders, the hybrids need a few sets of clothes between now and when we go to the shopping center,” Y/N dragged herself off of the bench, noticing a few lights on on the second floor of the house. The sight warmed her heart, and she was ready to return to the three hybrids waiting for her. They must have finished their tour by now. 

“Alright, honey. Give us a call sometime in the next few days, we’re looking forward to seeing you and your new friends! Love you,” her father made a kissy sound through the phone, voice muffled as her mother fumbled for the phone. 

“Love you both!” Y/N sang, laughing as her father hung up before her mother could steal her attention for twenty more minutes. 

With the phone calls out of the way, Y/N felt like she had climbed a mountain. Crickets began to chirp pleasantly in the uncut lawn, dusk quickly approaching, and Y/N made her way back to the kitchen door and into the warmly lit kitchen. Rummaging through the “junk drawer” under the coffee maker, Y/N grasped the takeout pamphlet for her favorite Thai restaurant in town, thanking the sky for their speedy late-night deliveries. She felt like treating the hybrids to a cozy movie night with some yummy food, curled up in the cushy parlor room browsing menswear on her laptop, before getting a good night’s sleep to prepare for the morning.

Making her way out into the hall, she followed the sound of Jimin’s rugged accent to the sunroom, which was soaking up the height of the evening’s sunset. The red brick flooring cast terracotta about the place, houseplants turning the glass room into something like a cozy treehouse. Seokjin was actually misting a plant with the little glass bottle she had left on the wooden coffee table, Jimin explaining something to do with horse training to Hoseok. The three hadn’t noticed her standing in the doorway, watching as they stood around the spider plant. 

Clearing her throat, three pairs of ears twitched right on cue, Seokjin immediately setting the mister down and meeting Y/N halfway across the room. For some reason that surprised her, Seokjin seemed to like having close proximity to her already despite his initial anxiety. His eyes were trained on the pamphlet she was holding.

“I was thinking about watching a couple of movies tonight and ordering out, if you guys want to join me? This Thai place is one of my favorites, it's right in the center of town,” Y/N gave the pamphlet to Seokjin, who brushed his fingers over her’s accidentally, electricity zapping through the skin once again. He hummed looking at the delicious plate of pad see ew on the front of the menu, evidently not noticing the effect his casual touches had on Y/N’s already frazzled nerves. 

“Yeah, that sounds really nice,” Jimin confirmed, trying to peer over Seokjin’s broad shoulders at the pamphlet he was holding. “I’ve never had Thai food.”

“Me neither,” Seokjin murmured while he flipped through the menu, quickly handing it to Jimin so he could follow Y/N making her way to the flatscreen in the other room. Hoseok was telling Jimin to get some khao soi, trying to steal away the menu, and Jimin wasn’t having it as he tried to step on Hoseok’s light foot.

The four headed into the parlor room noisily, the large velvety sofa stacked with plenty of cozy knitted throws and fluffy pillows and simply begging to be sunk into. Y/N chose the leather recliner next to the sofa to comfortably surf the web without disrupting the others, pulling a throw over her legs and listening to Hoseok recommend dishes to everybody. Seokjin awkwardly perched himself at the end of the couch closest to Y/N’s recliner, flinching as Hoseok tossed a blanket over his lap for him.

“So jumpy,” Hoseok remarked, wasting no time getting comfortable in the center of the sofa, feet propped up on the upholstered ottoman. Jimin, distractedly lowering himself at the far end of the couch away from Hoseok, continued to flip through the Thai menu with a torn expression – Y/N has been there before trying to pick from the 100 menu items.

She stretched for the remote on the side table beside her and switched the television on. Suddenly, she had that feeling when she was watching something with her parents, saddled with the task of putting something on that everyone could enjoy, and she had no idea what that could be at the moment. 

“Uh… what should we watch?” Y/N mumbled, embarrassed. Flicking through her movie library slowly, she noticed that she had been on a crappy 90’s sci fi binge for the past few months, mortification washing over her. 

“Anything but that,” Hoseok gasped, lip curled in disgust, pointing at the thumbnail of The Bride of Chucky. Jimin shuddered as he looked up to see what Hoseok was referring to. Pity. 

��Okay, so no dolls. Or horror? How about Harry Potter?” Y/N wondered aloud, scrolling to the series’ page. Seokjin shifted beside her, curling his legs underneath him and adjusting the chunky knit throw tighter around his body. 

“I’ve only seen bits and pieces of one of them as a kid. Why not?” Hoseok finally tore the menu from Jimin, who was fluffing a pillow next to him to burrow into. 

“I’ll watch anything, we didn’t watch much other than local news at the ranch,” Jimin added, reaching to fiddle with the silver hoop in his left ear. Y/N wondered if hybrids could hear from both their animal and human sets of ears, but decided to look it up later rather than ask them. 

“Sound good, Seokjin?” Y/N leaned towards him, his sunset eyes darting over the summary of the film on the screen. Ears fluttering, he nodded, offering her a small half-smile. 

“Okay! There’s a lot of them, so we can probably get through two of them tonight,” Y/N queued up the movie, readying her laptop as well. “I’ll order the food in like an hour?” 

Hoseok gave her a thumbs up, another throw blanket pulled up to his chin like a little burrito with fox ears. There was a pad of paper and pen on her side table, and she passed it to Seokjin to write down his order. 

“Put down whatever you’d like here for the order, don’t worry about ordering too much because believe me, I can eat a bottomless amount of Thai food,” Y/N joked, hoping it would inspire them to try whatever they wanted and alleviate Jimin’s indecision written across his face. 

With that, Y/N started the movie, kicking up the footrest of her recliner. The hybrids settled into silence, Seokjin hastily scribbling his order down so he could focus on the opening scene with rapt attention. 

While the sandwiches were in the oven earlier, with a little research, Y/N had discovered she could simply request the hybrid credit cards using the bank website, saving her from a third lengthy phone call after lunch. Logging onto the website for her local bank, she followed a link to hybrid finances, where a form popped up requesting her to link her account to the applications, as well as the names for the intended hybrids to be printed on the card. At the shelter that morning, Y/N wrote down all of the hybrid’s names in a notes app, so she diligently plugged in all of the necessary information on the forms, picked a reasonable limit for the cards, and selected an emerald green color for the plastic. Double checking all of the spelling and details before submitting the form, Y/N happily checked off one of her to-do’s while making a reminder to be on the lookout for the parcel of cards in the mail over the next couple of days. 

Next were the phones. She could get a really great discount ordering seven at once through her grandfather’s company, which was how she got her own phone, plan, and upgrades. Company phones certainly came with perks, but she often found one of her cousins would steal her upgrade – unluckily for them, this time around Y/N would be stealing all of their upgrades for the next few years. Ordering the latest version of the phone she had herself, she figured the hybrids could customize their phones with cases later on rather than picking ones for them. Eyes glazing over at the price even with the company discounts and data plan fee subtracted, she worried at her lip over finding another job as soon as possible. 

The phones were to arrive as soon as Monday. Y/N hummed along to the tune playing while Harry and the other first-years crossed the lake into Hogwarts in boats, the soundtrack as familiar as breathing, while googling for a good hybrid menswear website. After a few clicks, she found a site with quality fabrics and next-day shipping, perfect for what she was looking for. Along with the hybrid’s names, she had copied down their measurements and sizes so she could get them things that fit well. 

Hoseok, perhaps subconsciously, began to whistle along with Y/N’s humming to the movie. Already, Y/N felt much better having the three hybrids with her – there was something so comforting about the presence of others in the home with her, making the atmosphere feel safe and cozy. Tucking away the warm and fuzzy feeling for later, she got down to business picking out some basic outfits. It was nice to have Jimin, Hoseok, and Seokjin physically there, so she could take their colorings into account when picking out shades for garments, but she found herself wishing she knew what the other four looked like. She’d stick to neutrals for them, maybe picking one or two bright items for fun. 

Her cart filled up quickly. For all of them, she selected a pack of socks, undershirts, and underwear to last them for about a week, as well as three sets of checked pajama pants and soft sleep shirts. Keeping in mind the current climate, which was the last gasp of a humid and sweltering summer, she avoided sweaters and thick trousers, as hard as it was to pass up a maroon sweater that would look perfect on Hoseok. She was sure that they would end up picking up fall attire of their own choosing later on, however, Y/N was surprised that it was so difficult to suppress her urge to pick out entire wardrobes for them in one go. 

A pair of jeans for each hybrid in a classic wash seemed appropriate, as well as two pairs of shorts, another pair of sweatpants, and some linen pants to beat the heat. Moving onto shirts, Y/N picked out three basic tees each, a hoodie, and one long sleeve heavy cotton shirt per hybrid. For Seokjin, she added a lavender v-neck that would complement his fiery eye color, a rustic looking beige linen button down for Jimin, and a sage green thin thermal for Hoseok. She randomly picked other shirts that caught her eye for the remaining four in their sizes, hoping that the colors weren’t ones they despised, and added some basic slides for each of them for kicking around the house. Before she could go too crazy, she checked out and made sure the order would be on the doorstep come morning.

“Who’s that?” Jimin vocalized suddenly, confusion dripping from his tone. Y/N peeked up at the screen, shooting a glance at the three sprawled on the couch, Hoseok tsking at Jimin. 

“That’s Dumbledore, from the beginning, remember? He’s the headmaster,” Seokjin replied, not even sparing the coyote hybrid a glance. Y/N snorted softly, Jimin’s eyebrows still pulling together in perplexion. Seokjin, it seemed, was trying very hard to analyze every detail of the movie as if he was going to be quizzed on it.

“Yeah, Jimin, get with the program,” Hoseok chided, elbowing him in the rib and joining Y/N in her snickers of amusement. 

“Should I order the food now?” Y/N checked her watch, it was half past eight, and her stomach was already starting to rumble again. She was also dying for a Saturday night cocktail.

“Sure – Jin, give her the paper,” Hoseok lobbed the pad of paper at Seokjin’s shoulder, crossing his legs so he could tuck them under himself. Lip curling with annoyance at Hoseok, Seokjin leaned down to pluck the paper that had floated to the floor and offered it to Y/N, eyes wandering curiously over her laptop. 

“Thank you, Seokjin,” Y/N murmured, careful not to touch his skin again. The last thing she needed was another round of flustering emotions coursing through her. 

Skimming the list of orders written in three unique hands, Y/N hid a small smile behind her laptop at the items they had picked. Some of them were her favorites, others she hadn’t had the chance to try yet, and they had picked out a pretty decent spread. She would definitely sneak in a few more appetizers and a dessert as a treat, bringing up the ordering website and filling out the delivery instructions. It would take a little less than an hour for everything to arrive, and Y/N was feeling thirsty, so she set her laptop aside and got up from her chair to skip over to the bar cart by the TV. 

“Do you guys drink?” Y/N wondered aloud, assessing the dwindling supply of liquor she had left. She had felt Jimin’s stare boring into her back as soon as she approached the bar cart, hoping that he’d be brave enough to speak up if he wanted a drink.

“What do you have?” Jumping at Hoseok’s voice beside her, like he had materialized out of thin air, she pressed a hand to her chest as he winked apologetically. Recovering, Y/N kneeled, sifting through the bottles of bitters and mixers. 

“Hmm… I have some vodka, a little gin, and there’s some whiskey back here, too. I might have a few stray bottles of beer in the fridge, maybe a bottle of wine as well?” Y/N was repelled by the gin from her adventures the previous night, selecting the vodka and cranberry seltzer for herself. Hoseok was examining a highball glass, offering Y/N a hand getting up while she struggled with the two bottles. He took the handle of vodka, firmly grasping her hand and pulling her up.

“I’ll have what you’re having,” Hoseok’s warm hand slid from her’s, turning to look back at the couch. “Jimin, let me guess. Whiskey,” Jimin looked like he wanted to throw a pillow at the fox hybrid, cheeks red. Y/N assumed Hoseok had guessed correctly. 

“I’ll get some ice,” Y/N began to move towards the kitchen before Hoseok grabbed her by the hand again. Whirling, Y/N wondered how long she could take Hoseok’s cheeky winking. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll go get it,” Hoseok stopped her, swiftly disappearing down the hall. Stunned, she tried to shake off the way stars seemed to dance in his warm eyes whenever he caught her off guard. 

He returned almost as quickly as he left, somehow locating the ice bucket she stashed away under the sink, and with the chilled bottle of pinot grigio tucked under his arm. Thanking him, she plunked ice into three small tumblers, pouring a generous amount of whiskey for Jimin and mixing the cocktail for herself and Hoseok. The latter wordlessly poured a nice glass of wine into a glass from the back of the cart, ambling over to Seokjin.

“For you, Jinnie,” Hoseok extended the glass to him, trying his best not to block Seokjin’s view of the movie. Hesitantly, he accepted the drink, shooting Hoseok another dirty look at the nickname. 

“Don’t call me that. It’s horrendous,” Seokjin scolded, taking a sip and pushing Hoseok away with his foot. Ducking under the screen, Y/N delivered Jimin and Hoseok their drinks, Jimin gratefully taking the glass with another blinding smile. 

After returning to her chair with her drink, Y/N sighed happily, keeping her laptop powered down. Her eyes were starting to cross from staring at it for too long, and she wanted to enjoy the most exciting part of the movie. Sipping her drink, she tapped out a quick email on her phone to the local salon, inquiring about stylists available for seven cuts next week, effectively accomplishing all she had set out to do that day. 

Curling up, Y/N cradled her drink as she focused back on the movie. She stole a few glances at the three on the couch, light from the TV illuminating the perfect upturned slope of Hoseok’s nose and Seokjin’s dark lashes. They looked very cozy, blankets and pillows strewn about and cheeks rosy from their drinks.

Y/N couldn’t believe how well things were going so far. A tiny part of her was set on edge, preparing for something to go wrong – perhaps her saying something to offend or a fight between the hybrids themselves. Trying to push away thoughts that had little evidence to support their outcome, Y/N instead began to think about the four hybrids back at the shelter. Guilt still festered within her that they had to stay another night, but she would have felt worse if she had forced them all to come with her right off the bat. In fact, she counted herself lucky that three with her currently seemed to like her already, which was infinitely better than the forced toleration she thought she was going to receive. She was trying to find the words she would use later on to ask them about the others in the shelter, without ruining the comfortable ambience they had built up. 

Onscreen was Harry facing off Professor Quirrell in the climax of the film, the only sounds coming from the dialogue and Hoseok graciously pouring Seokjin another glass of wine. Their dynamic was interesting; Seokjin seemed to regard Hoseok as an overactive little brother, while the fox hybrid definitely enjoyed pushing the jaguar’s buttons and catering to him at the same time. Jimin, at the other end of the couch, still looked lost trying to keep up with the movie plot, his wrist dangling over the armrest swirling whiskey around in his glass contemplatively. His butterscotch eyes were narrowed, a pointer finger tracing over his lower lip slowly while bright lights of the onscreen magic cast beautifully over him no matter the color. 

Moments later the heavy brass clanging of the knocker affixed to the front door made Seokjin cringe out of his seat, panic settling over his smooth features and miraculously not spilling the glass of wine in his hand. Alarmed, Y/N stood, assessing the frightened flicker of his tail and the way his ears pressed flat against his skull, the other two alert from the source of the sound but watching Seokjin with concern. 

“Seokjin, honey, that’s the Thai food,” Y/N said gently, a tentative hand on his upper arm as she offered him a small smile. He uttered a small oh, hastily putting his glass down, expression still scandalized. The sudden loud noise triggered a response within him that Y/N had seen before in animals she had treated, usually ones that came from zoos that had trick shows. Tabling the issue, and not wanting to make assumptions, Y/N gave his arm a final pat, heading to the front of the house to relieve the delivery man. 

“H-hold on, I’ll help,” Seokjin hurried after her, shaking his head quickly as if to compose himself. 

Feeling him at her heels, Y/N hummed a tune, swinging the heavy front door open. To her surprise, the delivery man had left the two large paper bags stuffed with containers, as well as a small plastic bag filled with freebies, right on the porch. Before she could move, Seokjin darted out to the porch, scooping up the two paper bags and blowing his overgrown wavy bangs out of his eyes. Giggling, Y/N thanked the universe he had recovered from his fright almost as quickly as it happened, waiting for her in the threshold as she scooped up the bag of sauces, chopsticks, and free mango sticky rice the restaurant owners generously added to her large order. 

