#so yes both prayers that that turns out as it's meant to and humouring me as i practically liveblog my preparations are appreciated

[thelingering]

hmmmm okay it turns out Tagalog and Filipino are VERY interchangeable, which threw me off for a good 15 minutes XD

[ncitygirls]

forgive - hyunjin x f reader

angst, fluff, smut, royal au, 4.1k

to die just as one graduates to motherhood is the tragic fate of countless women of your time. though there is no shame in falling victim to eve’s curse, one does feels a deserving sense of pride in their ability to look the devil in the eye and turn one’s cheek. to crawl through the forest of death and drag oneself towards the light. many are denied the privilege of survival. living is a sign from the heavens that perhaps there is a reason for such trials. that strife is a lesson in one’s journey, a meaning to life.

but to die before bearing your husband a son is a fate you would readily accept in place of the dark nothing you nearly surrendered to. the thought drifts into your mind the moment your greatest trial and grandest reward shifts in your arms, your daughter’s wails slowly rising in pitch and frequency as you smile loftily at her bundled form in your lap. she sings a song most would call unbearable. the screech so shrill, it pierces through even the most impenetrable guard. but never through you. you could continue to find peace in the deafening sound had it not been for your husband. your dear, sweet husband.

your king.

your king, whose presence thus far escaped you. that is until he asked, just a decibel louder than the wailing infant, “could you please settle her, sweet?”

“oh,” you glance at his rigid form, across your living quarters, to find his pretty scowl trained on his heir, only softening when his eyes meet the familiar orbs of his queen. “my apologies, hyunjin. is she distracting you?”

“no,” he breathes, allowing his head to fall back on the loveseat, his sculpted cheek puffs. “it’s just annoying.”

“it?” your eyes quickly return to him, only to be met by the back of his morning paper. “i do hope you are referring to the sound itself and not to your child, my love?”

“does it matter?” he sighs, realising moments too late that the room has stilled. “my dear, i did not mean to offend.’

“of course not, your highness,” ah, ‘your highness’. you call on the title in the times you wish to hurt him most. “she is but a child, of course you meant her no offense. i ask for your mercy, sire.”

“i sense hostility in you.”

“shall I call on a nurse for you, your grace?” he wonders for a second what the reason could be before you readily come to his aid. “it is most unlike you to use sense of any kind.”

“that was out of turn-”

“me? my king, you believe it is i who is out of turn?” hyunjin knows there is no answer to such a question. because yes would present grounds for annulment and no would mean he is wrong. and kings cannot be found in the wrong. “not the new father who refers to his daughter as ‘it’? of course it is not he who is speaking out of turn, not when he is a king.

“when he is a man.”

“ah, ‘men are the source of all the world’s ailments’, must we hear excerpts from your manifesto again, my love? it is only noon,” he assumes you hear only humour in his tone and decides to take it a step further. “is it in your plans to fill the house of hwang with women just to spite me?”

“oh,” you breathe, smiling softly as he watches, “is it a son you desire, hyunjin? is that what you want?” his eyes squint as he watches his love rise to place his only heir in the cot before you glide over to him, sweetness vanishing from your eyes as you succumb to your wrath. “you want a son, king hyunjin? then give me one.”

“leave us.” the servants standing by flee the room, quick to abandon a maid who halts as hyunjin blocks her path. “take the child.”

she takes a hurried step towards your child before she is stopped once more. “take my child and i will take your hand.” the poor girl is quick to abandon her king’s direct order before fleeing the scene, closing the door as she departs.

a biting silence takes the place of the bodies that once filled the chamber, thickening every corner of the room. minutes pass before hyunjin realises you have no further interest in him. “if it were not for the fact my heart beats for you, my beloved, i too would take my leave.”

“your heart? is that what beats in your chest, hyunjin? a heart?” he scoffs, unbothered by the deflection masked by your jab. “kings are meant to rule, not jest. do not humour me.”

“was your tea cup mistaken for a bedpan?”

“i almost died, jinnie!” he withers as you tremble, your eyes misting as you try to find someone resembling your beloved in the man sat across from you. “i almost lost my life bearing you the heir you prayed for, only for you to treat her with the same regard one does a child born in illegitimacy.” he wishes to deny it, and you see it too. but your eyes are alight and hyunjin swears he sees his end in them. “she is your child, hyunjin. and should she be your only, she will wear your crown with pride and rule as well as any boy ever could.”

“i know that.” your scoff stung like a strike to the cheek and winds him like a blow to the gut. “i do. y/n, i swear it to you.”

“then perhaps you should act like it.” he finally sees what fuels your rage and rests behind your eyes: disappointment. “you cannot love me and not my kin, jin. i won’t allow it.”

“my love,” he reaches for you but you repel, moving instead to the babbling baby. “you mistake my desire for a son as a lack of joy for my daughter.” pulling your hands from the sides of the cot, he dwarfs them with his own. “i love her with everything i have in me. i swear.”

“had my father received me as you did our child, i would not believe that to be the case.”

“forgive me, my love.” you’re quick to cast your gaze elsewhere, ignoring his puppy eyed plea. “i will pray the heavens take mercy on me, but i need you to first. please believe me when i say i love her. i do. she is half of the greatest woman to ever walk this kingdom, i worship her.”

“then why? why the cold shoulder? why treat her this way?” he suddenly finds himself unable to answer, opting instead to rock the baby, basking in her glow. with a soft sigh, you raise a hand to his cheek, offering him reprieve as he burrows into your palm. “what troubles you?”

“nothing, my love.” your disbelieving gaze sends his shoulders south, his whole frame sagging. “it’s just my dealings with the courts.” of course. the courts. “i spent every night bowed in ceaseless prayer. i prayed for your health, for your life, for our child. i prayed until bruises formed on my knees, my love. and still i prayed. but as i prayed for my family, they prayed only for my successor, for a boy.” though you find it impossible, he manages to lower himself further. folding himself into you, almost in two, hiding his long face from view. “once I caught wind of their talks with the lord, i condemned it. i condemned any prayer against my wishes but the court can do as they please in their solitude and i know we do not rule on fear but after her birth, for the first time in my life? i wished we did.” it was inexplicable, the difficulty you had beholding an enraged hyunjin, the skin curving around his knuckles and jaw as they tightened with every word he uttered, your heart tightening in kind. “i wanted to make heads roll, to end them for the disregard they paid my child, my family, my wife.” it starts to make sense now, his grinding teeth and red rimmed eyes. his late and sleepless nights. the nights hypnos granted him even a slither of reprieve were spent clinging to you, a cold sweat soaking the sheets, puzzling you beyond belief. it all makes sense. “the courts have filled me with doubt. they warned of foreign enemies who would hear of our heir, of our girl. that they would see her as a sign we are weak, that we are lesser.”

“but how can they speak in such a way? we are ahead of such things.”

“my love, you must see past the likes of lord kim and baron han. the rest of the men in my court are old, and stuck in old ways. our nation has not seen a queen on the throne since the likes of my widowed great, great grandmother.” his hands cup your face, bleary eyes blinking back the tears his heavy words summoned. “i love you, y/n. and i love her. all i want is for you both to be safe. but i live in constant fear that i cannot keep you safe with enemies outside our walls and evidently within.”

“hyunjin, my love,” he settles at the soft spoken call of his name, the loving address soothing his forlorn heart. “i will burn the court to the ground before they bring harm to my kin. or to you.” it is not unlike you to let your anger consume you. in fact, it is but a facet of what made him fall in love with you. what continues to bother him is the fact he was not the first to make such a bold promise. “my love?”

“fret not, my queen,” his nimble hands gather his daughter from her cot, his lips pulling in a soft grin as the child gargles, reaching up for him. “it is just, with my brains and your ferocity, i believe this hwang might be the greatest queen- no, ruler levanter has ever seen.”

“forgive me, my love,” the apology fills the space to his left, from where your temple rests on his shoulder, fingers toying with his undershirt. “but you do not suggest that this girl will be inheriting her brains from her father-”

“watch your mouth.”

“watch it for me.”

“careful,” he warns, dropping his lips to yours for a brief peck before withdrawing but an inch, “i might just give you that son you asked for.”

“careful, or i might just let you.” your rebuttal has him fanning your lips with a breathless chortle, urging you to rise to the tips of your toes and connect your lips to his once more. when you withdraw, he follows, resting his forehead on yours, smiling softly as your eyes meet. your voice is barely a whisper as you enquire, “what do we do now, my love?”

“now, i will handle the courts,” huffing, hyunjin places a kiss to the crown of his daughter’s head, smiling as he does. “i am afraid you will just have to handle everything else.” the regret in his words do not match the smirk on his lips, though he confesses, “i do not envy you, my love.” placing the baby in the cot once more, he pulls you into his chest, resting his cheek at the uppermost point on your head. “but i will keep you both safe. i put my life on it-”

“sire,” you warn, leaning up to kiss his neck. “your life is no longer yours to wager.”

“is that so?” hyunjin only grins at your assured affirmation. “my queen, is there anything that is mine in this kingdom?”

“me.” even after all these years, hyunjin is undone by you. from your matter of fact utterance, a breathless admission of submission to your glowy eyed gaze, eyes shining with pure adoration. “i belong to you.”

“you do?” he sighs when you nod, the small bounce of your head forcing his own head up and down. his eyes and hands slowly trail down your arms stilling at your fingers. slipping his digits between yours, he raises them to his pouted lips, slowly pressing each one with a kiss so soft and so sweet, you nearly jump as he speaks. “and these? do these belong to me?”

“yes, sire.”

“good,” he breathes, joy flashing behind his eyes. “and what about this?” he whispers against your lips, his plump lips tangling with your own. only after playing with your tongue, sucking on the muscle and swallowing your whines does he ask, “is this smart mouth of yours mine?”

“all yours.”

he nods in agreement, fingers gliding down the side of your neck, dusting over your chemise to cup you over your stay. only to find you bare. “were you that hastened to join me for tea?”

“no,” you laugh, hitting his chest as he pulls you closer, enjoying feeling your near bare chest on his. “i breastfeed.” you love your king. for as slow as he is, he is twice as loving. you watch realisation dawn on him not once but twice, a slight pout stealing his lips, exaggerated by their natural downturn. “what is it?”

“i just,” he stops, laughing to himself. “i just realised these-” he cups your tender breasts, thumb barely dusting the sore nubs. “-they’re no longer mine.”

“hyunjin!” his laughter picks up before it stills, the sleeping princess nearly awoken by the delight of her parents. “no, they’re on loan.”

“that’s fine.” he sighs, ducking his head to kiss the center of your chest. “i’ll wait.”

“i’m proud of you.”

“thank you,” your pride does not last long, as he lowers his hands to cup your ass and pull you flush against him. through your chemise and slip, you feel him. all of him. he deftly slips his tongue between your gasping lips, filling your mouth in ways that force your panties to dampen, the fabric soaking with every roll of his hardening cock to your aching slit. “but this is mine,” he reminds you, leaving no room for misunderstanding. “do you understand?”

“y-yes.”

“yes, who?”

“yes, your grace.”

“good. now, go get a nurse for the princess.” the king proclaims, emphasising his point with a firm slap to your ass as you almost sprint out of the room. as you return with the nanny, you feel your heart swell to almost double its size. you find hyunjin by your daughter’s basket, a soft lullaby floating in the air as he gathers her in his long, folded arms. you watch him pass her to the nanny, his fingers passing over her puffed up knuckle, in awe of her inherent daintiness. “sleep well, my dove.”

you fear he might have forgotten you as the two leave and he stares in quiet longing. you finally approach him as his sniffles begin. “hyunjin?”

“i have missed her.” he whines, wet eyes cast skyward, guilt staining his face. “i have been a terrible father-”

“no.” your scold has his gaze falling, his shining eyes searching your frowning face. “not terrible. never terrible. just a little distant.” you soften as he nods, understanding pouring into him as you craddle his face in your palms. “you know now.”

“yeah,” he agrees, leaning to press a wet kiss to your lips. “please forgive me, my love.”

“there’s nothing to forgive.” you hum against his pouting lips, moulding your mouth with his as you try and tear him from this spell of despair. “come sit,” you whisper, guiding him towards his original seat.

when he lowers into it and feels you lower in kind, though to the ground, he frowns deeply. “i-” he stalls as you palm him through his slack breeches, fingers gripping him through the fabric. he grinds up into your closing fist, eyes squeezing shut as you momentarily silence him. the peace is short lived as he moans, realising what you’ve done to him. “i wanted to pleasure you.”

“and you will,” you quickly assure him, smirking when his frown deepens. “once i pleasure you.”

“fine.” he concedes, crossing his arms as you unfasten his breeches. you glare at him through your lashes until he huffs, stiffly raising his hips to allow you room to lower his garments down his thighs. “is there anything else i can do for you, mrs hwang?”

“that is all.” you chortle, fanning the reddened, leaking head of his cock. the sound forces a smile on his face until your tongue glides against his glistening slit. he almost chokes when you gaze up at him suddenly, eyes full of too much love for one king to fathom. “you just relax, okay?”

he can barely make himself nod as he fills your sight with his lovesick smile. “i don’t deserve you.”

“i know.” you rise to your knees to swallow his retraction, enjoying the lurid way he melts under the touch of your lips and palm. you offer languid strokes up and down his length, thumbing at his slit as he practically dribbles down himself. “jinnie, you’re making a mess.”

“‘m sorry.” the whine isn’t worrisome, but rather his second admission of guilt. with a gentle shake of your head, you raise your unsoiled hand to his lips, smearing your mingled saliva across his chin.

“i like you messy,” you admit, watching his eyes glaze over at your confession. “you’re always so proper now. you were never like that.” you squeeze him tighter at his base as you speak, dragging up the length of his cock, forcing a mewl from his throat as he releases his bitten, spit slicked lip. “remember when you were still a prince, and i just a lady?” he nods dumbly, head rolled to the side as drool pools on the corner of his mouth. “you used to fuck me in the greenhouse as it rained on a starry night. and behind the guards’ stables. even in the old maid’s quarters-”

“tha-that’s because we couldn’t anywhere else.”

“true,” you tut, wiping his chin as he fucks up into your closed fist. “yet now the kingdom is yours, you only ever fuck me in the castle.”

“but i always fuck you well.” when you just smile his hips falter, brows knitting as you massage his tensed thigh. “say it.”

“say what?”

“that i always fuck you well.”

“you do fuck me well,” you knowingly half agree, pumping him in your tight fist before he grabs your wrist. only a few seconds pass but the small fire ignited by your defiance burns for an eternity. the warm embers blazed to a full village fire when you squeeze at his base, moving to restart your ministrations. hyunjin only scoffs, clicking his tongue with a soft shake of his head. “a king’s ego should not be so dependent on his queen-”

before you can finish, his fingers cling to the base of your neck, squeezing in a way that traps the words in your throat. he feels you swallow, his dark eyes watching how you struggle to breathe. it’s dizzying. the way he eyes you, flitting between your expanding chest and gasping mouth. he presses the back of his hand to your chin, tilting your lips toward his mouth as he leans in. “it seems my ego rests on the mocking words of my smart mouthed wife,” he whispers into your open mouth, sucking softly on your bottom lip. “so, my queen, mightn’t you humour me? tell me that which i desire to hear.”

“you-” he senses an unfitting retort on your tongue and tightens his grip, marvelling at the delicious way your eyes roll back. he only loosens when theu water, gleaming in pitiful surrender. “you always fuck me well.”

“like i will now.”

“li-like you will now.”

“good,” he grins, proud of your slow but gratifying progress. helping you stand, hyunjin gathers the hem of your chemise in his fists, hiking it up to your waist before placing the fabric in your waiting hands. he feels for your undergarments, fingers gliding along the soft skin of your belly, purposely missing the waistband of your panties. he watches your breathing change with every long second he teases you, missing your sex in obvious ways. when you whine he only tuts, watching a frown kiss your features. “it’s not nice to be kept waiting, is it?”

“no,” you mumble, jutting out a full blown pout. “please touch me, hyunjin.” you too can sense your lover’s utterances before they are ever fully realised. like now, when he smirks, knuckles dusting over your throbbing heat. “properly.”

your emphasis has him chortling, the sound delighting you in ways you cannot explain. how long had it been since you had him like this? warm and open, delighted by the trivialities of foreplay. excited by your pending coitus. it brings a sudden joy to your heart, and, to your husband at least, an inexplicable grin to your bitten lips.

“what tickles you, my love?”

“i just missed you.” you confess, not too dissimilar to his earlier realisation. “i want you happy always.”

“oh,” he breathes, finally pinching your panties and sliding them down past your ankles. “one can feel nothing but joy when you are near.”

“is that so?” you hum as he pulls you to his lap, his thumb dipping into your soaking cunt before slow dragging it along your swollen clit.

“it is so,” he affirms, offering soft pecks to the taut skin of your neck. “it’s why i married you.”

“really- oh,” words stick in your throat as he dips a lone finger in you, his thumb still circling as he presses against your walls. your lips find his in your daze, somehow still embarrassed by the awe with which he regards you. your hips roll against his cramped hand, chasing the beginnings of a tightening coil in the base of your belly. “you’re still infatuated with me?”

“always.” he removes himself without leaving your lips, swallowing your taunt as he guides you onto his awaiting cock. time stills for a moment as you adjust, brain whirring as you both realise the time that has passed since you had him like this. your throbbing walls clamped around his pulsing cock. the subtle tremor of his thighs as you sink onto him, buttocks resting in his waiting palms. he offers a gentle squeeze, one of comfort and question. “can you move?” you nod against his skin, damp forehead pressed to his as he guides your motions with gentle tilts of his wrists. his tongue slips into your mouth, readily lapping at your own as you wrap your arms around his neck. his hands rise to your hips in time, guiding you with a firmer grip, enjoying the slow rock of your hips on his aching cock. he feels you squeeze around him as he sucks on your tongue, his thighs shaking with a looming orgasm. he pulls you in closer, lifting you inches in the air before leaving your slippery lips. before you can even think to protest, hyunjin snaps up into you at a steady pace, enjoying the mewls he conjures from you.

“jinnie, i’m- i-”

“it’s okay,” he groans, on his own verge of release. “it’s okay, my love. let go.”

and you do. moments later you let go, loudly soiling his lap and favourite loveseat as he fucks into your soaking cunt. seconds later he follows you, head thrown back as he releases in you, fearful of nothing but the stained upholstery as he thanks the lord above that you are his wife.

“you owe me a new chair.” he says suddenly, still panting as you pepper soft kiss along his shoulder blade. “and new breeches.”

“it is you who is to blame, sire.” he watches with a raised brow as you rest on his knees. “you always fuck me so well, how could i help myself?”

“ah, right.” he folds when you laugh, the sound forcing his hands upward, along with the corners of his lips. “forgive me, my love.”

“i love you.” you whisper instead, settling against his chest as you both ignore the compromising position you’re in. “so much.”

“and i you,” he swears. “always.”

[esta-elavaris]

Flufftober 2022 - Day 23 - POV Outsider

[James/Theodora] [James Norrington/Modern!OC]

The return of Commodore-turned-Admiral Norrington to Port Royal was met with joyous celebration…for all of five minutes. For the news that he'd brought a wife with him had rather dulled the enthusiasm of a number of the ladies on the island, and the identity of that wife killed it stone dead. Anybody who possessed either eyes or full sway over their senses would have been able to sense that this was a forgone conclusion before either of the two had left Port Royal in the first place, so Groves had to ask himself which it was that these fine ladies were lacking.

"I think we all might say a prayer for the good Admiral tonight," one of the men commented to Groves left as the couple walked into the Governor's ballroom, Mrs Norrington's hand tucked into the crook of her new husband's elbow.

"He looks happy enough to me," Groves pointed out.

"For now. But while a wife as spirited as that may be a novelty in the short run, the long term is quite another matter."

The comment was a swift reminder that the women here were not the only ones stung by jealousy. Indeed, the men afflicted were all the easier to spot for how loudly they professed their condolences regarding the match.

"I wasn't aware you were so well versed on matters of marriage, being a bachelor and all. Tell me, are you going to share your condolences with the Admiral directly, or just whisper about them behind his back like a woman at afternoon tea?"

The man scoffed, shaking his head "I forgot who I was speaking to."

At first Groves thought perhaps that admission was a testament to his own loyalty to his commanding officer, but then the man continued.

"You did have an uncommonly close friendship with the good Mrs Norrington once, did you not?"

He didn't dignify that with a response that ventured beyond a roll of his eyes. Had Groves been jealous, it might have stung. Had he been jealous. But he was not - and not just in the way that the men around him pretended not to be. Oh, he'd meant it some time ago on the Dauntless when he'd told her there had been matches built on worse foundations than what theirs may have been, should they have ventured down that path.

They did get along well. She was beautiful, and Groves liked to think he was not particularly bad looking himself. They shared the same brand of humour (they both possessed humour for that matter), they had similar temperaments - although he doubted he was quite so fiery as she - and they were friends. It wasn't difficult to imagine they might be able to collaborate successfully on the matters of running a household or raising children, and that perhaps even in doing so love might eventually follow, either out of necessity or just as a product of circumstance. It would have been logical, and it would have been amicable. But logical matches, and even amicable matches, were no competition for love matches. And that's what their stern commanding officer had found in their unexpected castaway.

He could see it just as plainly as the others could - only painfully staunch denial could have anybody pretending otherwise.

Even those who pretended their disapproval was more loyalty to Miss Swann didn't have much of a leg to stand on, because although there were similarities in the way they'd all spent years watching Admiral Norrington look at the governor's daughter, there was one key difference. Yes, his gaze had always softened when he looked to both women - making him almost unrecognisable from the man who had sternly ordered them about the Interceptor month after month, suffering neither fools nor half measures lightly.

