#thankfully it only ran for like 15 seconds before my brain caught up to 'HEY i should n o t watch a horror movie at 10 oclock at night when-

[misscrazyfangirl321]

Sometimes you have to physically yoink yourself back from doing something really stupid.

If you need to do that now, do it.

[sorryimanon]

A Bit Stir Crazy: Pt 1

Summary: You’re bit of a hot head, so is Bakugou. So what happens when the two of you have to quarantine together for 30 days?

Warnings: cursing, mentions of sex, sexual tension, inevitable smut, slow burn.

Pairing: Katsuki Bakugou x fem!Reader

Spring finally makes it way to the city of Musutafu, which also means spring break is about to commence. There was only two days left of school before the students endure a week break of relaxation and the possibility of illegal drinking. However, the sudden outbreak of a deadly virus isolates you and your best friend of five years , Katsuki Bakugou, to quarantine together. Tensions are high, and so are both of your sex drive.

<<<

It was your second semester here at Hero University, and so far everything was smooth sailing. You’ve been on top of each of your classes, and most of your classmates are pretty much family by now. Of course, no one can replace Kirishima and Katsuki. Those two have been in your life since the second you stepped into Aziwa’s classroom. 5 years of friendship gave them the role of being your protective brothers. Every guy you’ve dated over the past 3 years had to face the wrath of both Kirishima and Katsuki. In most cases, some would find this possessiveness tedious, but you found it quite comforting knowing they are looking out for you. They were also hard on you and your studies, but only because they care for you. Both of them know about your dream of being a combat medic for pro-heroes, considering your energy restoration quirk, so they were extra tough on you.

However, everything came to a halt the day before spring break. You were currently in Advanced Hero History class when the announcement happened. The teacher, mid lecture, put her textbook down and glanced at the speaker above the door.

“Testing...1 2 3... this thing is working right? AHEM, attention students of Hero University, we’ve been told there’s recently been a sudden outbreak of a virus that’s described as deadly as the plaque!” The speakers voice reverberated across the whole academy. He continued,” We want to make sure that everyone is safe and sound and takes precaution of this virus. The board of admissions at HU have decided to cancel classes and all events at the university tomorrow-”

You didn’t get to hear the rest of the announcement. Everyone in the classroom was busy celebrating and screaming at the top of their lungs. Seems like the issue with the deadly virus evaporated immediately. The thought of getting out early for spring break was more important apparently.

Ms.Leech informed the class to still read the assigned chapters and be ready for a test the first day after break.

You quickly shoved everything your messenger bag and made a beeline to the door. The hallways were far from deserted. Usually classes don’t get out at the same time, but today every student occupied the cramped halls in the building.

“Y/N!” Someone yelled amidst the crowd of loud students. You overtly looked around and spotted the all too familiar spiky red hair and angry looking blonde by the exit. You giggled and maneuvered your way over to them.

“Did you hear the announcement! We get an early spring break!” Kirishima giddily said as you guys all walked side by side on the strip to the apartment complex.

“No shit Sherlock, the announcement was broadcasted across the whole school.” Bakugou responded while rolling his eyes.

“I’m so excited though! That means I have more time to study for my exams!” You jumped with excitement.

“Exams? That’s not for awhile you fucking nerd-” Bakugou was cut off when you grabbed a handful of his hair and aggressively pulled it. “YOU SHITTY WOMAN DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR!”

-

Spring break flashed by quickly, leaving only a day left before classes begin again. Thankfully, you seem to have checked everything off your list of things  needed to be accomplished during break. The only thing you had left to do was finish your reading for adv.hero history. 

After an endless hour of reading, you decided to make a hot pot of coffee. When you walked into the kitchen of your shared apartment with Kirishima and Katsuki, you noticed a sticky note hanging from the fridge.

It read, 

Went to go pick up Kirishima from the airport. Get take out plz. The usual

-B.

You smiled and immediately dialed the noodle shop to go. Kirishima used his spring break wisely and went to visit an exotic island with his family. He would FaceTime you and Bakugo occasionally telling funny stories about his time on the island. Although the thought never occurred at the time, you now felt like you wasted your spring break doing boring mundane things. Yes you had Katsuki to accompany you, but he was gone most of the time hanging out with his other friends. Which hurt, granted, but you understand that he has other friends besides you. Needless to say, you didn’t do that much “relaxation” during spring break.

Suddenly, your phone started going off on the countertop. Katsuki’s name flashing on the screen. Confused, you answered his call anyway, not thinking much of it.

“Y/N turn on the news now,” His said with urgency.

You didn’t argue back, knowing something is off, and raced to the living room. The tv was already on, so you just changed the channels till it reached the local news station. With the volume at its maximum, you sat still and listened to the news anchor.

“This just in, Japan has issued a nationwide lockdown due to the spread of the deadly virus. We’ve been told to report for all citizens to please stay in your homes till further notice. And as for anyone who has left the country, you’ll be permitted to stay within the country you’ve flown to and wait till further instructions...”

Oh shit

-

“Hey hey guys don’t worry I’ll be fine. I mean, isn’t this great news! We don’t have to go to our scheduled classes till further notice! Plus, I think I can score my shot with the maid here at my hotel for the time being,” Kirishima gloated with pure positivity.

“Baka. You do realize there’s a fucking virus going around right? Not to mention there’s a possibility you could die from it.” Bakugou said, trying to throw some common sense at Kiri.

“Right right right. Yes I do know...but that’s not going to stop me from getting laid bro.”

That was one of the few FaceTime calls you got from Kiri. After the third, he stopped calling all together. You grew worrisome for your best friend. Even though he doesn’t show it, Bakugou was worried sick not hearing from Kiri either.

It’s been 5 days since the initial lockdown. So far, you and Bakugou have been doing each of your usual routines at home. First thing in the morning you always prepared breakfast and read a few chapters from your current book. Bakugo did laundry duty and did the dishes after breakfast. Afternoon was just recreational duties. Both you and Bakugou would reside in your rooms doing whatever to ease off the bordem. Evenings were mainly for eating dinner and watching movies.

However, after 10 days, you couldn’t keep up with the routine anymore. You skipped breakfast and didn’t dare to open up another book. Your bedroom became a reminder on how much you’ve spent cooped up in there. Not to mention how easily angered you’ve become.

One day you got angry at how Bakugou was chewing his food. Usually it never irritated you, but now the sight just made your blood boil.

“Who the fuck taught you how to eat?” You spat abruptly.

“Says the person who forgets to clean the tub after they shave their whole entire jungle of a body,” he retored back.

A faint gasp left your mouth, uaware that you completely forgot to clean the tub last night after your feminine duties.

“Don’t know who you’re trying to look presentable for. It’s not like you got a boyfriend, not with all that hair, tch.” he hit you with one last punch to the gut.

You got up from where you were sitting at and begrudgingly walked to your bedroom, locking it in the process. Not daring to leave your room, you open your laptop and started a movie without Bakugou.

-

Out of all days, day 15 by far was the worst. The air conditioner unit stopped working, causing y’all to wake up with drenched bodies. Your room especially was humid, since you had no access to a window. The colored coordinated folders from your book bag had to suffice, using them as makeshift fans. Eventually your arms grew tired of constantly doing the same motion repeatedly, so you finally left your room in hopes for the living room to be much cooler.

You stopped immediately when you caught a glimpse of Bakugou slumped on the L-shaped couch. Not to mention, he was shirtless as well. Heat flushed to your cheeks, making you glow a crimson red. You couldn’t stop staring at the view in front of you. Yes you’ve seen Bakugou shirtless before. Countless of times in fact. The boys would practically walk naked around the apartment, not caring about how you’d react. You were deemed as one of the guys.

But this time it triggered something within you. Something you haven’t quite felt in a long time. Maybe it was the quarantine getting to your head, but you couldn’t help but to wonder how it would feel to be flushed against his naked chest right now. Or if he was the type to snake his hands around your waist and pull you even closer. The thought excited you for a second, but quickly realized this was Katsuki you were thinking about.

Katsuki shifted uncomfortably in his spot, eliciting a whimper during the process. The noise alone made your lower stomach tense with a warm sensation. This was creepy. Watching Bakugou shirtless while sleeping would surly make him go ballistic, but the sight of sweat glistening on his abdomen made his abs more prominent. An image of you being underneath him kept flashing in your head like picture show. A crude and undeniably satisfying picture show. More explicit thoughts kept trying to barge into your brain. So, you ran back into your room and planted yourself headfirst on the floor. Hopefully these thoughts will go away by tomorrow

The thoughts never went away. In fact, they were the reason you didn’t get any sleep last night. A half naked Bakugou Katsuki kept interrupting your innocent dreams, filling them in with dirty scenarios involving the both of you. You knew you were fucked once you heard the faint sound of Katsukis footsteps in the kitchen. You’ve been up all night, with no pure dream in mind. There’s no saving your sleep schedule now. Maybe if you apologize to Katsuki for acting irrational the other day, the thoughts would go away.

Defeated, you got up from your comfortable bed and treaded into unsafe territory. There sat Bakugo, criss cross on the kitchen island eating cereal. It wasn’t an unusual sight, he was the embodiment of a fucking cat.

“Morning shit head,” you playfully teased.

Bakugou raised his head and looked expectingly at you.

Even just looking him dead in the eye raised the temperature throughout your body. This is going to be a nightmare.

“You alright Y/N? Your whole face is flushed...” He paused, eyeing you suspiciously. “You’re not sick are you? If so, I’m kicking you out. I don’t wanna fucking die because of you”.

How charming.

You scratched the back of your neck. “Uh no Katsuki, I just wanted to apologize for the other day. My behavior towards you was unacceptable. This whole quarantine thing has really made me-”

“Shut up. No need to apologize for some stupid quarrel we got into. Besides, we’ve gotten into worse arguments right?” 

You nodded your head, agreeing to how truthful his statement was. It was true. 5 years of friendship and not one time have you guys stopped being friends because of a heated argument. 

“Exactly, don’t sweat about it. I’m just glad you finally came out of your hole. I missed my movie buddy.” He gave you a lopsided grin, to which on cue, your stomach tied itself into a knot.

“Great, because I found a movie last night on my queue that I think you’d like” You beamed as you started making yourself a bowl cereal. Katsuki grunted as a response and leaped off from the island. 

You were too busy focusing on making the cereal that you didn’t hear the faint thump of footsteps behind you. Then, almost as some sort of harsh punishment, Katsuki rested his head between your right shoulder blade. He hummed once he felt your body tense up. His lips were merely inches away from your outer ear. Any other movement from him and you wouldn’t hesitate to throw the gallon of milk at his head. But what he said next caused your whole face to turn pallid. 

“Also, its kind of rude to watch someone sleeping don't cha think?” he whispered before throwing his bowl into the sink beside you. 

At that moment you knew, you were completely fucked. 

[writings-of-a-daphodil]

Fire Keeper: Chapter 15

Douxie x fem reader

Chapter 1

Masterlist in bio!

Series Summary: You are Jim’s older sister who is taking a break from college and has moved back home to Arcadia. You end up joining Jim and his friends on their adventures.

Chapter 15 summary: Just as you and Douxie get back to Arcadia the Eternal Night begins. 

You stroked Archie as Douxie drove the three of you back to Arcadia. It had been a pretty silent drive with you drifting in and out of sleep, but you were awake now and you and Douxie were singing along to some music you were playing via your phone.

It was a lot of fun and it made you even happier to see Douxie smiling again. You looked back out the window before he could catch you staring.

A new song came on and you began to sing, but your phone ringing cut you off. You unplugged the aux cord and answered it.

