#there used to be a big field and now it's stuffed to the brim with windows all facing each other.

[transfusible]

Everyone in the neighborhood putting up privacy window tint or frosted glass ok more for me you will not stop me from changing in front of my window in the night

[errorryx]

unraveling — part three, season ten

read on ao3 | read part one | hermitcraft, 2.9k words

this is the third and final part of my fic for MCYTblr AUFest! once again, if you haven't read the first part, please check it out for more info about this AU. enjoy this infodump about plant-based fibers disguised as a minecraft fanfiction!

—

Ever since Pearl began expanding her original starter base, she’s been working on some kind of big secret project.

It probably has something to do with her choice of theme this season. Or maybe it's an even bigger, more spectacular redstone machine than the already very impressive Dyeduction. Whatever it is, Pearl’s determined to keep it a secret, which means Gem is even more determined to figure it out.

She watches Pearl from a distance, using her spyglass. Pearl’s base is developing into a labyrinth of different structures, with so many entrances and passageways wedged into tight corners, each building blending together into a larger whole. It’s getting big enough that Gem can get lost in it. She gets turned around even from afar, watching Pearl enter a building and emerge somewhere completely different a few minutes later.

This morning, Pearl seems to be harvesting some of the many different plants around her base. She clips back the fast-growing vines that crawl up the sides of her buildings, wades through dense fields of flowers to uproot entire plants, and even collects bark from the bushes and trees. Gem can’t imagine what she’s doing with it all, and she’s even more confused to see Pearl deposit her harvest into a large pool and leave it there.

After a while, Pearl spreads her elytra and rockets off in the direction of the shopping district. Gem takes the opportunity to poke around her base and investigate directly. She stops at the pool first, which has a small channel out to the river, not quite wide enough for a boat to pass through.

When Gem steps into the pool, the water only comes up to her knees. The bottom is full of different stems and leaves, weighed down by rocks to keep it from floating up to the top. Nearby is a small hut filled with shelves and shelves of the same plants in various stages of drying.

Gem has been toying with the idea of a proper scientific investigation for a while now, and clearly Pearl is the perfect subject. She takes a recording device out of her pocket and begins to describe her surroundings.

“This is Dr. GeminiTay in the field, reporting on my observations at PearlescentMoon’s base. Recently, I've observed several anomalies in Pearl’s behavior, and I came to the conclusion that I must analyze her natural habitat for hints as to what may be causing this…deviation.” Gem nods, proud of herself. She sounds so professional! “It appears that Pearl has been soaking plants in water, then letting them dry. The purpose of this behavior is as of yet unknown.”

Nearby the pool and the shed full of drying plants is a building that Gem knows has been here for a while, but she doesn’t think she’s ever been inside. The top floor is full of more plants in the next stage of the process, whatever process that is. One one side is a pile of fully dried plant material, and on the other side is a heaping pile of fibers and several chests stuffed to the brim with very tiny wood shavings.

Gem relays this information as best she can into the recording device, then takes a staircase down to the basement, which is much larger than the room above. The center of the room is taken up by several large spinning wheels, each hooked up to a redstone device that Gem doesn’t even bother to try and make sense of. Presumably they help automate the process, though they all seem to be shut off right now. Gem is tempted to flick one of the levers to see what happens, but she’s not Grian. She has more self-control than that.

Though, it would be really funny if she broke something.

Gem peeks outside to make sure Pearl isn’t back yet, before running back to switch the lever on, giggling to herself. The wheel starts spinning, but since there’s no fibers or threads on the spool, nothing else interesting happens. She’s disappointed, but also relieved that she didn’t break anything. She flicks the lever back off and moves on.

Pearl has hung several picture frames around the room, but instead of artwork, the frames contain embroidery projects. The largest of them reads live laugh love in familiar cursive lettering, surrounded by a border of leafy vines. Most of the others are textless, with designs of different plants and flowers.

A large table on the left side of the room is covered in dozens of small scraps of handmade fabric. Some are of higher quality than others. None of them look like the sort of crochet pattern that Gem’s used to seeing on Pearl’s body. Pearl must be trying to branch out with her projects, and these are some of her first attempts. There’s another embroidery project hanging right above the table, the only other one with any text, which reads, Start small.

Beside the table is an ordinary loom, and next to it, a larger, more intricate version constructed out of several different types of wood. Normal looms are only used for banners, but Pearl’s handmade loom seems to be built for broader purposes. On the other side of the loom, in the back corner of the room, is an iron door without any visible way to open it.

At this point, Gem can safely assume that she's found the room where Pearl keeps her mystery project. Clearly it's some kind of fiber art—or several different kinds at once, from the look of it. But all the things she's seen so far are just pieces of the puzzle, and she still can’t figure out what Pearl’s making.

Her only remaining option is to see what’s behind the locked door.

Now, Gem could easily go home and construct her own lever to open the door, or just break through the wall herself, but that’s no fun. She’d much rather figure out how to use this secret door the right way. Knowing Pearl, it’s not a special kind of lock that only she has the key to, but some kind of thematically relevant puzzle that anyone can figure out if they try.

So Gem tries. For a good long time, she looks around the room for hints. She stops in front of the table of scraps, looking at the embroidered message. Start small. It doesn’t quite fit with Pearl’s sense of interior decoration. The live laugh love one is clearly a joke, a reference to last season, but there’s nothing about Start small that holds any sort of meaning to Gem.

Unless it’s meant as a clue.

In a moment of inspiration, Gem stands on her tiptoes, reaching over the table to take the frame down from the wall. She looks over to the door, but it hasn’t moved. When she flips the frame around, she can see the messy backside of the stitching, plus a hand-written note from Pearl, reading, smaller than that.

Definitely a clue, then. Gem switches on her recording device and begins to narrate. 

“The wild Pearl is known for her cleverness,” she tells her imaginary peer-review science board. “One of the defining behaviors of a Pearl is to set up puzzles for her friends. It’s important to provide her with enrichment by participating, which is why I’m doing this, of course. Not because I’m nosy.”

She paces up and down the room, the reassuring rhythm of her footsteps against the floor helping to clear her mind. That is, until she steps down on a block that makes a strange metallic clanking sound.

Gem may not know much about redstone, but she knows a hidden hopper when she hears one. The spot where she’s standing is just a few blocks away from the door. All she has to do now is figure out what to throw into it.

“Pearls are practical creatures,” Gem says. “This Pearl would not choose something rare or difficult to access as the key to a door she uses all the time. It’ll probably be something inside this room.”

Start small. Smaller than that. The answer’s sitting right in front of her. Pearl doesn’t start a crochet project by jumping into it blindly and hoping for the best. She plans it out beforehand, making patterns and testing out stitches. All of the different test swatches on this table are her way of starting small, practicing for the big project she’s making.

Gem grabs one of the scraps of fabric, dropping it on the floor above the hopper. The door opens with a loud clank, and she enters the room, holding her breath in anticipation.

She’s not expecting Pearl to actually be inside. She knows for a fact that she saw Pearl fly off, though admittedly there was plenty of time for Pearl to sneak back into this room while Gem was wandering around her base. But the surprise of Pearl’s presence pales in comparison to the shock of what she’s making.

Pearl is hunched over a player-sized figure made up of many different kinds of fabric, lying on top of a large worktable. Only one of its arms are attached, the other sitting right beside the empty shoulder, and both legs end just below the knee, still unfinished. Most of the fabrics look coarser than the soft wool yarn that Gem is used to, but there’s no mistaking who it’s supposed to be.

“Oh. My. Gosh.” Gem blinks several times, unable to believe what she’s seeing. “Pearl, are you multiplying?”

Pearl laughs, sitting back and looking up at her. “Do you like it?”

Gem takes a few steps closer, taking it all in. The new Pearl’s plastic button eyes have been replaced with wooden ones, and her hair is a mixture of several different textures and shades of brown. She’s wearing a white postal jacket like the one Pearl’s wearing now, but this one is made out of a more refined version of some of the swatches in the previous room.

When Gem commissions new outfits to fit her themes, she doesn’t spend much time thinking about the work that goes into it behind the scenes. She just pays their exorbitant prices and assumes they must have worked very hard. Now, having seen all the steps in Pearl’s process, she’s baffled as to how her clothesmakers are able to deliver their finished products so quickly, or how Pearl herself has gotten so much done without anyone noticing.

“It’s beautiful, Pearl. It’s so detailed.” Gem can’t think of anything to say that doesn’t feel like an understatement. “Have you been working on this all season?”

“Only since I decided on my solarpunk theme,” Pearl says. “It shouldn’t take me much longer. I’ve processed most of the fibers that I need already, and that’s the slowest part.”

“I have so many questions,” Gem says. It’s a little disconcerting to see this new version of Pearl in an unfinished state, looking so much like Pearl does now, but lifeless and incomplete.

“I can explain it to you if you want!” Pearl looks excited at the prospect. “There’s a lot of steps, but if you break it down it’s actually pretty simple—”

“Have you been hanging out with Mumbo recently?” Gem asks. “None of what you’re doing is simple, Pearl. This is very complicated!”

“Already had a peek around my base, did you?” Pearl tuts in mock disappointment.

“It’s only fair! You don’t get to complain after what you did to my base with all those pickle messages.”

“Ah, well.” Pearl shrugs. “You may have a point.”

“What is it for, anyway?” Gem can’t help but notice that Pearl isn’t making these modifications to herself, but to an entirely different entity. “Why do you need another you?”

“Gem!” Pearl laughs at her. “You got all the way to this point and you still haven’t figured it out?”

“What do you—Oh. Wait.” Gem blinks. “Are you—you’re building yourself a replacement body?”

“There you go,” Pearl says. “We got there eventually.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense!” Gem says. “How do you get yourself into a whole different body? Can you turn back after you’re done? If you can just go around switching bodies, what’s stopping you from being a—a pig, or a sheep or something?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Pearl says, waving her hand dismissively. “I just, y��know…” She pauses, frowning. “Well, I—hm, okay. I’m not sure, actually.”

“You’re not sure?”

“I don’t know how it works,” Pearl says. “It just sort of happens. Like how everyone gets new outfits to stick through respawn.”

“That’s normal, though. Everyone does it!”

“Yeah, but how?”

Gem opens her mouth, then closes it again. She doesn’t know. How does she not know?

She feels a little dizzy from how fast her thoughts are racing. Gem pulls up a chair and plops herself down, trying to get her thoughts in order.

In this world, and in every world since she spawned, there have been rules. They vary from place to place, and they can be changed, too—even bent or broken. Gem knows people who break the rules—some of the most infamous rulebreakers in the world reside on this very server with her—but she’s never counted Pearl among that number.

And, now that she thinks about it, that seems like an oversight on her part. Gem has known Pearl for longer than most of the other Hermits, and she can’t remember ever questioning how Pearl came to exist in this form, this version of herself that Gem’s always known.

Gem has never broken the rules, or at least, she’s never knowingly attempted to do so. She’s happy where she is, building and mining and fighting the normal way, seeking out challenges from within the confines of what’s supposed to be possible. She’s amazed by the accomplishments of her reality-bending friends, but that sort of thing has never interested her.

Now, standing on the edge of what seems to be a rule-breaking realization, Gem wonders if this is how they felt—Etho, or Cleo, or Doc, or Pearl, apparently—any of the Hermits that ever asked the right questions, or put the pieces together, or stumbled upon a loophole in the rulebook.

She clings to the fabric of her lab coat in wonder. What kind of force tethers this silly costume she’s wearing to her own body? Why does it stay with her even after death? How does any of this make sense?

Is everything just a—

“See, you can't question these things,” Pearl says, bursting through her train of thought. “Or it all falls apart.”

“Falls apart?” Gem asks, alarmed. “What does that mean? That sounds bad. Is it bad? Have I broken the world?”

“No! No, of course not, don’t worry.” Pearl rests a soft hand on Gem’s shoulder. “Well, maybe a little bit, but it’s fine. Nothing that can’t be fixed.”

Gem puts her head in her hands, taking a deep breath. It helps, a little. “This is—a lot, Pearl.”

“Here, let me show you something.” Pearl holds up a swatch of fabric, which Gem is reasonably confident in identifying as crochet, though she doesn’t know the specific stitch. “It’s like this. The fabric holds itself together just fine if you leave it alone, but when you pull on the edges…” She does just that, and the first row collapses on itself, then the next, then the next. “Things start to go a bit wonky. But…” She pulls out a crochet hook and starts stitching, rebuilding the row she’d just unraveled. “You can make them right again, if you learn how. It can go back to normal. Or, well, normal enough.”

“But what about people who don’t want it to be normal?” Gem asks. “How do they deal with it?”

“You’ll have to ask them about it,” Pearl says. “That’s not how I do things. I prefer to patch the holes I find rather than explore what’s inside them.”

Gem leans her head against Pearl’s shoulder. “This really hurts my brain.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Gem. I didn’t mean to push you into this.”

“It’s okay,” Gem says. “The fact that I made it through two and a half seasons of Hermitcraft before getting here is probably pretty impressive, right?”

“It’s not for everybody,” Pearl says. “Like Grian, for example.”

“Grian?”

“He noped out of it even harder than I did, you know. Did it so well that I’m not sure he even remembers anymore. I don’t want to bring it up with him, because if he did forget, I think he meant for it to be that way.”

“Huh. I had no idea.” Gem lets out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know if I want to go his route or not. Or your route, or some other route. I feel like I know way less about the world than I did this morning.”

“You should probably talk to someone other than me about it,” Pearl suggests. “It’s different for everyone. But whatever you do, it should be your own way, not someone else’s.”

“My own way.” Gem smiles. “I like the sound of that, whatever it is.”

“Don’t stress yourself out over it,” Pearl warns her. “I know the way you are. Take your time, Gem. You have basically forever to figure it out.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll try.” Gem wraps her arms around Pearl. “Thank you, Pearl.”

“For what?”

“For explaining stuff,” Gem says. “For being my friend. For being so cuddly, too. You are so soft.”

“Aw, you’re welcome.” Pearl hugs her back. “Would you be mad if I got less soft, though?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gem says. “I love every version of you.”

Pearl laughs softly. “I love every version of you too.”

—

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<Previous part

[chubbycelebs]

The Factory of Fatties (part 3)

The group left the two horny berry boys to their juicy selves as they continued down the hallway to continue the tour. The two boys left, Henry and Charlie, were getting a little worried for their fates. Now 3 out of the 5 boys had all been fattened in some way and Wonka didn't seem the slightest bit concerned. They both looked at each other in worry and then down at their extended bellies, still full from the stuffing in the first room. Henry looked over at his much bigger partner seeing Charlie's shirt cling so tightly to his big bloated belly. Henry thought that if anyone was to get fattened next it would be him.

The group reached another big round door similar to the juice concentration room. "This next room is something top secret that I am working on in this factory. It's very experimental at the moment but I just knew you guys had to try it before the tour was over." Wonka looked at the boys in front of him and saw their excitement as he pushed open the large door.

Beyond the doors was a large almost endless looking field. The grass was bright green and even the roof of the room looked like the sky. In the field were huge fat cows, all black and white and all stuffing their bellies with the grass. "This my dear boys is where we make the cream for our sweet treats, or I should say where we are going to be making our cream." Wonka walks over to one of the round cows and places a hand on its belly. "These cows have been genetically altered to produce the richest and the best milk for making cream with. It just so happens the best milk for creaming comes from the biggest cows. Who would've guessed" Wonka chuckled giving the cow a firm slap on its belly.

Charlie and Henry were looking around at all the cows and were wondering why it is "experimental" for there to be cows. "Wonka?" Henry asked, "Why is this room experimental if they are just fat cows?"

"Ah you see my boy we haven't had anyone test the milk from the cows yet. Well my workers have but no normal people yet. We are just wondering if the milk from the cows is really as good as the workers make it out to be." Wonka looked away wondering, almost alluding to one of the two remaining guests try some of the milk.

Henry thought back to his life at home and how he felt like a disappointment to everyone as he had never achieved anything in his life. He then thought how he would be praised for testing one of Wonka's ingredients and making sure it was safe for the whole world to eat. He thought that this could be something good he does in his life. "I'll try it Wonka". Henry steps forward towards the cow and Wonka. Wonka had a very mysterious grin on his face as he clasped Henry on the shoulder.

"Oh amazing my boy. I am so happy you decided to be our taste tester for the day. Thought I'd have to ask for your fat friend Sam to be rolled down here and fill him full of our milk. But no need, we have a willing volunteer just here. I shall send for my workers to come and get you a glass of the cows milk right now!" Wonka turned around back to the door and clapped his hands and 3 workers marched into the room instantly. Henry was starting to get a little nervous now. What did Wonka mean by fill him full of milk? Would he have to drink pints after pints of these fat cows milk?

The workers immediately got to work milking the cow in front of them. With just one squeeze of the udder almost a while pint came out of it instantly. They had to keep filling buckets after buckets of rich milk. Another one of the workers was filling glasses with the milk straight from the buckets. After about 5 minutes the cow had run dry and about 5 buckets were filled to the brim of milk and now being loaded into pint glasses. "Right then my boy. Whenever you are ready take a nice big gulp of our milk for us." The workers in the room pulled out a notepad and one of them handed Henry a tall ice cold pint glass of milk.

Henry was surprised by how cold it was having just seen it come straight from the cows udders. He gave it a sniff and it smelt amazing, like milk you find at the bottom of the bowl after eating a bowl full of sugary cereal. "Well here goes nothing" Henry said bringing the rim of the bottle to his lips and taking a large gulp.

The milk was sweet and sugary but also thick and creamy almost like it had already started to become cream inside the cow. It tasted amazing and Henry took another gulp. "What do you think my boy" Wonka asked in a low voice keeping his eyes fixated on Henry as he drank more of the milk.

"Its amazing Wonka. Tastes just like cream already and its the best cream I've ever had. I just can't get enough."

"Have as much as you like my boy we wont stop you from enjoying our creamy goodness." All the workers were writing down notes but Henry didn't take notice of this. After finishing his first pint of milk he picked up another and nearly downed the whole thing in one go. He kept guzzling more and more of the thick milk. He kept thinking just how proud everyone back home would be of him for testing out the sweet thick milk for the world to now enjoy.

Whilst Henry was busy drinking pint after pint of the rich milk, Charlie couldn't help my notice how Henry was rock hard. This strong boner showed through his trousers and was very obvious for everyone to see. As Henry finished his 4th pint glass Charlie watched as Henry's groin area began to get wet. The wet came from his hard penis and began to soak his trousers. It was a thick white liquid that was beginning to soak his clothes. Charlie looked over at Wonka who had a grin across his face watching the milk covered boy. Charlie was begining to get worried now.

Henry hadn't noticed at all about his soaking groin. He just kept drinking more and more pint glasses of milk. He was onto his third bucket of milk now. He decided to stop filling glasses with the milk and just drink straight from the bucket, becoming desperate for more of the milk. The milk spilled down his face now soaking his oversized shirt and the rest of his clothes. With his shirt now soaked with milk, it had revealed another change to Henry. The wet clothes clung to Henry's now growing belly, his stomach curving outwards with every gulp he took of the milk. As the workers began to note down Henry's changing figure something else began to change too. His skin was becoming paler as well and his hair became darker to an almost black colour.

As Henry started guzzling his fourth bucket of fatty milk, the changes to his body was becoming much more apparent. His shirt now cling tightly to his ever fattening belly and moobs. It wasn't long before his belly pushed his shirt out the way and pocked out the bottom of it. It revealed that Henry's belly was covered in thick dark hair. His facial hair also began to grow slowly coming in dark and thick covering the lower portion of his face and neck. His body was beginning to really fatten now. His round belly merging with this growing love handles, pushing further and further out, jiggling as it did so revealing his every growing hairy gut. As well, his chest became very thick and pushing against his shirt begging to break free. His legs and ass grew huge as well, pulling his trousers skin tight, the seems dying to bust open. His large hard penis also adding pressure to his tight clothes. As he came to the end of his fourth bucket and reached down for his fifth his clothes couldn't handle the pressure anymore. His ass broke free of his tight bottoms bursting free of the constraints allowing is legs to rip through as well. His large hairy legs giggled as Henry stood back up to drink the final bucket. His shirt now also burst open and fell right off his huge milky body. His chest was huge with large round nipples and covered in dark black hair. His belly is large and round looking like an exercise ball also covered in a thick layer of hair. While his small tight brief underwear was still on, it didn't cover much of his private areas. His large ass was poking through the top of his briefs showcasing just how big it had become and how hairy it was. His boner was still just as powerful as before, nearly breaking through his underwear itself. It still gushed thick cream from its head now running down the inside of Henry's thick thighs.

As Henry took the last sip of the final bucket, his body came to a jiggling stop to growing, every part of him now jiggling and exposed, about 500 pounds. He dropped the bucket and belched loudly and looked around at the group in front of him. Wonka had a huge smile on his face almost proud of the huge hairy cow in front of him. The workers all scribbling down notes as fast as they could. Henry, with a dumb proud grin on his face, then looked to Charlie who was stood with his mouth wide open looking on in shock at Henry's new body. The sight of Charlie prompted Henry to look down at his body and was shocked to see the changes that had happened.

"Oh my god Wonka" Henry said as he brushed his hands down his huge hairy chest and onto his prominent fluffy belly, "what have you done to me?"

"What have I done? My boy you were the one that signed up to be our taste tester. You wanted to make people proud and I must say I am very proud of you my milky cow."

Henry looked at Wonka when he said he was proud of him and couldn't help but crack a smile. "You are proud of this?" Henry asked shaking his belly.

"Why of course my boy. You did better then I ever could've imagined. And look at all that cream you are producing we must get you to the creamer as soon as possible." Wonka pointed to Henry's large boner as his still spilt thick cream everywhere. Henry couldn't help but smile now, proud that he has made other people so proud. "Workers could you lead our gracious volunteer here to the creamer for us? We shall follow just behind." The workers in the room held hands with Henry and guided him to the very back of the room they were already in. As they walked over to the back door the workers were rubbing Henry's belly, chest and ass which he enjoyed very much almost letting out moans as they waddled over to the back door.

Through the backdoor was a large version of those cow milking machines. There was a seat for Henry to sit his fat ass in and one large teat milking suction cup. "Just take a seat over there my dear boy" Wonka said pointing to the chair. Before Henry could walk over the workers pulled Henry's tight brief underwear off revealing his huge hairy cheeks and letting his milky boner free. Henry waddled over to the seat and fell back into it, his body jiggling as he did so. "Now just relax my boy. I'm sure you will enjoy this next part." Wonka pressed a button and the suction device moved closer to Henry and sucked onto his large penis. Almost instantly Henry began to moan as the machine sucked the thick sweet cream from his oozing dick. As the machine sucked harder and harder Henry couldn't help himself but moan loudly. He almost sounded like he was mooing at one point.

With one final loud moan and shake from Henry the machine detached its self from his dick and Henry fell back into his seat, now all sweaty with his hairy body soaked with sweat. The workers grabbed Henry's thick arms and pulled him off the seat and began walking him back into the field.

When they were back in the field, Henry began to cool down a bit and began to realise just what had happened. "So is that it now Wonka? Will my body go back to how it was now I've been creamed?" Henry looked at Wonka slightly saddened with the idea that he could never have such pleasure again even though he was now a hairy huge fat man now.

"Oh my boy don't you worry. What happened to you is completely permanent. You will be stuck as my fat hairy cream boy for life now." Wonka walked up to Henry and leaned in close to his ear and placed a hand on his dick. "I'll make sure my workers take good care of you for your service". Henry smiled and looked over at Wonka's workers who all looked over at the fat boy with a smile on their face. "Well then Charlie, looks like we shall have to carry on the tour now. Spent much too long here with you creamy friend. Shall we move on now?" Again less of a question and more of a statement as Wonka began walking towards the exit. Charlie still shocked by what he'd seen followed after him, looking back Henry as the workers started feeding him more milk and rubbing his already hard penis. Henry was so happy now that he had made people proud and couldn't wait for the workers to get to work on him again.

This is part 3 of my story. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. The next part will be the last so please let me know if you'd like more stories like this. Check my deviant art page where I have many more stories if you haven't check it out already: https://www.deviantart.com/fattyman123

[blitzbuckz]

【𐂃】 Fizz was right, it wasn't that cold. Hell, Antarctica's probably twice as cold. ( if not more ) He was just using any bullshit excuse to sidetrack the performer's attention from his perverted shenanigans. Which did seemed to worked in his favor. Still, to remain discreet he kept adding onto his lie. Sticking with it.

❝ Ya' can't go waltzin' around like that -- you'll catch a cold too, y'know ? ❞ it actually did worry him a little, to see his best friend so nonchalantly walking around like it's fuckin' summer. Even with robotic prosthetics that wasn't an excuse to ignore the rest of his body ! Thankfully Fizz had taken his ride offer, because he wasn't about to just let him idly prance around like fuckin' julie andrews in a flower field. He cared too much.

❝ If the big man said so, I guess, but calm the fuck down Fizz. We'll get to everythin', geez. ❞ Sliding his door shut he stuffed the mistletoe back in his pocket, wasting no time to round his vehicle so he could enter the driver's seat. Turning the engine on he then began exiting the lot && heading towards the nearest HellMall.

Hearing his passenger chirp away his excitement did stir a smile out of the assassin. He couldn't recall the last time he had seen Fizz so sugar-high. It was a nice feature on him. ❝ What I have goin' on can wait -- your plans sounds a whole lot better anyway. ❞ he'd brush off, in no time flat reaching the building that was flocked to the brim with other Pride imps. Cutting a broad off he rushed to steal a parking spot, slamming his breaks he'd rock them back && forth as he skid to a stop. Flipping the lady off he ignored her car honking-- focusing back on Fizz instead.