But with Miss Swann he grew nervous (yet another unrecognisable streak), tensing up and growing uncertain, the human personification of a held breath, and with Theodora? With Theodora, he relaxed. His shoulders dropped, and he smiled. He exhaled.

Those who were determined to hate the Irishwoman, forced to concede that there must be feelings on Admiral Norrington's part after all - either out of jealousy or simple disapproval of her background - would insist that it was one-sided. That she'd bewitched him with cunning feminine wiles (a notion that was as ridiculous as it was insulting to Admiral Norrington's well-known intelligence), that the whole thing had been calculated and malevolent. Those were the people who did not know her - or would not know her, due to a lack of desire to do so.

Was it any wonder that they could not see the change in her when she was around her now-husband - the difference that had always been there for anybody to see should they simply look - when they only ever spoke to her in order to scorn her, making snide comments that they thought she would not understand? Groves didn't even think he particularly tried to see it, just that he had the powers of observation that any soldier should combined with no motive that might fuel denial. Theodora lit up whenever she saw her husband, even before he became her husband.

With others, she smirked. With him, she smiled. Snickers became laughs, guarded looks and uncomfortable fidgeting became ease and openness, even if only with him. Groves knew not what the Admiral had done to establish himself as such a figure of safe haven here for her (although dragging her from the sea and providing her with food and shelter probably went a long way), nor what she had done to put him at ease despite being so wildly unconventional, but he was glad for the both of them that it had happened.

Maybe the soldier who had been griping at Groves' side was right. Maybe it would fade over the years. It was possible - technically. Time was a funny thing. But as he observed them throughout the night of the dance - the way they could communicate in a shorthand of brief looks, nods, barely perceptible smiles or head-tilts - and how the faces of the unwed women and men gathered grew more grim and thin-lipped, he already knew he had his answer as to whether it would happen.

[veorlian]

forged of steel

pairing: Kaz Brekker x Inej Ghafa

rating: T for stabbing

A reflection on freedom, unsaid words, and the rooftops of Ketterdam.

read it on ao3 here

Inej

The Barrel had reason enough to be haunted. People from all across Kerch and beyond came to Ketterdam, only to meet an untimely end in either the dark alleys or brightly-lit streets. Dazzling lights and hidden blades were the only constants there. No mourners, no funerals, in the depths of the city. Ghosts were a dime a dozen. But only one had a title.

The Wraith, they called her. Never above a whisper. It was said she carried a hundred knives. A thousand knives. That she could walk through walls. That she’d killed a man at 100 paces, only by looking at him. That she could steal the secrets from inside your own head.

Inej’s father had told her once that many boys would bring her flowers, but the right boy would learn her favourite flower, her favourite song. Inej had been given flowers before. Flowers withered. Their scent turned cloying, their colours faded. You learned, in the Menagerie, that even your favourite flowers could be ruined.

Kaz Brekker had given her a knife. Flowers withered, but the sharp bite of steel was evergreen.

They will fear you, he’d said to her. Good, she’d replied.

Her knives were wicked-sharp and unyielding. Like him. Like her, now.

Everyone knew that the rooftops of Ketterdam were hers and hers alone. No one dared climb there, lest the Wraith find them. The wind against her face and the red and gold reflection of the setting sun on the harbour tasted like freedom.

And if occasionally she wished for flowers carried in a gloved hand, as she lay unsleeping and alone in her room, that was a secret she could keep.

Kaz

Kaz Brekker was not a patient man by nature, but it was the only way to survive. You waited for your enemy to show their hand. You waited for your mark to come to you. You waited for years until your vengeance burned like ice. Little by little, brick by brick, Kaz had learned patience.

He wasn’t patient now, as he waited for Inej to arrive. His fingers drummed along the table, waiting for the slight change in the air that meant she was near. A weakness, he thought, to be so unnerved. She could take care of herself. He couldn’t stop himself from looking at the clock.

He pointedly ignored his slight sigh of relief when she appeared next to him. Not too close. Never too close.

“And?” he asked brusquely.

“Hello to you too, Kaz,” she said. He didn’t smile.

“I don’t pay you for politeness,” he said.

“You couldn’t afford it,” she replied dryly. Soundlessly, she sat down in the chair by the window. One by one, she cleaned her knives. Her Saints, for all the good it did her. “Brahm Daven has a lover. They meet once a week at a run-down inn. The landlady has a loose tongue.”

“Name?”

“The landlady, or the lover?” Her lips quirked up in the ghost of a smile, one that he caught himself almost sharing.

“The lover, Inej,” he said, his voice clipped.

“Sylvia Aseren.”

“Married?”

“To a very wealthy man. They’re planning to elope.”

“So that’s why Daven’s been looking for money. Unlikely that he’ll return any loans, then.” Kaz flipped through the papers on his desk, making tidy annotations. There was an almost imperceptible rustling of fabric as Inej leaned forward. He might’ve missed it, if he wasn’t so damnably attuned to her every move.

“They might pay for silence.”

“And the husband might pay for the information. What else?”

She listed off the sins she’d collected like she was telling him the time of day. Discretions, petty and major crimes, who was bribing who and why. Kaz carefully filed the information away, making a note of potential targets, problems to address, people to rob. And all the while, the gentle click of her knives being set down next to her. It was dangerously close to domestic.

“You were late,” he said, once she’d finished. A flicker of something — annoyance? Embarrassment? Anger? Crossed her face.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Someone spilled oil along a stretch of rooftops. Had to take the long way around,” she explained. And then, “They’ll have to try harder if they want to stop me.”

“No one can stop you,” he said quietly, and he looked away from what he saw in her eyes.

Inej

It was just another night in the Barrel. Inej was returning from her evening activities (a little light larceny) when she felt eyes on her back, and heard the clatter of a deliberately loosened roof tile. She was almost at the Slat, firmly in Dregs’ territory. Whoever was out on the rooftops was either a fool or desperate. Maybe both.

She could see Kaz’s room from where she was, the light silhouetting him in the window. He’d left it open for her. He glanced down at his watch and she saw him frown. Ah, she was late again.

Her eyes lingered on Kaz. A mistake.

A knife came arcing towards her, and she neatly dodged away, already turning around to face her attackers. She dodged a second knife, and a third, but she didn’t move away in time for the gunshot to her leg. She offered up a prayer to her Saints, and then she was moving.

There were five men behind her. Fools, then, if they thought that was enough to stop the Wraith.

The first one went down with a blow to the back of his head. The second was knocked clean off his feet, hitting his head on the roof. The third she brought down with a roundhouse kick to the face. In the dim light, she saw fear in the eyes of the other two. One stumbled back, landing squarely on a trap tile. He went careening off of the roof, four stories down. The last one held the gun. It still smoked slightly from the shot to her leg.

“Who do you work for?” she asked, knowing that it would be the first thing Kaz would ask her. Probably before he asked if she was okay, damn him. The man raised his gun, pointing it directly at her. His hands shook. Inej tested her weight on her bad leg. It burned, but it didn’t give out.

The gun cocked. Inej rolled to the side and drew Sankta Lizabeta. She pressed a kiss, a prayer, to the flat of the blade before letting it fly. The man fell, crashing heavily onto the roof. It was over in seconds.

Inej exhaled, pressing a hand to the wound on her leg. The first three were still breathing, although she didn’t envy them the headache they would have in the morning. She went to retrieve her knife, making a note of her attackers’ tattoos.

Inej prayed softly, and she went to see Kaz.

Kaz

Kaz heard the gunshot, but that wasn't unusual. If you couldn't hear a fight in the Barrel, the saying went, you were probably already dead.

Inej appeared a moment later. She landed heavily on the ground and Kaz was immediately on his feet. His eyes flickered down to her leg. Sweat beaded her forehead, flyaway hairs tugged from her neat braid.

"Who was it?" he rasped. There was a flash of humour in her dark eyes.

"Medicine kit please, Kaz," she said, easing herself down into her chair.

"Inej—"

"Medicine. Kit. Please. I'm no good to anyone if I can't climb."

He handed her the kit, carefully avoiding touching her hand as he did. He pulled away, moving over to the open window. His eyes scanned the streets for more threats.

“Three from the Razorgulls, two from the Black Tips,” she said, hissing as she applied a poultice to the wound.

“Dead?”

“Two dead, three unconscious.”

“Only five against you?” he asked. “Careless of them.” He did look down at her, then. A mistake. His voice didn’t shake, but he couldn’t disguise the anger in his eyes. Not from her.

“I have to send a message,” he said roughly.

“I’ll be fine, Kaz. There doesn’t have to be more violence,” she murmured. She wrapped a clean bandage around her leg.

“And when they send more than five?”

“I can handle myself,” she said coolly.

He could see the pain stamped on her face, could hear her uneven breathing as she patched herself back up. And always, always the white-hot anger that he couldn’t help her, couldn’t move any closer.

“No unnecessary risks,” he said. And then, before he could stop himself: “You’re too valuable to lose.”

“I’ll be ready.” Her eyes were darker than the sky. “Trust me.” Kaz looked away.

“Very well,” he said eventually. “Then let’s get to work.”

Inej

The Wraith, they called her. She wrapped the name around herself like a cloak as she vanished into the night. The rooftops of the Barrel shifted, replaced with traps and alarms carefully crafted by Wylan and Jesper. Anyone that dared set foot in Inej’s domain was sent tumbling down. Word spread like wildfire, as it so often does. Kaz made sure that it did.

It was said that she’d bewitched the houses of Ketterdam. That she could hear you coming from a mile off, and appear behind you in the space of a breath. That you would be dead before you saw her.

Soon enough she was able to race along her rooftops uninterrupted again, the moonlight her only witness.

Kaz Brekker would never give her flowers. But perhaps he’d given her something better.

[monsoonblooms12]

Detectives By Chance: Ch-6 Unforeseen

A/N: Hi, how is everyone doing? I took a nice break to get a grip on myself and it really worked wonders. So sorry for taking such a long time to get this out. I hope this will be worth the wait!💛

Series Summary: It was supposed to be a usual weekend for the four. Coffee, fun, friends and love. But an unexpected case changed their lives in a way they had never imagined. A mystery - a murder - many secrets… Will Ethan, Pooja, Alexandra and Mark, be able to survive? Or will the circumstances twist and break their lives forever?

Pairing: Ethan × f!MC (Dr. Pooja Sharma)

Disclaimer: PB owns most of the characters. I only own the OCs and my MC.

Word count: 1890

Triggers: Mentions of murder

Rating: General

I am participating in this week’s @wackydrabbles​. The prompt for this week is “I meant every word.” and it will appear in bold.

CATCH UP HERE!

Sometimes Destiny, has a strange sense of humour,

When we think it is the end, it is usually just the beginning.

The four had just fallen asleep when sudden banging of the door woke them up. 

Ethan woke up abruptly. He saw how peacefully Pooja was sleeping. 

Ethan didn't want to wake her up. 

He got out of the bed and took a look at the clock. 

7 in the morning. 

It was pretty late as compared to his usual waking time. But after everything they did last night, they were tired as hell and hence it felt like they had slept not 4 hrs but 40 minutes. 

Yawning, he got to the door and was very, very, taken aback.

Standing by the door, was the Police.

"Officers, How may I help you?" Ethan inquired in a very professional tone.

"Dr Ramsey. Sorry to disturb you at such an early hour. We wanted some information." The police officer standing at the front informed.

Ethan let out a heavy sigh but knew better than to argue with them. So he acknowledged, "Please come in. People around will be concerned if they see the Police standing at my doorstep." He stepped aside to let them in. 

By the time, Mark, Alex and Pooja had also waken up due to the sounds and came out of their rooms. All three were surprised to see the Police.

The officers too, stopped short on seeing them. Their gazes stopped on Mark and Alex.

"Look who we have here." One of the officers implied to the other, pointing at Mark and Alex.

"Seems like our work here has become a lot easier."

"Excuse me, Officer, what exactly are you talking about? You stated you wanted information." Ethan said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, we wanted information about the whereabouts of Dr Danvers and Dr Walton." The way the Officer emphasized whereabouts was enough for them to know that something was wrong.

"Officers, we are here. Tell us what you wanna know." Mark spoke before Ethan could say anything.

"Sure, Dr. Danvers. You have an awful amount of confidence for a criminal." The Officer scoffed.

This time it was Pooja who spoke. "Wait! What? No, No what? CRIMINALS?"

"Of course, Dr Sharma. Not just mere criminals, these two are Cold Blooded Murderers." The police officer grumbled.

"Officer, I am sure there has been some misunderstanding. They both were with us all the time. Lex, er, Dr Walton and me, we discovered the body together." Pooja tried to intervene.

"Oh yes, Dr. Sharma? Then how on Earth did the original key of the patient's room get into the office of MARK DANVERS?" The man shouted the last words.

"WHAT! How is that even possible? I didn't even know the real key of the room was missing until the body was discovered!" Mark replied in his defence.

"Save it, Dr. Danvers, Save it. Tell all you want to tell in the court. Besides, that is not the only proof we have. We have asked your neighbours about your whereabouts on the night of the murder. Some of them say you two returning late at night, and as per their description, that is just after the time of the murder.” 

“Also, while scanning Mr Davis's room, your fingerprints and a piece of paper with both of your names was found. When we questioned his colleagues, it was revealed to be his handwriting. He wrote in that way in a hurry. So, I guess that enough proof for us to arrest you two." The Police laid all the information in front of them.

"All this is BULLSHIT. We did not do anything like that. All this is a lie." Alex was on the verge of a breakdown. 

She made a motion to grab one of the officers' collar when Pooja grabbed her and stopped her from doing anything that would make matters worse.

"No Lex, you won't. Don't make matters worse, I beg you." Hearing Pooja's plea, Alex calmed down.

"Dr Mark Danvers, Dr Alexandra Walton, you both are under arrest. Kindly follow us." The police officer said in an almost ruthless voice. 

Alex was about to intervene, but Mark grabbed her hand. 

Ethan laid a hand on Mark's shoulder and assured, "We promise we will get you both out before they can present you before the court. We promise." 

Mark turned around, gave him and Pooja a one-armed hug. Alex too, hugged the both of them, and then the two went away, holding hands all the time.

After the Police had left, Ethan and Pooja sat down on the couch. Never had they imagined that this would be the beginning of their morning.

"How the freaking hell did this happen? They are innocent, we know they didn't do anything." Pooja was breaking down again.

"Yes, we know. And now we have to prove it. We need to find evidence that can free Mark and Alex up. Something which can prove their innocence. We need to check Miles Danvers's private clinic. That is our only hope." Ethan answered.

 The two of them hurriedly got dressed and set off to the second address. 

The address they had never checked.

It took a good 35 minutes took 3147, Rainy Day Drive. The day was cloudy and grey, and the street looked gloomy but less terrifying as compared to last night.

 Ethan let out a dry laugh and said, "One rainy day brings us to Rainy day drive." They looked around to locate the clinic. But where they arrived appeared so broken and messy that it was obvious that it had been through a lot.

Taking a look at the status of the place, and thought of Pooja's condition.

"Rookie," Ethan said.

"Hmm?"

"I am going in there."

"Of course. I am going in too. Wasn't that why we came here?" Pooja questioned, surprised why Ethan was stating the obvious.

"No, I said I am going in, not we, Poo."

"What the hell do you mean by that? You are trying to say that you are going to that place alone? Is this really the time to play jokes, E?" Pooja charged, angry and worried.

"I am not kidding, Poo. I meant every word."

He cupped her cheeks. 

"Rookie, please try to understand, okay? My priority is and will always be you. I can't let you get hurt in any way. I will go there first and check if everything is alright. If all is clear, I will send you a text. Then you can come in." Ethan tried to explain.

"And if everything is not clear?"

"Then I will search alone and keep you updated if I find anything."

"You mean that I should leave you alone in the fire?"

"Poo, I am just going to check. This place is so old, I don't think there will be any trouble in there. But I promised that I would protect you at any cost. See it just as me keeping my promise."

"But what if-"

"No, what-ifs. I am going. I will check and update you soon. Promise me you won't go in until I tell you too."

"But Et-"

"Promise?"

"Ethan, List-"

"Promise?"

"Fine, Promise. But in case you see any trouble, text me at that moment. I will come running."

"Promise, Rookie, Promise."

Before Pooja could say anything else, Ethan had already walked into the dilapidated building. So she had nothing else to do other than wait.

While waiting, Pooja tried to arrange all the information they had in her mind. She started surfing the web to know more about Mr Davis and the 2011 scam he had supposedly conducted. About 100 people had lost tons of money in that scam, and it was pointed out that since 2011, Mr Davis started living a rich life. He said it was from his inheritance of his dead uncle and a promotion, but now, it was obvious that it was all the money from the scam.

What a criminal! Only if he had got caught, maybe then all the hassle, worries and pain that entered their life without as much as a precaution, could have been avoided, Pooja grunted. Her heart grieved on remembering Mark and Alex. "They don't deserve this.", she thought.

She checked her phone and, Oh dear! Thirty minutes had passed by, but there was neither any text nor any sign of Ethan. She was worried sick. But she had promised, and Pooja had been known for keeping her promises. When she promised something, she always fulfilled it, no matter what. 

Suddenly her phone lighted up with a 'Ping!' making her aware of a new notification. She saw Ethan's name light up on her screen, and without even glancing at the text he had sent, she rushed into the ruptured clinic.

Once inside, she looked around. The place was dark, had a look of a horror house and smelt sickening. Pooja turned on the flashlight of her phone and began to look around. She sensed something was eerie. She presumed that the moment she would walk in, she would see Ethan.

But the place was soundless. Her heart thumped with panic.

"Ethan! Ethan! Ethan, can you hear me? Ethan, please reply I-I am scared. ETHAN!" Pooja screeched but met with silence. Dismay and agony made her feel weak. She sat down on her knees and began weeping.

"Now is not the time to breakdown." Pooja thought to herself and urged her body to stand up. 

"Keep calm, Keep calm for Ethan." She reiterated the words in her mind like a prayer holding her up.

Suddenly, she recollected that she never checked the text Ethan sent. She opened Ethan's text, but it did not read "All clear".

It read, "MiD To."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? MiD, MiD, MiD..." Pooja thought harder and harder, overlooking everything, only focusing on the letters M.i.D.

"MiD, MiD... Oh, hell!" It struck her like lightning. "MiD is M-Miles Danvers. Oh my god!"

Suddenly, the sound of her phone ringing jolted her out of her thought process and spread an alarm through her body. She hoped, desperately for it to be Ethan.

But she saw that it was an unknown number. Her first thought was to ignore it, but then she wondered, "What if, what if it is Ethan? Trying to reach her and tell her where he was?"

She acknowledged the call. "Hello?"

"Ahh!!" A hoarse voice uttered from the other end. "Dr Sharma, is it?"

"Who the hell are you? I don't have time for any of your shit." Pooja fumed.

"But you surely have time for Dr Ramsey, don't you?" The man implied with cruel amusement in his voice.

"What the-? How the hell-? Wait, are- are you Miles Danvers?"

The man let out a menacing chortle, more like a crackle of a witch. "Oh, yes! I am. And don't worry! Your dearest boyfriend is here, in my utmost care, and under my most watchful eye."

The humour in his voice went away, and a nerve chilling sinister voice revealed, "If you want to save him and your dearest best friends, come to the address I am sending you as soon as possible. Don't you dare ignore this call. Well, unless you want them to rot and die. Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha."

PS: If you enjoyed the story, please like, leave a comment or reblog. Your feedback keeps me going💕. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day ahead!

Tags (Please let me know if you like to be added or removed) :@bbrandy2002 @whimsicallywayward15 @ohramsey  @nervoussaladsludgeopera @trrfanaddict @hopelessromanticmonie @imonlybibecauseofethanramsey @lovablegranny @bellcat2010 @gkittylove99 @starrystarrytrouble @3riche @chetachisblog @zoehanji @withbeautyandrage  @drariellevalentine @mvalentine ​ @aestheticartsx ​@angela8754​ @schnitzelbutterfingers ​ @ao719 ​ @choicesstan1 @arnikki-2406 ​ @neotericthemis ​ @anotherbeingsworld @maurine07 @sophxwithers @twinkleallnight

[prose-for-hire]

Y/n the friendly ghost

Pairing: Xander Harris x reader

Request: For Halloween can you write about Xander falling for a ghost reader with the prompt "The afterlife can be fun. Sometimes. It's mostly scaring clueless teenagers to death."

Requested by: Anon

A/N: Again, I don’t know if Xander’s particularly popular with you guys but I have a bunch of inspiration for a second part to this if any of you are interested 🖤🦇

On Halloween night, it is said that if you are the first person to remove an apple from a water-filled bucket without using your hands, that night you would dream of your soulmate. Your betrothed. The one soul that was bound to yours... 

Xander had been having dreams. Ever since Halloween night. He had been apple bobbing and won, emerging victorious as he managed to bite into the crisp apple from under the water. For some reason, he wasn’t aware why, he had been really competitive. He had held the apple high above his head, showing it off to anyone that would look.

In the month since Halloween, the most attractive person he had ever seen would meet him inside his dream each night. He was besotted. Growing more in love by every second. He kept them to himself, not able to tell the others in fear of teasing. He was excited to go to sleep, finding himself willing the night to fall so that he could meet them again.

As he closed his eyes, the scene played out before him. It was always the same setting but they both spoke intimately every night. Some kind of regal ball, where the men wore suits and the women wore fancy dresses. It was vibrant with chatter and music playing.

Through the crowd, they came to him. The reason for his happiness. It was you.   Your eyes always lit up when you located him in the crowd. You and Xander had been sharing these dreams, such beautiful moments you enjoyed together. 

You would dance and laugh. Hiding from the eyes and idle gossip from the crowd around you. Both of your favourite part was when you managed to sneak away. the first few nights you went through the motions, enjoyed the dancing and the time period but eventually as soon as you found each other again, you found yourself a private corner immediately. You wore such grand clothing, such decadence surrounded you both, but neither of you had eyes for anything except each other. 

