#there IS an explanation but its very dumb and long

[alittlesylphish]

i made nine-ball into a hot humanoid robot, if anyone cares

[sicksorrows]

more nanami hcs & scenarios !! nsfw & sfw

nanami kento who would shove his fingers down your throat while you're fucking, just so he could hear you struggle.

nanami kento who would cook dinner for you every night. if you ask to cook, he'd make you do the very minimal tasks.

nanami kento who dominates you in bed and acts like a submissive man when you finish having sex

nanami kento who would listen your favourite songs and save them to a secret playlist dedicated to you.

nanami kento ROLE PLAYS. (as much as I hate the thought of professor nanami) he would totally do any type of roleplay: teacher/student, boss/employee, pet/owner, doctor/patient, celebrity/fan and yeah you get it. also he would NOT break character at all.

nanami kento who would take pictures of you before you both head out somewhere

nanami kento who fucks you out of pure jealousy when he sees you talking with someone else, even if its just for a second

nanami kento who changes personalities when hes around you

nanami kento who seduces you to bed instead of going at it right away, he loves foreplay and would savour his time with you before getting to the good part

nanami kento who would stroke your hair and hum your favorite melody while you both lay in bed before you going to bed.

nanami kento is an experimentalist idc how much times im gonna say this he is an experimentalist he would literally try anything and would be willing to do anything to you he. is. an. experimentalist.

nanami kento who kisses your forehead every morning and waits for you to wake up so you could brush your teeth together

nanami kento who would pick up the phone even if hes fucking you, he would try to challenge you to stay quiet as he talks to the person on the other side, while also hitting every right spot.

nanami kento who would cuddle you after he's finished a long day of work.

nanami kento loves semi public sex. thats it. no explanation

nanami kento who remembers every single thing about you, if you were to ask him he would answer in a heartbeat

nanami kento who would use you as a stress reliever whenever hes angry.

nanami kento who would constantly talk about you to others and saying how proud he is to have someone like you

nanami kento who loves to dirty talk

nanami kento who would help you understand something without making you sound dumb. even if you both can't understand something he would try to learn it quickly before telling you

nanami kento who would wrap his biceps around your neck as he takes you from the back

nanami kento who's obessed with an unusual attribute of yours, something only he likes

nanami kento who cries during sex

nanami kento who fell in love with you at first sight

you could tell which ones I was excited to write about lol, and if u rmr the other hcs post I made, some of them may be mentioned so sorryyyy anyway some more detailed (ish) extras below !!

extras ++

nanami would definitely fuck you with music in the background, but he'd put it on low just so he could hear your sounds echo through the room. he only thought putting music would make the setting more fitting but he never really wanted to hear someone else when he has you in front of him.

more explanation on the crying during sex, he would have happy tears as he fucks you. its tears of gratefulness that you're there in his life and he's glad to be with someone like you.

he would definitely jerk off to your face when he's all alone and though he seems like an honest person he'd never actually tell you that he did that to your face just so you dont feel uncomfortable.

a really really odd thought I have is pervert Nanami.. now hear me out I know perverts are gross and all but nanami would honestly suit the roll really well. cat calling as you walk by him, staring you up and down in a subway. taking secret pictures of you and getting off at them later. basically being a total creep in general!

stalker nanami. once he finds his new obsession, hes hooked, and he knows you're the one. its dumb but he would first follow you to your house. thats all he needs and hes got it. he would follow your every move, try to break in and steal your things, and eventually "accidentally" create some coincidences so he could get closer to you. basically joe goldberg shit (besides the murdering part)

shower sex! shower sex!!!! he would hold onto you, very carefully, just so you dont slip as he takes you in so perfectly. he would go slow at first but when he can't control himself anymore he would quicken the pace and go FAST.

he loves hearing you say his name and would practically keep bugging you so he could hear you say his name multiple times. or while you guys are having sex he would keep begging you to call his name out, on every thrust btw.

he doesn't share.

though,,, I do see him as a voyeur. he would definitely get off at you masturbating to yourself or listen to the sounds of you doing something sexual, whatever it is.

I said he doesn't share but the thought of him getting jealous at the sight of you getting fucked by anyone else but him is what's so SJNFOSOSJ like imagine he comes home one night and hears sounds from your room and, of course curious, checks out what's going on and sees you getting fucked by another man!!!!!!! ughh the look on his face would probably be soooo hotttt

he's extremely kinky idc what you say he has the most weirdest kinks too and im not complaining.

recording during sex!!! fuck, thats actually so hot.

says I love you on every thrust

[sleepymarimo]

𝕨𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕤

summary: he didn't mean to push you away so harshly, to build his walls so high, but he didn't expect you to go running to someone else... pairing: zoro x reader, slight law x reader cw: unrequited feelings (or are they?), angst, no comfort an: set in wano, with some minor tweaks! thought of this last night and had to share my pain...oops also, i plan to have some fluffy straw hat stuff out this weekend ♡( ◡‿◡ ) wc: 3.4k

you'd been harboring feelings for your vice captain, for a while. you never acted on it, his aloof nature making you too nervous to make that jump- to try. even then, you were sure that he had more pressing matters to attend to.

so, you kept it under wraps. you trained and laughed and did everything you were supposed to, did everything right, without letting your feelings get too much in the way. it was manageable, and it made you feel good that you could support your crew, even if it meant holding onto your feelings.

it was the little things that gave you away to him. how your eyes darted away a bit too quickly when he met your gaze, how you sometimes intentionally stood farther away from him in a bid to look inconspicuous, even though it made it so much more obvious. he was as dumb as a rock sometimes, yeah, but not when it came to his crew, not when it came to you. he knew. of course he knew, but he had no reason to call you out on it. clearly you didn't want to discuss it and, as long as it wasn't getting in the way of anything major, he could bear it. it was when your emotions served as a distraction, that things became complicated.

the land of wano brought with it many challenges. most where physical, be it sneaking around the shady capital or handling some rowdy criminals. having crew members split up also made you worried, only heightening your senses and making your brain run rampant with what ifs. it all comes to a sudden standstill when you and brook, on your way to the safe house, walk in on zoro. one of the most beautiful women you've ever seen is snuggled right into his side and you feel a twinge of envy.

your heart does a somersault in your chest, something twisting in your gut at the unusual sight. a part of you, the rational side, knows very well that zoro didn't let people into his personal space with such ease. yet, even with her explanation, your mood can't help but sour. it only worsens when you all sit down and discuss more pressing matters.

the stresses of wano, this whole hiyori situation and her ever present enthusiasm towards the swordsman has you itching to escape. your responses become curt and your hands twitch in your lap. it's not how you should be acting, not given the circumstances, but you can't help it. finally, when there's a break in the conversation, you politely dismiss yourself.

once outside, you take a deep breath and collect your thoughts. leaning against the wall of the safe house, you let out a sigh and stare off at some random point in the distance in a bid to quell your passive aggressive behavior. the sound of the door opening catches you off guard, your arms crossing over your chest as the swordsman approaches you with a hardened expression.

"the hell is up with that look on your face?" he'd grumble, his cold demeanor matching the chill in the air. his arms are crossed, his posture tense. while zoro was one to take things as they came, focusing on the present, he couldn't deny that wano and its secrets were gnawing at him as well. he was irritated, wondering why you'd even bother to think about something as miniscule as feelings while there were enemies and actual threats lurking about. when you don't answer, when he figures you wouldn't even have the guts to bring it up, he huffs. "you think I asked to be cuddled up to like a damn toy?" his eye narrows and he takes a step closer, challenging you. "I don't have feelings for her, or anyone, got it?" the lump in your throat is too large to swallow and you nod, incapable of much else. a torrent of sensations swirl in your chest: embarrassment that he'd been aware of your feelings this whole time, guilt for letting them get in the way, and a bitter resounding sting that came with rejection. with a click of his tongue, he turns back and heads into the safe house, mumbling something about pulling yourself together and focusing on what's important.

you're almost glad when zoro ends up splitting off with hiyori later on, your mind flooded with thoughts. in a bid to defend yourself from further pain, you get your act together and squash down those feelings. you do well to put on a brave and happy face, deciding that, yes, there are some more important matters to attend to.

despite that, it's still hard not to see the samurai a bit differently. you knew he was blunt, even harsh at moments, but his approach to such a sensitive topic was a little much for you to handle. even if his words held some truth, that there were more pressing matters to attend to, the delivery of it just made you feel uneasy and hurt. the rest of your encounters are just as quick, your words just as clipped. if you acted any differently towards him, it wasn't out of malice. subconsciously, you defend yourself from further embarrassment and give him the distance you think he needs. while the chaos ensues, your defense mechanism only serves as a temporary solution. once the dust settled, it would be a different story.

finally, when the horrors of wano are dealt with, you can breathe a minor sigh of relief. in the flower capital, alongside your crew mates, you patiently wait for luffy and zoro to awaken from their slumbers. when they finally do, the air feels lighter

in the wake of it all, your emotions catch up to you, which makes you feel worse since this was supposed to be a joyful moment. it's hard to fight that initial instinct, to head over to zoro and ask if he's alright or if he needs anything. yet, you force yourself to take a step back, even if it does look like his bandages need tending to. it's a lot easier to do so once hiyori reveals that she was the one to help bathe him while he was unconscious, your stomach churning as you look away and walk to a different corner of the room. clearly he had someone looking out for him already. with a polite and slightly forced smile on your face, you find yourself heading over to law, who sits in the corner and chooses to observe the moment rather than partake in any conversation. you'd gotten along well with the surgeon, your relationship only growing stronger as he spent more time with the straw hats. he respected your skills and your perceptiveness, your ability to adapt to the needs of those around you and make them feel at ease. when he hears you approaching, he's naturally wary, but relents and gives you a nod, saying your name as a way of greeting you. satisfied, you take a seat next to him and raise a hand to gesture at his arm. "I know you're a surgeon and all, but d'ya think I can help you with your bandages?" you ask him, sincere and with a soft smile. "y'know, before this whole alliance thing is over and all..." he wants to say no, but the genuine kindness in your eyes has him huffing and looking away. a reddish hue tinges his cheeks and he holds out his arm. "go ahead." his tone fights to maintain its usual indifference, though there's a hint of appreciation laced in. on the opposite side of the room, where hiyori 'fixed' his bandages much too tight, zoro glances over at you. he notes the way you visibly relax around the surgeon, an action that has him growing irritated. he was your crew mate, your nakama, someone who would keep you safe, not that second rate captain. when the bandages cut off his circulation, he growls in frustration and tears some of them off. why weren't you over here doing this for him, when you knew exactly how he liked his bandages? why were you tending to law so gently and giving him that smile, the one you hadn't given him in ages? the swordsman isn't blind. he's been aware of the distance you've put between the two of you, how your 'smile' drops as soon as you turn away from him. as the battles had come to an end, he's now forced to recall the events which occurred at the safe house. he curses as his own shortcomings, his inability to think twice about his actions and how they'll affect the future. turning his attention towards something else, he mentally chides himself. what did he care, after all? he didn't do the whole relationship thing, the whole soft and squishy feelings. he was a swordsman, he had a goal and a crew to protect, including you. his thoughts do little to fight off the twinge of possessiveness he feels when he instinctively looks in your direction and catches sight of you holding law's hand as you secured his bandage. something gnaws at his pride, but he pushes it aside for the sake of maintaining his stoic front.

once everyone is healed, a festival, a grand one, is thrown to celebrate the liberation of wano. lanterns illuminate almost every corner, the scent of food wafting through the air as citizens and samurai and pirates all gather around.

dressed in a lovely kimono of your choice, you're more than eager to join in the revelry. the two bottles of sake that you carry in your hands only highlights your enthusiasm. you'd been hanging around with the crew for a while, smiling and laughing, but your mind was elsewhere. zoro thinks, for a split second, that you'll hand him a bottle. despite his aloof nature, he'd always find himself sharing a drink with you at times like this. yet, when you walk in the opposite direction, your smile beaming, your words have him gritting his teeth. "m'gonna go have a drink with law!" you chirp, your excitement palpable.

zoro's jaw clenches as he watches you walk off, his eyes lingering on your figure before he looks away. something simmers beneath the surface, but he keeps it at bay. it's nami's offhand comment that his frustration threatening to boil over.

"don't have too much fun!" she teases, throwing a cheeky smile your way. the others have the nerve to laugh, to egg you on, all while the swordsman relishes in how the alcohol burns his throat.

his knuckles turn white as he grips the neck of his sake bottle, the glass straining against his hold. a plethora of unfamiliar emotions rattle in his chest, but his bullheadedness and pride have him unwilling to budge, even if he wants to grab your arm and pull you back. it wasn't his place.

even when you're out of sight, his eyes subconsciously work to peer through the crowd in an attempt to catch a glimpse of your kimono, your hair, anything. once again, he scolds himself. he had no place to be so... so what? envious? possessive? he was the one to turn you away, after all. regardless, he can't get your smile out of his head. memories of you flood his mind: the banter and the sparring matches at sunset. all of it. just as quickly, he catches himself, bringing his lips to the bottle in a bid to drown out the bitterness on his tongue.

it's nearly a full hour later when you return to the crew, more than buzzed and clinging to the arm of the raven-haired surgeon. he doesn't seem to mind, his furrowed brows and his apathetic expression doing little to hide the blush dusting his cheeks.

glad to be in the company of your crew mates once more, you turn to law and wrap your arms around his waist, your smile so genuine and radiant it makes zoro's chest ache. "thank you traffy!"

the laughter of the rest of the crew echoes in zoro's ears alongside his own thundering heartbeat and boiling blood. what the hell were you doing? a knot forms in his chest, the unfamiliar sensation bringing him a great sense of unease.

he has to force himself to look away, before he realizes that it's not enough. without excusing himself, he stands and walks off towards a more secluded part of the festival. he needs to get away from whatever all that is. he needs to clear his head and heart and steel himself because he shouldn't be focusing on such things.

if you were any more sober, you would've kept your distance. however, it's in your nature to care, to worry and ensure that your crew mates are okay. that's why, as soon as you register the fact that the swordsman is gone, you release your hold on the surgeon and follow after zoro.

it's almost silent, save for the sounds of the festival off in the distance. the streets in this part of the capital aren't as illuminated, but cast enough of a glow for you to see zoro up ahead.

"zoro?" you mumble, attentive despite the alcohol in your system. "what're you doin' all the way out here?" your words are so genuine and full of concern, which makes it all the harder for zoro to respond.

"huh? what does it look like?" he roughly replies, not even bothering to fully face you as he turns his head to the side. "needed a break from all the noise and drunken idiots."

something bubbles in his throat, a lump of guilt that he swallows for the sake of self-preservation. he knows he has no right to be so callous, but can't help the passive-aggressive comment that slips past his lips. "why don't you just go off with that surgeon of yours? seems like better company."

your stomach drops and you take a step back. something wedges itself into your chest, a sense of anxiety and confusion as your mind briefly flickers back to that moment at the safe house. you'd done everything right, hadn't you? you'd given him space and pushed your feelings aside for the sake of the mission, so why this?

your heart starts to race, unable to look him in the eye as you focus your gaze to the side.

"why're you bein' so mean to me...?" you murmur, your hands nervously fidgeting as you await his answer. you just wanted to make things right.

he has to turn away once he catches the hurt on your face. if you were any more sober, you would've caught how he was the one that was truly nervous. the way you threatened to break down the walls he had built for himself has him needing to take control, even if that meant pushing you away.

"m'just being honest." he says, sharper than he means to. "leave me alone. go and enjoy the rest of the damn festival."

regret and longing make his chest throb, but he keeps on his mask of indifference as he takes a step forward and away from you. he wouldn't budge, couldn't.

meanwhile, you stand there, your inhales slowly turning short and ragged. your lips tremble and you fight to hold back sobs, but shortly after, you start to sniffle.

you hated crying, really crying. the crew had seen you shed silly little tears before, maybe over something cute or emotional, but not this. it's something you usually hide away and display in private, but the nature of the situation and the influence of the alcohol have you shedding an uncontrollable amount of tears.

though you shouldn't be, the utter vulnerability of the moment has you feeling embarrassed. you find solace in your sleeves, the kimono becoming damp with tears that don't seem to end. your cheeks sting, rubbed raw as you hide away from him.

zoro's heart drops.

the sound of your sobs is devastating. guilt claws at his chest, threatening to crack him open. when he turns around, all he can feel is regret. the weight of his words, how he treated you, is almost unbearable and makes him feel disgusted with himself.

his mind is racing, wondering what he should do or say to fix this, but he can't come up with an answer. before he can do anything, his mind goes blank at your next words.

"I wish I never got feelings for you." you choke out, unsure if your words are genuine or if you simply wanted to hurt the swordsman. with your shoulders trembling, you continued to cry into your sleeves. "I should've figured that there was nothing in that heart of yours."

deciding that you couldn't stand being in the same vicinity as him anymore, you run off.

he watches you go, his heart screaming at him to go after you, but he can't. the walls crumble and he can't hide anymore, forcing himself to realize that he cares for you so much that it terrifies him. the air is thick with tension, your sobs echoing through the air until they fade away, replaced by the distant sounds of the festival.

regret, self-loathing and longing all swirl in his chest, a torrent of emotion that threatens to swallow him whole.

you don't make it back to the ship that night.

you're too embarrassed and ashamed, not feeling safe enough to be vulnerable. you mentally apologize to the crew, hoping that they aren't too worried.

it isn't until the next morning that you return, or rather, you're returned.

the sun barely peeks over the horizon when law walks aboard the thousand sunny go with you cradled in his arms. you're in a deep sleep, completely exhausted and hungover. you're dressed in some of his clothes, your expression peaceful despite what occurred the night before.

other members of the crew gather around, worried about your well-being, but law is quick to say that you were just hungover and must have gotten lost. however, zoro can tell by the sharp look that law gives him that there was more to the story.

the vice captain grits his teeth, shoulders tensing as he watches law gently carry you over to your quarters.

a part of zoro wants to force law to give him answers, to tear you out of his arms so he could cradle you in his. he should've been the one to care for you, to protect you when you were vulnerable, but he hurt you instead. something else nags at him, the fact that you sought solace in someone else's arms.

law comes out of your room, quietly closing the door before walking down the deck. as he walks by zoro, he doesn't stop, but he shoots him another hardened glare. "you're an idiot, roronoa-ya."

oh, zoro knows.

when you finally awaken, you put on a brave face and tell the rest of the crew that you were sorry about your little slip up. you do well to cover it up with a laugh and smile. you build walls of your own, adamant on not getting hurt again.

it's once the crew is happy and satisfied that you make your way back to your room, your head hanging low as you walk by zoro.

your legs come to a stop and you can only hold his gaze for a second before you look away, just wanting to put this chapter behind you. the ache in your chest grows as you wonder what could've been. your voice is small. "look..." you start, hands bunching up into the borrowed shirt you're wearing. "let's just forget this ever happened and stay friends... alright?"

'forget?' he thinks. 'how can I forget that look on your face? the sounds of your sobs? do you think i'd let you go so easily?'

yet, despite the war raging on inside of him, the words stay stuck in his throat.

"yeah." what am i saying? "just friends."

as he watches you walk back to your room, he feels defeated. pathetic. he wants to say more, to show you that he can be the man you deserve, but for now, he sinks back into his usual habits and wonders what could have been.

he knows that he let something precious slip away.

steeling himself, he holds his heavy heart high. a sliver of determination cuts through his clouded mind and he hopes that, one day, he can make things right.

[awriterinthenight]

"Is Anyone Else Joining?"-Five Hargreeves

requested: anonymous

words: 954 (sorry its short, might do a part 2 though)

warnings: bickering, siblings inviting themself, swearing, Klaus mentions something about hating gay people (its really funny in context and in character I swear), they also throw things at Five, idk but this was really funny like I laughed the whole time, its so funny and I might do a part two

summary: Five and reader plan a trip, but the Hargreeves siblings just have to crash it

Alone was a word you could not use to describe the Hargreeves siblings. Anywhere one went, another went, then another, then Klaus shows up, so then Ben shows up, and then its a family reunion at that point.

All you and Five wanted was for a day or two alone together, but his siblings had other plans. Your trip was just you two driving a few towns over to go see a museum you were dying to see. The drive there was half a day, so you would drive there, check into the hotel and sleep, then go to the museum the next morning, then drive home that night. It was very simple till the rest of the Hargreeves showed up.

"You got everything?" Five asked, leaning against the driver's side of the car, the car keys in his hand.

You threw your bag with all your clothes and everything you needed into the trunk, "That should be it, you ready to go?" You asked, opening the passenger door to get in the car.

Five followed after, "Do we really need all that? It's only two days," Five said, starting the car.

"You can never be over prepared," you stated, not seeing anything wrong with the two bags you packed for a two day trip.

"I would argue you can be overprepared, which you are," he argued back. This started a small banter between you two, not yet having left the house. You both continued to bicker until a voice startled you.

"As much as I love a little lovers quarrel, let's get this show on the road. Me and Benerino over here are excited to see where we're going."

Of course it was Klaus who was trying to ruin your trip. He managed to sneak his way into the car when you two weren't looking. And of course if he was going, so was Ben.

"Get out, Klaus," Five yelled at him, annoyed at him ruining everything.

You decided to take a nicer approach to getting Klaus to leave, "He's right Klaus, this just a two of us trip. Plus you don't even have a bag packed," you told him.

"That's where you're wrong, my psycho brother's lover. I do have a bag," he claimed, pulling out a child's backpack, "So let's go before I get hungry and have to pee again."

There seemed to be no way to get Klaus to leave, but the two of you kept trying. Unfortunately for you Diego entered the car for some god awful reason.

"Now what are you doing here?" Five complained, hitting the back of his head against the headrest in annoyance.

"Klaus said you guys were going on a trip, thought why not make it a double date, me and Lila haven't been out in awhile," he explained, but something wasn't quite right about his explanation.

You squinted your eyes at him, "Oh really, you haven't been out in so long, so you just decided to crash our trip?" you questioned.

Diego quickly broke though, "Fine," he said, admitting defeat, "I promised Lila I would take her forever ago, but I forgot, so I'm tagging along, and neither of you will tell her anything."

"Great, so our trip is now victim to my brother's dumbness," Five continued to complain, "Is anyone else joining, or can we go now."

As if the universe itself needed to annoy Five even more, Allison entered the van sitting in the third row, "Who's ready for a family vacation," she shouted, making Five groan as you held in your laughter, "What's wrong with him?"

Klaus spoked up first to explain, "Apparently this was supposed to be a "just the two of them trip", but it's going to be so much more fun with us."

"Wait, you told me this was a family trip?" Allison uttered, confused about what was happening.

Five had his head in his hands, already wanting this trip to be over, "Why me?"

As if this already ruined trip needed more people, Luther and Viktor entered the car after the trunk was slammed shut, "We're lucky we caught you, we thought you left without us," Luther said, entering the van.

"This museum seems pretty cool, you have good taste Y/N," Viktor complimented, making you let out a small chuckle.

Once Lila entered the van, sitting next to Diego, Five asked for the final time, "Is that everyone or is the Pope joining us too?"

"I would love it if he did. I have so many questions for him. First off, why do they hate gays-," Klaus started, but was cutoff by Five.

"I will kick you out of this car, if you don't stop talking," he said, now grouchy from the turn of events.

Klaus just put his hands up, acting all innocent, "Wow, someone's grouchy, this is supposed to be a fun family trip, don't be so negative," he said, acting super dramatic.

"Yeah, don't be a dick," Lila shouted at him, throwing some sort of snack she was eating at him. Which started a chorus of 'don't be an asshole' 'this is supposed to be fun' and the favorite 'my tummy is rumbly' from Klaus, who ate the snack thrown at Five that ended up on the floor.

Five let out a long sigh, "This is going to be a long trip," he whispered under his breath, only loud enough for you to hear, making you laugh. Five might've been annoyed that your trip got ruined, but seeing you laugh put a small smile on his face. Maybe this trip wouldn't be so bad. Minimum it would be a good laugh for you, and anything that made you happy, made Five happy.

Current Taglist for all fics (ask to be added)

@almost-gabrielle @scarlett-8 @sarahskywalker-amidala @atashiboba @that1deerpersondownstairs @herondale-lightworm @purplerose291 @mitskiswift99 @crumby-child

[dilatorywriting]

59 Leona, it'd take a lot for him to admit but he would say it eventually. (Also I know you'd recognize me but I'm shy, so anon it is)

Gender Neutral Reader x Leona Kingscholar Word Count: 1.5k

Prompt 59: "People like me aren’t supposed to have someone like you, I think fate was being harsh on you."

[EVENT MASTERLIST]

You are nice, and you are stupid. And those things aren’t mutually exclusive.

Sometimes you’re nice because you’re stupid, and sometimes you do stupid things because you’re too nice for your own stupid, stupid good. And it drives Leona half insane.

Which it shouldn’t, because nice, stupid people like you are just as annoying as his brother. Goody-two-shoes with buttoned vests and sparkly, star-shaped stickers on their term papers.

“Did you remember your homework?”

Leona flicked his tail in your face and you scrunched your nose over your notebook.

“Well?”

“Of course I remembered,” he scoffed, lazing back against the roots of one of his favorite trees. This spot used to be so much quieter, so much more peaceful, before you decided to trail after him like a duck quacking for its mother.

“Did you do the homework?” you clarified, and Leona rolled his eyes.

You sighed and starting ruffling around in your bookbag. “I brought a spare copy of the worksheet. You’re going to drive Ruggie insane, y’know. If he winds up stuck with you for another year because you failed for not turning in assignments.”

“Yeah. Sure. Another three-hundred-and-sixty-five days to rifle through my wallet. Worst news of his life.”

You huffed good naturedly and handed him the sheet of crisp, white copy paper and a pen. “Get to work, Kingscholar.”