❝ We're here ! BUT before you get off -- wear this. ❞ without a moment to spare Blitz tossed a dirty red rag on Fizz's lap, ❝ It's your head covering for now. I may be your chaperone but I'm not about to fight the fuckin' paparazzi every time your bells jingle... so put it on for now. You can replace it later in the store. ❞

Not like Fizz would ever judge Blitzø if he knew what his childhood best friend was hiding behind. Not that he even noticed Blitzø acting weird. maybe it's because Fizz himself was more distracted by this wintery weather they barely ever experienced in Hell, at least in Lust. The rainiest ring of them all.

Fizz could only flash an awkward smile at his friend. He knew what snow was, however he did appreciate Blitzø telling what caused this phenomenon. "C'mon it's not thaaaat cold" says the one who is wearing just his casual clothes himself. Besides he did have his robotic prosthetics. He didn't feel the cold so easily so he was safe right?

Oh? Was Blitzø offering him a ride? Not that Fizz needed one since he was such an energetic individual who'd just walk or jump around happily to find what he was looking for. But he would never say no since this was his friend even tho the van looked bit dodgy in his eyes. With a chuckle he gave a little bow back before taking a seat in a van. "Well I-... Oz knows enough, let's just say that. He knows I'm out and about" what Oz does not know Fizz managed to escape from his bodyguard/escort again because damn if those people were a mood kill to have around.

"And I am kinda on a mission here. I need to get myself a cooler and some ice bags so I can deliver some of this snow to Lust, just a little amount is good enough" there is a good reason for all of this no worries, it wasn't anything too weird. Fizz just wanted his forklift permit back from Oz.

"Of course since it's all snowy and such. I wanna go for a sledge riding. Sure I need to buy the sledge first which means shopping~" Fizz literally sang the last line out happily as he put the seat belt on. Nice and secure.

"Only if you have time that is. Wouldn't want to keep you away from whatever you had planned for the day"

[ginwalt]

uhh could I request a wanda x reader doing something really reckless (like stealing the car for a 3 am drive) and Carol and Nat (who are like their mother figures - and also are in a relationship) scolding them for it!!

ps: I don't know if scolding is even a word but I guess you know what I mean hahahah

a/n: I am absolutely in love with this prompt and I had a lot of fun writing it :) hope you enjoy!

Warnings: none just some cursing and some underage drinking.

Word Count: 2,680

--

It was around 3:30 in the morning when you felt someone nudge your shoulder. Groaning, you pulled your blanket further over your head.

"Leave me alone," you grumbled under your breath.

It was only when a strand of red magic surrounded the edge of the blanket and jerked it off your body, did you awaken. You gasped at the sudden assault of cold air and shot up. Wanda stood over you in a Black Sabbath hoodie and ripped jeans with a far too pleased smirk on her face.

"What the hell, Wanda?" You hissed, rubbing your bleary eyes.

"Put some clothes on; I want to show you something."

"The sun isn't rising for another 2 hours, Wan. I want to go back to bed," you complained, grasping for the blanket once more.

Wanda pulled the blanket fully off your shared bed and looked at you pleadingly, "Come on, please? I promise it will be worth it," her eyes were wide as she looked at you hopefully. At this time of night- or morning, you supposed - her accent was thicker than it would be during the day. You cursed your weak resolve and slunk out of bed.

"Fine, but I'm stealing one of your hoodies," you grumbled.

She chuckled, "You are already hoarding at least half of them," she pointed out as you stepped out of your pajama pants. You rolled your eyes playfully and pulled on black yoga pants and an Iron Maiden sweatshirt you had been keeping on your side of the closet for at least a month now. Wanda gasped and slapped your arm lightly, "I have been looking for that everywhere, Y/n. I thought I lost it!"

"Your hoodies are comfier," you reasoned with a shrug. "Anyways, how are we supposed to get past mother hen one and two?" You gestured towards the direction of Natasha and Carol's room.

Wanda pondered this for a moment, "Just be fast and quiet, you go out and wait in the car, and I will grab the drinks."

You raised an eyebrow, "Natasha's a world-class assassin, and Carol wakes up whenever Nat does; this won't work. Also, we're going to drink at 3 in the morning?"

Wanda huffed, "It will be fine. You worry too much, Y/n. Plus, when have we ever drank irresponsibly?"

Narrowing your eyes, you stuffed your hands in your pockets, "Do you really want me to answer that."

Wanda pushed you towards the door, "Go outside and wait in the car." You snickered and carefully opened the bedroom door, wincing when the hinges squealed slightly. It wasn't a matter of not being caught as much as it was a matter of being long gone before Natasha and Carol decided to go after them. Regardless of how sneaky they thought they were being, Natasha- if not both her and Carol - was bound to hear them. Ever so carefully, you wedged the front door open and slipped through it.

You had moved in with Carol, Nat, and Wanda a year into your relationship with her. Having graduated college with a nearly nonexistent relationship with your parents, you needed a place to live. Your girlfriend and the women who practically made sure you didn't starve throughout college seemed like the most reasonable choice. You had met Wanda on campus, and it had taken three weeks of being her friend until you realized she was an Avenger. Shortly after that, Wanda introduced you to the rest of her team. At first, your only interaction with the married couple was them giving you the "shovel talk" when Wanda first introduced you as her girlfriend. However, after working with them as a hacker for SHIELD, they quickly took you under their wing as well.

Smiling slightly at the memory, you opened the passenger door to Natasha's black Corvette Stingray. It took all of three minutes for Wanda to come running out the door, a bottle of apple cinnamon whiskey in hand. She threw the door open and shoved the bottle into your hand before pushing the key into the ignition and gunning it down the street. Your eyes bugged as your fumbled to get your seatbelt fastened. You clutched at your chest as the two of you went 45 in a neighborhood.

"Wanda, what the fuck!" you yelped, gripping the neck of the whiskey bottle tightly.

"I'm sorry, I heard their door open, and I panicked!" She cried, grasping blindly for her seatbelt. The two of you slowed down slightly as you gained distance from the house.

"They're totally going to notice the whiskey's gone, Wan. We're both 19; we can't legally drink yet!"

"Relax, Y/n they won't notice one drink is missing out of a whole cabinet filled with alcohol," Wanda reasoned, turning onto a gravel road.

You raised an eyebrow at your girlfriend, "How many times do I have to point out that Nat is the world's top assassin and Carol was trained by both the US military and the Kree?"

"I promise it will be worth it," Wanda insisted, grabbing your hand from across the middle console. You sighed and leaned down to kiss the top of her hand.

"You're lucky I love you."

Wanda grinned and shot a wink at you, "I know." With that, she pulled off the dirt road and into the middle of a grassy clearing. You unbuckled your seatbelt and reached down to grab the whiskey, which had rolled under the seat during your escape out of the neighborhood. Wanda stepped out of the car and went around the back to grab a large black and red checkered blanket. You followed her as she smoothed out the blanket atop the grass and pointed up at the sky. A small gasp escaped your lips as you saw streaks of light blaze across the sky.

"I didn't know there was going to be a meteor shower tonight," you whispered, eyes never leaving the sky. Wanda grinned and unscrewed the bottle. She took a hearty drink from it and passed it over to you.

"I was hoping to surprise you," she explained, laying down on the blanket.

You followed suit and took a large drink of your own. "Why did we need alcohol for this, exactly?"

The corner of Wanda's lips quirked upward as she turned her head to look at you. "Make it a bit more...colorful, I suppose. I considered whether edibles would be better, but Nat and Carol would definitely skin us alive when they found out about that."

You giggled; the apple cinnamon whiskey had settled in your stomach, warming your body against the early morning breeze. Your head felt fuzzier as you leaned over to place a kiss on Wanda's cheek. "This is perfect, Wan. Thank you." Wanda placed a cinnamon-flavored kiss on the corner of your mouth. "How much do you want to bet Wanda and Carol are waiting by the door for us right now?"

Your girlfriend let out a drunken laugh and set the now half-empty bottle aside. "10 dollars that they left the house to find us."

"You're on." The two of you dissolved into hysterical giggles that lasted so long your stomach started to cramp. The blazes of white-hot light lit up the sky as your vision turned blissfully hazy. Clumsily, you crawled towards Wanda and placed your head atop her stomach. "Mmm, you're warm," you hummed, a goofy smile cracking through your lips. The witch placed her hands against the side of your head and started stroking them through the locks of your hair.

Just as your eyes started to slip shut at the attention, your felt her hands halt. "Y/n?" You let out a quiet 'mhm' in response. "How're we gonna get home?" Her voice was slurred and thick with her Sokovian accent.

Your eyes snapped open, and you shot up. "Shit, we can walk, maybe?" Wanda gave you a blank look in response as she gestured to the expanse of nothingness around you. You sighed, "We have to call Carol and Nat."

Wanda groaned and covered her face with her hands. Her chipped black nails scrubbed at her eyes and cheeks, leaving red lines all over her face. "Do we have to?"

"Well, we can't drive Wanda, and by the time we're sober enough, it'll be nearly 7:30!"

"They're going to kill us," she complained, burying her face in her hoodie. "Just get it over with."

You fished your phone from your pant pocket and hesitantly pressed Natasha's contact. The phone barely got through with its first ring before the older woman picked up.

"Where the hell did you two go?" her raspy voice was nearly brimming with anger. You almost dropped your phone at the venom lacing her words.

" 'M sorry, 'Tasha," you winced at the heavy slur in your words before continuing. "We thought it'd be fun."

You heard someone grab the phone, "Are you two drunk?" Carol demanded.

"No..." you trailed off pathetically. Wanda glared at you and lightly kicked your foot.

"Y/n try to say Natasha's full name, right now," you straightened slightly at Carol's military voice.

"N'tasha 'Manoff," your tongue felt too big for your mouth as you attempted to form the words. "...Okay, maybe a little bit."

"Where are you? We're coming to get you," Nat insisted. You heard footsteps from the other end of the line and someone pulling the hallway closet open.

"Wan, where are we?" you asked, glancing around the fields of overgrown grass and wheat.

Wanda winced and bit the tip of her finger, "Uhhh.."

"You don't know?" Natasha and Carol shouted. Wanda pursed her lips and looked down at her lap.

"I didn't have a specific route planned out beforehand," she admitted.

"Turn the location tracker in your phone settings on," Natasha ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," you both grumbled in unison, feeling akin to a scolded child.

"When we get there, you two better hope you have a better excuse than the ones we heard over the phone," Carol warned.

"You took my Corvette?" Natasha complained.

"It was either that or Carol's truck, and Wanda isn't used to driving stick yet," you insisted. "Her car's still in the shop from last month." A speeding car had rear-ended Wanda's car on the highway.

We will talk about this when we get there, do not touch the Corvette any more than you already have," with that, Natasha hung up.

"Well, apple cinnamon whiskey isn't a terrible last meal," you reasoned as Wanda folded the blanket and set it in the backseat.

"Y/n, we haven't eaten since dinner time. Whiskey is hardly a meal," Wanda grumbled, shutting the door.

"Babe, I'm trying to be optimistic."

"Captain Marvel and Black Widow are on their way to kick our asses into the moon," Wanda replied, leaning back against the Corvette. You sighed and rested your head against her shoulder. "Sorry this night was a bust," she mumbled, eyes staring down at her boots dejectedly.

You smiled and leaned in to press your lips against hers. Wrapping an arm around her waist, you pulled away and rested your forehead against hers. "This is one of the most romantic things anyone has ever done for me, Wanda. Thank you." Wanda grinned sheepishly and buried her face in your shoulder.

A few dreadful minutes later, you saw the headlights of Carol's truck speed down the gravel road. The truck lurched to a stop as the two superheroes jumped out of the car.

"Are you two alright?" Natasha demanded, half-running to the two of you.

"We're fine, I can protect myself, and Y/n was with me the whole time," Wanda reasoned. "We went out to watch a meteor shower, not go clubbing.

"I can protect myself just fine," you whined.

Carol raised an eyebrow, "Your hands were built for hacking and reading, not punching." You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms over your chest. Wanda offered you a sympathetic smile but did not say anything to counter the older woman's claim. Rude.

"Wanda, get in the Corvette, Y/n get your ass in the truck," Natasha ordered. She was wearing a black leather jacket over her red silk pajama set. Carol was in basketball shorts and a tank top with a brown leather bomber jacket pulled over it. You quickly shuffled over to the truck and slid in.

Your foot nervously tapped against the floor of the car as you watched Carol grab the nearly empty bottle of whiskey and made her way over to the truck. Shutting the door, she set the bottle of whiskey on the open seat between you two and turned the keys in the ignition. As the pickup truck rumbled to life, she turned to face you. "Kid, you two nearly downed that bottle in a single night. What were you thinking?" You burrowed further into Wanda's sweatshirt as if to protect from her stern gaze.

"You're really mad at us, huh?" you mumbled, fidgeting with your hands.

Carol sighed and followed behind Natasha down the road, "You scared the shit out of us, kid. We didn't know where you had gone, why you left, plus it's nearly pitch black out here."

"But, we're adults just like you and Nat," you insisted weakly.

"You're still teenagers; we're in our 30's. Millions of things could have gone wrong; some creep could have taken you before Wanda could get to you, you could have crashed had you chosen to drive home, your phones could have died, or you could have gotten lost."

You shrunk further into your sweater, "Sorry..."

Carol sighed and looked over at you as she turned into the neighborhood. "Listen, kid. We really care about you two a lot. Nat and I have to resist the urge to duct tape you to the kitchen chairs to keep you two from leaving for missions. We know you can take care of yourselves, but a heads up in the future would be nice, and also more reasonable hours for your plans."

You grinned sheepishly, "Yeah, that seems fair."

Carol smiled and pulled into the driveway. Natasha and Wanda were waiting on the doorstep when you two got out. The latter looked thoroughly chastised as she burrowed her mouth and nose into her hoodie. When the four of you got inside, Natasha sighed and checked the clock on her phone.

"Well, we might as well watch a movie or something since it's nearly sunrise." You and Wanda settled on the couch, with Natasha to your left and Carol to Wanda's right acting as bookends. The assassin wrapped an arm around your shoulder, allowing you to rest your head in the crook of her neck. You saw Wanda lay her head in Carol's lap as the older woman pulled up Netflix. Natasha was idly threading her fingers through your hair, causing your already drunk and lethargic mind to grow hazier. Your eyes started to slip shut as you felt yourself being guided to lay your head in Nat's lap. You jerked slightly, attempting to fight the drowsiness from taking hold. Forcing your eyes open, you tried to sit up. However, the battle for consciousness was quickly lost when Nat started using her nails to gently massage your scalp.

--

"Carol," the assassin whispered to her wife. The blonde stopped her search for a good movie as she glanced over at Natasha.

"What is-" her question was quickly cut off by her wife quietly shushing her. Nat gestured down to the younger women currently lying in each of their laps. Carol glanced down to find Wanda's face hidden against the sleeve of her hoodie as she let out soft snores.

"Well, guess the movie idea's a bust," she whispered.

Natasha nodded, "You grab Wan, and I'll get Y/n."

Carefully, the heroes scooped the younger women into their arms and carried them to your shared bedroom. Natasha gently set you onto the bed beside your girlfriend and pulled the blanket- which was lying on the floor for whatever reason - to cover the two of you. Ever so cautiously, the couple crept out of the room.

[cvtqr]

cammed

series master list

chapter one; touché, jaeger

content warning; public sex, cheating, wall sex, unprotected, cream pie, slight degradation 

the sun was setting as you walked out the front doors of your dormitory, closing them behind you. hearing your phone quietly ring, you pulled it out from the waistband of your skirt.

‘hello’

babe, are you guys almost here? games about to start and the other girls need historia

‘leaving now, hist just got here’

alright, if i can’t catch you before it starts we’re still on for dinner... right?

‘yeah of course. good luck reiner, win one for me.’

your life right now made you feel like you were in some cliche romcom. dating the college football superstar, best friends with the head cheerleader, all the cliches made you feel like you were still in high school. historia has been your best friend since birth, so of course the two of you hadn’t split up entering college. she had the cheer scholarship, you had the brains to get in with an application. you met reiner through mutual friends, but you couldn’t figure out why he fell for someone like you. usually, in the movies, the hot popular guy falls in love with the hot popular girl... but that wasn’t you, it was more like your best friend. you were more laid back, just wanting to get your degree.

your relationship with reiner was... slow, to say the least. it’s almost the end of your freshman year of college and he seems to be more focused on football than you. but you don’t blame him, he just wants to be successful with his passion. you do hate the fact that you have to take care of yourself all the time. he’s never able to stay the night, as he has training early in the morning. sometimes you wish that he could just be more available to you.

running out down the small path, you stopped in front of a car full of people. this was the way all friday nights were. you were picked up by a jammed pack car holding historia and a bunch of other people, before driving off to the football field. opening the car, it was really full tonight.

“you’re gonna have to sit on someone’s lap, just for the ride” jean said with a grim smirk on his face

“hist you’re tiny, sit on ymir’s lap”

ymir of course not having a problem, pulled the small blonde into her lap with a grin on her face. you then hopped into the car, taking historia’s previous spot.

arriving at the field, historia had to run off to her team and get a lecture by the coach on why she has to stop being so late. after giving her a hug for good luck, you wandered off to the concession stands.

“just a pretzel, please”

receiving your snack, you were about to walk over to the bleachers until you heard your name being called over the short fence.

“Y/N!”

letting out a sigh, you ran over to the voice calling you over.

“quiet down, unnecessary attention.”

lifting his helmet off, he used his large hands to pull your head into his, capturing his lips with yours.

“and? ya look pretty tonight, what if i want people to see my gorgeous little girlfriend.”

“don’t you have a game to play, tough guy?”

talking to your boyfriend, you felt like someone was piercing into the back of your head. people were probably watching the two of you, but no... that wasn’t the feeling. it felt like one person had their eyes glued to you. saying goodbye to your boyfriend, you started to walk over to the bleachers. they were packed with people and you had no one to sit with. your eyes started to scan looking for either bertholdt or colt, two quiet boys you seemed to get along well with.

bertholdt was reiner’s best friend. you noticed him the first time you met everyone. he was always following reiner around like a lost puppy, but reiner seemed to love his presence. when you and reiner started dating, he left you guys alone most the time, but he’s still was always around. colt you also met through reiner, on campus. you really strengthened your friendship after visiting reiners hometown over mid-winter break. while you and reiner were babysitting his cousin, her best friend tagged along, who was the little brother of colt.

you were getting a little nervous until you heard someone call your name and wave you over. jean kirstein, from the car. jean pissed you off on so many levels, but he also made you feel safe in a way. running over to where he was, you took a seat in between him and his best friend.

“hey marco! kirstein.”

“ouch... you’re so cold sometimes, y/n”

jean always had to make a dramatic comment no matter what the situation was. settling into your seat, you stayed quiet for the most part after that. the game was close to being over when you got up from your spot.

“gonna use the bathroom, ill be right back.”

you didn’t actually have to pee, just needed a moment away from the screaming and loud noises. running towards the extra, empty parking lot. you felt someone grab your arm, dragging you into the darkness. about to scream, you felt a hand cover your mouth.

“shhh, its just me.”

wiggling out of his grip, you pushed him into the brick wall. he let out a chuckle, surprised you could shove him like that.

“you dipshit, i thought i was getting kidnapped.”

you felt rough hands pull you by the waist into his chest.

“yeah well anyone would want to get their hands on a pretty girl like you, i’ve warned you about wandering at night by yourself... haven’t i?”

“touché, jaeger”

his slender fingers found their way up your thighs and under your skirt, teasing the hem of your panties.

“not here jaeger, i have to get back to-”

“back to the boyfriend, yeah.” - he didn't stop though, he snuck his hand down to make contact with your clit, rubbing small, soft circles around it. “remember our agreement though? if you want, i can break it... show everyone your-”

“fine. make it quick.”

“you don't make the rules here, ill take as much time as i need.”

eren jaeger was popular around campus, not in the same way as reiner though. he wasn't some big shot blonde football player, just well known for being a jackass. his reputation started in the beginning of the year. he was a pretty low-key guy, just down to fuck almost anyone who asked. but then he'd just break their hearts, but girls always still tried getting him to fall for them.

he released your skirt and pushed you back up against the wall. as you both switched positions, you could see the faint red in his eyes, pulled out by the street light.

his lips found yours, roughly shoving his tongue into your mouth. once he felt that was enough, he flipped you over on the wall. to avoid scraping your face or getting your shirt dirty, you pushed your hands up onto the wall. you heard the familiar unbuckle of eren’s belt, and the shuffling of him trying to free his erect cock.

brining his hand in front of your mouth, he cupped it a bit. knowing what he wanted you to do, you spit right into it twice. he then brought his hand back and lathered his cock with your saliva. pulling the bottom of your skirt up to your waist, he pushed your panties to the side before slowly sliding himself into you. 

not bothering to care about the stinging you might've been feeling, he brought himself back out before slamming right back in. repeating and repeating, going at a roughly fast pace.

“‘ren sl-... slow down.”

“shut up, whore. you should... fuck- should know your place by now.”

letting out a whimper, you felt your fingertips push so hard into the wall, bound to leave a scratch. you then had them peeled off the concrete wall, as eren pulled both of you backwards. pulling out, he spun you around and pushed you back up onto the wall. 

he brought your thigh up to meet his hip, before thrusting himself back into you.

“your little pussy takes me so fuckin’ well”

clenching around him from his words, you let your head fall down onto his shoulder.

“want me to fill you u-”

he was cut off by the sound of your phone ringing. brining your head up, you went to go pull your phone out and hit decline... but eren beat you to it. he took your phone and hit accept, holding it up to your ear.

babe?

‘r-reiner!’

nice win, right?

‘y-yeah you were... you were amazing as always’

cuz i was thinkin’ of you. anyways i'm heading to the locker room, you with bert?

you felt yourself start to panic at the heat of the moment. you were on the phone with your boyfriend as you were getting pounded by the biggest dick on campus. he was ruthless. not bothering to slow down or stop, he just thrusted in harder and faster than before.

‘no actually-’ you were about to let out a moan but you covered it up with a cough ‘just i-in... the bath- the bathroom’

you okay?

‘yeah i’m... fine, 'm fine. ill see you in a few’

alright, love you

‘i love, love you too.’

right when you hung up you choked out a load moan that's been building up. without warning, eren came and shot right up inside you. of course he wouldn't make you cum at a scene like this.

pulling out, he pushed the seeping cum back up with his fingers, before pulling your panties back in place and fixing your skirt. 

“now go hangout with your boyfriend while your full of my cum.”

“eren-”

he turned you around back out of the darkness and playfully smacked your ass before giving your back a little push.

“i promise i’ll make it up to you, now run along like a good girl.”

giving him a frown, you made your way to the exit of the locker room. you stood there waiting for reiner, clenching your thighs together. 

dinner with reiner was sweeter than usual. most times after a game you were dragged to a loud diner with all his friends, forced to hangout with them. but tonight, reiner just wanted it to be you and him. nothing special though, just a quick food joint. walking back to your dorm, you felt the guilt build up in your chest like it always did. 

arriving at the front door of your single-person dorm, reiner pulled you into a soft, sweet kiss.

“practice is canceled tomorrow, i can stay for once.”

of course, the one night you're stuffed to the brim with another man’s cum.

opening the door, you let him in. the two of you laid kissing on the bed, before he tried sneaking his hand up your skirt.

you felt yourself start to internally freak out. if he were to finger you right now, he'd just be met with a load of cum. 

“i-im on my period.”

reiner was always understanding, so of course he was in this position.

“ok, that's fine. we can just cuddle and watch a movie.”

“sounds good” after placing a kiss on his cheek, you got up to go put a pair of sweats on, before returning back to your bed.

he must've been worn out from the game, as he almost immediately fell asleep in your arms. you couldn’t help but feel guilty, thinking about eren. do you wish it was him laying in your arms right now? no. reiner is everything you could ever ask for. you knew he deserved the world, you don't want to hurt him like you are  now. 

but you knew what would happen if you didn't give eren what he wanted.

and that'd be even worse.

[lifeofroos]

Why hello. Sixth Clarisse chapter. Requested by Enyo on AO3 and very fun to make. I might be thinking of making more Clarisse. 

The Father

‘Do you feel drawn to any of these?’ Rosalie asked, while they passed the seventh cabin from the right. Clarisse shrugged. 

‘How am I supposed to know I am being drawn to a cabin?’ 

Rosalie looked at the Apollo cabin. ‘Sometimes, campers can feel it when they belong in a cabin. And because you said you saw your godly parent a couple of times…’

‘Ah.’ Clarisse looked at the buildings. Some of them looked like calm havens, others were a mess, others were empty. None of them did anything to her. 

‘None of them?’ Rosalie inquired, after they had passed the Hermes cabin. Clarisse dreaded having to sleep there for now. It was filled to the brim.  

She shook her head. ‘Not really. Or I am not paying attention.’

‘Could be.’ Rosalie sighed. ‘Is there a cabin you’d like to be in, aside from how they feel?’

Clarisse looked around. ‘Athena, or Ares maybe,’ she said. ‘Those are the warriors, right?’

Rosalie nodded. ‘Yes.’

‘I want to protect myself. If I belong to those cabins, I can learn to do that.’

Rosalie was silent for a few seconds. ‘There were lots of monsters around your house, Chiron said.’

Clarisse nodded. ‘Way too many of them. That’s why I had to leave. They have been there since I was three or so, but apparently now it got too dire.’

‘That usually only happens to the Big Three kids.’ Rosalie was quiet again. ‘But, you know, that’s impossible. Those can’t exist.’