You thought it was very odd, you had only died last year. And you could tell by his humour and the way he spoke that he wasn’t from this period either. You were not familiar with the time frame and neither was he. And in some sense, this made it feel more natural. That your souls were meeting in your dreams, that may have found each other in a previous life.

Unfortunately (or fortunately as it meant you at least got to meet him) you had died but kept your soul. You hadn’t moved on to the other side yet, although you had been assured by the powers above that this process would happen eventually. But definitely not before next Halloween. 

Xander was falling in love. He had been enjoying every moment of your shared dream. He knew it sounded silly, you clearly weren’t real. But he was falling for you with every moment he spent with you in his dream. He longed for this to be true, he desperately pleaded to find you in reality. But knew you were too good to be true.

He had started to walk more often by himself, after dark. Tonight, he had felt this pull, this unusual feeling. Something deep within was navigating him. Willing him to step over the threshold of the house at the end of the street. He often walked to clear his head, or he would just try to go straight to bed. Trying to sleep. Trying to see you.

For some reason, unknown to him, he entered into an abandoned house. One that had been lived in by a priest and his wife, it had been abandoned for a long time. There was a small graveyard in the land at the back and it had always given him the creeps so he had stayed clear. However, he had walked straight in and let himself in as if he lived there. He turned to leave, but didn’t make it back through the door.

You sensed everything in the building. From rain leaking out of the badly patched hole in the roof to the mice family that lived in the basement. You had named all of the mice, pretending they were your pets. You scared away any cats or wild animals that wondered into the house, making sure the family were safe. You needed something like that, some kind of attachment. It could get lonely. The only thing to look forward to being your dreams.

You saw him turning to the door and you gasped. Could it be? It was! it was really him!

You became so excited that you floated at top speed towards him, forgetting your lack of corporeality in your excitement. Ideally you wanted to jump into his arms and wrap yourself around him. But you stopped short of attempting that.

Xander, who was already spooked from the strange little decaying house you resided in, wasn’t expecting a real ghost to come flying at him - only to stop abruptly about a centimetre from his face.

He screamed, using his whole body and pointing at you in surprise. It was a scream he was glad Buffy and Willow weren’t there to witness. As he was thinking this and recovering from a minor heart attack, he looked at you. Properly. That face. He knew that face. He loved that face.

“It’s you!”

“You know me?” You ask, snapping yourself out of just dreamily staring at the man of your dreams. Your eyes had started to light up in that way he loved, “Remember me…?” you questioned softly, confirming what you could have only hoped for.

“How could I not? I mean… wow” he gestured at you. You chuckled at him, shaking your head and looking down at yourself. 

When you looked back up after only a second, he had started to squint growing a little suspicious. He noted your weren’t corporeal. This didn’t lessen any affection, but he hadn’t had much luck when he was in high school with partners (they had ended up trying to eat him, or maim him at the very least). 

“Y-you’re a Casper right?” he checked, still squinting as you frowned, not quite catching up straight away.

“A Casper?”

“A friendly, how can I help kinda ghost?” he explained, which instantly made you smile.

“Oh! Yeah! I’m very nice when you get to know me… ghosts get a bad rap. But we can be helpful… we can joke” You smiled as he did, before dropping his eyes to his feet,  “We can even… fall in love”

The suggestion crackled through the air, he looked back up to where you were floating, slightly above him. You stayed in silence, just staring in awe at the other before he finally spoke.

“Cool... ‘cause I’m not one with the creepy scariness” He replied, nervous to tell you just how much he loved you in case he scared you off. This thought made him smile, the idea of scaring a ghost being humorous to him.

“The creepy, scary things are all around you, it’s the soundtrack of your life” You smiled, something he had referenced in one of the many stories he had told you in his dreams.

“Tell me about it”

“I believe you would actually enjoy being a ghost! The afterlife can be fun. Sometimes. It's mostly scaring clueless teenagers to death."

“Yeah, you’re doing a great job. What with the scary jumpiness” He confirmed and you took it as a compliment. You knew this man, you had kept his secrets over the last month or so. You had shared things so deep, you wondered why you felt so nervous. 

“Yes! It was funny, you almost jumped out of your skin!” You chuckled.

“I c-can’t actually do that right? You can’t make me do that… can you?”

“No! of course not! I wouldn’t want to do that…” You said softly, before revealing, “I’d rather kiss you”

“Yeah?” He asked and you nodded, perhaps a little shyly. You had visions of him whenever he was dreaming. You wanted it to be true, “Then lay it on me!” he started to move towards you and you panicked, stepping back. But it was too late. He fell straight through you which made you shiver and squirm, “What was that?!”

“I-I can’t-” You tried to explain but the rest of the sentence became stuck in your throat. His face dropped as he realised and you almost wept. You looked around and your face, which had dropped with his, suddenly lit up again, “We could… kiss through this” You offer shyly, pointing towards a surprisingly clean pane of glass (not that it mattered to you either way).

“Really-?” He looked unconvinced. As if you would laugh and make fun of him for even considering it. But you didn’t, you merely nodded softly. The sadness permeating in the air. Leaving you feeling his lack of touch that you had never had to experience when you met in your dreams. Touch felt real there.

You would touch a hard object for a very small moment in time. You moved in, landing a single kiss against the glass at the same time as him. You both sighed, wishing there was some way you could touch properly while you were awake. Your gazes meeting through the glass in a mix of adoration and despair. 

There was a desperation for more. A mutual wish, no a prayer, for you to be reunited in person the way you had in your dreams. You pleaded to have your physical body back, even for one day. You loved him so much you ached. It was as if you had known him forever. For your whole life. Longer.

You both felt the longing more physically than you could feel the glass beneath your palms. Your hands on the glass, his hand pressing against where yours was resting, corresponding between the glass. You willed to keep your touch for even a little longer, but you could feel yourself starting to disappear, an unknown pull to wherever you were sent in the house or in the gravesite in the garden.

“I’ll see you in our dreams...” You whispered, closing your eyes. When you opened them again, he was gone and you were confined to the loneliness of the decaying building once more.

[choices-love-affair]

I’m really ticklish.

Okay, so I’m so new to all of this, but when I saw @parkerattano prompts, I just couldn’t help myself! Prompt #13. 

June, Baz, Lorelei and Ethan were huddled into a corner booth on the edge of Donahues, the three doctors looking on at their director with feigned interest as he continued speaking about a patient they had already cured and discharged.

“Although I initially considered vertebral metastases, when the results returned…” Lorelei tuned out for what felt like the hundredth time with eyes glazed over. She caught Baz trying to gain her attention, his eyes wide and staring at both her and June on the other side of the table in desperation, begging for the end of the conversation. He silently and discreetly put his palms together and glanced up at the ceiling, mouthing what Lorelei assumed was a mock prayer, the look on his face too much for her and she was unable to refrain the laughter from leaving her lips any longer. As it slipped through, she quickly slapped her hand over her mouth and looked at Ethan apologetically. He stopped mid-sentence and stared at her, before glancing at the rest of the team.

“Is something the matter?” He enquired, eyes narrowed interrogatively at Baz as he quickly put his hands back under the table and attempted to hide any form of guilt from his face that may have given him away.

“Ethan come on… relax a little. It’s 8.30 on a Friday night, we’re in Donahues and this is meant to be team building, getting to know each other, not consulting. Remember?!” Lorelei softly prompted him “let’s get some drinks, loosen up, chat” she encouraged.

“It might help if you loosened that tie up as well” Baz interjected; humour laced in his voice as he timidly pointed at the tie in question.

“My tie is perfectly fine right where it is” replied Ethan, as he tightened it up even more to his throat.

“Okay” Baz put his hands in the air “I’m just saying.”

Ethan rolled his eyes and turned his face away from the group, staring out at the rest of the bar, shaking his head and moving his lips as if he was silently conversing with himself, before turning his head back and glancing sideways at Baz, his eyes then landing on Lorelei.

“…Okay”

“Okay?”

“I’ll go get some drinks before he changes his mind!” June excitedly spoke, jumping up from her seat and rushing to the bar.

                                                         ***

A few hours later and the table at the small booth was littered with various shot glasses, tumblers and beer bottles, Ethan’s tie long gone and discarded in his back pocket and the four doctors were far from the hospital, laughing and clinking their glasses incessantly, fuelled by alcohol.

“Okay, okay next one!” Lorelei turned to June, indicating it was her turn to answer “If you could be any other doctor at Edenbrook, who would you be?” she asked.

“Oh that’s easy, I’d be you!” June replied instantly “to be Dr Ramsey’s favourite! Imagine that, Baz” she continued wistfully, winking at Baz before smirking back at Lorelei. Lorelei laughed awkwardly as she glanced up at Ethan through her lashes, sneaking a knowing glimpse with each other before he cleared his throat

“She’s certainly not my favourite, just look at the stunt she pulled with Gwyneth, and the fact I now have a Picturegraph, she’s easily rounding out last in the team” he waved his hand nonchalantly at the group “you’re a close second” he glanced sideways at Baz while taking another swig of his drink.

“I’m hurt, Ethan. Truly” replied Baz, holding his hand over his heart

“Also, it’s Pictogram” June replied flatly “Jesus how old ARE you?!” she joked before continuing on “Alright, next question. What’s your biggest weakness?”

“Ohhh good one, June. Yeah, tell us what makes you ‘tick’” Lorelei teased, her face resting in her hand, elbow propped up on the table.

“Easy, I’m really ti-“ he stopped himself abruptly, not finishing his sentence and attempting to hide his diversion and blushing cheeks with another swig of his drink

Both June and Lorelei sat up straight, shocked excitement spread across their faces, their mouths gaped.

“Ticklish! Is that what you were going to say, you’re really ticklish?!” Lorelei couldn’t hold back the giggles as she covered her mouth once more, eyes locked with Ethan’s, mischievousness dancing within them.

“No.”

“Yes, you did! Oh my god, who would have thought, The Great Ethan Ramsey, kryptonite: ticklish!” she squealed as she and June high-fived and Baz smacked his open hand on the table as he laughed with the women.

“tell me” Lorelei prodded further “are we talking feet here, or is it ribs? A kink? Oh my god it’s a kink isn’t it?!” she continued, getting carried away in her own thoughts. A grin spreading across Ethan’s face as he shook his head at her with humour “you’re insufferable” he chuckled.

“I���m really ticklish… that’s all you need to know, okay?!” he finally replied, raising one eyebrow and intense eyes locking with Lorelei. June and Baz still too busy laughing and teasing him to notice as a small, playful grin erupted over Ethan’s face as he slowly and purposefully scratched at the skin behind his ear, not once breaking their eye contact. Taking another swig of his drink, he winked at Lorelei over the top of his glass, suggesting she may very well already know.

[gduncan969]

A COVID Christmas

Luke 1: 8 - 18 “So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”

I’m sure we are all very familiar with the Christmas story as described in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke and can remember each scene as it unfolds or, perhaps as enacted in the many Christmas pageants we have watched over the years filled with shepherds and sheep, cows and camels, donkeys and wise men, all gathered round baby Jesus lying in a manger with Mary and Joseph looking tenderly down at him as the heavenly host of tinsel-winged little angels in the background joyfully sing “Joy to the world the Lord has come”.  Then, of course, we all watched in bemused horror as Mary suddenly abandoned the new-born babe in the manger to run off stage and find her mom while on stage, a sheep starts a fight with the donkey’s rear end and a fallen angel lands with a crash at the back of the stage.  Come to think of it, I suspect there’s a lot of Sunday school teachers out there who are secretly thankful that this year has been different—but only for a moment, I’m sure!  Events like these are part of the glue that holds churches together and give us memories of Christmases past which we are very thankful for.  However, the year 2020 has been very different.  The pandemic has closed the churches and cancelled the pageants and many of us are feeling a sense of emptiness or even sadness that Christmas 2020 is not like it is supposed to be.  Never in our lifetime, or our parents lifetime, or our forefathers lifetime through multiple generations have we ever had to close our churches or curtail Christmas until now.  Governments across the world have declared churches non-essential and forced them to close their doors hoping this will help stop the spread of the virus but despite this and despite all the mask-wearing, social distancing and bubble-keeping we have gone through since March, the virus continues to spread, only now at a much higher rate.  The second wave is here and on the horizon a new, mutated strain of the virus approaches with greater virulence, ready to plunge us into greater despair and panic.  But wait, vaccines are now available to protect us but no, there won’t be enough vaccine available early enough to protect most of us for months to come, assuming, of course, the vaccine will work against the new strain.  So, all over the world countries are heading into another lock-down, including right here in the Province of Ontario at midnight on Christmas day.  What a depressing picture this all creates!  Is it any surprise that there is now an even greater pandemic of worry, anxiety and fear perhaps killing more of us than the virus itself?  Someone once said man can live without food for 40 days, without water for five days, without air for ten minutes and without hope for 1 second.

What is the antidote to all of this?  Maybe a different approach is needed, a different way of looking at the situation we are in!  In the passage from Luke Chapter 1 above and the other parts of the Christmas story the angel Gabriel appears, first to Zacharius, then to Mary, then to Joseph and finally to the shepherds, and each time he does, the first words uttered by him were “Fear not!”  That no doubt was very reassuring to Zacharius, Mary and the rest of them but I’ve always struggled when someone says to me “Don’t worry!”  I’m tempted to scream at them: “Don’t tell me not to worry unless you can explain HOW to stop worrying!”  I’ve never met anyone who wanted to worry but I’ve met lots of people who would give anything to know how not to.  Simply telling them not to without explaining how not to is cruel.  

So, how do you stop worrying?

Worry or fear is faith in reverse.  It is faith in the negative, faith in the circumstances that tell us the worst is about to happen.  Like the shepherds watching their flocks by night, “sudden fear had seized their troubled minds” and the antidote was “Glad tidings of great joy I bring to you and all mankind.” Fear drags us down into a pit filled with “what ifs”: what if I pass the virus on to my elderly parents and they die?; what if my business has to close and I go broke?; what if I can’t go to work because I’m non-essential?; what if I catch the virus and can’t work?..  These fears are real and the cause of much anxiety, worry and depression.  My daughter, Susan, admitted she has been struggling greatly recently with anxiety over all the negative recent news surrounding the pandemic including the pending lock-down of the Province and what it will mean for her family.  As I write this she has just texted me to say she has been listening non-stop since last night to recordings of her favorite preacher, “uncle Harry” (Greenwood) - now with the Lord, who often spent many days with us at Crossroads Church in Englehart, Ontario preaching faith-filled messages of victory over your circumstances.  Susan’s special-needs son is very worried about having to cancel Christmas because his dad has just been tested for COVID as a result of finding out the wife of one of his workmates tested positive which meant that everyone had to be tested.  If Jeff’s test proves positive he will be off work without pay for fourteen days.  Having listened to Harry’s messages she says, “I feel like uncle Harry is shouting at me from heaven—part of that great cloud of witnesses—to keep my mind fixed on what I’ve been listening to from him.  He reminded me of what he often told me, “You are not your body...you live by faith in God’s word, not through your senses.  You don’t have to see first to believe, you believe first to see.” The greatest antidote to worrying over circumstances is to see them from God’s viewpoint and we can’t do that until we “sit with Him in heavenly places” (Ephesians 2:6).   She tells me she is now singing an old favorite hymn which describes where we as Christians are called to live:

Far away the noise of strife upon my ear is falling; Then I know the sins of earth beset on every hand; Doubt and fear and things of earth in vain to me are calling; None of these shall move me from Beulah Land.

Refrain: I’m living on the mountain, underneath a cloudless sky, I’m drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry; Oh, yes! I’m feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply, For I am dwelling in Beulah Land.

Far below the storm of doubt upon the world is beating, Sons of men in battle long the enemy withstand; Safe am I within the castle of God’s Word retreating; Nothing then can reach me—’tis Beulah Land.

Let the stormy breezes blow, their cry cannot alarm me; I am safely sheltered here, protected by God’s hand; Here the sun is always shining, here there’s naught can harm me; I am safe forever in Beulah Land.

Viewing here the works of God, I sink in contemplation; Hearing now His blessed voice, I see the way He planned; Dwelling in the Spirit, here I learn of full salvation; Gladly I will tarry in Beulah Land.

The only two antidotes for worry and fear that I know of are God’s Word and God’s praise, both taken in equal measure every time we are attacked.  If this pandemic has you depressed and anxious, read again the Christmas stories and see the faithfulness of God who dwells among us by his Spirit.  Isn’t it amazing that old Zacharius was told by the angel “your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son”.  Come again?  Old Zacharius and his old wife Elizabeth would have the son they prayed for.  I would love to know how he mimed that news to his wife (remember the angel struck him dumb) and especially how he explained the child would not be virgin-conceived but natural-born.  I’d also love to know how Mary explained to her parents that she was pregnant but still a virgin.  Yes, God does have a sense of humour and wants us rejoicing this Christmas, not complaining.  Have a merry Christmas everyone!

[jbankai89]

Never Let Me Go [31/37]

A/N: If you like my work, please consider throwing a few bucks into my Digital Tip Jar. I am a starving artist, and I like not actually starving to death :PNLMG MasterpostA/N: Next update will be March 8th. Enjoy! :)

Note: The Russian words in this chapter were transcribed from Cyrillic by me, so if there's any mistakes please let me know so I can fix it.

Chapter Thirty – Almost Perfect

Yuri was ushered inside, surrounded on all sides by his family, and it felt oddly like he'd been put under a spotlight as he kicked his shoes off and was relieved of the ultrasound photos and his coffee, while he ignored everyone and made a beeline for the food. Everyone laughed at this and Yuri felt his face burn, though internally he knew that they were not laughing at him, it still felt like he was being teased.

“Don't you want your presents?” Otabek teased as he sidled up to him, and Yuri smiled weakly as his alpha came to join him at the table. He loaded his plate with cold cuts, crackers, stuffed olives, puff pastry appetizers, and finger sandwiches, along with a tall glass of apple juice, but didn't immediately answer as he stared down at the food.

“Feels weird to be the centre of attention like this,” he mumbled softly, just loud enough for Otabek to hear, and he bowed forward to offer Yuri's cherry-red cheek a kiss.

“Humour them, they're really excited,” Otabek said gently, “it's just this once.”

“You owe me for this,” Yuri muttered, though his mouth was quirked into a small half-smile as he said it.

Now with a platter of food in his hands, Yuri was steered back to the living room, where the coffee table had been buried in a mountain of gifts, and the triplets had been quartered off in a large playpen with a number of toys to keep them occupied. Everyone was passing around the ultrasound photos, cooing at the black and white images or crying over them—the latter mostly being Yuuri, who seemed quite sensitive these days.

Maybe he's pregnant again, Yuri mused with a faint smirk as he sat down with Otabek at his side. Seeing how things are now between him and Viktor it's not impossible, but he did tell me that he didn't want any more kids...maybe he's changed his mind or something.

“Presents!” Minami cried suddenly, drawing Yuri out of his thoughts and nearly making him choke on the garlic-stuffed green olive in his mouth. “Is it present time?”

“Come on, Yuri,” Viktor added with a wide, heart-shaped smile, “before Minami explodes.”

“Okay, fine,” Yuri replied with an exaggerated groan, though admittedly, he wasn't minding the idea of presents too much, and smiled sheepishly as the first huge parcel was dumped into his lap.

Yuri learnt two things very quickly as he unwrapped over two dozen gifts from everyone—first, they needed to hide the scotch tape from Viktor at every single holiday going forward. His fingers ached from how much tape the stupid alpha had used to seal the gifts from himself and Yuuri, and eventually Otabek had simply gotten him an exacto knife to open the gifts with.

Second, they were all terrible sentimentalists, and Yuri could not decide who was the worst—Yuuri, who gave him a huge multi-photo frame bearing pictures of everyone, or his grandfather, who produced an old cat plush toy that Yuri had not seen in nearly fifteen years.

“Koshechka...” Yuri said, his bottom lip quivering a little as he stroked the fuzzy orange and black-striped toy. “I had no idea you kept it.”

“I'd never give away something so precious, Yuratchka,” his grandfather said with a small smile. “For you, or your mladyenyets.”

Yuri hugged the plush cat to his chest and offered his grandfather a watery smile, just as another parcel was dropped into his lap.

Along with the more sentimental gifts, Yuri got practical ones, too—onesies, little baby running shoes, baby books, more plush animals, a mobile with little cats and bears on it, a crib, changing table, baby blanket, little baby leather jacket (and matching ones for Yuri and Otabek), and dozens of other things they'd need for when their child was born.

One thing Yuri could not help but notice, despite his attempts to not let it bother him, was that though he'd been spoiled with gifts from everyone, none of the packages had come from Otabek himself.

The final gift was for Yuri, and not the baby, and it was a bracelet of Buddhist prayer beads from Phichit. They were a deep cranberry colour, and Yuri felt a strange sense of peace as he slipped them on, thanking the Thai alpha with a weak smile while Otabek got up with a small stretch.

“Don't move, Yura,” he commanded with a small smile, “I just need to go and get your present. It's upstairs.”

“You got me something?” Yuri blurted out, then felt himself go red at how that sounded. Otabek, in contrast, merely laughed, and leant back in to kiss him once.

“Did you think I wouldn't?” he asked, and Yuri felt his embarrassment spike a little.

“No—yes—maybe? I don't know!”

The others chortled at Yuri's flustered response, while Otabek merely offered Yuri a small half-smile as he turned around and headed for the stairs.

Around him, the others bloomed into conversation, all the while they kept shooting Yuri with excited, knowing glances. Yuri narrowed his eyes at them; what were they up to now?

Yuri hardly had time to contemplate it before he heard Otabek call from the top of the stairs, “close your eyes, Yura, and don't open them again until I tell you to!”