“Oh?” he drawled, closing his eyes and settling back, loose limbed and all long, lean leisure, against the tree trunk. Clearly ready for an afternoon snooze. “Make me.”

You sighed again and reached over to flick your own well-used pen against his ear. It twitched under your fingers—soft, and tufted. The finest of the pale, tan fur brushing up against your fingertips. “Fine. Be that way. See if I bring you lunch tomorrow.”

“You will,” he scoffed.

“Yeah,” you sighed, sounding resigned and foolishly fond. “I probably will.”

See? Stupid. So easy to manipulate. So willing to let yourself be squashed under his clawed thumb. It was a wonder you’d managed to survive in this school at all. Nevertheless by clinging onto the coattails of someone like him. He’d never made anyone’s existence easier a day in his life, and he certainly wasn’t going to start now, just because you were too soft-hearted and slow to see a looming predator for what it was.

“Just give me that stupid fucking paper,” he snapped, sitting upright and swatting away your poking pen with a sneer. You laughed into your palms like a secret—bright, and merry, and dumb as a fucking rock.

“Whatever you say, Leona.”

.

.

You’d handled his Overblot with a strange sort of aplomb that at first Leona had attributed to perhaps a lingering, hidden confidence that he’d just never bothered to unearth. You were just some herbivore, and even the littlest rabbits could bite back when you put them in a corner. But then he’d come to the decision that that easy conviction was just another symptom of your rampant stupidity.

“I know you guys don’t want to hurt me, or any of us. Not really,” you shrugged around a wad of cotton—the blood dripping from your nose slowly drying up to a tacky, sticky dribble. Leona gaped at you outright.

That was your grand explanation. For why you’d been so eager to charge forward when he’d collapsed in a pool of inky nightmares and self-loathing. And the very same reason apparently thatyou’d felt so comfortable rushing forward to treat Azul Ashengrotto’s blubbering, hysterical, breakdown with the same urgency.

“That octo-prick would have ripped you in half,” he sneered, fingers twitching a nervous rhythm against his palms as he watched the nurse wrap another layer or bandages around your head.

You shrugged. “Not on purpose.”

You were going to give him an aneurism.

“You’re going to get yourself killed,” he snarled, ignoring the horrible, twisty thing curling like bile through his chest. “And I’m not going to bother paying for some self-sacrificing idiot’s funeral.”

Another shrug.

“That’s alright,” you hummed, a soft sort of crooked smile on your mouth. “Would’ve been a waste of money anyways.”

Leona didn’t talk to you for a week after that. Surely because your stupidity had reached such a fever pitch that it was no doubt contagious, and he needed to protect his far superior and more valuable brain. Not because the image of you smiling and nodding along to his declarations that he wouldn’t put the effort into mourning your death had soured something so deep in his gut that he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to scrape it out.

.

.

When he received a letter from home asking him to return for some shitty coronation nonsense for his equally shitty brother, Leona had debated just skipping it outright. Who was going to stop him? You?

Well. Yes, apparently.

“It sounds important,” you hummed, peering over his shoulder at the neat, formal scrawl of the summons. “You should go.”

He snorted. “I don’t want to be there, they don’t want me to be there. What’s the point.”

You frowned, brow crinkling in the middle.

“Well, that’s not true,” you said, perplexed. “They wouldn’t write to you if that was the case.”

Leona snorted, eyes darting away to glare bitterly off into the corner. “Not like they have a choice.”

“Well then you don’t have a choice either,” you argued, firm. “I’ll go with you. See? It says you can have a plus one. You can camp out in your fancy, princey, bedroom. And I can siphon you snacks from the fancy, princey hors d'oeuvres tables. That way we both win. You get to be a reclusive asshole and rub the fact that that you still went in everyone’s faces, and I can get access to some tasty, royal food that I’ll probably never be able to afford again for the rest of my life.”

“Should’ve known you’d be like Ruggie—only using me for the free food,” he sighed, melodramatic and obviously put on.

“Well, also because I thought you could use the emotional support,” you added, a touch too soft and far too genuine. “But I didn’t think you wanted to hear that bit.”

“You’re right,” he scoffed, turning onto his side to hide the strange, miserable heat pricking at his skin. “Don’t ever say corny shit like that again.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” you grinned, flicking at his ear, and Leona added another mental tab to his never-ending list of reasons that you were really far too brainless to keep functioning at all.

.

.

You were nice, and you were stupid. And Seven, he wanted to be anywhere but here.

“My brother hasn’t ever brought someone to one of these events before,” Falena had said, to your face. Idiot to idiot communication.  

“I didn’t give him much of an option,” you’d chirped, perfectly pleasant. “I don’t think he wants me anywhere near here, to be fair. Or around him in general. But I’m like a cockroach. Can’t get rid of me.”

And Falena had laughed. Because he was terrible. And said, “I’m sure he must care about you very much, little cockroach.”

And then because you were more terrible, you laughed back and said very assuredly, “Oh, not at all.”

Which was—was—

“Do you really think that?” he snapped, once the two of you were alone. And you blinked back at him with wide, owlish eyes.

“Think what?”

Think at all,he wanted to sneer, but just glared silently and bitterly into the middle distance—fighting the nonsensical, irritated swishing of his tail.

But you just kept staring at him. Like he was the moron here. Which was unacceptable.

“Look,” he frowned, sharp and miserable. “I get it. People like me aren’t supposed to have someone like you. Whatever gods exist out there were playing a shitty fucking joke on you when they dropped you in my lap. But you’re stuck with me. So stop—” he bit out, fighting that awful, twisty thing in his gut that never seemed to fully go away. “Stop talking like I can’t stand you.”

“…oh,” you mumbled, whisper quiet—that wide, startled gaze flicking away in embarrassment. “Oh.”

“Oh,” he echoed, sharp, and you snorted a laugh that seemed to surprise even you.

“You’re stuck with me too then, y’know,” you said after a long moment. “Even when I make you grumpy.”

“You don’t make me grumpy. I am grumpy. You make me—” he cut off quick, eyes darting away petulantly and an absolutely unfair heat rising along his cheekbones.  

“Itchy,” you piped in, and he gaped at you in shock.

“What?”

“You know,” you shrugged, awkward, and reached up to wiggle your fingers. “Cockroach. Many legs. Squirming. Itchy.”

“Never say any of those words again.”

You laughed into your palm—inelegant and a touch too loud. Leona felt his lips quirk.

“Thank you,” you said after a moment, once your giggles were a bit more under control. And leaned forward quick as a whip to press a nervous peck against his cheek. “For being kind to me.”

Kind.

Leona reached up to press a hand against the too-warm skin with a terrible, unfamiliar sensation in his head not unlike the fuzzy, white drone of TV static. And a horrible thought managed to filter its way through the floating, buzzing sensation curling through the whole of him.

Oh, fuck. It is contagious.

.

.

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

So uh. I had this super dumb idea and decided to roll with it.

Which I guess is kinda how writing works on the whole but anyway.

Here's the first chapter of a Young!Mihawk x Marine!AFAB Reader fic that absolutely no one asked for but my brain dumped on me anyway.

Whole first chapter is basically setting the scenario. Bear with me here. I intend for this to be both heartfelt and fcking hilarious in equal measure. As of right now I don't really have plans for it to carry on for more than three or four chapters, but who knows.

Timeline is set to around a decade after Gol D. Roger's death, prior to Mihawk having status as a Warlord of the Sea. He'd be in his late 20s to early 30s (don't ask me to math right now, it's almost five in the morning, I'll be more specific later). So not super-young Mihawk. He definitely already has his silly lil adorable pointy goatee/moustache that we all know and love so very much.

I don't even have a damned title yet. We'll just call it, uh. I don't know. Fucking uh........

Flight Risk

Ch. 1 of who even knows

Next Chapter Link

Young!Mihawk x Marine!AFAB!Reader

SFW for now, but not in later chapters

No trigger warnings yet, possible future trigger warnings for imprisonment, mild torture (definitely psychological, maybe physical)

Word Count: 3420

Only a few months had passed since you enlisted with the Marines, and nothing seemed to be going right. You were clumsy with both melee and ranged weapons, not particularly strong physically, and while you had improved through training you weren’t learning at nearly the same rate as the other recruits. It was no help at all that your somehow borderline useless devil fruit abilities had somehow been exposed and you were now the target of constant torment from other cadets, and even some superior officers.

You almost wanted to give up entirely.

You spent most of your free time hiding away from your peers at an old dock on the base to avoid the teasing. It was here you say now, arms wrapped around your knees and glaring out toward the setting sun after another day of being squawked at and offered crackers. All because you had taken a stupid dare from a stupid friend when you were six years old and eaten that stupid fruit.

You let out a heavy sigh at the sound of footsteps behind you, certain that one of your tormentors had discovered your hiding spot.

“Really not in the mood,” you said aloud, not bothering to look over your shoulder. “I’m sure it’s just as much fun talking about me behind my back—”

But instead, a commanding voice that made your breath catch in your throat and your eyes grow wide as saucers answered. You recognized it as its owner spoke your name aloud—anyone on base would have recognized it. You quickly scrambled to your feet and turned around to face Bogard with your hand raised in a salute, trying to keep your knees from shaking.

“S—sorry, sir, I—” He just held up a hand to stop you, and your mouth snapped shut immediately. His own mouth remained turned down in his usual characteristic frown, and after a moment he let out a vaguely frustrated sigh.

“Vice Admiral Garp requires your presence. Please follow me.”

You remained glued to the spot for a moment even as he turned on his heel and began to stride away. Garp and Bogard had shown up at the base a week ago on some business from headquarters that was being kept quiet around the rest of the base. You quickly forced yourself to follow after Bogard, your stomach in knots as you jogged to catch up to his long strides.

He didn’t speak again until you were outside the door of the office the vice admiral was occupying, turning to face you with his arms crossed. You quickly saluted again, your eyes still wide, burning the slightest bit—you were fairly sure you hadn’t blinked a single time since he had first addressed you.

“At ease, cadet.” You swallowed, lowering your hand and folding it behind your back with your other. “The vice admiral has some questions for you,” he said in brief explanation, opening the door. “Come.” You flinched as you followed him in, Garp’s booming voice meeting your ears as he shouted at someone through the den den mushi on his desk. It was clear he wasn’t in a good mood.

“Again?” he was saying, pacing behind the desk. “Yeah, I got it. Why do you think I’m at this shithole of a—” He gave a growl of annoyance, his grip tightening around the speaker. “Yes, Fleet Admiral. I think if I could manage to capture Roger, I can handle some brat calling himself the World’s Stronge—”  He closed his eyes tightly, pinching at the bridge of his nose. “I’m well aware of the threat. Doesn’t make him any less of a brat. With all due respect, sir, I know what I’m doing, Yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah. Understood.”

He dropped the handset back onto the den den mushi, sitting heavily in his chair behind the desk, strumming his fingers on the arm for a moment impatiently.

You felt as if you might pass out any second as you stood in front of the desk, trying to keep yourself still but still fidgeting slightly as your nervousness evolved toward something more like abject terror. There was no way this was about anything good. The vice admiral was here on orders handed down directly from his own superiors at Marine Headquarters. Vice Admiral Garp, recognized the world over as the hero of the Marines, the man that had brought Gold Roger to justice barely a decade ago.

An officer of his status wouldn’t waste his time with a lowly cadet like yourself unless the situation was incredibly dire.

When he finally lifted his eyes to look at you, you sprang immediately into a salute, and it was all you could do to keep your knees from buckling. He glanced at Bogard, standing off to the side and idly flipping through a book on one of the shelves along the right side of the office walls. “This the one?” asked Garp.

“It would seem so,” he affirmed.”

“Good.” He leaned back in his chair, his gaze flickering over you. “At ease, cadet.”

Once more you folded your hands behind your back—though in literal terms, you were anything but at ease. Your face flushed and your legs visibly shaking at this point, it was all you could do to keep your eyes on his.

The vice admiral gave a small snort of amusement at your nervous state as he picked up a folder from his desk—a folder with your name written on the tab.

“Calm down, you’re not in any trouble,” he said. You still swallowed nervously, your mouth turning down ina  slight frown. He read your name out loud at the top of the file before going on. “Says here your old man was a Lieutenant. Died in the line of duty among a fleet that took on a division of the Whitebeard pirates.”

“Y—yes, sir,” you said, giving a short nod when he glanced at you from over the top of the folder. “He’s the reason I enlisted.”

“Revenge?” he said, lifting his eyebrows.

“No, sir,” you said quickly, shaking your head. “I looked up to him. He wanted to make the world a better place. Safer. That’s...why I enlisted.”

He nodded slowly, observing you for a long moment as he seemed to mull over your answer. “Good to hear,” he said finally, lowering his eyes back down to what you could only assume was your enlistment paperwork. “Revenge is thankless work. Your old man was a damned good Marine. Honorable. Sounds like the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree.” You relaxed the slightest bit in the approval at his tone—it was perhaps the first compliment you had gotten from any of your superiors. “Unfortunately, we’re not here to reminisce. This is official business. And confidential.” He set the folder down on his desk, still open, meeting your eyes again. “I’ll need your word right now that you won’t repeat anything we discuss here to anyone.”

Your eyes widened a little, and you nodded quickly. :Of course, Vice Admiral,” you said immediately, your heart hammering in your chest.

He nodded slowly himself, picking up a lowball glass of what appeared to be whiskey from his desk. He gestured with his free hand to the chair across from him. “Then have a seat. We could be here awhile.”

You glanced at the chair behind you, and took a few steps backwards, folding your hands in your lap. You couldn’t begin to imagine what sort of official business he might have with you. You were a new recruit, tended to blend into the background—at least you had, until word had gotten out about….

Your stomach dropped at Garp’s next sentence.

“I understand you’re a devil fruit user?”

“I…am,” you said slowly, almost cautiously. You had received nothing but jeering and taunting for your ability, even before you enlisted. “It’s…not exactly a useful ability, though.”

“You don’t think so?” he said, with a hint of a smirk, and you shook your head, your eyes dropping down to your knees. “‘Omu Omu no Mi,’” he read off from the file. “‘Zoan type devil fruit. Gray parrot.’ You’ve had the ability for…fifteen years?” You nodded shortly, your brow still furrowed in your growing confusion. “You can’t think of any application where that would be useful?”

Your remained silent for some time, wondering if it was a trick question, some sort of joke at your expense. Sure the vice admiral wouldn’t waste his time calling you here for the sake of a joke. After a moment, you shook your head, lifting your gaze, grimacing a little. “It’s, uh…been more of a burden than anything, honestly,” you admitted.

“Yeah, I’ve heard.” Your brow furrowed a bit, and he gestured over to Bogard, still leaning against the bookshelf off to the side. “I’ve had Bogard here keeping an eye on you since we got here.”

That was incredibly surprising news to you. You glanced at Bogard yourself. You had seen him around the base a few times, but it had seemed to be only in passing. While you were still rendered speechless at the claim, Garp when on.

“I read in your file that your mother’s an…ornithologist?” he said, glancing down at the folder once more. Your brow remained furrowed as you nodded slowly, trying to wrap your head around where this could be going. “So I’d guess you have a pretty good understanding of birds. How they behave, interact with humans?”

“I—”

“With all due respect, Garp…” Both you and Garp glanced over at Bogard at his interruption. He lowered the book he had been flipping through, his frown deepening. “This is still the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard of.”

“Give me a better idea, then.” After a moment, Bogard rolled his eyes, lifting the book again, still looking quite disgruntled with the situation—whatever the situation was. Garp turned his attention back to you, gesturing with a wave of his hand for you to continue.

“I-I…did learn a lot from her,” you affirmed. “She specializes in parrots and corvids. She runs a veterinary practice and rescue service for them in the East Blue.”

“Think you’d be able fool people into believing you’re the real thing?”

“Wh…wha…”

You felt like you were trapped in some strange fever dream you couldn’t wake from. Garp raised his eyebrows as he waited for your response, as you frowned, struggling to collect your thoughts into something organized enough to allow you to speak.

“I…used to prank my mom into thinking I was one of the birds in our aviary,” you admitted, almost sheepishly.

Garp let out a hearty laugh at that, his smirk spreading into a grin. “Well, if you could fool an expert, then I guess you could fool damn near anyone, huh?” You blinked rapidly as he leaned forward, crossing his arms over the desk. “So. How much do you know about a pirate by the name of Dracule Mihawk?”

Your breath caught as you froze in place, your blood running cold.

There was no Marine, likely no one in the world, that didn’t know that name. It wasn’t long after the execution of Gold Roger that he had begun making the headlines, and not for anything good. Even as a rookie he had quickly gained a reputation for being ruthless and deadly, slaughtering pirates and Marines alike with seemingly no distinction between the two. For a few years now he had gained notoriety for being considered by many to be the world’s most powerful swordsman. You had heard stories of him singlehandedly destroying entire Marine warships without batting an eye.

The man was practically a living nightmare for any Marine.

“I…I’ve heard of him,” you managed to force out weakly.

Garp scoffed at that, taking a sip from his whiskey. “Who the hell hasn’t?” he said. “Especially among us. He’s been responsible for the deaths of more Marines over the past few years than any other pirate sailing the Grand Line. And completely on his own. No crew.” He shook his head, giving another scoff. “Almost no one we’ve sent after the bastard comes back alive. Except, of course, those he lets go willingly to tell us he’ll continue to slaughter anyone that challenges him. It’s a problem we can’t ignore.”

You swallowed, the rising tension in you rendering you as stiff as a statue. You could sense where this was going…and you didn’t like it one bit.

“I’m thinking a different approach could be out best bet in taking care of the problem. Something a little more subtle.” You nodded slowly to indicate you were following what he was saying—what he was suggesting. “I’m sure you don’t want to see any more Marines die at the hands to this monster any more than I do. Am I right?”

Of course he was right—you knew it as well as Garp did. Your father had been enough. Knowing that there were so many other Marines, other men and women that might leave behind broken families, losing their lives at the hands of such a ruthless killer…it sickened you to your core.

Once more, you nodded.

“Then we’re on the same page,” he said. He leaned back in his chair for a moment, taking a sip from his glass, before he set it down and stood up. “You say you think your devil fruit ability is useless. I say it could be exactly what we need.”

“Y…you want me to use my devil fruit to…” He paced slowly behind his desk, his eyes remaining on you, waiting for you to say it. “T…to take down…him?”

“Not…quite,” he said. “Like I said, different approach I want you to use your devil fruit ability against him. But not to take him down. I think you’re probably smart enough to know that you wouldn’t stand a chance in combat against him.” You swallowed, giving a short nod in agreement. “What we really need at this point is information. Any potential weakness that he might possess. Your ability isn’t useless, but it is…unassuming. You could spy on almost anyone you wanted without them knowing. And hey, let’s face it—pirates like parrots.”

You heard Bogard sigh heavily at this statement, and you couldn’t help but agree with his wordless disapproval. Pirates like parrots was a pretty broad generalization to make regarding such a dire situation.

“Look,” Garp said as your brow furrowed once more. He stepped out from behind his desk, slowly circling your chair. “Parrots are smart birds, right?” You nodded. “And they tend to bond pretty easily with humans?” Another nod, your eyes following him as he came around the other side of your chair, stopping right in front of you and leaning back against his desk. “You could get close to him without him having any idea you’re anything but a friendly, intelligent bird.”

“or he could consider her a pest and kill her,” said Bogard dryly—voicing the exact concern that was already forming in your own head.

Garp rolled his eyes. “One, there haven’t been any reports that he makes a habit of killing animals. Two, you’d be a bird. You can fly. He can’t.”

“He can split entire ships in half from at least a hundred yards,” Bogard pointed out.

“Yeah, he can,” agreed Garp—and his confirmation of this claim did absolutely nothing to help your resolve. “But why bother killing a bird that’s already flying away? He’s killing Marines to send a message that we can’t touch him. He’s killing pirates so his competition knows they can’t touch him. What’s he going to kill a goddamned parrot for?” Another sigh came from Bogard—it seemed as if the man had been through this exact same argument before. “Worst case scenario,” Garp continued, “you fly off to safety and consider it a failed mission. No black mark on your record, brownie points for even attempting it. Best case…” He crossed his arms, his mouth spreading into a grin. “You get close to a pirate no one has been able to touch for years, and return with commendation and respect from the entire Navy. Show all these recruits that have been laughing at your abilities that you’re a hell of a lot more useful than any of them.”

You bit your lip, your eyes darting off to the side. You didn’t consider yourself vain…but you had spent fifteen years considering your devil fruit completely useless. Now you had a Marine vice admiral, a man regarded by much of the world as a hero, telling you that you could potentially use your power to save the lives of countless people. It was the exact reason your father told you he had enlisted—to protect innocent lives, to make the world safer.

“I…I’m not much of a fighter,” you said finally. “If he were to figure out that I’m a human…a Marine, I…”

“You’d receive special training before the mission,” said Garp. “Enough to give you a fighting chance at escaping if you had to. Given what we know about Dracule Mihawk, it would still be dangerous, of course. But you’d still stand a better chance alone at gathering intel than an entire fleet of ships would stand facing him in combat. As it stands now,” he said, his expression shifting into a scowl, “there are several high ranking Marine officers that believe the only chance of dealing with him is offering him status as a Warlord. There’s still a problem with that, considering no one can get close enough to him to propose the offer. If nothing else, you could get close enough to do that.”

“Which would likely be the best course of action,” Bogard interjected.

And Garp ignored him.\

“I propose,” said Garp, “that you keep an eye on him for a month. Get as close as you safely can. Search for any potential weakness we could exploit, and report back. If there aren’t any,” he said, tossing a sharp glance at Bogard, before leveling his gaze with yours again, “then you go back with the paperwork in your pocket and propose the offer.”

And possibly be killed the moment you revealed who you were—what you were. That detail remained unspoken, but you had no doubt that both Garp and Bogard had already considered the possibility, if you were already thinking about it yourself.

You could be killed. In the blink of an eye. Without any warning. You could die attempting thing. It was almost insane to even consider what Garp was proposing.

But you couldn’t ignore the possibility that it could work. That it could save countless lives from ending.

Save countless families from the same grief you and your mother had endured.

You pulled in a slow, deep breath, lifting your eyes and meeting Garp’s.

And you nodded.

“I’ll do it.” His eyebrows shot up at your acceptance. “I’ll do anything I can to help.”

His surprised expression slowly split into a grin.

“You’re under no obligation to accept.” You turned your head as Bogard snapped his book shut, leveling his dark eyes with yours. Garp was already chuckling to himself, but Bogard’s expression remained grave as he went on. “You’re aware of the risk, I’m sure. The pirate in question has killed thousands of Marines to date, and I wish that was an exaggeration. This could very well be a suicide mission. If you’re doing this for recognition, I suggest you walk out of this office and forget every detail of this conversation.”

“I don’t care about recognition.” You shook your head as Bogard continued to regard you with a frown, lifting an eyebrow; as Garp tossed a glance at him that very clearly said told you so. “And I know the risk.I know I could die.” He crossed his arms, waiting for you to continue. You swallowed, going on quietly, “But…if it succeeds, then it could stop thousands of others from dying.” You lifted your gaze to meet his, straightening your back in the chair. “That’s all I care about.”

Though Bogard didn’t look entirely convinced, he wasn’t given any further opportunity to protest, as Garp let out a laugh. “You heard the girl, Bogard,” he said, reaching behind him and picking up the receiver from the den den mushi on the desk once more. “I say it’s time to get the ball rolling and finally give this madman a run for his money.”

Next Chapter Link again, for your convenience

[yey56]

HARLEY SAWYER X PSYCHOLOGIST READER Pt5

(I'm going to assume the position player had in the factory)

(Player will be third wealing so hard this chapter)

"Don't you realise?!" Poppy said, completely outraged. "They collaborated with him, with-with the doctor" Everybody in the haven was looking at her, some of them with distrust in their gaces.

Poppy had arrived after many years with a very injured Kissy Missy and a ex-employee who they've never heard of. Sure (Y/N) was very involved with the experiments but they had been with them for 15 years in that haven, helping with the mental health of the poor souls living there.

Most of the toys that remained sane have chosen to forget or forgiven Y/N because after all, they never really treated them wrong and they had made themselves useful in that community.

Poppy on the other hand, had disappeared without any explanation and had let them to rot, Doey had to pick up the broken pieces.

The situation wasn't the best and even though both Poppy and the psychologist had a doubtful background, the favoritism was clear.

Y/N was looking at Poppy's direction, with a dark gaze. The sudden reappearance of the doll and the ex-employee had been an unpleasant surprise for the psychologist.

They were hugging Kissy while the pink toy embraced them with her only good arm. The way Y/N was clinging to Kissy was not only for worry about the toys health but also about the presence of that god forsaken doll and the exhausted employee. As far as they had heard, he had already defeated many of the bigger toys. To be honest, they was disappointed that Mommy had been defeated by a mere employee, maybe a little sad about it.

While Doey and Poppy were arguing, the doe defending its parental figure; YN got close to the employee and signaled him to sit in one of the improvised beds.

"I am aware of what I've done, Poppy. I'm not ignorant nor I deny being involved in the experiments" They started "I understand that you don't like me, I'm not fond of you either, no one here is. Not after you just disappeared and left me and Doey to pick up the pieces" They started slowly approaching Poppy, as if she was a prey that was waiting to be attacked

"Pick up the pieces that you destroyed in the first place" The doll retorted

"But now you are here and I believe that you, just as everyone else, deserve a chance to live. I'm assuming you had your reasons, I won't ask for them but I do have questions about you." Y/N kneeled at Poppy's level " So I advise you to be wise and collaborate. If you are so kind, please follow me, I would like to talk to you" Poppy swallowed hard and followed the head psychologist to the generator room.