Clarisse slowly nodded, while they continued their tour around camp. 

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

She had to sit at the Hermes table during lunch, which annoyed her. The camp director had hap-hazerdly pointed in its direction, and Chiron had confirmed she had to sit there. It felt like such nonsense that all of these kids had to be stuffed into one cabin, when some of the other cabins were nearly empty. 

There were some announcements. Clarisse soon realised she would have to follow the activities along with the other campers, now. That was fine, really, she’d get to know the camp. 

The Hermes cabin did spear fighting after lunch. Clarisse got a light, wooden spear. They said that was what new campers usually got. She understood, but on the other hand it annoyed her that she couldn’t learn something useful right away. 

A tall boy, who introduced himself as Luke, stood next to her. ‘Have you ever used a spear before?’

Clarisse shook her head. ‘No. I did use a gun a few times.’ When the circumstances were really bad and her mom saw no other solution. 

‘Well, a spear is quite different from a gun,’ Luke told her. He pointed at the target. ‘You have to hold it firmly, with your good hand… like that, excellent, no, slightly higher…’ Clarisse waited, while Luke helped her hold the spear correctly. ‘Good!’ he said, after it was apparently fine. ‘Now, concentrate on the target. Throw when it feels good.’

While Luke yelled at the others to clear the field, a newby was going to throw, Clarisse felt a wave of warmth course through her arm. It was as if it was under electricity. She focussed on the target. 

The voices and other sounds ebbed away. The sides of her vision became red, but she hardly noticed - in utmost concentration, she threw her spear. It ended up right in the bullseye of the target. 

After a few seconds, she noticed how quiet it was around her. Some campers were looking at her with their mouths agape.

Come on, she wanted to say, this can’t be the first bullseye that was ever hit in the camp! Then, she noticed some people were pointing at something floating above her head. 

She looked up. There was a glowing red mark in the form of a boar head. 

Luke raised his arms. ‘Hail Clarisse, daughter of Ares!’ He announced. Some people cheered, others clapped. 

Clarisse felt that she began to smile. The Ares cabin had been a mess, she knew that. But Ares was a strong god. He could fight. He could teach her how to protect herself.

She looked at Luke. ‘I want a real spear,’ she told him. ‘Something I can really fight with.’

Luke nodded, with a broad smile. ‘We’ll get you one.’

[1kook]

skirt chasers

jjk x (f) reader

summary “Baggy clothes are in, but you wouldn’t know that, Miss I Draw Inspiration From Catholic School Girls.” tags f2l, triple texting king kook, ncampus crush kook who is also the weird gamer boy, the skirt aspect is forgotten towards the end tbh, dumbassery is a disease and we are all affected by it, confessions SO CORNY it could be a 2005 teen romcom warnings smut in the form of: unprotected sex, use of mirrors, mostly heavy petting as foreplay I’m sorry, mentions of Jk’s furry ways as a gag kinda, like an unnecessary amount of swearing  wc 7.8k 

to make a long story short, i saw this nsfw gif and wrote this entire fic between 2 am and 6 am anyway i actually really like how this turned out!! lmk when u think

Part of the ideology behind the pleated skirt was in hopes that buying a new wardrobe would somehow help you rebrand your image around campus. Truthfully, it was kinda too late for that now; you’d been here going on three years, your friends and anyone with eyes could see that the style of clothing you leaned towards favored comfort over fashion. However, someone—it might’ve been Taehyung—had gone on a drunken spiel the other night concerning the importance of presenting oneself via fashion. It wasn’t aimed at you, but it certainly left you wondering. 

Which is how you find yourself shivering to the bone now, lingering around the west quad as you wait for Jungkook to come out of an anatomy lab. He’s at that point in the semester where grades mean nothing and everything to him at the same time, so Namjoon’s commissioned you and your other pals to take turns babysitting him once a week to make sure he gets at least some assignments done. 

You don’t know where any of you would be without Kim Namjoon.

Anyway, your legs are fucking cold and if this is what it takes to be known as the fashionably cute girl around campus, you’d rather choke. The imaginary sound of your bones rattling is cut off when Jungkook throws the door nearest you open, his big dopey smile engulfing his face the moment he sees you. He barely acknowledges the gaggle of students that follow after him, all calling out a chorus of goodbyes to him, because unlike you Jungkook was the cute, campus boy crush with his suave looks and comfortable fashion. God, if only you could pull off sweats and mustard-stained Venom shirts like him.

“Lets go,” you yawn, hands stuffed deep into the pockets of your long cardigan. Jungkook jogs over, slinging an arm around your shoulders and nearly knocking you into the emergency telephone you’d been brooding by. “You smell sterile again.”Jungkook grins. 

“That’s because I was touching dead people again,” he informs you, too giddy for someone who’d probably fingered the fuck out of a gallbladder twenty minutes ago. 

“Ew,” you whine, the sudden urge to shove Jungkook and his dead people germs away from you. He cackles in your face, and you wonder again how he single handedly enthralls half the campus population with a laugh like a seagull. 

You’ve barely moved ten feet when Jungkook finally notices your vibrating body, and it’s only because you’re nearly convulsing with shivers at this point. “Woah, what are those,” he exclaims, eyes pointedly eyeing your legs. 

You know your bare legs are a rare sight when Jungkook has to resolve to overused memes to refer to them. 

“They’re my legs, and they’re fucking freezing,” you calmly reply. 

Jungkook seems shocked for only a moment longer, and you almost think he’s gotten over it when he suddenly snorts and scares the shit out of you in the middle of the crosswalk. “Why the fuck are you wearing a skirt in this weather, you dinglehead?” 

You shove him, and he stumbles over the curb, but you get the feeling he’d do that without you pushing him. Jungkook was clumsier than Namjoon on his bad days. “I’m trying to be fashionable, you hater,” you huff, not even bothering to say thank you when he pulls open the coffee shop door for you. “I shouldn’t have to explain myself to someone who doesn’t even wear the right size shirt.” 

Like always, he’s one step ahead of you and hands the cashier his card before you can even reach for your wallet. Next time. “Baggy clothes are in, but you wouldn’t know that, Miss I Draw Inspiration From Catholic School Girls.” 

“For your information I bought this from H&M,” you retort, though you can’t hide the flush that warms your cheeks at his comment. “Also, what's the point of working out your hotbod if you’re just gonna hide it under shirts long enough to be a mini-dress, huh? Riddle me that, Jeon.” 

You flinch when your bare thigh touches the cold seat of the booth, something Jungkook doesn’t miss. “Your skirt is mad short,” he points out, and you kick his shins. 

You’ve already got a Google Doc open on your laptop from last night when you and Jimin had been going ham on a psych essay, but you also have a Fashion Nova cart on another window that’s just begging for you to check out. 

“Short skirts are just a concept made by men with lingering eyes to demean and belittle women who don’t submit to their every want and need.” 

“Oh my god,” he groans, and you watch him muffle a laugh into his palm as he gets his own work out. “Do you think I’m gonna pull the meninist card out on you and call you a slut or something?” 

You fake gasp, eyes wide and shocked as you give him your best disappointed face. “Jeon, how could you? I expected better from you.”  

This time he does laugh, a dorky sound unlike his witch cackle from earlier, and you finally let a smile slip. Jungkook was funny, too sweet and kind hearted for his own good. A little dumb, but most cute guys were. He’s one of those guys who thinks girls are nice to him out of their own free will, and not because they’re trying to bag the campus hottie. 

“Seriously,” he says once he’s pulled his fat anatomical reference book out, stuffed to the brim with worn scientific essays he’d printed out, and pictures he’d taken at every single one of his visits to the cadaver lab. His voice is earnest and genuine when he speaks again. “You can wear whatever you want, I was just curious about the skirt ‘cause you normally wear things past the knee and elbow.” 

When he puts it like that you kinda sound surprisingly conservative. 

You shrug, tapping away at your computer as if the sight of you in anything other than what he said isn’t really weird. “Just thought I’d try something new. Why, does it look too weird?” Your voice suddenly feels meek, and you’re not sure if your cheeks are warm from the chill outside or from something else. 

Jungkook shakes his head, coconut hair bouncing from side to side. “Nah, you look cute,” he says, and then, as if an afterthought, adds, “weirdly sexy, too. Like you belong in a Brazzers video?” 

“What the fuck, Jungkook,” you groan, sinking your head into your palms. 

“What! You asked for my opinion and I gave you it,” he defends, too casual for someone spewing their unwarranted porn knowledge at you. You urge him to do his homework, drink his coffee, anything besides embarrass you further. 

He does, but you don’t miss the goofy way he glances under the table one more time. 

The pleated skirt makes it’s return three weeks later, this time accompanied by her best friend, the sheer pantyhose. 

“Oh, who’s this sexy schoolgirl?” Taehyung exclaims the moment you step into the diner. Your cheeks flush red when the family beside you send you and your friends a disapproving look. 

“That’s what I said!” Jungkook says as he gets up to let you slide into the booth. He has this incessant need to be sitting at the end of the booth just in case nature calls in the middle of dinner and he can’t usher the rest of you out fast enough. 

(It almost happened once, and the sight of Jungkook shoving Hoseok flat on his ass had been too funny to forget.) 

“Wait a minute, is that why you stopped using EOS and started using the Dove shaving cream?” Chaeyoung interrogates from across you. “So you could show off your sexy model legs?” 

“No, Dove is just cheaper,” you reply, trying to sound as aloof as possible but if anyone at this table knew you like the back of their hand, it was definitely Chaeyoung. “Why can’t you guys let me live my best life?” 

Taehyung scoffs. “Who the fuck are you?” 

“Who the fuck are you?” You snap back, but your level of sass can never seem to match his. 

“We all know your ‘best life’ would be spent in those fuzzy Cookie Monster pajama pants and one of Kook’s big ass shirts,” he points out, and you hide behind your menu much to everyone’s amusement. 

You whine, “why can’t you all just be supportive besties and tell me I look cute?” 

“You look gorgeous, babe,” Chaeyoung assures you, gesturing for you to pass her the sugar for her coffee. “It’s just weird seeing your legs out. Almost weirder than if you randomly pulled your tits out right now.” 

Behind her, you can see the same mom from the family glaring at you guys. You lower your head in shame. 

“For the record, I’m team skirt, but I wouldn’t be opposed to the other,” Jungkook adds after being silent for so long. Taehyung fist bumps him as you slap your hand over your eyes. At this rate you’d rather just put a paper bag over your head. 

“We’re sitting on the same side of the table, so you’re supposed to be on my side!” You groan, and Jungkook shrugs mid-milkshake sip. 

“I am!” He splutters once he’s gulped down the thick substance. “I just said I was team skirt, did I not?” His scandalized pout twists into the same sneaky little smile he has whenever Taehyung has convinced him and Jimin to do something stupid. “But I’m also a man, and therefore, a skirt chaser,” he winks. 

From the other side of the table Taehyung’s eyes twinkle. “Bro, your mind,” he says in awe. He reaches over to shake Jungkook’s hand as if he’s just presented the table with some riveting discovery in the medical field, and the fucker has the nerve to look smug about it too. 

“You guys are so stupid,” Chaeyoung whispers right before the server sets her pancakes down. 

“Hey, have you seen Joon’s book? He said he might’ve left it—oh, Jesus, fuck sorry,” Jungkook says before whirling around to face the wall. 

You turn from your bent over position by your bed where you’d been rummaging around for a book you coulda sworn you stuffed there last week. Jungkook’s blazing cheeks don’t register with you until you realize your favorite skirt is draping over your rear, giving him a clear view of your dorky star-printed panties. 

“Kook,” you stammer, quickly jumping to your feet and brushing your hands over your skirt. “H-How’d you get in?” You ask for lack of greeting. 

“Um, uh,” Jungkook stutters, eyes laser focused on some point on your wall. “Chaeyoung let me in.” 

“Oh,” you say, and then silence falls over the two of you. 

Holy shit this was awkward. 

Despite being friends for going on three years, you don’t ever remember there being any stale moments between you and Jungkook. You were the type of friends that just clicked, never having gone through that awkward phase before. But you’d also never seen each other in any state less than presentable. (Being drunk at parties did NOT count, and even then, you’ve always been pretty collected.) 

To know that he’s seen your ass, covered or not, tilted your Golden Friendship with Jungkook scale extremely off center. Your fingers twiddle at your sides, not really sure if you should mention what just happened or… what?

He coughs, and you snap back to reality. “Um,” he drawls, still not looking at you but at the socks you’d thrown off the second you got home. “Sorry about that,” he apologizes, voice soft and earnest in that Jungkook™ way that made all the girls swoon. “I should’ve knocked before coming in all rude.” He finally gathers the balls to look you in the eye, and the dude looks like a kicked puppy. 

“No,” you wave him off, hands fluttering in front of you because standing like some Macy’s holiday mannequin certainly isn’t making this situation any easier. “It’s okay, the skirt—y’know this wouldn’t happen if I just wore pants,” you say, tacking on a self-deprecating laugh. It’s your turn to look away in shame. 

Jungkook jumps at your words. “The skirt’s cute!” He basically shouts and you flinch at the sudden increase in his tone. Then you’re both left looking at each other wide-eyed again as he scrambles to assure you it isn’t your fault. “I like it, and it makes your legs look really nice, so don’t-“ he stutters, as if realizing the meaning in his words, “don’t stop wearing it...” he trails off, cheeks rosy. Your mind goes blank. 

“R-Really?” You stutter, surprised at his compliment. It’s not like Jungkook never complimented you—dude couldn’t go fifteen minutes without telling his friends how much he loved them—but for some reason it feels different now. 

“Yeah,” he assures you. “Makes you look nice, and um. Pretty.” 

“Jeon Jungkook telling me I look pretty? Someone call TigerBeat magazine,” you joke, trying to ease the tension somehow. Your chuckle sounds awfully robotic to your ears, but it makes Jungkook crack a smile and that’s all that matters. 

“Shut up. You know I’m not friends with ugly people.” 

“Wooow,” you laugh, real this time. “How noble of you,” you retort, and he gives you his best snobby expression possible. 

“Ya, you’re welcome,” he teases, and then suddenly remembers what he came for in the first place. “Give me Joon’s planner, I know you’re holding it hostage.” 

You roll your eyes, and point over to the notebook on your desk that’s absolutely overflowing with sticky notes and bookmarks. “As if I’d want his nerd diary ruining the good vibes in here.” 

“These good vibes smell a lot like Bath and Body Works perfumes, you cheapskate,” Jungkook says as he snatches the book off the surface. He’s at the door again, narrowing you with another faux uppity look when he adds, “this is a Victoria’s Secret Bombshell household.” 

“Bombshe—you don’t even live here!” You huff in laughter, ushering him down the hall to the front door. He’s half a foot out the door when he suddenly whirls around, making you take a step back in surprise. 

“The stars are cute, but I prefer hearts.” 

He slams the door shut behind him so fast, that you almost don’t catch the smirk tacked on at the end. 

You were many things, but a liar was not one of them. You couldn’t lie to your parents when you were younger and wanted to sneak out, to your teacher when she asked where your homework was, or to your friends when they asked you who you liked. You couldn’t even lie to yourself. 

You’ll admit it, there was a time your eyes had lingered a little longer on Jungkook. When you would spend moments tracing the slope of his jawline, and memorizing the twinkle in his eyes. He was devastatingly handsome, and you would be blind not to see it. 

But that was before you became close friends—before game nights at Hoseok’s became a regular staple in your schedule, before your little makeshift picnics in the quad, before you all became Park Jimin’s dedicated fan club (it’s a rotating unit consisting of whoever’s able to go to Jimin’s showcases). 

Those fantasies of kissing Jungkook and going on dates were stuffed to the back as you became pals. As you’ve mentioned a million times now, Jungkook was the campus dream boy. He was hardly the skirt chaser he made himself out to be, too sweet and romantic for his own good. Besides, there was no need to be when the skirts flocked to him. 

He’d had flings, and even girlfriends, in the time you’ve known him, but he rarely mentioned them to his friends. And even though you pushed that teensy crush aside, you still wondered how Jungkook acted with girls he was interested in, if it was the same he treated you and Chaeyoung, or special on an intimate level a platonic friendship could never be. 

It’s the middle of the night when you first get a glimpse. 

[1:21 am] jk wyd 

[1:21 am] you sleeping , u? 

[1:22 am] jk same anyway I finally beat world 8 in super Mario bros

[1:25 am] you omg the 1 w dry bowser?? [1:26 am] you wait u said u wouldn’t play w/o me :/

[1:27 am] jk u suck at Luigi and u know it 

[1:30 am] you fuck u  [1:31 am] you ok but seriously what do u want I have a test tmrw morning and am pretending to be asleep 

[1:32 am] jk damn ok can’t I just talk to my friend about my successes  [1:33 am] jk but if u must know 

[1:33 am] you I must 

There’s a lull in messages for a while, and you decide you should finally actually go to sleep, dabbing some spot ointment onto your skin before hopping in bed. You turned off the overhead light long ago, so the only light illuminating you now is the lamp by your bedside. You tap your phone once again right as Jungkook sends another message. 

[1:40 am] jk you looked really pretty today

Oh. Your entire body pauses for a moment to process the sudden message, cheeks slowly heating up. You roll your lips in to stop the squeal that threatens to rip itself out of your throat, scrambling for something to type. But it’s the first time he’s randomly thrown something like this on you, and your brain feels like that episode of Spongebob when everything’s on fire. 

Before you can send the jumbled letters you’d convinced yourself was acceptable, your phone vibrates with another alert. 

[1:42 am] jk I know its weird to say that but I gotta make sure someone told u at least once today 

Your heart flutters at the explanation, and you have to slap a hand over your face to get rid of the goody smile that overtakes your features. This time, you’re a little less thrown off and quickly tap out a reply before he can say anything else. 

[13:43 am] you thanks kook :) was it the red skirt lol 

You’d been experimenting with different skirts lately, quickly growing bored of the black pleated skirt you’d originally worn. Your latest trip to the mall had you coming home with a variety of colors and styles, like the dark red denim one you’d worn today. 

[1:45 am] jk no!!!! [1:45 am] jk maybe… [1:46 am] jk ok yes you looked gorgeous 

The tiny letters blink back at you, and you set your phone down for a second to smile stupidly at your dark ceiling. You only let yourself wildly kick your legs around for five seconds because Chaeyoung was asleep next door. 

[1:47 am] you haha well I’ll make sure to wear it again for u :)

It’s only after you’ve sent the message that the last two words have you stuffing your face into your pillow to hide your embarrassment. Girl, what the fuck!!!

Oh my god, he could’ve just been friendly and polite this whole time. Jimin had said the skirt looked cute on you as well, and you hadn’t responded like this. All it took was a few compliments from Jungkook to have you dopily acting like a clown for his affections.

Before you can scold yourself anymore, your phone vibrates and you have to sit up to retrieve it from where you’d tossed it across the bed. 

[1:50 am] jk for me? I’m honored :)  [1:51 am] jk anyway get some rest before ur exam!!! [1:51 am] jk night cutie

You squeal, and Chaeyoung kicks your shared wall. 

You liked to clown Seokjin for being the president of his fraternity. He was already a stereotypical frat boy, so it wasn’t that hard anyway; he came from money, was ridiculously gorgeous, and played on your school’s soccer team. However, behind that facade he liked to put up, he, too, was infected by the dumbass disease.

“Wait, are those your legs?” He says the moment you step into his frat party. Normally, he wasn’t prone to the same stupid questions that regularly plagued Taehyung and Jungkook (sometimes Namjoon, but everyone had their weak moments), so you deduce that he probably had some alcohol in his system to openly be asking you such a question. 

“Yes, now give me whatever’s in that cup,” you brush off, not bothering to stick around to watch him not-so-subtly grope Chaeyoung as she enters behind you. You trust him enough to hand you a drink that hasn’t been roofied, but you’re also aware that Jin drinks like he’s trying to die three times over. One sip has your face scrunching up at the sour bitterness of it all. 

There’s a loud cackle of a laugh that you’d recognize anywhere, and you turn to find Jungkook leaning against the staircase banister looking like a wet dream. “Someone lost on their way to Weenie Hut Jr?” he sneers, cheeks a nice rosy color. You flick his forehead. 

You don’t bother gracing him with a reply, instead shuffling over so you’re stood side by side observing the party before you. Yoongi’s here, which is an even weirder sight than your legs being out, so you wonder why no one is talking about that. But then you see the way he’s trailing after Seokjin’s cat, Jalapeño, and realize he’s only here to make sure no one hurts her (she’s more important than anyone else here). You honor his service with another sip of Jin’s whatever the fuck mix. 

“Wow, getting braver every day, huh?” Jungkook teases after giving you a very intense once over. He’s referring to the skirt you’re wearing, a little black circle skirt that flows around you like the first one you’d worn a couple months ago. Call it a tribute to the one that started it all. You’ve definitely experimented with lengths a little more, the one you’re wearing now brushing just barely below your ass. Appropriate for the frat party, but definitely not for your theology elective. 

You hum, stepping aside as a couple makes their way up the stairs. You’re tempted to go tattle on them to Seokjin, but decide against it when you feel Jungkook’s fingers brush against your thigh. 

He grins at the surprised little gasp you let out. “Pretty,” he chuckles, deep and seductive in a way you’ve never seen before. You were used to giggly Jungkook, and Jungkook who laughs like the stepmom from Cinderella, but you’d never seen this one before, the Jungkook who looked and laughed like he was straight out of a Calvin Klein campaign. 

You giggle like a teenager at his compliment, unsure of what else to do so you settle on chugging Jin’s death drink. You only get a good three gulps in before Jungkook’s tugging the plastic cup away from you and setting it down on the nearest flat surface. “Don’t get all drunk on me now,” he jokes, eyes the teensiest bit glassy. He doesn’t look drunk, and he’s certainly not acting drunk. He might be a little tipsy, you think, because a completely sober Jungkook would never have the balls to tug you closer by the waist like this one does.  

Your hands fall flat on his chest, warm beneath the material of his shirt. Not one of his super baggy ones today, but still a bit loose where it could hug his build. “What happened to the little red one? You said you’d wear it for me…” he questions, lips playfully pushing out into a pout. 

You struggle to meet his gaze, focusing on the mole beneath his lip instead. “I, um, haven’t got around to washing it,” you stutter, absentmindedly shifting your weight from side to side. 

“Really?” Jungkook presses, sounding like he doesn’t believe you at all. After a moment in which he ducks down to catch your gaze, he seems to accept. “That’s fine. This one’s cuter anyway.” 

His words are emphasized by his fingers, tracing along the edge of your skirt while purposefully making sure to graze your skin. You shiver, unconsciously arching your chest into him. It’s only afterwards that you realize when Jungkook smirks in triumph. “Easy access too,” he murmurs, and your heart leaps in your chest. 

“Jeon,” you whisper, hyper aware of all the people in this house right now. You’re standing at a point where everyone walks by, and the idea of Jungkook groping you in front of these people, some of which are friends, seems horrifying. “People can see.” 

Jungkook’s Cheshire smile grows even wider, and you muffle a yelp when his hand slips beneath your skirt to grope your ass. “Since when were you shy?” He says, voice soft and lilting over the hum of whatever music is playing now. “Weren’t shy when you had your ass in the air that one day in your room.” 

Your cheeks burn at the memory, but your core surges with a newfound heat at his wandering hands and teasing words. “Remember?” 

You nod, tucking your head against his neck in a last ditch effort to hide your embarrassment. From here, your senses are bombarded with Jungkook and only Jungkook. 

You feel him let out a long sigh. “Been thinking about you since,” he admits. “Nah, even before that. When you wore my shirt that one day after our balloon fight in the west quad.” 

Your heart thunders at his sudden confession. The balloon fight in question had been a little over a year ago, a rallying effort from your friend group to cheer Taehyung up after an exam. After soaking each other to the bone with water guns and balloons, Jungkook had let you wear one of his stupidly big shirts home. So you’d ditched your usual jeans and shirt, wearing his shirt like a dress all the way home. 

The fact Jungkook’s been thinking about you since then makes the butterflies in your stomach flutter. 

“Every time you wear these little skirts, I think of that day. You, in my clothes, looking so soft and warm. Fuck, baby, you don’t know what you do to me.” 

You glance around, and your soul almost leaves your body when you make direct eye contact with Yoongi holding Jalapeño across the room. He gives you that Yoongi look, the whatever you’re doing is weird but I won’t say anything because I don’t care look, and that’s your signal to stumble your way upstairs before Seokjin can see you two and scold you. 

You’re not sure who’s room you end up, just that it has one and a half bunk beds in it, so you don’t hesitate to push Jungkook down onto the half. He plops down like a little cherub, all sweet smiles until you see the way his pants strain at the crotch. Of fuck, this is happening, you think as you climb onto his lap. 

His lips envelope yours the second you’re in his arms. You’re not usually one to give into those John Green cliches, but everything about being in Jungkook’s embrace feels so right. Like you belong there, or whatever. 

He’s a good ass kisser, but you shouldn’t be surprised. Jungkook was good at everything he did—such was a known fact. But he still kisses you like he’s trying to prove something, like he wants you to melt into him, and he succeeds. His mouth moves against yours, tongue sneaking it’s way past your lips until it’s inside yours, and you’re swapping spit. His breath hot, but you imagine yours is as well because just making out with Jungkook has your body temperature hotter than the inside of a sauna. 

“Jungkook,” you groan when he pulls away, desperate to feel his mouth on yours again. He smiles, lips slick and cherried as he drops his hands to your waist. 

“‘M right here,” he assures you, pressing a few pecks to your mouth before trailing his lips down your neck, deliciously licking and kissing every inch. You let out a choked moan, and you can feel his smile press against your skin. “Cute,” he croons. 