Yuri obeyed, and at the same moment almost laughed aloud. It was amazing, really, how he had gone from blindly hating Otabek to this. Past Yuri would have never in a million years obeyed an alpha—especially Otabek—but now...

Now he's the most important person in my life, and I love him, Yuri thought without hesitation, and he smiled to himself as a flutter of movement in his stomach made his smile widen.

Well, second most important.

Otabek thumped down the stairs, and as his footsteps died under the plush carpet in the living room, Yuri heard a chorus of excited cries from everyone around him, and his eyelids twitched, though he managed to keep them closed.

“Okay, baby,” Otabek said softly, “open your eyes.”

Yuri did, and his mouth dropped open.

“Mew,” said the little ragdoll kitten held aloft in Otabek's arms.

Its little face was nearly obscured by the huge red bow around its neck, and underneath it Yuri spotted a black collar studded with false diamonds in the shape of little paws. The kitten was a beige-brown, with sooty paws, ears, and face, and it was the most precious thing that Yuri had ever seen.

“For me?” Yuri asked, and Otabek answered by placing the kitten in Yuri's lap. Yuri sniffled as he reached out for the tiny thing, and it purred as it licked and nuzzled at Yuri's fingers.

“For you,” Otabek replied with a small smile, and reached out to remove the enormous bow. Yuri swatted his hand away and did it himself, and the little kitten shook itself immediately after Yuri took it off, as though relieved to get rid of the bow.

“I...I don't know what to say,” Yuri said, his voice cracking a little as he pet the tiny thing. He'd always wanted a cat, and it was hard to believe that one was now sitting on his knees, and it was his.

“Thank you is probably a good start,” Otabek teased, one arm moving to wrap around Yuri's waist while he leant in to kiss his cheek, and sat back down at his side. “Do you like her?”

“Her,” Yuri echoed as he scooped the kitten up and leant in close, and she responded by licking the tip of the omega's nose. “God, Beka, she's fucking adorable.”

A chorus of laughs followed Yuri's statement, while Makkachin whined trotted over, and tried to snuffle at the kitten. Yuri scowled, moving to lift the kitten out of reach, but before he had a chance to, she hissed and took a swipe at the dog's nose.

Yuri snorted when the dog responded with a number of yelping, frightened cries, and he rushed over to Viktor and tucked himself, trembling, under the alpha's legs.

“Aww, poor Makkachin,” Viktor said in between chuckles as he reached down to pat the dog's head. “Did the little koshechka scare you?”

Makkachin answered with another whine, and Yuri snorted as Viktor and Yuuri both babied the large, trembling dog.

“What do you want to name her?” Otabek asked, drawing Yuri's attention back to the kitten in his hands, while he set her back down on his lap. She responded by jumping up carefully onto his stomach, and curled up contentedly. Yuri smiled, watching as Otabek reached down to stroke her gently, and the kitten responded by purring softly.

“I don't know yet,” Yuri replied, smiling idly as he watched his alpha pet the kitten. “I want to make sure it's a good name though—something cool.”

“Something cool?” Otabek asked with a warm chuckle, “not something cute, like Soots, or Mittens, or Waffles?”

“You are officially banned from naming our kid,” Yuri retorted, and Otabek let out a loud snort of laughter. “No, I want a cool name for this cat. Like...like...oh, I know. Puma-Tiger-Scorpion.”

“You're naming your cat what?” Phichit cut in with a small laugh, and though the Thai alpha probably hadn't meant it as an insult, Yuri glared at him anyway.

“Yeah. Or Potya, for short,” Yuri replied coldly. “Got a problem with that?”

“What? No!” Phichit sputtered, his eyes widening a little at the omega. “I just...it's a bit weird.”

“It is not weird, it's cool. The most badass kitten in the universe,” Yuri said stubbornly, and crossed his arms. The move jostled the kitten on his belly, but she didn't move from her spot while Yuri continued to glare at Phichit.

Phichit blinked at Yuri, his expression blank, then in a motion of surrender he lifted his hands and turned to Minami, saying, “we'll get a hamster, and we'll name it—”

“—Cat Food,” Yuri cut in, and Otabek choked on his laughter, while Phichit and Minami offered him a halfhearted glare.

“I think I like Fluffy or Hammy better than Cat Food,” Minami said thoughtfully as he turned back to Phichit, and the alpha grinned as he took one of Minami's hands.

“Or Harvey the Wonder Hamster.”

“Yes, I love it!” Minami squealed, and threw himself at Phichit in a hug.

Yuri leant against Otabek, and he immediately wrapped an arm around the omega's shoulders.

“Yuri?” he prompted, “you okay?”

“We were never that barfingly adorable...were we?” Yuri asked, and Otabek snorted.

“I think we have our moments, we're just not as...enthusiastic as them, I guess,” Otabek replied while he reached out to idly stroke the sleeping kitten.

“Good,” Yuri replied, and turned to offer Otabek a quick kiss. “Thank you for the kitten, Beka, she's too adorable for words.”

“I'm glad you like her,” Otabek chuckled, and kissed Yuri again.

The party progressed, with Yuri never setting Potya down (nor Potya wanting to be put down, and in fact sat on Yuri's shoulder like a fluffy little parrot) and he offered her bits of smoked salmon while he worked on a miniature mountain of mini quiche and sausages wrapped in pastry.

“Hungry?” Otabek teased when he brought Yuri another glass of apple juice, and Yuri narrowed his eyes at him, his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk, and thus was unable to answer.

“It's not me, it's your kid,” Yuri finally said after he accepted the drink and chased down the food. “I'm eating for two, remember?”

“I remember,” Otabek confirmed as he sat next to him and placed a hand on Yuri's belly. “I'm so excited for us, just a few more weeks...”

“Next time, we'll do better,” Yuri said, his voice softening a little so that the others wouldn't overhear them. “You'll be there for the whole thing.”

“Yura, I'm not upset about how this all turned out...not anymore,” Otabek explained as he leant in to kiss Yuri's temple. “You did what you had to do, and it kept you from being badly hurt. I can't fault you for wanting to protect yourself; you've had a hard life, and I didn't exactly make it any easier at first, so you're used to using what you have to survive, and that's okay.”

“Don't you ever get tired of being so perfect?” Yuri asked, and Otabek chuckled warmly.

“I think if I was perfect, I would have worked out faster that the way I was treating you in the beginning was totally awful,” Otabek remarked, “I think about it a lot, you know, how strong you are, and how shitty I was, and how if you were anyone else I would have royally fucked you up—”

“—language, Otabek!” Viktor interrupted, “there are children present!”

“Sorry, Yuuri,” Yuri called, and Otabek snorted.

“Hey!”

Otabek chuckled again as he turned back to Yuri, and caught the blond's lips in a warm, quick kiss. He opened his mouth to speak, but Yuri got there first.

“I don't want to talk about how our relationship started,” Yuri said, “or how shitty you were, or any of that. You smartened up, you got better, and now things are just...amazing. We have a family, a real family of people who care about us, a baby on the way, and a place where we are safe. I don't want to talk about our bad pasts, I just want to focus on the future.”

“How did I get so lucky to find an omega like you?” Otabek asked as he nuzzled the side of Yuri's throat gently, making him giggle.

“You picked me out of line, probably 'cause I'm pretty,” Yuri teased, and Otabek snorted, though there was sadness in his expression too.

“I'll make up for all that, I promise,” Otabek murmured, and moved in to kiss him again.

“You can start by getting me something else to eat,” Yuri teased, and held up his empty paper plate. Potya mewed from his shoulder as though in agreement, and the alpha laughed as he nodded and accepted the empty plate, and headed dutifully for the table.

The food was consumed, Phichit and Yuuri took too many photos of Yuri cutting the barfingly adorable cake covered in teddy bears and candy balloons, and as far as Yuri was concerned, it really was a perfect day.

Until Minami—albeit unintentionally—changed it from perfect to almost perfect.

It was evening, maybe six or six-thirty, and Yuuri was transporting the girls to bed while the alphas wrapped up the leftover food and put it away. Yuri felt a little awkward about being unable to really help, but then Minami, with a cheery expression plastered across his face, said it.

“Well, Mama, let's get all this stuff upstairs!” he chirped happily, and immediately Yuri's world was consumed in black.

~*~

“Let us see if Mama has learned his lesson. Omega, who are you?”

“No one,” Yuri answered immediately...

~*~

“All enriched with everything the alpha's gift needs,” the trainer said, filling the silence as he caressed Yuri's stomach with terrifyingly gentle touches, and Yuri struggled to keep from lurching away from the contact. “We mustn't hurt the baby. Remember, Omega, that is all anyone cares about. The alpha gave you a great gift, and your importance remains only as long as you carry that inside you. Once the child is born, we do not care about your body—it is forfeit, and the real training will begin...”

~*~

Blinding white impeded Yuri's vision through the horrible memories, and he let out a short cry. Had everything with Beka and the others been a hallucination? Was he back with the trainer?

“No, no...” Yuri said tearfully, and a warm hand ghosted over his. He tried to jerk away, but his movements were slow and sluggish. “No, please..”

“Yura...Yura, baby, it's all right, you're safe, they're not here...” a familiar voice said, and Yuri whimpered again, shaking his head. This torture was too real. He couldn't open his eyes and not see Beka, he wanted to hold on the hallucination they'd created just a little longer. “Yuri, please, you need to calm down or they'll kick me out...come on, sweetheart, open your eyes for me, please?”

“No...not real...Beka, Beka...” Yuri whimpered, a tear leaking from his shut eyes, and a soft thumb immediately brushed it away.

That small action made Yuri go still—his trainer had never bothered to wipe his tears before.

Haltingly, Yuri cracked his eyes open.

Blurry at first, slowly his vision sharpened, and the most curious scene came to his eyes.

Otabek sat there, smiling warmly in a hospital chair, in a hospital room. Why was Otabek in a hospital?

Yuri blinked, and looked down at himself.

Yuri was lying in bed, a collection of tubes were taped to the back of his left hand, pumping something into his system. He was in a pale green hospital gown, and a thin blanket had been pulled up and over his baby bump, with a knitted throw blanket that he recognized from home draped over him as well.

“What...” Yuri shook his head as he began to panic, like a fearsome beast crawling up his throat, he suddenly wanted to scream. Yuri shook his head again, and his head spun. “What...what happened? Why am I here?”

“You went into early labour,” Otabek said with a small frown, “from a severe panic attack and episode of disassociation. They stopped it with drugs, and the nurse gave me an earful about the complications of a birth too early for an omega. She suggested we go over triggers with you to keep this from happening again, and to get you into therapy. She wouldn't listen when I tried to explain that your English isn't good enough for that yet. I think she thought it was me who was abusing you and caused all this...Oh, and she said you're bed-bound for the rest of your pregnancy.”

Yuri blinked. He stared at Otabek, who looked nervous and uneasy, like he'd eaten a bad clam.

“What does that mean?” Yuri asked, “bed-bound...like I can't leave bed at all?”

“You're only allowed up for bathroom breaks. The doctor and nurse any extra stress—”

“—so get this kid out of me now!” Yuri interrupted angrily, “I can't just...just sit here for another month!”

“You won't, Yura—”

“—you just said that I wasn't allowed to get out of bed for a month!”

“—yes, but—”

“—and now you're saying I can, so stop saying opposite things and be fucking clear!”

“Yura, I'm trying, but—”

“—no you're not trying!” Yuri choked as tears came to his eyes, “I just had a fucking panic attack so bad I almost popped our kid out during a blackout, and now you're not being very helpful at all—!”

“Yuri!” Otabek shouted as he leapt to his feet.

“Don't yell at me!”

“I'm not yelling!” Otabek cried while he lifted a frustrated hand to his hair, and he began to pace. “You're not listening! You need to calm down, or you might hurt yourself, or the baby.”

At the threat that his anxiety might hurt his unborn child, Yuri's jaw snapped shut. He was sniffling a little and glaring at Otabek, who was still pacing. Yuri took a few slow breaths, but they didn't exactly make him feel any better. When he at least appeared to be calm, Otabek sat down next to him again, and took his hand.

“We aren't leaving you here for the rest of your term, Yura, we're taking you home, but you need to stay in bed. We can bring our bed down to the living room so you won't feel left out of everything, or something, and a lot of beta women and omegas have to do this at the end of their pregnancies—I heard Yuuri did, too.”

Yuri flopped back against his pillows with a soft groan. “This was not how I expected the end of today to go,” he mumbled miserably, but relaxed a little when he felt Otabek offer his hand a gentle squeeze.

“It'll be okay, Yuri,” Otabek murmured consolingly, “just you wait and see.”

Yuri huffed and nodded, but despite Otabek's reassurances, he seriously doubted it.

A/N: If you like my work, please consider throwing a few bucks into my Digital Tip Jar. I am a starving artist, and I like not actually starving to death :P

NLMG Masterpost

[delerithmoriwen]

The bachelor(ette) Party

WARNING SMUT BELOW (My very first :p:p) -------------------------------------------------------------------- “Remind me again why he’s going to be there?” Caroline asked annoyed from the backseat as she pulled her little black dress over her hips. She had come straight from work and had had no time to change. It annoyed her.

“Because, he’s Elijah’s brother and best man. So he’s obligated to be there” Katherine explained from the driver’s seat looking back in the rear mirror.

“Right, remind me again why I have to be there?” Caroline continued her questioning putting her arms through the cap sleeves.

“Because Forbes, you’re my maid of honor and your fine looking ass is required at such occasions! It comes with the job” Katherine continued her explaining, starting to get annoyed at her best friend.

Caroline tried to turn around in the car letting her back face to Bonnie who was in the passenger's seat. “Can you zip me up bon?” She asked in between her following questions. “And why are you having combined bachelor slash Bachelorette parties again?”

“Because, I do not trust Kol to not hire a stripper and i’ll be damned if some human slutbag is going to be prancing around my man in a thong” Katherine said already working herself up over the idea.

“Yeah she’d much rather be doing that herself” Bonnie joked as she zipped Caroline’s dress up

“You know out of all the Bennett witches i’ve been friends with, and trust me I’ve been friends with loads of them...you really are my least favorite Bon,” Katherine half joked giving her friend the evil look.

Caroline grunted under her breath as she redid her hair again looking into the little pocket mirror that came with her blush. She was very much dreading seeing Klaus again. She had hoped she would be able to avoid him till the wedding and then she would be to busy to actually talk with him. The two had not seen each other since their little adventure in the woods now over a decade ago. He had kept his promise to walk away and never come back. And she couldn’t blame him for being around now. It was his older brother's wedding after all.

Over the years Katherine Bonnie and Caroline had become very close friends, finding out that when Katherine wasn’t hopelessly running for her life or trying to protect herself from an imminent death she was actually pretty fun to be around. And remarkable she was is anything a hard core friend. Once you had gotten passed that barrier of snarkiness and attitude she was loyal and she helped the two other girls let loose every now and then. It had also helped that Stefan and Damon hadn’t been around the last decade to mope over her and cause drama.

She had started seeing Elijah again shortly after he had left for New Orleans. Now that Klaus had officially pardoned her the two actually had a chance for their love and Elijah was a good influence on her. By the time they had been dating A year Elijah had proposed 3 times but it wasn’t until two years ago that Katherine had actually said yes to the original brother. She had taken two full years and an extreme amount of money to plan this wedding. Though it would be low in attendance because both of them really weren’t the friend making type it was going to be grand. And Katherina had asked both Bonnie and Caroline as her only real female friend to be her bridesmaids. Caroline had taken on the role of maid of honor and wedding planner. It was fun to basically not have a budget when planning. And all of it was going to go down tomorrow. Two days from now was the big day. Which meant tonight was the big night. Bachelorette party. And because apparently the youngest original brother could not be trusted with the organisation of it Caroline had found herself slipping into her tightest little black dress in the back of Katherine’s car driving up to New Orleans about to be face to face with Klaus Mikaelson for the first time since that day in the woods.

“Oh by the way Care, Stefan texted he and Rebekah are also coming” Bonnie said looking up from her phone.

“Noooooooo!” Caroline butted her head against the headrest of Katherine’s seat.

“Looks like you’re getting an ex fest tonight” Katherine chuckled as she made the turn onto the intersection.

“I’ll give you a million dollars if I don’t have to go!” Caroline sighed as she fixed her hair. She was glad she had curled it very tightly this morning so it fell in loose curls now.

“First of all, you don’t have that kind of money, second of all i’m marrying into the Original family in two days what the hell do I need money for?” Katherine

“You know what you need Care?” Bonnie smiled with a sparkle in her eye pulling her Ipod  from her handbag and plugging it into the car's bluetooth system “Roadtrip music, tailored especially to our bride-to-be ”

As soon as the roaring guitars blasted through the speakers all three girls started laughing and jumping around in the car to Joan Jett’s bad reputation. Bonnie had put together the perfect playlist for the girls to rock out on, including songs like black velvet, Highway to hell , girls just wanna have fun and Sex on fire. By the time they arrived in New Orleans at the Mikaelson compound Caroline’s nerves had calmed down and the girls were singing along very loudly with Bon Jovi’s living on a prayer.

They were greeted at the door by Elijah who welcomed the girls kissing Katherine sweetly on the cheek. “Miss Bennett, Miss Forbes welcome” He smiled politely. “I trust your journey was pleasant?”

“ A little too pleasant …” Caroline said back very seriously before all three girls burst out in a fit of laughter.

“Do I want to know?” Elijah asked confused turning to Katherine who simply just nodded for no.

Inside the compound had been decorated for a sophisticated party the courtyard was lit with a million lights all hanging from different heights. A long table was standing at the edge that led to the garden holding hundreds of different bottles of liquor and a tray with martini glasses filled with a bright red cocktail that to Caroline smelled a lot like blood and vodka mixed together. There was music playing from the speakers that hung at every corner of the room. Caroline could make out Stefan and Rebekah standing in the back where Rebekah was fussing over some decorations. On the other end of the room Kol was standing at the table that held the presents picking at the wrapping paper obviously looking for something good. At the bar there was a dark man Caroline had never seen before, he had short black hair and was very muscled and charismatic, he was talking to a blonde woman in her thirties who she overhead that man call Cami. She had never seen the girl before either but from the stories Katherine had told her Caroline assumed them to be Marcel and Camille. A slight wave of dislike flooded through her body for the girl. That surprised her, she had known the woman had had a fling with Klaus but it had never worked out, though at the time she thought it to be fine she now felt a little jealousy towards the blonde woman. Even if she was obviously flirting with the man that was most likely Marcel. The only person she couldn’t see in the room was Klaus and with a relieved sigh she made her way to the present table putting her neatly wrapped square package on it.

“Well well well, if it isn’t my favorite blonde from Mystic Falls” Kol said overly happy when he noticed Caroline.

“Hello Kol” Caroline smiled back politely turning to him.

“So I heard your our fair Katherina’s maid of honor” Kol asked leaning against the table as he offered her a glass of the red cocktail. “Blood-Tini? Made them myself!”

Caroline held up her hand to refuse the drink glad she had fed earlier in the car. “Yes, I am”

“And no date to the wedding….” Kol sighed in mock shock placing his hands on his cheeks.

“Didn’t I hear you died?” Caroline asked slightly annoyed when kol pointed out she was here alone.

“Pish posh darling, all of us have died at least 3 times we always come back!” Kol waved the subject away with a swing of his hand. “Now the way I see it is a dateless maid of honor is entitled to have scandalous wedding sex.”

“Is that so?” Caroline faked her interest scanning the room for a certain someone else still.

“Yes and you have 3 options, first choice, the dateless best man and i’m sure Niklaus would LOVE too-” Kol started.

“Moving on Kol!” Caroline snapped at him.

“Ok second choice...the ex with a date, now if you chose this i’ll distract rebekah and you can just tie Stefan up in one of the guestrooms” Kol explained with far too much hand gestures.

Caroline started to suspect he had been drinking too much already.

“You’d help me steal your sister’s boyfriend?” Caroline asked surprised pointing to the Original sister.

“It’s been awhile since I messed with her” Kol shrugged his shoulders dismissing Caroline's obvious surprise.

“Yeah I don’t think so” Caroline frowned.

“Well that leaves us with the third in final choice when all else fails…” Kol held his glass up too caroline.

“Then what?” Caroline asked starting to find the situation slightly humouring now.

“Your place or mine Forbes?” Kol winked looking far too serious.

“You have about 5 seconds before I tear out your liver brother” a low dark voice said from behind them.

Caroline took a deep breath before turning around. She could feel her stomach turn and her body shiver in response when she saw him. She hard forgotten how ridiculously hot he was. His hair was shorter that the last time she saw him. Cropped short on the sides and the top being slightly longer falling in those messy curls that were so much fun to run her hands through she remembered. His blue eyes sparkling with that naughty boyish charm he carried around with him. And those full lips that Caroline had almost forgotten the taste of.   

He was wearing a dark shirt that was unbuttoned only the top two buttons and dark pants, with a perfectly tailored grey costume jacket over it that made the look slightly more formal for the occasion. The way his clothes hung on him and his smell that filled the room almost intoxicated Caroline. It had been a while since she had been with a man and his presence shook her core around the entire room with excitement. Still she had to control herself.

“Right if you two are going to eye fuck each other all night I’m going to go, I see a Bennett witch that is in need of my flirting anyways” Kol said awkwardly before leaving the two of them.

“Hello Caroline” Klaus whispered seductively closing in on her entering her personal bubble.

“Klaus” Caroline said having to swallow as he came closer her voice slightly cracking as her mouth became dry.

“You look ravishing” Klaus continued checking her from bottom to toe in that very tight black dress.  

Caroline shook her head trying to snap out of it. “Yeah well don’t get any idea’s” She sassed at him turning her back to walk away.

In a second he was in front of her again using his vampire speed to stop her. “ Come on now love, don’t be like that it’s a wedding after all...lots of stuff happens at weddings” he smirked his eyebrows going up and down.