Holding the door open for her, Seokjin closed it after she hopped into the foyer with his hip. Back in the living room, she had him set the bags on the table, her mouth salivating as the scent of lemongrass filled the room. Unpacking the containers one by one, she admired the spread: pad thai, tom kha kai, pad see ew, a few containers of khao pad, two curries, three orders of spring rolls and the mango sticky rice. Y/N had no idea where to start, figuring they could all have bites of everything, and sat directly on the floor in front of the coffee table. 

The second Harry Potter movie was already queued up, Y/N dialing the volume down while they ate so she could finally fish around for information about the remaining four at the shelter. Seokjin eased himself down next to Y/N, his tail curling around the foot of the coffee table. Jimin, in a similar fashion, dropped to the floor on the other side of Y/N, back to the movie. Grinning to herself, she concluded that he had given up on following the plot. 

A strong hand placed her drink down in front of her, refilled and even containing a straw. Looming over her was Hoseok, enjoying his own beverage, humming in acknowledgement of Y/N’s surprised thank you. With him sitting across from her, she motioned for them to dig in, taking a nice sip of her drink while watching Jimin inspect a crispy spring roll. Hoseok made the cocktail taste leagues better than she ever could, somehow. 

Munching on a bean sprout from the pad thai in front of her, Seokjin broke apart his wooden chopsticks and accepted the container khao pad Jimin passed to him. Minutes passed of the four exchanging boxes of food and little cups of sauce amicably, Hoseok going straight for the mango sticky rice before anything else. 

“Guys, can I ask you a few questions about the others back at the shelter?” Y/N swiped a spring roll in the carton by Seokjin, trying to look as nonchalant as she could. Jimin made a noise as he chewed on a mouthful of rice, nodding while Hoseok surreptitiously shoveled a giant clump of noodles past his lips, ducking his head.

“Well, I only got to the shelter a little over a week ago. Seokjin and Hoseok were already there, and I think that Yoongi has been there the longest…” Jimin recalled, staring up at the ceiling in an attempt to remember the sequence of events. “I like Yoongi, he’s the only one who would actually talk to me, apart from Hoseok and Seokjin, of course,” he finished, taking a long sip of whiskey. 

“Yoongi’s alright. Doesn’t get my jokes, though,” Hoseok added, pushing a sprig of cilantro around on a takeout lid. 

“How about Taehyung?” Y/N pressed, setting her chopsticks down.

“He was brought in on the same day as Jeongguk– the elk– on Monday. He hasn’t spoken a word, even when he shifted a few times and I asked where he was from,” Jimin answered, dabbing the corner of his mouth with a napkin. Y/N poured him a new glass of whiskey, hoping she wasn’t liquoring them up too much. 

“That kid is strange. Like, more bizarre than Jin,” Hoseok stressed, face screwed up in over-dramatic seriousness. Seokjin threw a napkin in his face. 

“Maybe he just doesn’t trust you, nasty fox,” Seokjin scolded, clearing away a polished off container of spring rolls into one of the paper bags, ignoring the genuinely insulted expression on Hoseok’s face.

“Alright, enough of that, you two,” Y/N warned, turning to Jimin for the more detailed answers to her questions. “The shopkeeper didn’t seem to like Taehyung very much. In fact, he didn’t want to be within ten feet of him, any idea why?”

“I’m not sure why. He did show up with some bloody clothes, though, maybe he got in a fight on the street. The humans couldn’t have seen the blood, I think it was probably still on the black jacket he was wearing, but we all could smell it. Human blood,” Jimin grimaced, leaning back on his palms. Seokjin shifted next to Y/N uncomfortably. 

“Well, since we don’t know what happened, I wouldn’t race to any conclusions. For all we know, he could have been defending himself,” Y/N encouraged cheerily, Hoseok shaking his head while stabbing a piece of mango with his chopsticks.

“As for Jeongguk… what little he has said, well, I’m not about to repeat in front of a woman,” Jimin sighed, watching Seokjin continue to busy himself with cleaning up the coffee table. Y/N scoffed, not having the heart to tell him she swore like an 18th century sailor. 

“Jeongguk is definitely an angry son of a bitch. He and Yoongi had a spat the day Jeongguk arrived,” Hoseok voiced, downing his drink and pulling his eyebrows together at the bitter vodka floating at the bottom of the glass. Jimin frowned at Hoseok’s cursing, but chose to hold his tongue. 

“About?” Y/N wondered, helping Seokjin pick scraps off of the table. 

“Who knows? I was in the bathroom when they started hissing at each other. Yoongi is pretty mild-tempered, so it must have been over something personal. Jeongguk makes a lot of assumptions, when he does open his mouth,” Hoseok waved his hand, Jimin nodding in agreement. 

“I was pretty out of it, even then. Jeongguk said something about Yoongi being pampered, which is rich considering Yoongi looks like he hasn’t had a square meal in months,” Seokjin added surprisingly, a dark look crossing over his face. So, Jeongguk was not well liked. 

Considering this, Y/N stirred her drink, savoring the last of Hoseok’s creation. She could handle bickering, but often got herself in trouble by being unable to back down from confronting bullies. The last thing she wanted was to get on the bad side of any of the hybrids, but she wouldn’t allow them to tear each other to pieces, verbally and physically – she foresaw some altercations between herself and the elk hybrid already. As for Taehyung, the little information she got wasn’t entirely helpful at the current moment, but certainly triggered her curiosity. She was set at ease by the hybrid’s insistence that Yoongi was amicable, at least. 

“Then there’s Namjoon,” Seokjin reminded her quietly, eyeing Hoseok, who was suddenly immersed in the movie on the screen, ears angled to the television. Namjoon, the wolf hybrid, the one Y/N was most nervous to bring up. Noticing the way she clumsily dumped some bean sprouts from a takeout lid on the floor at the mention of the wolf hybrid’s name, Seokjin reached back, offering her a sip of his wine by bringing the glass close to her face. Humming, Y/N took the glass without thinking too much about it, the cool sweetness of the wine braving her. 

“I don’t think he likes me,” Y/N lamented, giving Seokjin his glass back. Chuckling, Seokjin took the last sip of the wine, his thick lips wrapping around the same spot her’s had touched seconds before. Tips of her ears burning, she stole some mango from Hoseok while he studied the movie a little too hard.

“Don’t worry, he doesn’t like anybody,” Seokjin assured her, pouring yet more wine for himself. 

“He was the last of us to get to the shelter. They brought him in Thursday morning, the day before you came in,” Jimin recounted, stretching his arms out languidly. “Brought him in as a wolf, which was pretty bizarre. The rest of us were shifted when we first came in, but Namjoon hasn’t shifted at all since he got to the shelter. Don’t even know what he looks like, honestly, I thought he was just an actual wolf, at first.”

Hoseok was stiff as a board, his usual lax posture replaced with a rigid spine and white knuckles gripping his empty glass. Y/N blindly reached for the vodka handle on the bar cart, wordlessly pouring a heavy handed shot into his glass across the table. Forcing a tight smile on his face, Hoseok basically poured the liquor down his throat, remaining silent. 

“So, you guys know about as much as I do about him, then,” Y/N tried to keep the disappointment out of her tone.

“All I can say is, he definitely behaves like a wild wolf that I’ve seen at Yellowstone. Ornery and distrustful,” Jimin rubbed his eye, stifling a yawn. It had gotten pretty late, but Y/N was feeling wired, armed with a few new bits of information to ready her for the morning. Hoseok’s silence on the topic of Namjoon had also given her an inkling that the two had an instance of bad blood, but he was sufficiently clammed up and wouldn’t even make eye contact with her as they all began to return to their previous seats on the furniture. 

Once the conversation surrounding the hybrids back in the shelter had ceased, Hoseok slowly unthawed, cracking a few more jokes at Seokjin’s expense as the jaguar hybrid’s eyes began to slip closed periodically even as he tried very hard to follow the rest of the movie. When the credits rolled, Hoseok carted the used drink glasses to the kitchen and washed them while Jimin arranged the bottles of booze back on the bar cart. 

“What time do you want to head out in the morning?” Hoseok asked Y/N upon his return to the parlor, his flushed face sleepy and softened. Balancing a wobbling tower of leftovers, Y/N calculated travel time with traffic.

“I think seven will give us plenty of time to get there when the shelter opens, I’ll meet you by the front door,” she replied, wanting to push away the stray lock of hair over his eye. 

“Sounds good. You should get some more sleep, now,” Hoseok steadied her for what seemed the thirtieth time that day, his solid grip on her waist preventing her from crashing into the coffee table. Sheepishly, she ducked her head, agreeing, and pondered if she should take up yoga again so she would stop wobbling all over the place like a lunatic.

“You too. Goodnight, Hoseok,” she smiled, Hoseok returning the sentiment, before disappearing in the direction of the basement. Jimin, in a similar manner, bade her a good night and thanked her for the delicious dinner, promising to write a list of necessities for the morning trip to the drugstore upon her request. His eyes were almost shut completely as he stumbled his way out of the parlor, taking a wrong turn down the hall before correcting himself in the opposite direction.

Seokjin stayed behind, carrying the garbage to the kitchen while Y/N stacked the leftovers in the fridge. Beside her, Seokjin slid the near-empty bottle of wine into the fridge, his hip accidentally bumping her into the shelf door. He was tipsy, apologizing profusely and giggling uncontrollably all the while. Y/N tossed him a bottle of water, which he caught against all odds, leaning back against the stove while he uncapped the bottle. She was still bothered by Hoseok’s sudden change in demeanor earlier, considering he was the one who kept things upbeat the whole day. Seokjin, under the influence and apparently eager to assist, was the perfect candidate to squeeze out a reason at the moment– his closeness with Hoseok the cherry on top. 

“So… what was with Hoseok when you brought up Namjoon?” Y/N asked, only feeling partly guilty for taking advantage of Seokjin’s relaxed demeanor. Fiery eyes narrowing as he processed the question, Seokjin considered while peering into the foyer to ensure the basement door was closed. Slyly, he put a finger to his lips, motioning her closer with the same finger. Curiously, Y/N approached him as he stooped down to whisper to her, hand on on her shoulder to keep her put. 

“Hoseok… he’s terrified of wolves.”

In the snow, Y/N could hardly see a foot in front of her as she ran, sharp shards of ice raining down from the sky paving her precarious path and stinging her eyes. Tears ran down her cheeks hotly, chest tight as she tried her best to dash away, away, but her legs were never fast enough. At least, not fast enough to make an escape, to outrun her pursuer, and he was hot on her heels. As she turned back to gauge his distance through the withered trees, a furious roar from inches away wracked a sob from deep within her. Her foot got caught in an exposed root as she desperately tried to get away, a sickening crunch and agonized scream ripped from her throat as she dropped like a rock. Her ankle bone had broken through the skin grotesquely, the tendons raw and exposed piercing through her flesh. As blood pooled around her trembling form, her vision grew blurry, hot breath by her neck as her pursuer closed in on her, saliva dripping from blood-tipped fangs. Tearfully, she knew this was the end, the creature snapping its jaw, tasting her blood as it soaked the snow around her. In her final moment, she wanted to look her executioner in the eye; the last glimpse of the golden sun held within them.

Gasping, Y/N shot up in bed, heart pounding as she pressed a shaky hand to her chest. With the other, she tore off her quilt and examined her right ankle, which was very much still intact. A horrifying nightmare to say the least, Y/N pressed both hands to the back of her cold-sweat soaked neck shakily. She hadn’t had a nightmare like that in years, catching her off guard completely. Blinking rapidly, Y/N pulled her quilt up around her shoulders, scanning the room to calm herself down. Returning to sleep was not an option after all of that, but luckily a drizzly dawn had begun to trickle through her curtains. It was a hell of a way to start the day, especially with her itinerary, but the silver lining was more time to prepare herself for the morning. 

Showering off the nightmare seemed like her wisest choice, inhaling the calming scent of eucalyptus hanging from her showerhead as she boiled her skin under steamy water. For some reason, she could tangibly feel the blizzard from her dream sinking into her bones, her subconscious torturing her for late-night drinking two days in a row, presumably. 

Drawing her curtains open to peek at the sky, inky clouds hovered above the treeline, light rain falling. Gingerly, she sat on her bed in her towel as she applied her lotion, hearing a soft thump from the basement. Her heart began to race again before she remembered Hoseok, who was probably getting ready himself, and cursed herself for being so jumpy. In the mirror over her dresser, dark circles and a pallor to her complexion reflected her jarring wake-up call. Mumbling, she rubbed some blush onto her cheeks and dotted concealer under her eyes to mask the evidence, throwing on a thin hooded sweater and jeans. 

Yawning as she left her bedroom to find some sneakers to slip on, Y/N tried her best to tip-toe past Seokjin’s closed door, not wanting to disturb him at the early hour. Before she and Hoseok left, she wanted to leave out something for the other two hybrids to have for breakfast. Blindly, she searched the cabinets in the kitchen for anything worthwhile, coming up with a jar of granola. Setting it on the bar with dismay, she wrote a note using a sticky pad, noting that there were eggs and a stray tub of vanilla yogurt in the fridge they could help themselves to. Maybe they could make a parfait with the fruit left in the bowl next to the sink, or a few scrambled eggs with toast in the breadbox. She turned on the coffeemaker so they could have some hot coffee when they woke up, hoping it would make up for her and Hoseok making a Dunkin’ run without them. 

Y/N heard the basement door gently close, quickly dashing into the hallway to meet the fox hybrid. Standing by the front door, Hoseok had a lock of hair sticking straight up on the back of his head, rubbing his eyes with his fists. 

“Good morning,” Y/N whispered, peering down the hallway to make sure she hadn’t woken Jimin. Hoseok yawned, tail stiff as he stretched his arms behind his head sleepily.

“Morning, you were up early,” Hoseok remarked in a sleep-thickened voice, watching her skitter away from his searching eyes to grab her car keys off the peg by the door. Grimacing, Y/N grasped a couple of umbrellas, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“Mm. I guess I’m still used to my morning routine from work,” Y/N answered softly, unlatching the front door and letting Hoseok out. He made a small noise of surprise on the porch, pointing at the ginormous box sitting on the stoop. That would be their clothes, right on time. 

“Oh! I should probably bring this in, I don’t want it to get wet,” Y/N eyed the rain leaking in from the weathered slats of the porch roof. The box was cumbersome, Hoseok shaking his head and chuckling at her as she attempted to heave it over the stoop. 

“Are you going to let me help you, or should I watch you struggle?” Snapping her head up, she shot Hoseok a look somewhere between disbelief and a scowl, his arms crossed while leaning against one of the porch beams. A smirk danced upon his lips, eyes teasingly squinted.

“Help. Please,” she hung her head in exasperation when she saw the fox hybrid wasn’t budging upon her silence.

Clearing his throat lightly, he was at her side in an instant, bending down to lift the box with her into the entrance of the house. A sharp grunt coming from the back of his throat, lean muscle strained the sleeves of his tee as he lowered the box on the floor, careful not to drop it on Y/N’s foot. 

Gravel crunched wetly under Y/N’s sneakers trudging to her car, still reeling from Hoseok’s shameless provocation. It had been an embarrassingly long time since Y/N had interacted with men apart from Ben, Roy, and her father; she had lost her ability to engage in flirtatious banter, if that was what that was. Hoseok was heartbreakingly beautiful and clever as a whip, in comparison to her bumbling rambling and clumsiness Y/N was downright disappointed in herself. What happened to the girl in undergrad who threw caution to the wind and slipped sexy bartenders her number, who challenged herself to charm the subject of her desire into putty in her hands? Was she really that out of touch with her romantic skills? Rain soaked through her hood, dampening her mood further as she considered listening to a god-awful podcast for flirting tips in the future. The thought made her miserable. 