That toy was not dumb, she knew what YN was doing and she knew how volatile their behaviour and loyalty could be. Probably the only thing keeping them in the heaven was Doey and their need for survival.

There were toys with limbs that didn't belong to their original design, prothesis collected by YN, who had sew them the best she could to their bodies.

Y/N themselve had lost a arm in an unfortunate encounter while trying to reach for a back-pack.

It had been Mommy Long Legs, who blinded by rage and hunger, attacked them brutally. Y/N barely made it out, crawling back to the deeper levels bloodied and dizzy. They could remember how at first they didn't register that an arm was now missing.

The pain came after, the wound became infected and the little arm that was left had to be removed and the wound cauterized. With the little medical equipment on the haven it had been hard for Y/N to recover from the injurie but luckily they had made it out.

They had it replaced by one green hand from the Back-Pack. It had been hard to obtain a tool like that but it had been worth it.

But as much as YN depended on the haven, Poppy still didn't trust that their survival was a strong enough reason to not to turn away if given the chance. And she knew that because she would do the same.

And while Poppy and YN talked in the generator room, the ex employee that had managed to get himself this deep into the factory was both surprised and weary about the other human being in the compound.

On one hand, he had heard the tapes about the dark secrets of the factory and in a lot of them the psychologist was present, both them and the doctor were heavily involved with the crimes commited on the factory. But as well, they were here, with Doey in the haven and Kissy didn't seem to afraid of them.

And to be honest he also wasn't sure in trusting Poppy since her behaviour had been suspicious at best.

The doctor had been playing with him since he put a foot on this damn factory, arranging tests and experiments for him to complete all while finding more information about this cursed place.

He found multiple tapes of Dr (Y/N) and their interviews with the experiments, also some recording of the meetings of the executives in which they could be seen almost always near Sawyer.

Poppy and Y/N finally got out of the generator room, the Doll seemed more calmed and both of them went to Kissy Missy's tent.

While he kept thinking and trying to process the situations, Doey approached him.

"Hey friend! I.. want to talk to you, come to the generator room when you are available" [Player] was certainly curious about what Doey had to say to him so he followed the toy.

"Look, I know Poppy means good, but she pretends to destroy this place! Completely! We've been taking care of the toys here-of Mom and...." He paused, he was conflicted and nervous "This is our home, I don't want to lose the thing we have been working so much to maintain... After you beat the doctor, please consider my proposition, until then, consider the safe haven your home to." Doey pat his shoulder and exited the room.

After a few minutes of resting and reading the many documents he had left, Player went to what he thought it was Y/N tent. He had seen something glowing in there and he wanted to take a look.

The shiny object were a pair of grey and black glasses that were on a wooden box. He examined them for a while until someone snatched them from his finders.

Behind him, he found Y/N who looked irritated by his invasion of their space. But the glance they had changed quickly once they looked at the glasses, the eyes were nostalgic and their eyebrows slightly twitched, accentuating their growing wrinkles.

"So... You like snooping don't you? I bet you have some very interesting things in those pockets of yours" Their good hand fell on his shoulders "Let me accompany you through your little quest, not all the way, of course, I can only go so far..." They joked refering to both her status in the factory and her relationship with the doctor.

"Why, because of doctor Sawyer" [Player] quietly asked, that left Y/N silent, however, they swiftly re-dominated the conversation "I think I remember you [Player]. You were one of those guys on human resources right? The one who stayed late night cleaning the offices even though it wasn't your work. Am I wrong?" You weren't wrong, but he was surprised that after so long you could remember someone as irrelevant as him

"I never thought you or any of the executives knew me" He murmured "I have a good memory, not even this madness of a factory can change that"

"Though I have to thank you for avenging my arm, I've been told what you did with Mommy long legs. I've never though one person along could best her but here you are"- Just as Sawyer, you were recounting his 'achievements' in the factory and added little notes of your own, but unlike him, your tone was less monotonous, more cheerful.

[Player] player looked at Y/N with an unreadable face "If you ever get the chance, are you going to betray the haven for the doctor?" The question was made bluntly and neutrally, Y/N knew that at some point someone would question that, but they didn't expect him to be so direct.

"What kind of question is that? It's like I ask you if you are going to betray the haven just because Poppy tells you to do so." The ex employee seemed surprised by the comeback and quicky went to defend himself but you intervened before that could happend.

"I do not have the advantage of the cameras as Harley has but I have ways of knowing what's happening around" Your gaze now turned serious "I don't care if you trust me or not but do yourself a favour and don't trust Poppy, nothing she says is genuine."

He understood what you were saying, since the train incident he had become very wary of the doll and as time went by, he trusted her less and less.

"How do I know I can trust you? I remember that while working here, you and Sawyer always isolated yourselves in the deeper levels. Hell you are the responsables of this mess!!" The lack of sleep and food had turned [Player] tired and full of rage, not only because of the atrocities that were down here but also for the nonexistent hope of ever making it out.

"You can't." You answer was simple " You cannot trust me, or Poppy or basically anyone down here, and with the red gas, not even yourself" You were both now ok the sewers, on the path to 'The Land Of No One'

"The only thing you can do is keep going and don't trust blindly, I understand that Poppy has helped you somehow until now but, has she been honest? " Scarely enough, your question made sense.

"Has she ever changed plans last minute for them to adjust her personal agenda? Has she ever consulted you about it or cared for your opinion on the matter? Do you even know why was she trapped in that cage?..."

In that moment, [Player] player understood what little he knew about everything, how much had he trusted someone that really hadn't been anything but trouble.

"Are you really Poppy's angel?... Or Poppy's Scapegoat?" That last sentence was said in a whisper with a mocking tone and followed by a deep chuckle. He didn't have words

At this point you had already accessed another part of the factory and that chuckle had caught someone's attention.

----------------------------------------------------------

15 years... In 15 years you had been on sight for at least 7 times and the last one had almost caused him a blackout.

He had seen you getting almost tested apart by Mommy long legs and in his mind there was nothing more than a desperate shout saying 'I told you so'... One day you were going to get teared apart, destroyed, devoured....

You couldn't just listen, no. Always doing things your way. He had been lucky that he was able to mobilise Yarnaby fast enough to distract Mommy long legs and let you make an escape.

He knew you knew he had facilitated you acces to certain door. His original plan was to guide you back to him but sadly Doey and a bunch of other toys found you first and he lost track of you again.

His paranoia and obsession had only grown over the years. A hatred deeply rooted on all of his wires. Hate for that stupid patient of yours 1322 and hatred for the Prototype who wasn't letting him take more control over the situation.

He was angry at you, for leaving him alone in that place, for escaping the situation, for being to prideful. After all he did to get you, how he bargained to maintain you alive

You were a germ that was growing out of control and he hadn't found a vaccine yet.

After so many years together, he felt that, even after so many nights pretending he didn't hear your nonsense; or so many lunch breaks spent on conversation with you, he didn't understood you at all.

Your behaviour had always been unpredictable but now it was even worse. Why would you not accept his offer? Why?

Very deep inside him, he felt hurt. Hurt that you didn't try to reach over the years, hurt that you wouldn't even consider it, hurt that you were basically gone.

He had to crawl for the little and strange times you decided to go into the factory. Causing trouble so you would be sent to try and deal with it. Surviving on little the little glances you would spare to the cameras, knowing he probably was there.

You knew he was watching, you would sometimes get entranced by the cameras, as if trying to figure out if he was there. Edging him into calling you.

You never said anything, you still had his lab coat, and you would caress it in a way he could see it. A little and almost imperceptible 'i still care'

He still had your name tag on the only piece of cloth he owned. His metal fingers would play with it, feeling the engraved letters.

Deep down, you still cared for each other and he knew that, but he was angry, furious even at the fact that you wouldn't just go back to him.

His anger turned into curiosity once he saw the employee enter the factory. Harley saw how he defeated each on the experiments that control the main areas of the factory.

He knew the prototype feared him and he knew that, being with Poppy and Doey, he would meet you at some point.

Sawyer played with him as if he was an experiment, trying to figure him out.

Once he saw [Player] again, he pulled his attention to him, but that attention was short lived as he saw the only other human being in the factory

----------------------------------------------------------

"My germ" Was the phrase that was heard loud and clear through the speakers. "You finally decide to show up. Wonderful"

"Harley" You said in a very deep and low voice, barley above a whisper. "Good to see you to"

That was the first time he had heard your voice in probably ages. He fell silence for a moment, almost as if recording the sound for himself.

After almost half an hour of waking and trying to keep going, Harley spoke again, this time towards [Player].

"Why did you came back? Was there someone you loved in here? Or maybe you just couldn't let go of the mystery of not knowing what happened?" He was taunting the ex employee "Whoever you are searching for is probably gone"

"We are aware of that" You said, as if telling him that he was also as absent as you.

While [Player] continued exploring other rooms, you stopped in front of a TV monitor to talk directly to Harley

"Well, quite responsive are we germ?" The purple eye appeared on the screen "15 years hiding like a rat... That's very much gone" His smug tone was something between entrancing and annoying to you.

"I never knew you as someone who subdued to his own experiments Dr Sawyer" You taunted back "I remember you as someone who fights for control"

"And recall you to be someone who does not hide but that experiment of yours has made you a coward." He bitterly recalled each word.

"And you would've made me into someone fearful, Harley" You were starting to get irritated "If you want to be the henchman of the Prototype go ahead but don't drag me with you"

You didn't mean to be so harsh on that statement but you weren't going to apologise for staying true to yourself. It was late for regretting it.

"Dragging.... " You could hear his distorted tone of voice perfectly. The same tone he used when he had an idea. Maybe you fucked up. He disconnected himself from the TV and silence overcame the room.

"What was that" [Player] asked you, surprised of how you talked to the man that had been making his journey down the factory more difficult.

"Nothing. A tantrum. Let's just keep going, don't listen to him, he's just bitter, maybe so am I so it's better not to stir the pot" You continued walking as you hadn't just had a fight with your ex-lover in front of an ex employee.

Meanwhile, Harley already had a plan in mind. If you thought that he was dragging you so much then he would teach toy what dragging looks like.

It was time for Yarnaby to make himself useful.

While he gave Yarnaby the order to kill the ex employee and capture you, he started organising other arrangements for you and that employee.

And a cloth wet with mixed chemicals sat on the table of his lab.

----------------------------------------------------------

Time had past fast and while you and the employee had managed somehow to get to the doors of his lair, the [Player] had to test his morality in the process and you had been almost abducted more times that you would like to admit.

Thank god you had one hand of the Back-Pack attached to your arm or you wouldn't have had a chance.

Before getting into he wolf's mouth, you grabbed player by the shoulders.

"Look, I will only accompany you until here, but do me a favour, put this USB on the main system before disconnecting the main data base" You said mumbling so the doctor wouldn't hear much.

"You are not going inside?" [Player] asked doubtful "We both know if get in there im not coming out and Doey still needs me, plus I don't trust Poppy to be there unsupervised" You argued

[Player] just looked at you, almost as if believing he wasn't going to make it either. He hugged you as a his last contact with another human. Ironically, while it was going to be his last hug, it had been your first real hug in almost 10 years.

You just pat his back stiffly and stayed on the elevator so if things got messy you could escape.

Due to your exhaustion and the little food you ate down there, you had put your guard down a few seconds, feeling nauseous and supporting yourself with the rail of the elevator.

When you finally put yourself up, you felt a hand on your mouth that was covered on a wet cloth and another hand on your waist, pushing you back against a metallic body.

You started feeling very dizzy and everything around you was spinning, the last thing you heard before falling unconscious was the voice of Harley talking through one of his vessels saying:

"Oh I will be dragging us both, you can be sure of that germ" Finally the last thing you felt was a caress on your jaw, after that your body stopped responding and Harley carried you through another door to the same room where you woke up years ago...

-Unedited fic-

Yarnaby, mom and dad are getting a divorce.

Sorry if this one was shorter than usual, but I'm trying to figure out exactly If I'm giving this a good ending or an angty one.

I also want to work on the dynamics and the character of Y/N and [Player] as the only humans in the factory

Confrontation of Poppy and Y/N (I'll be adding more drawing, maybe)

A little before and after Y/N

[livelaughlovesubs]

Heeeeya, Nini! How's it going? I can't believe its already been a year! I've been here since before that time you accidentally deleted your blog XD. Congrats! you've dominated the sub! bsd tag for forever and I'm living for it XD. For the event, can I please request Fyodor (bsd) with the prompt, 'Keeping their hands bound to make basic tasks difficult or impossible. Bonus: punish them for failing or making a mess'. Bro, I have an inability to be all that sadistic, even in fiction TwT, so for the punishment part, can I request something like tickling? Is that allowed?! LMAO- As always, feel free to delete/decline this if it makes you uncomfy, and have an awesome day. And again, congrats on one year!

AHHHHH DONT REMIND ME OF THAT TIME can’t believe how dumb I was 🥲 but thank you for being a long time follower hehe, the idea with tickling is very cute I love it

Dom!reader x sub!fyodor - reader is gn

Warning: humiliation, teasing, a tiny bit of degrading, tickling >:)

Anniversary event

Thud thud thud

Someone was hammering on your door in the middle of the night, and they just didn’t stop. You’ve been trying to ignore it for the past minutes, but the sound only got louder.

Thud thud thud

“Ahhhh which fucker is it?!” In the end, you gave in and cursed, stomping to the front door before opening a small crack. “What is-” to your surprise you knew the person behind the door, it was fyodor, your boyfriend. “Huh?? Fedya? Why didn’t you use the bell?” You immediately swung the door open and invited him in, he gave you a bashful smile before entering. Then you shut the door behind him.

“You see…” he said, while he let his coat slip from his shoulders, revealing his hands which were bound tightly behind his back. “It proved to be pretty difficult to ring the bell three times, so I thought kicking the door would suffice.” That was the secret code you two agreed on, so that you’d know if it was him who’s standing on your doorway. “Ah…” you stared at his restricted limps, then at him, giving him a questioning glance. He didn’t provide any explanation or answers.

The male turned around to face you, who were still standing next to the door. “Well? Aren’t you going to help me?” He rushed you, but kept his soft smile. “Actually no, not yet.” You replied, crossing your arms in font of your chest. That attitude, were you mad with him? “…y/n, what do you want.” Finally he dropped the good-guy act, seemingly irritated by your behaviour. Normally you’d help without being this difficult, except when you aren’t in a good mood, something that seems to be the case here.

You walked past him and sat down on the couch, making yourself comfortable before saying, “bring me the remote.” Fyodor looked a tad baffled, though he didn’t think too much about it and walked to the shelf to the left of you, pondering for a moment on how to grab it, before using his mouth to bite the object. Then he brought it to you like an obedient puppy, right into your hand and cheeks flushed a bright shade of red. “Good job.” You praised him, scratching the underside of his chin a bit, intensifying his blush.

“Now bring me a scissor to cut those ropes. You can find it in the kitchen.” He glared at you when you didn’t stop ordering him around, especially since he found his actions pretty shameful. Nevertheless, he bit back his complains and went to the other room to get whatever you wanted. Once he found the scissor, he bit the handle of the tool, and carefully got back to your side. “That took you a while.” You chuckled, to which he scoffed, “are you done with the games now?” How furious he sounded, he wasn’t having half the fun you had huh?

You tilted your head to the side, acting like you were thinking about it, then said, “one last thing.” Before giving him a big smile. The male rolled his eyes at that, at least internally. “Bring me a glass of water, that’s my last request, promise.” After you finished your sentence, you raised your pinky finger, then said, “ah silly me, you can’t reciprocate it after all.” Fyodor mumbled, “you are unbelievable.” Then he made his way back to the kitchen. What else was he supposed to do, he needed your help.

Through much resilience and great efforts, he managed to get a cup out of your shelves. And he even managed to fill it with tap water! Afterwards he bit the handle of the cup, finding that to be the easiest course of action, and slowly walked over to you. This was now his third time running a stupid errand for you, and he really hoped this would be the last. On his way back, he accidentally spilled the water in the cup all over himself and the floor, causing him to yelp a little, “hmmm..!”

You turned your head to the source of the noise, giggling at the sight but not helping him. His blush darkened even more, and he closed the last bit of distance between you two. Without any commentary, you took the cup and put it on the table, grabbing the scissors and cutting through his binds. He didn’t expect you to not make fun of him, so consider him grateful.

Though after you were done, you got up from your seat, grabbing his shoulders as you sneered, “gosh, fyodor, you couldn’t even bring me a glass of water?” Guess he jinxed it. Even though considering the circumstances he was in, failing his task was a very possible outcome, he still felt humiliated by your words, or at least embarrassed. He wanted to argue, to try and keep some shreds of dignity when you bested him to it, saying, “shouldn’t you get a punishment for that?”

“A punishment?” As soon as these words left his mouth, you pushed him into the couch and tickled him. Attacking his stomach while responding through a huge grin, “yep! A punishment you can’t evade!” “What- ha- ahaha.. no, wait haha…! Stop!” He laughed involuntarily, kicking his legs around and trying to peel your hands off his body. “Haha.. s-stop, hahh.. really, hahaha~ I can’t-!!” Tears were forming in the corners of his eyes already, his clothes and hair all disheveled. “Hehe.. alright, the punishment is over.” You eventually said, reaching out to his face to wipe his tears away.

As if hit by the realisation, he abruptly stopped smiling, still blushing furiously as he gasped for air. When he breathing calmed down, he pouted, then wrapped his arms around your neck as he gave you a quick kiss on the lips, “you-… you better make it up to me for being mean.”

[mischievousskin]

a field of geranium - yuuji itadori

--

summary ! you and itadori have been together since middle school. when he randomly breaks up with you and disappears from school, you're left heartbroken and completely alone.

warnings / tags ! angst to fluff , exes to lovers , non-sorcerer reader, hopeful ending! implied fem reader, written with a poc reader in mind (skin tone and race unspecified!), past bullying, yuuji is lowkey dumb, reader is stated to be intelligent, lonely reader .. lots of angst. probably not very canon accurate to how curses work but shush.. reader curses a lot lol.

a/n ! hope you guys like this! i loveee yuuji sm .. this probably isnt good i haven't written in a while ;;

--

you remember a time when it felt like yuuji would always be around.

when he would kiss your forehead before classes and during lunch, hold your hand as he walked you to class and write you childish love notes during maths.

you never expected him to break up with you, let alone over text. you'd planned on confronting him at school after he had repeatedly dodged your frantic calls, but when you entered the school, yuuji didn't go there anymore.

it stung. yuuji had been your best friend since middle school, defending you from the bullies who'd pick on you for various things that'd later become insecurities of yours. (sometimes you wonder if those things are why yuuji left.)

going back to eating alone in the single stall bathrooms and having nobody to talk to during passing periods was a hard transition. your parents weren't any help either, telling you that high school relationships never lasted.

(you can't bring yourself to throw away the promise ring he gave you.)

you see him out one day, with a pretty brunette girl, carrying shopping bags for her. you go up to him; he's clearly moved on. (you can understand why. she's gorgeous.) he doesn't seem to notice you.

--

you're sitting alone the class garden for your botanicals class. you remember a time this was your favourite class (it was one with yuuji; go figure.)

now it's filled with bittersweet memories and the grief over someone you know isn't dead.

you're calm as a boy you've never seen before approaches you. your hands are gloved and your hair is a bit messy as you look up at him.

“be careful around here, please. it's class policy not to walk on the soil.” you scold a bit, his boots having crushed one of the plants.

he looks down at you, his face a bit stoic, “sorry.”

“it's alright- did you need something?” you smile at him politely.

he snaps his fingers, frowns a bit, then says “nope,” and walks off.

you'd never seen him before. he didn't even have the right uniform on.

--

“i cannot believe you just made me do that.” megumi rolls his eyes.

yuuji frowns a bit, “i'm sorry but- i can't go up to her.” megumi rolls his eyes as nobara fumes a bit.

“you broke up with her over text. no wonder no girls like you.” she snarks and yuuji just glares at her.

“i had just eaten sukuna's finger! i thought i was gonna die soon anyways!” he argues back,

“well then why haven't you tried to talk to her again? not that she should take you back- i pity the fact that she dated you at all.” nobara speaks as they walk away from the school.

“she probably has new friends anyways, plus she could get hurt, she's not a sorcerer.” yuuji says, his face looking almost like a kicked puppy.

nobara looks at him and raises an eyebrow, “didn't you say you were her only friend? that curse probably attached to her cause she's lonely.” she pops her gum after saying the last sentence.

“even more proof that me being around her is dangerous! plus- what if sukuna gets out around her while i sleep or something?!” he sighs, looking back and sneaking a peak at you in the botanical garden, “she's better off.”

megumi looks at him a bit, “i'm not surprised. you are the self sacrificing type after all.”

“i just think its rude to break up over text with no explanation, you guys were together for so long too.” nobara shrugs a bit.

“if i had spoken to her any more than that, i think i would've tried to stay.“ yuuji frowns.

--

two weeks after the boy approached you in class, your botany teacher dies in a freak accident, or at least that's what the police said. you aren't too sure.

ms. woods was a smart woman. you knew from the lunches you'd spend in her classroom to avoid bullies that she seriously loved plants.

so dying by ingesting a poisonous plant? out of character and frankly, insulting. you know that can't be the whole story.

that boy had something to do with it; it has to be. you look through your yearbooks after he had left; no sight of him. you go through all of your classes, all grades, you ask around. nothing. he didn't go to your school but he walked up to you during botany class and then two weeks later your teacher dies.

it can't be a coincidence. you go nearly crazy over it. you stay up multiple nights. you cry.

you remember when ms. woods called you smart, when she understood your grief over itadori and let you extend your onion cell project. you cry; something horrible happened to her, you just know it.

so, the night you stay in the school way too late studying poisonous plants in her room, you have a good excuse for why you see a huge monster in the hallway.

at first, you think you're seeing things from the sleep deprivation. you blink, rub your eyes and squint. it's still there.

“holy shit!” you jump out of your seat, going for the door to the garden before realizing they're locked, only able to be unlocked via a key- which you don't have.

the monster, a disgusting bipedal amalgamation of red roses, vegetables, cacti and other odd plants was slowly walking towards you.

“what the fuck.. oh my god- what the fuck?!” you shout, your hands shaking as you go to grab the nearest object to defend yourself as you press your body against the door. you grab a glass flask and hold it out as if it's at all a threat to the 8 foot creature in front of you.

the creature groans and you begin to tear up. this is it- you're about to die the same way ms. woods must have. nobody is going to mourn you besides your parents. you're going to die with people thinking you injested a poisonous fucking plant. you shut your eyes tight in preparation as it approaches.

it never does. you hear the creature use ms. woods' voice to cry out as someone attacks it. you peek to look.

its yuuji. and the girl from the mall. and the boy you thought killed ms. woods.

you gasp as they use all sorts of stuff against the thing and- are those bunnies?

“what.” is all you can gasp out as the brunette and the black haired boy run off, chasing the monster.

yuuji looks at you with his puppy dog eyes and you resist the urge to slap his stupid kissable face.

“yuuji, what the hell is going on.” you say, but it comes out as more of a statement than a question.

“i.. um..” he looks back at the two he came with who are now chasing the monster down the science hall, “that's the curse ms. woods left behind.. we're getting rid of it.”

“a curse? and- and you're fighting it?” you ask, puzzled.

“i promise i can explain but,” he pulls you into a tight, squeezing hug, “I was so worried. A special grade curse against you- I was terrified that we'd be too late. We didn't notice in time to get it before it tried to hurt you.”

“did it kill ms. woods?” you ask.

he shakes his head, “no- the grief from her death created that.” you gasp.

“I made that?” tears spill as the adrenaline settles.

“no!” yuuji pulls away a bit, looking at you put still holding onto you, “no. you didn't- it's not your fault. oh my god, it's not your fault- i love you please don't blame yourself!” he hurries to reassure you.

you sob into the crook of his neck, “yuuji- you.. why did you go? i was so lonely. it's been so hard.”

he can feel his heart break as he squeezes you once more in his embrace, “i'm sorry baby- i'm sorry.” yuuji soothes you, rubbing circles into your back, “i didn't want you to get hurt but- it happened anyways.”

after several minutes of silent comfort, you pull away, wiping your tears before giggling.

“where'd you get those face tattoos?” you sniffle and laugh.

yuuji laughs too.

“it's a long story.“

you smile, “tell me about it. i wanna hear.”

[howi99]

Follow up to the prison post

Cinder: *still looking at her own reflection in the mirror* How? His semblance is supposed to be Aura amplification! How did he?

The door of her cell open

Jaune: *seeing her looking at the mirror* Still wondering about my little magic trick?

Cinder: *turning around to face him, almost growling* What do you want, Arc?

Jaune: *shaking his head, putting a journal on the bed alongside some books* Giving you a taste of the outside? You know, the one you almost destroyed?

Cinder: *angry* Because you honestly think i had a choice!?

Jaune: *rolling his eyes* Yes. Many times in fact. In fact, every time i fought you after i came back from the ever after, i gave you a chance.

Cinder: Ah! As if you would have let me live!

Jaune: ... *Sigh* Cinder, i don't think you understand what i lived through. How long i lived through it. *Sitting on a chair next to the bed* I stopped hating you a long, very long time ago.

Cinder: Stop lying, we both know you want me dead.

Jaune: *nod* I do want you dead, yes. I want you dead, because that's what you deserve. It's a fact, a truth. *Pause for a moment, seeming to think about his words* You are alone, Cinder. Nobody wants you and nobody will ever want you. I could give you your old beauty, it wouldn't even matter. And honestly? *Lean forward* I find that infinitely sad.

Cinder: *surprised* What's that supposed to mean?

Jaune: *lean back* Exactly what i'm saying. You are a remnant of the past, a past everyone is now trying to forget and move on from. *Points to his head* Everyone will forget about you. *Chuckle* Well, everyone but me.