“More,” you beg, fingers curling themselves into his hair. It’s gonna way longer these last few months, the front pieces almost brushing the tip of his nose. He looks sexy as fuck. 

“At least let me stretch you out first,” he teases, face too cute for someone about to fuck your brains out. You huff in annoyance, snatching his hand away from its path to your panties. 

“No,” you whine, and then shuffle forward to grind your center onto him. Jungkook groans, jaw tight as he watches you. “Just fuck me, Jungkook.” 

His eyes roll back at a particular roll of your hips. “I-It’ll hurt, though,” he tries to reason, but his hands are already hiking up the back of your skirt. 

“Make it hurt,” you mumble, so caught up in the moment that your eyes bulge out when he suddenly lifts you to your feet. “What’s wrong?” You huff in dismay, lower lip trembling at the thought of him changing his mind. He lets out an airy chuckle. 

“Turn around for me, doll,” he softly demands, and not a single inch of you feels the need to go against him. 

You’re met with the sight of your own expression, staring back at you from the closet’s mirrored sliding doors. It’s a little dark in the room, most of the light coming from a desk lamp on the other side of the room that had been on when you first broke in with Jungkook. 

“So pretty,” Jungkook praises from behind you, and you watch in the glass as two firm hands snake around your waist, slowly easing you back into his lap. In the seconds you were distracted by yourself, he’d unbuckled the front of his jeans, the cotton fabric of his boxers brushing against your ass. “Gonna fuck yourself on my cock, baby?” 

You nod, unsure of what to do with your hands. You needn’t worry any longer, your body naturally guiding you through the motions, until one hand grabs his thigh and the other grapples for the bedside drawer next to you. His fingers trace around your waist, hiking your skirt up to—only to reveal a pair of white undies with red hearts. Jungkook’s chuckle against your ear makes you clench your legs together. “Fuck, it’s like you knew this would happen,” he murmurs, and you can’t take your eyes off the mirror as you watch his fingers trace over your covered mound. “Did you?” He asks, breath fanning over your ear. 

“N-no,” you gasp, hips jumping when he presses a lone finger to where your clit would be had your girly panties not obstructed the way. You’re embarrassingly wet just from kissing Jungkook, and his playful fingers only worsen your state. “Please hurry, Kook,” you plead, grinding back against his engorged cock. 

“You sure?” He checks, and your bobble head nods have him muffling more laughter into your shoulder. “If you say so, baby.” 

He lifts you up just the slightest bit to tug his cock out of its confines, and this is the only instance where you wish you weren’t looking at the mirror. His fingers dance along your skin again, tugging your panties to the side. 

Screw it, just do it, you say to yourself before sinking down on his cock in one go. “Oh fuck,” you cry, head lolling back to rest against his shoulder at the sudden intrusion. 

“Holy shit,” he sighs into your hair, one hand circling to the front of your waist, while the other creeps upwards to rub at where he knows your nipple is. If he were to pull your shirt and bra away, he’d see how rock hard your nipples were right now. “Relax for me, doll, I promise it’ll feel better if you relax.” 

You nod, eyes squeezed shut as your body slowly assimilated to the feeling of being stuffed full. God, he felt good inside you. Fit every crevice of you pussy like he was made for you. “Jungkook,” you moan, and he hums in response. “You feel so f-fuckin good,” you babble, swiveling your hips much to both your pleasures. “Can feel you everywhere.” 

He presses a kiss to your scalp. “Can you move for me, baby?” He questions, dropping his hands to your waist before slowly pushing you up so you’re not flopped against him like a rag doll. “Wanna see you bounce on my cock. You can do that for me, can’t you?” 

You nod eagerly, desperate to show Jungkook how good you ride dick. You muster up the strength to sit up, one hand right around his thigh again, but this time the other one clamps down over his hand on your waist. “Good girl,” Jungkook praises, giving your hips a tight squeeze. 

It’s like you thrive off Jungkook’s compliments, because soon enough you’re riding him like your life depends on it. 

It’s a rhythm of pushing yourself over and over, thighs tense from the effort it takes to pull yourself away from his cock until only his tip breaches you, before dropping back down. You can’t entirely take the credit, because Jungkook’s arms are there, lifting you up before pushing you back down. Truthfully, he’s probably still doing most of the work in fucking you with the way you see his arms flexing in the mirror. 

“Lemme hear you, doll,” Jungkook huffs, and you don’t hesitate to moan for him. It feels overwhelmingly good, his hands tight on your waist as they move you up and down, the material of your skirt bunched up between his fingers. What you’d give to feel them inside you some day, a day in which you’re not dying to feel his cock inside of you. “That’s it,” he grunts, and doesn’t even complain when your legs begin slowing down. 

He picks up the slack for you, thrusting his hips up into you like you’re just some toy for him to use and discard. But the soft praises slipping past his lips assure you you are anything but. “F-fuck,” you whine, forcing yourself above and beyond as you begin to feel that familiar coil of heat grow tighter in your abdomen. “Your cock’s s-so f-fucking big!” You cry, and one look at the mirror let’s you know you look as stupid and fucked-out as you sound. 

“Really?” Jungkook smirks, drilling into you like his life depends on it. There’s an embarrassingly growing stain on the front of your panties that you catch sight of in the mirror, and part of you wants to clench your legs shut so he doesn’t see. But it seems to do it for Jungkook, and he starts rambling about that next. “Look at you. Fuck. You’re ruining your cute little panties. Absolutely fucking soaking them with hot wet you are. I get you that wet, doll?” 

You squeal at a particular thrust of his hips, feeling his cock so deep in you that your eyes momentarily go cross eyed. “Yes, yes!” You agree, bouncing yourself with a renewed vigor. 

The answers please Jungkook, and he rolls forward until he’s pressing his tip faintly against your cervix, and your body damn near leaves your soul. “O-oh fuck!” You scream, body turning into jelly as your orgasm has you spurting hot cum into your panties and over his cock. 

“Pretty even when you come,” Jungkook huffs, hips rocking up into yours for a few more minutes until he eventually comes when you roll your hips backwards. “Holy fucking shit,” he moans, finally releasing your skirt from the death grip he had on it. 

You watch it flutter back into place around you, and you almost look like two platonic friends sitting together, but then Jungkook shifts inside you and your body convulses from the oversensitivity. 

“Wait, you and Jeon finally fucked?!” Chaeyoung exclaims halfway through breakfast, which she had so lovingly prepared at three in the afternoon. “When? Is that why you made us get waxed last week?” 

“No!” You flush, shoving another forkful of burnt scrambled eggs into your mouth. “We waxed our coochies before that, but I didn’t know we were gonna fuck.” 

Chaeyoung blinks. She’s stupid pretty even with avacado spread on her cheek. “So do you have like a seventh sense on when to get your kitty trimmed?” 

“What? No,” You scoff. “Seventh? What’s my sixth?”

“Knowing the exact moment Taehyung’s gonna throw up at a party.”

You accept. “Anyway, we just… I don’t know. It was at Seokjin’s third birthday bash last weekend.” She nods like she remembers anything besides sucking face with him all night. “We were talking and then suddenly we were upstairs and...” you trail off, glancing at your fake collection of succulents lining the kitchen window. 

“Was he good?” She interrogates. 

You flop back onto your chair dramatically. “Chae. He was so good,” you whine, and she slaps your arm in enthusiasm. “He made me ride him facing a mirror,” you spill. 

Chaeyoung squeals. “Bitch!! Here I was thinking Jeon Jungkook was the poster boy of vanilla sex,” she pauses. “I mean, still pretty vanilla compared to the time Seokjin stuck it in my—“ 

You gag and she rolls her eyes. “Have you been talking since?” 

This is the part where things get awkward, and Chaeyoung immediately senses as much. “Oh, honey,” she frowns, eyes furrowed in worry. 

“He walked me home,” you mumble, toying with the tablecloth ends. “Kissed me on the doorstep and all, but besides a few texts, I haven’t seen him around,” you lamely finish. It’s been a week. 

“Ugh, men are trash,” she spits, turning in her seat to play with your hair. “I swear if I see him on campus I’ll rock his shit. My older brother used to practice WWE moves on me, I could easily smash him through a table.”

“WWE wrestling is staged, Chae,” you point out. Chaeyoung was about ten thousand times more experienced when it came to men and their behaviors. She’s been played but also has played, so her reaction to you telling her about Jungkook is all you need to hear. 

In all the scenarios you’ve ever had about Jungkook, him randomly ghosting you had never even been a possibility. The Jungkook from your imaginary universes either just dumped you, or awkwardly friendzoned you. But completely disappearing on you? Now that was some John Greene shit. 

You’ve gone long periods of time without seeing him, like your freshman year you saw him one time in March. But even then he’d made sure to keep in contact with you, randomly blowing up your phone with Cup Pong and 8Ball requests. 

He sent you two texts this whole week, and both of them had been to cancel your homework sessions. 

You almost couldn’t believe you were living this life. The men are trash, love isn’t real, heartbreak can possibly cause death life. Forget John Green, your life had taken an unexpected Shakespearean turn. 

“Oh,” you say the moment you step into Taehyung and Jungkook’s apartment, surprised at the fact Jungkook is there despite the fact he, y’know, lives there. In retrospect, you should have seen this coming when Tae had asked you over to help him decorate a poster for Jin’s next game. He’s never been to a single soccer match in his life. “Is Tae here?” You ask, looking every part the stupid bitch. 

Jungkook’s cheeks had flushed the moment he opened the door. “No…” he answers, glances at the shoe rack behind the door as if to make sure. “Were you supposed to meet him?” Well no shit. 

“Uhh, yeah,” you say, and it’s even more awkward than the time he saw your star undies. Granted, now he’s become very familiar with your underwear and what’s hidden beneath it. You would think such an encounter would bring you two closer. “I’ll just come back another time.” 

“Do you wanna come in?” He blurts out before you can even turn away. You flinch at the sudden intensity of his voice, and then both of you are left staring at each other like cringey high schoolers. “I cut some cucumber slices with lime and that one spice you like.” 

“Taíjn?” You confirm, and he nods. “I mean...sure, if it’s not a bother.” 

Usually when you and Jungkook hung out at his place, you’d throw your bag across the room and flop onto the ugly armchair the moment you stepped in. Now, you’re awkwardly hovering by the armrest of the sofa, like this is your first time here. 

Jungkook disappears into the kitchen to, you assume, get the cucumber slices. He comes back empty handed, and with a heavy heart. “I lied. There’s no Tajín,” he confesses, and you rush to tell him it’s okay but he beats you to it. “There’s no cucumber slices either. I just needed to get you inside to talk to you.” 

“You act like I needed to be lured in, Jungkook,” you say, forcing a tight smile on your face. Jungkook visibly deflates at your tone. 

“No, this isn’t right,” he huffs, dramatically throwing himself onto the couch. You jump at the loud groan he releases from his position, which is face stuffed into the cushion. 

“You...okay?” You tentatively ask, clutching your bag even closer to your side. Jungkook shakes his head no against the couch. “Should I call Namjoon over?” 

He sits up so fast you worry he’ll get whiplash. “I have a confession to make,” he informs you, doe eyes wide and serious. 

Your brain processes for a minute before slowly responding. “Okay…”

At your response he jumps to his feet. “This may come as a shock, but I’m not a womanizer.” 

You blink. 

“When have you ever been a womanizer, Jeon?!” You nearly exclaim when you mull over his absurd proclamation. “Are there people who actually think that?” 

“I think that people think that,” he stresses to you, running a hand through his hair. “Look. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m really nice and cool, and sometimes people think that means I’m flirting with them.” Valid point. “But I’m not, because frankly I’m terrible at shooting my shot.”

The fact he’s actually admitted it out loud leaves him devastated, and you have to stop yourself from rolling your eyes. Finally, something Jeon Jungkook isn’t good at. 

“What lead you to that conclusion?” You carefully press on. 

“Because,” he sighs, dropping back down onto the couch, except this time he’s sitting like a normal person. You sit beside him, close enough to the edge that you can just spring yourself out the door if need be. 

“There’s this girl I like,” your heart pangs, even though the logical side of you can more or less guess where this is going. You’re stupid, but not that stupid. “She’s amazing, like everything about her makes me like her. God, she’s so cool, like everyone wants to be her friend, even though she sucks at Super Smash Bros., and burns her ear on a straightener at least once a month. But she’s funny and sweet, and makes me wanna join a clown troupe just to hear her laugh. And she looks gorgeous in skirts, and the way she rides dic—“ 

“Alright, that’s enough of that,” you interrupt, glancing at the coffee table decorated with Jungkook’s anatomy books, because you don’t want to look at the big dopey grin on his face as he talks about you and your dick riding abilities. 

Jungkook grins, this much you can tell from your peripheral, before it drops into a frown. “Whole point is, she’s cool as fuck. And I… I think I might love her,” he admits, and you whip around to face him. His cheeks are as red as Taehyung’s current hair dye, which is to say they’re as red as a fire truck. You get th feeling you're mirroring his expression. 

The silence following his confession seems to drag on an eternity, but truthfully, you and Jungkook both have the patience of a soccer mom of three, so he jumps to fill the spaces between you. “And like, I just wanna kiss her and hold her and watch her eat and cuddle her to sleep and hold her hand and buy her gifts, and I think I would die for her?—”

“Okay chill, Romeo,” you scramble to cut off that train of thought. Jungkook’s looking at you like you were the creative director behind Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and the trailer released two minutes ago. It’s a weird reference but coming from Jungkook, it means a lot. 

You don’t know what to say, but Jungkook beats you to it anyway. “There’s this girl I like,” he repeats, and your heart does nearly implode on itself when he reaches over to clutch your hand in his. Your hands are sweaty and fidgety from his confession, but so are Jungkook’s. “How do I tell her I like her?” 

You gulp, before reaching over to smack at his bicep much to both your surprise. “Jeon Jungkook! How’re you gonna give me the best fucking of my life and then ghost me for a week, because you’re too much of a pussy to tell me you like me!” You almost want to cry, and you almost do when he wraps you in his arms with a delighted, warm laugh rumbling through his whole body. “You suck,” you huff, and sniffle once, and only once. 

“Thank fuck,” he sighs in relief. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you friendzoned me.” 

“The friendzone—“

“—is a made up concept created by men who feel like they’re entitled to women and their feelings, I know,” he huffs and you laugh. You push yourself away from his chest to meet his gaze, stretching up to capture his lips in a sweet kiss that quickly turns naughty when you feel the flex of muscles beneath your hands. 

“Ugh, you beefcake.” 

“I wish,” he snorts, tugging you back into his chest as he flops down onto the couch. You snuggle into him, the position all too comfortable in your skirt. The only reason you’re reminded of it is because Jungkook traces his fingers along the edge of the material. “You asked me why I workout out but hide in big clothes, and the truth is its so I can beat up any meninist douchebag that tries to slander my girl in her thot skirts.” 

You sputter. “My thot skirts—you asshole! All my skirts are of appropriate length,” you defend, pinching his side and winning a giggle for your efforts. “That doesn’t even explain the baggy clothes part either.” 

“Shh, your thot skirt is tempting me.” 

“He made you dress up as a what now?!” Chaeyoung exclaims, fork clattering loudly against her plate as everyone in the diner turns to look at you two. You try desperately to quiet her, but the damage is done and even the server whose long since become familiar with your antics looks disgusted. 

“Oh my god,” Chaeyoung sighs, her concern on everything but this public humiliation. “I knew it. I told you he got along too well with Jalapeño, remember?” 

[ NOW WITH A DRABBLE WOW!!! ]

[maybe-your-left]

you know what i want from you....

double wide & a teddy.... that’s all i’ve been wanted... taste this and tell me it isn’t salmon

FIRST OF ALL how dare you. 

second, yes DOUBLE WIDE CANOE. 

WHO'S READY FOR SOME CLYDE X KYLO BESTIES? 

“Darlin’,” Clyde called from the garage, “Have y’ seen my fishin’ pole? Ren n I are goin’ out tomorrow. I need t’ have this all done before he comes by n’ messes with my system.” 

You shook your head, finishing up a batch of fudge brownies. Carefully packing them for the kids to take some to school, and the rest would be stuffed in Clyde’s ‘food’ cooler for tomorrow. You had also made a helping of lunch options for both boys, since Clyde only eats bologna sandwiches when fishing... or whenever he can. However, Kylo is not a bologna man. 

He nearly fainted when he ate it accidentally when Clyde abused him at his work, apparently he took Clyde’s ‘lunch briefcase’ by accident. Don’t ask for details, Kylo was very upset. 

So, you improvised with other foods you knew he had come to like with being around your family. Stuffing the cooler to the brim with beer, Irish whiskey, and plenty of snacks for your Big Bear. 

And his angry sidekick. 

Clyde slid into bed early, kissing behind your ear as he whispered how much he loved you. Wrapping a heavy paw around your waist as the two of you drifted off to sleep. You were torn from a lovely dream about being childless and running around in a field by your husband jumping out of bed. Mumbling to himself, quietly shouting to himself, where he left his things. This was followed by a second set of long legs joining you in your bedroom. 

Hands set on either side of your head, “Am I going to have to eat bologna on this deathtrap?” 

“Kylo?” you mumbled, squinting up into the dark. Only to be met with long hair brushing your face and an angry snarl on your second favorite person's lips. 

“No-no,” you yawned, rolling away from him to cuddle into Clyde’s pillow, “I made you some other stuff-it’s just packed away.” 

A grunt, “Thank you,” followed by an aggressive kiss to the forehead before Kylo stomped away. Clyde sat down next to you, holding your cheek in his palm, stroking it with his thumb, “Can you please be careful? I don’t want to fish you out of a river later today.” 

------ 

“Clyde this boat isn’t big enough for both of us.” 

“Sure it is!” 

Kylo glared at him, they had driven for an hour since leaving the Logans and now Clyde was packing up this sorry excuse of a boat for them to ‘fish along the riverside’. 

“Is one of them, double-wide canoes.” 

Kylo held his face in his hands, considering for a moment how easy it would be to get away with murder. He watched enough True Crime, he could do it, just needed to have an alibi so after he drowns Clyde he could go back and swoop you away from the hell that is having 6 children. 

“Let’s go, buddy!” Clyde threw a pole at Kylo, “We only have enough snacks t’ last us about four hours.” 

“And then what?” 

Clyde looked at Kylo with a somber look, “Then it’s survival of the fittest my friend.” 

------

All the girls were sprawled out in the living room, watching some random movie they found on Netflix. Junior was bouncing away in his little chair, babbling nonsense to his sisters. You peaked in for a little, wondering when Clyde and Kylo would be back... 

“Dad just texted me, apparently Clyde dropped his phone in the river,” Violent mumbled to the group. A collective groan sounded, Chloe piped up as she stared at Violent, “Did your dad try and kill him?” 

Violent snorted, “He wouldn’t have to try.” 

“Okay girls,” you needed to stop that before it got out of hand. Violent was nice to only one of your daughters and that was Laramie. She merely tolerated the others because of her best friend, and honestly, she's made even you cry before. 

“They’re here,” Lilly and Lola spoke from the window. 

“Oh thank god,” you muttered, pushing past them to look for yourself. It looked okay, no one was missing, Clyde was muddy and still in his waders, Kylo looked like he was dunked in the river. Both of them unloaded in the garage, bursting in one by one. Clyde greeted you first, “Darlin’ you won’ believe it!” 

“Clyde.” 

“This guy can’t fuckin’ swim!” 

“Clyde!” 

“We were out on the water, jus’ in the canoe-” 

“It's not a canoe.” 

“An I see a huge fish,” Clyde spread his arms wide, “So I shoot it, wasn’ gonna try and catch it normal. And it flopped up right by him, and he fell in!” 

“Kylo,” you questioned, “Is that-” 

He held up his palm, “Clyde I’m going to roll around in your bed. Since you love mud and fish guts so much, you’ll feel right at home when you fall asleep tonight.” 

------

TAGGING: @finn-ray-nal-beads @onlykyloscenes @candycanes19 @historyandfandoms50 @caelum-phyriina-vermillon @ghoulian13 @mrs-kylo-ren @millenialcatlady @emeraldsiren20 @relationshipwithmybed @dancingmicrobes @wayward-rose  @contesa-lui-alucard @daydreamsofren @insufferablelust @ohdamnadamm @mariesackler @caillea @safarigirlsp @jalexunderthestars @shesakillerkween @glassythoughts @zimmermansbrat @not-the-teen-witch @jynzandtonic @roanniom

[yamithediaperdork]

Crime and Punishment: Jail Bird Diaries (MHA)

Crime and Punishment: Jail bird diaries

*The following is the entries from a diary recovered from the cell of one Katsuki Bakugo after serving his time in the regression jail. certain entry's have been removed as the writing was unable to be made out.*

Week 2, Day 1

So after a fucking week in this stupid fucking hell hole they dare to call a good idea, It's been suggested to me by the stupid AI I have to refer as daddy that I might calm myself down and stop adding time to my stupid fucking sentence if I vent in this stupid fucking book. I pointed out I can barley hold this stupid fucking crayon with the mittens i have to wear but a hand just came out of the wall and patted my head, telling me I'm a clever boy and I'll figure it out. I would of added anther two months onto my sentence right then and there if it wasn't for these fucking glove, even if Maybe kinda sorta..the head pat felt nice. ANYWAYS! to any assholes reading this, expect lots of fucking cursing because daddy said I can swear all i want in here and I have a back flow I need to get out. I mean with all the stupid fucking bull shit I have to put up wi- And fuck me, shitting myself again. fuck this place sucks.

Week 2, Day 2

You just know it's gonna be a shit fucking day Diary when you wake up to the feeling of having a uber load in the seat of your pants patted and rubbed and being praised for being a super good pooper. I'm already not a fan of the super bulky diapers these bastard keep me in but 'daddy' has apparently registered me as a super pooper and states anything thing less wouldn't hold up to my boom booms. refer to my statement about earning more time in here from the last entry for my feelings on THAT! I had figured with the massive bulk of these things at least I wouldn't have to worry about any cutesy outfits save for some t-shirt but since apparently I pissed off god, guess fucking what? No really, Guess. If you guessed they went and adjusted some of the sleepers that all the other big babies in here sleep in to fit over my massive diaper ass then ding ding ding! winner winner chicken dinner. Picture me, a man known as a murder god..and in a blue full body fuzzy care bear style with a white tummy and 'har har' the grumpy bear symbol on the belly. Fucking thing even has a hood! I swear if it wasn't for the fact the thing was soooo soft and kinda comfy, I would of found a way to rip it off. and I don't care WHAT daddy claims, I only dropped right off to sleep in it because he drugged my milk, not because I felt warm and safe. Fuck this place!! I never thought I'd be semi ok with the stupid paw patrol t-shirt and my giga diapers on display.. anyways wrapping this up, apparently I'm having more fucking visitors today. fucking yay..

Week 2, Day 3

Oh my fucking god. yesterday would just NOT fucking stop. apparently it was some sort of official visitors day or some bull shit like that. 4 fucking visitors and three of them not fucking Deku who's trying to make it a point to show up every day as support. first up was mister shock and awe himself Denki. He just couldn't get that stupid grin off his face and kept gushing about how cute I was and how much he wished he could of came in and given me butt pats. I was about ready to snarl that he couldn't when a couple of daddies arms came and took a firm hold on me to keep me from bolting and then the cell door opened up. "Come on in! Katsuki can use all the butt pats he can get. I know he'll act like he hates them but all little guys like him love them." Daddy said. Like, WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK! So in from that stupid blond and the door shuts and daddy tells me to turn around and present my rump for pats. Like I was gonna fucking listen to THAT and turned around to tell the speaker box his voice comes from as much and well.. Ok You see my mistake? I swear I was turning to tell daddy off but according to him and Denki I turned around like a good little boy eager for my bum pats and before I could get a god damn word out that's what was happening. talk about major fucking blushing going on and gah, not proud to say this but without a second thought i spread my legs a little so that he could get a better pat going on and it MIGHTA of sorta felt nice for all of 0.0000001 seconds! Daddy and Denki are lying sacks of shit when they say i coo'ed! Basically spent the rest of Denki's visit after that over his lap, getting butt pats and back rubs and being told just how cute I am and how much he prefers me like this. if it wasn't for the fact punching a visitor would of netted me a extra year I woulda slugged him. that the only reason i went along with it..

after a hour he left and Daddy was praising me for being a super good boy and rewarded me with chocolate milk in a bottle instead of the normal formula and put some power rangers instead of paw patrol on TV.  I mighta zoned out holding my bottle with both hands cuz of the mittens and chugging and watching that I didn't notice my next guest till I heard the giggle. whipping my head around and giving me one hell of a neck ache thats still kinda here, I saw what looked like a school girls outfit standing up on it's own and knew it was Tooru. "oh my gosh don't stop because of me! that was sooo cute! I wish they hadn't of taken away my cell phone i would of taken the cutest video!" she gushed and clapped. I held up both hands and because of the mittens she thought I was showing I wanted uppies but I think you know what i was really doing Diary. Of course daddy let her in too and she kept giving me heads and patting my head and asking daddy all sorts of questions about my treatment and like.. ugh. I felt like a toddler getting hugs and attention but ignored while the adults talked. she tugged me onto her lap and kept rocking me and tickling my tummy and it took me awhile to figure out what she was trying to do, she was trying to make me crap myself during her visiting time! well she left half disappointed because even though i was cramping, all i did was wet my diapers so I'll count it as a win. ...that said about 10 seconds after she left I was squatting and totally loading these stupid diapers to the brim.