She led Hoseok to her car, a powder blue 1986 Toyota Land Cruiser that belonged to her father, which had a rear window that would not open and a dented fender. Y/N preferred the look of older car models, more like works of art rather than gray lumps of chrome, and her dad’s old car was free. It made her feel like she was in an old storm chasing movie from the 80’s every time she went for a drive, which was a fun bonus. Unlocking the doors, Y/N slid into the cigarette scented leather seats, the worn material soft and comforting. Hoseok climbed in next to her, twisting around to check out the back seat, empty besides a stray serape blanket for her occasional picnics. 

“Wonder who will come with us today… probably Yoongi. I don’t know what was with the pouting yesterday, he could have eaten something other than a ham sandwich Gerry threw at us twice a day,” Hoseok fastened his seatbelt, bringing an ankle up to cross over his knee. 

“Are you serious? That’s all you got?” Appalled, Y/N turned the engine over, jaw hanging loose. She felt like running Gerry over with her Land Cruiser. “What the fuck is wrong with that guy? He ought to be shot.”

Hoseok made a startled noise in the back of his throat, studiously looking out the window as he appeared to be holding back a laugh with his ears turned down. Away from Jimin, she felt she could swear freely again without him clutching his pearls– though he’d hear them soon enough, she predicted. Starting down the road with rain pelting the windshield, the wipers dragged through the water sluggishly, needing a replacement. 

“Well, I’m sure Jeongguk would agree with that sentiment. He’s missed a few sandwiches for telling Gerry to pound sand up his ass.”

“I’m liking Jeongguk a bit more now.”

“Oh yeah? Hopefully you won’t have to eat those words,” Hoseok raised an eyebrow playfully, Y/N rolling her eyes as she passed through the town center. 

“I grew up with a lot of male cousins, a lot of them talked trash constantly. I can handle a brat,” Y/N responded, recalling her eldest male cousin’s jabs directed precisely on her insecurities. Her skin was thicker because of it, at least. 

“Brat is a generous word for Jeongguk. Dick suits him just fine,” Hoseok mused, expression thoughtful. 

“We’ll see, maybe he’ll have a fit or two and get it out of his system. I can hope, at least,” Y/N sighed, giving Jeongguk the benefit of the doubt until she spoke to him herself. Hoseok fell quiet, checking out a paperback book Y/N had left on the floor by his feet. She wasn’t sure what book it was, she prayed it wasn’t a trashy romance novel recommended to her by the internet. 

The best part of the morning was the promise of not having to deal with Murphy and his precarious driving skills now that she was driving in with her own transportation. There was enough space for the remaining four hybrids to sit in the back of the car, thankfully. She’d rather chew glass than ask Gerry for any more favors; he’d be lucky if he had teeth by the time she finished business with him.

“Oh, this is from Jimin. He brought this down to me late last night,” Hoseok pulled a folded piece of paper from his sweatpants pocket, placing it in the cupholder. “All he wrote was ‘toothbrush and toothpaste’, humble cowboy.”

“We’ll stop by CVS on the way back for toiletries, I should get some more gauze for Seokjin. I’m sure you need some things as well, Hoseok,” Y/N grinned, noticing his ear twitching out of the corner of her eye. Chortling, Y/N shook her head, halting at a red light and gesturing to the glove box.“I have some CDs in there, wanna pick one?” 

Curiously, Hoseok leafed through the plastic cases, the clacking sound of him rapidly searching through the albums making her wonder which ones she still had in her car. Hopefully not just Christmas and midwestern emo music. The light turned green, and she was forced to tear her eyes from Hoseok’s contemplative profile. 

“Metallica, Dio, Black Sabbath… What year were you born, again?” Y/N winced, feeling like she was in high school band class again with Beatles snobs. 

“Listen. Sometimes you just need to blow off steam screaming to War Pigs after a bad shift!” Snorting, Hoseok continued to sort through the CDs while Y/N drove on.

“I suppose, if you’re a father of three in the eighties,” Hoseok murmured, flipping over the back of an unlabeled mixed tape. 

Moments later he slid a CD into the player, tucking the case under his leg. Trying to peek at what he picked out, she squeaked as his palm came up next to her face, blocking her view. 

“Eyes on the road, darling, it’s a surprise!” Hoseok exclaimed, fingers punching buttons on the radio and jacking up the volume. He was lucky she didn’t drive off of the road with that remark, her face so hot she had to roll the window down, not caring if rain soaked her to her bones. Hoseok didn’t seem to notice her fluster as she leaned out of the window, nearly swerving off of the highway as a motorcycle zoomed by and startled her. The Beach Boys began to play sunnily through the old speakers, a smile spreading across her face as the rain ran down her cheeks, cooling the flesh. 

“Good choice,” Y/N praised, unable to look him in the eye yet. Pretending to focus on navigating the highway into Boston, she hummed along to the opening track. 

“Since summer’s almost over, it was only right.”

“Is summer your favorite?”

“Of course! Who doesn’t like more sun, longer days, and fruit?” Considering this, Y/N agreed with him, however partial she was to autumn. 

“You have a point, you’d get along well with my dad for those reasons alone,” Y/N pulled off the ramp into Chinatown, only minutes away from their destination. She started to get antsy in her seat with anticipation. Hoseok drummed his fingers against the door to the tune of the music, apparently satisfied with the amount of teasing he doled out. 

Before she knew it, they were parked in front of the shelter, Y/N nervously straightening out her sweater. Hoseok stared at the weathered shop sign with disgust, grip on one of the umbrellas tightening and untightening. 

“Shall we?” Y/N cracked her door open, Hoseok giving her a tight nod before exiting the vehicle with the umbrella. 

The shop was open already, the door propped open with a wooden wedge and Gerry stocking boxes of shoes into the cubbies by the window. Hoseok slowly entered the building behind her, sticking close to her proximity. A loud football game played on the tiny TV mounted to the wall, Gerry grumbling at it when he spotted Y/N and Hoseok.

“Ah! My new favorite customer,” Gerry exclaimed as they floundered near the register, palpable anxiety radiating from Hoseok. “I see youse brought one back, how’s he holdin’ up for you?” Gerry looked Hoseok up and down with a suspicious glint in his eye, Y/N grinding her teeth as she bit back a curse directed at the bastardly old man. 

“He’s great, thank you,” Y/N managed.

“Go on and ‘ead to the back. Need me to call up Murph again?” Gerry asked eagerly, reaching for his phone on the desk. Y/N shook her head, jabbing her thumb towards her car parked outside. 

“I have my own transport, from now on,” Y/N began towards the back room, carefully watching Hoseok drag his feet next to her. Gerry shrugged and remained in the front of the store, shouting at the TV. 

The door to the four remaining hybrids was already open, keys to the cells handing tantalizingly from the knob. Hoseok ran a hand through his mahogany locks as he looked to the ceiling like he was praying for an angel’s protection, and Y/N was reminded of Seokjin’s words from the night before;  Hoseok… he’s terrified of wolves. Pocketing the keys, Y/N pushed her way into the room, butterflies rattling around in her stomach for both herself and the fox hybrid. 

“Hate to say I told you so after all your bitching, Jeongguk. She even came back with Hoseok alive,” a gravelly, unfamiliar voice chided to her left, Y/N seeking the owner of the voice straight away. 

On the bed, a lithe figure leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, a long spotted tail flicking languidly like a satisfied cat. Probing hazel-green narrowed eyes watched her with an arched brow, a smirk pulling up the corner of his mouth. His ears were similarly spotted to his tail, blending into the long black tresses framing his face, and he was fully dressed in the outfit Y/N had picked out the day before. 

“Yoongi, why would I be dead? Does she really look like a murderer to you?” Hoseok pulled his eyebrows together incredulously, cocking his head. Yoongi stood, nodding to his right. 

“No, but he said you all were off to the chop shop,” Yoongi leaned against his cell door, veined hands coming through the bars to clasp together on the outside. Floored, Y/N stepped out from behind Hoseok, wanting to get a look at the elk hybrid and ask what about her read Freddy Kruger. 

Sitting on the edge of his bed was Jeongguk, a man about the same age as Y/N. Most notably as far as his appearance went was the pair of elegant velvet antlers encircling his head like an esoteric crown amongst layered mixed chestnut hair. Heavily tattooed elbows leaning on his knees, Jeongguk was shaking his head at the floor, a deep scowl darkening his face. Backtracking on her confrontation, noticing the ring hugging his lower lip, Y/N inched closer to Hoseok, who peered down at her curiously. 

“Hardly. What, do you think we’re living in a James Wan film, Jeongguk?” Hoseok’s hands landed on his hips, tutting at the elk hybrid. Finally snapping his head up to curl his nose into a snarl at Hoseok, Y/N caught the glint of a barbell threaded through the arch of Jeongguk’s left eyebrow. 

“I’m not one to be as trusting of a fool as you, fox,” Jeongguk bit back, midnight eyes boring a hole into Hoseok’s face. His sight landed on Y/N, tugging on the hem of her sweater, uncomfortable with the clear distaste written all over his face while assessing her. “How am I supposed to know the motivations behind a girl so injudicious as to adopt seven male hybrids without even meeting them first?”

Blood draining from her face, Y/N took a step backwards at the venom dripping from his tone. So, her few hours conflict-free had ended, and she was in the line of fire. Stiffening, Hoseok cast a look back at her, offering her a soft half-smile; hopefully you won’t have to eat those words. 

“Oh, just shut up, would you rather be running in the woods from some asshole in a polo shirt with an automatic rifle?” Yoongi groaned, running a wiry hand through his hair tiredly. Jeongguk cursed at Yoongi under his breath, then fell back into silence. Swallowing hard, Y/N tried to piece together the fragments of her courage, seeking out the other two hybrids behind her. 

Watching the spectacle unfold quietly was Taehyung on the bed in his corner cell, laying on his back with his hands clasped on his stomach. His expression was placid as he twiddled his thumbs, cocking his head as his eyes caught Y/N’s. Roaming over her, he absently wet his lips with a sliver of tongue, his strange red-brown irises soulful and deep. Y/N recalled that he hadn’t spoken at all during his time spent at the shelter, so she was highly doubtful that he would chime in on Jeongguk’s verbal evaluation of her, though it looked like he had questions burning in his eyes. 

“Yoongi, how long do you plan on staying here? Are you coming today?” Hoseok spoke up, tapping a foot on the concrete floor. Y/N nodded once in hello to Taehyung, who blinked at her stoically, blowing a piece of dark hair from his eyes.

“Well, she seems persistent; I thought for sure she’d be back by late afternoon yesterday to dump you all back here. Now that you’re here and breathing… I can’t choke down one more of those sandwiches,” Yoongi complained, although not confirming he was to join them outright. 

Y/N stalked off to the far corner of the room, mustering up the confidence to say hello to Namjoon, equally as silent as Taehyung and out of view. Stopping short, she squeaked, noticing the neatly folded pile of clothes and shoe box still sitting outside of his cell, untouched. Disappointment sunk in her stomach, peering into Namjoon’s cell, where he was curled up in a ball, facing away from the center of the room. She knew he was awake, the exchanges between everyone not exactly whispers, so he was actively ignoring them. Still in his wolf form, Y/N wondered how long he could sustain himself, Seokjin’s confession that hybrids staying in their animal form for too long became uncomfortable popping up in her subconscious. Shuffling her feet, Y/N tried not to look crestfallen, returning to Hoseok’s side. 

“So, will you come with us, Yoongi?” Y/N asked hopefully, pushing away the possibility that she may have to return to the shelter for several days to come. She wasn’t sure what she could do to win enough trust from Namjoon to at least look at her, let alone shift, but she was beginning to worry for him. If he had arrived on Thursday, he would have been living as a wolf for two whole days already, and possibly longer.  

Yoongi considered for a moment, casting a look around his cell, before shrugging. 

“Might as well,” he conceded, hands diving into his sweatpants pockets. Smiling as brightly as she could, she retrieved the keys to his cell from her own pocket, freeing him from the space, watching him stroll out lazily. With narrowed eyes, he looked down at her, kaleidoscope eyes taking in her likely poorly masked worry. 

“You said it’s Y/N, right?” He confirmed, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“That’s right,” she shifted her weight, the hollowness of his cheeks making her heart clench. Clearing her throat, she gazed past him, reading the expectant look on Jeongguk’s face. 

“How about you, Jeongguk? I can see you’re not a fan of me, but at least you can get out of here,” she stated bravely, proud that she could keep her voice from wavering. An eyebrow arched with her words, Jeongguk rose to his feet, studying her head to toe once more. 

“Fine,” was all he said, after a deep sigh. Tentatively, she unlocked his door as well, letting him push the iron bars towards her. He was even more intimidating inches away, muscular and imposing, making his way to the mouth of the door leading out. Hoseok patted her back awkwardly, as if to congratulate her on her bravery. She was extremely grateful to have him with her at that moment. 

Taking a deep breath, Y/N shook off her nerves, making her way back to Taehyung, who was standing by his door with his graceful fingers wrapped around the bars. 

“You too?” She exclaimed, pleasantly surprised. Blinking at her again, he gestured to the lock, which she hastily made short work of with the keys. Hoseok was snorting with laughter, saying something to Yoongi about making up a sign language to interact with the bear hybrid. 

Taehyung quickly left his cell, expression relieved as he walked into the open area of the room, but kept his distance from everybody. Y/N could hardly see his rounded ears atop his head, hiding amongst a cloud of curly black hair, and if it weren’t for the day before seeing him in his other form she would have written him off as fully human immediately. 

“Good luck with him,” Yoongi nodded towards Namjoon, looking pointedly at the stack of clothes outside of his cell. Gritting her teeth, she stood a little taller, preparing to give another speech to someone who couldn’t (and wouldn’t) respond. Fishing around in her pocket, she grasped a hold of her car keys, approaching Hoseok. 

“Here, Hoseok. Do you mind starting up the car for me? I’ll be out in just a minute,” Y/N sighed, the fox hybrid examining her face with an ounce of concern. He took the keys from her hand without a word, and she offered Yoongi the umbrella she was holding. Yoongi stared at her incredulously, gaze shifting from her to Hoseok suspiciously, tucking the damp umbrella under his arm. 

“The asshole who runs this dump has some of my stuff in a bag in his office,” Jeongguk spoke from the door suddenly, eyes trained on the door down the hall. “He’s got everything we all had when we got here.”

Astounded, Y/N curled her hands into fists, so ready to beat an old man it wasn’t even funny.

“Jesus Christ, that guy. That would have been good to know,” Y/N muttered. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll grab the bag before I meet you in the car,” Y/N promised, ignoring the yeah, right look on his face. 

“Come on, let’s go,” Hoseok pushed Yoongi to the door, Jeongguk already disappearing from her sight. Taehyung followed suit slowly, gazing down at his shoes. The room suddenly filled with deafening silence, Y/N returned to Namjoon’s cell. 

“Namjoon,” she started, the wolf’s ear turning towards her but otherwise remaining rooted to the corner of his space. “I’m going to have to keep coming back here until you agree to return with me. I don’t mind, but Seokjin told me that it can be uncomfortable to stay shifted for so long– that worries me. I can’t stand Gerry, this shelter is terrible, and I want to get you out of here, so I guess you’ll have to put up with me bothering you every morning until you decide to trust me a little.”

Namjoon lifted his head, turning it to lock eyes with Y/N, her breath caught in her throat. He was truly a beautiful wolf, dark with amber honey eyes, a small chunk of his left ear missing that she had not noticed before. He wasn’t growling at her, but his face was certainly guarded and calculating, which made her grow quite hot in the chilly cinderblock room. 

“I’ll be back tomorrow morning, Namjoon,” Y/N sighed softly, accepting that today wasn’t his day. He watched her as she went, shutting the door to the room behind her with a solemn clang. 

Returning to the storefront where Gerry was stuffing a Subway sandwich in his face, Y/N leaned against the register with her mouth screwed up to prevent expletives from falling out. 

“They’re still there,” Gerry said through a mouthful of salami. “Pretty bold of youse to trust a fox with car keys.”

“Hoseok is trustworthy,” Y/N insisted harshly, slapping her hands on the tinny table. Startled, Gerry put his sandwich down. “Give me the bag of their belongings, please.”