Cinder: Tsk... *Goes to sit on the other chair* Can you tell me how you did it?

Jaune: *feigning ignorance* Hm? Did what?

Cinder: *angry muttering* You know damn well what I'm talking about... *Sigh* How did you bring back my eye?

Jaune: *smirking* The ever after was a prison, yes. *Wave his hand, making a ball of light which turned into a kaleidoscope of colors* And a great place to learn and harvest magic. *Taking a pensive look* When i think about it, it's a good thing you didn't fall back then. Or we probably would have been all doomed.

Cinder: ... That's it? Magic? That's the explanation?

Jaune: *scratching his beard* The short answer? Yes. The long answer is that i used the memory your own soul has of your body. Your body may change, but your aura, your soul doesn't. *Waving off* I could have used my semblance, but instead of being instantaneous, it would have taken a week... Oh and you would have suffered all the way through.

Cinder: Then why give it back?

Jaune: *shrug* You kick puppies for fun, i heal them. Nothing more, nothing less.

Cinder: ... I never hurt animals.

Jaune: Not.... The point i was trying to make, but a nice tidbit to know about you. Other than your casualties counts and your hatred of Atlas, it's not like i know a lot about you.

Cinder: *angry* That place deserved to burn!

Jaune: Maybe. Atlas was a corrupted den of nepotism, but i don't think the common folks deserved to die.

Cinder: *bark a single laugh# Ah! As if your team didn't bring its share of destruction to the place! Remember Ironwood? THAT wasn't me.

Jaune: *sigh* Oh don't worry, i know that too well. But i can't blame a bunch of kids for making bad calls. Hell, the adults were as dumb as us.

Cinder: *chuckle* At least you can see your own mistakes.

Jaune: I had time to learn from them.

Cinder: ... Since you are going to be my jailer for the foreseeable future... How long exactly did you stay in the ever after? Or whatever that place's called.

Jaune: *seeming to think about the question* Well, the gods were already gone from the place, but it was before humanity's downfall. Take the fact time goes faster in the ever after.... Maybe centuries? Though i'd say a millennium would be accurate-

Cinder: *surprised, getting up of the chair* I THOUGHT YOU WERE TRAPPED 20 YEARS!?

Jaune: Hm? Oh yeah, when team RWBY arrived, my body was probably in its forty. I age incredibly slowly, but i still do age.

Cinder: *completely bewildered, sit back down* Wow... I... I never expected that! How did you stay sane?

Jaune: ... I didn't? I mean, I spent the last 50 years of my life there saving the same village over and over again. Day after day... I don't hear voices, if you were wondering. But i lost a good part of myself there. In a way, the Jaune you knew died a long time ago, only leaving a rusted husk at his place. One that was repaired, yes, but can never be the same.

Cinder: *sigh* Great, then i guess i'll turn mad before seeing the bright sky again.

Jaune: *taking his scroll out* With good conduct and if you seem repented enough, you'll probably be out in a little hundred years. Beside, you will have interaction with the outside. Books, journal and whatnot. Oh, and me, of course. And for the sky part, you get 6 hours of free time, it's not like you can't go in the courtyard during that time.

Cinder: *silent for a moment* Why did you choose to be my jailor? Instead of letting someone else do it?

Jaune: *Thinking over the question* Hm... Because i can? Because if i can at least change you, make you a better person, maybe then my friends death won't have been in vain? Because i know what being alone feels like and even if i hate you, i wouldn't wish that to anyone? Maybe... Maybe i just want to help a child who never knew better? *Shrug* Who knows?

Cinder: ...

Jaune: *get up, walking to the door* You are alone outside those walls... But, as long as you will be here, i won't let you go. Even if we both hate each other, i'll always be there for you when you need it.*smile* I'm still the Rusted Knight after all. *Leave, closing the door*

Cinder: *Sigh* You should have been here for me a long time ago then... When i still believed in him. *Looking at the books, one in particular picking her attention, an old book with burned marks on it* That book... *She picks it up, turns a page and sees her own signature* ... *Tears form in her eyes, as she begins reading The girl who fell through the world, like she used to*

[reidreaders]

For the next insta post what if y/n wants a cat to be Spock’s best friend 👀

I LOVE THIS IDEA THANK U ANON💕💕 MASTERLIST

Liked by babygirlpg, emprentiss, and 205 others

y/n @/drreid don't be too mad

View all 37 comments

drreid I've been gone for two days and you brought a cat home???

-> y/n Spock made me! He said he needed a friend!

-> drreid Can I at least name the cat?

-> y/n sure thing baby 😘

chocthunder oh pretty boy is not gonna be happy ab that

-> emprentiss ikr im living for this

davidrossi This is what long term relationships are like kid! Get used to it...

-> drreid Gee thanks Rossi

Liked by drreid, jenniferj, and 192 others

y/n UPDATE! Spence loves the cat and he named him Newton!

View all 23 comments

drreid As mad as I was I do love the cat (I also love you).

-> y/n shut up I love you too

-> babygirlpg I LOVE YOUR CAT! when cat I meet him??

-> y/n come over anytime!

ssahotchner Jack wants to come over and meet Newton. He also says its been too long since he's seen Spock.

-> jenniferj Henry said the same thing!!

-> y/n I guess we'll just have to have everyone over!

Liked by davidrossi, emprentiss, and 156 others

y/n got to see professor Reid in action today!

View all 29 comments

drreid It was so much to have you there! You should come more often :)

babygirlpg you guys are the best couple fr

-> jenniferj what about me and will?

-> y/n nah me n spence 4eva

chocthunder awww were u bored??

-> emprentiss HA

Liked by ssahotchner, emprentiss, and 167 others

y/n pretty dumb for an actual genius

View all 34 comments

drreid Yeah I don't even have an explanation for this.

ssahotchner Sometimes I forget how young he is

-> davidrossi me too

emprentiss how many times did he fall?

-> y/n 3x he swore the laws of physics would help him but they did not

-> drreid They would have! I just don't have very good balance...

Liked by babygirlpg, chocthunder, and 187 others

y/n y'all are WRONG for not telling him this was there all day

View all 45 comments

drreid I agree! I was at crime scenes with this on my face!

babygirlpg Spencer I swear I wanted to but Derek swore me to secrecy im sorry

-> chocthunder im sorry pretty boy it was just too funny

-> emprentiss I am not sorry but I agree it was funny

-> drreid I hate all of you.

every time I post one of these my brain is like "ahh yes feed your children" lmaoo anywaysss hope you guys liked this one!! send more requests!

[lu-is-not-ok]

This is just a dumb theory, but given what Xichun has said about the elders of their family seeking immortality of the mind and the ruthless competition they've got going between their grandkids, this might be the simplest and easiest explanation we have, so I'm probably wrong, but it's still a thought:

What if the elders are attempting some sort of Get Out style body hijacking scheme? Whoever the strongest, fittest, most ruthless of the kids is deemed worthy to have an elder live inside of them?

I've been mulling over how to respond to this because there's both a lot to say and not that much at the same time.

Because, on the one hand, yeah you are absolutely correct. The search for the Immortality of the mind is absolutely very likely going to lead to the exposure of new and inventive ways for the elders to exploit the younger members of the Jia Family.

This would be further corroberated by my Two in One/Daiyu-Baoyu theory, as it implies that the reason why Baoyu was so valuable to the Family and why the elders are now invested in getting him back is because the fact he was able to keep on living via a version of body hijacking could be exactly what they were looking for. And, well, if they can't achieve Immortality themselves, they still want to have their One Immortal back to force him into doing what they want.

However, I do feel like this isn't all there is to it.

My main point of contention is that I don't believe that the seeking of Immortality and the competition between siblings are inherently this closely connected. I think that, at the very least, they weren't at first.

The competition for the spot as the head of the Family feels like a kind of tradition that would go back for many generations, way before whatever kind of Immortality scheme the current elders are cooking.

After all, note the difference in how Xichun and Hong Lu talk about those two concepts. Neither of them ever really question the competition between siblings, they're fully expecting murder attempts as if they were normal facts of life. There is no judgement of it, it's as natural to them as gravity causing things to fall or plants needing water.

On the other hand, this kind of idea of normalcy is not afforded to the search for Immortality by them. In fact, they both seem to see it as kind of a bother. Xichun calls it an "old, tiresome thing", while Hong Lu is clearly not even really taking part in it, with his writing in the Rose Hunter log implying he believes it to be the beliefs of a select few specific people in his Family.

While it's implied that both concepts have been around for a long while, the normalization of the sibling competition and the lack thereof for the search for Immortality suggests that the former is an established tradition of the Family, while the latter is only a development as recent as the current elders being the ones in power.

But... there is a deeper, thematic way that the two ideas connect together, despite their in-universe connection not being as close as you posit.

Both the sibling competition and the search for Immortality, and even Baoyu being kept within the Jias' grasp - they all serve a single purpose.

To allow for the endless and cyclical perpetuation of the Jia Family and its legacy of abuse and violence.

The competition between siblings isn't just to find the strongest and most ruthless child to become the next head, it's specifically to find an heir whose personal values are the most like the values the Jia Family itself holds, and which thus can continue to perpetuate it.

The search for Immortality then is just another incarnation of this attempt to continue perpetuating the Jia Family, but in this case in a more "efficient" manner. Instead of relying on the random chance of hoping that the one heir who comes out on top will share the values of the elders, the elders can just ensure the Jia Family remains as it is by always being the ones in power. Its legacy can't die if its head never dies after all.

And then, of course, is the one Immortal in question - Baoyu. The Family likely "treasures" him so much because he's their one sure way to never let the Jia Family die. As long as they can keep him locked, as long as they can shape him into the kind of person who would blindly follow what they say, they can ensure he can keep the legacy alive forevermore.

It's... an interesting and kind of poignant smaller scale parallel to how Project Moon portrays the City itself.

Both the City and the Jia Family are, in a way, their own "living" beings independent of any of the people that are a part of it, and yet which can only continue to live on in perpetuity because those same people are the ones who perpetuate their systems of abuse.

It's not a single person's fault that they both continue to live on and cause harm. ...But there's also very few who aren't at least in part to blame for keeping them alive. Even those who are being actively exploited by those in power and have no choice but to perpetuate those cycles... well, they're still perpetuating them all the same.

[forsetti]

On American Exceptionalism: Stupid Is As Stupid Does

“We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.” -John Naisbitt

Right after the 2016 election, the dominant hot take from pundits was Hillary lost because Democrats failed to understand Rural America. This explanation was complete nonsense. Liberals who grew up or lived/live in Rural America very much understand them. That wasn’t the problem. As I wrote about at the time, the problem with Rural America was/is the racism and misogyny that are deeply embedded in their culture and religion and their willingness to all these to dictate their choices, even at their own expense.

Here we are eight years later and with Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump, the stupid hot takes are again flying off the shelves. This time around, the reason for Trump winning was Democrats didn’t care about the working class. As with “Dems don’t understand Rural America,” the reasons behind why Trump won were racism, misogyny, and stupidity. “Dems don’t care about the working class,” is a flat-out lie, no matter who says it, (I’m looking at you Bernie Sanders.) All the evidence shows America has done better than every other major country responding to the pandemic and EVERY economic indicator is better now than just about any time in the past fifty years regarding unemployment, job creation, DOW, wage growth… Trump’s reelection showed how much facts and evidence don’t matter in America.

As long as people “feel” a certain way, that is all that matters. Any argument that hinges on “feelings,” or “vibes,” is intellectual laziness at its finest. Why do people feel a certain way? Are these feelings justified? These questions are completely ignored or quickly glossed over because no one wants to know or discuss the answers to these questions.

No one wants to discuss why a large number of Americans are willing to believe a Five-Star, chronic liar. No one wants to know why these same people are willing to vote for a self-serving billionaire who has a long record of fucking over working-class people who have done work for him. No one wants to know why “good Christians,” happily support an adulterer who paid off a porn star not to divulge he had sex with her four months after his wife gave birth to their youngest child. No one wants to ask why these same, “good Christians,” are gleeful about fucking over immigrants and asylum seekers. No one really wants to know why Republicans are hell-bent on stripping women of rights and economic opportunities. No one really wants to admit that “The Greatest Nation On Earth,” “The Shining Beacon On The Hill,” and “God’s Country,” is very much racist, misogynist, and really stupid.

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it." -Agent K

People are generally stupid. Stupid people are easy to manipulate, especially when it comes to their feelings. Most of the “feelings” about “economic anxiety,” are rooted in racism, bigotry, and misogyny.

In America, truth and evidence have been replaced with feelings and vibes because it takes no effort to feel something, to believe something. It takes a lot of work to understand and know something. There are too many Americans who are intellectually lazy and poorly educated and are either convinced they are smart or know they aren’t and overcompensate by gish galloping and talking very loudly. The only thing more dangerous than a stupid person is a stupid person who is convinced they are smart.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had little to no tolerance for stupidity. As a kid, I would often come home from school or church and complain vociferously to my mom about the stupidity I’d encountered. Her advice to me was always, “You can’t fight every battle against stupid people, there are too many of them. Even if you “win” against one, there will always be another to take their place.”

Whenever she would tell me this, it would remind me of something I once heard the population of China was so large and growing so rapidly, that they could walk ten-abreast into the ocean and the line would NEVER end.

That is how I few stupid people. Never ending.

Instead of constantly battling against stupidity, I tried to carve out niches of smartness and sanity wherever I could. It is why I felt the need to leave America and go to Japan for a couple of years. It is why I studied philosophy. It is why I ended up in grad school at a Big 10 school in a very progressive town. It is why I’ve always surrounded myself with a very small but incredibly smart group of friends.

For a long time, this way of dealing with stupidity worked. Then social media brought the stupidity I’d fought so hard to avoid to my door with a vengeance.

Nobody was more excited for the internet than me. I’m an information junkie. My “hobby” as a kid was reading the Encyclopedia Britannica every night until the wee hours of the morning. Having all the information readily available was amazing. At least it was amazing until the Libertarian Tech Bros decided to create social media platforms to “democratize” information and bad-faith actors realized how easily they could manipulate a poorly educated population.

Thomas Jefferson knew that democracy could only truly function and succeed with an educated citizenry. Poorly educated people cannot make truly informed decisions. This is why mentally incompetent people and children cannot enter contracts. It is why people on certain drugs in hospitals are not allowed to make decisions about their health care. A democracy of idiots isn’t a real democracy (and if you tell me America is a Republic, not a democracy, I’ll send a civics teacher to your house to beat you about the head and neck with the largest textbook in their library.)

You can’t have a functioning democratic government with un/misinformed people. The exact thing is true when it comes to “democratizing,” information. It might sound like a good idea to open up information to any and all because good/sound ideas will rise to the top and win out in the end. To quote from, “A Stress Analysis Of A Strapless Evening Gown: Essays For A Scientific Age,” “There goes another wonderful theory about to be murdered by a brutal gang of facts.”

When you “democratize” information you automatically give everything equal weight of legitimacy and truth value. Then, somehow, the right/true things become apparent and win out. This treats facts as opinions. The answer to, “Which is better, Coke or Pepsi?” is not a factual statement. It contains no truth (even though anyone with any taste buds knows the correct answer is, “Coke.”) When scientific theories and data are treated the same as opinions and opinions are treated as facts, we are beyond fucked.

The other thing “democratizing” information either takes for granted, completely ignores, or willfully denies is, in order for their notion of a “free marketplace of ideas,” to work, people need to have the skill sets necessary to properly understand and process the information, in order to make informed decisions.

The tech bros don’t have these skill sets. Libertarians, by nature, are idiots. The best description of Libertarians is from Tom Morrow - “"Libertarians are like house cats: absolutely convinced of their fierce independence while utterly dependent on a system they don't appreciate or understand.” Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg don’t give one fuck about the well-being of people. They care about their egos. They care about how much data about you they can extract to sell to other amoral dicks. They care about how many toys they can buy and how many expensive, unique experiences they can have to brag about to their other equally amoral dick friends.

Truth isn’t contingent on popularity or who has the most followers or poll numbers. To treat truth this way obliterates any and all standards of evidence, validity, and soundness. It does away with the need for truth. To pretend otherwise is to either not understand a functioning view of truth or to understand it and use the destruction of truth to your advantage.

When you combine a completely misguided idea like democratizing information with a poorly educated population, the result is the stupid become proudly and arrogantly stupid. It becomes the perfect breeding ground for conspiracy theories.

Social media sites always kind of were this way but two events really showed just how problematic and dangerous they were: The election of Barack Obama and the pandemic.

The amount of sheer bullshit spread on social media about Obama’s birth certificate and the Affordable Care Act was staggering in volume and stupidity. Stupidity that is still believed as absolute gospel by a good chunk of the right. This really isn’t surprising since many of these same people deeply believe Jesus was white and apparently a vindictive, gun-toting he-man.

However, as stupid and awful as the lies about Obama and the ACA were, they paled in comparison to those spread about the pandemic. The propaganda about the pandemic was unbelievably widespread and very dangerous. Literally, hundreds of thousands of people died from the lies spread, mostly on social media, about COVID-19 and the vaccines.

I have people I know very well and some I love deeply who adamantly believe the stupidest nonsense about the virus and vaccines for no other reason than the propaganda they read/heard on social media, pundits, and their social groups… The more people passed along something they’d heard/read, the more it turned into a very dangerous Purple Monkey Dishwasher situation:

Once people believe untrue things, especially if those things are closely tied to their self-identity, it is almost impossible to unscrew that pooch because it would mean they have to admit they were not just misled and wrong but adamantly so. It takes humility to admit you are wrong. This is why, no matter how many times we are promised that the “Republican Fever,” of Trumpism will break, it will never happen because it isn’t Trumpism, it is Republicanism, and because the right will NEVER FUCKING EVER admit they were wrong about anything, especially if the liberals were right. It just isn’t in their fundamentalist, white supremacist, misogynist, Manifest Destiny DNA.

The past few election cycles have been nothing but a constant barrage of well-designed, well-placed propaganda from bad-faith actors here and abroad. Fear, hatred, lies...all get more attention and traction with people, especially stupid people, than facts and the truth. Anyone who has a basic understanding of human psychology has to know this. The entire field of advertising hinges and relies on people being easily manipulated.

The culmination of decades of underfunding, undercutting, lying about, and demonizing education by the right and the proliferation of social media outlets resulted in the election of the most unqualified, uncaring, self-absorbed, chronic liar to run the world’s largest economy and military not once but twice.

I keep hearing people blame Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris for losing to Trump because, based on who Trump is, “the race should never have been close.” This is a stupid take. It absolutely shouldn’t have been close, either time. The problem wasn’t Hillary or Clinton or anything they did/didn’t do. The problem is Americans are fucking stupid and since America is a representative government, their votes are a direct reflection of who/what they are.

The day right before this year’s election, all the left-wing pod bros and Never Trumpers, to a person, talked about how Kamala ran the most perfect campaign they’d ever seen. The day after the election, every single one of them rushed to get on the “Dems don’t care about the working class” bandwagon like they were trying to get front-row tickets to Taylor Swift.

In my lifetime, ALL of the evidence from jobs created, unemployment, wages, and the DOW… shows Democratic administrations greatly outperform Republican ones. Yet, the narrative has always been that Republicans are better at handling the economy.

Why is there such a gap between facts and feelings when it comes to the economy?

One answer is propaganda. The right has a massive media advantage when it comes to pushing whatever narrative they want. AM radio, FOX NEWS, and Sinclair Corp… do nothing but pump out right-wing talking points all day, every day. If you hear/read nonstop that the economy is in crisis, no matter what the facts are, you will start to believe it. This is why, when Republicans were polled about the economy pre-election, the majority said they were in a good economic situation but the country was not. This also explains why, right after the election, when the “bad economy” propaganda was no longer being pushed, the very same people who claimed the US economy was in shambles a week prior, now think the economy is doing fine.

The same thing is true about crime rates, welfare, immigration… You name it and there has been/is a massive propaganda effort from the right that has made a whole lot of Americans “reprogrammable meatbags” (hat tip Driftglass.)

Let’s just put aside the fact the Biden administration did more for workers than any administration since LBJ and possibly all the way back to FDR. When it comes to Democrats “ignoring the working class,” every single economic crisis in my lifetime happened while a Republican was in the White House. And, every single one of the times this happened, it was a Democratic president who fixed the mess only to be replaced by another Republican who once again fucked up the economy.

The reasons why Trump won in 2016 and again in 2024 had nothing to do with Dem messaging or policies. The reasons are racism, misogyny, widespread propaganda, and Americans are unbelievably stupid. Full stop.

I’m not surprised Trump won again because I understand the American electorate. I’ve also been warning for at least the past three decades that as white, male Americans become less culturally and demographically significant, they are going to do and rationalize whatever it takes to hold onto their artificially created sense of importance and self-worth. They will not just fight like hell to protect what they deem their God-given place in society, they will burn it all to the ground and salt the earth behind them rather than see anyone they deem unworthy get a damn thing.

In one of my undergraduate philosophy classes, I can’t remember which one or the context, one of my professors brought up a hypothetical scenario where a wise king had a difficult choice to make. The public well in the village he ruled over had been tainted and anyone who drank from it went mad. The choice the king had to make was to either not drink from the well and rule over a bunch of raving lunatics or drink and become one of them.

The general consensus among the students was the right choice was for the king to drink the tainted water because, no matter how wise you are, you can’t rule idiots.

I completely disagreed with this and thought the entire thing was a false dilemma (an either/or fallacy.) The smart/right thing for the king to do would be to find another village to rule over or head to the wilderness. Trying to rule idiots is a waste of time and talent. However, idiots aren’t going to be any more easy to rule if you are also an idiot. Find a new place for your talents and/or get the fuck out of Dodge.

I’m certainly not a wise king. I’m just a lowly villager but I have the same choice to make because the public well of information has been tainted and those who drink from it are getting stupider by the day.

What does this all mean?

It means I’m out. I’m getting the fuck out of Dodge, not in the physical sense but intellectually and emotionally. I can no longer be a part of the public square of information because it has been overrun by idiots and bad-faith actors.

I’ve been out of fucks to give for some time and barely running on fumes. Watching 70+ million of my fellow Americans vote for chaos, white supremacy, lies, misogyny, and sheer stupidity and a whole lot of other Americans not even be bothered to vote for whatever reasons they tell themselves to feel better about themselves has completely exhausted whatever was in my public engagement tank.

I am going to completely stop using social media and pretty much avoid as much other media as possible. I know a lot of people who are leaving Facebook and Twitter and setting up shop at sites like Bluesky. I have a Bluesky account but won’t be using it. When I say I’m taking myself out of the public square, I mean all of it. If the public has access to something, the well of information that hasn’t been poisoned eventually will be.

There is a part of me that wants nothing more than to hang around and watch people who voted for the Face Eating Leopard Party get their faces eaten by leopards. Nobody loves the Find Out portion of Fuck Around And Find Out as much as I do. However, I can’t enjoy the Schadenfreude of people who voted for or enabled Trump to get exactly what they deserve because a lot of people who did the right thing for the right reasons are going to suffer as much, if not much more.

I also can’t watch people who keep telling me they are allies continue to make horrible choices, bitch about the consequences of their choices, and then make the same choices again. Every single person on the left who says things like, “Both parties are the same,” or “Dems have ignored the working class,” needs to go back and take a remedial civics class.

There is ONE AND ONLY ONE principle progressives need to come to terms with. If you want FDR-like policies, you HAVE TO HAVE FDR-like majorities in Congress. There is no fucking third or fourth or fifth option. The surefire way to not get these kinds of majorities is to sit out elections, vote third-party, and spend more time and energy attacking would-be allies than opponents.

I can no longer watch people be more concerned about coming across as “independent thinkers,” than being intellectually honest.

I can no longer watch people monetize anger, grief, racism, misogyny, bigotry, and stupidity.

I can no longer watch people care more about how many followers they have than facts.

I can no longer listen to people talk about “Christian values,” when their actions and words would make Jesus weep.

I can no longer hear people complain about “elites,” but continue to cater to billionaires and be fine with tax cuts for the wealthy.

I can no longer listen to people who do not understand basic economics, basic civics, and basic logic. I can no longer deal with people saying, "It's no big deal, it's just politics."

I can no longer watch people “punch down” on people/groups that are the most vulnerable in our society.

I can no longer watch women and minorities be treated as second-class citizens.

I can no longer tolerate the left being a shining example of “the perfect is the enemy of the good.”

I can no longer watch people who claim that women and minorities are high priorities to them but who constantly don’t do what is necessary to protect them.

I can no longer watch the hypocrisy of people who claim to be “Christian,” exude so much hate and anger towards people their Jesus would have taken in and washed their feet.

I can no longer watch people with little to no critical thinking skills carry more influence and weight than experts in their field. Sorry Uncle Freedom, but you don’t know Jack about virology or tariffs or Ukraine or gas production or (fill in the blank.) You don’t have the critical thinking skill set to even know why you don’t know what you don’t know and neither do the idiots you listen to on AM radio, FOX NEWS, Rumble, or OAN.

All of this probably comes across as “sour grapes,” and/or “arrogance.” I don’t fucking care. I haven’t been wrong about this stuff yet and I don’t believe I am now. I really want to be wrong. However, over the past few years, Americans generally haven’t done anything to prove me wrong.

Someone might think I’m, “just another elite liberal talking down to “Real Americans©.” First, despite all my scholastic training, I’m very much blue-collar. Second, I’m not being judgmental, I’m being purely descriptive. Finally, the Fuck Your Feelings Crowd don’t get to complain about what people think/say about them. If you are a liberal and think I’m being too harsh, get a backbone and stop pretending Republicans are something they are not, and stop wasting your time trying to convince them. No amount of evidence or arguments is going to make a meaningful dent. The ONLY thing that has a chance of making them change their beliefs is if they personally suffer from their choices, and even then that isn't a guarantee.