His hand slowly caressing a stray curl behind her ear. His hand lingered on her cheek just for a second. Caroline felt her knees go weak as he touched her. The memory of when he had last touched her coursing through body straight to between her legs.

“Listen you, I’m here solely for my best friend, so you do your job as best man, i’ll do mine and we don’t even need to be around each other so back off” Caroline scolded him poking him in his chest with her finger her face red from being so flustered by him.

She turned around and made her way  to the liquor table hearing Klaus chuckle behind her.

As the party progressed the music became louder. Caroline had spend half the night  drinking A LOT and dancing with Bonnie who was obviously avoiding Kol. Though Klaus hadn’t bothered of even talked to her again the rest of the night she could feel his eyes burning on her the entire time and as much as she tried to ignore it or lose herself in her dancing she couldn’t shake the effect he had on her.

She had only had one more awkward moment when Stefan had come to talk to her. Though they had ended their short lived relationship during the period they both had their humanities off on good terms she hadn’t really spoken to him since Katherine had informed her had rekindled his romance with Rebekah. And Stefan wouldn’t be Stefan if he didn’t come talk and apologize excessively to Caroline for it, explained exactly what and why it happened. Honestly by the time he had the courage to actually talk to her she was to drunk to pretend she was interested and very happy when a jealous Rebekah came to pluck away her boyfriend from Caroline.

She had spend the next hour or so trying to engage in a conversation with Marcel and Camille. She had liked Marcel just fine finding him likeable and funny. However she couldn’t bring herself to like Camille to no fault of the girl. She just kept thinking about her draping herself over Klaus and resisting the urge to maybe accidentally trip her. She was glad when around 3AM the girl claimed to be tired and wanted to go home.

The party seemed to die down a little when people started to leave one by one. Some of Elijah’s friends, Marcel and Camille and even Rebekah and Stefan had called it a night. In the end it was Her, Katherine, Bonnie, Elijah, Kol and Klaus that were left cleaning up the empty bottles.

It was then that Kol suggested the worst possible idea ever.

“WHO WANTS TO PLAY STRIPPOKER!!!” He screamed standing from a table.

“Oh god no!” Bonnie sighed annoyed burying her head in her hands.

“Kol would you get down from there” Elijah said trying to pull Kol down from the table.

“Oh for heaven’s sake ‘Lijah, you didn’t let me hire a stripper, you didn’t let me have topless dancers in cages, It’s your Bachelor party, I wanna see some boobies!!” Kol whined!

“Nobody is interested in playing Strip poker with you Kol” Elijah sighed annoyed.

“I’ll play” Katherine smirked taking a chair and setting herself at the table.

“Marvelous!” Kol smiled jumping off the table and grabbing a bottle. “Oi Bonnie-lass we’re playing strip poker get your fanny at the table”  The man was obviously drunk beyond repair.

Bonnie just shrugged and placed herself at the table.

“I will definitely not be engaging in this” Elijah stated sternly.

“Hey you are playing, if i’m not seeing some original dick tonight you’re not getting any either!” Katherine said swaying her glass back and forth.

“I’ll go get the cards” Elijah muttered leaving the room.

“How about you Forbes?” Katherine asked Caroline who was getting more and more frustrated by the way Klaus was looking at her.

He was daring her.

“Sure” Caroline said giving Klaus a cocky look feeling very good about herself when she was the surprised look on his face.

“Nik?” Kol asked looking at his older brother with puppy eyes.

“Absolutely not!” Klaus grinned emptying his glass. “I will not degrade myself to something as futile as strip poker thank you”

“Why?” Caroline asked giving him an arrogant smirk. “You chicken?”

“Ooooooh” The rest of the party whispered in anticipation to Klaus’ response.

Klaus looked Caroline back in her eyes glaring into them for dominance, before he took a place on the table. “Deal the damn cards Kol” He said never letting go of her gaze.

Looking back Caroline could pinpoint the moment it had all gone wrong. She had been drinking far too much and her inhibitions had been severely lowered. Nevertheless she was playing a pretty good game if you compared her to the others. Only Elijah had managed to only take off his shoes and socks which was funny enough as it was. Bonnie was next who had kept her shirt on but lost her pants leaving her in her underpants. Klaus had been reduced to sitting topless and shoeless but keeping his pants on. Katherine was sitting in her underwear which Caroline suspected she may have lost a few rounds on purpose just to mess with Elijah and finally Kol had been reduced to wearing a sock around his private parts which everybody wondered why he had had a sock on in the first place.

Caroline had a good hand on her but she had to play smart, subtly raising the pot as high as she could. She could feel Klaus eying her and she bit her lip seductively hoping to get a reaction out of him. She would consider it a personal victory if she got him out of his pants during this game.

At the turn her cards were becoming better and better. Elijah and Bonnie had already folded, if she wanted to win this one now she had to go big.

“Raise” Caroline said trying to keep a straight face as she put chips in the pot.

“I fold” Katherine said throwing her hand out on the table.

Both Klaus and Kol had called her thinking she was bluffing. Perfect, she had them right where she wanted them.

As the fourth and fifth card fell Caroline could hardly contain her grin. She had a full house in her hand her best hand of the night so far.

“All in” She said wiggling her eyebrows up and down.

Kol threw his hand at the table. “Nope not worth losing the sock over” he sighed.

“How about you?” Caroline dared klaus.

“Alright sweetheart i’ll play” Klaus grinned back putting all his chips on the table.”What you got”

“Are we in the woods? because you my friend are about to lose your pants! Full house! Read em and weep, unbuckle that belt mister...or would you like me to do it for you?” Caroline said the alcohol loosening her tongue.

The table had gone silent, even though most of them were also drunk off their asses they were shocked at the way Caroline was heckling klaus and still he took it with a smile. Caroline was gloating over her victory when Klaus chuckled.

“Not so fast love” He smiled laying down his cards revealing 4 sixes. “Four of a kind tops full house”

Caroline’s mouth fell open in shock she was so sure she had him.

“I do believe it’s time for you to take that dress off now….Or would you like me to do it for you?” Klaus said smugly repeating her words.

The rest of the party oooohed again as Klaus heckled Caroline right back. The blonde however refused to give in to his teasing.

“Fine” She said smugly standing up from her chair “Kol could you unzip me please?”

“With pleasure!” Kol jumped up from his chairs pulling the zipper of Caroline’s dress down a little too harshly.

Caroline pulled the shoulders of her dress down shimmied slightly until it full on the floor revealing her black lace bra and matching panties. Klaus could feel an upcoming erection stir in his pants as he gawked at his blonde godess. And looking back that had been the moment things had taken a turn for the worse.

The gang had ended up drinking so much that by the time Kol had finally lost his sock and was forced to walk away completely naked they had given up on the game all together. Klaus had just put his shirt back on letting it hang over his body unbuttoned. He watched as Caroline pulled her dress back up struggling with the zipper. In a flash he was standing behind her placing on of his hands on her hip and zipping up her dress with the other. His face was so close in her neck it was causing goosebumps to appear all over her body this had been the moment she wanted to avoid.

“I loved you in the dress sweetheart but seeing you just now I loved you even more out of it” He whispered seductively into her ear.

Caroline could feel her knees buckle at the sound of his voice. She prayed for somebody to come and save her from the situation but Bonnie was long gone and Katherine seemed preoccupied with licking Elijah’s face. She had to face him on her own now.

“Let’s get one thing straight here buddy …..nothing is going to happen ok” She turned around facing him as she poked his chest with her finger.”I’m over it so back off”

“Are you Caroline?” Klaus said closing the gap between them again making her step into the wall behind her. He put his hand on the wall leaning into her enjoying the flustered blush that was forming on her face. “Because I can feel your knees buckle sweetheart, I can hear your heart racing, I’ve been watching you all night and I know you enjoyed it. You’ve been teasing me daring me to make my move on you. You want me to chase you!” Klaus whispered into her ear letting his lips rest just below her ears.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about” Caroline stuttered trying to stay focused but her alcohol intake and her blood boiling in her loins for him didn’t help.

“You’re a horrible liar Caroline, I can smell your arousal on you” Klaus whispered letting a hand dwell over her thighs.

His touch made Caroline nearly orgasm right there on the spot. It really had been too long for her. With her last bit of strength she got out from under his hold on her and walked away muttering that she had to go now.

Klaus chuckled, it was so easy to make her uncomfortable, he decided not to go after her. He had fun chasing her, the hunt was half the fun of their relationship and he had a whole wedding reception later this week to drive her insane with lust for him. The compound had emptied during their little conversation and Klaus found his way to his bedroom, he was drunk and the best thing to do was sleep it off and start with a fresh head tomorrow.

Once in his bedroom Klaus took off his clothes and made way for the shower hoping the water would sober him up a bit. He turned on the water letting soak him completely. His erection had not yet fully disappeared yet. The memory of Caroline in that tiny black lace bra and underwear was enough to arouse any man who laid eyes upon her. But he would make sure that he was the only one to take her out of those as well. Her remembered their day in the woods. The way he had made her moan and scream under his touch. He had always taken pride in his skills as a lover but never before had he wanted to make a woman squirm so much as her. He wanted her to scream his name, he wanted her to be his and in return he wanted to be hers as well. He pictured sucking on her nipples and kissing his way down. Remembered her taste and how she would suck in the air around her as he touched every sensitive spot.

A loud and obnoxious knocking on the door woke him from his memory. Klaus grabbed a towel drying his hair only slightly and then wrapping it around his waist. Who dared disturb him at this time of the night. With a little too much strength he pulled open the  door ready to scold this very rude person when he noticed Caroline standing in the frame leaning against it and a bottle in her hand.

“You’re such an asshole!” She said a little too loud.

“Excuse me love?” Klaus chuckled tilting his head a little bit as he looked at her. She was obviously very drunk right now.

“I was perfectly happy! I was fine having a mediocre sexlife and then you come along and you say all those things about me and you start touching me and making me so horny and you can’t do that ok! You are not allowed to do that!!” She put the bottle on the little table next to the door.

“Well I’m sorry for turning you on so much.” Klaus laughed giving her a signature boyish grin showing off his dimples.

“Well you should be, cause all I can think about now is how much I wanna fuck your brains out...so let’s go.” Caroline barked at him as she grabbed his hand and walked into his room.

“I'm sorry?” Klaus suddenly asked a little confused as she walked into his room.

“We are going to have sex Klaus Mikaelson, we both know it’s going to happen this weekend so we might as well get it over with.” She explained.

“As you wish love.” Klaus said in a seductive voice, pinning her against his wall before crashing his lips onto her.

Caroline felt the wind being knocked out of her as soon as he pushed her against the wall. His lips being pressed against hers. His tongue was fighting for entrance into her mouth as his hands were holding hers up by the wrist. She moaned into his mouth, her body shivering under his touch she had so sorely craved the entire evening.

He was taking full control over her and she loved it.

Klaus lowered one of his hands keeping the other one gripping tightly on her wrist and let it roam her body starting at her hips before slowly, nearly teasingly running it up her stomach to cup one of her breasts. The desperate sighs puffing hotly from her lips only egged him on more. He moved his kisses from her lips to her neck sucking lightly on the piece of skin just under her ear where he remembered she was the most sensitive. He could feel her shivering as he ran a thumb over her nipple through the fabric of her dress. That dress needed to come off… NOW!

He released her from his grip only to pull her closer into his body his hands dwelling over her back in search of the zipper of her dress as he focused his attention on her lips again kissing her and sucking on her lower lip. In one swift movement the zipper was down and he pulled her dress off, revealing that ridiculously sexy bra that held her breasts. Placing his hands firmly on her hips, he lifted her up from the ground as she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

Caroline let her hands dwell from his neck over his hairline into the back of his head tugging at his curl, forcing his head back to run the tip of her tongue slowly up his neck and placing hot wet kisses back down. She could feel him lifting her up against the wall of his bedroom again. The towel that had been draped around his lean waist had fallen to the ground from his hips bucking against her, letting her feel his erection against her abdomen pressing hard.

Klaus used his free hands to caress up her sides, pulling the cups of her bra down revealing her voluptuous breasts. He placed his lips around her pebbled nipple letting his tongue twirl around it as her grasp on his head tightened as she moaned in pleasure. The fact that she was already whimpering his name and he hadn’t even started yet caused a smirk to grow on his lips. As his tongue focussed its attention on her other nipple he let his hands roam over her back again unhooking her bra before tossing it to the side of the room. He stumbled the both of them across the room still carrying her around his hips before the both of them fell on the bed he fell on top of her their lips meeting again kissing eagerly sharing hot feverish kisses as his hand roamed downwards, the tips of his fingers exploring the edge of her lace panties.

Caroline arched her back purposely forcing his hand further down her underwear aching for the pleasure he was going to bring her. She could feel him grin at her eagerness into the kiss, her hands in the back of his neck fighting for dominance over the kiss. As Klaus let his fingers run slowly over the slit of her core she gasped pressing her nails into his back hard, leaving red scratch marks.

“Klaus don’t tease!” She moaned into his ear nearly begging him to touch her more.

He chuckled again, loving the idea of her being completely at his mercy, before his thumb stopped around her sensitive nub, pressing it ever so slightly.

Caroline let out a held back “Aaah!” her hips bucking wildly against his hand as he rubbed her slowly kissing her neck, working his way to her shoulders and collarbone. He kissed her chest slowly, one kiss every inch or so down excruciatingly slow just above and under her belly button. Caroline had her hands in his hair again forcing him down on her faster.

He could smell her arousal and felt very anxious to taste her again. When he had finally reached his destination it took only a second before his lips only barely parted from her, letting his hot breath caress her center before letting his tongue explore her.

Caroline nearly screamed when she felt his tongue on her, her body was tensing already close to orgasm from his teasing. She needed him now even more then she had ever before. She could feel his tongue enter her as his fingers still worked her nub now more eagerly, her body spasming underneath him. She was close.

“Klaus I’m gonna-AAAH” She didn’t even get the time to finish her sentence as her orgasm took over. Her body shaking from its release she shot up from the bed before crashing back down letting out a deep sigh of contentment.

Klaus didn’t give her a moment to recover as soon as her body arched he placed himself in front of her thrusting himself into her core in one smooth and rather harsh movement. She let out a surprised gasp only for a second before crashing her lips back onto his as he thrusted inside of her slowly, agonisingly. She bit his lip hard drawing his blood only slightly and sucking it. Releasing him, the veins under her eyes darkened and she let out a growling hiss of lust and passion turning the both of them around and pressing him into the bed so she was on top of him.

Caroline moved her body so she was riding him now her hands placed firmly on his chest. His hands lingering on her ass squeezing it hard and meeting her movements with his hips. Klaus moaned loudly, he hadn’t forgotten what it was like with her but the memory didn’t do the actual experience justice. As she picked up her pace riding him faster he sat up moving his hands from her ass to her back slowly keeping her into place. She threw her lips in his neck again kissing and nibbling on it as he rocked them back and forth.

She moaned loudly as he started hitting the little sweet spot inside of her over and over again not giving her a second to recover herself. She was lost in pure passion and pleasure, she started to bite into his neck harder. She craved more of him. She kissed him again before looking into his eyes asking for permission. WIthout a word he understood what she wanted and gave her a slight nod. The dark veins emerged under her eyes again, her fangs popping out. With another low groan she threw her head into his neck piercing his skin to revel in the sweet taste of his blood. As soon as she bit him Klaus felt his body tense into hers. He cried out her name and when she released him he looked at her gorgeous face his blood now dripping from mouth in a single drop. He kissed her again and he could feel her walls clenching. She was close to her second orgasm. He let his tongue swirl over her neck as she moaned and begged for more. Until finally the familiar spasming of her body announced her second orgasm. As soon as she tightened around him he was taken over by his own orgasm, releasing himself inside of her. He trusted inside of her a few more times before the both of them fell back on the bed panting heavily not saying a word.

After a few minutes the both of them seemed to have catched their breaths and Klaus broke the silence.

“Did that quench your lust sweetheart?” He grinned looking at her with a wicked smile.

“That was brilliant” She smiled placing a soft kiss on his lips.

Finally the exhaustion of her drunk fueled mind took over and she felt herself fall into a deep comfortable sleep.

When Caroline woke up the next morning she could feel her head throbbing with an obvious hangover. She took a second to take in her surroundings not recognising the room she was in before she realised a strong muscled arm around her waist. Her head snugly resting upon the chest of Klaus Mikaelson. The memories of last night flooding back to her. She mouthed a soundless fuck as she remembered her actions of the last night she had so promised herself this wasn’t going to happen. But man had it been good. However she did not want to deal with the obvious consequences when he woke up. She had finally gotten to a state where she had pushed the memory of him to the background and didn’t want to open that can of worms again. So as silently as she could she wiggled out from under his embrace and got dressed.

With her heels in her hands she made her way to the door preparing herself for her walk of shame, hoping and praying he wouldn’t wake up before she had left. Slowly she turned the doorknob and opened the door walking out on the tip of her toes. She let out a relieved sigh when she closed the door behind her thinking she had averted morning after awkwardness.

“Caroline?” A voice behind her asked in shock.

Panic overcame her as she turned around to face the voice that called out to her.

“Bonnie?” She asked as she noticed her best friend walking out of the room little down the hall also holding her shoes in her hand.

“What are you doing walking out of Klaus’ room?” She asked the blond.

“I erhm… I was…. Wait….what are you doing walking out of Kol’s room?” Caroline suddenly realised both girls were basically doing the same thing.

“I erhm...I was…..” The girl stuttered realising that if she caught her friend she had also been caught herself. “I won’t tell if you won’t” She finally opted.

“Deal!” Caroline mouthed as both girls walked out of the compound in silence. FF: Link https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12395780/3/The-realisation-Caroline-Forbes

[liv-andletdie]

I love your fic about link drawing zelda :) I have a request if that's okay - how about Link getting Zelda a birthday present ?

Aww thanks (man I posted that fic ages ago, I need to get quicker with the requests) Thank you for being so patient

I’m guessing you wanted BOTW Zelink because you mentioned the drawing fic, so here it is.

TA DA 

Also available on Ao3 [X]

Zelda couldn’t blame him. After everything he had been through it was natural that he would have forgotten something as insignificant as her birthday.

That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

Her seventeenth birthday had been plagued by darkness. The calamity had awoken after hours of failed prayer in a freezing spring, it had brought malice and destruction to the land, the people had suffered for a century, and her closest friend had died in her arms. It wasn’t a memory she wanted to relive.

She had hoped that her eighteenth birthday (or perhaps her one hundred and eighteenth she reminded herself with little humour) would bring a new joy with The Calamity’s destruction, that her people would find a new era of peace, and that both herself and her brave knight would begin to heal.

Said brave Knight stood resolutely by the door to Impa’s home in Kakariko. Since the princess’s rescue from the jaws of evil, Link had taken her to stay with her protectors the Sheikah. Zelda hadn’t seen much of him since their arrival in Kakariko a few months ago, he was either in Hateno (he had a house there Impa told her) or he was travelling all over the country. She supposed that he was restless, that after completing his quest he wasn’t sure what to do with his life. She couldn’t deny the cold panic in her stomach at the thought of Link leaving her forever.

While in Kakariko, Link embraced the role of appointed Knight. And while his visits were scarce Zelda treasured each one. There was a new closeness between them, how much of that was in her imagination she wasn’t sure, but one thing was certain. He stood a lot closer to her now than he used to.

Right now he was standing next to the door, his eyes trained on the back of her head. Zelda couldn’t see him but she could feel his presence. She wondered what he was thinking about, what he remembered of their time together. The feel of his eyes on her had once been an unwelcome and uncomfortable experience, but now she relished in the familiarity of it. A constant after one hundred years.

Impa’s voice broke her out of her revery. The ancient voice creaking like the floorboards in her house.

“I’m happy you’re here” she said, her eyes warm “I had worried that I would never be able to give you this. And seeing as it’s your birthday I feel it’s long overdue”

Impa held out a parcel, wrapped in old brown paper and tied with white string. It shook slightly in her grip as Zelda reached out to take it from her hands. The paper crinkled under her delicate touch. It felt heavy in her hands, she held it in her palms as if testing the weight.

“Go on” the amusement and excitement was evident in Impa’s voice as she watched her old friend. “Open it, it’s for you”

Zelda carefully peeled back the paper, revealing her gift. A stunning silver bangle decorated with the Sheikah eye. The metal felt old, ancient and cold against her skin.

“Oh Impa” She breathed, running her fingertips over the design, “I love it thank you”

The Matriarch smiled, years of joy shining proudly on her face. “I’m so happy to hear that. I had hoped to give it to you on your seventeenth birthday. However we’re all aware of what happened then”

Zelda slipped the bangle over her wrist, the polished silver shining under the candle light. She sat and admired it for a moment, the weight of it was comforting, it grounded her.

“It’s beautiful, don’t you think Link?” Zelda asked, transfixed by her new jewellery. Link gave her no response, staying quiet in the shadows. She realized she couldn’t feel his gaze on her any more. Turning to face him she saw he was still standing by the door. However his gaze was a million miles away. There was a sadness in his eyes that she couldn’t quite pinpoint. He looked… disappointed.

“Link? Link are you alright?” he jumped at the sound of her voice, turning his gaze to meet hers.

“Yes. Sorry your Highness I didn’t mean to worry you” He lowered his eyes to look at the floor “That bracelet is very beautiful. Impa has extraordinary taste. If you would excuse me I have somewhere to be” And with that he turned on his heel and left. The door slamming shut behind him. Zelda watched him leave, a new sadness settling in her heart.

If the ancient Sheikah noticed anything odd about Link’s behaviour she didn’t say, only moving to pour herself and the Princess a new cup of tea.

—

Paya found the hero alone by the entrance to the village.