The rusty wheels in Gerry’s brain turned slowly, appearing to not understand, before grumbling and retreating to his office. He came back with a large half-filled black garbage bag of items, thrusting it into her arms. Disgusted with the treatment of the hybrids, she all but spit on the floor, heading to the exit. 

“Don’t forget the wolf, tomorrow. I’m tired of feeding ‘im,” Gerry called, jacking up the volume to his football game. 

Aggravated, Y/N stomped through the rain to her car parked on the street, yanking the trunk open and sliding the bag gingerly next to her spare tire. Rain soaking her hair, the precipitation much heavier since she and Hoseok arrived, she finally indulged her desire and spat on the sidewalk by the entrance of the shelter. Rounding the front of the car, she climbed in, the heat turned on blast and The Beach Boys playing once again. Aware of Hoseok eyeing her in the passenger seat, she hastily buckled in, wet hair sticking to the back of her neck. In the rearview mirror, the backseat was crammed with the other three hybrids, Yoongi squished in the middle seat while Taehyung and Jeongguk flanked either side, both of them trying their best to glue themselves to the doors to get some space. 

“I got your stuff, bastard put it all in a trash bag,” Y/N huffed, backing out of her space, twisting around to look out the back window. Jeongguk was rolling his eyes, chin resting in his palm, his white tee shirt soaked with rain. Yoongi, tucking a long strand of inky hair behind his ear, was attempting to warm himself up by sticking close to the vent blowing hot air into the cab. 

“Let’s stop at Dunkin’ before we head to the drugstore,” Y/N pulled out into the street, anxious to get some food into Yoongi as soon as possible. Tension was palpable in the car, with Taehyung’s silence, and Yoongi and Jeongguk’s tangible strain between them. Again, she was grateful for Hoseok, with his sunny, encouraging smile and whistling to the CD playing softly. 

One didn’t have to drive very far to find a Dunkin’ in Boston; they were practically on every block. The one she chose shared a parking lot with a Chinese restaurant and a drugstore, and she was attempting to find a spot closest to the doors. Once stopped, she rifled through the center console for her wallet, tucking it into her pocket with Jimin’s list and rubbing her eyes– itching for some caffeine. 

“Okay, time for some breakfast,” Hoseok spoke suddenly, clapping his hands together. He headed out into the parking lot, followed by Taehyung pushing his way out of the car, arms over his head to shield his face from the rain. Watching Yoongi slink out of the backseat, Y/N scrambled to catch up with everyone, locking up the car after Jeongguk begrudgingly trudged behind her. She felt a little awkward with the atmosphere, Jeongguk clearly unimpressed and Taehyung stone-cold, and was hoping Hoseok could work his magic to lighten up the mood once in the coffee shop. 

Confectioners sugar and toasty coffee perfumed the thick air inside of the Dunkin’, the scent bringing her back to pre-class breakfast runs. Jeongguk plopped down on a chair by the door, arms leaning on the coffee-stained table, watching Y/N suspiciously as she set her umbrella down next to him. Deciding to kill him with kindness, she flashed him her best shit-eating grin, joining Yoongi and Taehyung by the menu signs while Jeongguk gaped after her. 

“What are we getting?” Y/N pondered, knowing that she was going to dive in on the hash browns. Additionally, she planned on getting a half dozen donuts for Jimin and Seokjin waiting at home. Yoongi hummed, arms coming around to hug his midsection. 

“How’s the matcha latte?” Hoseok inquired from behind Y/N, his voice right next to her ear. 

“Mmm. Not that great,” Y/N grimaced, Yoongi snickering next to her. After a few moments, she had Hoseok and Yoongi’s order, sending the fox hybrid over to Jeongguk to get his as well. Turning to Taehyung, who was smiling softly at a little kid eating munchkins with his parents nearby, Y/N said his name a couple of times before he realized she was trying to get his attention. 

“What would you like?” Y/N asked, assuming he would point at the menu. His angular face turned thoughtful as he considered the menu once more, surprising Y/N by opening his mouth to speak.

“Sausage, egg and cheese on a croissant and a macchiato, please,” the deep timbre of his voice shook her to her core, nearly keeling over as soon as he spoke. Nodding dumbly, Taehyung gave her a curious glance and made his way to the table the others were sitting at. 

Standing at the window, Y/N made the lengthy order, the cashier exasperated as she continued to add items to the tab. She handed Y/N the beverage tray of assorted hot and iced drinks, Y/N taking an indulgent sip of her sweet iced coffee and sighing happily. Making her way to the table, she dished out the drinks; a boring black coffee for grumpy Jeongguk, a fruity Coolatta for Hoseok, Yoongi’s iced americano, and Taehyung’s macchiato. She lowered herself down next to the latter, wondering if he’d begin to join in on conversation or lapse back into silence as he stirred his coffee. 

“So, what exactly made you want to adopt seven hybrids?” Yoongi deadpanned after a moment, Y/N choking on her sip of coffee and pounding her chest to clear the liquid from her lungs. She wasn’t expecting to be asked a question like that in broad daylight, that soon. Hoseok cleared his throat, looking extremely uncomfortable with Yoongi’s directness, while both Jeongguk and Taehyung read bored and absorbed in their drinks. 

“Uh… to be honest with you, I’ve been looking for roommates for about a year now. I haven’t had much luck; most of my friends have either moved states after college or started families of their own. Everyone else I’ve met from placing internet ads claims my house is either too old or ‘seems haunted’,” Y/N made air quote motions with her fingers, Hoseok snorting softly. “I thought of the off-chance of seeing you all in the shelter that night as a lucky find,” fiddling with her straw, Y/N cringed at her choice of words, unable to come up with anything else. 

With narrowed eyes, Yoongi considered her explanation, appearing to not wholly believe it. Thankfully, before he could respond, the cashier was calling out her order number. Jumping up, a nonplussed sound coming from Taehyung at her clumsy movement tripping over the chair, Y/N made haste for the food. On her way back to the table, she caught Hoseok reaching across the table to smack Yoongi’s arm, teeth gritted. 

Setting the box of donuts for Jimin and Seokjin down, Y/N began rattling off the various sandwiches in search of each respective owner, grateful for the temporary pause of difficult inquiries. Placing the bag of hash browns in the middle for everyone, Y/N got to work on unwrapping her sandwich. 

“Why would people think your house is haunted?” Taehyung spoke again, Y/N halting her chewing and throwing him a sideways glance. In the harsh lighting of the room, the shades of carmine in his eyes became more pronounced. Yoongi and Hoseok exchanged a look of utter disbelief at the sound of Taehyung’s voice, a hashbrown hanging limply from the leopard hybrid’s mouth in shock. 

“Christ, he speaks,” Jeongguk muttered through a mouthful of bacon. Ignoring him, Y/N set her sandwich down. 

“It’s an old house, I’ve been restoring it but it still needs a fair bit of work. The yard is all overgrown, and it’s at the end of a dead-end street…” Y/N sipped her coffee thoughtfully. “Besides, it’s filled with my grandmother’s old antiques. You can get lost in some of the back hallways, and there’s the occasional odd noise with no known source every now and again. I suppose there’s a number of reasons people think it’s haunted,” she answered truthfully, Taehyung chewing lightly on his straw with pointed cuspids while she spoke. 

“Shit. Maybe we are living in a James Wan film now,” Yoongi joked, wiping grease from his fingertips on a stray napkin. Hoseok frowned, his thunder stolen as Y/N giggled at Yoongi’s amused gummy smile. “Have you ever seen a ghost in the house?” 

“Well, no, not recently at least,” Y/N’s eyes glazed over, memories from her childhood locked away in the darker recesses of her mind coming to the surface. “When I was a kid I thought I saw spirits, but that could have just been childish imagination.”

She was aware of Jeongguk staring at her now, suddenly interested in the turn of conversation. Still holding a grudge about the way he spoke about her in the shelter earlier, she refused to give him the satisfaction of looking embarrassed with his examination of her side profile. 

“The bar I used to work in was haunted as hell,” Yoongi volunteered, sitting back in his chair. Curiosity piqued, Y/N leaned forward, wondering if she had ever been to that bar during a paranormal tour in college. As Yoongi looked out the window, she got a good look at him; there was something familiar about his face, but she doubted that she had ever met him before as the amount of bars in Boston was astronomical and the chances were slim. Even drunk, she believed that she would have remembered someone as strikingly unique looking as Yoongi. 

“Ah, so you worked at a bar? Did you know Jimin was working as one of those National Park hybrid rangers? All the way in Montana, too. I keep trying to ask him how he ended up all the way here, but he won’t tell me,” Hoseok pouted, slurping his Coolatta noisily. Taehyung’s hand crept across the table comically slow to grab a bag of hash browns, eyes flickering between everyone as if he was stealing from somebody. 

“That’s why he’s weird. He’s one of those guys,” Yoongi’s eyes were wide, Y/N missing the piece of information that caused understanding to wash over everybody else’s features. 

“I’m sorry. What do you mean?” Furrowing her eyebrows, Y/N gathered up trash from Jeongguk, who was rolling his eyes at her again. 

“Hm. You don’t know about the hybrid rangers, huh?” Yoongi tossed his sandwich wrapper in a high arc across the table, somehow perfectly landing in the trash can beside Hoseok. “Something like fifty years ago they passed a law that hybrids can be employed in National Parks with a bunch of perks. I’m sure you know hybrids cannot work as humans do, unless they sneak around and find under-the-table type situations– like me. At the moment, being a hybrid ranger is the only legal form of employment a hybrid can take up; and you’re pretty much born into it. My guess, Jimin’s family is all back in Montana, living in a cozy little cabin paid for by the U.S. government. Why he left, that’s beyond me. Most hybrids would kill to be one of those rangers,” Yoongi muttered the last part of this statement, eyes downcast. 

In her limited research of hybrids over the past years thanks to Ben’s interest in adoption and at her father’s insistence of reading interesting articles, Y/N hadn’t come across the law Yoongi was referring to. When it came to the many government legislations regarding hybrids, it was unsurprising that Y/N had not a clue about a legal employment option for them. She did know about illegal hybrid labor in corners of the country, which often made front-page news, as well as laws stating unadopted hybrids roaming the street would be brought back to shelters once discovered. 

“Hence why he’s ‘weird’. He wasn’t raised in labs like the rest of us likely were; he acts more human than hybrid,” Hoseok added helpfully. Y/N hadn’t really had the same thought process– her brief time with Jimin wasn’t enough to make an accurate judgment on his behavior compared to the other hybrids. 

With the food finished by now, she noticed Jeongguk getting fidgety, she figured it was a good time as any to move onto their drugstore run. Hoseok gathered up all of the trash as Y/N stood, feeling sluggish after the greasy and sugary breakfast, scooping up the box of donuts for Seokjin and Jimin. Tossing her empty coffee cup, she felt Taehyung looming behind her like an apparition, shuffling his feet against the scuffed floor. Hoseok held the door open for everybody, Jeongguk muttering ‘kiss ass’ the whole way out into the rain and through the doors to the pharmacy. 

The blinding lights of the pharmacy had spots appearing in Y/N’s vision after being in the grayness of the rainstorm, the medicinal smell of VapoRub making her feel slightly ill. Handing out baskets to the hybrids, she told them to get what they needed, Hoseok trailing after Yoongi down the shampoo aisle and Jeongguk disappearing to the back of the store where the vitamins were. Taehyung remained by her side, and shrugging, she pulled out Jimin’s scant list and started towards the direction of dental care. 

Humming, she examined the toothpaste options, selecting the best one and plopping two in her basket. She would have to shop for Seokjin, as well– and upon further consideration, she added a third tube for Namjoon. Taehyung was quiet beside her once more, watching her pick out a pack of charcoal toothbrushes, hardly placing anything in his own basket he had set on a display of paper towels. Seeing his disinterest in filling up his basket, unlike Hoseok who zoomed by to pull a mouthwash off the shelf in a flash, Y/N sighed and turned to the bear hybrid with a fourth tube of toothpaste.

“Taehyung, is this toothpaste okay for you? I think it’s probably the best one, the all-natural brand tastes terrible,” Y/N waved the tube around, Taehyung now leaning against the display with his hands buried in his pockets. 

“Yeah, that’s fine. Floss too?” Taehyung suddenly lurched forward on the balls of his feet, the movement graceful, hand skimming past her face and plucking a pack of floss off of the shelf. Dropping the item into her basket, Taehyung peered into it, before grabbing a wooden-handled toothbrush for himself and adding that as well. Blinking rapidly at the speed at which he could move at the drop of a hat, Y/N eyed his side profile with awe. 

“Hmm. What else should we get? Jimin didn’t write as detailed of a list as I would’ve liked…” frowning, Y/N looked to Taehyung for advice; she wasn’t sure what sort of things the men would need right away. 

“Body wash. Maybe some lotion, deodorant. Razors and shaving cream,” Taehyung spoke very slowly, ticking off items on his long fingertips as he rattled them off. Grateful for his input, Y/N nodded enthusiastically, waving him to follow as she weaved through the aisles to retrieve everything. 

He pointed out the best brands for items such as the razors and shaving creams, which she would have been puzzled over for minutes pondering over the sheer selection. Balancing the basket on her hip, she filled it with several bottles of body wash from the top shelf, nearly dropping it while trying to juggle the box of donuts she was still holding. Taehyung gently took the basket from her, slinging it over his forearm, and reached the last bottle she couldn’t grasp. 

“Thanks, it’s not too heavy?” Y/N gestured towards the basket, feeling flustered all over again under Taehyung’s stoic stare. He shook his head, one of his ears twitching as a loud peal of Hoseok’s laughter came from the next aisle over. Grinning at the sound, Y/N set off to find him, hoping that everyone had gotten what they needed. 

Yoongi was deliberating between two different hair brushes with Hoseok, who was insisting on a boar-bristle. 

“Yeah, I get what you’re saying about oil distribution or whatever, Foxy, but the plastic brush is literally half the price. I just need it to work,” Yoongi was insisting, plopping a little plastic brush into his half-filled basket. 

“Hi, guys! How’re you making out?” Y/N asked, Hoseok releasing the brush hanging on a hook he was checking out upon hearing her voice. 

“I think I’ve got everything I need, just trying to help Yoongi out with proper hair care,” Hoseok squinted at Yoongi’s long hair with distaste. 

“More like trying to lord over my choices,” Yoongi murmured, organizing the things in his basket gingerly. 

“Where’s Jeongguk?” Y/N furrowed her eyebrows, not having seen the elk hybrid since they arrived. Standing on her tiptoes, she tried to look over the shelves for any sign of antlers peeking out from an aisle. 

“By the counter already,” Yoongi pointed, expression turning disdainful. 

At the register, the three hybrids bumbling after her, Y/N felt relief wash over her when she spotted Jeongguk with his basket already up on the counter. While she didn’t believe that he truly would have ditched them, she was still nervous around him and the thought did cross her mind at least fleetingly. In his basket was the bare minimum, a bottle of saline like Y/N used for her new cartilage piercing, allergy tablets, a stick of deodorant, a package of BIC lighters. He was staring at the shelf behind the register with longing, Y/N following his gaze curiously as the teenage boy at the register began to ring all of the items through. 

“What brand?” Y/N asked slyly, eyes roaming over the shelf of cigarette cartons. Stiffening, Jeongguk shot a sideways look down at her in surprise. 

“Marlboro. Reds,” he answered, biting down on the ring hugging his lip. 

“Three packs of the reds, please,” Y/N asked the young boy, who dropped them into a plastic bag and handed it to Jeongguk. As soon as Y/N stuck her credit card into the reader for everything, Jeongguk was gone, his silhouette visible through the window as he broke into one of the packs and his new lighters. Y/N would have loved to enjoy a cigarette at that moment, but wouldn’t dare ask for one from Jeongguk after his almost frantic dash to the sidewalk. 

Taehyung hefted six bags onto his arms himself, leaving only two for Yoongi and Hoseok to grab before Y/N could reach for one. She followed after them heading to the exit, doing her best to shield the donut box from the rain with her arms. Cigarette smoke from Jeongguk wafted in a cloud as soon as she got out onto the sidewalk, rain soaking his hair and face as he cupped his hands to light what she presumed to be his second. 