I saw a very popular Tweet from someone lecturing the left for “mocking people who are concerned about the price of eggs and bacon.” I’m not mocking them for their concerns. I’m mocking them for not understanding the very easily understandable reasons why certain things cost what they do at any given moment in time. Don’t wrap yourself in a flag of capitalism if you don’t understand the basics of supply and demand. Don’t be fucking stupid and certainly don’t let your stupidity lead to even stupider consequences.

It isn’t the fault of Joe Biden or Kamala Harris or liberals that a lot of Americans don’t understand the consequences of a worldwide pandemic, deregulations, supply-side issues, how the need to maximize stock dividends led to a shortage of warehouses or dozens of other economic factors. They tried. A FUCKING LOT. Somehow, it just seemed easier for a lot of people to believe the person who lies about his wealth, lies about his crowd sizes, has a long list of failed businesses, including two casinos (BANKRUPTED... TWO... FUCKING... CASINOS something that no one thought was even possible,) than the President and VP who oversaw the largest growth in US manufacturing, wage growth, jobs, and saved pensions in the past 60+ years.

To call what happened on Nov 5th stupid is an insult to stupid. What it sure the fuck wasn’t, just like in 2016, was a result of “economic anxiety.”

I have to take myself out of the public square because I see no end to the stupidity. I only see it getting worse. It is going to get worse because too many billionaires are more concerned with their placement on the Top 100 Biggest Pricks List than making things better for anyone other than themselves. It’s going to get worse because white men and their enablers are going to fight even harder to hold on to the bullshit worldview of their stature and importance. It’s going to get worse because AI is going to further dumb down an already poorly educated population. It’s going to get worse because people running social media platforms are more concerned with algorithms that will generate profits than what those algorithms contain or their consequences. It’s going to get worse because young people don’t have the skill sets necessary to process the amount of misinformation and disinformation they are exposed to on a daily basis.

It is going to get worse because there is no more fragile substance in the known universe than the male ego.

It is going to get a lot worse because when fundamentalists think they have the upper hand, they ALWAYS make things worse.

It is going to get worse right away because the worst person and president in my lifetime, and possibly American history, isn’t going to have the people or guardrails around him like he did the first time. The upcoming administration is going to be a clown show. Not a Bozo or Krusty The Clown show but Pennywise and John Wayne Gacy clown show because every single person being singled out for top positions is not just grossly unqualified but a rabid nut job.

Germany turned to fascism largely because of economic factors. Between a decimated manufacturing sector, severe reparations due to Great Britain and France, hyperinflation, and the effects of The Great Depression, Germany was an economic disaster post-WWI. Hitler capitalized on this economic strife by telling Germans he’d make Germany Great Again.

America has the world’s greatest, most stable economy. The lives of everyday Americans are infinitely better now than they were a generation ago. Many of the problems we do have can easily be corrected with some basic regulations on our poorly regulated capitalism. Yet, despite this, Americans are turning towards fascism because they can’t buy whatever they want whenever they want for as little as possible, and, most importantly, white men see their self-appointed place at the top of the social/cultural pyramid, threatened. American White Christian Male Exceptionalism and Hitler’s Aryan Master Race are both based on pseudoscientific bullshit. They aren’t the exactly same but the Venn Diagram of the two overlaps a lot more than Americans care to admit.

Other than exiting from the public square, I really don’t know what I’m going to do. The last time I felt this way, to a much lesser degree, I moved out of the country. This is certainly something I’ve thought about and a serious option but due to personal responsibilities, it wouldn’t be for a few years.

When I lived in Japan, they might have been as stupid and conspiratorial as Americans (I don’t believe they were) but I didn’t know the language well enough to find out. There is something sadly true about the quote from “Bull Durham,”-“The world is made for people who aren't cursed with self-awareness.”

I’d really like to get back into writing but I haven’t figured out what to write about if I’m self-exiled. Writing about the Village Gone Stupid would defeat the reasons I’ve decided to leave the village. No matter how little you expose yourself to poison, it is still poisonous.

Whatever happens, I want to thank everyone who has read, tolerated and appreciated what I have posted and written.

I initially thought about ending with a quote from Douglas Adams- ”So long and thanks for all the fish,” but that doesn’t really capture how I feel. A better ending would be to post the entire lyrics to “Amused To Death,” by Roger Waters. However, that is too long and I’ve gone on enough. Instead, I’ll end with the lyrics from another song by Roger Waters from the same album.

Muslim or Christian, Mullah or Pope Preacher or poet who was it wrote Give any one species too much rope And they'll fuck it up -Roger Waters “Too Much Rope”

[pursuitseternal]

Hi! 13 - 19 Raphael x reader (if its still open)

thanks!💕

“Punishment:”

Raphael x f!Reader | Smut Ask Prompts

CW: BDSM, mean Mdom, bondage, suspension, orgasm denial, punishment, rough sex, possessive devil behavior

“Can you tell me what you did wrong, little mouse?”

The question hands heavy in the air, almost as heavy as you feel, suspended in silken tendrils of rope in his boudoir. Shadows lick at the corners of your vision, the burgundy, scarlet, and gold tints of his room seem darker as he extends his great, leathery wings for a moment. He purrs at you, tail twitching like a cat… like a predator, ready to pounce and devour his prey.

Hanging from his cage, bound for his pleasure, every one of your prey instincts makes your numb digits twitch and your body writhe.

You tremble, trying to catch the floor with more than the tips of your toes to take pressure off your aching shoulders. But whatever relief you find is minimal. Your struggle just makes the Devil’s laughter ring in your sensitive ears, the pain of your body heightening all your senses to their limits. “Master,” you whine, “I… only…”

Raphael’s fingers lift your chin, nails like daggers as he turns your face into his. Gods, you forget how much taller he is in this form, his wide wings fanning into the shadows, his horned head arching like a crown far above his stature. “I want no excuses, no tiring explanations. One word, one simple word for what you’ve done wrong, like the dumb slut you are.”

“Disobeyed,” you reply, shivers raking down your spine as his claws grip tighter, as his cherry red face cracks into a fanged smile.

His thick brow arches. “Ah, so the slut can follow orders. How refreshing,” he chuckles, releasing your chin. “Now, beg me for my forgiveness, for my magnanimous mercy,” he slips his searingly hot fingers inside your cunt, easing some of the quivering ache he’s let fester there for too long. “Where are your manners for your master?” he croons.

You fight for air, the ache of your arms lessens as pleasure roils in your belly. “P… Please…” you stammer, too quickly lost to the sensations of pure hellfire racing in your veins. Breathing rough in your parched throat, you arch your back, swaying from the ropes as your feet barely touch the ground. Closer and closer he drives you, burning fingers buried deep inside, making your very cunt boil. Fuck, it’s good…

Until he pulls his hand from you with a snarl. “Oh, naughty mouse, where are those pretty little apologies? If you stop, I’ll stop.”

The pathetic whimper from your lips makes him roll his shoulders and sway with sadistic joy, his long forked tongue licking your juices from his fingers one by one. “Well, don’t keep me waiting. I’m not known for my patience, after all.”

“I’m sorry,” you let the words fly from your lips, a melancholic chant, a pitiful refrain over and over again as he does nothing but suck his fiendish digits clean. “I’m sorry,” you keep repeating until the words mean next to nothing, until your body simply says them on its own, like your need to breathe.

“You made a fool of me,” he hisses, damp hand clawing around your neck and squeezing. You gasp and gag as his hand closes harder. “In front of clients, in front mortals so easily swayed… you decided to tout your own victories against the Brain. Think of all the souls I could have reaped as my reward for… deigning to give you aid.”

Your head pounds, stars and darkness clouding your vision. This is it, your end… not a tenday in his bed and you’re paying for it….

Air rushes into your lungs as he releases you, and your shoulders find relief as he picks your body up and instantly spears you on his long, ridged cock. You scream, the pressure of him deep inside you splits you apart, but it also grants you that antidote to the burning ache left smoldering for so long. Summoning the last dregs of your strength, you cling to the ropes around your arms, pulling yourself up as he pounds up into you. Claws dig into your ass, your weight cradled by his arms wrapped under your thighs.

“Mine… you’re all mine…” you hear his voice rumbling, a final tether to keep you bound to consciousness.

“Hmm?” You barely mutter through your lust drunk, blissed out stupor as your orgasm threatens to tear you apart.

“Say it,” Raphael hisses, nails drawing blood as he clutches tighter. “Say it!” He commands, no room or argument, no tolerance for disobedience.

You manage to raise your head, arms shaking as you keep a hold. Those black and yellow eyes bore into your soul, branding you as his forevermore. More than your arrogant, flagrant, foolish disobedience could challenge. Pleasure coils to bursting as he bottoms out inside you, your legs quaking as you shatter in a million broken prices for him. “Yours!” you scream. “I’m yours.”

His grunts deafen you, your body numb as you let go of the rope. As you hang limp, suspended for his use, he pummels you. The snap of his strong hips steadies, his breathing rough and rasping in your ear, his own climax so close. A few growls, a punishingly deep thrust, and he stills, flooding your insides with hot, scalding cum. “There now, mouse,” he pants, capturing your lips in a kiss so tender, you forget the numbing pain-pleasure that consumed you at his hands. “The pools await. Let’s get you presentable once more…”

A smile crosses your lips, your body settling in his arms, as you drift off asleep against the warm flush of his chest.

A/N: While I didn’t manage to get all the prompt lines in there, I weaseled several in for your enjoyment 😈

[byeoltoyuki]

✴︎ Time is all we have ✴︎

↳ Pairing: Wooyoung x reader

❧ Genre : fluff, angst, demons

❧ Words : +19k

❧ Warnings : stalkish behavior, violence, oral

❧ Summary : You never believed in ghosts or demons but when a terribly attractive man starts messing with your life, you’re forced to reconsider.

Sequel : For Eternity

A/N: I haven't written anything for so damn long and of course when I get back to it I can't make it short. Damn, I feel rusty. Definitely gonna be more active. Enjoy!

❀

You knew there was something wrong with you.

Well, maybe not completely with you but definitely with your life. You weren’t a believer per say; you didn’t believe in an afterlife, nor did you believe in God or demons and even less in ghosts. But and it was a big but, you couldn’t deny that the past two months made you think that maybe there was something out there. Something that had been playing with you, messing with you. Your normal, peaceful life had gone from calm to shit crazy and there was no rational explanation to it, leaving you with no other choice but consider the impossible. What if something was haunting you?

Impossible, ridiculous were your initial thoughts and till this day a little voice still told you that, but another part of you whispered to you, warning you that something dark and dangerous was lingering in the darkness, watching you closely. You didn’t want to believe, really, but you couldn’t deny it any longer. Not when you were standing in the darkness, in the middle of your living room and that a silhouette was standing by your window, arms crossed over its chest. As your eyes adapted to the lack of light, you realized it was a man.

You blinked, once, twice, your heart missing a beat as slowly fear crept over you. “Who are you?”

Despite your fear, you wanted to sound as confident as possible. You wanted whoever was in this room to know that you were not weak but your voice had betrayed you.

He chuckled in response, sensing your fear, discomfort and attempt at being courageous. Clearly, you were an amusing little thing. He took a step closer to you, knowing well that in this darkness you wouldn’t be able to see him, to recognize him.

“Stop!” You ordered putting your hands before you to shield you. It was dumb, you knew that very well but did it nonetheless. “Don’t come any closer.”

“Or what? What can possibly the little human do to stop me?”

The term ‘human’ made your blood run cold. Here was the proof your relational side needed to confirm that something unnatural was going on in your life. Or maybe he was just a psychopath.

‘Who are you’ was once again on the tip of your tongue but you stopped yourself.

His voice. You knew this voice, not only from that night at the club but also from your dream.

It couldn’t be. There was no way.

Your heart leapt into your throat at the realization. You knew exactly who was in the room, hiding himself in the dark. The thing that you did not know was what he was and the simple idea of voicing your guess terrified you.

“What are you?”

Instead of answering you, he took another step closer and then another. A little voice was screaming at you, telling you to run but your feet stayed glued to the floor. You watched him getting dangerously closer to you and then you saw it. Red eyes glowing in the darkness.

“I think you know the answer, doll.”

You were not a believer. But this man made you believe. Because right before your eyes stood an inhuman being.

A demon.

❀

Then,

“This is ridiculous.” You groaned in pure despair as you all took seat around the table in Soojin’s living room. Why, oh why, did your friends decide that a good, fun night should end in some horror and ghost stories? You weren’t particularly scared since you didn’t believe in spirits but it didn’t mean you enjoyed the game either. It freaked you out. Always had.

“Don’t be a party pooper, Y/N.” Soojin nudged you with her elbow. She put the Ouija board in the middle of the table and you couldn’t help but shiver at the sight of it. It was old and dusty and looked just as ominous as in your memories. Or maybe it was the atmosphere in the room. Soojin wasn’t playing around when she suggested to use the board. She lit as many candles as she could around her living room, setting an almost mystic, eerie atmosphere.

“Ouah! It looks old!” Mingi moved the board closer to him to have a look. “And not handmade. Clearly, you’ve got it for a while.”

“Yep! Found it at my grandma’s place long ago and kept it all this time.”

“And did you use it?” Mina seemed not as thrilled as the three other and you could almost guess why. Dealing with ghost stories, she could, in fact in the past she used to tell you the best stories ever that would make you shiver and gasp in surprise. Now, an Ouija board? Communicating with spirits? That was a whole other level of crazy considering what had happened in her life recently.

“Yes, with Y/N!” She was definitely too excited.

You rolled your eyes in response.

“Let me guess, you scared each other?” Seonghwa eyed the two of you with a knowing look.

“She,” You pointed an accusing finger at Soojin, “tried to scare the shit out of me. Too bad it didn’t work.” That was obviously a half truth. Back then, Soojin swore it wasn’t her doing and a spirit really did communicate with the two of you. The rational part, or maybe the scared part of you, refused to believe it and rather wanted to blame Soojin. However, the little voice inside your head told you another story, a story you would rather not think about.

Soojin scoffed but chose to ignore your remark. For the better. You had been friends for more than ten years, she knew everything about you and of course, she knew exactly how you felt about ghosts.

“I suppose, everybody knows the rules? I think we all watched enough horror movies to know them by now.” Soojin said

Mingi clapped his hands, excited to ‘play’.

“Be polite.” Seonghwa remembered the rule and at the same time glanced at Mingi who was his main concern. He loved his friend but whenever he was too excited about something he could forget the basics. “And always say goodbye.”

“Good, good. Do you know what you’re going to ask?”

Everybody nodded except you. You accepted being part of it which was already a huge miracle, but that didn’t mean you have to think about questions. Luckily for your group, they all had questions on mind.

Soojin nodded, satisfied. “Well then, let’s begin.”

The moment your put your finger on the planchette, a shiver run down your spine. Ten years later and you still had that dreadful feeling. There was some bad energy emanating from the board and apparently you were the only one bothered by it.

“Hello. Is there any spirit with us?” Soojin started, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

Just like ten years ago, nothing happened at first. No movement whenever it was from an actual spirit or your friends. Nobody talked, barely breathing as all of you waited for something to happen.

“Maybe they don’t want to talk to us.” Mingi commented

“They definitely don’t want to talk to you.” Seonghwa replied, rolling his eyes at his friend’s impatience. Not like he was surprised.

“Hush you two.” Soojin ordered, eyes sending daggers. “Please, ignore my friends. Is there anybody?”

You closed your eyes for a moment, a chill running down your spine. You couldn’t describe how you felt; a mixture of anxiousness, of uneasiness and maybe even fear. There was definitely something in the air, and you felt a surge of energy from the board that forced you to open your eyes and look at it. Once more, it appeared you were the only one to notice that there was definitely something going on.

“Soojin, I-“ you started saying but was cut short as the planchette started moving. It went straight to the ‘yes’.

“Oh shit.” Mina gasped in surprise.

“Who’s doing it?” Seonghwa asked. Finally, someone was as skeptical as you. “There’s no way-“

“Oh come on. Please don’t be like Y/N!” Soojin almost begged which earned her a kick under the table from you. She couldn’t expect all of you to believe that there was something in the dark, watching them.

“It’s okay, Seonghwa. Let them play.” You gave him a reassuring smile.

But your smile vanished as soon as the planchette started moving again. You watched it, letters after letters until you could have the full picture - a picture that made you squirm with uneasiness in your seat.

‘HELLO FRIEND.’

To say you were shocked would be an understatement. Your first reaction was to glare at Soojin. She was the only one who knew about it, who had experienced it with you. Ten years ago, when you believed your friend was the one playing trick on you, the ‘spirit’ had said the same thing: hello friend.

Soojin looked back at you. For someone who was so excited about the whole thing, she didn’t look so thrilled any longer. Her face looked paler and her hand, the one on the planchette, started shaking.

If for a moment you were convinced, she was the one messing with you, now you weren’t so sure. Soojin was a terrible actress, there was no way she could fake her uneasiness.

“He-hello.” She stuttered, cleared her throat and looked around her. “We have some questions for you. Can you please help us?”

This time around it didn’t take long to reply. It moved instantly on ‘yes’.

“Can I ask?” Despite her initial enthusiasm, Mina looked somehow sadder and you could easily guess why. Her dad passed away six months ago and she didn’t get the chance to say goodbye. It was a sudden death that nobody could have predicted which made things much more complicated and worse. You bet she wanted a chance to say goodbye even if it meant to believe in ghosts.

Soojin understood it too and so did the boys.

“Go on. You can do it.” Soojin encouraged her.

“Can you please tell me if my dad is in peace?”

Your heart clenched in pain for her. Mina was a sweet girl, cheerful, honest and so loyal to her friends. It hurt you to see the pain and the sadness in her eyes, she didn’t deserve such trouble in her life. So when the planchette moved to ‘no’, you felt your blood boil in your veins. Whoever was messing with you deserved a good punch in the face.

“What do you mean no?” Mina asked louder than intended.

“Guys, it’s not fun.” Seonghwa was not amused either.

You were about to let go of the planchette when you felt a warm breath on your neck. You froze, unable to move, to speak. You glanced behind you but there was nothing and nobody. Of course, there wasn’t. You were slowly losing your mind. This whole ouija board was a bad idea.

It moved again.

‘HELL’

It took Mina a lot of willpower not to let go of the planchette just because of the stupid rule but tears were gathering in her eyes. None of it made sense.

“Why” she whispered to herself

“Why would any of you do it to her?” This time Seonghwa sounded angry and ready to flip the table.

But none of you got the chance to defend yourself as the planchette moved once more as if to answer his question. Taunting him.

‘FUN’

Heart racing, you grew uncomfortable with every passing second, with every answers. You didn’t want to believe that something was really answering you, but you couldn’t ignore the sick feeling in your stomach nor could you ignore the feeling of being watched. Just like ten damn years ago.

Before any of your friends could react to the last answer, you leaned closer to the board, ready for the only question you could come out with. “Are you the one from 10 years ago?”

Deep inside you, you already knew the answer, you just didn’t want to admit it.

‘YES’

‘MISSED ME?’

It left you speechless and shaking.

Luckily for you, Soojin decided to take the matter in her hands. She took a deep breath and with a steady voice spoke again. “Thank you for your help. Goodbye.”

None of you spoke for a moment, still eying the board, almost as if you expected the planchette to move on its own. But it didn’t and you started breathing again.

“So. Who thought it was a good idea?”

❀

You were late. Like very, very late. And you couldn’t explain it. If there was one thing you were well known about it was that you were never late, you made sure of it. Whether it was to meet with your friends or work related you were either on time or you would come up earlier than intended. But today, somehow you were late.

You didn’t hear your first alarm. Or the second or the third. No matter how loud it rang, you just didn’t hear it and you couldn’t explain it either. You checked your phone twice before going to bed, just by habits and to make sure that you had them all activated. They were. So what happened?

You felt stressed and angry with yourself. If only it was the only problem. You could, eventually, get over the fact that you missed your alarms and that you were running late but apparently it wasn’t enough. To add to your misery, you couldn’t find your keys. You knew you have left them in the hall, like every day since you moved in.

And yet they were missing.

“For fuck’s sake!” You groaned in frustration, ruffling your hair in pure despair. You were losing precious minutes and it was absolutely driving you crazy. 

You went through your bag one more time, in case you had somehow put them back in (that would have been odd). With no luck.

“Fine.” You told yourself, resigned. “Breathe, Y/N, breathe. It’s okay.”

There wasn’t much you could do at this point and you couldn’t lose any more precious minutes. You quickly typed a message to Soojin, asking her to bring the spare keys.

You grabbed your bag and your jacket and left, slamming the door a little too hard behind you.

You swore you heard a chuckle.

❀

By the time you got to your office you were one hour late. To say that your arrival didn’t go unnoticed would be an understatement. Some of your colleagues joked about your lateness, some simply stared and some completely ignored you which you didn’t mind at all.

“Rough morning?” Minhyuk interrupted your thoughts by putting a cup of coffee right under your nose.

The combination of coffee and Minhyuk made you instantly forget about your shitty morning and made you smile. How could you say no to a coffee brought by your crush?

“My savior.” You beamed at him. You grabbed the warm cup and brought it closer to your face. “I need it so badly.”

“Yeah, you look like you do.” He said with a smirk, teasing you.

“Are you trying to tell me I look like shit?” You feigned being offended. You and Minhyuk had been friends for more than four years; he was the one that welcomed you in the company and showed you everything. It wasn’t hard to like him when he was so friendly and considerate. Actually, you didn’t know a single soul who didn’t like him.

“I would never.” He defended himself but then his smile turned into a frown. “What happened?”

“That’s actually a good question.” You sincerely told him as you took a sip of your hot coffee. “I slept through my alarms and then couldn’t find my keys.”

Minhyuk hummed in understanding. “Oh how we love this kind of morning.”

“Cheers to that.” You raised your cup and chuckled.

“Y/N? Sorry to interrupt guys.” Minji, the best boss in history, called for you. She gave the two of you a small, knowing smile (you wished she would stop playing the match-maker). “Quick question. Did you finish the preparation for the presentation?”

“I did. I’ll forward it to you.” If only things were that simple.

“Hold on.” You told Minhyuk.

What were the odds that your day could actually get any shittier? The folder that you had prepared last week was empty, all files erased. Your face paled as you double checked and still couldn’t find any trace of your files. “You got to be shitting me.”

Minhyuk leaned over your shoulder to have a look, a glance was enough to understand your problem. “Call the IT, maybe they can recover the files for you.”

You weren’t a believer but you dared to hope that someone would hear your prayer.

❀

You woke up screaming, body covered in cold sweat, heart roaring in your ears. It took you a moment to calm down, to reassure yourself. You were in your room, in your bed. There were no spirits haunting you, following you wherever you went. There were no spirits trying to talk to you while looking dark and dangerous.

No. you were safe. At home.

Hand on your chest, you closed your eyes and concentrated on your breathing. Inhale, exhale, repeat. You didn’t know how long it took you, every time you thought you had regained control over your body and your emotions, images of the ugly ‘thing’ chasing you, screaming at you, would pop in your mind.

From the moment you fell asleep and started dreaming, you knew it was just another nightmare, nothing unusual. At least you thought so until you couldn’t wake up. No matter how many times you told yourself to wake up, you couldn’t open your eyes.

You checked your phone, only to see that it was three in the morning – you still had plenty of time to get back to sleep. You could, but the memory of the nightmare was still too fresh and you were scared to have another one.

“What should I do.” You pondered out loud, ruffling your hair in frustration.

A chuckle echoed in the room. It was faint which made you pause. Either your tired mind was imagining things (and you hoped it was the case) or someone had broken in while you were sleeping (unlikely). With shaky hand you reached for the lamp and switched the light on.

Just like you expected (or more like hoped) there was nothing wrong with your room and there was definitely nobody watching you from the corner of your room. Clearly, it was better for you to go back to sleep.

Before you go crazy.

❀

There were people that were naturally clumsy and then, there were those who were just unlucky. You were neither. Or at least you believed so. But after a week of very unlucky and upsetting events, you wondered if maybe you were actually part of those people.

The incidents with your keys happened a few more times, except this time you didn’t bother looking for them, deciding that maybe you were just too distracted and moved them without actually remembering it.

Maybe.

Spilling coffee all over your white blouse, tripping over on the stairs and almost breaking your leg, a guy trying to steal your bag (and got a nice punch from you in return), you could go on with the list of incidents that happened in just one week. You should be terrified but all you could think about was ‘thank god, it was finally Friday’. No more incidents, no more work, you could finally stay at your place, safely and relaxing.

But not now. For now, you had other plans. When Soojin suggested to go clubbing you almost yelled your ‘yes’, way too happy to have a drink, or four, and dance. Better yet, Minhyuk chose to tag along. What a reward after such a week.

But maybe you shouldn’t have been so happy about his presence after all. No less than twenty minutes in the club and Minhyuk was gone, talking to some pretty brunette. Despite him being a good friend, Minhyuk was also a flirt, you knew it and yet you couldn’t help but feel jealous whenever he went for someone else.

You sighed in defeat and took a sip of your mojito.

Soojin nudged you playfully with her leg. “Maybe you should talk to him. You’ve been friends since day one.”

“I think it will be a waste of time.” You admitted as you glanced at him and the girl. He liked her. Well, maybe not like like, but he definitely intended to leave this place with her and judging by how touchy she was getting, you had no doubt it would work.

“He cares for you.” Soojin protested

“That he does, I know it. But he doesn’t see me as anything more. I’m not blind.” That was why Minhyuk was just a crush; a person you could have around and yet couldn’t have at the same time. There were days it bothered you, like tonight.

You glanced one more time at the couple. Nope, you refused to let your jealousy get the better of you, you refused to mope when finally, you could enjoy yourself and maybe find someone with who to leave. Maybe.