“Hey, mom. We just got back. We’re almost in Arcadia.”

“Y/n, something happened, can you come to the school?” She asked, her voice filled with urgency.

“Um, yeah. I’ll be right there.” You hung up and looked to Douxie. “That was my mom, something happened.”

“I can drop you off and then you can pick up your car tomorrow?” Douxie suggested and you nodded.

The two of you continued singing, but you were distracted by your thoughts. Your brain had decided to conjure up thoughts of all the worst possible scenarios.

Thankfully you didn’t have to suffer through the scenarios as you arrived at the school. You hopped out of the car and thanked Douxie.

You immediately sensed auras on the roof and while they all seemed relatively calm and a little anxious, you didn’t sense Jim’s.

You decided to forgo the stairs and you flew yourself up to the roof. You arrived to see everyone but Jim. Even Merlin was there, but you didn’t see your brother. However, you did see a troll in the eclipse armor. You stared wide-eyed at him and dove into his aura. If you peeled back a few layers you found your brothers.

“Jim?” You asked, alerting everyone to your arrival.

“Hey Y/n,” he greeted, smiling nervously.

“Are you okay?” You asked, concern for your little brother consuming you.

“Kinda,” he admitted and you ran over to hug him. Tears pricked your eyes when you realized how much taller he was now.

“What happened?” You asked as you pulled away from him, but you still held his hand.

“I needed to become stronger and Merlin did this.” He gestured to himself.

“But you were already great,” you whispered. You could sense the pain and fear and Jim’s aura and it made your tears run faster. The best word to describe your mood was ‘furious��� and the cause of your anger was Merlin.

You had been home for about three seconds and you were already ready to fight the old man. You were only holding back because you didn’t want to start something or upset Jim.

“Ah so this is the Trollhunter’s sister?” Merlin asked and you were seriously ready to throw hands. You had really expected Merlin to be cooler from what Douxie described.

You scowled. “I am, and not only that, I’m a sorceress.”

“Really?” Merlin asked, interest showing on his face.

“Yes, and what were you thinking? How could you do this to him?” You asked.

“I didn’t do anything. It was his choice, I just created the means. In the end you will thank me.”

You decided to be mature and ignore Merlin. It was the best way to calm down. It also helped when you remembered that Merlin was able to see the future. Maybe Jim becoming a half-troll was a good thing?

You turned to Jim. “Don’t worry Jimbo, you still have your looks,” you joked trying to make light of the situation.

He chuckled. “Thanks.”

You looked at the rest of the group and you noticed Strickler standing very close to your mom. You decided to be mature and read their auras before attacking Strickler and you were presently surprised to sense forgiveness in your moms aura and caring in Strickler’s. Maybe he wasn’t that bad.

You put on a small smile. “Why don’t we walk home and you explain everything that's been going on this past week to me.”

“There’s something you should know about our trip to find Merlin,” Jim said once you all had gotten down from the roof.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, sensing the sad shift in everyone’s auras.

Jim looked down. “Draal didn’t make it. H-he died back when we were getting Merlin’s staff. Draal took a dagger for me, Angor Rot killed him.”

You looked at the rest of the group and saw sadness shining in your eyes. You began to cry again and Jim hugged you. “I-I can’t believe it,” you sobbed.

“I know I’m sorry. But we are going to avenge him,” Jim promised. You sniffed, looking up at him. He was so grown up now and you were incredibly proud.

You took a deep breath. “I know we will.”

~~~~

Last night as all of you walked home the group recounted the events of the last week to you and you had to admit a lot had happened. Now it was time to defeat Morgana and Gunmar.

That morning you had gone over the plan and you had to say, while you were nervous and scared, but you were excited to end this. It would all be over soon and hopefully your brother and Merlin would come out victorious.

And while they did that, you were on crowd control with Douxie. You wouldn’t have regular civilians dying, not if you had something to say about it.

You stood on the sidelines with Douxie watching Aja and Krel play their music. The crowd seemed very excited for Krel’s DJ-ing, but you were a ball of nerves. Claire was supposed to arrive soon and tell everyone to go and find someplace safe.

You bit your lip as Señior Uhl announced Mama Skull and Claire walked onto the stage in her armor.

You barely listened to her speech, but you could tell nobody was understanding how much danger they were in. That is until the sky darkened and gumm-gumms appeared.

You tried to call everyone to you, but they just panicked. Unsure of what to do, you and Douxie just began to fight. The less gumm-gumms there were the less chance of people dying, right?

You summoned your sword and immediately sliced through one as you sent a magic blast at another. You heard someone scream on stage and you and Douxie ran over there. You noticed he didn’t have a weapon and you wondered what he was going to be able to do with just a guitar.

Apparently he could do a lot. He hit a gumm-gumm that was terrorizing Mary and Darci over the head, knocking it out cold.

“I've always hated those twits!” he grumbled. You went over to finish the job while he helped Mary and Darci.

You walked back over to Douxie who Mary and Darci were swooning over and you rolled your eyes. “Come on Romeo, we need to get these people to safety.”

“Alright, Ladies follow us.” Douxie took off and you followed him.

“Where should we take them?” You asked. “We need some place big enough to fit a ton of people.”

“The school!” Douxie responded. You turned the corner and found some gumm-gumms harassing some of the old guys who like to play chess in the gazebo.

You held out your sword and charged the creatures, easily taking them down while Douxie covered your back. The two of you made a very good team.

Soon the street was cleared of the black and green monstrosities, but you knew it wouldn’t last long. “We need to get going,” you said helping the old men up.

Your ever growing group made your way through the town with Douxie up front and you guarding the rear. Occasionally you ran into gumm-gumms, but you and Douxie took care of them easily.

Soon you made it to the school. You used your magic to unlock the doors and you had to admit you were proud of yourself.

You watched as Douxie led everyone across the street. Things seemed to be going your way for the time being and you hoped all of your friends were doing okay. You didn’t know how you would go on if you lost anyone else.

Another tremor hit and you wobbled on your feet. Tremors had been occurring all day, but this one felt different.

The cause of the tremor was soon revealed when you heard a roar. It was a roar you had only ever heard once before, and that had been in the Darklands. You watched everyone freeze in the middle of the street as a gigantic black and green snake thing turned towards all of you. It could probably smell the fear radiating off of everyone.

“Fuzz buckets,” Douxie cursed as the Nyarlagroth charged. There was no time to make any mistakes so you just decided to call upon your magic. An orange glow surrounded the Arcadians and they floated into the air. You heard shouts of surprise, but you didn’t have time to warn them as you threw them inside the school.

You went to chase after them, but you instead saw a kitten standing in the middle of the Nyarlagroth’s path. There was no way you were going to let something bad happen to the adorable ball of white fluff, so you did what any compassionate human would do. You ran towards the kitten and picked it up.

Unfortunately now both of you were in the Nyarlagroth’s path, but you weren’t there for long.

You and the kitten glowed blue and you were yanked towards Douxie who caught you. He carried you bridal style into the school, gently setting you down before the group of Arcadians.

“Um, thanks,” you mumbled.

“Anytime, thanks for getting the kitten. I didn’t see it.”

“Of course.”

“What now?” Someone asked and you turned to face them. You didn’t have to be an aura reader to sense that these people were afraid. But what you weren’t expecting was for them to be determined.

“I know you might not be happy to be stuck in here, unable to do anything, but in here you are safer. I also understand how scary this is. Right now Douxie and I need to take care of that giant snake thing so we can make this place safer.” You looked at all the terrified faces and sighed when you noticed that your speech didn’t seem to be impacting them. “Okay, look. We’ve all lived in Arcadia for a while and I’m sure many of you have noticed the weird things that go on around here. There are different creatures that live here who aren’t human, but this is their home too. Those bad guys out there have taken their home before and are trying to take it again as well as ours. There aren’t many people who can do something about it, but those who can are out there, fighting for you and they are going to win. But to do that, they need you in here where you’re safe so they don’t have to worry about you. It may seem scary now, but if we all do our part things will work out!”

You looked again and noticed that everyone seemed to be calmer and even more determined than they were before. “Good luck!” Someone called and you smiled.

“We’ll be back soon,” Douxie said, holding the door for you.

You reluctantly gave the kitten to Phil and Jerry, the two the old guys you had saved. “Now let’s go take care of that Nyarlagroth.”

~~~~

“I didn’t know you gave inspirational speeches,” Douxie joked once you were outside.

“It’s one of my many hidden talents,” you replied smiling at him.

You and Douxie raced to the top of the school to get a good view and you saw the Nyarlagroth circling the school.

“When Jim was in the darklands he stopped one by overwhelming it’s sense of smell,” you explained. “We need to find something that will do that.”

“This is a school, there’s got to be tons of  gross laundry here,” Douxie suggested.

You bit your lip. “I hope this works.”

“Me too,” Douxie sighed, looking one last time at the beast. His aura was buzzing with worry.

“We’ve got this,” you said, pulling him back down the stairs. The two of you went looking for the laundry and you plugged your nose as you levitated it out of the school. “This should be fine.”

“Good.” Douxie chuckled. “I hope these kids won’t be mad about us feeding their stuff to the Nyarlagroth.”

“I think they’ll be fine.” You set the hampers down to catch a breather. “Okay, I’ll go across the street and when the Nyarlagroth comes around be ready to fling this stuff into its mouth.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Douxie said, jokingly saluting you.

You gave a small smile before running across the street, levitating your baskets behind you.

You heard the Nyarlagroth before you saw it. Hiding in an Alley you levitated the hampers and got ready to shove them into the beast’s mouth.

It roared and you sent the disgusting laundry flying into its mouth. You watched as Douxie’s hampers flew in after yours.

It froze and you took it distraction as an opportunity.

“Douxie blast it, I’m gonna go stab it!” You explained, ever eloquent.

You leapt into the air and onto the Nyarlagroth’s back. You felt the beast shift as Douxie began to blast it. Quickly you located a space between its scales and you squeezed your eyes closed as you thrust your sword into it. You pushed it into the hilt and watched as it slowly turned to stone. You felt bad, but you knew it would kill everyone if given the chance.

You floated off the Nyarlagroth and down to the ground where Douxie hugged you.

“We did it!” He celebrated. “You did amazing.”

“Thanks, but we both did amazing.”

You high fived in celebration. The Nyarlagroth was now a pile of useless stones and the People of Arcadia were mostly saved.

However, the celebration couldn’t last long. You had work to do. You and Douxie placed anti gumm-gumm sigils around the house and then went to go look for more people. Soon you had gathered quite a few and you were bringing them back to the cool when you saw a horde of goblins.

Stood to challenge them while Douxie got the people inside. The goblins charged at you and you blasted a few before they got too close.

The leader leapt up at you and you sliced him with your sword. This only angered the rest of them causing them to fight with more vigor. But you were fighting for the safety of your town.

Soon Douxie joined you, bashing the goblins with his guitar that he had kept. It was a little battered by now, but it made for a good weapon.

You fought goblin after goblin, but there always seemed to be more of them.

They suddenly stopped attacking though and you noticed a change in the air. The goblins looked at each other then at you and Douxie who had your weapons arrived.

They turned and ran. You were tempted to go after them, but you realized that you couldn’t do much against that many goblins. You should have to save that problem for later.

“What do you think happened?” Douxie asked.

Red lightning came out of nowhere and hit a gumm-gumm which shattered into a pile of rocks. “I think Jim killed Gunmar!” You exclaimed.

Now that the street was clear you and Douxie went to check on the Arcadians. After you were sure they were good the two of you can off to the canal. The both of you were worried that the Eternal Night hadn't ended.