“You guys wait here, I’ll pull the car around,” Y/N shouted over a clap of thunder, Hoseok catching her by the hem of her sweater before she could dash out into the parking lot. Puzzled, she stared at him with wide eyes, him slotting one of the open umbrellas under her arm to keep her dry. Throwing him an appreciative, embarrassed smile, she stepped directly into an ankle-deep puddle, getting away as quickly as possible before he could laugh at her. 

Stashing the donuts away, Y/N pulled up to the curb to the hybrids waiting under the awning of the Chinese restaurant. This time, before Hoseok could reach the passenger door, Taehyung beat him to the punch and clambered in next to Y/N, Hoseok whining behind him. With a tight-lipped smile, Taehyung shut the door in his face, brushing droplets of rain off his arms and stowing the bags he was carrying by his feet. 

“Fucker,” Hoseok muttered acidically, sliding into the back seat next to Yoongi. Trying not to look amused at Hoseok’s bitterness, Y/N peered into the backseat through the rearview mirror, making sure everyone was present. Jeongguk looked significantly more relaxed than he had earlier in the morning, however, a thin veil of annoyance still blanketed his features as he fumbled with one of the packs of cigarettes in his hand. 

“Alright, let’s head home,” Y/N murmured, mostly to herself, the rain getting heavier and more difficult to navigate through. 

“Your wipers need a change,” Taehyung commented, leaning forward to squint at the way they uselessly flung small amounts of water off of the windshield. “I know how to do that,” he added. 

“Really? I’d need to get the parts, though,” Y/N raised her eyebrows, wondering how she would find wipers for a car from 1986. 

“You’ll find them in a junkyard, if there’s one around here,” Taehyung informed her, as if he had read her mind. Tapping her fingers against the steering wheel, she made a mental note to call up the junkyard in her town later on to save herself a trip if they didn’t have the wipers she needed. 

Traffic was slow as she tried her best to see out of the windshield, rolling down her window to poke her head out occasionally to get a better view of the road. It seemed others on the road were taking precautions in the downpour by crawling on the highway, Y/N impatiently squirming in her seat. She started to feel bad for leaving Jimin and Seokjin alone, especially without many groceries in the house. 

Y/N desperately needed to get to the supermarket; she had no idea what to make for lunch, let alone dinner. With the weather, the last thing Y/N wanted to do was lug paper bags back and forth to her car, but they couldn’t live on takeout forever– she thought for some ridiculous reason the hybrids would think she was incapable of feeding herself, and therefore themselves. Maybe one more night of pizza delivery before she could stock up wouldn’t be the worst, but it was the less than ideal option for her. 

By the time they had made it about halfway home, Y/N’s phone began to ring, making her curse under her breath as she blindly grasped for it in the cupholder. 

“Hello?” She breathlessly answered, not able to check the caller ID due to her focus on the road. 

“Honey, it’s me!” Her mother replied, urgency lacing her tone. Y/N could hear her tinkering with what sounded like metal bowls. 

“Hey mom, what’s up?” Y/N brightened her tone, switching to a slower lane to get off the highway shortly. 

“I’m just letting you know, I’m coming over to the house in an hour or so. I went to the farmer’s market this morning to buy you some groceries and I packed up some meals for your freezer,” her mother said breathlessly, the snapping sound of plastic tupperware coming through the receiver. 

“What!?” Y/N squawked, alarmed that she’d have to introduce her to the hybrids so soon. Running an anxious hand through her hair, she felt Taehyung jump next to her at her outburst, Yoongi and Hoseok making noises of confusion. 

“I knew you weren’t going to make it to the store in the next few days. I could hear it in your voice. Honey, you can’t live on calzones, much less expect your new friends to eat takeaway every night,” her mother explained calmly, Y/N’s face becoming hot as she realized the hybrids could probably hear every word her mother was saying. 

“A little head’s up would have been nice,” Y/N spit through her teeth, humiliated. Her mother laughed, the sound mirthful and easy. 

“That’s what this is! Anyways, I’ll see you soon. I’ll even send you a message before we walk over.”

“We?” Y/N squeaked, mortification flooding into her even more quickly by now. 

“Honey, are you becoming hard of hearing like your father? He’s coming with me, I need some help carrying the containers of bean burgers,” her mother sighed, tutting at her. 

“Uh. Um, okay… I-I need to focus on driving, here, please text me before you leave,” Y/N rushed, on a new mission to get home as quickly as possible. Her mother said goodbye, promptly hanging up, Y/N stiffly placing her phone back in the cupholder. 

“What was that all about?” Hoseok asked from the back seat, though she knew he could hear every word of the conversation through the phone. Grimacing, Y/N sped up the car, tapping her left foot against the carpeted car floor impatiently. 

“Looks like you’ll all get to meet my parents today.”

Taglist; @blancflms @grazysf @sbromp @jaxavance @sunderlight @ot7nem @mageprincess7 @wittyreader @drenix004 @mayla548 @skyys-universe @ddaeng-angmoh @trtlthts @exfolitae @kalala22 @xiusmarshmallow @bangtans-momma @zae007live @paigetj

Please do not repost or translate my work. Thank you!

[unadulteratedsoulsweets]

A DC X DP IDEA #21

A PENNY FOR MY AND YOUR THOUGHTS #1…

The Justice League tries to understand the intricacies of the Ghost Zone and ghostly physics. Batman, in particular, attempts to apply logic to the supernatural world, leading to some hilarious debates with Danny who in return explains to Batman how his family’s and his version of physics breaks all logic.

…

You know this idea kind of came up to me, I’ve had my share of DC X DP crossovers of stories over the past year, and let me. Now that I’m talking out loud I found this hilarious cause tell you this opinion of mine was in the back of my head ever since

Logic is always present in the DC franchise whether it is their machines or some great evil weapons there is always some sort of explanation that uses science-defined words that can be translated into comic science. From magicians as well to magic shenanigans there is always some sort of logic behind each interaction. Batman uses full time to counter-act everything, and I mean everything in case they turn to the other side.

And there is DP…

I mean in all logic there is an absolute quack. The Fenton’s way a lipstick can be turned into some sort of laser gun against a ghost, okay two questions first how did they manage to cram the function to fire away a small yet precise blast towards the intended direction and second how did they even modify an everyday looking lipstick into that. The Fenton creep stick is just a baseball bat with a green sticker yet for some reason works on ghosts. Let’s not forget that the two eccentric ghost hunters have designed and built many of the ghost-hunting devices, often using household objects or repurposed machinery. I mean I saw the YouTube vids about how to build a bomb or even how to make your weapon made out of everyday machinery yet there are still machine parts that cannot be found in everyday appliances to ensure a functioning and safe weapon.

 Let’s not also forget about the ectoplasm, the show repeatedly stated that ectoplasm is radioactive, sure there are the mutated dinners as well as some other stuff but the fact that it did’nt affect the other two children of the Fenton’s due to prolonged exposure of ectoplasm beneath there own home amazes me. I mean look at our everyday powerplant there is a huge distance between a power plant to civilization to avoid future problems, heck we are exposed to light radiation everyday. Doctors advise us to stay away from radiation or lessen our time spent with everyday radiation. Sure there are some fan fics about how the entire population of Amity Park is somehow contaminated and gained some sort of ghost ability like extra strength and glowing eyes but majority of them, Danny was the only one seeing that he had an entire dimension fall on him when he opened the portal.

Now mash the two fandoms together and you’ll see my mental image of Batman and Phantom debating the logic behind DP logics despite having the same two fandoms living in the same universe, while the rest of the League watches in great focus as they have never seen Batman so worked up before as well on how their new League member create such highly functioning weapons.

I mean if I saw someone create a staff turned into some sort of double-bladed lightsaber from household items, I would also question my sanity as well as my knowledge.

…

Just a thought of mine….don't mind me 😕😕😕

[harringtonswriting]

the one with the mutual pining | j.h.s.

summary: it's always been fun to flirt with jake, though you'd never cross the line to take you from friends to something more because while he flirts back, does he really mean it? well, bradley bradshaw decides this is something they're gonna rectify, and it definitely ends in your favour pairing: jake 'hangman' seresin x fem!reader warning(s): language; references to alcohol word count: 4.2k notes: here is my very first attempt at writing tgm, and at writing hangman. this is all completely thanks to @katsu28 who has entertained all my tgm thoughts. this one's for you kait!! <3 also, there are a couple alternate endings for this one too 👀 if anyone wants to read them when they're finished or maybe have them turned into other fics, let me know!

...

Friday nights always seem to be the busiest nights at the Hard Deck. Or, well, they have been since you started working there.

It always seems to start getting packed not long after dinner time, usually by a good mix of civilians and members of the Navy who were stationed in Fightertown. A lot of them seemed to know Penny, especially the aviators. Penny had warned you about them when she gave you the bartending job; about their flashy smiles, their nicely styled yet somehow perpetually windswept looking hair, and all the trouble that comes with them. There’d been a fond smile on her face when she said that, so you were sure there was a story (or maybe many) behind her warnings.

It was on your very first Friday that you’d met Lieutenant Jake Seresin. Well, you’d actually met most of the Dagger Squad (which you’d been told was what they were called by Mickey after a few Fridays together), but it was Jake who stuck out to you the most. You’d be a liar if you said his sparkling green eyes and dimples weren’t attractive, and he absolutely had the confidence you’d expect from someone who flew million dollar planes for a living. The way he leant on the bartop, grinning at you as he ordered a beer and introduced himself was full of charm, and the slight southern drawl that curled his words drew you in immediately. But you didn’t let him know that; no, you pointed him to the back of the line of people waiting to order, and handed Bradley Bradshaw his drink instead.

That was the start of your friendship with Jake, and your infatuation with him. That part you keep to yourself, though. At first it was because you didn’t think it was anything other than a tiny crush, but then when that didn’t go away no matter what you did (or what Jake did). And then it was because he’d become a friend by that point, a familiar face and someone you enjoyed seeing and talking to, just like the rest of his squad of aviators, and you didn’t want to risk losing him like that. That’s what you told yourself, at least. Plus, the two of you had built up quite a fun back and forth with each other, all witty jokes and subtle flirting (on your end; Jake tends to flirt heavily with just about anyone) and you looked forward to it whenever you see the squad of aviators walk in the door.

This Friday night is no exception; they’ve been here for about an hour already, drinking and laughing and unwinding from the stress of the week. Bradley had told you earlier that one of the Admirals had a particularly large stick up his ass lately, and their squad in particular had been feeling the heat. Which meant they were keeping you busy, because Pete and some of the older aviators had commandeered Penny’s attention. Not that you were complaining, because you enjoyed talking to all of them and getting paid to do so.

Jake approaches the bar top on his own for the first time since arriving; he’s got a grin on his face as he leans his arm on the polished wooden surface closest to you. It’s early enough in the evening, not long after the bar had opened for the day, that it’s not very busy yet so you can give him your full attention while Penny chats with Pete and the patrons at the other end.

He’s wearing a soft-looking green button down shirt, with the top few buttons undone. The colour brings out his eyes,  His sleeves are rolled up just above his elbows, and you can see the silver chain that holds his dog tags disappear further down past where his shirt buttons are undone. And while you can’t see it from where you’re standing, you’re sure he’s also wearing those jeans you know work absolute wonders for his ass—not that you’d ever tell him that, of course, because his ego is inflated enough already. But you might sneak a look later on.

“Hey darlin’, another beer for me on the sore loser,” he says by way of greeting, grin curling his lips up and showing off his dimples. He jerks his thumb over his shoulder, and you peer over it to see Bradley standing back at the pool table the aviators had claimed. He’s wearing a bright blue Hawaiian shirt you’ve never seen before, and he’s got a defeated smile on his face. His shoulders are slumped and he’s leaning against the pool table as he catches you looking and waves. You wave back, smiling and winking at him before your attention turns back to the blond in front of you.

“You got it. The usual?” you ask, and he nods. You reach under the bar top to grab a bottle of Jake’s preferred beer, popping the cap off for him before you place it on the counter in front of him. “You won a game already? You haven’t been here that long.”

“I’m just that good at pool, darlin’.” Which is true; you know he’s beaten just about all of his fellow aviators, and you’d bet he’s hustled others at the Hard Deck too. Maybe even at other bars. Jake’s cocky, but unfortunately he’s got the skills to back up all his talk.

“Or maybe Bradley’s just that bad and you’re taking advantage of him.”

Jake doesn’t answer but he laughs as he reaches for his beer. His hand brushes yours as you hand him the bottle of beer, the pads of his fingers gliding over your knuckles and the back of your hand. His touch tingles, and you find your cheeks growing warm as those fingers trail electricity that fades all too quickly when he takes his beer. He holds eye contact with you for a beat too long before he’s winking and turning back towards Bradley and the others.

It was basically routine at this point. On Friday nights, the aviators would show up after they’ve finished for the day. Pete would find Penny, the two of them taking over one end of the bartop to flirt like they’re not in a bar full of people. The rest of them would come over to greet you, order their first round, and then either commandeer an open pool table, or grab a few tables to themselves to wait for one to open up. As soon as it did, they’d all take turns playing, with the losers buying the winners drinks. Jake tended to win more than he lost; and lately, he seemed to be winning against Bradley much more than he had before. Not that you kept track of that (except, of course, that you did).

The night goes on as the Hard Deck fills up, and you’re kept busy with the steady flow of customers that come your way. The aviators definitely keep you on your toes, and Bradley’s tab just keeps getting bigger as he continues to lose against Jake (and Natasha and Javy, you notice), and others keep buying rounds. You’re definitely happy with the tips you’re getting, though, and between you and Penny you manage to keep up with all the orders that just keep coming. Thankfully, though, it starts to get more steady than busy, and you’re thankful to start getting lulls between customers ordering drinks so you can do some cleaning. You begin wiping down the bar with a clean, wet rag from the bucket by your feet.

Bradley approaches the bartop, and up close you notice that his bright blue Hawaiian shirt is covered in magenta flowers, the colours almost too loud to look at. His cheeks are a little ruddy, and the top half of his shirt is unbuttoned and showing off the dogtags he’s wearing against his bare chest. His sunglasses are poking out of his shirt pocket, and he’s got a wide smile on his face as he places his hands in front of him on the slightly wet polished wooden surface. You stop wiping down the bar in case he’s here to get something from you, or maybe to close out his tab–though it’s a little early in the night for that.

He looks back over his shoulder towards where the others are, and you also look in that direction to see Jake staring at the two of you, a pool cue held in his hands and his brow furrowed. Mickey hoots, and sends you a thumbs up. You’re not sure what for, but his enthusiasm is sweet and you shoot him a thumbs up in return. Bradley looks back to you.

“You here for another round?” you ask, and his smile drops momentarily.

“No, I don’t think I want to add to my tab.” You pull it up, and then shake your head because no, he really doesn’t. Bradley grimaces and sighs, leaning forward towards you. “Actually, I had something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“I’m not ringing the bell on Jake just because he’s beating you at pool,” you warn him. “He’s got to earn it. Trick him into dropping his phone on the bar like a normal person.” Which Reuben had done with Bob last week, and you’d felt a bit bad for the bespectacled aviator but the rules are the rules. Bradley chuckles, and leans closer to you over the bartop.

“No, actually, Mav’s birthday is coming up and we wanted to do something for him and Penny. A surprise for the two of them” He looks behind you, seeing Penny and Pete where you know they’re decently close, and he gestures for you to lean forward. He moves his head next to yours, and starts whispering to you, wanting to keep this a secret. “We’re thinking about all chipping in and getting the two of them some kinda weekend away, maybe something fun in the city. D’you think you’d wanna get in on that?”

That’s definitely not what you were expecting, but your heart melts at the idea of being able to give your boss and her boyfriend a nice little vacation together. Penny’s been an amazing boss since you’ve started working for her, and you know how hard she works. She deserves this, for sure. “That is actually really sweet. Yeah, I’d be happy to do that for them.”

That’s when you hear Penny’s voice from behind you, startling you a bit. “Bradley Bradshaw, are you bothering my bartender?”