You emptied your drink and went straight for the crowd, mingling with people. You closed your eyes, a small smile spread on your lips as you started moving your body, forgetting all about the day, forgetting about your troubles. You let the music guide your moves.

Soon enough, a guy joined you, hands on your hips, he pressed your body against his. You didn’t mind, at first, it was after all your goal to find yourself a man for the night, but quickly he got too touchy, touching places he shouldn’t without your consent.

“I don’t think so.” You told the guy as you faced him, frowning and ready to punch him if needed.

“Oh come on.” He laughed, unfazed by your annoyance. “You were asking for it.”

The urge to punch him was getting stronger and stronger. You scoffed at his reply. “Get lost.”

Apparently, he didn’t like your answer. He took a step forward, hand outstretched ready to grab your wrist. He didn’t get a chance.

Despite your annoyance and your full attention on the man before you, you couldn’t ignore the sudden presence behind you. Not simply people dancing, but someone standing right behind you. Someone wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you against a firm torso. You blinked, confused.

“I don’t think my girlfriend likes your attention.” A very nice and charming voice echoed from behind you.

“Your girlfriend was asking for it.” The man snickered and eyed the two of you.

Despite his remark (that annoyed you deeply), you noticed how he took a step back, ready to flee. Whoever was holding you made a rather strong impression on the man which made you only curious about him.

“Fuck off.” Your savior growled. A deep and menacing growl.

It worked.

You almost laughed at how quick the man left, mumbling under his nose. Didn’t need to be a genius to guess what he was saying.

“Better?” The man let go of your waist and took a step back, giving you some space.

You turned to face him. You didn’t know what you expected to see after hearing his voice but clearly not that. The man, the savior was ridiculously hot. There was no way this man could be human. Pretty eyes, sharp jaw, definitely kissable lips, black hair. And damn the lovely mole under his eye. To say you were mesmerized would be the understatement of the century.

You cleared your throat. “Thank you.”

His smile turned from gentle to devilish at the sound of your voice and the look on your face – you felt exposed as if he could read your mind. “You’re welcome, my lady. Now shall we?” He outstretched his hand, inviting you to dance.

How in the world could you say no?

The moment you placed your hand in his, he yanked you with so much strength against him, you almost fell in his arms. He didn’t let go of your hand for a moment which seemed like eternity to you. You almost forgot where you were, almost forgot you weren’t alone in the room. It certainly felt like it.

Being so close to his face felt intoxicating.  You didn’t want him to let go of you; you didn’t want to move. In fact, more you looked into those dark, beautiful eyes, more you wanted to press your body fully against him and kiss him. Those stupidly, inviting lips.

His smile grew wider, once more you had the sensation that he knew exactly what was going on in your pretty little head. But instead of actually giving you exactly what you wanted, he spun you in his arms and pressed you hard against him.

Your breath hitched in your throat at the sensation of his warm, strong body. Despite your clothes being in the way (and oh how much you wished it wasn’t), his warmth completely enveloped you.

One hand on your hip, the other on your stomach, he started moving in the rhythm of the music, guiding your body. You closed your eyes to fully enjoy the music, to enjoy his touch. Without fully realizing it, you pressed yourself a little harder against him which earnt you a groan right near your ear.

“Easy there.” He warned you, his fingers gently digging into your hip.

You shuddered in response. You were too aware of his fingers, of his lips near your ear. You wanted to feel his lips on your skin. Desperately.

You couldn’t remember when was the last time a guy made you feel this way. He hadn’t even properly touch you (yet, hopefully) and yet you couldn’t ignore how uncomfortably wet you got. You wanted him, badly.

Without even knowing his name. 

“There you are!” Minhyuk’s familiar voice brought you back. It was almost like his gentle voice broke a spell.

Your savior instantly let go of your body; you almost whimpered at the loss of his heat, cursing silently your friend for interrupting.

“I was looking for you everywhere. One moment you were by the bar and then nothing.” He eyed you with a frown, almost as if he was worried for you.

It was funny how at the beginning of the night you would have been delighted to hear him, to see him worrying over you. But now? You were almost annoyed.

You glanced at your new partner. He smiled at you, cute dimples showing. Could he get any handsomer? His smile, however, faded the moment his eyes landed on Minhyuk. Oh how quickly his face transformed; he didn’t look like a nice guy any longer. His eyes were hard, face dark and if you didn’t know better, you would have thought he was about to pounce on Minhyuk.

“I-“ You faced Minhyuk, unsure of what you wanted to say. Did you want to explain yourself? Did you want to tell him to leave the two of you alone?

“Do you want to leave?” Minhyuk asked instead

You glanced over your shoulder only to see that your savior was nowhere to be found. That was quick.

“Yeah.”

❀

You knew you were dreaming because you found yourself in an empty dark street. All the lights were out and the town was dead silent which simply couldn’t happen if it wasn’t a dream.

Your city was always full of life whether it was day or night, it didn’t matter. Therefore, you decided that it was another of those weird dreams. You almost expected this dream to turn into another nightmare; maybe another monster would pop out of nowhere and start chasing you. You almost laughed at the thought. How could you be so ready for another nightmare?

It didn’t happen.

You looked around the street. Your only source of light happened to be the moon which would have been romantic if it wasn’t for the silence. It was too silent. No honks, no animals, you couldn’t even hear the wind. The town seemed simply dead.

Uneasy, you started walking down the street, maybe in hope to find something that made sense with this dream, maybe in hope that eventually the dream would change or maybe you would simply wake up.

None of it happened. No matter how long you walked (which felt like hours), nothing changed. Your surroundings stayed exactly the same. Same street, same gloomy atmosphere.

Until it did.

You halted in your track, body turning cold. There was definitely something wrong with the dream. You couldn’t exactly pinpoint why it suddenly felt like you were in danger but it did. You wrapped your arms tightly around yourself, trying to reassure yourself, to keep your mind clear. Whatever was about to happen, you could deal with it.

And then, you felt it. A warm breath caressed your nape causing goosebumps all over your body.

“Hello friend.”

That voice, you knew it, yet at the same time it sounded different. You forced your body to come out of shock and move as far as possible from the person behind you.

The man that stood in the middle of the street looked just as beautiful as in your memory except for the fact that he felt completely different. You gawked at him, hands shaking, you couldn’t stop yourself from feeling like you were in danger and you needed to run.

Whenever he could read your mind or not - he smiled wickedly, eyes glowing bright red. He licked his lips, eyes never leaving yours. You were a prey and he would not let you leave so easily.

“Who are you?” You finally found your voice and asked. A part of you didn’t want to know who he was. It couldn’t be the same man; the one you met at the club didn’t look or sound that dangerous, the one before you on the other hand felt like pure evil.

His wicked smile only grew at your question. Instead of answering you, he got out of your sight for a second, only to reappear right in front of you. He grabbed your arm, tightly, his hand burning your skin.

“Don’t worry, doll, you’ll find out very soon.” Was the last thing you heard.

❀

Your eyes snapped open; a scream of pure terror left your lips. Heart hampering in your chest, you panted, badly, unable to control your breathing. You shut your eyes tightly and counted till you regained some calmness.

And here you thought dreaming about spirits was terrifying. This dream felt too real. The fear, the pain, even now that you were fully awake you still felt it. At the memory of the pain, you switched the light on and quickly rolled your sleeve; there was no way any of it was real. And yet a bright red handprint was there.

“No, no, no, no.” You repeated to yourself while rubbing your arm. It wasn’t real. You were completely fine. Or maybe, you did hurt yourself but only because the dream was so intense.

You took a deep breath, your gaze locked on the bright mark.

You were not losing your mind.

❀

Thinking that after a long weekend of resting and relaxing your awful dreams and episodes of hurting yourself would stop was a mistake. You hadn’t gotten a proper sleep for a week and it was slowly driving you crazy. You didn’t know what was the cause of those nightmares. No, that was a lie, your life took a tragic turn from the moment you used the Ouija board.

For a while, you refused to think about that night, for the sake of your sanity. However, with the past events it made it harder not to think about it. Something was definitely going on and your brain was trying to make you understand.

You sighed for the hundredth time this morning. You were tired, dizzy and in big need of sleep. You could barely concentrate on your work. Talk with people? Hardly possible; you heard them and yet couldn’t fully process what they were saying.

Soojin pulled a chair beside you and faced you, a scowl on her face. “Want to talk about it?”

Despite her sitting close to you, you barely heard her. “What?”

“You look tired as hell. I think in all our years of friendship I’ve never seen you like this.”

This simple statement brought tears to your eyes. Soojin was right, you had never felt this exhausted in your life.

“I can’t sleep.” You finally admitted.

There were plenty of disadvantages with not being able to sleep. Obviously, the tiredness was the main problem but it wasn’t the only issue. No, being deprived of sleep made you cranky as hell, unable to concentrate on anything and the worst was probably you seeing things that couldn’t be real therefore weren’t really there.

“What do you mean you can’t sleep? As in insomnia?” Soojin leaned closer and touched your forehead. “Girl, you’re burning.”

Fever? Oh yeah, another problem to deal with.

“I keep having nightmares. I wake up in the middle of the night, screaming and sweating. Sometimes I wake up with wounds on my arms.” You rolled your sleeves to show the different handprints. Not all of them came from the man that looked like your savior, but oddly enough his stayed when others faded, eventually.

Soojin gasped loudly at the sight of the different red marks on your arms. She grabbed your hands, gently tug to get a better look. “This is insane.”

“You tell me.”

❀

Back to present

‘Move’ you told your body. You had to move, to put some space between you and the demon. So, you ran and switched the light on, almost as if you expected the man to disappear, to prove to your tired brain that it was all a hallucination. And to your surprise, as soon as light came, he was nowhere to be seen.

Should you have felt relieved? Definitely. Were you relieved? Not really. Rightfully so.

“Boo.” A voice came right from behind you.

You shrieked, startled which only made him laugh as you stumbled. A hand on your heart, you didn’t think for a moment you would survive the night with his presence – he was driving you crazy and not in a nice way.

“You can’t be real.” You muttered half to yourself half to him. Despite all the evidences right before your eyes, you still couldn’t come with terms that all this time it was him and he was not human. It just didn’t make sense.

“Oh, but I am, love.” He purred, clearly satisfied with your reaction. He was patient, for a demon at least, and now that he had finally showed himself to you, he couldn’t help but enjoy the moment a little too much. “You’re such a sweet little thing.”

“No, no, no.” You shook your head in denial. “I refuse.”

He chuckled and took a step forward while you stepped back, refusing to let him come any closer to you. As if you could stop him. He smiled wickedly at you; he kept walking towards you, unbothered by your lame attempt at staying away from you. You realized too late that he had you trapped between him and the wall.

“Nice attempt.” He mocked, leaning closer.

His face was inches from yours and despite your initial fear, you couldn’t help yourself but admire his handsome face. A demon was supposed to represent a sin and the ‘man’ standing before you was definitely a walking sin. It shouldn’t be allowed.

You pressed yourself even harder against the wall, wishing it could swallow you whole and help you escape from the demon.

“You know, I didn’t expect you to play again with an oujia board. Not after last time.”

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“Why? Because it’s fun!”

“Fun?” You repeated, irritated. All this time you thought you were losing your mind, only to find out that your problems were all because of one person. Just because someone thought it was fun.

Outraged, you forgot for a moment that he wasn’t a simple man but a demon, and pushed him as hard as you could. “Fun? I’m not some toy you can play with! Don’t you ever dare mess with me again!”

Your little outburst took him out of guard. He saw fire in your eyes; you weren’t scared of him any longer and were ready to fight him with all your being if it meant to get your life under control.

He was tempted to push your buttons, to see just how much you could endure before losing yourself.

“Get out.” You ordered

As much as you wanted him to leave you alone, you didn’t believe that he would actually listen to you, he just didn’t seem like someone who would listen to other’s wishes.

But he did.

❀

You woke up this morning feeling refreshed and suspiciously at peace. No weird dreams, no nightmares and no demon waiting for you. It was refreshing. You wanted to believe that it meant it was over, no more troubles, no more weird incidents. Was it too much to ask?

For the past two days, you tried not think too much about the demon, the terribly handsome demon but you quickly realized it was impossible. You couldn’t simply erase his face from your memory and even less forget how warm his skin felt against yours. You hated yourself for thinking about him in this way, from being so affected and seeing how your treacherous body reacted to him. Instead of despising him for how vulnerable he made you feel by haunting you, you found yourself wishing he had done something else.

“You’re crazy, Y/N.” You told yourself

You sighed and closed your eyes to enjoy the last drops of water. A good night of sleep and a nice warm shower and you felt like you were ready to fight the world. You hadn’t felt this way for days – it felt good. 

You stepped out of your shower, humming to yourself and stopped. Leaning against the door was the demon. His arms, and damn those muscular arms, crossed over his chest, he was openly staring at your naked body, smirking.

“The hell!” You screamed and grabbed your towel to hide your body. “Get out!”

Your anger didn’t faze him as he remained against the door, his eyes roaming over your half-hidden body. His eyes lingered on your legs and then slowly moved to your face. He licked his lips hungrily. You were definitely a sweet thing he wanted to play with.

You gulped nervously under his gaze. You wanted to hold onto your anger and outrage but his eyes and the way he licked his lips made it almost impossible. Your body warmed up instantly, reacting to him in a way it shouldn’t.

“I said, get out!” You repeated but even to your ears you didn’t sound convincing.

He chuckled and of course didn’t listen to your order. Not this time. Instead, he walked towards you, a predator getting closer to its prey.

“Why should I when I have such a nice view?” He stopped inches from you.

He was too close; you could feel his warmth. Or maybe you were simply too aware of him. Instead of trying to get away from him like you should, your feet stayed rooted to the floor, eyes locked on him.

“Why are you here?” You managed to ask, your grip on your towel tightening as if your life depended on it. Your life certainly didn’t but your sanity definitely did.

The man before you smiled wickedly at your question. He put a finger under your chin and tilted your head up. “Why? Isn’t it obvious, doll? You wanted me here.”

Your gasped at his touch. “I-I didn’t.”

“No?” He sounded amused as he leaned dangerously closer. His absolutely kissable lips so close, all you needed was lean in and you could taste them. “You little liar.”

It was unfair how enthralled you were with him. He didn’t do anything to deserve this kind of reaction from you, in fact you should be screaming and kicking but no, you let him control you.

You wanted to defend yourself, excuses on the tip of your tongue and yet no words left your lips because deep inside you knew he was right - you were a liar.

“What do you want?”

“What do you think I want, doll?” He hummed, his finger moving slowly, feather like touches, from your neck to your collarbone.

‘Me’ you wanted to say but that would be playing his game and you didn’t want to. Not so easily.

As his finger was getting dangerously closer to the edge of your towel, you tightened your grip in case he tried something.

“Why are you trying so hard to resist me?” He asked, his fingers halting on your towel. “Is it because of that guy? Do you think he can fuck you better than me?”

The mention of Minhyuk was what broke the hold he had on you. You scoffed and pushed him away from you.

“You need to stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Controlling me.” You refused to elaborate, to admit that you felt a strong attraction.

He chuckled at your assumption. “Oh doll, you think I’m trying to control you? I don’t need to.” He eyed you from head to toe, “My presence enhances your feelings, that’s all. I can do nothing about it.”

He had to be lying, you told yourself. It was easier to think that he was the origin of this attraction but judging by how calm he was, you had to come with terms that maybe it was your own fault.

You bit on your lips, frustrated with him and with yourself.

“What’s your name?” You finally asked. You couldn’t keep calling him ‘the demon’ and considering how often you had been seeing him (and you guessed it was just the beginning) you might as well know his name.

“I have many names,” He started

“Spare me with that.” You interrupted, not caring any longer if you sounded rude or that you were provoking him. You just didn’t care anymore.

He rolled his eyes in response. “Wooyoung. You can call me Wooyoung.”

You liked his name, but that, of course, you kept to yourself.

“Great, Wooyoung. Now get out and please don’t come back.”

❀

When Minhyuk invited you to his birthday party, you expected it to be small with his group of friends. How wrong you were.

His flat was crowded with so many unfamiliar faces, it made you pause for a moment and wonder if you were in the right place. You knew, of course, he was a social butterfly but not to this extent.

For a moment you tried to look for Minhyuk, he was the birthday boy after all, but with the dim light and the crowd, it made your mission impossible. With a long sigh, you chose to go to the improvised bar instead, judging that you would eventually find him. Or he would find you.

Luckily for you, you didn’t stay alone for long. Without surprise, you found Soojin sipping her beer by the bar, watching people with her typical judging gaze (you smiled at that).

“I knew I’d find you here.” She grabbed another bottle and handed it to you. “Thanks babe.”

“You’re finally here! I’m bored.” Soojin whined and wrapped her arm around yours.

“You? Bored? Now that doesn’t sound like you at all.”

She nudged you with her hips. “I didn’t expect Minhyuk to turn his flat into a night club, too many people and they look all dull.”

“Oh come on, you can’t be sure of that. Have you tried talking to any of them?”

Soojin completely ignored your comment (but stuck her tongue out) and instead observed your face. “You look better.”

That you did. Wooyoung was nowhere to be seen which resulted in you sleeping like a baby. No more nightmares, no more hallucinations, it was great. “Yeah. Back to normal.”

Or almost.

“There comes my favorite girl!” Before you could even react to Minhyuk’s voice, his arms were already around you, bringing you into a big, warm hug.

“Finally!” Soojin raised her bottle, “Happy birthday, asshole!”

“Lovely, as always.” Minhyuk let go of you but only for a moment, he had one hand on your hip, rubbing gently as he faced your friend. “But thank you. I’m glad you came.” And then he looked at you. “Especially you.”

Soojin rolled her eyes, disgusted with the sudden display of affection (that took you of guard). You, on the other hand, were simply confused at his rather odd behavior. Yes, you were close and of course you were happy with his comment, but he had to be drunk to suddenly be so touchy.

“Minhyuk, are you drunk?” You nudged him playfully, putting some space between you two.

It was odd how weeks ago, you would have let him touch you freely, and yet tonight it didn’t feel right. You blamed Wooyoung for this too, he had completely fucked up with your brain.

“No!” He protested too quickly and giggled, “Okay, maybe a little.” He cupped your face between his hands and leaned closer. “You look so pretty, Y/N.”

“Oh my god. I should definitely film him. That some nice blackmail material.” Soojin laughed

However, before she could do that, Minhyuk’s hold on your face tightened making you wince. His eyes were no longer on your face but at something or someone behind you. You had a sick feeling that someone was indeed staring intensely at you – a cold shiver ran down your spine.

“What is he doing here?” Minhyuk groaned more to himself than to you but you heard him nevertheless.

His question got you curious. Who was behind you? And especially, who could turn the sweet and drunk Minhyuk into a frowning, upset guy?

“Did you bring him with you?” He asked you

“Wh-what?” It took you by surprise. You removed his hands from your face and glanced over your shoulder.

At the sight of Wooyoung standing by the window, your heart missed a beat. He looked terribly attractive in all black; black jeans, black turtleneck and rolled sleeves revealing his strong, veiny arms. He smirked at the attention, clearly unfazed with Minhyuk’s glare.

You were in trouble.

“No.” You finally answered, averting your eyes from Wooyoung. “Why would I bring him? I don’t know him.” Oh Y/N, you were such a little liar, Wooyoung was right.

“The hell.” Minhyuk muttered under his breath. He ignored your response. Eyes on Wooyoung, he left both you and Soojin, walking straight to Wooyoung with clenched fist.

“Minhyuk, no!” You thought you knew drunk Minhyuk, but apparently you didn’t. If he was looking for a fight with someone ‘normal’, you would have let him (maybe not) but you worried for him since he was picking a fight with a demon, without even knowing it. “Bloody hell.”

“Well, what a surprise.” Soojin commented. She put her now empty bottle on the table and got by your side. She followed your gaze and whistled at the sight. “I’m not going to comment on Minhyuk’s behavior, but damn the guy he’s facing? He’s hella hot.”

Yes, he was but you didn’t say it out loud.

“Oh shit.” You gasped as Minhyuk grabbed Wooyoung by his collar, bringing him closer to him.

Without even realizing it, your body moved on its own in their direction.

“Y/N!” Soojin quickly grabbed your arm and pulled you back, worried of what you were about to do. “Don’t.”

Your eyes went back and forth between Soojin and the two men. You bit on your lips, unsure of what you were supposed to do. Did you want to watch them fight? Did you want to save Minhyuk from Wooyoung? Or did you just want to make sure nothing happens to Wooyoung? The later seemed so impossible, and yet your heart was beating crazily.

“Let them be.” Soojin advised you and shook her head. “Men.”

For a second, you caught Wooyoung’s gaze, he seemed completely unbothered with Minhyuk’s display of strength and anger. The moment his eyes met yours, he smiled, a devilish smile. Oh he was up to nothing good.

‘Please don’t.” You mouthed hoping he could get your message.

Wooyoung got effortlessly rid of Minhyuk, one swift move and he was free. You expected Minhyuk to fight back but he took you off guard by walking away.

Wooyoung glanced at you one last time before vanishing from your sight in a blink.

“The hell.”

❀

“I wonder what people would say about you if they knew you let a demon play with you.” Wooyoung chuckled before planting another kiss on your inner thigh, enjoying the contact with your skin.

You whimpered at the touch, desperate for more. He had been toying with you for what felt like hours. Hands traveling down your body; every touch setting your skin on fire. If you were in your right state of mind, you would have been embarrassed by how whiny and wet he got you. Instead, you tried to wriggle under him, to get closer, to make him stop playing.

“Wouldn’t they say that you’re a little whore, hm?” He hummed against your skin, lips slowly moving from your knee back to your inner thigh, getting awfully close to where you needed him and yet never giving you what you wanted.

“I don’t care!” You snapped, patience wearing thin. You tried to grab him, to push him against you but Wooyoung was faster and so much stronger. With one swift move he was back, hovering over you with your arms completely pinned above your head.

“Don’t think so, doll.” He smirked at how fucked you looked without him doing much. You were completely at his mercy and he knew he had little to do before you would start begging him to take you. Wooyoung leaned closer, lips so close, so tempting – you wanted him to kiss you, so you tried to move but he pulled back, toying with you. “Tsk, so impatient, doll.”

“You’re an asshole.” Wouldn’t it be so nice to kick him just to get rid of your frustration? It would be, but of course, you did none of that. Instead, you groaned. “You can’t keep doing that.”

Wooyoung smiled in response, watching you like a prey, squirming under him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

You would have punched him if you could, instead, you nudged him as hard as you could with your leg to make a point (sadly, it only made him laugh; a very cute and annoying laugh).

“Wooyoung, I swear-“ He didn’t let you finish, instead, he, rudely, interrupted you with a kiss. A hot and needy kiss. For all his talk, and his self-control, you found out he was just as desperate as you judging by the strength of the kiss. He let go of your wrists and immediately you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him even closer to you, pressing your body against his to deepen the kiss. You let your fingers rake through his hair before pulling at them harshly (he deserved it) making him groan against your lips.

“Know that you’re going to regret that, doll.” He warned you, biting your lip.

“You’re all bark and no bite, babe.” You mocked, fully realizing that pushing his buttons would either get you in trouble (because come on he was a demon) or you would finally get what you wanted.

Wooyoung’s pulled from you but his fingers found your chin, thumb caressing your lower lip. His eyes glowed brighter than ever at your daring words. “You’re so going to eat your words, love.”

And just like that, he slid slowly down your body, eyes never leaving yours. He took it slowly, gently, too gently considering how threatening he wanted to sound, but maybe you should have paid more attention to his eyes, to see the mischievous glimpse.

Nestled between your thighs, he bit harshly your thigh, making sure to leave a mark. A complain was already on the tip of your tongue (because come on, how long was he planning on playing with you) before finally, as if he sensed what you were about to do, you felt the press of his lips on your clit. It was so soft, you could barely register and yet you felt a wave of pleasure. Finally.

Something that started softly quickly turned into something else. Mouth working between your legs, he was ruthless; sucking, lapping, he knew exactly what he was doing, turning you into a moaning mess. You grabbed his hair, tugging at his locks and pushing his head closer to your heat.

“Wooyoung,” You moaned

“All mine.” Wooyoung growled, a very animalistic (that got you even wetter if it was possible) growl. “He will never have you.”

Feeling completely overwhelmed, you couldn’t proceed his words, not his claim on you nor the mention of ‘he’.

“Look at me, doll.” He suddenly stopped and hovered over you. Gently, he stroked your face, almost lovingly, if he was capable of that. “Now, look at him. Look and tell him he would never have you.”

Puzzled, you followed his gaze only for your eyes to widen in shock. Minhyuk was sitting in the corner of your room, unmoving, with his fists clenched. Your eyes locked for a second and you knew, deep inside, that you should be ashamed, you should push Wooyoung off you, but you couldn’t. You tore your eyes off him and looked at Wooyoung, staring at this odd demon.

“If you stop, I swear I’m going to punch you.” You warned him

You couldn’t tell him what he wanted to hear, not wanting to flatter his already big ego, but your words and your eagerness seemed to be enough. He glanced at Minhyuk; a triumphant smile plastered all over his face – he had won this round.

Wooyoung spread your legs wider as he went back, lips around your clit, sucking hard. Your legs started to shake with all the attention; you arched your back as you felt so close to your release. So close.

Until he stopped.

❀

You jolted in your bed, sweating and feeling incredibly hot and sticky. No wonder, considering your dream. You knew beforehand that you having a wet dream about Wooyoung meant he was back with his games and you weren’t sure how you felt about it. Frustrated? Amused? Scared? All at once.

“Fuck you!” You finally let out loudly, confident that he was hiding in the darkness of your room, watching your misery with amusement.

Oh how right you were.