You didn't have your car so you wouldn't be able to drive. Instead the two of you ran.

You arrived to see Claire, Jim, Toby, Aaarrrgghh, and Blinky looking at a giant crack in the ground.

You looked into it and saw the heartstone, but it wasn't warm and happy orange anymore. It was a cold gray.

"What happened?" You asked, aghast. You had spent so much wonderful time in Trollmarket now it was destroyed.

"Gunmar happened," Blinky said, bitterly.

"What are you going to do now? " you asked.

"We're gonna look for a new Heartstone. Merlin mentioned that there would be one in New Jersey," Jim said.

"New Jersey?" You asked, shocked.

Jim avoided your eyes. "Yeah."

"I'll miss you," you said, hugging him.

"I'll miss you too," he said.

~~~~

After you had met with Jim Claire and Toby and they had told you their side of the battle and you told yours, you went to see your mom who was sanding on the cliff overlooking Arcadia. The two of you were waiting to say goodbye to Jimo. You knew he had to go to New Jersey, but it still hurt you to see him go.

Merlin arrived and he looked out over Arcadia. There was smoke billowing over some buildings and while it looked sad and hopeless, but you knew it would be okay.

You gently stroked the kitten you had saved from the Nyarlagroth. You had decided to adopt the kitten, though you didn’t have a name for the darling fluff ball.  

You were spooked out of your thoughts by some rustling behind you. You turned around to see Jim. You tried to hold back your tears.  You hadn’t even said goodbye yet and you were already missing him.

He went over to you and your mom and hugged the two of you. “I promised I’d never leave you,” he said.

“Honey, I knew this day would come, I just...never knew when,” your mom rubbing yours and Jim’s back. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

You heard your mom sniff and you knew she was crying. Your own tears began to fall. “Just call often,” you sniffed.

“Everyday. Twice. Text. Now and then?” Your mom added.

“Of course, guys. I love you,” Jim said, also sniffing.

“Not more than I love you kiddo,” your mom chuckled.

You heard more rustling and sawBlinky arrive. “Are you ready, Master Jim?” He asked coming over to you.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Jim sighed, letting go of you and your mom, but keeping your hands.

“I don’t know what tomorrow brings, but with our Trollhunter by our side, I don’t fear it either,” Blinky said,  putting his hand on Jim's shoulder. You smiled, you were glad Jim had someone like Blinky.

“I really appreciate that, Mr. Blinky,” you mom said.

You heard more rustling and saw Claire and her parents arrive.

She walked over to Jim. “Claire, I can’t ask you to—“

“You didn’t ask,” Claire said and you were so glad Jim had such a great boyfriend.

“She has enough credits to graduate early,” Claire's mom said. “We’re treating this as some time abroad.”

“As long as she comes back soon,” her dad said.

“Well, congratulations, Claire,” You said, high fiving her. You wondered how it was possible for a sophomore to have accomplished that.

Jim laughed and you jumped a little as Strickler came flying by. He landed by your mom. “Good luck, Young Atlas.”

Jim smiled at the three of you and slowly let go of your mom’s hand as he walked away.

“You did good raising him, Doc,” NotEnrique consoled. “Here’s a thousand new babies to raise.”

“What?” Strickler asked as NotEnrique handed your mom the cradle stone.

“Have fun with that, you two,” NotEnrique called, running away so they couldn’t give the stone back.

“Wait!” Strickler called.

“This’ll be fun,” you muttered and your mom patted your back.

“Wait! Wait for me!” Toby yelled as he came running up to the group in his War Hammer armor. “Boy, these goodbyes are tough, you know. Nana wanted me to take Mr. Meow Meow P.I., but he does not travel well. What?”

“Tobes...you have to stay.” Jim said, kneeling down.

“What?” Toby asked and you felt really, really bad for him. “You’re going on a quest. I love quests. We go everywhere together.”

“I’m hurt, Claire lost her Shadow Staff. We need you here to protect Arcadia.”

“No, Wingman,” Aaarrrgghh said, coming up to Toby. “I help. I stay.”

Blinky gasped then nodded, accepting it. Their air was thick with bittersweet goodbyes and you felt a few tears fall.

“So, you’re staying with me-” Toby gestured to you and Aaarrrgghh “-and you’re leaving,” he summarized, gesturing to Claire, Jim and Blinky.

“But we’ll be back. Someday,” Jim promised as you handed the kitten to your mom and walked over to them with Claire. The four of you were pulled into a group hug.

“You better,” Toby sniffed.

“And then we’ll get tacos,” Jim said, chuckling.

“And enchiladas,” Claire added.

“We sure found that adventure. Right, Tobes?” Jim asked and you smiled through your tears.

“I’m really glad we took the canal that morning,” Toby agreed.

The four of you stood. “Keep Arcadia safe,” Jim requested. “You’re its only Trollhunters now.”

Nomura walked over and hugged Toby. “I still don’t like you.”

“I know,” Toby cried. You began to quietly shed your tears as your friends and little brother walked away into the forest.

They stopped and you watched as Merlin pulled out the Eclipse Blade and you noticed that it was broken. “I believe this belongs to you, Trollhunter.”

Merlin used his magic to fix it and Jim grabbed it. They looked back one more time and you waved a sad goodbye.

****

Thank yall so much for reading and liking my writing!! It makes me so happy to see your positive feedback!! It was super bittersweet writing this chapter. I know there will be more, but it felt sad writing the scene where they leave. Anyways, I really hope y'all have a wonderful day/night!! And stay safe!! 💙💙

Also I haven't though if a name for the kitten yet, so if you have any suggestions I'm open.

P.S. if you want to be on the taglist feel free to ask. I hope it works and please message me if it doesn’t.P.S. if you want to be on the taglist feel free to ask. I hope it works and please message me if it doesn’t.

P.P.S. I'm totally open for requests on fluffy half chapters! If you have any ideas for the half chapters send them in and I'll do my best to include them.

[youremeimyou]

Promise Me(pt.1)

Part 1 - Part 2

pairing: Park Jimin x reader (ft. Kim Taehyung) genre: Fluff, angst and just drama.. word count: 5k warnings: alcohol consumption

Description: Y/N is Jimin’s longest and best friend. Certain feelings are caught and meanwhile, Jimin accidentally sets Y/N up with his other best friend. But not before getting her to make him a promise.

A/N: Lately, The image of Jimin being all tipsy in his ‘Saint Laurent’ t-shirt in that bring the soul episode has been either leaving me sleepless or appearing in my dreams. Gosh, whatta man.. So that infired me to write this story:) I hope you enjoy! I’d be really glad to have your feedback. Here, bless your eyes with the image I’m talking about:

The boy’s dorm building was only across the road from the girl’s. And that wasn’t exactly a long walk for Y/N on a normal day. But this freezing winter night couldn’t be considered that normal. Plus, Y/N had to fight against the strong wind that nearly knocked her out of her feet more than once. All of the snow piled up on the ground wasn’t helping either. Again, on a normal day she would’ve loved walking on snow. But at that moment, she just wished to somehow activate her inner mutant so that she could teleport there or something.

If only she wasn’t too lazy to tidy up her room a little bit, it could be Jimin who was trying to make his way to her place right now. Maybe a bit of a selfish thought. But on the bright side, he would have the wind on his back, maybe even help him move faster as it blew from behind him.

It was then that Y/N felt a presence, swiftly moving towards her. Or rather, running up at her. She couldn’t see much through the huge scarf covering most of her face. So, assuming the presence would be a stranger, she engaged attack mode. As she was flopping her arms and legs without even managing to land them anywhere on the guy, the guy easily held her arms in place, not applying much force.

“Relax Y/N, it’s me.”

Ah.. the sweet, soothing voice of Park Jimin.. A little shakey probably from all the cold, a bit small and hard to hear through the blizzard. Nonetheless, it still made Y/N’s worries go away.

“Oh, sorry Chim. I couldn’t see it was you. Did I get you?”

Jimin laughed a high pitched laugh.

“Well, you hit me pretty hard but I guess I’ll live.” he teased her. Meanwhile, Y/N adjusted her scarf to be able to see him properly. His cheeks were all red and his lips almost went purple. Thankfully he had a big beanie with ear flaps to protect his sensetive little ears, Y/N thought. Although an ill and whiney Jimin was cute, exams week was closing up on them. Y/N made plans in her mind to prepare some of her mom’s magical power up soup for both of them, just in case.

“C’mon let’s go inside.”

With Jimin’s arms wrapped up around her, the wind didn’t stand a chance. They quickly went through the door and ran up the stairs to his room. As soon as they were inside, the warmness of the room welcomed them. Y/N loved and despised this room at the same time. Because it smelled way nicer, was way bigger and way warmer in the winter than her own. Well.. Jimin always was the lucky one of the duo. And Y/N had been taking advantage of that for over a decade.

“So, what were you doing outside in this blizzard?”

“I saw last minute that I had lots of booze and very few snacks. And I know better than to not give a certain snack monster what she craves. So I went out to quickly take care of that.” He sent a wink her way. Little action, but a power move.

Y/N saw him taking off his backpack and appreciated the apparent fullness of it. She couldn’t hold herself back from reaching it to grab a starter. Somewhere along the movements their hands came into contact with one another.

“Woah Y/N, you’re freezing! Come here.”

Jimin led the both of them to the couch where a blanket was already present. They wrapped it around themselves and Jimin took Y/N’s hands in his, rubbing them gently. Blowing his warm breath on them every now and then. Looking at her with the softest eyes. It was moments like this that reminded Y/N how she was a doomed, doomed girl. Jimin was maybe the biggest tease she knew. Used on others, it was flirtation. On her, it was the affection he had for his longest, most valued friend. Y/N knew the difference between the two situations. But that just didn’t help the way she felt.

“Booze’ll help us get warmer faster. Let’s get this party started already.” Y/N made an escape towards his mini fridge to get the drinks. “Did you pick a movie yet?”

“No.. I thought we could just chat tonight. We don’t really get the chance to have our customary deep conversations that much anymore. You know, just the two of us.”

“Oh? I thought it made you upset when the gang leaves you alone like this.”

It was true that Jimin didn’t like being alone the least bit. After their meet-ups with their friends when everybody would leave at some point, Jimin would whine and beg Y/N to stay more. “C’mon, a bit more.. let’s lay down.” he’d say. “Wait till I fall sleep?” And of course she would. Everytime.

“But I’m not alone, you’re here. Besides, Christmas Eve kinda became our thing by now, didn’t it?”

For the last two Christmases, both of their families were always either working or on vacation somewhere. There were no gatherings to celebrate the event. So, they didn’t go home for the holidays and spent it in the dorms. And since all of their close friends went back home, Y/N and Jimin were left on their own. They decided to have their own little celebrations where only themselves were invited. This year was also the same. It was starting to become tradition at this point.

That was actually how it all started for Y/N. The first Christmas Eve they spent alone, something happened. A wire in Y/N’s mind changed. And she was trying to deal with that ever since. Hoping tonight wouldn’t make everything worse.

Y/N was setting up the coffee table with the drinks and snacks. Jimin had already started with some champagne. He downed the first glass in one go. Then poured another one for himself. After that he opened up a bottle of soju for Y/N, as he knew she liked starting off with that. They could both hold their liquor but Jimin was drinking even faster than usual. And after a while that made him get very tipsy very soon. He was going all out tonight.

“Hey, I meant to tell you. I signed us up for the Spring Musical Project. Since we’ll be self producing most of the parts, I thought you’d want to know early on. Maybe you wanna get started on the scores.”

“Wow there, Chimmy! I thought we had to audition for that. And also why am I the one working on the scores may I ask?”

Jimin giggled when he noticed her glaring at him with squinted eyes.