She hadn’t meant to follow him. She’d just been on her way back to her grandmother’s house when she’d seen him leave the building. He’d looked so hurt, so upset. He hadn’t even talked to Dorian and Cado as he passed them he just ran. He didn’t even apologize when he almost ran into Lasli!

Paya had left her shopping with Koko at the fire pit and followed him. Guilt had eaten at her stomach, it was obvious he wanted privacy, she should respect his wishes. But he was her friend! If he was hurting then it was her duty to help him. He’d do the same for her. He HAD done the same for her! It’s only fair she rationalized coming to the wooden arch that marked the entrance.

He was sitting in the grass, leaning against the worn wood. His eyes shone with unshed tears. He didn’t notice her approach, instead focusing on his hands in his lap.

Uncertainty took over as she kneeled next to him in the grass. What if I say something wrong? What if he doesn’t want to talk? What if I make it worse? What if he hates me?! Pushing her panic down she reached out a hand to touch him gently on the shoulder.

Link flinched as she made contact, looking up and around as if frightened. His eyes softened as they landed on her and Paya ignored the way her heart was racing.

“Oh, hi Paya” his voice was heavy, like he was holding back tears “sorry I didn’t see you there. Is everything okay?” Paya nodded and he seemed to relax a little.

“I-is everything okay with you?” she asked, building up her courage. Link’s face dropped, his shoulders tensing slightly. He turned away from her bringing one of his hands up to his face.

Oh no Paya thought He must hate me!

“Everything’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be” his response was clipped, blunt. But at least he was talking to her.

“I-it’s just, I… well I was s-shopping and…you..I saw… I saw you run from grandmother’s house… you… If you don’t mind me saying…y-you looked… you looked sad” She quickly withdrew her hand, feeling his defensive walls coming up. “I-I can leave. I-if you want to be alone I mean” Link was silent. He chewed lightly on the leather of his glove, probably a nervous habit he had developed but Paya was never sure.

The silence stretched on, hanging uncomfortably in the air. Paya stood up. Maybe it was a mistake, you shouldn’t have tried to help you’ve probably made it worse she scolded herself. She turned to leave, hesitating for a second.

“I-if you want to talk… I’m… I’m always here” Getting no response Paya started walking. Inwardly cursing herself for possibly hurting him further. I’m a terrible friend 

“Paya”

She turned sharply at the sound of his voice. He hadn’t moved from where he’d been sitting, but she could tell his posture had relaxed. He’d dropped his walls.

“Y-yes?”

“I’m sorry”

Paya fell to her knees in front of him. He didn’t look up at her, his gaze burned into the grass between them. She could still see the pain in his eyes, pain he’d given up on hiding.

“Why are you sorry?”“I made you feel like you’re a bad friend. You’re not”

Her heart started racing in her chest. How did he know what I was thinking? Did I make it to obvious? Does he think he’s a bad friend?! He’s not!

“You don’t have to apologise-”

“I do” He lifted his head to look at her, eyes shining with tears now freely rolling down his cheeks. It caused an ache in her soul to see him so sad. “I have so much to apologise for Paya. Did you know that it’s the princess’s birthday today?”

Paya nodded, terrified of speaking and saying something wrong. Of course I know, everyone in Kakariko celebrates it. Grandmother didn’t want us to forget her.

“I didn’t. I remember her birthday before everything went to shit. But I forgot today” His heartache was clear, the pain of losing important memories was still fresh. No One knew how much or how little he remembered, not even himself. Paya wanted to reach out and hold him, reassure him that he would remember next year. But her anxiety took over and froze her limbs in place.

“She didn’t say anything… but I could tell it upset her. I must have remembered on her seventeenth. I must have done something but… how could I forget that Paya? How could I forget something so important?”

“It’s not your fault”

The words came out before she expected them too. An unknown boldness seeking its way into her chest. Acting on this rare moment of impulsivity she reached forward and took his hand from his face. Fingers tracing softly against the exposed skin.

“It’s not your fault Master Link. You’ve been through so much, no one would expect you to remember the date”

The words seemed to ease his worries a little. He let his eyes drop again, but this time Paya could tell it wasn’t out of sadness, but out of thoughtfulness. He squeezed her hand slightly, letting her know in his own way, that she’d helped.

“Can I ask you a favour, Paya?”“Anything Master Link”

—

Link had been away from Kakariko for five days. Zelda wasn’t going to pretend that she didn’t miss him, it would have been pointless to hide that. She was hurt and there was no denying it. Link hadn’t even said goodbye.

He’d always said goodbye.

Paya had said that he was needed in Hateno, something about ten restless crickets and the receptionist at the local Inn. Zelda wasn’t going to deny that that hurt as well. Not only had he not said goodbye, but she’d had to hear about where he was from Paya. And not only that he was probably out romancing a village girl in the mountains.

The last part hurt more than Zelda wanted it too.

Impa had noticed, she noticed everything. She tried to fill Zelda’s days with reading and tea. Anything to take her mind off of the Hero of the Wild. Though it was painfully transparent to the princess what the ancient Sheikah was trying to do, she appreciated the effort nonetheless.

On the evening of the fifth day Zelda had grown tired of the constant reading and small talk. She longed for Link’s long silences and comforting presence, the comfortable distance between them. The Sheikah always stood too close, talked too much. Even poor Paya spoke far too much for Zelda’s tastes. She’d had a century of constant noise, a little silence would have been nice.

“This tea is wonderful. D-don’t you think your highness?” Zelda said nothing in response to Paya’s question. Instead she only nodded. As kind and as sweet and Impa’s granddaughter was, Zelda just wasn’t in the mood for small talk. “It’s a new blend sent over from Hateno”

Hateno The word hit Zelda like a brick He’s in Hateno. No doubt he’s having a wonderful time with some innkeeper while I’m stuck here in Kakariko.

“They grow some of the most delicious tea there” Impa chimed in, oblivious to the turmoil in Zelda’s mind. “I believe the Hero is especially fond of this particular blend”

I thought Sheikah were meant to be silent Zelda bit for a race of people meant to live in the shadow you do make a lot of noise.

“Yes it’s one of his favourites”

I’m sure he’s enjoying it wherever he is. In fact I hope he is! I hope he’s having a splendid time. Maybe if I’m lucky he’ll deign to share his adventures with me. That’s if he ever comes back.

“We’ll have to save some for him when he next visits, won’t we Papaya”

That’s it Zelda pushed herself from the plush cushions she was leaning against. Almost a week being stuck inside Impa’s home was going to drive her crazy, even if Link never came back she needed to get out of Kakariko.

Impa and Paya shared a confused and worried look as Zelda began to walk toward the door. Neither Sheikah moved to stop her however; letting the Princess do as she needed.

“Y-your highness? Where are you going?” Paya asked, her gentle voice almost lost to the deafening silence of the room.

Where am I going? Zelda thought reaching the door. She hadn’t really planned anything, all she knew was that she didn’t want to sit and drink Link’s favourite tea, and talk about Link, and think about Link. She wanted to leave and she was leaving… but where? Perhaps just a walk around the village? Maybe I’ll just wander around, look at the stars? Yes that sounds pleasant.

“I’m just going out. I need fresh air”

“If you like I could open a window for you? It’s getting late who knows who could be hanging around at night?” Impa’s rational voice cut through. While she did have a point (Kakariko wasn’t as safe as she appeared) Zelda wasn’t in the mood to listen. She’d had a century being stuck in one place, a little freedom was owed to her. 

“I won’t go too far. Besides, I’m in a village of Sheikah. I’m perfectly safe”

Without giving the Matriarch time to react, the Princess slipped out of the door and into the cold night air. The evening chill caused a shiver to run down her spine, the silk fabric of her borrowed Sheikah robe felt like ice against her skin. The thin leggings she wore did nothing to fight the cold as she made her way down the old wooden steps. The Goddess statue sat in front of her almost mockingly, she did her best to ignore it, focusing on the feel of the soft dewy grass between her toes.

Bidding a good evening to Cado and Dorian as she passed, she went on her way. The blue lights of Ta’Loh Naeg Shrine bathed the surrounding hills in their ancient glow. The Shrines had always been a topic of fascination and frustration for Zelda, however that evening the blue light was a comfort. Feeling herself drawn to it she began her journey up the path. Link had taken her to see it when they had first arrived in Kakariko months ago, he had wanted her to see what an activated shrine looked like but she’d been to tired to continue. They never attempted the journey again and Zelda felt she had lost her chance.

But not tonight! She would prove that she could make it there, with or without him! She didn’t need anyone holding her hand.

About halfway up the path, Zelda regretted leaving the Sheikah slate with Link. The fast travel option was sounding quite appealing in that moment. She could have just warped to the shrine and spent the evening there until she was ready to walk down the path. It would be far easier going downhill she told herself. Her legs began to ache with the effort of walking, her breath was short and her lungs burned. Impa had mentioned that there was a chance her muscles had atrophied slightly during her imprisonment, but Zelda had never taken it into consideration before now.

Determination spurred her on. The top of the shrine was visible, poking out from behind the rough rock walls. She was almost there. Her heavy legs and bare feet were burning, every muscle crying out in pain. But as she collapsed against the travel platform at the base of the shrine she couldn’t help the warm feeling of satisfaction that took a hold of her heart.

I did it! She thought, breaking out into a fit of breathless giggles. I made it here! I did it all by myself!

Letting herself rest and catch her breath, she shuffled further into the Shrine’s entrance. There would be no way for her to get in without the slate, but that didn’t really seem important to her in that moment.

All that was important was the shining ocean of stars above her. The sun had since set, stealing it’s warmth with it. But In it’s place the moon had risen, the diamond stars twinkling against the dark night sky. It was beautiful. Zelda was suddenly overcome with a desire to explore. Maybe when she got her breath back she would carry on walking. Link had mentioned that there was a fairy fountain nearby…

Link

He always seemed to find his way into her thoughts. Even when he left without saying anything, when he ignored her, when he forgot her birthday!

No that’s not fair Zelda chastised herself. After everything we’ve been through, it’s not like he could remember everything. He probably doesn’t even know when his own birthday is.

The realisation struck her like lightning. How could she have been so selfish? Link probably hated her. After all it was her fault. If she had prayed harder, been more dedicated, then maybe her powers might have awoken earlier. Then they would have been prepared to take down The Calamity! None of their friends would have had to die! He wouldn’t have had to die.

He’d still have his memories. He’s still know who he was.

That must be the reason he’s spending so much time away from me. He must despise me for what I did to him.

A metallic ringing echoed through the air, knocking her from her moment of mournful reflection. The sound seemed to get louder, buzzing in her ears. Zelda covered them with her hands, desperate to block out the noise.

What is going on!?

A strange blue light filled the entrance way, ribbons of the ethereal glow seemed to stream down like water. The individual strands seemed to appear as if from nowhere, Eventually they began to thicken, coming together to form the shape of a person.

Worn boots touched down on the travel gate and Zelda found herself staring at the familiar shoulders of the one person she didn’t want to see.

“Link?”

—

He had spent 5 days away from Kakariko and already the loneliness was beginning to make itself known. He wasn’t sure why, he’d spent weeks away from the village before, what was so different this time?

Zelda

In his haste, Link had forgotten to say goodbye to her. He’d gotten Paya to cover for him, to say he was in Hateno or something, that way she wouldn’t become suspicious of his absence.

The talk with Paya had helped, more than he could possibly say. The pain of forgetting was still raw; and even on the brightest of days he found himself lost, trying to piece together a life from the few things he could remember. He was grateful that he still had Zelda to talk to. She had known him one hundred years ago, she could help him remember.

He just had to get over his shyness and actually talk to her.

The images his scattered, broken, memories had conjured up were nothing compared to the real thing. She was beautiful. He couldn’t deny that. Everything from the way she smiled to the way she walked made his heart race so fast in his chest he thought he was going to faint. She had called him a friend, she trusted him!

Which is what made him so determined to make it up to her.

Forgetting her birthday had been the straw that broke Naboris’s back. She had hidden the disappointment well, but he could tell that his forgetting had hurt her. Her emerald eyes had dulled slightly, her smile had become less vivid. She thinks I don’t care!

He’d come up with his plan after Paya had left. He was going to find Zelda the best birthday gift in all of Hyrule! Afterall she deserved it! There was no time for wallowing in self pity when he had a quest to complete. He’d whistled for his horse and rode non stop to Tarrey Town.

The trip took several days, taking the main road around Lanayru to Akkala past Hyrule Castle. By the time he arrived in the new town both he and his horse were exhausted. He booked a room in the Inn. His plan had been to check Ore and More to see if they had any sapphires in stock. Then he would use the Sheikah Slate and warp to Gerudo town to see if he could get the rare gem made into a bespoke pair of earrings, he wanted to get Zelda something beautiful.

The bracelet she had been given by Impa had been his main inspiration. She had looked so happy, for a moment all worries and stresses had left her eyes. He wanted to make her just as happy 

However, to his dismay, Pelison was out of sapphire.

The young Goron had simply shaken his head at the hero’s request for the precious stone.

Well Shit was the only thought in Link’s mind. He’d ridden hard for days to get here, and nothing. Now what am I going to do? What am I going to get her?! Nothing he could think of would be as beautiful as those earrings.

Dismayed, the hero had sat himself in front of the Goddess Statue in the center of town. Praying would be fruitless, he knew. But maybe he could think of something else. Surely his journey had not been in vain.

He turned his gaze to the Armour shop. The boutique was run by a talented tailor, perhaps he could ask Rhondson to make something for Zelda. He quickly shot the idea down remembering that he didn’t know her measurements. Would it have been rude to ask her? He wondered. Hudson’s warm laugh bellowed from behind the counter where he stood with his wife. Link noticed, with great happiness, that Rhondson was pregnant. Her swollen belly was unhidden by her Gerudo clothing, her hands cradling the new life within. Hudson had his own hand pressed gently against the bump.

Link looked away, allowing the happy couple a moment of privacy in the bustling town.

An envious whisper curled around his heart. He tried his best to ignore it, pushing down the chill as he turned to stare at the mountains around the town. Someday he promised himself Someday, maybe not soon, maybe not for years yet, but someday you’ll have that. Someday you’ll have a family. Since he woke up on the great plateau a loneliness had followed him. Memories of his life and family before still alluded him. And now every time he tried to imagine his future, a future with a wife and kids, a future in his little house in Hateno, the only person he could imagine was her.

Zelda

The Princess of Hyrule! He tried his best to shut those thoughts out, afterall they were impossible. She was going to get better, then she was going to rebuild Hyrule! The people needed their Queen she couldn’t run away and start a family with him.

No matter how much he wanted her to.

The thoughts were selfish. And there was nothing to suggest that Zelda would even want to run away with him. The slow domestic life probably wouldn’t suit either of them anyway, she’d be too busy running the country or exploring or researching! After a century of being trapped in her castle he imagined that she would want to see the world around her.

And as for him. Well months of fighting for his life made him restless. Even if the idea of settling down was appealing, he probably wouldn’t be able to sit still. He’d miss the freedom of exploration, the feeling of wind in his hair, the immeasurable excitement of discovering something new.

He wanted to share that excitement with her. Maybe they could- stop it! He warned himself, grinding the heels of his hands into his eyes, trying to rub the weariness from them. Stop thinking like that, it would never work anyway. She’s the Princess for crying out loud.

“Please Hudson, I have to get back to work” Rhondson’s warm voice broke him from his spell. Link turned to see the Gerudo playfully push away her husband’s hands, her own taking up a small leather bound blue book.

Wait a minute

Link quickly moved to the desk the couple were sat at, trying to keep his heart from racing in his chest. That’s it, that’s what I’m looking for!

“Good morning Rhondson, Hudson” He greeted, trying his best to keep his voice light “how are you doing today?”

—

The travel gate was sturdy under his boots.

Warping places always left him feeling frazzled, like he wasn’t quite whole or there. It’s why he prefered to ride everywhere. That and he enjoyed the scenery around him, the lush green fields and the momentous mountains gave him a sense of peace. 

Testing his balance he swayed a little, the sharp air of the mountains stung his ears and nose. Below him Kakariko village was a tiny island of light in a deep sea of shadow.

“Link?”

The knight turned sharply, searching for the source of the noise. Body tense and ready to run.

All tension left when he saw who was standing beside him.

Zelda, Princess of Hyrule, stood huddled in the entrance to a shrine. The cold had turned her ears and nose bright pink, her robe she wore did little to shield her from the harsh winds as she shivered and shook. Her teeth chattered and as she took an uncertain step towards him he noticed that she wasn’t wearing any shoes. The tips of her toes and fingers had gone blue from the cold. But her eyes, her eyes still held the same fire in them as always. The defiant blaze that told the world she could accomplish anything.

“What the shit Zelda?” he found himself saying, the words escaping him before he could think. He started untying his cloak, moving to cover her with something warm. He noticed her cheeks had gone pink, wether that was from the cold or his language he didn’t know.

He secured the fabric under her chin, pulling up the hood to cover her hair. She stared at him, the expression in her eyes unreadable. Her shaking hands came up to cover his as he was pulling away, her fingers were like ice against his skin but he ignored it. He held on tight, rubbing her fingertips slightly trying to get the blood back to them.

“Honestly” he breathed trying to break the silence that had settled between them “what are you doing out here? It’s late and it’s cold. You could have gotten hurt” He lowered his gaze to their joined hands, feeling her skin heat up at his touch.

“I was going for a walk” She replied, her voice strong despite the chill that had settled into her lungs “I was sick of just sitting around and waiting. Anyway I’m fine” “You’re freezing” “I wanted to find the fairy fountain”“You could of asked. I would have taken you if you really wanted to go”

Zelda pulled back, tucking her hands under her arms in an attempt to trap the warmth his hands had given her. A hot burst of pain blossomed in her chest.

You just upped and left! How was I meant to ask if you weren’t here?! 

“Where were you anyway?” she deflected, trying to gain some control against her racing heart.

“I went to Tarrey Town”

Tarrey Town? Where’s Tarrey Town?

“Paya said you went to Hateno” “I did. After Tarrey Town”

Zelda wanted to scream. He was so frustrating! Standing there, looking innocent, giving her his hood to keep her warm, being protective and worrying about her. I’m not happy he’s back she repeated in her mind, trying to get herself to believe it. I’m not happy he’s back, I’m not happy he’s back, I’m not happy he’s here and I’m talking to him. I’m not I’m not I’m not!

“What were you doing in Tarrey Town?”“Shopping”

Sweet Hylia! this man-

“Come on” His voice grew softer, his hands reaching forward to pull her out of the shelter of the shrine. “It’s getting late let’s go back to Impa’s where it’s warm”

“I’m perfectly fine!”

“Your Highness” the title surprised her “You’re not wearing shoes, your feet must be freezing”

I’m not? Oh… I’m not. Fighting down the embarrassment of forgetting her footwear she tilted her head up to look him in the eye. Instantly all breath left her. His eyes twinkled like the stars, his emotions no longer hidden like one hundred years ago, they shone freely dancing in the diamond blue depths. She could see the worry he felt for her clear as day, and … something else… something she didn’t want to name.

“I’m fine” she repeated, pulling his cloak tighter around her shoulders. It smelled nice, like pine and firewood, and something else, something distinctly Link.

He ran his hands through his hair, trying to push down his mounting frustration. She’s standing here freezing and she wants to make small talk! Unbelieveable

“Princess-”

“What were you shopping for in Tarrey Town?”

The question caught him off guard. Your birthday present He wanted to say. But it wasn’t ready yet. He hadn’t had the chance to wrap it, He hadn’t expected to see her so soon after he got back! He thought she would be warm and asleep in Impa’s house. Not sitting in a shrine!

“Just stuff” “They sell stuff here. In Kakariko. Why did you need to go to Tarrey Town?”

Is she… is she mad at me? The idea upset him. If she was mad at him that meant he’d hurt her. That meant she had been upset for a while, that he’d made it worse. 

“I was looking for something they didn’t sell in Kakariko”

“What don’t they sell in Kakariko?”

“Princess. Can we talk about this later? It’s really cold and you have my cloak”

To his dismay the Princess didn’t move. Instead she shook her head, pulling the cloak around her holding her posture high. He’d seen her stand like this once before if his memory served him well. This was her “Princess Posture” Letting his shoulders drop he gave up on trying to move her into the warmth. There was no changing her mind when she got like this. Stubborn woman he cursed why oh why am I in love with you?… wait… no hang on.

“I’m perfectly fine out here. I want to know what you were shopping for”

Pushing his new inner turmoil aside, Link ran his hands down his face. “If I tell you, will you come inside with me?” He asked, watching as seemed to consider it. His eyes lingering on her lips turning purple in the cold. She nodded her head and Link let himself relax a little. I just have to make this quick then I can get her somewhere warm

Reaching into his pack he pulled out a small parcel wrapped in brown paper. He’d bought some blue fabric to make it look nice but the paper would have to do. Feeling her gaze linger on the parcel he held it out to her. His heart suddenly beating faster in his chest.

“I was shopping for a gift to get you” he said, feeling her gaze snap back to his face. He looked away, he could feel his cheeks getting pinker and hoped that she would think it was the cold.

“I found this and I… I thought you would like it so… here” He pushed the parcel closer to her.

She took it gently in her hands, turning it over as if trying to guess what was hidden inside. Link could hear his heartbeat, the anticipation was killing him. What if she doesn’t like it? What if she hates it?  

Finally Zelda pulled the paper off, letting it fall to the ground at their feet. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at the gift in her hands. It was a handbound leather journal, dyed a forest green, with a bronze clasp on the front to keep it closed. The leather felt soft under her touch, the stitching was precise, the whole thing was a work of art.

“I thought you might want to make notes for your research in it, or maybe you could just use it as a diary. W-whatever you want really it’s just a book”

“I love it”

Zelda looked up at him, her eyes glittering with unshed tears, a wide smile on her lips. Link felt his heart stop in his chest, his mouth going dry as she hugged her gift. A happy laugh bubbled up from her throat as she took in his shocked expression.