Wooyoung appeared right beside you, laying on your bed, completely unbothered with your cute, according to him, outburst.  “Hi doll.”

“You!” You pointed an accusing finger at him, “Stupid demon! Stop messing with me!”

Wooyoung chuckled in response, shifting on the bed so he could face you better. “You know, doll, you’re the first human who dares to insult me and yet is still alive.”

This sentence alone should have shut you up and shrink away from him, however, considering your level of frustration, you forgot all about the fact that he was a sinful creature that could probably snap your neck in a second.

“So what? How does it feel?” You snapped back instead.

Wooyoung quirked a brow at you. He had to admit he was pleasantly surprised with your sudden confidence. He took all his time to answer your question, eyes roaming your half-exposed body; from your exposed legs, to your exposed shoulder (since your long t-shirt refused to stay on place), to your lips. Those sweet lips. He licked his lips, eyes not leaving your lips.

“Aroused.” He admitted, smiling shamelessly

Whatever witty comeback you had, died the moment he confessed. The little shit surely knew how to leave you speechless and confused. How much you hated him (that was half true but he didn’t need to know that).

Realizing all too late how exposed you were, you grabbed your blanket, in panic, and pulled it over your body. It was stupid and completely pointless but it still made you feel safer. Just a tiny bit.

“Really, doll?” He laughed and grabbed the blanket. You gripped it tightly, preparing for him to tug at it (as if you had a chance in winning). Without surprise, he yanked it from you, exposing your body once more to his eyes. He licked his lips, admiring the view. “You’re so sweet.”

Wooyoung moved slowly, maybe on purpose or maybe to give you the chance to push him away or to scream at him. You did none of that, hypnotize with his predator-like grace as he got closer to you. His hands found their way to your thighs, featherlike touches that sent an all too familiar wave of pleasure. You shivered in both fear and excitement. Fear, because your body was too responsive to his touch. Excitement, because you wanted to see how far he was ready to go with you.

Gently, he pulled your legs apart to nestle between them. He inhaled sharply; with just one look he knew how, embarrassingly, wet you were. “Sweet. I wonder who got you this wet, love.”

“Definitely not you.” You stubbornly commented. “But please, do touch me.”

To your utter surprise, a genuine smile spread on Wooyoung’s face and you had to admit that to see such sincerity on his handsome face terrified you way more than his usual expression.

“Not today, doll.” He kissed your forehead and then, everything turned black.

❀

“Okay, what’s up with your cranky ass?” Soojin plopped on the chair in front of you, frowning at you.

It was finally lunch break and you chose to meet at your favorite restaurant near your work place. It was crowded, like always, but luckily for you, your favorite table was free (in fact, you suspected your favorite waitress reserved it especially for you). You had the perfect view on the window, watching people go on with their lives.

Soojin’s voice brought you back to reality; averting your eyes from the street, you looked at your friend who clearly was concerned with your state of mind.

“Nothing.” It was obviously a lie and Soojin didn’t buy it.

As much as it pained you to admit it, you were indeed cranky, borderline annoyed with everybody but also with yourself. And Wooyoung. Especially with him. The little shit.

You couldn’t believe he used, whatever power he had, on you. Worse yet, he dared to leave you alone and frustrated, after making sure you were so wound up. Every time, the dream crossed your mind, it made you grind your teeth and clench your fist (and maybe a tad bit excited). You promised to yourself that the next time you see him; you would make him pay (as if you had any power on him).

“Is it about Minhyuk?” Soojin wondered

“Who?” You blinked, taken aback by how quick you answered and realized your mistake. “No.”

Soojin arched an amused brow at you. There was no doubt, she was surprised with the idea of you having another guy on mind. “There’s another guy I’m not aware about?”

‘Shit.’ You bit on your cheek, forcing yourself not to slap yourself. If only you weren’t so distracted, then maybe you wouldn’t find yourself in this situation.

“I can’t believe you kept it to yourself!” Soojin whined and playfully slapped your arm. “I’m your best friend! How dare you?”

You sighed in defeat. She was right, you weren’t the kind of people who kept things from her best friend, and definitely not a guy. But really, what could you tell her about Wooyoung? ‘Hi, I’ve been haunted by a demon ever since we had a séance at your place. He’s annoying but actually hella hot and I want to fuck him.’ You couldn’t tell her that.

“I’m sorry. I just-“ You started to say, trying to find the right words to justify yourself. But really, you had no valid excuses.

“Come on, I’m listening.” She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to look as stern as possible but her eyes were glowing with mischief. She was ready to laugh and tease the hell out of you.

You took a deep breath, answer on the tip of your tongue and then, forgot all about it the moment your eyes landed on the person standing outside, on the sidewalk. You couldn’t believe your eyes. Just when you thought, you couldn’t get any angrier, Wooyoung proved you wrong.

“Oh you piece of shit.” You groaned under your nose.

Without giving any explanations to Soojin or even giving her time to react, you ran outside. Eyes locked, you forgot all about the people around you or the fact that crossing the road without looking was probably the dumbest thing you had ever done, but your annoyance silenced the rational and reasonable part of you. All you could think about was getting to him as fast as you could (and before he could vanish) and share a piece of your mind (and if you could punch his smug face, it would be a bonus).

But were you lucky? Not when the stupid demon was concerned. Before you could reach him and express your annoyance, you tripped. Like a damn fool. Before your pretty face could meet the rather dirty pavement, Wooyoung caught you. One hand held your forearm while the other was pressed against your back.

“Someone’s too happy to see me.” Wooyoung chuckled

You should be appalled by how quickly your treacherous body responded to him; a laugh and a touch and you felt your insides melt. There was definitely something wrong with you. Instead of punching him like you initially planned, you found yourself staring at him, lips slightly parted, you were completely hypnotized and there was no saving.

“Cat got your tongue, doll?”

You cleared your throat, embarrassed with your own reaction, and punched his chest. Lamely.

“Asshole.”

“Lovely as always.”

Wooyoung’s smile was terrifying. Not because it was actually ugly and horrifying – far from it. But as a demon, he shouldn’t be allowed to look both cute and handsome while smiling; wide smile with absolutely adorable dimples – you had to fight the urge to poke his cheeks.

“You’re staring, doll.”

‘You too’, you wanted to say but no sound left your mouth. His closeness was making it hard for you, to think, to breathe. In fact, all you could do was stare and wonder what it would be like to kiss him.

“Y/N.” For the first time since you met him, he called you by your name and to say that you didn’t die a little inside would be a lie. You liked it. A little too much.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Soojin’s familiar and sweet voice echoed from behind you, causing you to jump and put some distance between you and Wooyoung. You looked at her, half dazed half guilty. You were in deep shit.

“Here.” She handed you your bag with a wicked smile that was definitely as evil as Wooyoung’s, promising you a very slow death if you dared not to call her later to spill the beans. “Take your afternoon off.”

❀

You had to admit that spending a whole afternoon with the person that used to haunt you was the weirdest thing you had ever done in your life. You should have been worried about your sanity for actually liking it, but instead of worrying about it, you chose to fully enjoy the moment and forget all about your anger.

Wooyoung, despite being a demon, an evil thing, was not what you imagined a demon to be. He was a natural flirt (you stopped counting how many times he made you blush), fond of pickup lines (and you were a big sucker for it), funny and sounded and acted like a normal human being. It was disconcerting but you enjoyed it too much to complain.

This was how you found yourself at your place, nestled cozily in your couch, watching Netflix and eating pizza. A normal, friendly activity you would say.

“I wonder,” You started as you shifted to watch Wooyoung. “How come a demon showed up when we were trying to talk to a spirit? Like, is it normal?”

Wooyoung, who was about to take another bite of his slice of pizza, halted. This was not a question he expected from you. He cleared his throat and quickly regained his composure. “I did not expect that.”

That made you smirk. “Did I take you off guard?” You were a tad proud, you had to admit.

“Wipe that proud smirk, doll.”

“Or what?”

Wooyoung pinched your arm in response, making you yelp and put some additional space between you, just in case he would try again. “Not nice.”

“Never said I was.” And just like that he took you once more by surprise as he stuck his tongue out. “As for your initial question, I felt a strong pull, almost as if I was being summoned. Obviously, I wasn’t. I was shocked to see two kids with an Ouija board.” He laughed at the memory.

Wooyoung could still picture your face, so stern and half annoyed with the actual game; one look at you and he could guess that you didn’t believe in spirits. Your friend, on the other hand, was so excited, waiting for something to happen. “You looked so stern; I could tell you didn’t believe in any of that.”

You snorted at that. Not so long ago you still didn’t believe in ghost and yet now you got all cozy with a demon.

Wooyoung grabbed gently your hand, playing with your fingers. “It was so tempting to scare you. And then imagine my surprise, ten years later, I felt the pull again and I just knew it was you.”

Hearing him talk about the pull made you feel a kind of way. You should feel annoyed that he had been messing with you, but instead you almost felt special.

“So, instead of talking to me, you decided to mess with my life.” You gave him your best stern look (but really all you wanted was to laugh).

Wooyoung smiled sheepishly at you. “Guilty. I couldn’t resist.”

You found yourself smiling back at him. “I have something else I want you to ask about.”

Wooyoung arched a brow, clearly someone had been particularly curious tonight – he didn’t mind. But once more, you took him by surprise; you moved swiftly from your spot only to get on top of him, straddling his thighs. Confident and with a playful smile plastered on your face, you wrapped your arms around his neck. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one who could play, you could too and judging by how tense he got, you won this round.

“You keep provoking me but you never really touch me.” You thought about the night he got you all bothered only to leave you alone. You thought about it over and over and you just couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t touch you.

Wooyoung closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. He should have guessed you would actually ask this question. He leaned closer to you and gently stroked your cheek with his thumb. “Because I’m a demon. It will leave a mark on you, taint you and I don’t want that for you.”

Your body reacted on its own by pressing your face into his hand. His words made your heart flutter; you had a handsome demon in your flat, sitting on him and instead of being evil like he was supposed to, he was being sweet and considerate. Honestly, you didn’t know whether you should cry or laugh. Were you growing fond of him? Absolutely.

“Don’t think I don’t want you, doll.” He grabbed your hips, grip so tight you were sure it would leave a bruise. He pressed you harder against him, making you feel him, making you understand just how much he wanted you. He was hard. Damn hard. You couldn’t stop yourself from moving, grinding against him.

Wooyoung’s eyes turned red as a groan escaped his lips. “Doll.”

Despite his warning, he didn’t stop you. He watched your every move, every little whimper that left your pretty parted lips. He watched the way you closed your eyes to enjoy the friction and how slowly you were losing yourself. It took him all his willpower not to flip you, get rid of those clothes and just pound into you until you were begging him to let you come.

“You’ll be the death of me, doll.”

❀

When you came to work this morning, you swore to yourself that you would concentrate on your work, finish everything on your to-do list so you could get home earlier and maybe have a nice night with your favorite demon. Unfortunately for you, despite all your willpower, it appeared your body wasn’t the only traitor in this story, your brain too. Every single time you tried to concentrate on something, images of Wooyoung would pop into your mind. Images of the two of you, cuddling, laughing – you were completely smitten.

“Y/N, Y/N, Y/N. My sweet Y/N.” Soojin’s familiar voice brought you back from your dreams, back to reality. “Don’t think I forgot about you. You have so much to tell me about!” She plopped on the chair and grabbed your hands, her sweet smile turning into a wicked one – you gulped, nervous. You should have prepared yourself for your best friend’s question but clearly, your mind was somewhere far from here.

“I-“ You cleared your throat, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh now you don’t know? Should I refresh your mind then?” You didn’t really want her to remind you but that was not negotiable. “You, middle of the street and a hella handsome guy that looked kinda familiar but I can’t remember from where.” She paused, thought about it for a moment, “Does he have hot friends?”

You forgot all about the pressure just like that. You burst into laughter and ran your fingers through your hair. “I met him at a club.”

❀

Despite all your talk about being efficient today, you were anything but which resulted in you staying way too late at work. Sadly, for you, all your plans for the night seemed to be far away now.

You sighed, tired and half depressed. You loved your work, you really did, but sometimes, especially at busy times, you got easily overwhelmed. Because you loved your work, you would forget about yourself and would, without even realizing it, overwork yourself.

It was past nine when you found yourself walking from your work; the weather was lovely so instead of taking the bus, you chose to walk and enjoy the moment.

Without surprise, your thoughts quickly turned to Wooyoung, wondering if he would visit you tonight – you hoped he would. It worried you how badly you wanted to see him, to touch him, you shouldn’t be so attached to him for so many reasons. Being so close to him was dangerous and you were pretty sure nothing good would really come out of this odd, yet so heart fluttering relationship.

But could you really stop yourself? The answer was simple: no.

“Hey miss!” A man’s voice interrupted your trail of thoughts. Annoyed, you glanced at the group of men sitting on the stairs, looking like a they owned the world. You knew they were trouble with just one glance.

“This dress looks amazing on you.” Another commented

You closed your eyes for a second and took a deep breath. Inhale, exhale, repeat. ‘Keep walking. Ignore those idiots, you don’t need a fight.’ You told yourself, when really, all you wanted was to walk towards them and share a piece of your mind. With a nice punch. You did none of that, of course. For once in your life, you listened to the little voice that told you to walk away. Fast.

“Oh come on.” One of the men jumped from his place and quickly blocked your way. “Don’t be like that.”

You glared at the man before you, angrily. The audacity. You were growing more and more annoyed; fist clenched, all he needed was to make a step towards you and you wouldn’t hesitate to punch his face.

You still refused to answer him and apparently, he didn’t like it judging by the frown on his face. His friends quickly joined you, surrounding you. So maybe, you didn’t feel that confident anymore. It was one thing to deal with one idiot, but it was a whole other story if others were involved. You could fight, but not so many of them at the same time.

If from outside you managed to look tough, inside you were worried.

“What’s wrong, missy? Cat got your tongue?” The man before you mocked and took a step towards you, getting slowly closer and closer to you.

As he slowly was getting closer, you weighed your options. Trying to run seemed like the best option and yet with the three other men surrounding you, it didn’t seem possible. Fighting could be another option but it seemed like the worst one – you would not come out unhurt.

‘Fuck it.’ You told yourself, fist curled, you were ready to punch the guy and then run for your life.

None of it happened. Before the man could even think about reaching you, a dark silhouette appeared right in front of you, lifting the man from the ground by his neck. A little yelp of surprise escaped your lips. You knew the person before you. A little too well. Wooyoung had found you and he was not amused. You couldn’t see his face but you could tell he was pissed; his body tensed, the aura surrounding him was pure rage.

To your utter surprise, the three other men didn’t try to help his friend – feet rooted to the ground, they were both taken aback and terrified with how easily Wooyoung lifted their friend.

“Give me one reason. One good reason not to kill you.” Wooyoung growled

Oh yes, he was furious. His voice was darker than ever and even if his fury wasn’t directed at you, you couldn’t help but shiver and cower behind him. Those guys just didn’t know with who they messed.

You bit on your lips, torn between the wish to see how far he was ready to go for you (you had little trouble to imagine him killing for you) and to save those men from a fate probably worse than death.

“Wooyoung.” You called for him. No success. He didn’t even flinch at your voice, too lost in his own feelings. You got closer to him and put your shaky hand on his arm. “Wooyoung.”

He grunted but complied. He looked at you, eyes red and glowing, filled with anger and hatred, but at the sight of you, for a brief moment his eyes softened.

Honestly, there was definitely something wrong with you. Instead of cowering under his gaze, you found yourself getting hot. And apparently, Wooyoung felt the shift too. He inhaled sharply, scenting you.

“You’re terrible.” He whispered only for you, a smirk forming on his pretty face.

You chose to ignore the fact that he could read you so easily or the fact that he could sense your arousal. “Let them go. They’re not worth your time.”

If Wooyoung had to listen to his demon’s urges, those men would be dead, souls sent straight to hell – he loved the idea of making them suffer for eternity. But you, you made everything harder. He couldn’t resist those pretty eyes, looking hopefully at him, smelling so good.

“As you wish.” He threw the man on the ground few meters from you. With a blink of an eye, he had his arms wrapped tightly around you and the next moment you found yourself in the safety of your house, pressed against a wall.

“How long are you planning to drive me crazy, doll?” He pressed his head in the crook of your neck, inhaling your sweet scent. No matter how much he tried to resist the urge to take you, he found it harder with every passing day.

You ran your fingers through his hair, enjoying his proximity and his breath on your skin. “Excuse me, but as far as I’m concerned, I’m the one suffering. Not you.” With that, you tug at his locks – Wooyoung bit on your neck without hesitation in response, leaving a bright red mark.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Then, shut up and take me?”

❀

So maybe after the incident with the bunch of idiots in the street, Wooyoung started acting more protective. And maybe you found it both endearing and annoying. You would roll your eyes at him every time he would show up at the step of your workplace; of course, he knew every time when you would be finished with your day as if he felt it. But could you blame him? Definitely not. He would smile sheepishly at you, looking so damn adorable – you melted every single time.

Maybe, after giving in your desire, you finally came to terms that you weren’t simply attracted to this demon. There was something more, something deeper and it scared you. What if you gave him all of you and he would use it against you one day? What if, despite all his human trait, it was a charade? What if you were wrong?

‘Oh well.’ You told yourself with a long and tired sigh.

It was finally Friday night and after a two hours long trip to the countryside you had finally reached your parents’ place. It was isolated, a small village surrounded by a huge, dark forest. It was a nice play to visit when you wanted to escape the noisy town and when you needed to reconnect with the nature and yourself. Better yet, you could come and spend some quality time with your family.

You looked for a moment at your old house. So many generations had lived in this house, in fact, your parents still lived with your grandmother. They could have left, they tried even, but the peace and calmness of this place brought them back. You couldn’t blame them. Now that you were back, you felt all your exhaustion leave your body. This place was magical.

A fond smile grew on your face and you hurried to the door.

“I’m home!” You shouted, excited.

Your mother was the first to join, her pink apron on her; the moment she saw you, she couldn’t hold back. She screamed your name, excited and jumped at you for a bear like hug. Yeah, you were home.

❀

It was a well-known fact in your village that your grandmother was an old witch. A real witch who casted spells, who could see things that others couldn’t. Of course, your parents always told you that it was just a silly rumor that some ladies created because your grandmother could act odd from time to time. As a good daughter, you believed them and never questioned it. You witnessed some of those odd incidents that happened with her but you brushed it off. Now, however, it made you pause. What if it was true?

While talking to your parents, you noticed how your grandmother would stare at you and shake her head in disapproval. You frowned, wondering what about your life could possibly make her frown in disapproval. But maybe you already knew the answer.

“We missed you! When was the last time you came back? It feels like eternity!” Your mom complained, wiping a fake tear. Such a drama queen (but so were you).

“I think we haven’t seen her since Christmas.” Your dad added but with a gentle smile. He missed you, of course, but he understood why you didn’t come back.

“I know, I’m sorry.” You winced, feeling bad. You wanted to come back earlier but somehow, every time you thought about coming back, you would get simply busy, whether it was with work or your personal life. “I’ve been busy.”

“Busy with her boyfriend, yeah.” Your grandmother snorted and grabbed her glass.

You chocked, taken aback at her statement. There was no way it was just a remark, just a guess. Your eyes widened in shock; your eyes locked and a knowing smile grew on her face. Oh yeah. She knew.

“Oh come on, mom! Y/N would have told us if she got herself a boyfriend!” Your mom came to your defense.

If only she knew.

“I wouldn’t bet on that.”

Your mom’s eyes darted back and forth between you and your grandmother. Without the two of you talking, she understood what was going on and she didn’t like that. “You’re seeing a man?!”

Oh boy. You were in trouble.

❀

“Y/N, dear?” Your grandmother called for you. “Come here, I have something for you.”

Your grandmother sat by the fireplace with a little box resting in her hands. She looked at you more gently now which eased your mind. Maybe you were finally imagining things. Maybe you were simply too tired with the week and the trip.

You sat on the carpet, inhaling deeply. The warmth coming from the fire and the smell of wood brought back memories of your childhood and so many good times. It reminded you of nights of you sitting by the fire, resting your head on your grandmother’s knees while she would tell you stories.

“It feels really great being home.” You admitted with a fond smile on your face. “I should have come back earlier.”

Your grandmother hummed in approval. “You should.” She paused to have a good look at you. “But I understand. You’re different from us in so many ways.” She outstretched her hand and gently patted your head. “Look at you. Such a lovely woman. But you’re attracted to dangerous men.”

“He’s not that dangerous.” You whispered your lie. You knew better than to qualify Wooyoung as ‘not dangerous’ because he definitely was. But was he really a danger to you? You weren’t that sure.

Your grandmother sighed in defeat. “It runs in the family.”

“What?”

“It’s a long story. For another time.” She averted her eyes to the box in her hand. “I have a gift for you. Here.”

In the wooden box, you found a pretty, vintage necklace. You had seen it before, a very long time ago – your grandmother used to wear it.

“Consider it as a lucky charm. It had protected me for a long time.”

❀

In all honesty you hated how your brain worked. Despite your exhaustion, sleep wouldn’t come. You laid in your bed with your eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling, in the darkness of your room, playing with the necklace your grandmother gifted you. You tried everything to fall asleep; you tried to empty your mind, to count, but nothing worked.

In the darkness of your room, you thought about your grandmother and how you started to believe that the rumors about her weren’t just rumors. You thought about how much you missed Wooyoung and wondered how come he still didn’t show up. Of course, you had no way of warning him that you wouldn’t be at your place this weekend, but he always knew where to find you. So what was different this time?

With a sigh, you threw your blanket off you. There was no way you would find any sleep soon, instead, you grabbed a black hoodie and put it on. If lying in bed, did you no good, then maybe walking would help. You used to do it back when you were still living with your parents. In fact, you spent many nights walking through the forest, resting by the lake.

The night was lovely with a cool breeze caressing your face. You hummed in contentment, enjoying the moment fully as you walked through the small path leading to the lake. You didn’t need to check your surroundings; your feet remembered the way.

The moment you stepped into the clearing your smile widened at the sight of the lake. The sight of the lake brought back so many memories, you felt in peace and so light.

“I’m home.” You whispered happily

Your peace was however quickly interrupted by a very loud and angry “Where the hell have you been?!”

Startled, your heart missed a beat. Wooyoung appeared right before you, looking incredibly pissed, his eyes glowing red and you swore he growled at you. That was definitely not how you imagined meeting him. Without answering, you simply stared at him, confused with his reaction.

Wooyoung took a step towards you, fuming with rage, he tried to control himself. He didn’t want to scare you with his attitude (not that he really believed he could scare you), but his own fears got the best of him. “I’ve looked for you everywhere but no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t find you. I couldn’t feel you. It freaked me out.”

“What?” You blinked confused. “It doesn’t make sense. You-“

He interrupted you by wrapping his arms around you, crashing your body against his.

“I was scared something had happened to you and I had no idea where to look for you.” By the end of his ranting, he was shaking. You felt bad for worrying him this way, even if you didn’t understand half of what he explained.

You pushed him gently off you, only to cup his face and smile softly at him. “I’m fine, you’re fine.”

He inhaled sharply and closed his eyes, leaning further into your touch, letting you calm his nerves.

To say that you didn’t melt at his reaction would be a big fat lie. Your heart fluttered; he was too adorable for his own good and he didn’t even know that. You pecked his lips, once, twice until you saw a pout form on his face – he wanted more than a peck.

“Y/N,” he pleaded and who were you tell him no? Without hesitation you captured his lips. It wasn’t that long since your last kiss, but the moment your lips connected you sighed in delight, your body melting against his. There was no denying that you were addicted to him.

One arm wrapped tightly around you, Wooyoung lifted you from the ground bringing you as close as he could. The moment of bliss didn’t last. The moment your body collided, he hissed in both surprise and pain.

“What-“ You looked at him, taken aback. “What’s wrong?”

Wooyoung frowned, confused. He glanced at his chest; the burning sensation lingered even with you two being apart. “The hell.” But despite the shock that came with the burn, Wooyoung recognized this sensation, from a very long time ago. He looked at you, observing you, trying to find what was different with you. It didn’t take him long to figure it out. His eyes locked on your necklace; his frown only deepened.

“Where did you get that?” He pointed at your neck

“That?” Your fingers wrapped around the pendant. “It’s a gift from my grandmother.” You couldn’t help but smile but then you remembered his reaction. “What’s wrong with it?”

Wooyoung bit the inside of his cheek, pondering whether he should tell you what this pendant represented or if he should just shrug it off.

“Don’t.” You warned him, seeing the struggle in his eyes. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“You’re getting too good at reading me.” Wooyoung sighed and shook his head. “I know this necklace; I’ve seen it before.” He outstretched his hand, fingers brushing your neck gently but halted. “There’s a spell on it preventing demons from getting too close to you.”

You should have been shocked by his statement but you weren’t. The whole evening you had been wondering whether your grandmother was a witch or not – his words only confirmed your doubts.

“Should I take it off?”

“Your sweater? Yes, please.”

You slapped his arm playfully in reply which made me chuckle. “No, keep it.”

“But it hurt you.”

“Only because I got too close to it. I’ll just avoid touching your neck.”

“No!” You complained. As if you would let him do that. You liked him touching your neck whether it was just to rub or plant kisses or choke you.

He laughed at your pained expression and wrap and arm around your shoulders. “Don’t pout like that. It gives me ideas.”

“What kind of ideas?”

“A kind that would make you blush, doll.”

Bloody demon. But you adored him.

“Walk me home?”

❀

When you suggested for Wooyoung to walk you home, you had on mind that you could slip him inside the house, unnoticed and maybe spend the night together. Your plan, however, went to hell the moment you got closer to the house. Your grandmother was, to your utter despair, perfectly awake, sitting in her favorite rocking chair on the patio, smoking a pipe. She watched the two of you getting closer, unfazed with Wooyoung’s presence.