“Hmph.. Not after I convinced Mrs. Bora we don’t. And I’ll try to help you out in anyway I can but music making’s your specialty, sweety. We’ve been partnering in crime for like 15 years. I thought you knew by now that I’m the charm and you’re the brains.”  

Jimin reached forward to tweak her cheek. Because of Y/N’s sensetive skin, the spot immediately turned red.

“Did that hurt?”

“Nope, not a bit.”

Jimin smirked.

“Good. Let’s even out the colors, then.”

He slided down from the couch to the floor, next to where Y/N was sitting. He was now pinching both her cheeks, making cute incoherent sounds. Annoying the hell out of Y/N.

“Cut it out Chim, or else.”

“Or else what?” he teased her.

She countered the attack by tickling him. His tummy and waist were his week spots and she knew that. It turned into a playful scuff and after some time Y/N won by pinning Jimin lightly on the ground. With the help of her body on top of his, of course.

“Okay, okay hahah.. you win ah- just stop tickl-“ he hiccuped suddenly from all the laughing. “..tickling me.” That was when she spared him from the torture. And that hiccup had to be the cutest thing she ever heard. Plus, his eyes had dissappeared from laughing too hard and he looked so… Then she realized how she was on top of him, completely pressed against his body and it was all too much. She tried to get up but her balance was off because of the alcohol in her system. As she stumbled between falling and standing, Jimin managed to get a hold of her from where he was sitting.

“You’re about to face-plant on the floor, Y/N. C’mere.”

He pulled her back on the ground and sat her between his legs. Y/N was tipsy but Jimin was drunk. He put his chin on her shoulder as he backhugged her. His speech was sluggish by this point.

“No one else has this, do they?” His hands went to her arms, then down to her hands to link them with his own.

“This.. what we have, I mean.”

“Jimin, what-“

“Even couples don’t have.. this. I’ve never been this carefree with any of my girlfriends. I could never have this much of a good time without thinking about anything else. We become very aware of our actions and like.. what they could mean or something, in a romance based relationship. But I don’t even think with you. I just know you get me. I dunno- does that make sense?”

Y/N could feel the air around them getting thicker.

“Yeah, but why-“

He turned her head slightly so that he could look her in the eyes.

“Y/N. This is serious, okay?” When he didn’t continue, Y/N slowly nodded so that he would.

“Promise me you’ll never have this with anyone else.”

“Jimin, why-“

“Do you promise?”

It was suffocatingly silent. Y/N knew what her answer was instantly. But she had no clues as to why Jimin would ask that. Or why he was being like this tonight…

“Okay, I do.”

Jimin’s stiffened look slowly softened after that. He wasn’t staring at her dead in the eyes anymore, either. Instead he had averted his gaze to the wall across the room.

“Taehyung likes you.”

Y/N jumped up with shock. A few seconds later, she sat back in front of him. This time facing him with a look that screamed confused as fuck.

“Jimin, what are you talking about?”

“He’s liked you for a long time now. He’d murder me if he knew I told you. But I had to. He might be my best friend but you’re my- well, bestest friend. Just don’t say anything to him about it.”

Taehyung was Jimin’s other best friend. He came into Jimin and Y/N’s lives in highschool. And after the two boys moved in as roomates in freshman year of college, they had become like brothers. Their characters were weirdly compatible. Jimin liked to be teasing and flirty but he was actually just cute as hell. Taehyung was shy and giggly but unknowingly he was sexy as hell. And Y/N did have an undeniable crush on him during the end of highschool and the beginning of college. But ever since things changed for her on the Christmas Eve of freshman year, she had forgotten about that.

Christmas Eve, two years ago was a night just like this one with Jimin and Y/N drinking and alone. Except, the faint sound of Empire Strikes Back could be heard from the TV. They weren’t exactly paying attention to it, both had seen it billions of times.

Jimin was nearly falling asleep with his head on Y/N’s lap. And Y/N had her attention on his hair. Running her hand through it in hopes to help him relax. Because Jimin had broken up with his girlfriend, earlier that evening. When Y/N asked if he’d wanna talk about it, their conversation went a little something like this:

“What’s there to talk about?”

“I mean, you guys didn’t really look like you were having issues. And you never told me that something was wrong. I just don’t get why you’d call it quits.”

“I didn’t wanna reflect this on you. But I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.” He sighed and continued. “The fact that I have this close of a relationship with you had been bothering her for a while now. You know, because you’re a girl. And I’m tired of trying to explain it. Maybe no one but us can understand this.”

“So, you dumped her?!”

“No! I wouldn’t do that, you know me. I wanted to work it out but she.. asked me to choose her over you. And when I couldn’t, she just ended it.”

She wasn’t actually the first girl to ask that of Jimin. But it was the first time he talked to Y/N about it.

“Jimin.. I’m so sorry about that. Look, I’ll be more careful in the future. I’ll talk to her if you want-”

“No, Y/N. It’s okay. I already let her go.”

“But I thought you said you loved her.”

Jimin closed his eyes and turned away from Y/N before he said what he said next.

“I don’t love her as much as I love you.”

And that sentence made Y/N lose her shit. She was freaking out, trying not to take it the wrong way. And she knew that Jimin probably meant it in the most innocent way but her stupid heart wasn’t getting it. It didn’t make her think Jimin was in love with her. It just made her realize that maybe she wanted him to be. And so, her life had been very complicated after that night. Everything was the same except she now had feelings for her best friend. Perfect…

Tonight though, she just learned a brand new information and had no idea what to do with it. Also, she couldn’t make sense of the way Jimin delivered that information either.

“Jimin. If that’s true, then why are you telling me? And why now?”

“I guess the answer to both is because I’m drunk enough right now.”

Jimin got up, walked to his bed and plumped down on it.

“I wanted to say that- ugh I don’t wanna sound awkward.”

He just cared about her more than anyone. Because Y/N didn’t really find dating around easy or preferrable, there haven’t been any serious situations where he’d have to worry about her being hurt. But this time was different because he knew she had liked Taehyung in the past. The idea of things changing was stressful for Jimin. At least he got her to promise that they wouldn’t change.

“I guess I’ll be okay with it if you guys ever progress into anything.. more? Yeah.. Let’s go to bed. Tomorrow’s Christmas!” And with that, he lied down, loudly yawning and getting ready to sleep.

Normally Y/N would lie down next to him and cuddle. Jimin was a natural hugger. And although Y/N made it look like she didn’t like skinship at first, there was no way Jimin would buy that. He always remembered a little girl who’d come to him for hugs when she was sad, not caring about seeming strong around him. 

But tonight, Y/N went to sleep on the other bed instead. Because frankly, Jimin had annoyed her. He had just told her she was allowed date people, as long as she promised not to care about them more than Jimin himself. That was just selfish and inconsiderate in Y/N’s eyes. Cuz it wasn’t like he ever asked Y/N’s consent when he was the one dating people.

She decided to just sleep on everything that happened. So she closed her eyes and pulled the covers over herself. That was her first time falling asleep on Taehyung’s bed.

—–

The next morning –afternoon, really- she was being called back to consciousness by a deep but muffled voice with a tall figure hovering over her. But she didn’t wanna get up yet. That’s why she closed her eyes that were barely even opened in the first place and burried her head under the sheets. Only to be welcomed by the balmy fragrance belonging to the owner of the bed she was in. The scent could easily pull her back to dreamland but the deep voice just wouldn’t go away. Then a hand softly made contact with her shoulder, nudging it only a little.

“Yeah, what?”

“Y/N, wake up it’s me.” Y/N’s brain slowly started to decipher the deep voice. It sounded more and more familiar until it clicked. Taehyung.

She made a quick move to turn around and straigthen up on the bed. But since Taehyung was hovering over her and didn’t expect her to get up so suddenly she crashed into him. They bumped heads and it was both an embarrassing and a slightly painful experience.

“Sorry I- I’m so stupid-”

Taehyung couldn’t help but giggle.

“No, it’s okay. Are you okay?”

Y/N was also smiling. “Yeah..” Then she remembered who she was talking to and who’s bed she was in. Panic crept up to her brain in mere seconds. What was he gonna think about finding her in his bed, all messy and obviously hungover?

“Sorry I woke you. Your mom called. She couldn’t reach you. I guess Jimin was M.I.A for a while too, so she tried me. Lucky I came back early and found you. She sounded worried, maybe you should give her a call.”

Y/N’s mom had a habit of making a fuss when she couldn’t instantly reach Y/N. She searched for her phone, scanning through the bed with her hands. Until Taehyung reached over to the nightstand behind his bed. Doing this made his chest hover over Y/N once more, but this time at a much closer proximity cuz he was now sitting on the bed. He looked at Y/N and saw her stiffened posture because of that closeness, as he was pulling back.

“Oh, sorry.” His face was visibly getting redder. “Here.” He held out her phone. That’s right Y/N thought. She had put it there before going to sleep. As she was taking it from his hand, she saw how he was staring at the ground, timidly. He even scooted over to the other side of the bed to put the distance he unknowningly closed, between them again. And that summarized his sexy but shy character up perfectly, Y/N thought.

She decided to just text her mom instead of calling. It might’ve had something to do with being a little bitter about how her mom was always busy with other things on mostly every Christmas. Meanwhile she glanced over to Jimin’s bed and found it was empty. She thought about texting him. But then, her eyes landed on the coffee table and saw his phone was still there, where he left it last night. She found it to be strange. Why would he be in such a hurry that he’d forget his phone, on a free day like Christmas day?

What she didn’t know was Jimin had woken up in the middle of the night, feeling cold. When he realized the space next to him was empty, he looked around to find Y/N sleeping soundly on Taehyung’s bed. So that’s why he was cold. She had never slept anywhere but next to Jimin in all the times she stayed over. But as soon as he revealed Taehyung liked her, there she was, under the covers and all that. He hadn’t been able to sleep until the morning after that. So he had just up and left to clear his head.

“By the way, sorry for crashing on your bed. I uh- I know it looks weird-”

“Wha- No, it’s okay.” Taehyung could only appreciate the sight in front of him. “I knew you were gonna spend Christmas Eve with Jimin again, I knew you’d be here.” The twist was, he expected to find them curled up in Jimin’s bed as usual. But with him gone and with Y/N on this bed, he could sense something was up. He wasn’t gonna press about that, though. And Y/N appreciated it.

“So, why are you back so early?”

“Well, my parents planned a trip for three days including Christmas. But since we have exams coming right after the holiday, I thought I’d skip the whole thing. So we had a very early Christmas breakfast just before they left and I came here.”

“Oh. So you’ve joined the rest of us losers who get to spend the holiday here?” She joked around bitterly.

“Yeah. Kinda sucks how I spent 8 hours to go to and come back from home but I’ve only seen my parents for like 6.”

“At least you had breakfast with them. I haven’t had a proper breakfast since forever.”

It wasn’t like Y/N couldn’t cook or something. There just wasn’t much time for breakfast in their busy lives. With school, part time jobs and always getting up super early, days went by so fast. But today was a free day. And Taehyung had an idea.

“Well, we can actually make breakfast.. right now. Well, it’d be lunch but I’ve been grocery shopping before I came here.”

The offer put a smile on Y/N’s face, exactly as Taehyung wanted to achive.

“Can we make pancakes?”

They started off by searching for a recipe online.

“Got it. Pancakes for 2 persons-”

“We should probably double everything. Since we’re three with Jimin. Three with big appetites.” Y/N was proud of how much they all loved eating to be honest.

“Right, yup. Oh and by the way, do you know where he went off to?”