With a smile he probably thinks makes him look completely innocent, he moves away from your ear and answers her with a “No, ma’am!” and then wiggles his eyebrows at you before he turns and heads back towards the pool table. You watch him as you go, and you see when he gets back that Reuben slaps him on the shoulder while Natasha hands him her pool cue. Your eyes drift towards Jake, and you see him with a deep frown on his face, his pool cue leaning against the table as his arms are crossed over his chest. You can’t tell what he’s saying from this far away, but he’s moving up to get in Bradley’s face. Maybe the older aviator was actually supposed to get a round? You don’t know, but they’ll eventually work it out. They know if they start a fight in the bar that Penny will squash that real quick. Not that it wouldn’t be entertaining.

You resume your cleaning, gathering up some glasses that have been left on one side of the bar to put in the dirty dish bin to be washed later. An older man approaches the bar and asks for a whiskey neat, which you pour him, and he pays for it and thanks you before leaving. You put the bottle back in its place, and then all of a sudden Jake is standing in front of you.

“Hey, sailor. What can I get you?” you ask. You notice he’s not smiling like he normally would; his forehead is wrinkled and his eyebrows are furrowed as his green eyes look at you. His normally neatly coiffed blond hair is looking just a bit dishevelled, like he’s been running his hands through it and moving it out of its usual style. You start to worry when he doesn’t answer you; Jake is usually completely unbothered by anything, never being fazed and always taking things in stride. He’s always in control of every situation and every interaction he’s in. But that’s not how he’s looking now. Something’s got him looking almost frazzled, and it has you worried for him. You bite that worry down, though, as you watch him run a hand through his hair now.

“I need–” He sighs, shaking his head slightly. He takes in a deep breath before he starts again with, “Look, I need to talk to you. It’s important. Can we go somewhere private?” This is one of those nights you really wish that Jimmy was working, or that Penny had another bartender besides you because you really couldn’t just leave her alone before your shift was over. You pull your phone out of your pocket, checking the time.

“Uh, not right now, but I’m done in about an hour. Is that okay?” you ask, sliding your phone back in your pocket and looking at the aviator in front of you. He sighs, but not in an unkind way, and he nods. But there’s no wink, no smile, and no sign of his adorable dimples. You didn’t think you’d miss them as much as you did, but seeing him like this, with something bothering him, makes you realize that you’re kind of in over your head with him. “Are you okay, Jake?”

Jake nods again, letting his lips turn up slightly at the corners in a closed mouth smile. “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” You’re stopped from answering when Mr Whiskey Neat comes back up for another drink and you reach down to grab the bottle. Jake nods at you, moving away from the bar top and heading in the direction of the bathrooms. “I’ll talk to you in an hour. Meet me outside, my truck’s farthest from the door.”

And then he’s gone and you’re pouring a drink, and you’re feeling confused, worried, and a little annoyed that your conversation had been cut short. What could Jake Seresin possibly need to talk to you about privately? And what exactly is bothering him? You only have the next hour to worry about it in your head, and you already know that’s not going to be fun.

The last hour of your shift goes by much too slowly for your liking, but as the minutes creep closer, you wish you had just a bit more time. You’re more than a little nervous to talk to Jake when it’s over; he’d closed out his tab with Penny while you’d been busy getting another round for some other customers, including Natasha and Bob, who were sharing secretive smiles as they chatted with you. Maybe there was something in the water at the naval base, or maybe all the stress of the week had really gotten in their heads. You weren’t sure which was worse.

But then you’re done, and it’s time to go talk to Jake, and you find yourself stalling on your way out. Penny must notice the change in your demeanor, because she stops you to ask if everything is okay before she lets you go.

“Was someone giving you a hard time?” she asks, keeping her voice low as you clock out. Your bag and coat are in the back room, which she gives you the key to, and you shake your head. “Pete can walk you out of here, if you need. Or I’m sure one of his squad would be more than happy to do that too.”

“I’m okay, Penny, I promise,” you assure her. You leave quickly to grab your things, and return to give her the key back.

“Text me when you get home!” You wave your hand to her, and then you’re leaving the Hard Deck and walking out into the cool night air. You pull your coat a little tighter around your body, walking towards the end of the parking lot. It takes a minute to see him in the dark, but Jake is leaning against the front of his truck when you spot him. He’s all the way at the far end of the parking lot just like he’d told you.

There aren’t too many cars left, and no one else is out and walking around so it’s just the two of you that you can see. He must see you coming because he pushes himself off of his truck and waits for you to get close enough before he greets you. The set of his shoulders is tense, and they’re up close to his ears. The smile on his face looks a little forced and you shift your weight between your feet as you look at him.

“What did you want to talk about? Seemed pretty important.”

He sighs, one hand coming up to tug at his hair. It shines even in the dingy, yellowed lights coming from the street lights set up in the parking lot, and you briefly wonder if it would feel as soft as it looks now, or if maybe it was crunchy with gel. You hoped it was soft. But that was not the point, and you push that thought away for now. “Look, whatever Rooster told you… just ignore him, okay? He’s drunk. I didn’t even drink half the beers I won off him, he did. He didn’t mean anything he said.”

Okay, now you’re confused. What did Bradley being drunk have to do with Pete’s birthday present? The mustachioed aviator hadn’t seemed that drunk when he spoke to you; you’d seen him absolutely shitfaced before, just once, and tonight was definitely anywhere close to that. You still mourned the t-shirt you’d been wearing that night, it had been one of your favourites. “Really? But I thought it was pretty sweet.”

That seems to irritate Jake, and he rolls his eyes. “But it’s not his business telling you that, he was just being an idiot. He’s a lightweight, and he’s probably puking on Bob’s shoes right now.” Now that was a funny image, and you hoped for Bob’s sake that Bradley throws up somewhere else and not on Bob’s shoes. You’d ask Natasha about that the next time you see her. “Rooster just thought he was being funny, is all. I wanted to make sure you knew that and make sure it didn’t make you uncomfortable.”

“It seems like it made you uncomfortable. Don’t even deny that you’re not! I can tell. I’m good like that.” He doesn’t take the opportunity to make a joke, or grin and wink at you like he normally would, which just served to bring your point home. You know he and Bradley can get under each other’s skin like no one else can, but this was a whole new level of grump.

But that’s when Jake comes out with it. “Of course it made me uncomfortable, him telling you that I like you like that! It wasn’t his business to do that.”

You’re not sure you heard him right. You blink, taking a moment to process his words. There’s no way you heard him correctly. He thinks Bradley Bradshaw told you, completely seriously, that Jake likes you. And that’s why he’s been acting so weird. Oh yeah, it’s all coming together now.

“Like me? What?” you ask, but you don’t give him time to answer. “Bradley didn’t say anything about you, he was telling me about Mav’s birthday present, asking if I wanted to pitch in for a trip for him and Penny.” Even in the dim light in the parking lot, you can see the colour drain from Jake’s face. His jaw even drops, just a little, as he stares at you. If you were thinking properly, you’d want to take your phone out and snap a photo of Jake Seresin, lost for words. You’d never seen it before. It was kind of cute. “You like me? As more than a friend?”

“No!” It comes out quickly, much too quickly, and you can hear the crack in Jake’s voice. It kicks your brain back into gear, and you feel a tingly warmth spread through your chest not unlike what you’d felt earlier when Jake’s fingers had brushed the back of your hand. It makes you almost giddy, the thought of Jake liking you like you like him. That you haven’t been pining over him and agonizing over whether it was worth ruining your friendship for nothing, and that his flirting had actually meant something. But you can’t resist teasing him about it, just a bit.

“Wait… so you don’t like me?” you ask, feigning disappointment–it’s hard, though, keeping the grin off your face as you do so. Jake shakes his head, taking a step closer and his hands coming out to hover in front of you, close but not actually touching you yet.

“No! No, I do like you!” Jake is so quick to backtrack, and you have to bring a hand up to cover your mouth to hide the smile and the laughter that’s threatening to come out. You think maybe that part of it is some sort of hysterical relief and joy at hearing Jake Seresin, Hangman, the most confident man you’d ever met, blurt out that he likes you like a child on a playground. God, you’ll never get over this, and this will absolutely be the story you’ll love to tell people when they ask how the two of you start dating. Which you know he’ll hate. But that’s something you’ll worry about later. Right now, you think Jake looks like he’s about to have an aneurysm and that would probably be counter productive. So you decide to throw him a bone.

“Well that’s good, seeing as I like you too,” you tell him, moving your hand away from your mouth to smile at him. That’s when you see his shoulders sag and the colour starts to come back to his face as he processes your words. And if you take that opportunity to confirm that yes, he is wearing those jeans that do wonders for his ass, well, that’s something you’ll keep to yourself.

“You do?” he asks when he finds his voice, and you nod. That’s when you see a smile break out across his face, and his dimples are back in full force.

“What, you think I flirt with just any aviator who comes into the Hard Deck?” That gets a laugh out of him, and you love the sound. It’s a real laugh, a rumble from deep in his chest, and you definitely want to hear that again. You hope you will.

“Well, I’m not just any aviator,” he confirms, walking just a bit closer. His hands are still out, and you reach out with one of yours to take his. They’re big, and warm, and the callouses rub against your skin in the best way. More tingles shoot up your arm, and you squeeze his hand with yours. “Then I guess it’s about time I ask you out, darlin’.”

“It’s not nice to leave someone hanging, you know.” He rolls his eyes. “Here, gimme your phone. We’ll trade numbers.” He digs his out of his pocket while you grab yours, and you unlock it and bring up your contacts for him. He does the same, and you enter your name and number before you hand it back. You see his name and number in yours. “I should get going so I can get home and text Penny before she sends out a search team. Call me!”

You get about five steps away before you feel your phone vibrating in your pocket. You pull it out, and see Jake’s name across your screen. You answer the call.

“So I was thinking I could take you out sometime. Does tomorrow night work for you?” he asks, his voice coming over the speaker and also from behind you. You laugh, nodding as you hold the phone to your ear.

“Tomorrow works just fine. What do you have planned?” you ask. You don’t turn around, but you can imagine him leaning back against his truck as he talks, watching you walk away. You hope he enjoys the view.

“Gotta leave some things a surprise. Just make it home safe, and we’ll talk more tomorrow.” You assure him that you will, because you really do want to get home because you know Penny really will send someone out to check on you if she’s worried. “Goodnight, darlin’.”

You hang up the phone, waving back over your shoulder as you leave the parking lot. You hear Jake’s laugh behind you, and it puts a spring in your step all the way home.

Yeah, you’re absolutely sure he’s gonna kick Bradley’s ass for forcing his hand, but you got a date with Jake Seresin out of this. You can’t wait for Saturday night.

.

.

.

[tveitertotwrites]

Hey! I saw this and it inspired me and left me yearning for content! :) If it inspires you, can you create something (fic/edit, etc) for one of your pairings? It could be HC or AU - before they meet or after - just have fun with it! I want crazy parties! :)

Hey! Thanks for the ask! I had planned on making it longer but I got stuck on where to go so after the last sentence so I left it where it is. I also wasn't able to work on this until recently so it's a little late (almost a month past christmas but idc)

Christmas Party Shenanigans

Book/Series: Open Heart (Post Series)

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Claire Evans)

Rating: General

Word Count: 705

Summary: Claire makes Ethan go to the Edenbrook Holiday party.

Claire is finishing getting ready by putting on perfume. Ethan comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. He puts his hands on her small baby bump. She leans her back against his chest as he decides to slowly run his hands up and down her sides.

“You know, we could just skip and have more fun here.” Ethan said.

Claire sets down her perfume and turns around to look at him. She wraps her arms around his neck. “While I like the idea of us having fun in that way, we’re going to the party.” She gives him a quick peck on the lips. 

Claire grabs her coat and starts to try and put it on. Ethan sighs, feeling defeated that his plan didn’t work. He then helps her put on her coat before putting his on.

Ethan and Claire leave their bedroom and head into their living room where their kids, Oliver and Sienna are playing with their toys on the floor with Alan watching them. 

Alan looks at them. “Well, don’t you two look pretty.” Claire smiles as both her and Ethan look at their kids playing. The kids look up at their parents and stop playing and hurry over to their parents for a hug. 

“Thank you Alan.” Claire says as she and Ethan hug their kids and give them each a kiss on the forehead. “You’re welcome. You both deserve a night away from the kids.”

The couple finish saying their goodbyes and leave their apartment, walking hand in hand. They head to the garage and Ethan holds the door for Claire to get in. They smile at each other as she gets in the car and he closes the door. 

Ethan then gets in the driver’s side and drives towards the hospital, having one hand on the wheel while the other holds Claire’s hand. He parks their car close to the hospital and gets out to help Claire out.

They walk into the hospital foyer to red and green balloons and gold and silver lights all around. Many staff members are dancing on the makeshift dance floor, others near the bar. 

Ethan sighs. “Alright I’ve seen enough. We can go now.” He starts to turn around when Claire grabs his shoulder and turns him back around. The pair glare at each other before walking over to the bar.

“Two waters please.” Ethan asks the bartender. The bartender hands Ethan the waters. “Thank you.” Ethan turns to Claire and hands her one of the waters. They both take a drink when Adelaide and Tobias come up to them.

“Well, look who actually showed up. I thought Mr. Grump would have found a way to tie you to your bed so he could avoid this.” Tobias says to Claire. Ethan grumbles, “Unfortunately she told my dad about this and he insisted on us coming.” Adelaide and Tobais chuckle, “It’s not that bad, I mean everyone’s having fun.” Adelaide says as she looks around the room.

On the dance floor is Elijah, Jackie, Aurora, Sienna, and their partners, dancing to the music a little bit as they hold their drinks. Rafael and Bryce play one of the holiday themed games in the corner of the foyer. Zaid, Inez and Baz sit and chat with each other. Some other doctors dance, play games, and sit at the bar as well.

“Anyways, we’re heading to the dance floor. Just don’t spend the whole time here by yourselves.” Tobias tells Ethan but also to Claire a little bit as well. Adelaide and Tobias head onto the dance floor.

Claire is about to head onto the dance floor as well when Ethan gently grabs her waist. “Wait a minute.” Ethan looks over at the nearest closet then back at Claire. She playfully glares at him, “We’re not going into the closet.”

Ethan gently grabs her hand and guides her over to the closet. She rolls her eyes and heads into the closet. Ethan closes the door and gently pushes Claire back against the door before kissing her with a lot of desire. He lifts her up into his arms as they kiss. “So, you said we weren’t going into the closet?” 

“Shut up.”

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

Tags: @crazy-loca-blog @driverstveit @rookiemartin @zahrachoices

OH Only: @coffeeheartaddict2 @jerzwriter @liaromancewriter @rafasgirl23415

Ethan Only: @cariantha

[arcane-vagabond]

SORRY I’M LATE, I was searching for my bunny slippers and it’s dark here in your walls and none of these termites can hold a flashlight for SHIT

I wanna start with a drabble request (bc of course) for DHTN (bc OF COURSE) and I want Jake’s POV of the arrest bc we don’t actually know how that went down and I just know his thought process as he realizes he’s going to be taken away from Scout is gonna BREAK me. Also did he see Isaac as he was being led out of the saloon?????? SO MANY QUESTIONS, but hey we’re here for the weekend~

CONGRATS AGAIN ON 500 FOLLOWERS, LIZ!!! I love you so so much and I’m so proud of you!!! It’s such an honor and pleasure to be your friend 🥺❤️

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH RUTHIE. I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE MY FRIEND AND THAT I'M HOLDING YOU HOSTAGE TO WHERE YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO MY IDEAS FOR DIFFERENT FICS.

Of all the posse members, Bob was the last person Jake would have guessed to go starting fights. Though, start was probably not the correct word to use in this case. From what Bradley had told him, a group of men had been making comments about Bunny. Something about her past in New Orleans, and the bespectacled man had not cared for their choice of words. At all.

Bradley and Jake had just arrived outside the saloon when all hell broke loose. Jake watched as Bob reared his fist back, sending it flying forward into an older man's nose. A sickening crunch sounded throughout the street, and he was scrambling forward just as the rival posse launched towards his friends.