Thankfully for what tiny bit of pride I've managed to hold onto, while my diaper change took what fucking seemed like forever, I was re-diapered and daddy was in the process of tossing the stinky one when my next guest arrive. because I'm Mr. fucking popular. It was Deku of course and because he's been here so often he's got a special pass that just lets him come in. He was in the middle of saying hi when his nose wrinkled and then he covered it and coughed a little . "oh, somebody just had a diapie change I uh..smell." he said sheepishly. "Oh yeah, little guy is living up to his label as a super pooper." Daddy said. "oh my god freaking stop calling me that!" I whined and uh..Maybe didn't help with trying to give off a big boy image because I was still on the changing table and grabbed a stuffed bear and put it over my face. "oh my gosh, CUTE!" Deku squealed and daddy was laughing. Like..fuck. it's bad enough when the shit they're making me do gets that reaction..then i fucking set myself up for it. getting off of the changing Table me and Deku did our normal catch up and I once again begged him to try and get the other kids in 1-a to stop coming here, telling him about Denki and Tooru. the green haired bastard just told me everyone missed me and wanted to make sure I was doing ok and not to be such a grumpy Gus. I swear I almost took the extra year right then and there. Instead I switched the convo to talking about what was going on at school and what I had missed and yeah.. it was kinda nice catching up a little bit. I hadn't dared asked till now worried it might just trigger a fit that was going to add time on you know? and Deku was nice, not rubbing it in or at least trying not to that they were going on bigger and more exciting field trips and shadowing full on heroes this week. I think it helped that while we talked I started to color in one of the coloring books Daddy provided and Deku joined in, though his picture was colored in a lot better then mine cuz well he has full use of his hands. As his time ran out and it was time for him to go, Deku made me blush like crazy when he asked if he could have the picture I colored to hang up on his wall and asked if I'd color more pretty pictures for him. being at a lost of words, I just nodded my head.

After Deku left daddy said it was time for a quick lunch and then a nap, I was clearly worn out and had one more person to go. I just sighed and went along with it because it's not like I would of really had a say in it anyways. again apparently my behavior for the day was having a effect on my dining choice because while I was put in the same high chair I normally was, instead of yucky baby food I got some cut up chicken nuggets and fries. I wonder how good I'll have to be to score a medium rare steak? anyways, after lunch and a burping I was put down for a nap and woke up to the sound of the door to my nursery prison. I was still groggy and stuff so when I rolled over and looked up to see the face of my mother, i just thought I was dreaming for a second and gave a tiny giggle and ugghhh.. say "hi Mommy." it wasn't till she broke out laughing I realized she was really there. She was..very amused to say the least and told me she had canceled the cruise she was on and flew back home as soon as she could when she'd found out the news. she mentioned that she had been made aware that there WAS a option to give me a form of parole in that I could go and move back in with her for the term of my sentence and she could let me get away with just pull ups and she had been thinking about exercising it..Until she fucking saw me in here and saw how 'natural' I looked like a big baby! I'm...I'm not proud to say I mighta of broken down bawling and begging her to let me come home with her, and ugh.. as I got more hysterical I ended up promising to be the bestest little boy ever. Mom just hushed me and picked me out of the crib I'd been in and hugged me to her chest, patting my squishy bottom (Hey, all the milk i had before going night night, you'd of wet yourself too!) I realize i never covered this before but i had been put down for my nap in just my diapers so there's THAT fun mental picture of me in my booties and mitts and soggy huggies and Mom cuddling me and trying to calm me down. I was bawling and hiccuping when she popped a paci in my mouth and sat down on a rocking chair that daddy provided and with me curled up in her lap rocked back and forth talking about how I had just proven this place was doing wonders for me and then started to ask daddy questions about where to get supplies. curled up close to mommy and hearing her heartbeat.. I..Fell back asleep.

Thankfully no ones coming today, not even Deku since he's busy..I just don't know if I could handle it after yesterday. and yeah, the rest of the day after I fell asleep in mom's lap was just a blur. fuck.. I need to get out of here.

Week 2, Day 6

Know I ignored you for a bit there kinda Diary, I went to write in you but just came out all mixed up and crossed it out. I've mostly docile since Mom's visit and uh..kinda sorta.. I dunno. Kinda wish Deku would come by. I know he's got that big shadowing All might thing going on but..Fuck. I dunno. Daddy keeps going on about me almost hitting a critical point in the program and I don't know about that..I just..I almost wish mom HADN'T of told me about how i could of been at home you know? I was struggling with this before finding that out. I'm spending the day in my sleeper t'day, I just wanna feel all..I don't fucking know.. small and safe? and that helps with it and daddy was more then understanding when I asked to. It just has to come off when I'm eating and stuff and well, semi gone back to the baby food but still getting milk milk. and the baby food is a yummy flavor at least. I dunno Diary, I think thats it for today. Katsuki out.

Week 3, Day 5

Man, looking back on the past couple of entries I did between here and last week and even I can't make out what the heck I wrote. guess a semi recap is in order. Midoriya ended up visiting me during supper on day six of last week and asked if I had any more pretty pictures for him. I hadn't thought I'd actually done any but I guess in the semi daze I'd been in I had and daddy brought them out for him. I told him about mommy visiting and he was really sympathetic and agrees that she shouldn't of told me about the possible parole if I wasn't gonna get it, He had known but well.. knowing my mom like he does had already figured out what she'd picked. He just didn't wanna get my hopes up. Daddy let him take over feeding me and I dunno..it was kinda nice and stuff. we watched a bit of TV after till I started farting lots and Midoriya tactfully left before I ended up going poopies in front of him saying he knew I was in a fragile place and promised to visit the next day. Day 7 was basically the normal same old same old, got out of my sleeper, breakfast and a diaper change then playing with my toys and watching tv till Midoriya showed up. He joined in on a awesome game of Teddies VS Building blocks and I was uh.. kinda giggling like a real little guy and sooo relaxed that I didn't notice something till he brought it up, wrinkling his nose. "Katsuki, did you go poo poo?" He asked. Well, of course I said no because I hadn't felt myself go but then I got a whiff of myself and god, that was sooo embarrassing!! Midoriya ended his visit early as he knows I hate being watched during a change, but told me how much of a good boy I was and that made me blush and smile. After he left and I was all nice and clean from the poopie diaper daddy didn't dress me though, it was time for a bath and a section of the wall opened up and I was led to a fair sized tub and allowed to get in myself. Daddy got me all washed up as the tub filled up and even trusted me without my booties and mittens, though with the wall having sealed up behind me there wasn't really anywhere I could run to. with me all squeaky clean he let me play in the tub for a while as there were some toy boats and a few sea monsters and it was wayyy more relaxing then the quick showers I'm used to. finally when i was all pruney daddy drained the tub and dried me off with a nice fluffy towel and got me redressed though I was mayyybe a little more relaxed then I thought from the tub cuz I took my nap early, and ended up missing a visit from Ojiro. (Daddy said the only reason he'd interrupted my other nap was cuz well, Mom is my real mom.) Is it weird I felt bad he came ALL the way here to see me and couldn't because I was a sleepy little guy? I dunno. Man.. this place is getting to me ya know? basically lather rinse repeat for the next couple of days, being fed, playing with toys, watching cartoons, and filling my diapers. getting to see Midoriya and hand out and yeahh. Yesterday Ojiro tried again and this time I was awake and heh.. he was really nice about it and told me he forgave me already when i whined out a sorry for being asleep the last time. in his own words he really should of called ahead since little guys like me are prone to impromptu naps. After that we played blocks for a little while and he just kept smiling so much and squirming about till daddy asked if he needed to use the potty. Ojiro blushed uber bad which in turn made me giggle like crazy and said no, but took off shortly after. I wonder what was up with him? I tried to ask daddy but he just patted my head and told me to color a picture for Midoriya, so I guess I'll ask him when he comes over today.

Week 3 Day 7

Midoriya just laughed when i asked him my question  and still won't answer it, even after i threatened NOT to make him any more pretty pictures. Daddy and him both found my threat to be funny and cute though so I guess that's good. Denki came to see me again and was all about patting my butt again and playing peek a boo with me.. which Ok. was fun for like a little bit buttt he reallly carried it on for too long but when i said I was getting bored we swapped over to playing with stuffies till his time was up. Well ok, I played with them and told him what was going on and he just smiled and told me how creative I was and made me grin like a dork. I asked HIM about Ojiro's odd behavior before he left and he got a BIG grin on his face and said he'd be back for more details and then daddy scolded me about not sticking in other peoples affairs. I'm so confused. The next day Midoriya was here and something reallly 'brassing happened.. I had gone boom boom once again and He was going to leave..but daddy asked him if he wanted to help change me!!! I don't know who was blushing more, me or him! In any case, after Midoriya helped cleaned my butt up and daddy re-diapered me, He took off all squirmy and blushing and daddy joked about me having a effect on all the boys.. whatever THAT'S suppose to mean. Mommy is coming by later today and I hope I don't spend her whole visit sobbing again like a crybaby.. though daddy said it's ok if I do cuz it's a big part of my rehab.

Week 4 Day 1

Sooo..who's got two thumbs and ended up crying himself to a early bedtime in mommies arms yesterday? THIS guy. she came in as I was having supper and technically it was too late for her to be there but they made a exception. I was already kinda.. whinny.. when it looked like she wasn't going to show but then daddy said she could only be there for half a hour. Mommy explained that she got stuck waiting on a delivery of things she's going to need for me in the future and took over feeding me the rest of my supper while I whined and huffed that I had waited allll day on her. It wasn't till after she had given me my ba-ba in her lap and burped me I thought to ask what she had ordered. She just smiled and told me not to worry about it and to be a good little boy and kissed my forehead and I.. I totally fudged my huggies, in mommies lap. Cue meltdown and I don't even really know why..it's not like I haven't been pooping my pants for awhile now right? I don't know whether it was because I was being held, or who was holding me, or just her reaction as i did it that got to me. "Oh! Somebodies making mommy a present!" with utter delight in her voice and patting my bottom as i kept filling my pampers to the brim. I just..I just started to bawl and sob and buried my face in her shoulder and no matter how much Mommy and daddy told me it was all ok, I couldn't stop. I don't even remember going to sleep or getting a diapie change..I just woke up this morning in my crib in a soggy diaper (Yeah I've become a bed wetter, so what!) and yeahhh.. Daddy says he'll tell me who changed me, him or her when he thinks I can hear it without bawling.

Week 5 Day 5

After holding up for journal for daddy to read, he told me I need to start taking time to calm down and focus before writing, my last couple of entries were all scribbles again. he told it was very cute and brave of me to wanna share it with him though and gave me lots of awesome head pats. I guess since i didn't make sense when i originally gushed about it, i should go back over it. Just shortly after the thing with pooping my pampers in mommies lap, i just started to really like head pats and daddy took notice and has been showering me with them. just makes me all giddy and I've started to lean into them. Midoriya noticed the love of 'em took and started to give'em out! Jirou came by with Asui and it was while I was watching some Micky mouse club house and singing along. I had just went "OH TOODLES!" and heard giggles and clapping and well blushed a bit..but daddies been trying to help me embrace what a little guy I am so I forced a smile then blew a raspberry at them. told'em if they wanted to come in and visit they could, but they had to join in and help Micky out. they giggled but agreed and well for a couple of stinky girls they weren't half bad to hang out with.

They weren't as fun to hang out as Mommy when she came and visited, though I said sorry a BUNCH of times for my fit she just gave me head and butt pats and told me it was all ok. She's been twice since the stinky break down and I've managed NOT to bawl both times for the most part. I mean..i get a little teary when she has to go buttt i get it. wish she could visit more but between work and setting my room up she's been a busy bee. I asked about why she'd hafa set my room up since I always figured after this I'll be going right back to school but she just chuckled and took out the action figures she'd brought from home for me and her to play hero's and villains with. (I mean, don't get me wrong, LOVE the stuffies I have in here, and Midoriya, Denki, Kouda and Tenya have gotten me others..but action figures are sooo much easier to have do cool stuff.) Oh guess i forgot to mention a bunch of boys showed up, Kouda, Tenya, Satou, Eijirou, and ughhh.. Mineta. They showed up as a group with some presents and while 4 of them were all cool and nice.. well, one guess who was a little butt? he actually got me so worked up with his teasing I swore for the first time in ages and daddy had to wash my mouth out but he also banned him from coming back. Back to playing with mommy, it was super fun, she was the evil baddies trying to attack the peaceful stuffie village and I was the heroes saying the day and giggling as i was in just a t-shirt and my uber diapies.  there was slight almost crying moment though while playing with mommy.. I went to lean forward to grab a action figure and just with like.. NO control blorted. It was loud and stinky and I guess I had the cutest look on my face. Maybe asked if I wasn't to stop playing while i finished or keep going and well..I didn't want her to be bored just sitting there watching me go blort. (Blort is a nick name for going poopie I picked up from Ojiro when he visited again, though his butt looked all puffed out and he seemed wayyy more into hugging stuffies then me. eh, go figure) Anyways, we finished up the game and I have having so much fun I MIGHTA pretended I was still blorting even after it was all out so we didn't have to pause again. I know I know, that meant sitting in my own poopie for awhile when I didn't hafa but I'm not really worried about a diaper rash or anything, they use like the best creams and powders here, and well I maybe kinda sorta like the squishy feeling.. though when i told daddy he said that's just because I haven't been able to make a big boy mess in awhile. I'm shocked my hair didn't ignite i was blushing so bad when he said that. Before you even ask diary, I waited till it was just me and daddy ta mention that.. though he hinted mommy had known I was done. He said maybe tomorrow if I'm super duper good today I can get a milking which confused me at first since I don't have boobies.  thennn he explained it out and um yeah.. lots of blushies and gonna try and be on my bestest behavior.

Week 9, Day 3

Sowwy been 'noring you. dis too busy hasing fun wiff everyone. daddy said it's otay though and told me to make at least one last entry in ya. Ummm otay. Sooo Turns out dat Ojiro and Denki are now all dating and kissy face and and Denki was a wanna be daddy dom and the reason Ojiro got all squirmy and silly? he was all jelly of me and my kick butt nursery! Apparently he was gonna -GIGGLE- try and git locked up in here so he could be babied and Denki just spanked his butt RED and pampered him. He's a super good at going blort too, and when they visit we have blort offs. (Score 4-3 in mah favor) Let's see...what else....Oh! Midoriya went and got a part time job as a daycare worker and 'ppently it's at a speical daycare where big babies like Ojiro n me can go, once I get out. kinda silly since i'm gonna be a uber big boy n stuff when i git out butttt daddy is always telling me to be polite sooo i nodded. He's been helping out wiff my diapie changes when he's here and even put in a few volunteer hours here to help out. (Such a good guy!) Mommies been by A LOT more latly too and can't stop gushing bout the appent change in my attuide. she's been bringing in and taking home my action figures cuz her and daddy agreed those are toys for use only under special supervision and I kinda ended up admitting to her I like sitting in my poopies now, at least for like.. umm.. 10 minutes. She just laughed and said noted and that it worked out with one of the additions she put on my room.. whatever dat means. She still wont tell me what she's done or why I'll be going wiff her when I get out, but eh, asking too many questions is a good way to lose a milking and the way daddy does'em.. dun what dat. Ummm I fink dat's everything Diary..fanks fer helping me get though the first bit of life here n being a friend! Daddy asked me to leave you here wiff him when I get out, but he'll print a copy for me and mommy.

After half a year in baby Jail, It was a fair different Katsuki who stepped out then had gone in. and that wasn't just referring to his change in attire. His quirk had more or less been nullified over the course of his treatment via special drugs in his drinks and food though it would return if he weaned himself off of said drug. Katsuki for his part didn't seem to mind since it got him out of his baby mitts and let him use his fingers for fun stuff like finger painting. (though even the daddy AI had learned it was best to strip him to just a diaper when he was painting, the little guy liked to draw on himself and had a massive fit when daddy had washed a turtle he'd drawn on his tummy off before he could show Midoriya.) He didn't even seem to mind that he'd been released in his now familiar bulky diaper and one of his many baby tops, wearing a pair of Winnie pooh socks and sneakers and holding onto his mom's hand as he was checked out. The warden smiled and waved bye bye to him as he was signed out and Katsuki semi hide behind his mom but waved bye back and then they were heading home.

"so Um..Mommmmmy?" Katsuki asked, sitting in the back seat of mommy's car, buckled into a customized car seat just for his puffy diaper butt. "whatttty?" She asked, looking back at him via the rear view mirror and smirking. "Can you tell's me now why we're going back home and not ta school? Like..is it so I can get's my big boy clothes on?" he asked, kicking his legs ideally. "welll you've missed most of the school year as is, there's no way you'll be able to catch up. so it's been agreed that you'll just take the rest of the year off and stay with me. and Besides, you need to re-potty train buddy." his mom pointed out. "...no i don't. I can hold it." Katsuki huffed, blushing and hugging one of the stuffies he'd been able to take with him and holding it to his chest. "Katsuki..what don't good little boys do?" She asked him. "...Lie." he huffed and looked down. "and what was that you just did?" "..Lied Mommy..I sowwy.." Katsuki said and he just looked SO sad and had tears welling up. "It's ok sweetie. Mommy isn't mad. but you need to tell the truth so you can have lots and lots of head pats ok?" she said quickly. "O-Ok..I..I guess..Maybe i kinda don't have pee control anymore..but I mostly know when i hasa blort." Katsuki said. "Mhhhmmm..well we'll be keeping you in your diapies for awhile and working you back up to be kid undies for the fall unless you decide you like being mommies little guy." "pffft, wike I'll PICK ta stay like this.." he huffed and squirmed. "Well if you do..a lot of what mommies been doing while you've been in there is baby proofing the apartment and turning your room into a nursery like the one you've been in, just no daddy though." "I..wait..wut?" Katsuki asked, and squirmed. "Yup, a changing table, a crib..I got you a high chair and got a baby bouncer for you because daddy told me it's your favorite way to make big boy messes after you've blorted." She giggled. Katsuki was squirming BIG time now in the back seat, and ended up popping his paci into his mouth and sucking on it big time and hugging his stuffie to his face. "oh it's ok sweetie. Mommy knows a growing boy like you has your needs. Just make sure to get mommies help if you wanna go bouncy bouncy ok?" She asked. The poor red faced boy couldn't speak, just suckled and nodded lots. the old Katsuki would of had a bitching fit and blown his way out of the car and stormed off..but Baby Katsuki just realized maybe just because he was out of baby jail..didn't mean he wasn't still a baby. 'I'm not a jail bird anymore..this is gonna be a longggggg summer..' He thought and then sucking on his paci and the noise of the car and vibration of it, drifted off to sleep like the big baby he was.

The end

[nimsajlove]

As a Team (III)

Brothers-AU  Ao3

Part I/II, Part IV

"I like it when the reg's are angry.", Wrecker grinned and left his place as copilot. Ahsoka raised an eyebrow and ground her teeth, the sound earning a slight twitch from Hunter from the corner of her eye. So realized what Jesse had meant hours ago. The attitude that those few words already conveyed pissed her off. "Reg? Good to know.”, she muttered and went back to her pockets. Sighing, she went down on her knees and opened the backpack, it was crammed to the brim with everything she could get from a medic. Burnes must have taken his job seriously, very well. She pushed her way down past the bandages and plasters. Warming blankets, which she had already got to know years ago, were stuck next to some hypnos. She took one out and scanned the label. Some pain relievers and medication in case of shock. Not that she could take any of this! As soon as she had thought through the thought to the end, she spotted a bundle of a few tablets and colored Hypnos tied together at the bottom. Damn it, she owed her medics something now! “Don't take it personally. We don't work with regular clones on a daily basis.", Hunter said next to her and watched as the Jedi put the medical equipment back properly. Then she turned to the other, smaller, bag. “It doesn't matter. I'm afraid of my brothers when they're angry, maybe you should be too?”, she tried to chat lightly, that everyone in the ship was watching her and also had the nerve to want to judge her brothers, pressed her on the mood. There was a big knot in her stomach and she didn't like the way it contracted every now and then.

In the second pocket she found a clean robe, a few rations, and water bottles. She could kiss the boys! If it continued like this, she would soon not have to think about anything at all. But when she pulled the robe out to throw it on, something fell from the folded fabric to the floor. Before she fully understood what it was, Wrecker had already reached for it curiously and Crosshair let out a breath that was reminiscent of a low whistle. Both looked at Ahsoka's old headdress and Wrecker turned it a little. "Wrecker...", Hunter warned and Asoka smiled, he sounded a bit like Rex when she had done something stupid again. Wrecker responded and handed the jewelry back to her, teeth clattering softly against each other. "Scared huh?", smiled Hunter and with a little roll of her eyes Ahsoka stuffed his teeth back into her pocket with the other things. The thought was very sweet and the trophy might earn her respect from Force 99, but she really liked her current clone jewelry. Whenever she saw her reflection in a helmet or mirror, it reminded her where she belonged. With her robe in hand she picked herself up again and threw on the thick, brown fabric. Immediately it enveloped her like a warm hug. "Now she looks like a Jedi!", commented Wrecker, drawing another smile and roll of her eyes from her. When it wasn't about other clones, these men had the potential to be fun people. "Thank you.", she replied, irony loud and clear in her voice. "Sorry, he just doesn't have a mental filter.", Tech announced from the front and this time she had to grin, the flight would be interesting.

Sighing, she made herself comfortable on the floor next to her bag and stretched out her legs. This would be the perfect flight to meditate a little. However, she had only enjoyed it to a limited extent before and did not believe that it would get rid of the uncomfortable tingling sensation under her skin now. Nevertheless, there was silence for a while and Ahsoka closed her eyes for a few seconds. Then she noticed that this wasn't like any of the other flights at all. Nobody sat there and complained, nobody had bent over a datapad to write reports. Kriff, her reports from the past few days! She should have taken her datapad... Even if only to plan the next few hours! Maybe... With a little grunt she got up again, the irritated looks from Wrecker and Crosshair followed her on the way forward. Tech had put the ship on autopilot and seemed to be tinkering with something, she wasn't even going to try to understand what it was! Anakin had taught her a lot, but not that much either. Everything beyond doors, normal droids and small spaceships was out of her league. At least most of the time. "Tech, right?", she asked softly and leaned against the pilot's seat from behind, the clone nodded tightly and precisely. "Do you have a datapad for me?" Sighing, Tech laid his tangle of cables away and bent to one side, datapad in hand he reappeared. When he handed it to her, he eyed her curiously. "What are you going to do with it?", he asked a little suspiciously and Ahsoka had to smile. “I just want to play through my plans a little. Or is there something on it that I am not supposed to find?”, she teased and Wrecker gave a violent snort behind her. Tech continued to stare at her, then shrugged and turned back to his work. Well, then that was settled. With her slender fingers, she switched on the pad and decided, with the luck of her own, to search Tech's collection of data for her target. She found little, but it was better than nothing!

"You just didn't seem like someone who's planning long beforehand.", Hunter remarked as the Jedi sat back down on the floor. She shrugged her shoulders. “My brother had priority, I would go in there blind if I had to. And I think that getting in won't be the big problem...", she mumbled and looked at the few dates and plans in front of her. "But out will be?", Crosshair growled and Ahsoka looked up, he looked at her with a chilled look and when she got goose bumps on the back of her neck under her lekku, she gave him a challenging grin. "Scared?", she grinned broadly and showed her sharp fangs, Crosshair rolled his eyes and turned back to his weapon. Wrecker was still giggling to himself and even Hunter smiled next to her. “But so much effort for a reg? One soldier out of thousands, I just would like to point out.", Tech suddenly called from the front, he turned around a little in the chair and could watch how Ahsoka screwed up her eyes and suppressed a rumble deep in her chest.

Hell, she had a really bad grip on her emotions today! She swallowed the growl and took a deep breath, her heart beating hollow and loud in her chest. "Would you just leave one of those here?", she asked and pointed with a palm around, Tech shrugged his shoulders a little incomprehensibly and Wrecker cocked his head helplessly. However, Hunter's expression when she looked at him had tightened. He stood beside her, tense, leaning against the wall. “I don't know if I can follow completely. You are a Jedi, you have the whole Order behind you, right?", he said softly and Ahsoka almost escaped an amused snort. “My brothers never left my side, without them I wouldn't even have survived the first year. If I have a tiny chance of doing the same for Echo then I'll do it.”, she explained, and as she stared at Hunter, an unexpected lump formed in her throat. "I have to take care of them, all of them.", she pressed out and averted her gaze ashamed, tears tingling in her eyes. Damn it, she hadn't talked about Echo and his 'death' in a long time and she hadn't suspected how much it was still hurting her. The very idea that she might just have left for nothing came with such a headache that she stifled the idea in the bud. "I understand. You will get him back.”, Hunter suddenly mumbled and patted her shoulder hard and sure.