“Uh.. no.” She was starting to think Jimin left becuse he was upset with her for some reason. Her guess was close enough.

“Well, I’m sure he’ll show in a bit. And we’ll have breakfast ready for him.”

That cheered Y/N up a little. They were now trying to cook with two people in the very cramped up kitchen part of the room which only consisted of a stove, one counter and a mini fridge. It was a mess with Y/N bossing Taehyung around telling him what to do. Taehyung being mischevious and getting flour all over Y/N. Constantly bumping into each other and laughing like crazy. Total chaos but too much fun. And they were getting good looking pancakes as result.

All of this was helping Y/N remember why she had a crush on Taehyung and how it made her feel back then. Between all the giggling, they didn’t hear Jimin opening the door. They did hear the loud bang that came out when he shut it, though. Jimin was obviously not expecting such a view in front of him. He had a confused and somewhat hurt look on his face until he saw that the coffee table was set up for three people. He also saw his phone was there which was another relief for he had thought he dropped it somewhere.

“Taehyung, you’re already back?” He was talking to Taehyung but looking at Y/N.

“Yeah. No Christmas at home for me either this year. C'mon let’s dig in before the pancakes get cold.”

Only two types of conversation happened as they ate. Between Taehyung and Y/N. And between Taehyung and Jimin. Until Y/N decided to break it.

“Chim, where were you all morning?”

“I couldn’t really sleep from the cold all night. So I went to the coffee shop as soon as it was morning, to get warmer.” That was a figurative rock thrown at Y/N for not cuddling him, despite knowing how sensetive he was to cold. She rolled her eyes. But even though she had done it to kinda punish him last night, it still made her feel bad.

“Guys I should get going. Gotta take care of some school stuff.” Y/N said as she got up to walk to the door. “But tonight, I’m hosting Christmas dinner and you both have to come, no excuses.”

Jimin smiled sincerely -for the first time that day- at how she could easily get bossy and motherlike.

“You’ll also be required to have some of my mom’s magic soup I’ll make to protect us from the cruel winter, so be prepared.” And with that, she walked out. Jimin’s eyes watched her with adoration as she left. But his face dropped when he saw Taehyung had the same expression.

“Bro, I wish you were here this morning when I came in.”

“Why?”

“Cuz I kinda freaked out when I saw her all snuggled up on my bed. I hope she didn’t notice.”

“I think it went okay, Tae. You guys had alone time like you wanted.”

“True. I just get so nervous, man. But I think there was something there while we were cooking together. I hope I’m not being crazy.”

There was something, alright. And it was all thanks to Jimin and his big mouth. But why was it this hard to even think about these two people he cared deeply for, becoming closer?

It was nearly evening when Jimin saw Taehyung getting ready, trying extra hard to look good. While Jimin himself was relaxed on his bed.

“Dude, going somewhere fancy?”

The confident Taehyung posing stiriking looks at the mirror, instantly turned into a giggly kid at Jimin’s comment.

“Well, dinner time’s closing in. I thought I’d go over to Y/N’s a bit early and maybe help out?”

“Oh..” Jimin got up at once. He was quickly getting ready, putting some casual clothes on in a rush and talking at the same time.

“Uhh, actually I’m supposed to go earlier because we were gonna work on some moves for the Spring Musical thing. I should probably hurry over there.” Jimin moved at lightning speed towards the door.

“O- Okay.. I should let you guys focus then, I’ll be over later.”

He was thoughtful despite being dissappointed so Jimin turned back just as he was about to leave.

“Sorry, bro. Thanks.” he said and darted out.

When Y/N answered her impatiently knocked door, she didn’t expect to find Jimin, looking soft in his oversized hoodie but staring her up with a fierce demeanor. Curse and bless that duality.

“Hey, angel.” He let himself in. “Do you need any help with the dinner?”

“No, I already have everything ready. But you can set up the table, Chimmy.”

Y/N was glad they didn’t seem to be at odds anymore. Neither of them was good at staying mad at the other.

Jimin went over to the little cupboard where he knew the utensils were and brought two sets of everything to her little table. Y/N thought of it to be habit, as it was just the two of them mostly. So she grabbed and placed another serving on the table, herself.

“Hey we should call Tae over before dishes go cold.”

Jimin rolled his eyes. “Right, I’ll text him.”

“Can you check if the soup has enough salt?” Y/N was holding out a spoonful of it for Jimin to taste. He leaned in with his mouth wide open but Y/N stopped him suddenly.

“Wait! It’s hot you silly.” She blew on the spoon. “Now you can have it.”

Jimin looked at her fondly before tasting it.

“Mm~ it’s perfect.” He booped her nose and she scrunched it. But she actually loved it when he did that.

“Did you text Tae yet?”

“I’m about to, woman. What’s the rush? Sick of me that easily?” He was whining and complaining like a child, Y/N loved it when he did that, also.

“What’re you talking about? Meals are gonna get cold.”

Jimin did text him finally, but not without frowning.

“Did you and him talk about- you know..?”

“Wh- No! Why would I bring that up? You shouldn’t either. Ever.” Y/N felt flustered enough as it was. After finding out about Taehyung’s feelings, she had become confused about her own.

“Why? Don’t you like him as well?”

“Jimin- Can we drop the topic? He might walk through the door any second!”

“No, he’d knock first. Even I knock.”

And he did knock. Right at that second. Y/N ran to answer it, all the while sending Jimin implying looks to get him to keep his mouth shut about the subject.

“Am I late?”

“Nope. Actually right on time.” Right on time for Y/N to escape Jimin’s interrogation.

“I was surprised when Jimin texted this soon. Did you already decide on moves for the musical?”

Jimin’s eyes went wide with panic. Caught in a lie. Fortunately, Y/N caught on quickly and didn’t want any fuss.

“Uh.. well no, not yet. What Jimin came up with was no good.”

Hurtful.. But Jimin let it go because she did just saved his ass there. Although he was sure she’d question him about it later.

Dinner went great with everyone having fun. Then, they were about to move from the table to where the small, shit TV Y/N brought from her family’s old house was. As mentioned before, Y/N’s room was smaller than Jimin and Taehyung’s. So was her couch. If they were gonna watch Home Alone as planned, one of them had to sit on the floor cushion.

After losing rock-paper-scissors Jimin was stuck doing the dishes. Y/N went to the TV to put the movie on and Taehyung took a seat on the couch, waiting for her to join him when she was done. But Y/N sat on the cushion instead, trying to be polite to her guests. As Taehyung was contemplating on how to get her to come up to the couch, Jimin appeared and went straight to sit next to Y/N.

“Guys, isn’t it cold to sit on the ground? Maybe we can all squeeze here.”

“There?” Y/N looked up to him over her shoulder and joked bitterly. “You don’t even believe that.”

“Alright but at least one of you can come up here. Y/N?”

“Nah, I’ll warm us up. C’mere, panda.” Jimin pulled Y/N to him until there was no more space and trapped her in his embrace. Taehyung wasn’t supposed to get jealous. They’d always do that. Cling onto each other any chance they get, casually hold hands and even sleep next to each other. But the eyeing look Jimin occasionally gave him over his shoulder made it seem like all this wasn’t just bff stuff. Taehyung felt that maybe Jimin was trying to keep Y/N away or even, to himself.

After the movie was over, Taehyung excused himself, saying he felt exhausted. He was awake since before sunrise, after all. Actually, so was Jimin but he on the other hand didn’t plan on leaving any time soon. Y/N was seeing Taehyung out, with a smile on her face. Taehyung returned it shyly, eyes on the ground until he gathered the courage to look up at her through the fringe of his hair.

“Thanks for everything. Especially the soup. I had a bit of a sore throat but not anymore. You’re my hero.”

That last part came out with so much meaning, words dipped in his velvety voice. And it made Y/N beam at him.

“You wanna hang out tomorrow?”

Jimin stopped breathing. Of course he was listening in before, while pretending to be on his phone. But right now, they had his full, undivided attention.

It came as a bit of a shock to Y/N as well. It wouldn’t sound like a big deal -just hanging out, if it weren’t for the eager look on Taehyung’s face.

“Yeah..” The word just slipped out of Y/N’s mouth before she could even think.

It was Taehyung’s turn to beam. “Great.” With that, he bid his farewell and left, all the while grinning like a fool.

Y/N was also smiling while closing the door but that was only until she turned around and saw the we’re about to have a serious talk face Jimin had.

“You do know he meant that as a date, right?” Jimin had gotten up from his seat, panicked and jumpy.

“Why did you lie to him about coming here early?”

He scoffed at her attempt to change the subject.

“Because I wanted to talk to you alone, about all this. Would you rather I brought him along?” His voice was loud.

“What more is there to say? You’ve already told me you were okay with it!”

Jimin dropped all of his defenses at that. Because it was true. Why wouldn’t he be? Taehyung was maybe the only guy he could trust with Y/N. So he wasn’t really worried. What was the name of the feeling sitting heavily on his chest, then? He didn’t know.

“I know.” he said in a low voice that sounded like a whisper and sat back down on the couch. “And I want you to feel- I dunno.. happy. I see how you smile at him, too.” He was more mumbling than talking. Because it was hard saying all this, for reasons he didn’t understand. “You know I love your smile.”

Y/N blushed out of nowhere at his last comment. And the upset state of him softened her so she went over to him. Jimin continued:

“I just, I guess I don’t like sharing your smile.. or you.”

Y/N brought her hand on his chin to pull his head up and make him look at her.

“Chim Chim.. you’re worried about nothing.”

He tried to avert his gaze once more but Y/N held it in place.

“Hey, I mean it. Because it’s not even a big deal as you make it out to be and even if it was.. I already promised you, didn’t I?”

Jimin wanted to be relieved. And he pretended to be in that moment and said goodnight shortly after. But as he strolled outside in the cold he felt like there was more he wanted to say to her. He silently promised he would, as soon as he figures it out himself.

…

Author’s note: Hello:) That was long, sorry. I just can’t stop writing this one. Thank you so so much if you bared with me and read it, I hope you liked it. I’ve got more intense stuff planned for the story so this will have at least one more part for sure. What do you guys think? Who should Y/N end up with?

[psychosistr]

Don’t Cost a Thing- Part 7

Summary: Steelbeak makes plans after work to go home and relax- plans that are interrupted by a certain bird waiting by his car to give him the type of attention he’s been asking for. Can he handle what he gets, though?

Notes: Final part of the story and it’s lucky number seven that finally gets Steelbeak what he wants. Enjoy!

-First Part-

Steelbeak forced his body to move as he headed towards his car. One foot in front of the other, each step feeling like he was weighed down with iron shackles. He was friggin’ exhausted and about ready to collapse. Once he got home, he was crawling into bed and not budging for the rest of the day…

Or, at least, that was the plan before he spotted a certain loon in a white coat leaning against the side of his car.

“You look like you could use some rest.” Domino commented while looking his partner over.

“Observation of the freakin’ century there, wise guy.” Steelbeak grumbled as he pulled out his car keys. “So, did ya need somethin’, or did you come here just t’ tell me I look like crud?”

“Can’t it be both?” His partner asked sarcastically.

“With you, yeah..” Steelbeak sighed and resignedly leaned against the side of the car too. “So, whattaya want, stripes?”

Domino looked down at his clothes for a moment, straightening out one of his sleeves. “I wanted to thank you for the coat. I don’t know how you managed to get it fixed, but I’m impressed by the workmanship.”

“Eh, don’t mention it.” Steelbeak shrugged indifferently, trying to stifle a yawn at the thought of how long he spent at the tailor’s shop last night. “I know a guy that does good work for supervillains & master criminals and don’t ask no questions..” He brushed some lint off of his sleeve as he spoke. “I was gettin’ mine fixed up and figured, hey, I was there anyway..”