Fists were flying everywhere, and Jake heard a woman scream as he elbowed his way through the frenzy. His heart was beating a mile a minute as his eyes landed on Javy, who was grappling with another man. Jake ran up, shoving the man before grabbing Javy's arm and dragging him towards the sidelines.

"Grab the others," he ordered, eyes darting around as he spotted Bradley already grabbing for Mickey. "Help Rooster, and get everyone out of here as fast you can, got it?"

"What are you going to do?" Javy shouted, struggling to be heard over the noise of other men joining in. Jake shook his head.

"Don't worry about me. Now go!"

He shoved Javy back towards the fray, eyes scanning the streets when he spotted Ice making his way towards the chaos, a dark haired man at his side. He searched frantically for Bradley, eyes spotting the brunette before jogging towards him.

"Get the others out of here," he told him, eyes still on the two approaching figures. "No reason for all of us to get caught."

Bradley followed his line of sight, a frown tugging at his lips when he saw the approaching U.S. marshal.

"Jake," he started, but the blond shook his head.

"There's no time," he shouted, seeing Javy lead Bob and Reuben towards the back of the saloon, brown eyes starting at him worriedly. "Grab Bob and go."

Bradley pressed his lips into a thin line before grabbing the back of Bob's shirt, hauling the bespectacled man away from the fight.

Jake stood in the middle of the chaos, watching different men fight each other. He wasn't even sure who some of these men were, but more than likely they were just men taking advantage to settle old scores.

He knew he couldn't just leave, not after it was one of his friends who started the fight in the first place. They'd come after all of them then. No, Jake would stay to give his friends a chance to flee. They'd figure something out. They always had before.

Jake's green eyes met black ones as a gunshot rang out, and a stillness washed over the street, so quiet you could hear a church mouse squeak. He focused on the devious smile that adorned Isaac's face, smug satisfaction seeping through every pore as the two men stared at each other. Jake's jaw clenched. Of course. Of course this had all been a trap.

Jake turned to watch Ice lower his pistol, holstering it back at his side as his gaze drifted over the crowd, blue eyes settling on him. He could practically hear the sharp inhale Ice gave as he looked at the younger man. He blinked before looking away.

"What seems to be the commotion?" He asked, frowning at the rest of the men gathered.

"It was the Dagger Posse!" Someone shouted, no doubt one of Isaac's lackeys. "They're the ones that started the fight! One of them is standing right there!"

Jake's shoulders stiffened as all eyes turned to him, including that of U.S. Marshal Simpson. A cry rang out amongst the crowd at the accusation, but the damage had already been done. Simpson casted an indecipherable look before making his way towards Jake.

"No, it wasn't the Daggers!" Someone else shouted. "The Hunter Posse is the one that started all this!"

"Say that again, and you're a dead man."

"It was those no good, spineless cowards in the Hun-"

"Quiet, Hanson," Ice snapped, never taking his eyes off of where Simpson stood in front of Jake. "Don't need to add your sorry ass to my list of problems right now."

Jake squared his shoulders. He knew he was caught, but like hell he was going down without putting up even the illusion of a fight. He swung his fist out, just clumsily enough for the marshal to dodge it, gripping his arm and slamming him up against the wall of the saloon. Jake winced as his arms were forced back, cuffs clicking around his wrists. Simpson grabbed him by the collar, hauling him back so hard that Jake stumbled slightly.

"Is this all really necessary?" He drawled, earning a scowl from the dark haired man.

"Yes," Simpson snapped, pushing Jake forward as they began to walk. Jake's eyes scanned the crowd for any sign of his friends. If they were smart, they'd be long gone from the scene. What he wasn't expecting to see, was you standing at the front of the crowd, eyes wide and shining with unshed tears as you watched him.

He felt his heart crack at the sight. He didn't want this. He didn't want to be the reason you cried, and you had cried more than enough over him to last a life time. He just got you back, and now you had to see him like this. Chained like a dog and paraded down the street. He stopped in front of you, trying and failing to jerk his arm out of Simpson's hold.

"Hey, sweet girl," he cooed. He cast a glance back at the marshal, who eyed the two of you wearily. "Everything is going to be alright, yeah? Don’t you worry about a thing. I’ll be out as a free man before you know it."

“You shouldn’t lie to her, Hangman,” Simpson said, casting you a sympathetic look. “We all know that this is the end of the line for you.”

Jake frowned. He wanted to argue, he really did. But, just as he opened his mouth to do so, Simpson pushed him forward once more, ending the conversation. Jake supposed Simpson was trying to do you a favor in his mind, saving you from what the marshal surmised were empty promises from the captured outlaw.

He cast one last look over his shoulder at you, committing you to memory. As if he could forget. He offered you a tight-lipped smile before Ice slammed the door behind him, cutting him off from the outside world.

[robinofgothamcity]

“Maybe one day when we’re old and gray, we can be in love once more. Till then I won’t give love away, darling, I’m forever only yours. ”

Character: Zack Sabre Jr

Fandom: New Japan Pro Wrestling (and it AEW?)

Authors note: omfg, I’m actually terrified to write my first fic in what feels like centuries (even tho it’s only been since march) but I’ve just been on a ZSJ kick for forever now so that’s where this came from! I hope this fic turns out well bc if it doesn’t I might go back to my dungeon and not write again LMFAO. Anywayyy, please read my last post, thank you <3

With forbidden door being around the corner and New Japan talent crawling around the halls more often now, it felt like you were back in Japan talking in the halls with the girls from Stardom and the backstage talent. You had moved to AEW when Nick and Matt were scouting for talent to join their women’s roster and you were more than ecstatic to join them.

Your match with Mayu was running rampant through your head as you were now two days away from the anticipated match and you were like a chicken with her head cut off, doing as much promotion as you could for AEW to get everyone to watch your match.

-

Back when you were in Japan and wrestling for Stardom, you had this very interesting southern persona. Cowboy boots, tried to have a southern accent to which you failed miserably at, and even went out of your way to order a cowboy hat for every occasion. Many found it interesting and although most people loved it, Zack always seemed to be confused at it.

It was no secret that Zack was very blunt about whatever was on his mind. You could hear Zack cutting a promo from the other end of the building and although Zack was very quintessentially British, you found every reason to turn up your persona up to a thousand on a ten dial scale when he was around. It irritated Zack to no end and even though you loved your gimmick, when you made the move to AEW, you knew it was time to put up your gimmick to bed.

Now with you being a long term roster member, you had taken a few girls under your wing to train and build up. You had found solace in Kris as a best friend and for the moment, everything in your career was going smoothly until Tony had finally approached you with the most life altering news in your wrestling career thus far.

“We want you to be the main event for the women at Forbidden Door.”

The drink you were sipping on was now on the floor as you looked over at Kris who was shaking in excitement for you.

“Wait, you want me to main event Forbidden Door? As in main event one of the most highly anticipated pay-per-views in the year?” You replied back. Tony couldn’t help but laugh at your reaction, “yes, we want you and Mayu to main event it. Stardom was very excited to hear that it was you who was going to compete against Mayu.”

You immediately screamed in excitement as everyone in the hallway turned around to see the commotion.

“Yes, oh my god! Are you kidding me? This is going to be one of my career defining moments, when does Mayu come over this way? I saw some New Japan talent already but-.”

You felt someone covering your eyes when it all started coming together.

“MAYU!” You screamed as you turned around and picked her up, “this is going to be the greatest match in women’s history!” You screamed excitedly. Tony left the three of you in the hallway as he made his way to creative to let them green light the matches for you and Mayu.

-

You were in the hallway with social media, cutting some online promo when you were dragged away with a few other girls to do some social media for AEW’s TikTok page. Zack had been in the area, scouting for some food when he came across you and a few of the girls with the social media team.

You hadn’t said much to Zack after you left Stardom besides the very far and few compliments on each others matches. You knew Zack would make your life hell when you inevitably crossed him which is why he was waiting for you patiently at the end of the hallway with a smirk running across his face. Your new gimmick was like a smack to the face when he finally tuned into an AEW show and saw you.

You could argue that your new persona was like if Art the Clown and a loud cheerleader had managed to become one person. Your very poppy personality did not match your aesthetic and you guessed that was why so many loved you. You were truly loved by the fans and even found yourself getting caught off guard by how much you’d get approached in the public eye.

Once the girls had called it a day and you said your goodbyes to Kris, Britt, and Rosa, you knew you’d finally have to face Zack.

“Zackary, how are you?” You mumbled as you started to wipe the small amount of makeup off your face, “no more yeehaw darling? I’m kind of missing that right now,” he said in a slight mocking tone. You rolled your eyes as you found a small mirror to check if the makeup had came off your face, “oh, are we telling lies now? I 100% doubt that you miss me running around the New Japan and Stardom hallways with a cowboy had and a terrible southern accent,” you replied in the same tone.

The two of you had a slight romantic endeavor back when you were still in Japan but one night had changed the entire dynamic between the two of you. What seemed like a small misunderstanding in Zack’s eyes was more than that in yours.

You had thought that you and Zack were exclusive, only seeing each other, when you made the unfortunate mistake to walk into his hotel room one night and saw him in the middle of a compromising position with another girl from the roster. You didn’t blame the poor girl, you knew that it was Zack idiotic fault for giving you his room number that night along with a key and the idea that the two of you were only seeing each other.

Zack had came up with a million and one excuses for his actions but you had told him that it was okay. You pretended like it didn’t really bother you however you knew that was farther than the truth. You came home from your Stardom tapings bawling your eyes out and although you tried to see an alternative side to Zack, all you could imagine was that night.

Whenever Stardom had any crossovers with New Japan, you made sure to steer clear from Zack which is where your second romantic fling fruition with Adam Page. With the two of you having slightly the same image, it was clear that the two of you got along and whispers in the NJPW hallways had confirmed to Zack that you were seeing the wretched cowboy. It didn’t last very long as both of your careers had skyrocketed after that but it still felt like salt in a open wound to Zack whenever it was mentioned or even when you would appear on screen with him in AEW.

“I was just wondering if you were going to the after party on Saturday night,” Zack asked. You knew that there was a Forbidden Door after party happening after the pay-per-view but you weren’t completely sure on attending it, “depends if Mayu decides to keep me alive or not,” you joked. Zack rolled his eyes, “as much as I hate having a bias, I know you’ll come out the winner.”

You rolled your eyes, a bit irritated that Zack was very blatantly flirting with you.

“Hey girl, you have promos to cut with TV in a few minutes,” Yuta said as he skipped by, leaving a jokingly long kiss on your cheek. You smacked him with a random scrap of paper that was laying on the floor, “I already finished it you moron,” you screamed back, “I’ll see you tonight though!”

Zack couldn’t help but gag at the interaction.

“You and Yuta?” Zack asked. You rolled your eyes for what felt like that the thousandth time, “absolutely not. That’s actually a running joke we have but I won’t spare you the details,” you replied. Zack seemed taken back, “what?” You asked, really not knowing what was wrong with him, “why won’t you spare me the details? Scared I’ll go after him or something?”

This time you couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“Oh so it was okay for you to be fucking someone behind my back but it’s an issue when a friend gives me a friendly peck on the cheek?” You exclaimed, finally snapping. Zack couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “you’re still on that?” He asked. You gave him a dumbfounded look, not really in the head space to be dealing with him.

“Of course I am! it seems as though you’re finding it an issue every time I date someone. Don’t think I didn’t hear what you said when I was dating Adam and now you’re bitching at me for a small interaction with Yuta!” You screamed, “but this is the most ridiculous argument ever and I’m over it already. We haven’t been ‘together’ in literally five years and we’re arguing as if we broke up six months ago.”

Zack wanted to speak up but you had left the hallway, not really in the mood to have Zack seeing you cry.

-

Saturday night rolled around and you felt like you were ready to vomit. You were getting encouraging messages from Mayu as she could sense that you were ready to projectile into any trash can you could find.

You had done all of your makeup and you were now just ready to get your match started. Your gear was eerily reminiscent to Julia’s when she had first started in AEW. You were wearing a cheerleading outfit but it was covered in blood and your boots had small slashes through the middle of them to signify cuts. It was hands down one of your favorite gears to date and you knew that the anger you were holding for Zack really sold the creepy, angry, and borderline psychotic persona you wanted to portray.

“You’re on in two minutes, you ready?” Kris asked. You had relied that happened between you and Zack to her last night and she cold tell you were still shaken up by it, “I am. I’m ready to put on the performance of a lifetime for myself and Mayu,” you replied. Kris smiled as you heard your theme going off through the speakers in the arena.

You grabbed your props and ran out to the screaming crowd. Mayu was waiting for you in the ring as you couldn’t help but noticed that most New Japan talent was sitting front and center to see the match. You felt this overcoming wave of anger when you saw Zack but you immediately pushed it down when you heard your friends and your fellow roster members in the crowd cheering for you.

-

You had reached the 60 minute time limit as you and Mayu had exhausted each other out. You had blood covering your face as well as Mayu having blood running down her arms and legs. What was 60 minutes felt like just a few mere minutes to the two of you.

You could hear the crowd screaming to give the two of you five minutes but you knew the final match of the night had get started.

Mayu helped you up to your feet as you gave her the most vulnerable and understanding look you could give her and hugged her. The crowd now on their feet and clapping/screaming in support as there was a mix of AEW and Stardom chants going through the arena.

You opened the ropes for Mayu to get out as a sign of respect for her as the two of you helped each other to the back. The two of you almost immediately collapsed on the chairs and chugged down what felt like at least two gallons of water.

The cameras had asked for an interview as you gave them the green light to go ahead with the interview.

You saw Renee approaching you as you gave her a small exhausted wave and tried to look a bit more presentable.

“So, this had been the most anticipated match of the night and it is very clear that fans all want a second match in Japan. How do you feel about that? Going up against Mayu again but in her home territory?” Renee asked. You gave her a tired smile, “Mayu knows where to call me and when to do it. If Mayu or the fans want a rematch, I guess I’ll be seeing her at World Rendezvous in July.”

You heard the crowd screaming in excitement as Renee cut the cameras and gave you a congratulatory hug. You knew you had to go in the shower before the blood and sweat started to mix even more and started to gross you out. You limped your way back to the lockers and took a slightly concerning long shower as you basked in the steaming hot shower.

Once you finished up and realized that the event had finished, you realized that you were in a slightly better mood and figured there would be no harm in attending the after party. You got the location from Julia and made your way over to the venue where it was being hosted.

“And she’s alive!” Yuta screamed. You couldn’t help but laugh as he and Jon gave you what felt like the millionth hug of the night, “that was a nasty match. You gotta run one like that with me,” Britt said jokingly, “I really do love you Britt but I’m giving myself a six month vacation from a match like that and even if I wanted too, it looks like I made a promise to Mayu to give her a rematch at World Rendezvous in July,” you relied.

As all of you started to drink and get comfortable, you saw all of the New Japan and Stardom talent walk in. You ran over to Mayu and gave her another hug as cameras had pulled you for promotional photos. From the back of the room, you could feel eyes on you which you knew belonged to Zack and him only.

You knew you were going to have to face him before he went back to Japan and although you didn’t want to, you’d feel the unnecessary guilt build up over time.

You pulled yourself away from the scene as you sat in the back knowing Zack would follow you. You gave him a quick look before staring at the table, “you never lost that habit, did you?” He said trying to ease the tension. You shook your head, “listen, I wanted to apologize for the other night. It was ridiculous of me to start an argument over that and you were right, it’s been nearly five years,” he said. You couldn’t help but agree, “but there is a reason for that.”

“Which is?”

“I always imagined me with you. I know that you work here and I still work in Japan but I haven’t been able to stop myself from finding someone else when all I try to do is see you in them. It’s ridiculous, I know, but you have realize that it’ll always be you even if we are thousands of kilometers away from each other,” Zack said in a singular breath.

You were shocked to say the least. You knew whatever you had with Zack was still there but you didn’t think he still liked you the way you did with him.

“It’s miles by the way,” you replied jokingly. Zack gave you a quick look of disbelief as you continued, “I guess I have to stay the same thing. You know it’s always been you. There’s a reason why my relationships never lasted and I guess it’s because I always hoped that we’d find our way back to each other.”