 The rest of the flight was quiet, Ahsoka didn't ask why Hunter didn't wrote any reports. She kept her thoughts to herself. Even then, when she almost had to wrestle with Wrecker over one of her rations. But the loud laugh of the massive clone made her grin too. Crosshair still didn't seem to like her much when they started to approach the planet. He stubbornly avoided her gaze. Hunter, on the other hand, seemed to be getting used to her presence, and since the conversation he had made suggestions about her plans from time to time and discussed possible enemies with her. Thanks to him, she now felt as prepared as she could be. Still, she was nervous and restless when she looked out the window and watched the storm outside. "Tech, can you get the signal from here-" A rum interrupted her and they held their breaths for two seconds, then a large head appeared in their field of vision. "What is that?", Wrecker grumbled. “A conspecific simple lizard. The locals worship these creatures because-” “Enough.”, Hunter interrupted Tech, drawing his gun. "Just get it off my ship." "Wait, maybe we should think first and then...", sighing, Ahsoka let the sentence end and ran after the clones into the open, it was no use anyway. Outside the sand pricked her eyes and her bared arms, damn it, she had left the robe inside! At least she was already wearing her backpack. She hastily drew out her lightsabers and got a quick overview. On the ship sat the, truly not pretty, lizard and growled at her with bared teeth. The clones had already opened fire when the back of her head began to tingle violently. Like Rex gave her a brotherly pat. She trusted that feeling. "Get down!", she barked and actually the others followed, just above them another flying reptile shot away and missed the Jedi by a hair's breadth. Ahsoka was immediately on her feet again, her gaze followed the attacker and his rider. If they didn't have to fight these locals, they'd be not stuck here! Maybe... "Wrecker, stand still!", she instructed harshly, the big clone looked at her with noticeable irritation. Right then her window opened. The attacker came down again, the claws already open. With one jump Ahsoka stood on Wrecker's shoulders, with another she landed on the flying reptile and snatched the reins from the rider.

 It was impressive how well the animal knew the way home. No sooner had Ahsoka relaxed the reins than it changed direction. Behind her she heard the ship start again and follow them, with a triumphant grin she glanced over her shoulder at the clones.

The flight did not last long, with short and powerful wingbeats the mount landed and Ahsoka swung down. With cries of surprise, the locals backed away from her and cocked their heads. With a grin, Ahsoka patted the reptile next to her briefly and then looked around, the clones were just about to land at the top of the basin in which the village was located. Sliding, they came down to her. "You could have warned us!" Hunter complained a few meters before he reached her and Ahsoka grinned at him. Then she turned to Tech, she wanted to get this done quickly. It wasn't sure if the Techno Union knew of their discovery and if they did, would they kill Echo? Dispose him? "You can translate, can't you?", she asked and Tech jerked his head. “What do you think I am? A protocol droid?", he muttered, but still seemed to get the right program on his glasses. “I want you to tell them about my brother. I will tell you everything you need to know and translate."

Ha, the line of pity had probably pulled! "They provide us with two scouts, they will show us the way to the city and then return home." Ahsoka nodded in agreement, that was a good deal. “Okay, that will do. The main thing is that we get to this damn city faster."

 The walk was shorter than expected. After about an hour of brisk walk, they stood on a small ledge and looked at the town in the distance. “Why do you build so high up here? There's nothing to see anyway.", Ahsoka mumbled and shook her head, somehow they would get in there. "I won’t wait for you this time, if you complain again.", Tech grumbled from behind her and astonished Ahsoka looked around at the others. "Wrecker is afraid of heights?", she asked and Wrecker shrugged his shoulders protectively. "No! I only have a problem with... gravity.", he grumbled and the hunched shoulders, the snapped apology, the hunched head. All of this reminded Ahsoka so much of all the younglings in the temple and the clones when they first realized that they were afraid. She couldn't help it, in her head Wrecker snapped like another piece of the puzzle into the picture of her family and a gentle smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "It's okay, I'll try to find an non-seethrough elevator.", she assured him jokingly and then got up. "We should go while the sandstorm can still cover us.", she urged the others to hurry and trotted ahead.

As soon as they had left the slipstream, Ahsoka had to pull the collar of her tunic up over her mouth and nose. The fine grains burned in her eyes, even when squeezed tightly together, it was hard to see anything. Sighing, she closed them. Back to her traditional training then. With a few deep breaths, she forced herself to calm down and let her mind explore the area in waves. Suddenly she realized how much life was hidden in this barren landscape. The little lights of the Techno Union were easy to see, they glowed cold and empty in front of her. But there was something else, it was practically magical. Even if it could hardly be described as alive, she knew that there was her goal. Half blind, she grabbed the wrist of the next clone behind her and dragged him behind her, the wrist too narrow to be Wreckers. Only when they were back in the shadow of the city and the wind eased a little did Ahsoka look up, open her eyes and look around. All the clones were hot on her heels, she had caught Tech and released his wrist from her grip. Then she looked around, there had to be an elevator somewhere! "Over there.", Tech nodded and was already trotting towards one of the pillars of the city, in fact it was adorned with a thickly armored door and a control panel. The group hurried after Tech with crouched heads and, grumbling, Ahsoka sought shelter from the wind behind the thick pillar. If the Techno Union thought they could keep a Jedi away with these weather conditions, then they had clearly underestimated the determination of such a person! She rubbed her bare arms with her rough fingers, the skin felt sore. As if they had been sandblasted. Terrible clothes for this planet, definitely. In addition, it was only half as warm as she had expected, the constant wind made her shiver. Had they flown in Echo and spared him that sand? What agony he had to suffer while she was moaning about such little things... "Are you done?", Hunter growled and Tech snorted, then the door slid open. "Take a look inside.", instructed Hunter Crosshair and the sniper disappeared into the dimly lit room with his weapon raised. A few seconds later his head reappeared. "Yes, thats a lift.", he commented dryly and Ahsoka grinned broadly, it actually earned her an amused shrug from the clone. Hey, he didn't hate her! Maybe this friendship wasn't lost yet? Still grinning, she pushed herself into the elevator, Wrecker hesitated. "Everything is fine Wrecker, I'll hold your hand too.", Hunter teased next to her and the massive clone snorted before squeezing into the narrow space and the doors closing.

As soon as the elevator began to move with a jerk, the grin disappeared from her face. Now the highest concentration was required, Echo's life perhaps depended on it! "Quick in and out, okay? We won't be able to hide our presence, but if we eliminate their droids quickly, they will take a while to regroup. ”Ahsoka explained to the small unit hastily and Wrecker thrust her on the shoulder enthusiastically. "I can do that!" Crosshair shook his head with a sigh, but still checked his weapon one last time. Then the doors suddenly opened and in a flash Ahsoka built herself up as a shield between the clones and droids. Wrecker didn't care, he ran past her with a loud roar and Ahsoka would lie if she said his strength hadn't impressed her a little. Hunter glided past her a little more elegantly and turned to the next opponent with less force but more precision. Tech and Crosshair rose behind her and fired over her shoulders. The shots so close to her ear hadn't frightened her for a long time now! The hangar they had arrived in was quickly emptied and when Ahsoka straightened up, Tech pulled out his datapad and switched it on. Crosshair, meanwhile, leaned forward a little and when he spoke, Ahsoka could hear his smile too. “You know, Jedi. I could get used to that.” “How nice that you like the sword and shield maneuver so much.”, she smiled back a little tense.

 At first Tech tried to catch the signal from Echo again. With every passing second, Ahsoka's impatience grew. "They seem to be interfering with my signal, seem to be well prepared.", the clone cursed and Ahsoka sighed deeply, it would take them forever to find Echo. "Leave it be Tech, I'll take care of it.", she hastily interrupted another wave of curses and Tech sighed deeply and painfully, as if Ahsoka had just stolen what he loved. Anyway, there was no time for such thoughts! Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to open up to her surroundings. She had learned from Anakin to pursue goals with the force, so she should be able to find an echo from Echo in the force. Slowly she felt her way forward, away from the hangar in which they were standing and deeper into the city. She did not dare to linger with the members of the Techno Union. They weren't Force Sensitive, but who knows... Maybe they'd notice something after all? Only a tiny light, a weak spark, made her pause. It wasn't a uniform glow like the others, more like the flickering of a small candle flame. "That way!"

[limjaeseven]

Tomorrow, Today (2/8)

Verse 2: Part 2 of 8

Pairing: Jinyoung X Jaebeom

Genre: Angst

Word Count: 3,534

Summary: Jinyoung and Jaebeom set off on a journey of a lifetime, promising to never let go, but things rarely end up the way you want them to be

Warning(s): Character death

[a/n]: Written as part of @got7writerscollective​‘s Flight Log: The Journey project.

Jaebeom stuffed random clothes into his well-worn leather duffel bag that his father had gifted him for his fifteenth birthday as his mother watched him, her body resting against the door frame of her son’s room. He plucked a few books off his shelf, his diary and some pens from his desk, a few of his favourite hats and some accessories scattered across his room.

“Do you have to do this, Jaebeom?” The man just sighed heavily, turning to his mother and wrapping her in a warm hug.

“It’s time mom, I promised Jinyoung I’d do this for him. If I don’t do it now it’ll never happen,” Jaebeom said, using the cuff of his sleeve to wipe away the stray tear on his mother’s cheek.

Jinyoung stepped out of his building to see Jaebeom in the driver’s seat of his father’s old sedan, his feet up on the dashboard, head resting on his palms behind his head. It was still early in the morning, the sun hadn’t risen properly and there was still a chill in the air. Holding onto the strap of his bag tightly, Jinyoung took a deep breath before knocking on the passenger side glass of the car, grabbing the elder’s attention.

He quickly sat up straight up, pushing the door open for Jinyoung to get in. The younger’s bag was small enough to throw into the back seat through the gap between the two front seats so he dumped it there next to Jaebeom’s leather duffle bag before turning to Jaebeom and nodding.

The drive to the airport was quiet, the radio turned to low as Jinyoung looked out of the window at the Seoul skyline. The ride was short, and before they knew it they were at the airport. Jinyoung didn’t bother asking what Jaebeom would do about the car, he knew that the elder would have planned out everything with at most care.

That was one thing that always surprised Jinyoung, because, for as laid back and carefree Jaebeom looked, he was a perfectionist, needing absolutely everything to be just as he wanted it to be. He had planned his entire life by age sixteen, despite how things would change in the future. Even when things didn’t go his way he considered it a sign and amended his plan to still satisfy his vision.

They didn’t talk much as they got through security, heading to the food court to get some food before heading to the boarding gate to wait for their turn. The airport was crowded, the only two empty seats were with their backs together. Sighing, they sat on either side, the backs of their heads resting against each other’s.

Jaebeom pulled out a book from his bag while Jinyoung put on his earphones to listen to an audio book. When people said they were opposites but somehow the same, they meant it. The two were perfect reflections of each other, exactly the same but different enough to see a difference. It wasn’t long before the announcement was made for their flight, quickly packing up their things before walking to the boarding gate.

Jaebeom got the window seat but after one pout from Jinyoung he ended up between the younger and a middle aged man, not like he really minded it. Like every time they flew together, Jinyoung chose a movie on his screen and gave Jaebeom one of the earbuds, the elder leaning his head against the younger’s shoulder as they settled in for their three hour flight.

Arriving at Asahikawa airport, they headed to the car hire booth. Jaebeom had called them in advance, booking a pick up truck for their trip. After picking up the keys, they went down to the car park and found the vehicle, throwing their bags in the back before climbing in and driving off.

Jinyoung was the one who found the T junction in Hokkaido, he had wanted to visit Japan for a long time and was scrolling through tourist photos when he saw it. Something about it called to him and he showed it to Jaebeom, desperate to see it as soon as he could. Jaebeom’s face faltered for a moment when he saw the photo but promised him that he would personally take the boy there.

They later found out that there were two villages exactly 10 kilometres on either side of the road, both nearly identical, just mirrored, and Jaebeom bet Jinyoung that they’d both walk the distance on either side and find the motel in their respective village and call each other, before retracing their steps back. Jinyoung wrote down the name and number of the motels that very night and had Jaebeom keep the piece of paper he wrote it on in his wallet.

Three years later they were in a pick up truck in Hokkaido, driving the three hundred kilometre drive to their destination. They left the airport at almost noon, a map spread across Jinyoung’s lap, Jaebeom in the driver’s seat, their phones switched off in their bags.

“Hyung, why now?” Jaebeom smiled, his eyes still on the road.

“I just knew it was time. You’re turning twenty five tomorrow, you’re not the small child I met in first grade anymore” He reached over to ruffle the younger’s hair, his expression proud.

“If I’m not a kid anymore then can I finally call you Jaebeom-ah? You’re not even a year older than me, yeah, Lim Jaebeom?”

“Regardless of how old you are, you’ll always be my dongsaeng, brat. Don’t even try to convince me that you don’t need to call me hyung anymore,” Jaebeom just chuckled at Jinyoung’s pouting and whining.

They pulled out of the metropolitan area into the more rural regions of the island, either side of the road lined with wheat plantations, a month too late to be harvested as compared to normal but global warming wasn’t affecting just humans. The roads stretched to as far as the eyes could see, small huts and settlements the only signs of human life.

They drove at a calm pace, enjoying the fresh air and beautiful scenery, stopping every hour or two to take a few pictures here and there. Just as they were about to start looking for a place to find some food, they drove by a small roadside restaurant selling cheap meals. Parking their truck a few meters down the road, they stepped out and walked across to the establishment and ordered two bowls of ramen.

The tables were made of wood and there were long benches on either side instead of chairs in the restaurant. Jaebeom and Jinyoung settled on either side of the table, their food arriving soon after. Watching the two of them eat together was fascinating, as Jaebeom stuffed his mouth full of noodles while Jinyoung ate small bites, picking at his food.

Filled to the brim with hot soup, they stocked up on some water and snacks before setting off again, looking for a clear patch of land to spend the night. There was a small clearing among the fields that was big enough for their tent a few kilometres down from the restaurant so they parked their truck by the side of the road and set up.

It wasn’t cold enough for them to need a fire, curling up close in a big sleeping bag was enough heat to get them through the night. They laid outside the tent on the dry grass for a while, gazing at the stars once the sun set.

“Hyung, do you think that there’s a star in the sky for the ones we’ve lost?” Jinyoung mused.

“I hope so, sometimes. That way I can look over you once I’m gone” Jaebeom whined as Jinyoung hit his arm

“Who said you’re allowed to die before me? Just cause you’re a few months older doesn’t mean you’re going first. I’ll become a ghost and haunt you till you die, instead” They laughed together at the younger’s childishness, sharing some snacks between themselves.

“I’m serious Nyoungie, I’ll always be with you, regardless of where we are” Jinyoung turned on his side, resting his head against his hand and looked down at Jaebeom, smiling as the elder looked away from the sky to lock eyes with him.

“You’re so melodramatic, hyung” Jinyoung said, dropping back onto the grass, one hand searching for Jaebeom’s. He laced their fingers together once he found it, holding it against his chest as they continued to talk about random things, worries floating away with the soft breeze of the night.

When Jinyoung started yawning, Jaebeom decided it was time to call it night, pulling the younger into the tent to lie down. They cuddled close to each other, sleeping bag pulled tightly around their bodies. Jinyoung felt an unexplainable sense of safety, wrapped in Jaebeom’s broad shoulders, his firm chest cradling the younger’s back as they whispered nonsense in each other’s ears.

It made Jinyoung recall the countless nights they spent in his backyard, the few square feet of open space, their own little world, one with no one but them. Jinyoung had told Jaebeom every thought, every memory, every secret during those nights, protected by the black sky and the arms around his waist as he sat in the elder’s lap, his back resting against a worn out lawn chair. 

It was just before dawn when Jinyoung’s eyes opened, the warmth around his body missing. Panic took over his system for a moment as he tried to rack his brain to figure out why he was alone. Just as he was about to shout for Jaebeom, the elder stepped back inside the tent to call Jinyoung to watch the sunrise, the soft smile on his face flooding Jinyoung’s body with relief. They had a breakfast of mandarins and granola bars before packing their things up and getting back into the truck.  

The roads were clear everywhere they went, not a soul in sight. Fields turned to trees turned to proper forests on either side of their path, becoming their only companions on the journey. The conversation flowed easily, topics light, changing quickly like the vegetation around them.

Jinyoung doesn’t remember a time when Jaebeom had smiled so brightly. For most of the time that he had known the elder, it felt like Jaebeom was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He doesn’t remember seeing the elder laugh so loudly, with his head thrown back at Jinyoung’s dad jokes.

There was always a reason for Jaebeom to hate the world, for as wise and kind he was, it always felt like he was fighting demons that no one but Jinyoung could see, but even then, the younger never knew what they were. Jinyoung remembers the day he told Jaebeom about Japan, after that one brief moment, as the idea sunk into his body, as he accepted it into his heart, it became part of Jaebeom’s grand plan.

There would be days where he would talk about nothing but their trip, like it was the one thing that kept him going. Jinyoung couldn’t lie that his heart fluttered when Jaebeom talked about spending that experience of his life with the younger, proof that he meant as much to the elder as the elder meant to him.

As they reached a part of the forest that was nothing but dark green, reminding Jinyoung of the fences of his backyard that made up the borders of his world, he asked the elder to stop. They stepped out of the truck, Jaebeom pulling out his camera to click some photos before finding his book and sitting down on the road, facing the way they just came. Jinyoung grabbed his earphones and a sketchbook, sitting with his back against Jaebeom’s, facing the route they would take ahead.

About an hour later Jaebeom checks his watch, a gift from his mother to him and Jinyoung, who had a matching one in silver as compared to Jaebeom’s one in gold. The watch ran on their heartbeat, as long as they were breathing and alive, the watch would keep running. They had about five minutes to rest if they wanted to reach the junction before sunset. He bent one arm back to tap at Jinyoung’s shoulder, who jumped at the touch, having been lost in his sketch.

They got back on the road soon after, the drive rather quiet as they took in the fresh air, pulling the windows down and admiring the view. Halfway through Jaebeom was sick of driving so they stopped to switch places but instead of climbing into the front, he hopped into the back of the truck, smiling at Jinyoung through the small window between them.

He sat like that for the following hour plus, just admiring the path behind them as Jinyoung surged forward. After a while Jinyoung started whining, complaining that he was too lonely so they stopped again and Jaebeom got out of the back to sit in the front, next to Jinyoung.

“Hyung, where do you see yourself five years into the future?” Jaebeom chuckled at the question, a hint of bitterness laced in his voice as he pondered for a moment.

“By your side” Jinyoung just whined at the elder’s cheesy answer.

“I’m serious, hyung. Would you have found a pretty girl by then? You’d be 30, would you want to settle down, perhaps?” Jinyoung took his eyes off the road for a moment to look at the elder’s face, perplexed at the knowing smile on his face.

“Wouldn’t you want to know, Jinyoungie?” The elder teased.

“Don’t tell me you have a secret girlfriend you haven’t told me about, that would break my heart Lim Jaebeom,” The elder just chuckled, much to Jinyoung’s dismay.

“Don’t worry Jinyoung, I would never hide anything from my best friend” Jinyoung beamed at the elder, his suspicions slowly fading, despite the hint of guilt on the elder’s face.

They stopped at a farmer’s market they stumbled across to restock on food before they took off on the last leg of their journey. According to the map and their calculations, it would take less than two hours for them to reach the junction.

Jaebeom pulled out a few mandarins from the bag and peeled them as Jinyoung drove, feeding pieces to the younger to make sure he kept his eyes on the road.

“What about you, Jinyoung? Where do you see yourself in five years?” Jinyoung held back a comment about the lack of creativity in Jaebeom’s question as he thought about his answer.

“Probably buying a house and working a better job. I love living with my parents, but I feel like its high time I lived on my own”

“What about you finding a girl? Do you have a secret girlfriend I don’t know about, Nyoungie?” Jinyoung didn’t answer the question, but he couldn’t stop the redness from rising to his ears.

“Don’t tell me, you found someone, didn’t you? How could you not tell your hyung, Jinyoung? I’m so hurt. And there you were, accusing me of having a girlfriend” Jinyoung vehemently denied the elder’s accusations, mumbling something under his breath that sounded like ‘if only you knew’ before Jaebeom dropped the topic.

Jinyoung’s face lit up though, when he started recognising the scenery he had seen in the photos, slowing the truck down as the junction came into sight, right in front of them. He stopped just before it, both of them pushing the doors open to run towards it.

“Ready?” It was all Jinyoung could say at that moment, overwhelmed by emotions. They were finally where they had dreamed to be for years. They left their bags in the truck, knowing that they should reach either side before sunset.

Once more, they pressed their backs against each other’s mirroring the large arrows signalling the directions just behind them. Their fingers laced at their sides, and two deep breaths later they set off, with a promise to not look back.

Jinyoung walked confidently, determined to not turn. They had promised each other that they wouldn’t chicken out, not even glance back at each other as they walked. Jinyoung didn’t stop once, he let his feet drag him forward at an even pace.

The scenery was gorgeous, one side covered in trees and the other with flat fields that stretched out infinitely. He kept walking, ignoring the welling urge to turn back. Even after he was far enough to be sure that he wouldn’t be able to see the elder even if he turned around, he still felt the pull inside himself, just to check once.

A story he had heard once came to his mind. Yugyeom, his cousin, was a big fan of Greek mythology and had narrated to him the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, of how young Orpheus’s love, Eurydice had died of a viper bite and he went down to hell to bring her back. Hades had accepted his request with the one condition that he would not turn back to look at her.

Determined to leave with her he had walked on, but the urge became too strong as he doubted the lord of the underworld and wondered if he had tricked the poor man. In the end he did turn back, and Eurydice was there, but she would no longer follow him back home.

Jinyoung scolded himself for recollecting the tragedy, it only spurred on his fear that something might be wrong, that Jaebeom himself turned around to walk towards Jinyoung. The younger looked at his watch to check the time, it read 1:29. He had been walking for nearly an hour and he was growing far too worried.

That’s when he did it, he turned around and looked back. As he had expected, he could see nothing but the endless road in front of him, not a sign of Jaebeom anywhere. It was as if the world had stopped around him for a moment, and he checked his watch once more to make sure it didn’t. The second hand seemed to hesitate for just a second, as if counting the same second twice, before running back as normal. It counted twice at 1:31:23.

It was almost four in the afternoon by the time he reached the village, immediately recognising the motel from his research. Walking in, he asked the receptionist if they had received a call from one Lim Jaebeom but they said they hadn’t which meant that Jaebeom hadn’t arrived yet. He waited for ten minutes before ringing up the other motel and described Jaebeom to them, asking them to inform the elder when he arrived and tell him to call back.

Deciding to take the extra time to take some rest before he set off back to the truck, Jinyoung bought a peach flavoured water from the vending machine in the lobby and settled down on one of the couches. Before he could put his wallet back though, he saw a piece of paper in it that he didn’t recall putting there.

Opening it, he realised it was a print out of their e tickets Jaebeom had booked for the trip. He would have put it in his wallet at some point during the security check, Jinyoung thought to himself. But as he read through it, his eyes blew open.

Jaebeom had only booked three tickets in total, one ticket to and from Hokkaido for Jinyoung but only a single ticket for Jaebeom to Hokkaido. The elder had not booked himself a return ticket. Jinyoung tried to convince himself that it was probably a mistake but he knew Jaebeom way too well. Was the elder not planning to go back with him? Was he planning to ditch him? A million thoughts ran through Jinyoung’s head but he was pulled out of it when the landline at the reception rang.

“Hello? Mr. Park? We have some unfortunate news to share with you” Jinyoung felt his knees wobble as he heard the voice of the old lady on the other end of the landline.

The next thing he knew he was surrounded by stark white walls and the smell of disinfectant. He didn’t even get to see Jaebeom, he just met the doctor outside the ICU who stopped him from rushing inside. The man held him back and kept saying something that Jinyoung couldn’t hear, he just wanted to see his hyung and see him that very moment.

BREAKING NEWS

Lim Jaebeom, a 25 year old man from Korea found collapsed by the road turning left from the famous Hokkaido T junction. He was pronounced dead on arrival. The man was found to be suffering from a rare type of cancer diagnosed at birth, which was declared the cause of death.

Jinyoung doesn’t remember fainting, he just knew that his eyes opened to see a picture of Jaebeom laying on the road, the news reporter speaking in Japanese that Jinyoung could barely decipher. The elder’s face was turned away from the camera, the only thing that Jinyoung could see through the tears was his watch. It read 1:31:23.

[haxorus-imp]

Planet of the Megafaunas - Part 2 - Among Us & Reader fic

-Summary- Green sees just how big the natives are and winds up getting into a lot of trouble...

-Chapter 2: Troublesome Curiosity-

Green tapped his foot impatiently while waiting for Red to arrive. Looking at the Skeld with a grimace while his eyes scanned the surrounding vegetation with barely contained wonder and great interest. Internally, he couldn’t help but wonder. Just what lied out there in the deep dark woods? What kind of creatures would he see that populated these large and daunting forests? What lies just out of sight and was there more to this world than he could imagine? Maybe there would be something out there that would look like a creature in a mythology book...maybe a beast with a feathery head, a furry body, and a lizard tail? Would a fully natural chimera even be possible? Now that would be an interesting find to document in his field journal!

Green couldn’t help but chuckle at the thoughts of meeting such creatures and trying to tell his own home planet about them. Finally, the sound of the Skeld door opening and a pair of footsteps shook Green out of his daydreams. He focuses his gaze back on the Skeld. Red emerged from the entrance of the ship, slipping on his backpack while he was walking out to meet his friend. Flashing Green a cheeky grin from behind his helmet’s visor. Green gave him an equally snarky smile. “Finally finished putting your makeup on?” Green teases, crossing his arms and arching his brow at the other from underneath his own helmet. Red just stretches dramatically and yawns, faking boredom. “Me? In makeup? Ya gotta be kiddn’ me, mate. I don’t need that stuff! I’m gorgeous just tha way I am, see?” Red punctuated his claim by giving Green a smug grin and two finger-guns. Green lets out a chorus of snickers while he leads the way to the berry bush from earlier. “Sure, sure. Just follow me, Red!” Green says as he quickened his pace through the thicket. Red sputters as he hurried to follow after his green-colored companion. Both of them scuttled off into the undergrowth that surrounded the secluded large oak tree that the Skeld crashed into. Green eagerly led the way for his red-dressed friend. Green happily bounds through the familiar roots and leaves of the forest floor. Followed closely by his crewmate, who jumped and leaped around the large roots and ducked under some thick foliage. Green also made sure to memorize where they were running through. Just to keep in mind where the Skeld was, before continuing. The sunlight filtered through the leaves and the earlier mist that hung in the air was replaced by bright sunbeams. Signifying that the sun was now high in the sky while the two crewmates darted through the brush.