Domino nodded slightly, neither of them really looking at the other. “You’ll have to introduce me sometime.” Things were quiet for a minute or two, neither one saying anything. Just as Steelbeak was about to ask if there was anything else- “Do you have any plans tonight?”

“Huh?” Steelbeak blinked twice, a confused look on his face as he finally lifted his gaze to look at his partner again.

“I asked if you have any plans tonight.” The darker bird repeated while meeting the taller bird’s eyes with a slightly raised brow. “We have at least a day or two before high command calls us for another mission. Have you made any plans yet?”

Steelbeak gave a tired laugh at the question. “Are you kiddin’? The only plans I got involve me, a bed, and the sand man!”

“Oh?” The corner of that dark beak curled up slightly in a smirk, but it was different from the normal ones the fowl was used to. There was something familiar about it, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. “Do you think Mr.Sand-man would mind too much if I cut your visit with him short?”

The larger bird blinked in confusion again. “Huh?” That was twice in one conversation he’d been unable to say anything else- either Steelbeak was way more exhausted than he thought, or those red eyes were doing something to his head.

Then again, it could have been both with the way Domino was looking him over- as if he was mentally picking him apart like usual, but he actually LIKED what he saw this time. “It’s just that I’d hate to interrupt such a lovely evening, but I know a nice seafood place by the bay that I’d hate to visit alone.” That smirk shifted into something a bit different- something more charming that made Steelbeak’s heart skip a beat when those red eyes trailed back up to meet his gaze again. “So, do you think you could cut your evening with the sand man short?”

He suddenly realized where he knew that look from: It was from the few times they’d gone out to a bar together. It was the look he would use on some random guy that caught his eye. It was that charming smile and gaze in his eyes that won over nearly any man he approached.

It was Domino’s flirting look.

Steelbeak almost let another “huh?” cross his beak, but he managed to catch it at the last minute. What came out wasn’t any more eloquent, though. “I..uh…yeah..?” What the heck kind of answer was that?! Did his brain just short-circuit or something?!

He heard a low chuckle from the loon and watched as he pushed himself off of the car and turned to walk away. “I’ll take that as a yes. Meet me at my car at 8:15 and wear something nice.” The metal-beaked bird was about to make an indignant comment about how he always did, when Domino turned his head to look at him from over his shoulder with one eye and that same charming look on his face. “Oh, and for the record-” He winked at the taller bird, silencing him completely. “I like to go dutch on the first date.” He turned away again and walked off. “See you tonight.”

Steelbeak didn’t move a muscle for a long, long, LONG time after Domino left.

He couldn’t.

His heart was beating way too fast, his face under his feathers felt way too warm, and he swore that if he tried to walk now he’d probably just trip over his own feet.

He hadn’t felt like this since he was a kid with his first crush on a cute chick! (A literal chick, but that was a story for another time)

After a few minutes, Steelbeak finally managed to force his body into the car (after fumbling for a good thirty seconds with the key) so that he could properly collapse into the seat and take a moment to wonder-

“WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!!” Thankfully he’d closed the door to the car before loudly asking that question to no one in particular. He ran a hand over his comb to push it back, giving a nervous laugh. “Seriously, what the heck? He just smiles at me and I go turnin’ t’ mush? What am I, a rookie?” Still, it was hard- perhaps impossible- for him to think of that charming smile and that coy look in the shorter bird’s eyes (FINALLY!) being sent his way and NOT get flustered over it. “Geez…” He leaned against the steering wheel and sighed. “Fine mess ya got yourself in this time, ain’t it?” Despite his words, it was hard to ignore the smile on his face. He wasn’t sure what changed between them, or what he finally did right to get that sort of attention from his partner, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Like heck I’m gonna be able t’ sleep after that..” He muttered to himself while starting his car, his mind already running a mile a minute as he tried to figure out what to wear later.

He briefly wondered about stopping by a shop on the way home to pick up a gift for tonight, but, as a song on the radio played in the background, he finally pieced together the one thing he’d been missing and it made him chuckle while bypassing the stores. A simple concept that he’d never once thought of before meeting his grouchy, clever, hands-off partner:

Love don’t cost a thing.

<-Previous Part

End Notes: Now that the story’s finished, I can reveal where I got the title from xD I was listening to the song “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” by Jennifer Lopez one day in my car and my mind started creating a scenario involving Steelbeak and Domino where Steelbeak was essentially showing off to try and get Domino’s attention while his partner just scowled and rolled his eyes at his attempts until he started to be less superficial and more genuine with his approaches. The idea soon turned into a full-blown story and, after I got permission, I started writing it out.

I wanted to give another big shout-out and thank you to the amazing @thefriendlyfour / @eleanorose123 for making such a cool OC and allowing me to write something for him- I had so much fun making this and I always love seeing anything he pops up in ^.^ If you haven’t already, go check out her stuff- she’s an amazing writer as well as an insanely talented artist whose work never fails to put a smile on my face after a rough day.

[belphegor1982]

O-kay. *rubs hands* If you’re still reading after the last couple of chapters then oh thank god you trust me you might enjoy this one...

FAIRY TALES AND HOKUM

Summary: 1937: Two years after the events of Ahm Shere, the O’Connells are “required” by the British Government to bring the Diamond taken there from Egypt to England. In Cairo, while Evelyn deals with the negotiations and Rick  waits for doom to strike again, Jonathan bumps into an old friend of his from university, Tom Ferguson. Things start to go awry when the Diamond is stolen from the Museum and old loyalties are tested… (story on AO3; on FFnet)

(Chapters on Tumblr: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)

Chapter 21: Unlooked For and Unhoped For (on AO3 here; on FFnet here)

Tom Ferguson was exhausted, bruised, and in pain, but he was alive. He was still coming to grips with that fact. Frankly, he found it astonishing.

He had barely been aware of Jon screaming on the other side of the wall while the pygmy mummies attacked again. In the utter confusion he had somehow managed to not get hit by blow darts, only get grazed by a knife, and then fall down the same hole O’Connell had disappeared into earlier. Sometimes his luck got so bad it could pass for good fortune.

He landed hard and lost consciousness on impact. When he woke up and took inventory of his injuries, he found a red streak on his side – not deep, thankfully – courtesy of the pygmy mummies, rivulets of blood on his hands from where he had tried to slow down his fall, and an extensive set of bruises on his left side. At least he had not broken anything.

The tablet he had been holding was still whole, too, and fortunately it hadn’t fallen on him. Considering the weight, he half-expected it to be made of stone.

The respect Tom had for the written word plus the natural curiosity that had led him into his chosen profession made him tuck the tablet into his rucksack. The circumstances made him promptly forget about it.

He started making his way down even before his brain decided on what to do. What did he have? No weapon and a whole lot of bruises, his mind helpfully answered. Where does that leave you, you fool?

Jon and O’Connell were still out there, and they would do anything to stop Hamilton. Maybe he could find them again down there and help them.

Tom realised his feet were leading him to the chamber Hamilton had released Anubis’ Army from, and he followed them, ignoring the voice at the back of his brain calling him a twonk for not going the other way.

He wasn’t far from the chamber when he heard the crash and felt the strange, numbing darkness go through him like an accelerated bout of the flu. He only ran harder when he heard the gunshots and felt the floor start to shake.

Jon and O’Connell were nowhere in sight when he sprinted into the chamber. The only people there were Robertson, Collins, and Bennett, the first two trying to lift a big gong off the floor with Bennett pulling on something underneath with all his might.

Tom wasn’t very tall, but he was taller than Bennett, and heftier. He limped his way across the floor, dodging falling debris, and went to help him.

They all stared at him, goggle-eyed.

“Ferguson!?” said Robertson.

“You’re alive!” Collins sputtered. Tom rolled his eyes.

“Not thanks to you idiots. Where’s everybody? And who’s under the gong?”

“The boss,” said Bennett with difficulty, muscles straining. “Your mates shot at the chains holding it to the wall and made it fall on him. Baine took his hit squad and tore off after them.”

Tom couldn’t help a shudder before he rallied himself. Jon had been quite fleet of foot in their dissolute youth, and O’Connell obviously was no slouch either. They would be all right.

They had to be.

“Yeah, well, I’m not cryin’ over the bastard,” he said, evenly enough. “And you should thank them when you get out, because I’m pretty sure knockin’ out Hamilton saved the whole bloody world.”

The three agents shot him doubtful looks, but didn’t object. Maybe they had come to their senses and accepted they had made a right cock-up of things. And maybe, Tom thought with an inner snigger, somewhere, pigs sprouted wings and flew.

When they finally pulled him out from under the gong, it became obvious that Hamilton was a little bit worse than ‘knocked out’. His right arm stuck out at an unnatural angle, and the small pool of blood where his head lay didn’t bode well for his future. However, when Tom reached for his neck to check his pulse, he turned out to be alive.

A larger tremor almost sent the four men joining the fifth on the ground. Robertson, Bennett, and Collins looked at each other.

“This place really is falling apart, isn’t it?” Bennett ventured. Robertson and Collins nodded fervently.

“And we should get the hell out, huh?”

“Probably,” said Tom, still bent over Hamilton. “Hey, can you—”

Hurried footsteps interrupted him. Tom looked up to see the three agents running like hell towards the exit.

He sent a half-pleading, half-exasperated look heavenwards. Then he looked back down at his erstwhile boss.

There was nothing he wanted to do more than crash and sleep for days. But he would have to be alive for that – and be able to look at himself in the mirror afterwards.

With a pained cry, Tom hefted Hamilton’s body on his shoulder in a fireman’s carry, and made for the exit on somewhat trembling legs.

“If you ever wonder who saved your sorry arse,” he snarled between clenched teeth, knowing Hamilton was beyond hearing anything but too tired and furious to care, “I’ll be sure to let you know it was me. And then, you’ll… then you’ll ask, ‘Why on earth did that idiot bother saving a man who ordered him and his friends dead the second he… he didn’t need them?’ And I’ll look at you in your cell – b—because you’ll be in prison, obviously – and I’ll say… I’ll say…”

He stopped, swallowed a mixture of spit and grit, and continued with a grunt, “I’ll say there was no way in hell I would let you get away with it. You… dragged your subordinates into the desert to play with a supernatural army. You set that army on the world without knowing or caring about who they would slaughter. You put Gabriel fucking Baine in charge. You forced me to double-cross the best bloke I ever… ever drank Scotch with. You… You kidnapped my wife, you unbelievable bastard! You’re going to live, and you’re going to jail.”

Halfway up Tom had to stop muttering, needing the breath to put one foot in front of the other and just keep going, despite Hamilton’s dead weight, despite the crumbling pyramid, despite the dust and the tremors. Spite fuelled his muscles, aided by a righteous fury like he had hardly felt before and all the pent-up worry about Liz, Jon, and the end of the world he had accumulated for over a week.

Still, when he finally caught sight of blinding light at the end of the last flight of stairs, tears sprang out of his eyes.