“You love it?” he asked, unsure if he heard her correctly. She nodded happily in response, her hands tightening around the soft leather. “I love it Link. Thank you, thank you so much” Her smile was infectious, and soon Link found himself smiling back. He was unable to hold back his joy.

“That’s good, for a second there I was worried that you hated it” Zelda laughed, shaking her head. “I could never hate it, it’s perfect. I’ll treasure it forever. I can’t wait to get back to researching, so much must have changed in the last century I need to document it all. Of course I’ll have to start with the area around Kakariko” her smile dulled slightly “Until I get my strength up that is… It’s a shame I don’t have somewhere else to stay while I do my research”

Link felt his breath stop, his heart beat painfully against his ribs. Now or never Hero

“You could, I mean, I have a house. In Hateno… you could… if you wanted to…” he dug around in his pocket, searching for the spare key he had had Bolson cut. He’d gone back to Hateno on a whim when the idea of giving her a key had hit him. Fantasies of living with her had chased him from Tarrey town. He felt the cold metal sting against his skin. Plucking up courage, he took one of her hands in his, dropping the small key into her palm.

“Link?… is this?”“There’s always space at mine if you need it. It’s not far from here but… I don’t know… sometimes a change of scenery is good”

She was silent for a long time. Her eyes hidden by his hood.

Shit. I’ve over stepped, she thinks I’m an idiot. I am an idiot! His thoughts raced, he swallowed back the nervous feeling in the back of his throat. She stood still as a statue before him.

“I-if you don’t want to I-” a soft sniffle cut him off. His heart broke at the sound.

“Princess?” he stepped forward leaning down slightly, trying to see under the hood. “Are you okay? Did… I say something wrong?” He was cut off by another sob. She tilted her head up to meet him, crystalline tears pouring down her cheeks.

“What did I ever do to deserve someone as wonderful as you?” she asked, her voice heavy with tears “you’re so kind to me, even when it’s my fault you’ve suffered”

Link felt his heart drop, pulling her into a hug. Her skin burned against his, the cold seeping into his bones. But he didn’t care, he wrapped his arms around her, desperate to alleviate the chill in her bones and the pain in her heart.

“None of it was your fault” he rubbed her back comfortingly, soothing circles between her shoulder blades. He felt her sob into his shoulder, her own arms coming around to circle his waist. He could feel the bulk of her new journal hit his ribs and squeezed her closer. He held her until her sobs subsided, and her breathing returned to normal.

She pulled back, shivering at the loss of heat, and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. She pulled her presents closer to her, feeling the now warm metal of his house key dig into her palm.

“Thank you Link” it was all she could say, no words would ever be able to express the gratitude she felt. Nothing I could do would show him how happy he makes me.“It’s alright” his voice was close, warm, it sent a shiver through her. “I’m just sorry it’s so late” She could feel his hands on her back, fingers tracing absent circles over her spine.

“It’s perfect” she reassured him, noticing for the first time how close they were. If I leaned in… If I stepped forward…if… He seemed to notice their proximity. Pulling his hands away he took a step back. Forcing himself back into “dedicated Knight” mode.

“We should be getting inside. You’ll freeze if you’re out here any longer” Not to mention Impa will kill me he added to himself. Zelda nodded following Link down the hill and back to the village. 

The walk down was over quickly and Zelda soon found herself standing at the door. Link moving behind her on the wooden steps.

When I open this door, it’s back to business, back to Princess and Knight. She reminded herself, her hand hovering over the door knob. Hesitating to push down.

“Link” “Yes your Highness?” “Thank you. For everything”

“… you’re welcome… Zelda”

And with that, the princess pushed down, opening the door for her and her knight to enter into the warmth. Link felt a smile work it’s way onto his face as Zelda played with the key in her hand. Happy Belated Birthday, Zelda

[fatimahisfatimah]

Chai

chai/tʃʌɪ/

noun

INDIAN

tea made by boiling tea leaves with milk, sugar, and sometimes spices.

 “Would you like some chai?”

Chai is a foreign word I had learn to familiarise myself with while working at a few Bintang Duit coffee shops in Penang 8 years ago - where customers who had traveled overseas would ask for Chai Latte and I would be wondering what the hell Chai Latte was because it wasn’t on the menu and no one had introduce that beverage to me when we had to learn and memorise a list of drinks and recipes in the first few weeks of work. My managers and colleagues would then explain that we don’t have that in Malaysia (if my memory serves me right) and I would be happy because, well, one less beverage recipe to memorise hey.

Chai is also a word I’ve used extensively during backpacking trip with my good friend in Turkey and Eastern Europe/Balkan Countries recently - after hearing her saying the word to replace tea every time we order food or when we’re in bus/train/ferry while being served drinks. Safe to say, I’ve grown very fond of the word Chai - I love using it to replace tea or teh in my language.

However, instead of answering the question with a simple yes or no, I decided to attempt a conversation with the lady next to me.

“You don’t have to keep feeding me”, I said lightly, with a hint of humour and a small smile.

This was the third time I had met her in the grand mosque.

Honestly, what are even the odds of meeting the same stranger, over and over again.

The first time was when we were in the Holy Mosque building, second floor. Carpeted floor, air conditioned praying space, and she was offering kurma (dates) to Muslimah jamaah. I was hungry, so I took one when the ladies were passing the dates around.

The second time was on the first floor of the Holy Mosque bulding. Cold tiled floor with with direct view of the Kaabah. At that time, she was offering almonds to the Muslimah jamaah closeby and I happen to be sitting behind her. I took one almond from her palm gratefully, I had been a little hungry afterall - always hungry it seems, always with an insatiable appetite. Both tummy and soul I guess.

This time around, the third time – she had a grocery bag next to her. With a thermos and a stack of paper cups. She turned to me, offered a smile and hot chai in paper cup she just poured from thermos she carried, and said “Yes I do. I must feed you. This is The House of God after all, and you are Its guest.” 

In Islamic culture, guests are to be treated with hospitality and respect. Some believe guests with goodwill bring sustenance in one way or another to your home. 

I felt welcome at her words. This is value I can resonate with, value my parents taught me growing up and value I witnessed and experienced firsthand in strangers’ homes I’ve been to while travelling. I smiled, and extend my hand to grab the paper cup, thankful for the contrast warmth in my palm against the cold night on top of the mosque’s rooftop.

I think that’s what I like the most about The Grand Mosque of Mecca. The fact that we can actually pray on the rooftop. I’ve always had a thing for rooftop. If I ever open a café, it’s gonna be a rooftop café. Fresh breath of air. No need to spend on air cond. Small catch would be the heat during the day. As much as I like praying at the rooftop of Masjidil Haraam for Maghrib and Isya’ prayers (night prayers), it’s a whole different thing for Zohor and Asar prayers during the day. And my mum, my sister in law and I tried praying on the rooftop once during Subuh (dawn) prayers because other floors were full. And it was cold. So cold. The breeze literally run chills down my spine. We avoid praying on the rooftop for Subuh from then onward. 

As I was gratefully sipping the hot tea while enjoying the night breeze, while looking straight ahead, I heard the lady’s voice again

“So what are you doing here?”

See I wasn’t sure what she meant so I wasn’t sure what to answer.

Did she mean what was I doing on the rooftop at that particular hour in between Maghrib and Isya or did she mean what was I doing in the Holy Land itself or?

Instead of asking her to clarify like we were advised to do in interviews should ever we are doubtful of the context of the question, I just chose to answer as I please. I chose to answer with something that could lead to what I hope would be an interesting discovery and perspective from another person’s POV.

“I’m here just like everyone else I guess.” I stopped and turned to look at her again. “I’m here in hope to find God - I think.”

She chuckled hearing my answer, almost mocking and I’d be lying if I say I wasn’t perplexed or a little offended.

She repeated after me “You’re here to find God?”

I was unsure with my answer before but she seemed to be challenging me so I decided to say it with a little more conviction in my voice, more firmly, while looking at her straight in the eye, “Yes I am here to find God. Isn’t that what everyone is trying to find here?”

She then noticed my confused expression and at that, her face softened. She then gave a little shake of her head while saying “You won’t find God here.”

Again, she left me baffled. Every year, more than 2 million Muslims would travel from all parts of the world to perform Haj -the pilgrimage - on this Holy Land. Every month, week, Muslims would visit this Holy Land to perform pre- Haj or Umrah, the minor pilgrimage. Why do they do it? For spiritual fulfillment. To serve their Lord, to answer the call from their Lord, to find God, to seek answers from their Lord, to find Peace, to be close to their Maker. At least that’s what I thought the reasons were.

I was thinking about all these logic and it doesn’t make sense to not find God in the Holiest Place of all so I wondered out loud, “Why not?”

At that she very so slowly took a sip of her chai while looking in the distance towards where our Qibla (direction of prayers) is – Kaabah. She took in the view and repeated “You won’t find God here. Not unless you make the conscious effort to find God every day in your life.”

I suddenly felt ashamed of myself - thinking about the way I live my every day life. So dead set on chasing fulfillment of this world that I forget about the Hereafter sometimes. My grip on the cup was a little tighter. The cup felt hot in my hand, but why does it feel like someone just drop and ice bucket cold water on top of my head at that realization, at her reasoning. At the truth she pointed out. I know now that she was not trying to make fun of my answer. When she answered, it was as if she was talking to herself.

I looked down and try to bask it all in.

We spend the rest of the time in silence, in contemplation, until the last call to prayers of the night - Isya’ - was heard.

Then we stood up, and bowed down, with our foreheads to the ground. 

The beauty of Islamic prayer to me is that - that is the only time my heart is in higher position that my brain - when I kneel down in Sujood position with my forehead,knees and palms to the ground. And maybe, sometimes, especially to someone with INTP personality like me - the logician - it helps to not think too much, but to just feel. The presence of the Higher Power. And carry it with me wherever I go, be it on the grounds of the spiritual grounds of the Holy Land, or the unbeknownst foreign lands, or the comfort of my homeland.

10/5/2019

1.44am

[savingpartoftheworld]

Saving Part of the World - Part One - Chapter Thirteen

Summary: Set after G-Rev, the World Championships have come to Belfast, Northern Ireland in the hopes of spreading the interest and drawing in tourists. In between all the teen angst and the team drama, something powerful and hungry lurks on the horizon and with the help of the beybladers, it may just destroy part of the world.

Rated: T for cursing and mild violence

Ships: Hints of Mariah/Rei, Hilary/Tyson, Enrique/Julia

Previous Chapters: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

“You know, if the weathermen could do their job properly, this kind of thing wouldn’t happen,” Amber ranted, as she and Hilary stood within the entrance to Ormeau Park studying the crowds amassed on the long stretch of freshly mowed grass.

Hilary made a noncommittal sound as she took in the red stone columns and black iron gates, the paint looking like melted tar under the midday sunshine. If she had time, she would come back and take a photo. It really was a lovely entrance, historic and dignified. Unfortunately now wasn’t the time for photos.

“I mean, look at all these people? Shouldn’t they have jobs to do? It’s a weekday, there should be jobs and work to do. In fact, I think I’m in school more than any adult.”

That was doubtful but there were a lot of people in the park, and most of them were exposing vast amounts of angry, scarlet skin. “Are these people being here stopping you from showing me your evidence?”

Amber slumped and pouted. “Well, no. It’s just I don’t see why they need to be here.”

Because the day was beautiful and not everyone wanted to go to the beach, Hilary mused. Considering the rain from her first day in Ireland and the chill in the air the day before, most of the local population probably hadn’t anticipated how warm it would be. She certainly hadn’t, her only concession to the heat had been to remove her jacket and drape it over her shoulders to prevent them from burning.

“And the worst thing is that when I leave school, I’ll probably work 362 days a year with only Paddy’s Day and Christmas off.”

Hilary pursed her lips and continued to let Amber vent as they walked down the tarmac route that circled around the lawn. A few couples strolled under the shadows of trees, while two cyclists rode by, their bells trilling as they navigated around joggers and teens on rollerblades. Overall, it was a fairly familiar scene to Hilary though certainly more conservative than she’d spied in Tokyo and New York.

A breeze blew up and kissed her face offering just the vaguest hint of relief before disappearing, and she just knew her cheeks were cooked. Glowering at Amber’s back she regretted not following Ian’s advice. Granted he’d been beyond rude and yes, she wanted answers, but now she was in a park, far from her friends, with a girl who might just be bordering on crazy.

Playing with the cuff of her sleeve dangling from the knot on her chest, she frowned.  “So where is this place?”

Amber skipped over a remote controlled car and sent two boys a frigid look before she answered, “Well, it’s kind of in the woods of this place but not.”

“The woods.” Right. Because nothing bad ever happened in the woods.

She caught Amber’s eye roll before the girl said, “I’m not going to kill you. You’re taller than me, by a bit, and I have muscles like spaghetti. Besides I need you to hear my story and be on my side. It’s not easy doing all of this on my own and no one likes me.”

Hearing the almost whine in her tone, Hilary frowned. Was Amber lonely? Was this whole set up an attempt to get people to like her? To make friends? “This is serious? You’re not stringing me along so that you can befriend bladers?”

“Gee let me think, end of the world, serious or not serious…” She moved her hands like scales. “Aye, it’s fairly serious and shut up!” Hilary jerked back, only to frown when Amber waved her hand. “Sorry, the Voice has decided it needs to start talking again.”

Hilary grabbed the neck of her blouse and shook it to relieve the prickling sensation around her throat. “I thought the Voice was always there?” If she ended up with heat rash, she’d never live it down.

“It is, it just doesn’t always talk. I like to drown it out with music, plus the earphones act as a disguise of sorts.” Something must have shown on Amber’s face because she quickly added, “I’m not insane, you know. My mother’s a nurse; she’s really big on health, both mental and physical so if she thought I had a serious issue she’d make me talk to someone.”

They turned onto a rougher path that snaked through a densely wooded area with a smattering of boulders and clutches of bluebells. Here people walked slower as they studied and photographed the tall trees. The grass, lit up by the sunshine, turned a brilliant spring green that clashed with the yellowish moss clinging to downed logs almost lost within the long blades. Butterflies fluttered and landed amongst the wild flowers and an insect with a long body hovered just in front of Hilary’s nose. She flicked it away and suppressed a shudder.

There was a burst of noise as a group of boys raced towards them, one carrying a plastic beydish.

“It’ll be Tyson for sure. He’s the world champ!” one said, raising his voice to be heard over the pounding of their footsteps.

“Nuh-uh, it’ll be Kai. He’s far stronger.”

Yet another boy sneered and turned to face the group, jogging backwards. “He doesn’t have a Bitbeast. What the feck is he going to do against Dragoon? I think Tala will win though. It's finally his year.”

As they disappeared around the corner, with the shortest one lagging behind, Amber cast Hilary a suspicious glance. “Is that true? Kai doesn’t have a Bitbeast?”

Hilary scowled. “I’m not going to answer that question. Kai wouldn’t appreciate me telling you anything about him. He’s very suspicious of you and he’s someone you should be wary of.”

Amber’s shoulders hunched as she grumbled, “Don’t need to tell me that.”

Hmm, Hilary mused, Amber and Kai had weighed each other up and found their measure — or whatever that English phrase was.

As they passed a crumbling stone building that probably had some kind of historical importance, Amber veered off the lane and meandered down a grassy verge. They left the public footpath behind. Their feet kicked up more clouds of insects and the air became filled with buzzing and chirping, a sharp cack from a flying bird split the hubbub followed by a long hoarse caw. It all combined to create the illusion that the city was hours away rather than on the other side of the dense tree-line. Probably the reason why this haven was so popular with the locals.  

A long vine caught her foot and Hilary vehemently wished she’d worn different shoes. She should have known better than to put on a pair of strappy sandals but with the sunshine, she’d wanted to feel summery and girly. Now she was going to have blisters and she’d probably lose a shoe. Couldn’t the Voice have taken them along a more pedestrian friendly route?

“Did you ever consider that maybe the voice in your head is actually a Bitbeast?” Because that would explain why it chose such a bizarre route. Bitbeasts may have been revered creatures of legendary power but Hilary was fairly certain they had a wicked sense of humour; after all, they’d been around forever and a day, they had to amuse themselves somehow.  

Amber faltered, almost tripping over a log tangled amongst the lush grass. “It depends on what you think a Bitbeast is. Are they spirits in general or are they solely attached to beyblades?”

Hilary huffed out a breath. “Is that an evasion?”

“No, I’m just saying that if your idea of Bitbeasts are that they’re spirits in general, then sure, the Voice is a Bitbeast, but then so are ghosts by that theory.”

“No, ghosts were human once,” she explained, dabbing at the perspiration that dampened her neck. “They’re departed beings who cannot move on. Bitbeasts are spirits of nature, deities who form a bond with a human and use beyblades to manifest.”

She looked over her shoulder as the park and civilisation seemed to disappear and wild woodland took over. It was almost like stepping into Narnia, or the summer area of it that Aslan had ruled. She just hoped there was a lamppost to help her find her way back. Or worse, would she crest a hill and find an abandoned amusement park leading to Yubaba’s bathhouse? She shivered and inched closer to Amber as she rubbed her arms. She was being silly but there was something not quite natural about the muted sounds of the wood.  

“To what end though? Just to help a child win a trophy? That seems kind of farfetched for something as grand as a deity,” Amber said, swatting at a low flying bug as she trudged down a knoll carpeted with long grass and threaded with yellow flowers.

“Well, maybe that’s the only way they can manifest.” She shrugged off her disquiet and focused on the conversation. She believed in the Bitbeasts, in Dragoon, Draciel, Driger and Dranzer. She felt connected to them, had supported them and yet, she never really understood where they came from. Oh, she knew the tales, how Dragoon had answered Tyson’s prayers and took refuge within his beyblade to help him defeat Kai, but why did Dragoon possess the sword in the first place? Every time she tried asking Tyson he brushed her off with some comment about how she didn't understand anything, which in Tyson speech meant he didn't know either.

“Perhaps,” Amber said, “but the Voice in my head isn’t a Bitbeast. It’s a… it was an entity that was cursed to bond with a bloodline. My granddad had it and when he died it passed to me.”

Hilary’s stomach rolled and she pressed her hand against it. “Well, maybe it is a Bitbeast. Dizzi doesn’t do much more than talk and guide Kenny. I guess when it’s trapped, there’s very little it can do.”

“It’s not a Bitbeast —”

“A Bitbeast sounds better than a voice in your head.”

She caught Amber’s disgruntled look as a trickle of sweat slithered down her spine. The heat was intensifying and with it the growing nausea. Seeking a little relief, she lifted the heavy weight of her hair from the nape of her neck, hoping to tease some air into cooling her skin. At least Amber’s cheeks were glowing pink, a sign that she too felt the effects of the sunshine spearing through the dense green leaves above them. Even in the stretching shadows, the heat was inescapable, clogging her lungs with its suffocating mass.

Chimes whistled as Hilary followed Amber behind a tree and deeper into the darkening forest. It was stunning, a true taste of Ireland, and were she in a better mood, she may have been tempted to take photos.

Instead, as she picked her way through the grass, she frowned. “Is this the normal path? It seems very grown over.”

“No, but it’s fine.”

“Well, maybe we should go the path that’s laid out.” Maybe she was being anal, but people were told not to stray from the correct path for a reason. Look what happened to Chihiro’s parents in Spirited Away or Alice from Wonderland — that child took drugs. Hilary was nearly sure of it even though she found the book very confusing and it hadn’t helped that her English teacher hadn’t seemed to understand it either. As for the animated movie, watching it with Tyson and Kenny hadn’t helped. Not one bit.

Maybe she should go back. The boys were bound to be worried about her.

“We have to go this way,” Amber replied, stepping over a mossy rock.

Rubbing her stomach to ease the fluttering, Hilary paused mid-step. “Amber, I want to go back now.”

Amber tossed back her head, eyes closed, bristling with impatience. “Look, I’m taking you to show you proof. You said you’d come.”

Hilary’s temper flared. She was doing Amber a favour by coming out here into a deserted park. She should have gone with Ian, she really should have just stayed where she was. “Look, I know what I said, but maybe we can come back another day. I want to go. It’s not safe this way.”

“Of course it’s safe. Don’t be daft. I’m not going to do anything to you. That would defy the whole point, I need you on my side.”

“And that means going this way? We’re going into nowhere, it’s not safe and I don’t like it.” Her voice rose shrilly.  

Amber’s mouth opened to shoot back something scathing, then the battle light dimmed. “Oh, I’m such an idiot.”

“Yes, you are. Look, let’s just go back.” Everything would be fine once she could get back to her hotel. Maybe she could persuade Tyson to skip the tournament and they could return to Japan. She liked Japan. She understood her place in that world.

“No, no, I’m sorry. I - I can’t believe I needed the Voice to tell me,” Amber grumbled, rubbing her cheeks with her hands. She lifted her eyes to slowly meet Hilary’s. “I’m sorry. I keep forgetting you don’t know the tricks.”

What? What tricks? What was Amber up to now?

Stepping to a tree, Amber pointed to a scored mark in the bark. “See this? This is a rune or something like that. It’s a mark that warns people away, makes them feel uncomfortable, or reminds them that they have somewhere else to be that’s not here. I feel it too, but because I know why I feel it, I can ignore it.”

A mark? A warning? Could that really be why her stomach felt so queasy and slick as if she’d downed a vat of oil from Kenny’s parents’ restaurant?

“Just trust me, and I know that’s a big ask, but once we get on the other side of them, you’ll feel better. We both will.”

Hilary studied Amber dubiously before glancing at the scored marks. The chimes tolled louder and Hilary shivered. This was her point of no return, she realised. If she left she’d return to her safe little world and everything would continue as normal, but she would always wonder about the proof Amber promised to show her.