It was also a touch warmer, but the shade in the grove allowed for some respite from the present midday heat. Finally, while a touch out of breath, Green came to a stop at the same lightened small clearing he recognized from before. Just ahead, was the same berry bush, now illuminated by the sunrays that penetrated the tree canopy. Showing the bright fruit in all of its glory. Red managed to catch up and look around at the small clearing as well. “There! You see them? Those are the same berries I found earlier!” Green proudly presents, pointing at the distant fruit-bearing shrub. “Huh...I expected it to be bigger than that.” Red retorts, snickering a bit as Green punches his shoulder lightly. “Come on, ya jerk.” Green playfully chides as he climbs down the large roots, followed quickly by Red. The two bound through the lengthy grass that made up the clearing before finally reaching the base of the coveted plant. “Well, now that we’re actually near the plant, it is a pretty good size!” Red compliments as he plucks a berry from a low hanging stem. Green nods in assurance before starting to pluck some himself. “Lets get as much as we can carry. We need a decent ration pile if we’re going to survive for a long time!” Green directed, to which Red obediently nods in response. Both of them then sling their backpacks around and begin to stuff them with the treats. The two crewmates pluck the large berries, placing as many as they could in their backpacks. Carefully stuffing them to the brim with about 5 berries each. Which would be enough for one meal and some drinks. However...

While plucking the berries from the bush. Green could swear he was feeling some...tremors...coming from somewhere nearby. He pauses for a moment, lessening the rustling sounds that cluttered his hearing as he focuses on the feeling in his feet. Another rumble rocks through the bottom of his feet...then another.. .and another. He pauses in his foraging to look out at the treeline. His eyes wide and alert while they carefully scanned the woodlands for anything unusual. Even watching the grass blow in the wind, gaze cautious and wary. Red, blissfully unaware of Green’s change in demeanor, keeps picking berries next to him. Even taking his time to be choosy over what he was picking.

Green, however, keeps his gaze on the edge of the forest that lines the small clearing. A feeling of worry and paranoia takes over as his eyes flick from left to right. Still watching… Still waiting… Finally, Red takes notice of his friend’s stiffness and speaks up. “Green? Ya alright, mate?” Red wonders, confused. Green doesn’t reply. He sees something unbelievably large moving in the trees. “Green??” Red asked again worriedly, looking at their surroundings in anticipation. Green only snapped out of his fearful trance when the large creature began to enter the clearing that they were in. He quickly turns towards his crewmate. “Shhh!! Get down!!” Green whispers frantically, finally finding the ability to speak as he grabs Red and pulls him underneath the berry bush. Red is surprised by Green’s sudden strange behavior as they huddle up under the bush together. Green watching the field. Finally, Red takes notice of the large creature that entered the field and he gasps and carefully looks out through the branches of the bush to get a better glance at it. “Crikey...what is that?! ” Red quietly mutters to his comrade. Green could only hum in thought while he observed the creature. The beast that came into the clearing was a large quadruped. It seemed to have thin long legs, very short brownish fur, a white underbelly, hooves on the bottom of their legs, a long snouty face, blacked out eyes, and freakishly large spikes coming out of it’s head. The creature seemed to alternate between turning its head and twitching its ear-like appendages. Then, it lowered its head to the ground. Green, suddenly realizing what he was seeing, he carefully reached over to his backpack's small pocket and fished out his personal notebook. Red gave him an incredulous look while he quickly fished out a pencil as well. “What are ya doing, ya egghead??!” Red softly chides, keeping his gaze on the foriegn fauna that stood a few yards away.

“Documenting!” Green replies in kind, his pencil sketching on a blank page in his notebook before continuing. “Judging by the hooves, facial structure, and currently observed diet, this creature seems to be a herbivore! That means that it only eats plants. How it behaves is probably another story. As those spikes on its head seem to be of a rather...lethal variety. Maybe it’s for defense and display? I will theorize that it's a defense to protect it from…” Realization seemed to hit both Red and Green, as they both perform a nervous gulp in unison. “Larger predators…” Red quietly finished the sentence. In which Green wordlessly nods in response. “Yeah...and just judging from the size of the prey item...the beasts that can kill a creature of THAT size…” Green squeaks out. “Must be as big as the Skeld. Blimey...” Red continues. Barely suppressing a shudder at the thought. They could only sit there helplessly and observe the beast. They both sit in uncomfortable silence for what feels like hours.

However, the creature they were watching suddenly becomes spooked by something off in the treeline and it darts off back into the forest.

Shortly after it vanished from sight, the two crewmates could finally let out the breath they were holding in. Green and Red slowly inch out from their hiding place and snatch up their backpacks from the ground. “Mate, let's hurry and get tha supplies back to the Skeld before anything else shows up!” Red hurriedly ushers while Green nods in understanding. “I know, I know!” Green agrees, slipping on his pack as Red did the same. Shortly after that they began to travel back to the Skeld. Slipping through the thickets and shrubs once more to make it back to the ship. While Red led the way back, Green’s mind allowed itself to wonder. He finally got to see a creature that dwelled on this planet...and it was terrifyingly...interesting. Thankfully, what they ran into seemed to be a herbivore. As it didn’t seem interested in hunting and more interested in grazing the meadow grass. But, it also solidified his earlier fear. If prey was that large in this environment...then that meant massive predators were a given. Which just made foraging much more riskier. Regardless...it was a risk the crew would have to take. They needed to collect as many berries as they could for the crew to have a decent set of rations.

This was survival...and all the crew had on them was luck. Green just hoped that their luck would continue to last long enough for them to find some way to repair the Skeld and escape with everyone alive and well. The two crewmates would have to make multiple runs back to that bush...and now both Red and Green were well aware of the risks.

The journey back to the crashed ship was wordless and tense. -- Most of the day carried on in a similar fashion to that. Both Red and Green would go back and forth, gathering up more and more food for the crewmates. Making sure to pick only the good quality berries from the bush. While also staying on the alert for any possible danger. Until finally, they began to make their last run and picked nearly all of the berries from the bush. Draining the source of food of its resources and adding it to their decent stockpile back on the ship. The sun was beginning its arc that led back toward the horizon by the time the two crewmates had finished foraging. Painting the surrounding forest a brilliant orange as the last of the sunlight filtered in through the tree trunks. Once they returned and reported that the food source had run out, the Captain told the crew to primarily stick together for the remainder of the day. Taking quick notice of the setting sun, Green understood his request. While he had a major itch to go out and explore the unknown, he also wanted to stay as safe as possible. Getting lost in the woods at nightfall was not a situation he wanted to get stuck with.

Plus, he was rather tired from foraging all day. So, instead of wandering off or scouting out more locations of interest for the day, he sat just outside the Skeld’s entrance. Writing down his findings in his field journal and adding the drawings of the creatures he saw earlier. He even wrote down a unique chapter for what he was discovering. He decided to call it the ‘Local Megafauna’ section. Nothing too grand. It was just a base for his documentary.

He continued with working on his notes and pictures. As of this point in time, He was just merely passing the time while waiting for crewmates to get ready for dinner. While he waited, he sketched some foliage and flowers as well. There were even some creatures he could see just by sitting outside the marooned ship!

There was a little furry creature that he observed scurrying through the trees. Jumping from branch to branch with impressive agility and speed. It was furry, jittery, energetic, had big shiny black eyes, and a big fluffy tail. In a strange way, Green found it to be cute. It wasn’t even that big either, a much more of a smaller scaled species. There was even another creature that seemed similar to that furry foliage-climbing mammal, except this one lived in the ground! How he noticed it was the soft shifting of the dirt nearby.

At first, he was expecting a terrifying worm-like creature to spring up from the depths and bite him. However, what actually popped out of the ground was far from his imagination.

Instead, a small furry creature with a little snout popped its head out of the ground. It seemed similar to the one jumping through the trees, except there were notable differences.

Two tiny beady little eyes, little paddle claws, and it was very pudgy. Green observed it with interest as the creature didn’t fully surface and seemed to be more interested in digging back into the ground again. Regardless, he did another quick sketch of the creature before it dug back underground and disappeared altogether. He sighs in contentment, making more entries in his journal while he watches the sun slowly sink down and the sky slowly become a deep dark blue. The orange was slowly fading away from the trees, replacing it with darkness. Even while staring out into the surrounding nature, he found quite a show in seeing the local insects rise into the night and their illuminating abdomens sparkle throughout the dark forest. Little bright neon green lights twinkled and Green found himself getting lost in the chorus of crickets and the songs of local amphibians as he silently watched. It was absolutely lovely. Then, it was interrupted by the sound of the Skeld’s entrance sliding open from behind himself. Green turns around to see Orange standing at the entrance, her helmet off and revealing her face, looking down at Green. “There ya are! The Captain is getting mighty worried about ya, Green. Ya been out here all this time?” Orange questions, placing her hands on her hips. Green gives a rather sheepish look towards the electrician. Clicking his pen in slight apprehension. “Kinda...yeah. Sorry if I made the group worry. I was just writing down my thoughts and found some nearby fauna to sketch. Adding them to my growing bestiary and such, you know...nerdy things.” He laughs a bit. Orange could only arch her brow a bit before turning slightly and beckoning him inside. “Well, enough o’ that. It’s supper time. Get in here where it’s safe and don’t be tardy, ya hear?” Orange says, before walking back inside. Green could only sigh into his helmet while standing up, gathering up his things, and walking back inside. Closing the entrance to the Skeld while he was at it. Not really taking any notice of the large grey clouds that had built up in the sky and slowly moved across the skies. Slowly covering the wounded Skeld in their large shadows. Meanwhile, Green walked down the halls and pressed a button, drawing the doors back and revealing the interior of the cafeteria. The cafeteria was buzzing with activity as Green slips off his helmet and places it on the rack next to the others at the entrance. Huffing a bit and fluffing his hair back out before fully entering the cafeteria. The entire crew was present, happily eating their share of rations for the night. He spied his usual place next to Red and Orange, open like usual. A quick scan of the meals that were prepared in the cafeteria were revealed to be berry juice, jam and toast, berry-flavored ice pops, and a mixture of other treats. Some berries were even simply sliced or cubed for instant edibility. Green made his rounds and got his fair share of food and sat down in his usual place. The crewmates seemed to be talking among themselves while they stuffed their faces with food. Creating an atmosphere of humdrum words and soft pleasant conversation. While Green was usually talkative at meal time, he seemed to be more focused on his food. Admiring the texture and flavors of the berries while the rest of the crewmates idly chatted away around him. His mind wondered as he remembered seeing the megafauna earlier that day while he was foraging with Red. His eyes nervously flick over to his captain, White. Who was enjoying a couple slices of jam toast and sitting next to his loyal co-captain, Black. Green never really said anything about the sighting to his captain. Even Red seemed to have been stunned enough to be silent about it at the time.

With a flick of his gaze, his eyes watched Red. Who was busy having a pleasant conversation with Orange and Purple about something unrelated.

Maybe Red wound up getting distracted and forgetting about the incident? Green nervously looked back at White, watching him eat and thinking about bringing up the megafauna encounter with his leader. But seeing as everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, it would’ve created a rather negative atmosphere if he did. The last thing anyone else wanted to hear was that there were massive predatory creatures lurking around just outside their doorstep. In a case of fair judgement, Green held his tongue and instead decided to change his train of thought to something much more positive.

His thoughts quickly changed to planning on what he was going to do come the next sunrise. Maybe he would go exploring? Look for more food sources? Possibly find more creatures to document? The possibilities were nearly endless! But, that wasn’t the only thing he was thinking about. How would they get off this planet? Would they all get off together? What if there’s nothing here that they can get home with? What if everything is going to get worse from here? Green quietly munches on his food for the majority of dinner. His head continued swimming with ‘what ifs’ and worrisome thoughts.

Before he knew it, dinner was over and the crew was beginning to power down for the night. Drowsy yawns and sleepy crewmates all slowly walked to the barracks. To which Green finally felt exhaustion biting at his muscles and sapping away his energy. Sadly, the showers of the Skeld were damaged from the crash, so it was going to be a while before anyone on the ship was going to get a decent bath. Which just meant that more problems would probably be coming down the pike. Not a lot of crewmates will be happy while being filthy. Especially Blue. Green silently figures that Blue was a germaphobe due to all of his overreactions to filthy individuals and dirty living spaces. Green would live, even while being covered in dirt for a while. He just wanted to study and work. It’s why he got on the Skeld...or why he started working for MIRA in the first place He knew the risks when he signed up to be on this crew ship. But that didn’t prevent him from following his dreams of becoming a creditable botanist and zoologist. He enters his shared quarters and releases a large yawn as he flops onto his bed. He kicks off his boots and shimmies out of his suit, tossing it over the foot frame on his bed. Leaving him in an emerald sleeveless top and shorts. He then begins to climb under the white sheets. As he gets comfortable, his roommate, Red, wanders in. Already in his own sleeveless tank and shorts. With his suit in his arms, he tosses the suit onto his own bed and closes their barrack door. Finishing his routine by dimming the lights down. Finally, Red takes notice of Green looking at him from his bed. “Aw, already got into bed before me? Ya must be really tired, mate.” Red speaks up, while he pulls his covers back and begins to climb into bed. “We had a busy day and most of my lab is a wreck. So, I’m taking it easy. No overnight stays in the lab tonight.” Green replies nonchalantly while he adjusts and gets cozy underneath his covers. Red just lets out a chuckle in response as he worms underneath his covers for a moment before settling down and letting out a relieved sigh. A moment of silence passes. “Green?” Red suddenly speaks up. “Yeah?” Green replies. “Are you doin’ okay? You didn’t really talk to anyone during dinner…is sumthin’ bothering ya?” “I was just...having some thoughts while eating. Just wondering if we’re ever going to get out of here...like, what if everything gets worse from here? What if we never escape this planet?” “Ah...I see. You’re worried that none of us are gunna make it, right?” “I...well...yeah. I’m just concerned. I mean, do you even remember what we saw??” Red blinks at Green before sudden realization hits him. “Oh, crikey! You’re right!”

“Yeah! You saw how big that megafauna was! There’s most certainly others like it! We need to find help and get off this planet...but what if there’s no help to find? What do we do then?” “. . .I guess we just...see what happens tomorrow. Maybe something good will happen. Ya never know!” Green merely lets out a hum. A moment of silence passes. “...Did ya tell White about it?” Red asked as Green looked away shamefully. “. . .No. I don’t wanna alert the crew just yet. I mean, I sketched it out and everything and it was a herbivore so it’s not--” “But we gotta tell them, Green!” Green looks back at Red in slight surprise. “They need some form of warning! The longer they’re oblivious the more danger they’re in! Seriously! The moment ya get up tomorrow, we’re gotta tell White, okay mate?” Red continues, giving Green a firm stare from his bed.

. . . Green sighs.

“Alright. I’ll tell him first thing in the morning.” Another moment of silence passes. “Just...don’t worry too much, okay? In the end...everything is gunna be alright. After this stranding is over, I’ll take you on a nice vacation when we get back home. I promise, Green.” Green lets out a soft chuckle.

". . .I’ll be sure to remember that promise, Red. Anyways, it’s late. I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight.” “Goodnight, Green.” And with that, Red rolled over and faced his back to Green. In a short while, soft snores could be heard coming from Red’s bed. Signifying his condition of being asleep. However, Green seemed to be having a bit more of an issue with falling asleep. His mind kept buzzing with thoughts, worries, excitement, fear, and possibilities.

It was getting increasingly harder to sleep. As Green kept tossing and turning and just wishing for something to help aid him in his endeavor. Then, a familiar sound reaches his ears. It wasn’t a typical sound...not really one he could’ve predicted.

But it sounded like… Rain. Green is slightly surprised as he hears the sound of actual rain hitting the Skeld. Causing the metal around him to make soft atmospheric clangs as the gentle shower impacted the hull of the ship. He turns in his bed towards his own wall. Sharpening his focus on listening to the sounds of the rain pelt the outer hull. Like a lullaby, it slowly withered his bothersome thoughts and overwhelming internal conflictions into nothing but background noise. Laying them to rest and drowning out any incoming thoughts.

His eyes finally felt droopy and tired. His aching muscles finally stopped being tense and relaxed. The sound of the planet’s forgiving rain lulling him to sleep. In no time at all, Green finally dozed off to the sound of distant thunder and splashing water. -- The crewmates were late getting up the next day.

As it was noon by the time any of them had finally got up and moved around. The exhaustion from the crash and the stress from most of yesterday having taken its toll on the crewmates. They were all sluggish and slow when they were beginning to get awakened by their captains. Moving about to meet up in the cafeteria, as per White’s orders for their daily routine during this survival situation. Green was finishing up his morning routine. Brushing his sharp teeth, applying deodorant, and various other early routines that he had long grown used to while working on the Skeld. By the time he arrived in the cafeteria, most of the other crewmates were already there. Pink, Orange, White, and Black were present when he arrived. Purple arrived shortly afterward. Dwindling his thumbs and taking his place a short distance away. A few minutes later, Blue arrived. Straightening his hair with a comb that was in his suit pocket. Then, Red arrived shortly after him, with a head full of bed hair. Which caused Blue to squawk up a storm, only to be hushed by the Captain once all crewmates were present and accounted for. White clears his throat. “So begins day two of our survival. We managed to pull through night one on this planet. Hopefully we can continue to do so without things falling apart...so, tasks for the day will be repairs and resource gathering. Just as before. Thanks to Green, we all didn’t go hungry last night. Many of you will have the same tasks as yesterday. Now before we conceal this briefing, any questions?” White asks, scanning his eyes across the group. Green shifts his eyes over to Red, who was looking at him expectantly. Green takes a moment before nodding and raising his hand. Much to White’s surprise. “Yes, Green?” White beckons. “Uh, sir...this isn’t really a question. But I was meaning to give some news to you earlier, but I failed to do so. So I waited until we were all together once again to deliver the news to you all. While me and my partner were out foraging, Red and I happened to make a pretty big discovery yesterday…” This gained the whole crew's attention. Especially the captains. “A discovery?” Black parrots, causing Green to nod in confirmation. “Yes, sir. While me and Red were out foraging the berries I scouted out prior...something came out of the woods while we were present.” Green confessed. A silent state of surprise reflects off of the crew. “It was a large quadruped that seemed to be as big as the Skeld. Mammalian in nature, with short fur, hooves, and large spiky protrusions coming out of it’s skull.” He continued. A quick series of worrisome murmuring started up as Green rushed to continue. “ Thankfully , it seemed to be more interested in eating plants. I personally think it’s a herbivore and it means us, generally, no harm. I theorize it’s a more defensive creature than aggressive. However...that means that, since there are large prey items in this environment, there would most likely be large predators too…possibly even bigger than the creature we witnessed.” The worried mutterings intensified as White seemed worried and thoughtful. “I see.” White mutters, a finger on his chin while the rest of the helmetless crew stood idly by. Looking on in worry. “Well, staying inside isn’t an option we can accept...the best thing I can recommend is to keep a partner with you and keep a watch on your surroundings. Just.. .be careful . All of you! Never go outside by yourself! Especially with this new information!” White warns as the crewmates nod in understanding. White then looks towards Green and Red. “You two will be our foraging crew. Stay close and don’t stray too far. Stay together and stay aware.” White commands, to which the both of the crewmates nod again. White then dismisses the crewmates to resume their tasks while he and Black go off to assist in chores and such. Leaving Red and Green to prepare to go out once again. All the crewmates slip on their helmets and both Red and Green slip on their backpacks before stepping outside. The two of them exit the ship as they look upon the forest, Green humming in thought while he finishes slipping some smaller notepads into his suit pocket. Red looks at him in anticipation. “So...where to?” Red questions.

“Well...we haven’t checked this direction just yet...and it’s already late noon due to everyone oversleeping. So we might as well try to scout out some nearby points of interest.” Green replies. He leads the way into an opposite thicket to the Skeld, Red following close behind as they duck through roots, under shrubs, and past large leaves. Both scuttle in the underbrush for a decent distance. Jumping over fallen logs, over early morning rain puddles, and finally they suddenly bounded through the thicket and into a large field. Green skids to a halt, causing Red to run into his back and fall over onto his rear. “Blimey...why did ya stop--” Red quickly complains before he finally takes in the large meadow before them.

“Oh.” He finishes, only slightly impressed. Green, however, had large pupils and a sense of fluttering excitement swelling up from deep inside himself while he stared at the meadow. It was filled with flowers, fluttering butterflies, and various insects that drifted from flower to flower. There were even puddles that were left over from the rain that came through last night. However, the best part was that there was so much space between them and the trees, that Green could see into the distance and see large snow-capped mountains far off on the horizon. He could even see the blue sky and puffy white clouds drifting by far above them. No longer covered by a canopy of branches and leaves. Red was just beginning to pick himself up before Green took off into the field, surprising his comrade. “Aye! Green! Hold up, mate!” Red hurriedly shouts before he gets up and follows after his excited companion. Green eagerly approached the ponds that had formed overnight to watch and look at the creatures that danced on the surface of the water while Red caught up. Small shiny creatures with four fluttering wings danced across the shimmering water surface, entrancing Green. However, he was shaken out of his trance when Red shook his shoulder slightly. “Hey, come on Green. I know ya like sightseein’ but we gotta see about finding food and...an acceptable water source.” Red says, urging the botanist with a sideways thumb. “Well...technically bugs are a food source.” Green cheekily responded. “Ha ha, very funny. I know we’re desperate, but not that desperate. Come on, mate. Ya know we gotta start lookin. Tha sooner the better.” Red urges, walking around and away from the small ponds. Green regretfully nods as the two of them begin their scouting mission. They searched around the field together, both of them looking for any hotspots or resources while Green also managed to catch some specimens for him to research later. They both searched nearby the meadows, looking for food, water, or anything of interest. A little while later, Red happened to get busy with exploring a small grotto in a rocky wall while Green was just outside. Keeping watch while Red explored and examined the small crag behind him.

It was uneventful while waiting for Red to finish up, but at least the view was nice. As the more the two explored, the more they realized that the Skeld had crashed on a large plateau of sorts.

They just hoped it wasn’t completely isolated. But the natural landscape was still beautiful to look at regardless. At least to Green it was.

Suddenly, something catches Greens’ eye while he was waiting for Red to stop rustling about in the rocks and bushes behind him.

He takes notice of a peculiar plant that lies just beyond some bushes nearby on a nearby rocky outcropping. Large bright colorful flowers and bright leaves draw his attention to the flora.

Out of curiosity and a bit of brief indecisiveness, he edges away from Red’s company and towards the mysterious plant. He approaches the plant and finds it alluring. The blooms were large and beautiful and the leaves streamlike and thin. His curious nature drives him toward the elegant flowers.

He leaves the bushes and crag behind, heading towards the rocky outcropping. Green arrives at the plant on the ledge and gleefully begins to pluck the blooms and stuff them into his backpack for studying later. However, once he was done with that, he took in the new view that this open vantage point gave him...and that’s when he noticed something...peculiar far down below the cliffside. Looking down, he could see the slopes of the cliffs that descended below. Proving that the Skeld was on an upper ledge or mountainous ridge. But that wasn’t the thing that he took notice of. Far down below was a discoloured strip of land that cut right through the two slopes. Dividing them. It was dark in coloration and seemed to have two solid white lines going right down the middle of it. Green was confused, but intrigued as he steps closer to the edge and looks over to get a better look at what was present at the bottom of the slopes. Unfortunately, he doesn’t watch his step. Green steps a bit too far and the weakened edge of the outcropping crumbles. Green suddenly feels the ground give away under one of his legs. His own scream gets caught in his throat as he feels weightless for a moment. However, that was quickly short lived. He impacts the gravelly cliffside as he lets out a pained cry as he begins his descent.

His desperate breaths are continuously knocked out of him as he tumbles down the cliffside and thrown against exposed boulders, branches, and rough gravel that covered the slopes of the rockface. He even runs into a large log and the impact loosens it from its steady perch. Causing it to follow after him down the cliff. More tormenting moments pass until his battered body finally slows its descent and slides to a halt near the bottom of the cliff. He gasps desperately as he tries to gain his bearings. However, his attention is quickly grabbed by the sound of a large impact just a short distance away from him. Green looks towards the sound in fear and his eyes could only widen as the large log comes tumbling down the cliffside towards him. The last thing Green knew was the rapid approach of the log. The moment it impacted him, he knew only darkness. (First) (Part 2) (Part 3)

[geehosaphat]

I remember tears streaming down your face when I said “I'll never let you go” When all those shadows almost killed your light I remember you said don't leave me here alone But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight...

TLDR; Martin Ambrosius, District 2, Victor of the 293rd Hunger Games recalls his own time spent in the arena and confronts the ghosts of those he betrayed. 

TW: Poison, Bombs, Decapitation, Murder, Death

The quarters for mentors was too similar to the tributes’ in Martin’s opinion. As he laid in his bed for the first night at the training facility after the train ride with his tributes, he couldn’t help but recall his first night after his Reaping. It had been cold, but not like a snowy day, just cool. His home had been comfortable enough in District 2 he supposed, but everything in the Capitol was next level.

Even the cold.

He hadn’t been able to sleep in that bed the whole time they had been there. Instead he’d taken the small couch in the space. The shape of the cushions reminding him of the slight flaws in his mattress back home. It had kept most of his nightmares at bay at least, even if his back ached in the morning from the position he’d been in for too many hours.

Then had come the training itself.