How he made those final few yards, still bent under Hamilton’s weight, he would never know. He barely even noticed the threatening-looking desert warriors in black holding him at gunpoint before his knees gave out and he collapsed on the sand, dropping his boss’s body near him.

In a haze, delirious with exhaustion, he vaguely felt a rumble from underneath the pyramid. It seemed to travel all the way from the centre of the earth to the surface. When it hit, the big blocks of stone that formed the top of the pyramid started to shake; the diamond Hamilton himself had placed between the scorpion statue’s pincers last evening – a century ago – trembled and fell into the collapsing stones, which broke apart, until there was nothing left but rocks and sand.

The Pyramid of Ahm Shere had disappeared.

Tom’s eyes rolled in his head. Everything went black.

When he emerged, he was lying on a carpet in a vast tent, surrounded by wounded agents. Someone had cleaned and patched up the wound in his side and the scratches on his hands – most likely one of the men and women with black clothes and facial tattoos who walked about between them, taking care of injuries with distant efficiency. They had left him his rucksack, although it had been stripped of anything remotely weapon-like. Only his notebooks and his pencil bag remained, half stuck to the tablet still mostly covered in black gunk.

He only realised he was a prisoner when they sent him away into another tent, where he found Robertson, Bennett, McLean, and a few others.

“Don’t tell we’re all that’s left,” he gasped. Hamilton would have a lot to answer for.

Robertson shook his head.

“There must be other tents. Collins survived, too, and he didn’t need the infirmary.”

“Oh. Good.” Tom looked around. “Anyone heard about Carnahan and O’Connell? Do you know if they got out?”

He was met with mostly disdain mingled with disgust. “They almost killed the boss and brought down the pyramid on top of us, and you ask about them first?” Hinckley said, his lip curling. “You bloody traitor.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake…” Tom made to rub his face, looked at his bandaged hands, and changed his mind. “The pyramid was going to collapse anyway, all right?” he exclaimed. “Just before sunrise, when the new moon set. They just stopped Anubis’ Army from taking over the world because Hamilton –”

“Hang on,” interrupted McLean, squinting at him. “How did you know the pyramid would collapse?”

“Because I did my job!” shouted Tom. “I questioned people! I crossed sources! I investigated! Hamilton based his entire operation on fairy tales and hokum, and he didn’t even bother to check if he had the right version of the bloody legend to begin with!”

“But…” Bennett’s voice was hesitant. “But he’s the boss. Surely he knows better, doesn’t he?”

Tom stared at him, floored. Then at the other agents, various shades of uncertainty between them.

“Sod this,” he finally articulated. “I’m out.”

He went to the tent entrance, and carefully – very carefully – drew the flap and looked at the stern-faced young man guarding the tent with a machine gun.

“Excuse me?” he said in Arabic. The man turned and glared at him, but Tom didn’t falter. “I… Are there any news about Jonathan Carnahan and Rick O’Connell? Your allies. Did they make it out of the pyramid? I just want to know if they’re all right.”

The Medjai fixed him with a beady stare.

“Why?” he eventually asked.

“Because we’re friends, believe it or not. And I don’t think they even know I’m still alive.”

The man stared at him suspiciously. “What’s your name?”

“Tom Ferguson.”

“I’ll see what I can do. You’d better not be lying to save your skin.”

Tom thanked him, went back inside, and waited.

And waited.

None of his colleagues talked to him – not that they talked much to each other, either. After a silence that seemed to last hours, someone parted the canvas and entered the tent. Tom scrambled to his feet, clutching the straps of his rucksack despite the bandages. He recognised the man. The first and last time he had seen him had been in the flickering light of campfires and burning tents, standing very tall with a scimitar in hand, staring at Charles Hamilton with fury blazing in his eyes.

In the light of day, Ardeth Bay appeared less tall, more tired, more human. His face was drawn, but his eyes were sharp as he zeroed in on Tom when the guard pointed at him.

“You are Tom Ferguson?” he asked in English with a lilting accent.

Tom gulped in spite of himself. Jon had said the man was intimidating. “Er, yes.”

“You are Tom Ferguson?”

The emphasis puzzled Tom. “Yes, I am – why?”

Ardeth Bay still stared at him, unblinking. “Witnesses say you carried Charles Hamilton’s body out of the pyramid seconds before it collapsed. Did you?”

“I’ll say,” Tom said fervently. “That man needs to get dragged in front of a court. He sorta has to be alive for that. How are Jon and O’Connell?” he added, emboldened by the fact that nobody seemed to want to point a gun or a sword at him. “Did they get out all right?”

The dark eyes flickered, the strong jaw clenched slightly. “Come with me.”

Tom followed him outside, ignoring the questions and protests of the agents behind him. Surprisingly, he was left alone, no gun at his back, hands and legs free of restraints. He walked behind Ardeth Bay silently, gazing around him and accelerating just a little sometimes to catch up with the man’s long strides.

The camp was huge. There was no end in sight to the well-ordered rows of tents. People, camels, and horses passed him by, carrying water, supplies, and what looked like dead bodies wrapped in white cloth. Nobody paid him any attention, but his escort – his captor – was often saluted.

They stopped in front of a smaller tent. After a few words with whoever was inside, Ardeth Bay stepped back, and Rick O’Connell stepped out.

He looked Tom over from head to toe with a dull kind of surprise and said, “…Huh.”

Something Tom hadn’t realised had been tense relaxed somewhere in his ribcage. He gave a small smile. “Hullo, O’Connell. Good to see you. Where’s Jon?”

To his surprise, O’Connell’s face fell. An eerie sense of wrongness started to creep its way into Tom’s heart. He did his best to ignore it.

“He’s, uh… He’s in there,” O’Connell finally said, and as Tom made to go inside he grabbed him by the arm and stopped him. “But there’s something I gotta tell you first.”

Tom looked at the hand on his arm, then at the man’s face. The impression came back in full force.

And then he understood. O’Connell didn’t even need to say it out loud. It was spelled out in his eyes and carved out on the lines of his face.

“No,” Tom said in a small voice, halfway between incredulity and flat out denial. “No. He can’t. He can’t be. That’s not…”

His voice died when Evelyn O’Connell came out of the tent, looking cold and drained of energy. Everything, from her red eyes to her posture, shoulders slumped and arms folded across herself, said what hadn’t been said aloud. Her usually sharp, bright gaze was muted as it slid over him as though he wasn’t fully there.

Ardeth Bay and O’Connell shared a meaningful look before the Medjai Commander slipped away like a shadow, to come back later.

Tom barely noticed. His head was swimming, full of a cold white fog. He stumbled, suddenly dizzy, and almost fell to the ground when a small blond-headed missile crashed into him, yelling inarticulately. In-between insults, curses, and just plain howls of pain, he heard “—traitor, and why did you get out alive and not—” and his brain seemed to stop functioning.

The boy’s face was scrunched up, pinched, looking nothing like the round-faced mischievous child Tom had seen at the bazaar with Jon, what felt like ages ago. His fists were balled up and he looked ready to do some damage – or at least try to – when O’Connell grabbed him by the middle and gathered him in his arms. He talked in Alex’s ear for a little while before the boy wriggled free and ran off. With a sigh, his father went after him.

Tom, still rooted to the spot, breathing too little and too fast, met Evelyn’s eyes. They appeared to soften ever so slightly.

“I’m sorry about Alex,” she said, her voice low and a little hoarse. “We didn’t have time to tell him what happened during the trip and in the pyramid.”

There were a million things Tom wanted to ask or say, but he could barely get air in and out of his lungs. Words just couldn’t get out. They seemed to run into one another, bunch up in his throat, and block everything.

Evelyn ran a hand across her face, then another. The stiffness and the exhaustion remained.

“I’m going to find them. If you… You can say goodbye. If you want to.”

Tom nodded. That seemed to be the extent of what he was currently capable of.

She lay a gentle hand on his arm as she passed. The sensation jolted some life back into him.

It was quiet inside the tent. The light from outside was dimmed and tinged with blue by the fabric. The shade and the silence did him good; his breathing still hitched, but at least he could mostly fill his lungs again.

There was a vague form on the ground, covered by a blanket. That had to be Jon. Tom itched to raise a corner, to make sure – but at the same time he was intimately aware that wild horses couldn’t drag him close enough to that blanket, let alone the body underneath.

Alex hadn’t been wrong, had he? Tom still had no idea what had happened since they had got separated or what had killed Jon, but… If he hadn’t bumped into Jon a couple of weeks ago… If he had seen Hamilton for the lunatic he was earlier… If he hadn’t been such a coward in the first place and said, ‘No, I’m not doing this’…

If.

Tom dropped his rucksack. It hit the ground with a loud thud. Then he sank down, drew up his knees, and let his face fall into his hands.

Nothing mattered for a long time.

.⅋.

Alex’s mouth was dry when he woke up, his nose was stuffy, and his head hurt a little bit. It felt a lot like it had the last time he had caught a cold that had forced him – for real – to miss class for a few days. For a second he wondered where he was, where his mum was, and – because this had been his main preoccupation over the past week – whether his dad and his uncle were safe…

And then it hit him.

Uncle Jon.

Who was dead.

Not knocked out, not taken, not elsewhere, just dead.

And he hadn’t even said goodbye.

Alex’s breath caught in his throat.

He thought of blue eyes twinkling at him over ice cream bought on a street corner; conspiratorial whispers across the dinner table; a comforting arm around his shoulders while Dad yelled at Ardeth about Mum, Imhotep, and the Scorpion King; long conversations about school, myths and legends, King Kong and Captain Blood…

His uncle had always been there, and then, just like that, he wasn’t.

It takes a lot more than a knock on the head to get rid of me, Uncle Jon had said, waving away his concern, and Alex had believed him at the time. Well, he hadn’t exactly been lying, had he?

“Do you want some tea, ḥabībī1?” asked a soft voice. Alex rubbed his cheeks, his skin stiff with salt from dried tears, and shuffled closer.

“Yes, please,” he said dully, sitting with his legs crossed and his back straight out of habit. Imeni was always nice to him, and her ghorayeba2 were to die for. She had made sa‘idi tea3; he watched her deftly pour the strong dark tea into a small glass from a height. As usual, not a single drop fell around the glass.

To his surprise, Alex realised he was hungry, and picked up a ghorayeba. Soon only a few crumbs remained.

He hoped the tea and butter biscuits would help dissolve the thick ball of misery that had settled into his chest, like it usually did.

It didn’t.

“Where’s my mum and dad?” he asked, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms.

Imeni blew gently on her own tea. “Ardeth set up a tent for them not far from here. Maira can take you there, if you want to.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice. Thanks.”

They had the rest of their tea and biscuits in silence. Afterwards, Alex thanked Imeni, still feeling subdued, like he was too tired to raise his voice.

Maira was waiting for him outside the tent, watching him intently, her big dark eyes very bright. Her mum had done her hair in her family’s style, and the many thin braids danced around her face as she moved.

They walked silently for a little while, Alex scuffing at the sand now and then. Then he asked, not looking up, “Do you think dead people really go to Heaven?”

Maira, as usual, considered the question seriously before she answered in Arabic, slowly enough for him to understand, “Maybe not all the dead. If you’ve done something really, really bad, I don’t think you can go there.”

“Bad, like… killed people?”

Maira’s reply was unusually hesitant, even quizzical. “Maybe?”

Uncle Jon had killed people. Mum and Dad had killed people. Maira’s mum and dad had killed people. Somehow, though, Alex couldn’t – refused to – imagine a heaven that denied them entry.

Maybe it was a bad thing to think or say, but a heaven that didn’t want Uncle Jon in it couldn’t be very interesting anyway.