Wooyoung let go of your hand. He put his hands in his pockets and tried to look as nonchalant as he could, but as you observed him from the side, you saw how tensed he actually was.

“So you’re the demon.” Your grandmother said. She stood up, stretching her limbs, she winced at the pain in her back.

Your grandmother, at least in your memories, was sweet and always looked gentle. Now? She looked intimidating. It was a wonder Wooyoung didn’t try to run away because you would in his shoes.

“And you’re the witch.”

She smiled, pleased with being called a witch. “What’s left of it, yes.”

Your eyes darted back and forth between the two of them, your thoughts running wild. “Hold on. Does it mean I’m a witch too?”

“You could be, if you wanted.” Your grandmother nodded which made Wooyoung winced. “Don’t make that face, demon. We’re not all bad.”

“Excuse me if I’m having a hard time believing this.” But as Wooyoung observed your grandmother, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of knowing her. He let his power wander around the place, trying to reach for her magic, only to be meet with a wall.

“Bloody witches.” Wooyoung cursed under his breath.

“I have a question.” You interrupted their little silent exchange. “My necklace? Earlier-“ you glanced at Wooyoung, trying to find the right words without getting embarrassed, “It hurt him.”

Your grandmother hummed in understanding. She was young once so she could only imagine how it happened. She winked at you (did you blush? Absolutely).

“Because this necklace is supposed to protect you from demons. Especially those trying to get too close to you.”

“But-“

“I felt him on you. His scent is all over you. I figured you’d need some protection. This necklace won’t save you if things get out of hand, but it can help.” Your grandmother explained.

Wooyoung who stayed oddly silent for the past few minutes, finally remembered where he had since this necklace before. “I’ve met you before, haven’t I?”

Now that was unexpected.

Your grandmother smiled. “Took you long to figure out.”

“You’re old.”

“And you’re still as rude as ever.”

“Do I want to know?” You asked, confused at their interaction. It got you curious, obviously. Especially because your grandmother looked delighted with how uneasy Wooyoung looked. “Wooyoung?”

He raised his arms in defeat, cursing. “Your grandmother was a very curious little witch. She summoned me when she was twelve.”

“Twelve?” You glanced at her, amazed. No wonder there were rumors about her.

“Yeah. She was curious and annoyed me to no end.” Wooyoung explained, face pained at the memory.

Your grandmother scoffed. “You were just impatient.”

“Was I? She pestered me with questions and I snapped. I tried to attack her but she wore this damn necklace.”

She nodded at the memory. “Demons are impatient and dangerous creature. And no matter how cute the two of you look together, I don’t think this relationship is a good idea.”

Angry, Wooyoung took a step forward and you had to grab his arm to stop him from getting closer to your grandmother. You didn’t trust him when it came to you and your relationship.

Your grandmother, brave woman that she was, didn’t even flinch at his display of anger. “You know I’m right. You put her in danger.”

“I can protect her!”

“I don’t doubt that but you won’t be always by her side. Moreover, you seem to forget that you’re immortal. She’s not.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll find her again.”

Fuck. You were falling in love.

❀

Ever since you got home from your parents’ place, Wooyoung had been showering you with so much love it was almost disgusting (according to Soojin anyway). But sweet. You bet if it came from someone else you would have hated all this attention but with Wooyoung it only made you feel loved. A kind of love that you had never experienced before. It was intense and heart melting.

When you thought he couldn’t surprise you any more, he would pop at your work place with a cup of coffee and would steal a kiss when nobody was looking before disappearing with a wink. It startled you every single time but would leave you with a big smile on your face. He certainly knew how to brighten your day.

Wooyoung surprised you even more by bringing you what looked like homemade meals almost every day. For a while, you actually refused to believe that he was the one doing the cooking, it just didn’t make sense for a demon. He, of course, proved you wrong one night. You came home late, your place smelling absolutely delicious, making you drool on the spot; only to find Wooyoung in your kitchen, cooking. He should have looked so out of place – he didn’t. Let’s say it added to the list of things you loved about him.

Tonight, however, you enjoyed the peace that came with the night. Wooyoung was sleeping beside you, for once he didn’t leave, he didn’t have any demon-business waiting for him and you enjoyed every second of it. You watched him sleeping, admiring how beautiful he looked even in his sleep.

Smiling fondly at him, you moved a little closer to him, letting your fingertips trail over his chest, drawing invisible circles. You couldn’t stop yourself from gently touching him, you were just so drawn to him. Your hand moved to his jaw, tracing its shape before moving to his lips – lips that you wanted to kiss so badly. Wooyoung grabbed your hand and opened his eyes, staring right at you.

“You can’t get enough of me.” He wiggled his brows playfully at you which made you realize that he had been awake for a while now and was simply waiting for your move.

The little shit.

“Nope.” You didn’t even try to deny. You threw one leg over his and straddle his thighs. “I might be a little addicted.”

Wooyoung kissed your fingers in response. A slow and gentle press of his lips against your fingers and it was enough to fill you with both love and lust.

“I love you.”

❀

“So you’re the reason he’s been so distracted.”

Finding a man, sitting on your coach like he owned the place should have made a strong effect on you. A logical reaction would have been to panic, to scream even and ask who the hell he was. You? You simply halted mid-way; your jacket half removed as you stared at the man.

One look at him was enough to tell you who he was. Well maybe not who but definitely what. There was this aura around him, dark and ominous, just like Wooyoung’s. Without a doubt you were facing another demon and from the frown on his face he wasn’t a friendly one.

A normal reaction, after realizing that a dangerous demon was at your place, would have been to pray for Wooyoung to show up and save your butt.

“Do I want to know why a demon is in my living room?” You finally asked and dropped your jacket on a chair, along with your bag. To say that your heart didn’t skip a beat at the sight of red eyes, would be a lie. Maybe spending time with Wooyoung made you a little fearless, but it didn’t mean you couldn’t recognize danger when faced with.

You were playing with fire but apparently your little antics amused the demon – he smirked. “I see the appeal.”

“What do you want?”

“I wanted to see where Wooyoung was spending his time instead of doing his job. Can’t believe he got himself involved with a human.”  He eyed you from head to toe, face filled with disgust. Clearly, someone wasn’t very fond of humans.

“Then, now that you’ve met me, can you leave?” You tried to sound as nice as possible just to avoid offending him even further with your ‘humanity’.

“You would like that, wouldn’t you?”

One moment he was on the couch, the next he had you pinned against the wall, his fingers wrapped tightly around your throat. “You, humans, are so fragile.” He watched you, your every shiver, every breath, like a hawk. It amused him to see you not being so smug anymore, not being so courageous. He could feel your heart beating crazily; you were terrified of what he could do to you. After all, it would take him little to not effort to snap your neck.

“Do you think he would morn you?”

His hold on your neck tightened a little more, bringing tears to your eyes. You were going to die, there was no way you could escape him, not even if you tried. You whimpered at the pain as breathing was getting almost impossible. A little voice inside your head asked you to beg him to stop but you wouldn’t. It wouldn’t do you any good.

But just when you thought you were done for, a miracle happened: your necklace started shining brightly. The demon’s attention suddenly was not on you but on the necklace, eyes widening in shock. Just like Wooyoung’s before, he seemed to be familiar with it; he quickly let go of you and took few steps back, his eyes darting back and forth between his wounded hand and you.

“The fuck.” He growled, outraged that what seemed to be an easy target, wasn’t that easy to kill in the end. “Why do you have this?”

Too stunned to speak, you simply stared at his hand and pressed yourself a little harder against the wall in hope it would swallow you whole. You needed to get the hell out of here. You silently thanked your grandmother for the gift, if it wasn’t for her, you realized, you would be dead.

“Answer me!” He ordered, impatient, his rage growing stronger with every passing seconds.

Despite your state, despite the fear slowly eating you alive, you forced your body to move, to try to get away from him – you pushed yourself from the wall and run without looking back. Fortunately for you, your prayers had been answered: Wooyoung appeared in the middle of the room, a deep frown on his face. He opened his arms widely and caught you. The moment his familiar and comforting scent hit your nose, you felt your body giving up, falling in his arms, shaking.

“Y/N.” He whispered and tightened his hold around you. He didn’t need to observe you to know you were terrified and a quick glance at the other demon in the room made it all clear as to why. “The fuck you’re doing here, Hongjoong?”

Hongjoong scrunched his nose in disgust at the sight. No matter how close he was to Wooyoung, he couldn’t understand his obsession with you. “You finally show yourself.”

“I’m not going to repeat myself. What are you doing here?”

If Hongjoong was annoyed with Wooyoung he didn’t show it (which did impress you). Instead, he put his hands in his pockets and relaxed, completely unbothered with his friend’s anger. “Making acquaintance with your new pet.” His eyes locked with yours for a moment before looking back at Wooyoung. “You can’t be serious about her.”

For a second you thought Wooyoung would simply pounce on Hongjoong. You could feel his rage just by staying in his arms. Oddly enough, he controlled himself; Wooyoung took a deep breath, releasing a little his hold on you before looking back at the demon. Your eyes darted back and forth between them, realizing a little too late that maybe the reason Wooyoung managed to control himself was because this demon was actually a friend of his and he didn’t want to fight him.

“My intentions are none of your business, Hongjoong.” Wooyoung finally answered, calmer than expected. He looked down at you and smiled gently at you, reassuring you in a way.

Hongjoong, instead of making another snarky remark to push Wooyoung to his limits, only sighed in defeat. He ruffled his hair in frustration and groaned. “Why do you need to always make things so hard?”

Wooyoung actually chuckled at his remark. “You’d be bored.”

Yeah, you had no more doubts: they were friends.

More confident (mainly because you realized your life was no longer threatened), you pushed yourself out of Wooyoung’s arms and faced the other demon. Instead of looking at you with the disgust he showed you previously, Hongjoong smiled, a bitter one, but it was better than nothing.

“You better look after her. If I found out about her, it means others will too eventually. You know she’ll be in danger when the moment comes.” Hongjoong said before vanishing.

❀

You woke up that morning with a sick feeling in the stomach – something was wrong. You sat in your bed, rubbing your eyes to fully wake up. The moment your eyes landed on the empty side of the bed; the bad feeling only grew stronger. Wooyoung was nowhere to be seen which wasn’t that unusual and shouldn’t worry you that much but it did. Maybe it felt wrong because of the whole incident with Hongjoong and his last remark before leaving. You couldn’t help but remember your own grandmother’s words, they were so damn similar, warning Wooyoung about the danger of being together.

“No.” You told yourself, scolding the little voice in your head that was messing with you, making you anxious without good reason.

You knew from the beginning that being with Wooyoung would be challenging but you could overcome the issues, you were a strong and stubborn woman – you were ready to fight for him. And you could only hope that he was ready to fight for you too.

Hopeful, you left your bed to check the others rooms – still no sight of him.

“Wooyoung?” You called for him, knowing all too well that he wouldn’t answer you.

Despite all your talk about overcoming all obstacles, your heart clenched painfully inside your chest. Feeling dizzy, you put a hand on the wall to steady yourself. He wouldn’t leave without a word, would he?

❀

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and still no sign of the demon that had shamelessly stolen your heart. You would be lying if you said his absence didn’t affect you as much as it used to, you would be lying if you said it didn’t hurt thinking about him. Because it did. Every time you found yourself alone, you thought about him, about your time together. You thought about his silly jokes, about the late-night talks, about the safety of his arms. You missed it.

But if there was one thing you were certain in life, it was that time could heal everything. You strongly believed in that. So when Wooyoung disappeared without a word, despite all your attempt at summoning him, you believed that you would get over it. Eventually.

For a while, you allowed yourself to be sad, to cry, to despair but then, enough was enough. You refused to turn into one of those people who because of their pain would become just a shadow of themselves. There wasn’t much you could do, except resume your normal life where you had left it. You worked just as hard and started spending again more times with your friends, going out and distracting yourself until the pain became more bearable. Until your thoughts weren’t plagued by him all the time.

When the time of your holidays came, instead of planning a special trip, an escape to another part of the world, you chose to come back to the only place in the world where you felt safe and at peace: your childhood’s house. Your parents were of course delighted at the idea of having you back for longer than two days. They didn’t ask about your ‘boyfriend’, they figured it wasn’t the right timing to introduce him to them. But your grandmother, it was a whole different story. The moment she saw you, you and your fake pretty, happy smile, she smelled the lie. Fortunately for you, she made no comment.

❀

The night was still young and fresh, but you couldn’t dream about anything better. You sat in your grandmother rock chair on the patio, admiring the dark sky filled with thousands of stars. A warm plaid wrapped around your body, a hot cup of chamomile in your hand – a perfect set.

Coming to this place was probably your best decision.

“A penny for your thoughts?” Your grandmother stood by the door; she too had a plaid around her shoulders.

You glanced at her, smiling. With just one look, you knew why she was outside. In fact, it surprised you that she lasted so long without cornering you. “Just relaxing. I feel at peace here.”

Your grandmother hummed in understanding. “And not in town?”

“It’s,” you paused, thinking about the right word. You loved your life in town. You loved the hectic, noisy life but ever since Wooyoung had left without a word, you found yourself wishing for calm and to have time to reconnect with yourself. “Different and not what I need right now.”

Your grandmother joined you by sitting on the wooden bench beside the chair. For a moment, she didn’t talk; maybe because she wanted you to talk freely, maybe she was weighting her next words. She observed you for a while. Despite how badly you tried to conceal your real feelings, she knew exactly what was going on in your pretty head and she understood.

“He left, didn’t he?” She finally said

You knew it was coming, but her question (that sounded more like a statement) still stung. When you turned to look at her, you half expected to see the ‘I told you so’ look, instead, she reached for your shoulder and gently patted.

No matter how much work you had done on your feelings, the simple pat on the shoulder (and maybe because it came from your grandmother) was enough to bring tears to your eyes. You blinked furiously, trying to stop yourself from breaking down before her but it was no use.

“Come here.” She gently grabbed your hand and pulled you towards her. She wrapped her frail arms around you, gently rocking you, letting you cry in her arms.

Head pressed against her chest, you felt like a child. You felt loved and safe.

“You’ll be fine.” She whispered and planted a soft kiss on top of your head.

❀

Whoever said that demons couldn’t love, clearly knew nothing about them. Of course, it was rare. Heck, Wooyoung wasn’t sure if he had ever witnessed it in his extremely long life, but he knew it could happen, just like he knew that usually nothing good would come out of those relationship. It was always the same story: they met, fell in love, went against the world, only for one, if not two, to die.

But despite knowing it, he convinced himself he could be the exception.

He knew that his feelings for you weren’t just an illusion. Some would say he was simply infatuated with you but it wouldn’t be right. If it was just an obsession, he wouldn’t feel the urge to be by your side every moment of your life. He wouldn’t feel the need to protect you from the world. But reality was, he couldn’t protect you. Hongjoong proved it to him with just one little, innocent visit. Hongjoong showed him he was still young (at least for a demon) and naïve.

That night, he watched you fall asleep in his arms, safe, protected, loved and he knew right then that your grandmother was right, that Hongjoong was also right: he couldn’t stay in your life and except you to survive. No matter how much it pained him to admit, he couldn’t always be by your side. All it would take for him was to arrive seconds too late and you would be gone forever. Wooyoung couldn’t take the risks.

So he left.

Wooyoung knew he was being a coward by purely ignoring you. He heard all of your calls. Worse, he saw how his absence affected you, how slowly your resolution crumbled. He heard your many cries, your begging – it almost broke him in return.  All he had to do was make his presence known and he would have you back in his arms – but he couldn’t. With all his might, he fought himself and resisted the urge.

But did it make him stop watching over you? No. Call him a masochist but he couldn’t stop. Just like tonight. After months of suffering, you finally chose to go out with your friends and have some fun. Of course, he followed you from afar, watching over you. While you were having a drink, laughing at your friends’ jokes, he stood outside, under the rain.

“You can’t stop yourself, huh.” Hongjoong’s voice echoed from behind him. There was no judgment in his voice but he could definitely hear some pity.

Wooyoung kept his mouth shut in fear of starting pouring his heart and reveal how he really felt about the whole situation. He glanced shortly at his friend before turning back his attention on you.

“She looks happy.” Hongjoong commented.

You did.

❀

Wooyoung thought he had finally lost his mind. Instead of watching you from afar as he had done for the past few months, he found himself at your parents’ place, lurking in the darkness of the forest, watching. Your sweet scent still lingered in the air, it was faint but he still could catch it. You were no longer at their place but he had missed you only by days.

Your grandmother however was still there and just like when they first met, she was in her rock chair, humming softly.

Despite Wooyoung’s attempt at concealing his presence, she knew exactly where he was. She pointed a finger in his direction and smiled.

“I was waiting for you.”

Now, that took him off guard.

“Took you long enough.”

Wooyoung hesitated, only for a second. He wasn’t fond of witches – they were malicious and unpredictable. On the other hand, your grandmother had proved to be a very different kind of witch.

“You knew I would come?” He got out of his hideout and walked towards her.

“Just a hunch.”

Being a strong demon meant that there were very few things in this world that could terrify him, but Wooyoung had to admit that being observed so intensely by this old woman did spook him.

“You were right.” It bruised his ego to admit it but he felt the need to say it.

He didn’t think she could surprise him anymore, but she did.

“I wish I wasn’t.”

Her words, no matter how nice they were, hurt more than he wished to admit.

Wooyoung sighed, feeling exhausted and defeated. He plopped on a step and rested his head in between his hands. With closed eyes, and against better judgment, he inhaled sharply, concentrating on the traces of your scent. Hell, he missed you.

“What are you going to do?” The old woman asked, voice filled with sympathy.

Wooyoung turned his face to look at her, pained. “Honestly? I don’t know.” If he was being rational, he knew he had to stop looking for you, looking after you, it did him no good and it definitely did no good to you. Even if you couldn’t feel his presence, he was holding you back. “I know I should stop and let her go. But damn, it’s hard.”

Just like she did with you only few days ago, your grandmother reached for him and patted his head.

“For her sake and for yours, you need to let go.”

❀

Slowly but surely, Wooyoung managed to let go of his bad habit. But not completely. At first, he kept visiting you, watching over you and making sure you were safe, with no other demon around you. Making sure that you were happy. But then, he managed to give you some space. His visits became less frequent, months, years.

He watched you succeed in your career; not like he doubted you. He watched you getting stronger and opening up to new people. He watched you falling in love once more, getting married, have a child. He wouldn’t deny that he wished he was the man standing by your side, sharing all those moments with you, but he knew there was much he couldn’t give you.

Hongjoong appeared by his side, wearing a worried look on his face which was unusual coming from him – that made Wooyougn pause. “What is it?”

“You should see her.”

“Why?” It had been ten years since the last time he had paid you a visit. Time was a strange thing. For humans, it meant death was getting closer. For him? It meant nothing. When he had last saw you, he came to realize how fragile you got, how your end was nearing. It tore his heart. He could deal with a life where you weren’t his, but dealing with a life without you was so much worse.

“Because it’s time.” Hongjoong hesitated for a moment. “I think you should say goodbye. And I think she will appreciate that too.”

❀

Wooyoung thought that leaving was the most painful thing he had ever done. Wrong. To see you so frail, so fragile was much worse.

As he came to the hospital, he spotted your legacy; children, grandchildren, all preparing themselves for what was inevitable. But could we ever get ready for death? Demons, yes, humans not so much.

“Hi, doll.” Wooyoung whispered to your sleeping figure. He outstretched his hand, wanting nothing more than touch your face, to feel your warmth once more but halted. You were so close, yet so far. “I know, I have no right to say it now but hell, I missed you. So much.”

“I’m sorry for leaving you. I won’t ask for your forgiveness, but know that I’m sorry.” Wooyoung had never cried in his life, not even when it broke his heart leaving you, but now that he was finally confessing, letting everything out, tears were slowly gathering in the corner of his eyes. “I watched over you for a while – I just couldn’t let go. But when I saw you rebuilding your life, I knew I had to let go, to give you the space you needed to completely forget about me.”

“As if I could ever forget about you, asshole.” You muttered as you slowly opened your eyes and looked at him.

Startled, Wooyoung almost jumped from the bed and ran for his life. Ironic, considering he used to be the one scaring you.

Even in your state, you managed a chuckle. “Did I scare the mighty demon?”

“Nope.” Wooyoung cleared his throat. “Ok, maybe a little.”

“What took you so long?” You complained, “Do you know how hard I’ve been trying to hold back? I expected to see you sooner – especially since I saw Hongjoong.”

“You saw Hongjoong?”

“He thought he was being discrete or maybe he thought I was too old to notice, to remember.”

Wooyoung snickered at that and took note to remind Hongjoong to never underestimate a human. Even an old lady as yourself.

“Hey, Wooyoung. Do me a favor? Next time we meet, and I know we’ll meet again. Don’t be a coward and stay with me hm?”

Those words were all he needed to let his tears fall free. He took your hand and brought it to his lips, kissing your knuckles one last time.

“I promise.”

[neurospring]

History and Basics of Language Models: How Transformers Changed AI Forever - and Led to Neuro-sama

I have seen a lot of misunderstandings and myths about Neuro-sama's language model. I have decided to write a short post, going into the history of and current state of large language models and providing some explanation about how they work, and how Neuro-sama works! To begin, let's start with some history.

Before the beginning

Before the language models we are used to today, models like RNNs (Recurrent Neural Networks) and LSTMs (Long Short-Term Memory networks) were used for natural language processing, but they had a lot of limitations. Both of these architectures process words sequentially, meaning they read text one word at a time in order. This made them struggle with long sentences, they could almost forget the beginning by the time they reach the end.

Another major limitation was computational efficiency. Since RNNs and LSTMs process text one step at a time, they can't take full advantage of modern parallel computing harware like GPUs. All these fundamental limitations mean that these models could never be nearly as smart as today's models.

The beginning of modern language models

In 2017, a paper titled "Attention is All You Need" introduced the transformer architecture. It was received positively for its innovation, but no one truly knew just how important it is going to be. This paper is what made modern language models possible.

The transformer's key innovation was the attention mechanism, which allows the model to focus on the most relevant parts of a text. Instead of processing words sequentially, transformers process all words at once, capturing relationships between words no matter how far apart they are in the text. This change made models faster, and better at understanding context.

The full potential of transformers became clearer over the next few years as researchers scaled them up.

The Scale of Modern Language Models

A major factor in an LLM's performance is the number of parameters - which are like the model's "neurons" that store learned information. The more parameters, the more powerful the model can be. The first GPT (generative pre-trained transformer) model, GPT-1, was released in 2018 and had 117 million parameters. It was small and not very capable - but a good proof of concept. GPT-2 (2019) had 1.5 billion parameters - which was a huge leap in quality, but it was still really dumb compared to the models we are used to today. GPT-3 (2020) had 175 billion parameters, and it was really the first model that felt actually kinda smart. This model required 4.6 million dollars for training, in compute expenses alone.

Recently, models have become more efficient: smaller models can achieve similar performance to bigger models from the past. This efficiency means that smarter and smarter models can run on consumer hardware. However, training costs still remain high.

How Are Language Models Trained?

Pre-training: The model is trained on a massive dataset to predict the next token. A token is a piece of text a language model can process, it can be a word, word fragment, or character. Even training relatively small models with a few billion parameters requires terabytes of training data, and a lot of computational resources which cost millions of dollars.

Fine-tuning: After pre-training, the model can be customized for specific tasks, like answering questions, writing code, casual conversation, etc. Fine-tuning can also help improve the model's alignment with certain values or update its knowledge of specific domains. Fine-tuning requires far less data and computational power compared to pre-training.

The Cost of Training Large Language Models

Pre-training models over a certain size requires vast amounts of computational power and high-quality data. While advancements in efficiency have made it possible to get better performance with smaller models, models can still require millions of dollars to train, even if they have far fewer parameters than GPT-3.

The Rise of Open-Source Language Models

Many language models are closed-source, you can't download or run them locally. For example ChatGPT models from OpenAI and Claude models from Anthropic are all closed-source.

However, some companies release a number of their models as open-source, allowing anyone to download, run, and modify them.

While the larger models can not be run on consumer hardware, smaller open-source models can be used on high-end consumer PCs.

An advantage of smaller models is that they have lower latency, meaning they can generate responses much faster. They are not as powerful as the largest closed-source models, but their accessibility and speed make them highly useful for some applications.

So What is Neuro-sama?

Basically no details are shared about the model by Vedal, and I will only share what can be confidently concluded and only information that wouldn't reveal any sort of "trade secret". What can be known is that Neuro-sama would not exist without open-source large language models. Vedal can't train a model from scratch, but what Vedal can do - and can be confidently assumed he did do - is fine-tune an open-source model. Fine-tuning a model on additional data can change the way the model acts and can add some new knowledge - however, the core intelligence of Neuro-sama comes from the base model she was built on. Since huge models can't be run on consumer hardware and would be prohibitively expensive to run through API, we can also say that Neuro-sama is a smaller model - which has the disadvantage of being less powerful, having more limitations, but has the advantage of low latency. Latency and cost are always going to pose some pretty strict limitations, but because LLMs just keep geting more efficient and better hardware is becoming more available, Neuro can be expected to become smarter and smarter in the future. To end, I have to at least mention that Neuro-sama is more than just her language model, though we only talked about the language model in this post. She can be looked at as a system of different parts. Her TTS, her VTuber avatar, her vision model, her long-term memory, even her Minecraft AI, and so on, all come together to make Neuro-sama.

Wrapping up - Thanks for Reading!

This post was meant to provide a brief introduction to language models, covering some history and explaining how Neuro-sama can work. Of course, this post is just scratching the surface, but hopefully it gave you a clearer understanding about how language models function and their history!