Zack reached over the table to grab your hand, “so where do we go from here?” He asked. You bent over the table and pressed your lips to his. He immediately moved it aside as he plopped you on his lap to deepen the kiss. Your hands ran over his blond hair, surprisingly softer than what you had imagined, “well, I do now have business in Japan as I owe a rematch to Mayu,” you replied.

He nodded in relief as you played with his hair in comfort like you used too.

“And I’ll take to Tony to see if there’s anyway I could start splitting time between AEW and Stadom but you have to promise me you’ll meet me halfway here. I can’t always compromise my career with AEW to see you,” you said on a serious note. Zack nodded in agreement, “well, I have contract negotiations with New Japan coming up so I’ll make sure I get more vacationing weeks added onto my contract,” he added on.

You smiled as you felt Zack pull you in for another kiss. From the distance you heard hear Kris and Yuta’s childish “ooooo’s” but you weren’t too worried about that since Zack had made his way from your lips to your neck.

“My room, twenty minutes,” you said giving him one final kiss on the lips before running over to the bar to close your tab, “if you’re late, you’ll be the one paying for room service tomorrow morning.”

[ao3feed-superbat]

Fuck Marry Kill Justice League crack fic

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/Xj87Orl by YotmanSimcard Justice League play fuck/marry/kill. No one knows each other's identities apart from Martian Manhunter due to mind reading, and Batman knows Shazam is not an adult yet. Unfortunately, some members give some of each other's secret identities as options for the game. This is ultimately a superbat fic, though many other characters get a lot of screentime. This fic is not based on a specific comic or movie or series or game, just my personal versions, halfway through genuine headcanons and funniest version of them I could imagine. Words: 1646, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: DCU Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: Multi, F/M, M/M Characters: Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, Diana (Wonder Woman), Billy Batson, Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), J'onn J'onzz Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent/Lois Lane/Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Other ships i haven't decided on, but they're background ships, so who cares - Relationship Additional Tags: Crack Treated Seriously, Top Bruce Wayne, Bottom Clark Kent/Top Bruce Wayne, Bottom Clark Kent, no beta we die like men, Everyone is Bisexual, Crack Fic, Crack Fic turned Serious, Polyamory, i have a personal vendetta against catwoman, im going to reference every random character i can, ok ill stop with the long very specific tags now, im so sorry, im sorry yall, Collar play, Collars, Kryptonite Collar, Masochism, pain play, Sadism, lube is necessary, please lube your characters i beg of you, nevermind, too much lube, stop please, anyway back to serious tagging, im sorry again, Fuck Marry Kill, probably out of character, Out of Character, the writer is a multishipper, im probably not writing a second chapter, so half of these tags wont make sense, Flash is a fucking bastard, and i love him for it, it is the only reason the plot moves forwards, I have a personal vendetta against selina kyle, i don't know why, I just do, also yes im mentioning it again, at the bottom of the tags, because i misspelt it the first time i typed it and i needed to fix it, im writing this at such a late time, Author Is Sleep Deprived, kill me, kill me please, Justice League Doesn't Know Bruce Wayne is Batman, No one knows each others identities read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/Xj87Orl

[fishfingersandjellybabies]

I have this concept in mind that Damian even without Batman and the brothers in his life, Damian would end up giving up the League of Assassins doctrine in some point

It was just going to take longer than it was in the canon, I can see that over the years Damian was slowly realizing that killing wasn't going to solve anything, that staying there wasn't going to help him in anything, that that "love" that his mother it wasn't right, that lifestyle turned him into someone without emotion and empty

So Damian, seeing no more meaning in those empty words, programmed acts and violence for meaningless violence was just going to get up and walk away on his own

This was going to happen when he was 16/17 years old. He would realize that that anger he held inside of him wasn't going to solve anything and that desire to please his family was just a tool to keep him as an object (secretly Damian always knew this, just admitting it hurts so he always avoided confronting that thought)

So now you have Damian on the run from the league of assassins, living like a normal person and trying to be invisible. Damian has no desire to get to know Gotham and Bruce's other children (yes, Damian is aware of Batman and his father and all the rest - that's another painful part of his life that he intends to ignore). As Damian does not go to Gotham, he prefers to visit more unusual places so as not to attract attention from the League of Assassins or superheroes until he meets Jon through a terrible accident

As we know Jon gets involved with political stuff, global warming, social causes and stuff

Well, there's a war going on somewhere and now he has a group of refugees in danger. Damian decides to act like a mercenary and protect that small town full of innocent people (he's trying to redeem himself for the crimes he committed) and then Jon arrives to save the day. be superboy

they meet there, Damian doesn't say anything about his past and who he is, but Jon falls in love with the mysterious mercenary with the green eyes, and they end up having a brief relationship together. Jon wants a serious relationship, but Damian denies it, thinking it's stupid

The war ends and Damian leaves, leaving a saddened and hurt Jon behind

Years later (now both with 27) the Justice League listens to the rumor that Ras is dead and the new king commands the League of Assassins, it just makes everyone nervous but since the new leader does nothing against the world, everyone starts to ignore it until the day that a League of Assassins infighting ensues

Former loyal members the old doctrines don't like the new king and started attacking civilians, the justice league gets involved to protect the civilians and then Jon arrives to find Damian leading the attack against the former traitor members

I like to think that in their brief time together Jon gave Damian a dark green sea stone as beautiful as his eyes and Damian gave Jon a gift too, a drawing of the place where they first met

both still keep the gifts and even after so many years they still think about each other. Jon has no hope in finding that handsome mercenary again and "hey! He is actually the new cult leader who everyone is talking about!"

I really love this idea because Damian unlearned everything alone because he wanted it, after that angry state in his young age (that anger is just a trauma response to me) he just realize how fucked up everything was then "nope thanks" and stand up and leave

I'm sorry for bothering you with this but I want to share it with someone. I hope you have a good day and rest well - 🌻

not a bother, I love hearing new ideas! And this one seems so fleshed out, so you've clearly thought it about it a lot! Are you going to write a fic on it? That'd be cool!

But I agree and I think that's the best thing about Damian? Is that there's always that feeling that he would move on eventually/help people, with or without Gotham. He is inherently kind, and that's the coolest part about him. Despite all the anger and skills and trauma, he is kind and he always will be. bad writers be dammed!

And then Jon sees that and gets that and is just so mystified by this boy who is happily standing up to the world ALL BY HIMSELF like...fuckin' whoa.

But then it's almost a 'secret royalty' situation and Jon finds out not only about his League lineage but BATMAN and is like 'shit he's even cooler????' and then to see him be a hero still even after all that is like. He's smitten and there's nothing he can do about it.

love it, thank you for sharing it with me!

[purplemarshal]

Cause For Concern

Chapter two of my 2012 Caseytello fic! I don't know how long this will go on for but, I have many ideas. I am also going to start posting some of my art soon!

Casey’s P.O.V. 

Our laughing stopped as we watched Donnie sprint out of the dojo, promptly slamming their lab door behind them.

“Great job Casey, now we won’t see him for like two days.” Raph claimed.

“What?” I turned to look at him, “does this happen a lot?”

Leo took a step forward and placed one of her hands on my shoulder, looking past me.

“I’m sure it wasn’t all you, they mainly just do it if they're overwhelmed.” She looked at Raph, and even with her still not looking at me I could see the concern in her eyes.

“Well,” Raph started. “This time it was clearly from Casey!” 

Now if I said that I wasn't confused before, I definitely was now. I never thought that my flirting really had anything to do with their attitude lately. Maybe I embarrassed them though? But this seems like a real cause for concern.

“No, my children. Donatello just has some things they need to figure out.” Splinter paused. “Emotions that they aren’t sure about.”

Leo steps back as Splinter takes his spot, startling me.

“Perhaps Casey should talk to them. Hm?”

I looked up at the rat man. “Yo, I don’t know if that is such a good idea, I mean like what if they try to get revenge or something.”

“Pft- like they would dude.” Mikey laughed. “Do you really not know yet?” 

“Not now Michelangelo, you go check on them.” 

“You got it Sensei!”

And with that the orange turtle was also gone.

Leo and Splinter sat down to talk and most likely meditate, kicking out Raph and I in the process. So we just went to the entrance/living room of the lair and talked, awaiting the arrival of the other family members.

“What was that anyway man?” I looked up at Raph as he said that. “You were like a major cringe fail.” Raph stated with a look of disgust on his features.

“C’mon man.” I whined as I stretched out my limbs.

“I’m serious Casey, you aren’t going to get anywhere with how you're going about it.”

I gave him a look that told him to elaborate, so he did.

“Don and I are like twins so we know everything about each other. And to get them to melt like you want, you have to massage their intellect.”

“Massage their what?” I stared at him blankly.

“Look.” He sighed, “the smarter they feel, the more they’ll melt. Complement them dude.”

“Y’know I can’t do that!” I threw my hands up dramatically. “Everytime that I try to, it just becomes an insult.”

“Or maybe you should write it down and get them a gift. That’s their love language.”

I shot up at that, jumping off of the couch.

“Y’know what, I will be back.”

I started to walk to the turn thingies but the sight of two turtle mutants made me rush back to my original spot, then moved again by the orange clad turtle who plopped down basically on me. Donnie on the other hand just stood there awkwardly probably waiting for Splinter or Leo.

I took careful note of their fidgeting, how their three (6 if you count both hands) fingers messed with about everything they could before finally landing on their mask tails. The light purple seemingly dancing between the light green of their skin.

Oh how much I wanted to know what their hands felt like. They have clear burns and scars, but something about them just seemed so soft and warm and. I don’t know.

“You gonna be okay Don?” Raph was the first to speak which was followed by a hesitant nod from the mentioned sibling. “You can sit down y’know, you don’t really look too good.” 

If this was any other time the turtle in red would’ve followed that up with a snicker, but I took note of the lack of one. 

See, I can be very observant when needed.

“Casey, could I talk to you for a moment?”

Wow, a cliffhanger! Who wants to talk to Casey? We may never know. Hope you enjoyed it, stay tuned. <3

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Fuck Marry Kill Justice League crack fic

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/iJjHdzL by YotmanSimcard Justice League play fuck/marry/kill. No one knows each other's identities apart from Martian Manhunter due to mind reading, and Batman knows Shazam is not an adult yet. Unfortunately, some members give some of each other's secret identities as options for the game. This is ultimately a superbat fic, though many other characters get a lot of screentime. This fic is not based on a specific comic or movie or series or game, just my personal versions, halfway through genuine headcanons and funniest version of them I could imagine. Words: 1646, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: DCU Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: Multi, F/M, M/M Characters: Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, Diana (Wonder Woman), Billy Batson, Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), J'onn J'onzz Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent/Lois Lane/Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Other ships i haven't decided on, but they're background ships, so who cares - Relationship Additional Tags: Crack Treated Seriously, Top Bruce Wayne, Bottom Clark Kent/Top Bruce Wayne, Bottom Clark Kent, no beta we die like men, Everyone is Bisexual, Crack Fic, Crack Fic turned Serious, Polyamory, i have a personal vendetta against catwoman, im going to reference every random character i can, ok ill stop with the long very specific tags now, im so sorry, im sorry yall, Collar play, Collars, Kryptonite Collar, Masochism, pain play, Sadism, lube is necessary, please lube your characters i beg of you, nevermind, too much lube, stop please, anyway back to serious tagging, im sorry again, Fuck Marry Kill, probably out of character, Out of Character, the writer is a multishipper, im probably not writing a second chapter, so half of these tags wont make sense, Flash is a fucking bastard, and i love him for it, it is the only reason the plot moves forwards, I have a personal vendetta against selina kyle, i don't know why, I just do, also yes im mentioning it again, at the bottom of the tags, because i misspelt it the first time i typed it and i needed to fix it, im writing this at such a late time, Author Is Sleep Deprived, kill me, kill me please, Justice League Doesn't Know Bruce Wayne is Batman, No one knows each others identities read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/iJjHdzL

[specialinterestshows]

As promised, chapter two of my Damian Priest x Finn Balor fic Tryst Of Fate. 🖤

Warnings for this section: Lying, guilt, nipple play

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Tryst Of Fate (Part 2/3): The High Priestess

Intuition, divine truth, sensitivity /

Harm, secrets, hidden agenda

It was having to lie to the rest of the Judgment Day; that was, without a doubt, the worst part of keeping his relationship with Finn a secret, Damian thought to himself.

It wasn’t that Damian couldn’t lie; he could - better than most of his faction realized. The real issue was that a big part of him felt awful, lying to family.

“Time to start training for our next tag-team match,” he said casually, a pang of guilt hitting him as he waved Finn over to where he stood in the locker room.

“Right after a show?” Rhea asked, having wanted to wind down and check in with everyone.

“Hey, we’re already warmed up,” Damian pointed out, keeping his eagerness carefully hidden, “And we’ll have free rein of the gym.”

He was, in part, telling the truth - he had spent many a time in an empty gym with Finn during his off hours, but they usually weren’t training.

“Do you need any-“ JD cheerily started to offer.

“We’re good,” Damian immediately insisted, trying not to sound as exasperated as he felt.

“Just don’t overwork yourselves,” Rhea sighed, worry not quite leaving her face.

“Yeah, take it easy,” Dominik agreed, imitating Damian with a failed attempt at matching his low baritone - making Rhea laugh, relaxing as she ran her fingers through his hair.

“I’ll just… see everyone later then,” JD sighed, excited demeanor turning defeated as he watched Damian and Finn leave in one direction, then turned to see Rhea and Dominik leaving in the opposite direction.

“Tengo ganas de ti,” Damian growled in Finn’s ear moments later, once they had closed the gym door behind them. Damian didn’t bother with the lights as he turned the other man to face him and pinned him roughly against the wall.

“I’m not gonna stop you, love,” Finn breathed, his eyes glimmered in the faint light peeking in from the hallway.

Any residual guilt Damian might have been feeling about lying dissipated when his lips made contact with Finn’s, rough and passionate. He’d been wanting to grab Finn’s face and kiss him all night - especially when he watched his brilliant smile light up the ring. The things he would do just to see that man smile…

An insistent buzz came from Finn’s back pocket. Feeling Finn’s body shift to try and check his phone, Damian freed his lips and gripped his boyfriend tighter.

“Leave it,” he ordered, pulling up Finn’s shirt to play with his nipples and grinning when Finn’s moans drowned out the vibrations.

Unfortunately, a few seconds after Finn’s phone stopped ringing, Damian’s started.

“Could be important,” Finn breathed, concern showing on his face. What if the other members of the Judgment Day were in trouble and needed backup?

Damian let out a heavy sigh, glancing at Dominik’s silly grin on his screen before tapping the green button underneath and putting the phone to his ear.

“Aló?”

“No tienen sed?” Dominik asked, making Damian pull away from Finn slightly to look around, paranoid.

“Que?” he wanted to make sure he wasn’t revealing too much by jumping to conclusions.

“Parking lot was crowded, so Mami and I went back to the locker room to… pues, tú sabes. And, um, it looks like you both left your water bottles.”

Damian felt his stomach drop at the realization. He was always the one reminding everyone to hydrate and was almost never without a water bottle. In fact, he made a point to make everyone drink water before and after each match.

Mind racing, he cleared his throat before replying, “Guess we got too caught up with defending our tag titles.”

“Let me bring them to the gym for you-“ Dominik began to offer.

“No need,” Damian cut him off, scrambling for a scrap of reasoning to keep Dom away, “We’ll get water from the fountain. You two just enjoy having the locker room to yourselves, entiendes?”

“Gracias, ‘mano,” Dominik chuckled and Rhea’s voice muttered something in the background before Dom made a noise and ended the call with, “Gottagobye!”

A sigh of relief left Damian as he took the phone away from his ear, setting it aside before pulling Finn into his arms again.

Unbeknownst to Damian, Dominik still had a feeling that something else was going on - he just wasn’t sure what, exactly.

[end part two of three]

Part 3: https://www.tumblr.com/specialinterestshows/738356137723887616/tryst-of-fate-part-33-judgment

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Tag List (thank you!)

@domripley , @falloutboy-lover , @aut0luminescence