“I hope my Uncle Tamer is in paradise,” she said, her voice low – so low Alex almost didn’t get all the words. Something unexpected pierced the heavy blanket of grief that seemed to dull everything, and it took him a moment to recognise it as sympathy.

“Your uncle’s dead?”

“He fell to the Warriors of Anubis two years ago. My mother cried for a whole day. Sabni was a baby, but I remember.” She tugged at one of her braids and toyed with the pearl at the end. “He had a big laugh, and he told the best stories.”

Alex nodded and tried to swallow the lump in his throat.

“I’m sorry.”

“And I’m sorry about your Uncle Jon.” Maira stopped, gave him a very serious look – Alex was suddenly struck by how much she looked like her father – and said, in English this time, “People die. If they die not, people are not born. We cry and we remember. We tell stories, and they live.”

Alex looked down again.

“I don’t want stories,” he mumbled. “I want him back.”

Then he looked up, and his heart skipped a beat.

There, standing in front of a tent, talking to his dad, was a stout, broad-faced man. He was scruffy and dishevelled, and looked a far cry from the friendly, smiling man from Alex’s memories, but he recognised him instantly.

Alex launched himself at Ferguson, enraged, wanting nothing more than to punch him into the sand. How dare the double-crossing git be still alive, his mind screamed. How dare he just stand there and not even make a show of defending himself. How dare –

Dad picked him up and held him close while he flailed around, and through the mist in his head Alex caught bits of sentences.

The guy had helped. Saved their lives, even, in the pyramid. He was actually a good guy, and had only just heard about Uncle Jon.

Alex didn’t care. He slipped from his father’s embrace and took off at a run. His mum and dad found him kicking a wooden crate. His foot was starting to hurt.

They sat on the crate, took him in their arms, and they talked. And talked.

It took a while before the clawing, snarling thing in Alex’s chest that made him want to keep kicking the crate till his foot fell off calmed down.

When the three of them fell silent, Alex remained snuggled against his dad a while, until someone’s stomach – either Rick’s or Evelyn’s – rumbled. The sound was absurd enough to force a smile out of him.

It turned out that, while Alex had had tea and biscuits with Imeni, neither of his parents had eaten anything since sundown the day before. Since Alex was absolutely not hungry, he insisted on staying in the tent while they went out for food, swearing he would stay where they knew he was, and behave.

“I want to say goodbye to Uncle Jon,” he managed to say around the lump in his throat. Dad gently ran a big hand through his hair and Mum kissed his forehead, and they let him go.

In the tent, somewhat to Alex’s relief, Uncle Jon didn’t look like Uncle Jon – or rather, he looked like Uncle Jon on the mornings he spent at the house, snug in his bed with a blanket pulled up over his head. It was always fun to go wake him up then, no matter how grumpy he got.

Alex’s foot caught in something, dragging him back to the present. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the strap of a big rucksack. Its owner was huddled up a few feet away, knees drawn up, his head in his hands.

When Alex had seen Tom Ferguson, he’d been more or less the same height as Uncle Jon, and larger, but now he looked small, and tired, and utterly miserable.

Alex, feeling quite small, tired, and miserable himself, finally let go of the last remnants of his anger and grudgingly allowed himself to feel a little sorry for the bloke.

“Um,” he began, making Ferguson jump. “I’m, er. I’m sorry about earlier.”

There seemed to be a lot of ‘sorry’ to go around today, he thought.

Ferguson looked up and stared at him bleakly. His face was pinched and his eyes red and puffy, but he wasn’t crying, or had stopped some time ago. Alex found it a relief, and a second later wondered if it was a mean thing to think.

“Mum and Dad told me about…” He swallowed. “About the whole thing. Not the whole whole thing, obviously, there’s always stuff they don’t tell me because I’m a kid and I shouldn’t… You know.”

Ferguson nodded vaguely, still silent. Alex wished he would say something, anything; but he also knew from experience that sometimes, for whatever reason – when you were ill, or shocked, or just too sad – words just… stopped.

His gaze dropped and fell on the rucksack lying on the ground. The top wasn’t fastened and something stuck out, something big and dark in the shape of a rough rectangle.

“What’s that?” Alex asked, natural curiosity – always bubbling near the surface – rising again despite everything. Ferguson gave a small shrug. Alex interpreted it as permission to get a closer look.

Whatever it was, it was heavy, and it was filthy. It appeared to be some sort of tablet wrapped in a kind of dark, sticky crust; when Alex picked at the goo some of it crumbled under his fingers like caked mud. Some of it had already been scraped away on one side, exposing hieroglyphs. Alex conscientiously finished the job, gingerly and patiently, like his parents had taught him, and when he was done cleaning the tablet he stared at the engraved words and tried to make sense of them.

Followers… of the Ruler of… the West…

His heart seemed to stop and start again, only much, much faster. He knew those words. He had seen those words. In fact, he had not even needed to translate them at the time, because, thanks to the Bracelet of Anubis, one glance at the hieroglyphs had spelled it out in his head as though it was written in English.

Followers of the Ruler of the West who are stretched out on your side, lying on your biers, may your flesh rise up, may your bones be put together…4

Alex’s head started to spin, the familiar words dancing in front of his eyes like bright spots when he got up too quickly. It couldn’t be possible. It was too fantastic…

He grabbed the tablet with both hands and shook the rucksack from it. The weight was just as he remembered. The eight-pronged star-shaped lock was barely visible on the cover; the two fasteners shaped like serpents’ heads he had seen Imhotep open with a wave of his hand were bent to the sides, twisted, mangled. Alex reached with a trembling hand, and, holding his breath, sank his fingers into the thick muck on the edge.

He found the edge of a page, and turned it.

The Book of the Dead lay open in his arms.

“Bloody hell,” Alex breathed.

This got Ferguson’s attention. He looked up at Alex, frowning.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice a little croaky.

Alex jumped to his feet and turned to him, still open-mouthed and his eyes open so wide it almost hurt.

“Where…? How…?” No, wait, that wasn’t important. “Do you know what this is!?”

Ferguson blinked. “Not really,” he said. “I thought it had somethin’ to do with the Scorpion King when I picked it up. Then we got attacked, and…” He took a deep breath, rubbed his eyes with the tips of his fingers, and finished, “I just kind of forgot about it. Why?”

“Because it’s the Book of the Dead!” Alex squeaked. “The actual Book of the Dead! Do you have any idea what it can do?”

Ferguson shook his head mutely. Alex stood there, the book in his hands, positively vibrating with excitement.

“It means we can get Uncle Jon back!”

Ferguson’s jaw dropped open.

“…No,” he said, but Alex noticed his head went up and down instead of side to side. “No, wait – that’s not – how –”

“I don’t know how, that’s the magic part, but it works. It works. I brought back my mum with it when Anck-su-namun killed her.”

Ferguson was still staring at the book, brown eyes bugging out. “Your mother… but… Didn’t your mother wake up Imhotep with that book?”

Alex refrained the urge to roll his eyes. Grownups were so slow sometimes.

“Yes,” he said as patiently as he could, “but that was another spell. And she found it at random – she wasn’t looking for anything in particular. I know where the correct spell is, I’ve used it before. I can bring Uncle Jon back!”

He tottered closer to Ferguson, plopped down next to him, and slammed the book on the carpet. Ferguson started at the thump. Alex ignored him and turned the pages, following hieroglyphs with his finger to decipher them until –

There.

He had found it.

And this time, he ruddy well remembered that darn Ahmenophus stork symbol.

The cold anguish nestled in his chest since the morning had turned into a ball of fire that almost took his breath away. It could work. It should work. It had to work.

Ferguson inched closer, staring down at the book.

“But what if… What if it’s too late?” he asked quietly. “What if… I mean, what if he comes back wrong? Or doesn’t come back at all? What if you call somethin’ else?”

The question froze Alex in his tracks and made him feel as though someone had dipped a bucket of ice over him. Maybe Ferguson was right. Maybe it was too late. When he had brought back his mum, only an hour or two had passed since her death. How much time had it been since sunrise?

The ice in Alex’s heart turned to steel. He had the book. Uncle Jon was right there. He just couldn’t at least try.

He took a long, deep breath, and began to read.

O you who keep the gates because of Osiris, I know you and I know your names…5

The Ancient Egyptian words came out slowly, carefully, a little more strongly than they had two years ago. Alex was slightly more certain of his pronunciation this time and he had nothing to distract him – no evil lady trying to deprive him of yet more family members, no weird half-scorpion creature rising from the dead and beating up his dad a few chambers farther. There was only his uncle’s body, somewhere under that blanket. The only other living being was a man who had been an enemy and wasn’t yet a friend, but who mourned like Alex had mourned, and stared at him with eyes as big as saucers and a tiny, wobbling hope.

Alex read on, plodding through the now familiar words.

…Enter the mysterious vault to breathe life into the Weary of Heart, he who sleeps on his left side. Awake the sleeper, so Amun is pleased!6

Alex practically crowed the last “Efday shokran Ahmenophus” and his eyes jumped from the book to the body, his heart hammering in his chest. Beside him, he heard Ferguson’s breath catch.

Tiny pinpricks of light rose from the sand around them, as though picked up by a wind Alex couldn’t feel. Gradually they clustered together in a bright, swirling mass above them, gathering speed, soaking the inside of the tent in warm, amber-coloured light. The blob of light grew thinner and longer and slowly descended before gently settling down through the blanket on the body underneath.

Alex and Ferguson gulped and looked at each other.

Every single one of Ferguson’s “what ifs” was suddenly running through Alex’s mind, bolstered with others and crowding his brain. What if he had read wrong? What if he had mispronounced a symbol? What if –

The blanket trembled, then fell as something that looked very much like a mummy sat up abruptly with a muffled scream.

Ferguson gave a startled yelp.

And despite everything – or perhaps because of everything, and because he was still a tired, sad, and scared ten year old boy – Alex couldn’t help it.

He screamed, too.

.⅋.

1“sweetie”

2Egyptian sweet biscuit / butter cookie, similar to shortbread, often topped with roasted almonds.

3Sa‘idi (literally “from Upper Egypt”) tea is a strong black tea popular in Upper (southern) Egypt, that has to have much more sugar not to taste bitter. Contrast with kushari tea (which is also the name of a pasta, rice, and lentil dish), a light black tea, lightly sweetened, popular in Lower Egypt, and what Abbas was drinking with Tom in chapter 10.

4Followers of the Ruler of the West who are stretched out on their side, lying on their biers, may your flesh rise up, may your bones be put together: that’s not from the Book of the Dead, but from the Book of Gates, an Ancient Egyptian funerary text describing the passage of a soul through the Underworld (with a different goddess at each Gate). I cheated.

5From the Book of the Dead, spell 144. The Tutankhamun exhibition was instructive in more ways than one.

6Okay, this is a hodgepodge of excerpts from the Book of the Dead (the real-world one) and enough tweaking and piecing together to give any student of Egyptology reading this a heart attack. “The sleeper awakes, Osiris-Khentamentiu awakes here with his ka, he who sleeps on his left side, the sleeper!” is from spell 517 (the aforementioned “sleeper” who “sleeps on his left side” – a symbol for death – being the deceased); “I cause Ra to enter Osiris, I cause Osiris to enter Ra. I cause him to enter the mysterious vault, so as to breathe life into the Weary of Heart, the sheltered ba who is in the West” is from spell 182. And the Amun thing? Well, “Amenophis” was the Greek version of the Ancient Egyptian name “Amenhotep”, which means “Amun is pleased”. My own interpretation of the “ahmenophus” that concludes both Jonathan’s inscription in TM and the spell that wakes up Evy in TMR. Told you, heart attacks :D