It would be so easy to turn, to leave. It would be safer to leave. But Hilary didn’t always make the safe decisions. If she had, she wouldn’t be in Belfast with the Bladebreakers.  

Sighing softly, she gestured to Amber. “You lead the way.”

With her own stomach a mass breeding ground for what felt like an infestation of worms, Amber stomped along the broken earth, stepping over protruding roots and around branches trying to sneak across to the other side of the ‘path’. A wasp investigated them before soaring off and butterflies scattered before them.

“It’s getting hotter.”

Hearing Hilary’s soft complaint, Amber jerked a shoulder. “Aye, well that’s something I can’t fix. It shouldn’t really be this warm…” Amber turned her gaze to the sky and frowned. How much of this was a genuine heat wave? How much of this was her country changing, not because of global warming, but because of the disturbance in the Veil?

A branch cracked under her foot and echoed through the woods. She glowered at her traitorous feet — she was no Robin Hood — but in that sudden movement, her ears caught another sound under the buzzing and clicking of insects, gushing water. The river! Mentally cheering because she’d almost reached her destination, she began to follow a narrow, beaten path, probably created by badgers or foxes, down to the river that snuck through the grass.

Amber paused and hunkered down, trailing her fingers through the cool water that gurgled and bubbled around rocks and splashed over stones. “We need to cross this.”

“How?”

“It’s shallower a bit further down, and there are stones, just on the other side of that gorse bush,” she replied, indicating a dark prickly shrub with butter yellow buds that smelled creamy and sweet.

“What are you going to show me?”

“Something to help you believe me?” Amber shrugged, rolling her neck and standing up. She paused a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the gloomy light as they breached the shadows under the lush canopy and rounded the gorse bush.

The water trickled as it snaked under low hanging branches that bowed towards it and stones gleamed wetly in a mimicry of a bridge, stretching across to the other side. A blackbird splashed and shivered in a puddle while flies buzzed around, skimming the surface. Overall it was tranquil, soothing, a little piece of countryside just minutes from the city centre.  

A crack broke the silence from behind them. Holding their breath, both girls stilled and scanned the woods.

“Is someone following us?”

Amber pressed her lips together tightly. She understood Hilary’s paranoia and had to admire the girl for coming with her. Still, it stung.

Why should she trust you? You haven’t been very forthcoming with information. Even now you avoid telling her where you’re going.

Amber shook her head, wishing she could shake the damn voice out. Pushing damp strands of hair from her forehead, she answered Hilary, “No, it was probably a squirrel or a deer. They do things like that.” She looked at the river, then glanced at Hilary. “Okay, do you want to go over first or will I lead you? It’s pretty simple, just step on the rocks and don't slip.”

“I’ll follow you,” Hilary said, folding her arms and hunching her shoulders.

“Grand so.”

Amber approached the edge and hesitated. It would be fine, even if she fell in, she’d dry off fast in the heat. Though knowing her luck the clouds would come and pour with rain and she’d end up lying in a sick bed for the end of the world — some saviour. The jittering in her stomach turned to slick, oily nausea.

She lunged off the bank. Now wasn’t the time to think of all those people who would be gone in a fortnight or so, now was the time to gather allies, amass her army.

Army? Ha.

Shut up.

She continued her journey across with a few hops, skips and wobbles. Landing on one particularly wide, flat stone, she windmilled her arms, then leapt to the other side, her feet sinking into the soft earth. Success.

Spinning she motioned for Hilary to follow. “You okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I can do this,” Hilary replied, more to convince herself as she stepped onto a stone. “Dr B’s Island was much worse.”

“Oh?” Amber asked, hoping to distract the girl as she tentatively crossed the stones.

“Yes, the island began to break apart while we were still on it.”

“Break. Apart,” Amber echoed. As far as she knew, islands didn’t break apart, unless… Did the Bitbeasts cause that as well? Would Ireland break apart?

“It was a few years ago, a crazy scientist wanted the boys’ bitbeasts and the island self-destructed. If it hadn’t been for Kai, I would have died that day. So a little water,” Hilary breathed, as she balanced on one foot on a narrow stone, then leapt to the next one, “doesn’t scare me.”

“Really?” Propping a hand on her hip, Amber waited until Hilary joined her on the bank. “Your life sounds exciting. You’re probably more equipped to deal with this than I am.”

“Perhaps the boys will help us out if they can.”

If there was something to help out with. Amber heard the unspoken threat but brushed it aside. She dug the toe of her battered trainers into the soft clay and began the trek up the gentle rolling slope. Here the trees had spread out, slender trunks stretching up to the cornflower blue sky; the sun colouring the lush grass a rich spring green, while wild rose bushes added a splash of pink and white.

“You do not have bears in this country or lions?”

At Hilary’s tentative question, Amber shook her head. “Nope. No Lions, no Tigers, no Bears, oh my!” At Hilary’s blank look, Amber grimaced. “Lame Dorothy reference.” She pursed her lips and stepping over a moss strewn log, she gestured to the scenery. “Ireland doesn’t have many predatory animals, no snakes or venomous spiders either. We leave all that kind of crazy to the Aussies.”

“Aus - Oh, Australia. You do know other countries have —”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

Somewhere to their right, a twig snapped causing Amber to frown in that direction.

Hilary blew out a breath. “Another deer, perhaps? Or a squirrel?”

Well, how was Amber supposed to know? Sounds like that didn’t give her warm, fuzzy safe feelings either, but she refused to be terrified by a squirrel or a deer or even a stray cat. They certainly weren’t being followed by a human because nobody could get past the sigils; they existed to deter trespassers. Besides, daylight surrounded them and the road wasn’t far and -- she checked her phone -- she had a full bar of reception. They were fine until she lost reception; that’s when people started to die in horror movies.

“We’ll be grand.”

Her words didn’t seem to reassure Hilary, who constantly looked over her shoulder as they ascended the slope. The light became brighter, the area greener. The scent of moss and stone lingered under the hot, heady fragrance of roses, creating the illusion of complete isolation. It wasn’t true. She had to remind herself that everything here was an illusion, so she grabbed Hilary’s hand to ground both of them.

“What’s wrong?”

“Just… don’t want you getting lost or falling. This is getting a bit steep.”

Hilary nodded but didn’t respond, though she kept her hand firmly in Amber’s grip. Up ahead, large objects strewn with greenery and ivy began to emerge: ruins from an old building.

“We’re not going to get in trouble for being here, are we? It’s not private land?”

“No, I told you, the wards dissuade people from coming here. In fact, I’m not even sure this place exists for normal people. It’s not on any map I’ve seen, and unless you’re shown the way, you can’t find it. I know of it because of the Voice in my head. It tells me a lot of weird things and shows me a lot of strange places. I have a shit load of knowledge in my head that I don’t really want or need.” And none of it was any good for schoolwork.

Hilary pinched the bridge of her nose. “Well, it’s coming in handy now.”

Amber pulled her damp vest from her back. “I guess. I’m just saying that I know this place is deserted, and you are freaking out because of the wards. It’s what they do.”

“Well someone must have put them there,” Hilary grumbled, glancing around with a mutinous expression. “Where is that person?”

“Considering the wards are mostly in Ogham, that person is probably long dead.” At Hilary’s blank look, Amber sighed. “Ogham writing, it’s a bunch of lines and slants that created letters. Heck, they didn’t even have a full alphabet. You can research it later, let’s just go.”

“I can’t help it, this place creeps me out.”

No kidding.

Poor, lost children.

Shut. Up.

The lush lime green blended into cool teal as the sun retreated behind the trees that inched closer — the two girls weaved between them picking their footsteps carefully. Amber tried to see it as Hilary did, but due to the Voice in her head, all her instincts were off kilter. The voice loved places like this while Amber preferred open fields, most especially the gently sloping patchwork of fields outside of her grandmother’s farm that stretched down to the river Foyle.

To the Voice, this area was home, and it was eerie. The further they moved from the river, the stiller everything became. There was no zipping of renegade flies, no chitter of crickets and no birdsong. Instead, light seemed to come from fluorescent green motes of dust and the only sounds came from the haunting whispers and vacant moans.

More grass was crushed underfoot and Amber rubbed her rapidly chilling skin with one hand while clutching Hilary’s clammy hand in the other. Goosebumps rose along her arms and back, the damp sweat turning to ice.

“Let’s go back,” Hilary urged, pressing a hand to a tree trunk. “I have a bad feeling.”

Amber jerked her head. “No, we’re here.”

Hilary wasn’t sure what she expected, but it wasn’t a quiet clearing with thick, verdant grass, sheltered by tall trees so clustered together that they created an almost impenetrable wall. She stepped past Amber, drawn by the play of sunlight gleaming on the blades of grass, the sky open and blue in a circle above them, warming the pale grey standing stones blotched with mossy patches. “It’s like Stone Henge.” Delighted, she rounded on Amber, a grin stretching across her face. “It’s beautiful.”

Oh, she had to get pictures and then she could send them to her parents and school friends. This was the part of Ireland she’d come to see.

“It is, isn’t it?” Amber smiled, but it lacked enthusiasm.

Stepping forward, Hilary brushed her fingers over the rough granite, picking out the pebbled beads of quartz embedded within, like little grains all pressed together until they formed a huge chunk, with each stone placed carefully in a large circle. But it was the tree in the middle that drew her; thick of trunk with stark, naked branches reaching like tentative fingers to the sky. She couldn’t have reached her arms around it if she tried.

Slipping between two stones, she approached the tree, raising a hand to touch, then paused, hovering. Curling her fingers, she glanced back at Amber. “Is it okay if I touch it?”

Amber lingered outside the circle, the sun gleaming on her dark hair. “Yeah, it’s just a tree.”

It wasn’t though, Hilary decided, brushing her own errant strands of hair behind her ear. There was something special about it, tucked away inside the woods, isolated from the others by its stone centurions. She pressed her fingers into the knotted bark and felt the hum of power, or maybe she heard it, a muted sound like a thousand distant murmurs. It was ancient and the pulse from it echoed her heartbeat.

“What is this place?” she finally asked, breaking her connection to the tree.

Amber continued to rub her folded arms, glancing up at the sky before meeting Hilary’s gaze. “A faerie tree. Once upon a time, the little folk would live in the branches or so the fables say. I think it’s more of a gateway now, long sealed.”

“But—” Hilary stepped back and looked up into the branches. They were spindly and a rich dark brown — Tyson’s eyes were the same colour. She flushed at the whimsical thought.

“It’s dead.”

Hilary shook her head vehemently. “It’s not. It’s just dormant.”

With a slight frown puckering her brows, Amber inched forward but didn’t enter the circle. “Do you sense something?”

“It’s…” Hilary sighed. She wasn’t sensitive and yet… “I don’t know much of this stuff, but I just feel there’s a power inside, just waiting.”

Amber’s head bobbed quickly. “There is.”

“And look, there’s a bud on the branch.” A strange coloured bud, more rusty red than green, like the bud of an autumn leaf.

“Hilary come here, please.”

The urgency grabbed Hilary and reeled her in. She hurried to Amber’s side and glanced back at the tree, almost expecting it to twist around with a face upon its trunk, its branches reaching for her. It remained the same, stoic and empty, and yet her heart pounded and her head felt light.

“What just happened?”

“I didn’t realise it was —” Amber fell silent, then stepped into the circle and shuddered. Something rippled over her face and then she leaned back as a shadow pulled away from her body. Dropping to her knees, Amber gasped and violently trembled.

Shaking, Hilary crouched behind her, ready to pull her from the circle.

“Don’t,” Amber sighed, lifting her head, breathing heavily. She pushed her hair out of her face and glared.

Following her gaze, Hilary grabbed a stone to steady herself as her body swayed. There was a woman in the centre of the circle, touching the tree reverently as Hilary had. She was ethereally beautiful: pale, pale skin without even a hint of colour along her sharp cheeks and with lips touched with violet. Her hair was like black satin though as the light hit it, she could see it was more like oil, dark yet shimmering with green and pinks. Her long, sheath dress was silk and gauze and feathers, low cut and tight over full curves that Hilary envied. Whoever this woman was, she was as different from Amber as night and day.

“Amber, is that?”

Amber exhaled softly with a wry smile. “That’s the voice in my head.”

[tobedeletedwayward]

Mr Mysterious || Jimin

Request:

Summary: You’ve heard your fair share of rumours about Park Jimin. And while being roommates was not an ideal circumstance, maybe it would clear the air between what you knew and did not know.

Word Count: 2,040

A/N: Returning to your scheduled updates - I’ll try and throw out a couple of To Do List scenarios today just to speed things along. And of course the first update is a combination of Roommate!AU and Mafia!AU - because what else do I actually write on this blog? dont mind the slightly rushed ending plz kthnx

“Are you sure you haven’t noticed anything suspicious about him? Because don’t be afraid to tell me if you have; what is said between the two of us is completely confidential.”

You refrained from rolling your eyes and instead opted to smile kindly at the older RA. “Nothing besides the fact he doesn’t wash his plates.” You answered, attempting to diffuse the tension with your humour.

Bora huffed and folded her arms. “Well if you do-”

“I’ll be sure to tell you if Jimin does something out of the ordinary, don’t worry.”

She pulled her lips into a tight line and sighed. “You’re a good kid [Y/N]... Enjoy your day.”

With a wave, you shut your dorm room door behind you and sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose as you looked to the figure passed out on the couch.

“You owe me, Park Jimin...” You grumbled, more so to yourself than to him, before you stalked away to your respective bedroom to get ready for your lecture.

You weren’t too sure with what your roommate did with his spare time. You admit you were concerned, a bit too invested if you were completely honest, and that alone somehow compelled you to keep lying to your dorm’s RA.

Bora meant well, you knew that, but for some reason you didn’t want to rat Jimin out.

If you did, he would never forgive you.

And despite the lying and the secrecy, you were perfectly fine with the dynamic you had going with him.

Your friends? Not so much.

“Oh my God, if you ask me one more question about him I am going to punch you.” You growled intimidatingly, slamming down the highlighter you were holding onto your workbook. The tip hit the paper, leaving a dot in between a long string of words. [Y/F/N] raised her hands up in defence, eyes wide at the sudden anger in your voice. And yet, the surprise quickly faded into amusement.

“Come on [Y/N],” she began, “I can’t help but be curious. You’re like the only one Jimin is nice to on campus and it’s because you’re roommates.”

“That doesn’t mean I know every little in and out of his life.” You retorted. “Besides, rumours are rumours. Even if I did know something of worth, the damage has already been done.”

“So you admit you know some things!”

“You. Are. Insufferable!” You hissed, unamused by the ongoing assault of questions.

“Damn, I never thought I’d see the day when [Y/N] was actively defending the campus criminal.”

“Okay, that’s it!” You snapped, quickly shoving your stationery into your backpack followed by your notebooks. “You can fail the assignment.”

Sweeping the textbooks shut and into your arms, you left her, not caring about her calls to get you to sit back down.

You loved [Y/F/N] – you loved all of your friends – you really did, but some days you couldn’t stand their incessant nagging and inquiry about your roommate.

Apparently it was hard for them to believe you really didn’t know what was going on.

But as you exited the library, it dawned upon you that perhaps storming away wasn’t the best option. Sure it showed how annoyed you had finally become, but surely there would have been another way to let them know...

No, they took it too far.

Jimin wasn’t a criminal; he was just misunderstood – a little too aloof for most people’s likings.

You sighed, adjusting the straps of your bag and the grip on the textbooks before moving towards before moving towards the secondary library on campus.

You didn’t get very far, however, when you heard a familiar voice call out to you.

“[Y/N]! Wait up!”

You found yourself slowing down just enough for the person to catch up to you, watching as the familiar figure took long strides to reach you.

“Yes Jimin?” You asked as your roommate assumed the empty space by your space, his shoulders rising and falling quickly as he tried to catch his breath. Despite this, he smiled warmly at you, immediately matching your pace as you began to speed up.

“Are you doing anything right now?” He asked, pushing his hands into his hoodie pockets as you thought of your response.

“I mean I’m going to the library to work on an assignment-”

“I mean anything important right now.” He clarified, his signature smirk appearing across his face. You rolled your eyes at him.

“That assignment is important-”

“Then anything not boring.”

“What is it, Jimin?”

“Have you eaten yet?” Jimin asked, ignoring your own question as he normally did. When you didn’t answer he laughed. “Good because lunch is on me today, Bell View Bar on the other side of campus is empty this time of day.” He announced, immediately guiding you in the opposite direction of the library. You groaned.

“Jimin, please, I have to work on this report – it’s due in a few weeks and if I don’t start now I will honestly never start.” You begged, trying to veer away from your roommate only to have him step into your range once more.

“You can start it tonight, but right now I’m buying your lunch.” He repeated, unyielding. “Besides, I owe you for this morning.”

You stopped walking. “This morning?”

“Bora greeted me this morning, I assume that you talked to her and put her mind at ease.”

Jimin craned his head down with head to look into your eyes, smiling when you shrugged. “I guess since you owe me...”

His eyes turned into crescents as he laughed. Jimin wrapped a hand around your upper arm and began walking with you, almost animatedly.

As you let yourself be pulled along, you forgot all about the drama from the library and the rumours that circled over his head.

Because how could someone so sweet be as bad as people thought he was?

A few days later, you and [Y/F/N] reconciled through your usual peace offering of food. While she provided the food, you slowly began to help them out once more with the assignment you had been working on by yourself.

The topic of Jimin did not grace your ears.

Though you did notice [Y/F/N] had opened and closed her mouth a few times. Fish mouth was always a sign of hesitance, amongst other things.

But thankfully, no other arguments happened that day, and you were able to attend your last tutorial of the day unbothered.

Your tutorial was one of the last scheduled across the campus on any given day. The weekly hour you had to attend ran from 5 to 6, leaving you to be one of the only people remaining on campus as dusk hit.

But unlike most night you emerged from the campus, the dark sky was overcast, and the faint silhouette of the moon appeared through the clouds accumulating overhead.

You knew those clouds. You knew them very well.

“Please don’t rain...” You mumbled to yourself as you began trek back to your dorm room. Every breath was punctuated with a silent prayer of hope that it wouldn’t start bucketing down as you tried to get home.

You were lucky for the first quarter of your path, only to notice the faint drops of cold water that littered themselves against your scalp and seeped into the shoulders of your top.

In an instant, you ran for refuge, finding solace in an alcove of the nearby Business Building not too far from the path.

You groaned, pressing yourself against the doorway for the alcove and rearranging your belongings. You shoved the remaining textbooks into your bag, attempting to minimise the collateral damage of you run.

There was no way in hell those books were suffering. Too much money was spent on them.

As you swung your backpack back over your shoulders, you trained your eyes on the familiar path and the unfamiliar figure that was heading towards you, their head covered by what you could tell was an umbrella.

“[Y/N].” Came Jimin’s voice, and you exhaled in relief at the thought of the person being someone you actually knew.

“What’re you doing here Jimin?” You asked as he came closer to your, his features twisting in concern in the low light of the alcove.

“You left your umbrella on the couch this morning, and I figured it would start raining by the time you left.” He explained, holding the umbrella so that you would be able to fit underneath it as well. A smile crept on to your face.

“And what if it didn’t?”

Jimin rolled his eyes. “Then I can’t let someone walk home alone all by themselves, now can I?” His sentiment made you smile a little wider, and you willingly stepped under the umbrella with him.

“Well thank you, you didn’t have to.” You replied, beginning your walk back to the dorm.

“Don’t mention it, it’s the least I could do.”

You hadn’t seen him that morning, his usual form not sprawled across the couch like usual. He hadn’t been in his room either. Your roommate also didn’t have a great memory either, so the fact that he had come to get you from the other side of campus was a sight to behold in itself.

It remained silent between the two of you as you walked back together, Jimin’s presence comforting you as you passed the occasional group of people who would stop and stare at the sight of you both.

He didn’t seem fazed by the curious yet judgmental stares you could just make out in the moonlight.

And if he was unbothered, then you found no reason to be either.

By the time you had made it back to your dorm, the rain had picked up and you and Jimin had to huddle together under the small circumference of the umbrella, shoulders rubbing against each other as the rain hammered down on to you. Despite this, you were completely dry.

Jimin’s right side was drenched to the bone. But, like before, he said nothing.

Stepping into your shared dorm, Jimin discarded just outside of the doorway and followed you in, shedding his soaked jacket and draping it across the couch. “Well that was fun, wasn’t it?”

You laughed, shaking your head as you dropped your bag down with a slight huff. “Like I said, you didn’t have to come get me; I could have made it back here on my own.”

“And like I said, what type of person would I be if I let you walk back alone. It’s the least I could do.” He countered, a lopsided smirk appearing on his face.

“All I do is tell Bora everything is fine with you.” You argued, not catching the way his smile faltered at your almost cynical words.

“Exactly, [Y/N], you treat me like me.”

You glanced up at him, taking in the way his tense shoulders contrasted the smile he still wore on his face.

“I like that.”

Your neck heated up in embarrassment as you shrugged. “Well, you’re my roommate... I know well than what I hear around campus.” You answered, moving your bag to the coffee table, unpacking the textbooks you haphazardly packed away.

The silence was thick between you, and you didn’t dare look up at him. “Are you free tomorrow?”

The sudden question forced your head up, almost giving yourself whiplash. “Huh?”

“Like tomorrow tomorrow, are you free for like dinner or something?”

You felt the corner of your mouth twitch. “Is it another thank you?”

Jimin shook his head. “No, I’m a bit tired of saying thank you... It’s an explanation, and maybe a bit of a date.”

A huff of air escaped your lungs in surprise at his sudden change in demeanour.

“Dinner sounds good... Just don’t be late in picking me up.” You chimed before turning around and disappearing into your room for the remainder of the night.

Jimin stood by the couch, looking towards were you once stood with a contented expression on his face.