When showing his tributes the training facility and tools, he’d had flashbacks to his own time frantically spent trying to train in things that his mind would never fully capture. Sure, he’d picked up a thing or two since then (especially within the arena) but there was something so unnatural and clunky about him wielding an axe or trying to create a bomb. No, things like that were best left to those who specialized in the craft.

Martin had used any time that had not been spent honing crafts he’d never grasp forming alliances.

The first had been Miranda, a studious looking girl from District 3. Miranda had been good with traps and electricals. She had insisted to Martin that there was little difference between organizing a circuit board and creating a good trap. He hadn’t seen the connection but her skills were undeniable. She was thirteen. Martin remembered the cute way her nose scrunched up when she concentrated on something.

Then had come Kaydence, a boisterous kid from District 5. He was strong from working in the fields and large to boot. Kaydence had shown Martin how to use a hammer. There was this optimism that had never gone away. He was fourteen. Martin remembered the way how, when Kaydence had laughed, all of his fears tended to melt away even on the worst of his days in the arena.

Rounding out Martin’s allies came Trey, a fellow District 2 member that Martin remembered from the academy. Trey was no Career, but he had spent an inordinate amount of time on agility courses and with smaller long-range weaponry because the ability to juggle daggers while jumping through hoops had amused him greatly. He was seventeen. Martin remembered the handshake he and Trey had made up while huddled together under their camp while they waited for the acid rain the Gamemakers had sent to stop.

Just close your eyes, the sun is going down You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound...

When Martin had gotten into the arena his first instinct had been to run in the opposite direction of the Cornucopia. This was, however, undercut by Kaydence’s insistence on getting himself a hammer that was shimmering in the very center of the chaos. Not wanting to abandon his allies, he’d rushed in at Kaydence’s heels and helped to distract as many of the District 1 Careers as possible to get their whole pack through the Cornucopia.

Sorting through their loot they found: Martin managed to snag a backpack that would prove to be full of medical supplies, Miranda had grabbed herself some wire and a crossbow, Kaydence got his hammer and a fishing net, and Trey grabbed a trident that none of them knew how to use. All in all they had decided it had actually been worth it once Martin had used their new supplies to patch up a few injuries they’d sustained in the area.

The first few days passed pretty uneventfully. The terrain felt confusing going from forest to desert and back again. They mainly kept to themselves, sharing stories from back home and sharing what the first thing they’d do if they were the one to make it home.

Miranda wanted to start her own academy in District 3; something that would give future tributes more of an access to an electrical side of things despite that being District 2′s whole deal. Martin had told her that she was onto something and hoped that, should she make it there, that they at least named the building after her or something.

Kaydence just wanted to hug his mother again. He didn’t care about the glory, though he hoped that District 5 would at least get enough food and money to make the pain he went through worth it. Martin had shared how much he missed Mim in return and Kaydence had pulled the older tribute in for a hug that Martin couldn’t refuse. Being in the arena made everyone lonely.

Trey was the outlier. Despite not having the skills of a Career he’d smirked at the question, snorting contemptuously at Kaydence’s soft answer. Money and power and fame drove Trey to reach for the finish line. His grandmother had been a Victor and, while his parents had never gone through the Games, Trey was determined to be just as big of a name as she had been. Martin had assured Trey that everyone was just as valid as the other for their reasonings but kept quiet about the rainclouds behind his neighbor’s eyes.

Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire The war outside our door keeps raging on Hold onto this lullaby even when the music’s gone, gone...

Food was scarce in the arena.

The few animals they had come across being squirrels and lizards which were high in protein if you could get enough for four people but, most of the time, catching food could only feed one or two of their members. This proved to be to Martin’s benefit when they re-entered the forest area and found a big bushel of berries. There was one that Martin recognized as safe to eat and they’d filled an entire pocket of his backpack to the brim with them to carry with them along their journey.

What the others didn’t see was the nearly identical bushel beside that one of poisonous berries that Martin snagged and stuffed into a separate pocket for later.

One by one, they eventually ran into the other packs in the arena and had to fight their way through the landscape so they could hope to get back to their families, back to their lives.

Three cannons fired when Miranda set off a bomb she’d managed to make with her skills and a sponsor gift she’d received. She managed to kill someone from District 1, District 6, and District 5 in that explosion. Miranda insisted that she was fine when they checked on her but Martin remembered the way she’d asked him to hold her when the others were asleep.

A single cannon fired thanks to Kaydence when a scrawny looking girl from District 4 tried to steal from their camp and was caught by the largest member of their party. She had barely even known she’d been caught before Kaydence sliced her head off. They tried not to look at Kaydence when they saw the face of that tribute in the sky that night but Martin remembered hearing his sobs while keeping watch for them.

A whopping four cannons fired for Trey’s use of Miranda’s crossbow. They’d been ambushed at an oasis in the middle of the desert, too delirious from dehydration to look for the attack awaiting them at the shore. Trey had saved their lives singlehandedly, having hung back from his allies to keep watch over them due to a “bad feeling” he’d had in his gut. Martin remembered how everyone had treated Trey like a hero in the moment but when it came time to acknowledging the fallen that night Trey was the quietest of all staring into those portraits.

Just close your eyes, the sun is going down You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound...

Each day that passed brought Martin and his allies closer to the finish line. It didn’t feel real, not really, most days. They kept to themselves as much as they could, letting the other tributes kill each other off for the most part. Martin knew the people he was working with weren’t killers at heart, not really. He, himself, had yet to even get a kill thus far in the Game, not that he was complaining about the fact.

The problem came when the realization dawned upon Martin that only seven remained in the game and four of them were sitting together at his camp. He almost couldn’t process the knowledge, couldn’t anticipate what that would feel like. If Martin were honest, he’d never expected for them to get this far. He had imagined a million ways for him to go out but being part of the final seven? It felt like a dream.

So, this knowledge fresh in his mind, Martin began to prepare the supper for his camp in silence. Everyone else was sharing stories and inside jokes that they had created all together here in the arena. His heart sank as his hands worked against his heart’s desire to keep them all safe.

Miranda was handed her plate first as she always was. They had joked in the beginning about ladies first but really she was the youngest so it only felt fair to make sure she got a fair portion. Martin remembered the way he didn’t ruffle her hair the way he usually did as he passed her by and she pouted at him but made no further comment.

Kaydence was next, a big guy like him he always joked that he deserved double the portion of tiny Miranda but never actually complained about his share as the group always at least made it fair and everyone took turns missing a meal if they were running extremely low on sustenance. Martin remembered Kaydence calling him “Chef” sarcastically as he stared down at his plate of only berries.

Trey was the last of Martin’s allies to be given his plate at every meal that included every member of their group. Trey was usually fiddling with something which resulted in his hands being busy and Martin was never quite in the mood for getting accidentally stabbed by Trey dropping whatever fidget toy he’d found for the day. Martin remembered Trey taking this meal in silence and wished he had asked what had been on Trey’s mind at the time.

Just close your eyes, you'll be alright Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound...

One by one his allies began to realize what had happened to them as they grew steadily more ill from the dinner Martin had given them. The side effects of the poison they’d consumed wouldn’t be too painful, he’d been sure that they wouldn’t suffer for too long. He couldn’t even look them in the eyes as they accused him of his crimes.

Martin wouldn’t have been able to see them anyway, the tears overflowing as his allies’, his friends’ lives came to their bitter end.

Miranda was the first to go, having been the smallest and the first to have eaten. She had asked him why he did this to them when they trusted him. Martin had no answer and couldn’t watch her face as she had passed on. He made sure to close her eyes and lay her down gently afterwards, though, choking out apologies between his sobs. She didn’t deserve this fate, she was just a kid!

Kaydence, despite his size, followed suit. For the first time since Martin had met Kaydence he heard the District 5 tribute swear. Not at Martin but at himself for allowing his guard to go down so easily. This felt worse than if Kaydence would have yelled at him, at least Martin would have deserved that. When Kaydence passed on he offered the fallen tribute the same courtesy he had offered Miranda. Kaydence had been a good person and Martin would carry that guilt for the rest of his life.

Trey was the last to fall and Martin would later be told by Trey’s mother that her son was much too stubborn to let Martin see his weakness as he passed on. What she didn’t know was that Trey had shown it, silently, by being the only one to capture Martin’s eye contact and looking terrified by his fate. Sure, Trey had said nothing aloud but his silence spoke volumes that echoed in his mind still.

Martin spent the rest of the Game hiding in their camp until the last tribute sought him out. A bloodthirsty boy from District 4. Martin had wasted no time with this fight, having expected this eventually, and shot him dead in the heart with Miranda’s crossbow.

With that it was over and Martin was taken home. What barely anyone realized was Martin died in that arena alongside all of his friends.

[megatraven]

you know i had do it ya... all of them. all of the watercolors

DSFRGTREDFR i appreciate u so much....... (wont re-answer th ones ive already answered tho)

cadmium yellow; when you think of the word “happy” what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

alex. is anyone surprised? probably not. alex is the biggest source of happiness for me at the moment bc i love them so much and think of them so often vuv

hansa yellow; what’s your guilty pleasure song?

god is a woman by arianna grande!!!!! love it

yellow ochre; name an artist/band whom you just discovered & can’t get enough of!

i hope it counts if it’s a fictional band bc Julie and the Phantoms own my ears rn

naples yellow; where do you feel most at home?

in my little apartment, in my bed with bunches of blankets and stuffed animals and snacks vuv

raw sienna; with whom do you feel most at home?

i don’t know! i’ve never really thought about it, and thinking about it now, i can’t pick out just one person. any of my friends, i guess!

golden ochre; describe the relationship you have with your closest friend.

i don’t have just one closest friend, i have a few. but my relationship with them is nice, we’ve made good strides to setting healthy boundaries, i think, and we can talk to each other about anything! :D

cadmium orange; what do you like to do on your days off?

rest and relax, watch a show or maybe just turn on some music while I play lovestruck or lovelink, play some pokemon, and either write or draw! i also really like to nap, especially since i often wake up early on my days off, and most of my friends aren’t online yet. helps me skip to when they Are online

orange lake; do you have anyone you can turn to when you’re sad?

oh, i have many people who would be very supportive, i know. it’s not a matter of having someone for me, though. i just don’t know how to bring it up to them, so i usually just keep quiet about it whenever i am :’)

titans; do you prefer slow mornings or relaxing evenings?

relaxing evenings, i think. slow mornings tend to frustrate me a little, but relaxing evenings are perfect

shakhnazaryan red; are you currently binge-watching anything?

julie! and! the! phantoms!!!!! i mean i already bingewatched it but i keep rewatching it like all at once, that counts right???

red ochre; are you more right-brained (creative) or left-brained (analytical)?

right-brained B)

burnt sienna; is there a painting that brings you peace when you look at it?

there are many, but i can’t think of any names or artist right now :^)

english red; what animal do you relate to most?

tiger tiger tiger tiger t-

vermilion; what’s your favorite accent?

right now? greek!

cadmium red; do you have a “type” when it comes to a significant other?

not really! just. girl or nb, i guess lol

scarlet; describe your current crush/es.

i guess i’m still nursing a crush from a couple years ago, though it’s much smaller now since we don’t talk as much but ummm she’s really sweet and funny, and endlessly kind it feels like. she’s so creative and smart and i love how passionate she gets <3 she’s a really good friend, too, and i really appreciate having her in my life in any amount :D

ruby; what does your ideal first date look like?

some cute little cafe-type place, MAYBE with some light hand holding, as we talk about whatever comes to mind, be it fandoms, our lives, etc.

carmine; what does your ideal second date look like?

just hanging out in the living room or bedroom, really. i don’t care much for going out, but if we went out anywhere at all, it would be lovely to walk down the street after a nice autumn rain vwv

madder lake red; would you ever kiss someone (or accept a kiss) on a first date?

no, and i don’t think i will ever really want to kiss anyone, thinking of being kissed kind of squicks me out. unless it’s a kiss on the cheek or hand or something, then that would be okay :)

rose; what’s something really positive going on in your life right now?

oh hm..... well, at work, my coworker has been really nice about letting me play christmas music on the radio all day :) it drives him nuts, but he keeps turning it on for me because he knows i like it a lot. it’s really sweet. it’s not a huge gesture, but it means a lot to me!

quinacridone rose; what’s something you’re really looking forward to?

the day that i finally adopt a cat! i’ve been sitting on it since around april but i just keep waiting. the day i do it, though..... i can’t wait!

violet rose; what does your dream house look like?

small house near the base of a mountain. neighbors not too far away, but not too close. i have a big yard, and a great view of the mountains i nthe area, and lots of trees. inside and nice and homey, soft yellows with accents of white paint the walls inside and out, and it’s filled to the brim with little knickknacks and things i’ve collected over the years

violet; is there any place in particular you’d like to settle down?

right now my heart is set on colorado because the mountains there were gorgeous.... i’d settle for anywhere close to some mountains though

blue lake; what would you like to do/accomplish before you settle down?

i’d like to travel a little, visit some of the friends i’ve made, really do something good for the world before i settle

cobalt blue spectral; what is the most beautiful place you have ever been to?

the rocky mountains!

ultramarine; when was the last time you were in a good mood? do you know/remember what sparked it?

i’m in a good mood right now! just getting to talk to my friends while i eat dinner and enjoy the things i love is a pretty good recipe for a good mood!

blue; what’s the most recent dream you remember?

i.... hmm. im having a hard time remembering any recent dreams. i had to go look into one of my chats for the last time i mentioned one- i had a dream where i was talking and became friends with Mr Fruit, a youtuber i’ve gotten really into watching recently :)

bright blue; what does your dream family look like? any kids or pets? how many of each?

honestly just me, a spouse, maybe a kid that we adopted (Maybe!!!!), and a LOT of pets. cats and dogs, at least one snake, some rats........

blue cobalt; do you like your name? would you give yourself a different name if you could?

i’m okay with my name, though i think i’m starting to really prefer meg over megan. if i could give myself a different name w no judgement on what it would be, i think i definitely would tho

prussian azure; what’s your favorite scent?

vanilla cupcake candles <3

azure blue; what’s your favorite type of tea, if any?

i don’t have a favorite!

turquoise blue; if you could start a garden, what would you plant?

tiger lilies <3

cerulean blue; if you were guaranteed to have a viewership, would you start a youtube vlog?

ABSOLUTELY

glauconite; describe your body without using any negative adjectives.

cute. soft. mine.

yellow green; picture yourself walking in a field. what do you see & hear in this scenario?

i hear the sound of birds and crickets, and a babbling brook off in the distance. i see flowers that don’t typically grow together doing so for me, shifting lightly in the wind. a few critters bounce over the flowers from time to time- fox kits, rabbits. everything’s at peace.

green light; are you in a comfortable place in life? if not, what do you think might make it better?

hmm. yes and no? i think a lot of things for me would improve if i could just work up the courage to come out irl. even if i didn’t get the responses i would want.

green; name three countries you want to visit; do you have any actual plans in place to visit any of them?

france, cyprus, japan. i think the one i would like to visit most is cyprus :) i don’t have plans for the other two, just dreams vwv

emerald green; do you speak any languages besides english? are there any additional languages you want to learn?

not yet! but i’d love to learn french and greek and tagalog!

oxide of chromium; what’s your favorite book?

where the red fern grows

olive green; are you currently reading anything? how do you like it so far?

not any books, but i’ve been meaning to start reading cinder!

mars brown; what’s a movie that always puts a smile on your face/makes you laugh?

ratatouille vuv

burnt umber; what’s something you plan to do before the day is over to take care of yourself?

eat dinner and drink water :) (im doing both rn)

umber; have you drank enough water today?

i think i’ve drank 2 bottles. not as much as normal, but i plan to drink more!

voronezhskaya black; what or who is your go-to outlet for when you need to vent?

my scro friends :) (thats th name of our gc lol) there’s three other people in there and that’s typically where i go to vent if i have to. them, or my MLF friends. both groups always have my back and i adore them 

sepia; name five things that always make you happy.

alex, food, blankets, talking to friends, buying stuffed animals

indigo; what’s the best/sweetest compliment you have ever received?

one of my coworkers once told me that he can see the passion that i have for art, and i don’t think anyone has ever told me that they can see it before. it meant a lot and i hold it close to my heart now :)

payne’s gray; describe your aesthetic?

this is too hard my aesthetic is too broad ;( here’s my aesthetic tag tho

black; post a selfie because you are so beautiful!

im eating fried chicken rn so i will not take a new pic. instead, have this older selfie from 4 months ago!

[valkblue]

— masterlist, AO3

Chapter 3 on 12

Chapter wordcount: 5,241 Rating: General Warning: You know the drill by now, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ swearing and technobabble!

Author’s notes: Soft engineer goes yeehaw.

Tag list: @hathorik​, @pheedraws​, @the-blind-assassin-12​

Does anyone else wants to be added to the tag list? Let me know. 💙

— Chapter 3

In front of the mirror, Vivian was enjoying a pretty flattering image of herself in this Old West apparel; it was brand new, from boots to hat, all worn looking with some sort of a distress effect for which Vivian had actually paid good money. The staff didn’t always get to choose among the bespoke best of the best considering the renting was free… But if one aimed for ever so slightly better, it wasn’t anymore!

For now, Vivian regretted nothing, except maybe that she wouldn’t get to keep it all at the end of her stay. She even afforded a gun!

But considering where she intended to go, it wouldn't be just a pointless luxury. And neither would be looking a bit more weathered than as if straight out of the tailor's shop…

Filled with pride, Vivian flushed at the thought she hoped not to be the only one to think her pretty, and to make an impression on the other guests. For no reason other than to boost her self-esteem. She pulled her hair up, trying to shape them into some fancy beachy waves, same as for a western starlet, Sharon Stone in that antic 95' movie, "The Quick and the Dead"… but not as sexy. Also, less blond.

And clearly, everything else was so frickin stylish as well! Thanks so much, Design.

All the available outfits for the clients were carefully recreated with historical sewing patterns but with all the benefits of current materials. And the gray linen shirt, the vest and the pants Vivian was wearing were cut better and no doubt from much more comfortable fabric than her everyday clothes that it was borderline upsetting!

Still, she smiled to her reflection while tying a large beige and red kerchief around her neck.

This time, she chose what she would wear. No way she’d suffer dresses or puffed sleeves and flowered hats ever again!

Her first visit in the park, not too long after she started in Behavior, was on the occasion of a "team building" week-end of some sort but after a few hours — a day, maybe? — everyone had scattered around in the limits set to them during their onboard train briefing… So much for team spirit!

That being said, Vivian was fine with that; she was of the quiet kind, more observing than extroverted, and to go forth befriending new people, stuff like that, wasn’t really her strength. Even if everything had been set up to spur her on that way. Like, a Team Building week-end…

But then, it was also because she was the way she was — alone and no strings attached — that Vivian had grasped this golden opportunity to work as a coder for Delos in their now famous park. She only had a few friends all around the world, mostly online, and didn’t keep much contacts up with her family, especially her sister with whom she shared an old resentment.

It was this lack of ties that could let people believe her more focused and available than her otherwise committed colleagues.

These thoughts discarded, Vivian put her stetson on, stuffed her gloves in her gunbelt and picked her saddlebags up before leaving the dressing room to walk the hallways down to the elevator. It took her in one go all the way to the level right below the surface, from which the maglev shuttles' terminal was distributing the entirety of the park; she almost jumped out of the cabin and kept a brisk pace in the last long corridors to reach a plainer hall than the client’s terminal.

Shifting her saddlebags’s weight on her shoulder, Vivian moved across the space, ignoring the curious eyes to get to one of the shuttle’s platform. She was already getting in character, and she enjoyed it. 

Maybe a bit too much, she thought as she tipped her hat to three techs in suits and apron. She was discovering herself an unsuspected confidence that she liked very much; she giggled with pleasure as she stepped in the shuttle she was about to share with a group of techs from various departments and two guys from QA’s security, including one who gave an enormous yawn.

The shuttle carried them at high speed and stopped first at Vivian's meeting point, where she was the only one to step off.

With a peek at her pocket watch, Vivian hoped she wasn’t late, provided that she didn’t get stood up. But passing one of the many concrete pillars in the huge low lit tunnel, her worries faded; Graham didn’t let her down. He was there, waiting for her next to a freight lift, holding a beautiful chestnut horse by the bridle. At least, she wouldn’t have to walk, or rely on the train and start all the way back from Sweetwater.

"Thanks, Graham! Sorry for the trouble…"

"No problem," he answered. "You’re aiming to make a mess someplace, aren’t you?"

Vivian scoffed and buckled her saddlebags to her steed’s gear.

"No, not even! I’m just gonna visit remote corners, far from the tourists’ standard circuit."

"Mmh, good luck…" Graham replied lazily, handing her the reins. "Cry for help and shake your arms to the camera if you need us to come get you!"

She punched him lightly in the arm and he smiled, unfolding a tablet on which he confirmed Vivian and her horse’s exit in the logs.

"You’re good to go."

"Thanks, Graham."

"Yeah, yeah…"

He waved her away towards the glass lift; as she was getting ready inside, her horse still held by the reins, Graham ordered it to go up — the doors closed, and the cabin shook in its tubular frame.

"Yeehaw, babey!" he shouted, playfully.

Vivian shrugged before patting her horse’s shoulder as to calm it. It didn’t need any of that, it was actually more about alleviating her own stress by petting it. The lift slowly raised Vivian and her horse to the surface where the bright daylight was jarring. She lowered her head to look around under the brim of her hat; a great plain spread out in front of her eyes, surrounded by crisp red hills covered in tall grass and a few crooked trees like old charred bones.

The lift shook again before coming to a stop, startling the horse that jolted at the end of its reins. Vivian patted its neck and when the doors opened she steered it out; a gust of wind full of a warm earthy smell rushed a cloud of dust against the armored glass.

Gathering the reins on her horse’s neck , Vivian hoisted herself in the saddle; it wasn’t something new by any means, but the feeling of it was strange anyway — she hadn’t been on a horse for a very long while. But as they said, it was like riding a bike…

For now, she was happy just by staying in the saddle, unmoving, and took the time to put her gloves on to observe the landscape. According to the map she did her best to memorize, Las Mudas was north-west from this outpost, within a few miles. On horseback, it wouldn’t take long. And she would find the road eventually, even before reaching the town.

Vivian clicked her tongue to encourage her mount to walk, and it obeyed; she was in no real hurry but if she hoped to be in the right place at the right time to smoothly intercept the narrative of her choice, she ought to end up galloping at some point, fast!

She picked in her pocket, pulling out her watch; it was past two in the afternoon and, provided she didn’t wind up lost, she’d be there around four. Comfortably set in her saddle and stirrups, Vivan pushed the pace of her horse with another click of her tongue while the freight lift was quaking back down.

Gallop wasn’t uncomfortable, but galloping that long could quickly become so and, once she reached the dirt road meandering in the sparse vegetation all the way to Las Mudas, Vivian let her horse go back to a trot. And that gait was straight down uncomfortable but she preferred riding all the way there rather than popping up through a building access right in the middle of the town, fresh as a daisy, hands in her pockets, saddlebags on her shoulder… and without any pony.

Not fishy at all…

The truth was she didn’t had much of a choice about the available access points, really! She did what she could with what was among the closest. But it was fine by her. It would make the experience more authentic and gave her the time to check what she could have overlooked before leaving, or even think things through instead of just dive head first into trouble.

That being said, she hoped there wouldn’t be any; she wasn’t there to go on an adventure, but to hold a promise… while taking notes on her script in field conditions.

The thought that she’d remove it if it caused any issue was kinda gut wrenching but she thought it best to blame it on hunger. Vivian hadn’t had lunch yet so nervous she was, and now, she was starving.

But, at last, the shape of the town’s walls cut out on the hills gray with garrigue. Maybe she’d eat something once settled there. She had heard that the food was kinda good around these parts…

Vivian let the reins loose; only a few yards and they entered, walking, on the town’s dusty square. Even if her poor horse had done most of the work, it wasn’t the only one to be tired by this scamper; they both had a sore back and stiff legs. Getting her feet back on the ground would be an interesting experience in a few moments…

She stretched her shoulders as she was slowing down her horse, until it stopped, nose in front of the fountain. Apparently, she was better at parallel parking with a horse than with her car!

That thought made Vivian snicker as she slowly slid down her steed. As she expected, dismounting was tough; the pain surge from the sole of her feet all the way to her thighs, getting her knees to shake. She stood still for a second, taking the time to pat her horse who had already dived its big grey nose into the water of the fountain.

"Good idea, buddy,” she whispered, out of breath.

She took her canteen from her saddle horn to take a long sip from it. The water wasn’t that fresh anymore but it still did the job; Vivian felt like all the dust of the road was in her throat right now! Her steps heavy, betraying her lack of habit to ride for so long, she sat with less grace than hoped on the edge of the stone basin, beside her still drinking horse. Vivian took a hot minute to breathe and watch the scenery of Las Mudas; she could make out the colors of the house fronts under the dusty patina, feel the cool air and hear the quiet bustle of its inhabitants. Children were running after a few panicking chickens with a dog barking in excitement and wagging its tail like a whip.

Vivian removed her gloves and untied her neckerchief to wipe her face. When her horse raised its head, its mouth dripping with water on her shoulder, she chuckled and avoided its forehead coming a bit too fast in hers. Then, she plunged her hands in the water to wet her face and neck. That felt really good.

Vivian tied her neckerchief back while a plump red hen came pecking pebbles at her feet, fleeing when her horse stepped on the side; she snorted as her eyes followed the hen’s erratic dashes. Vivian enjoyed the calm ambient, the subtlety in details, but at the same time, she was recognising the work of this team, that department… Vivian grunted as she turned away from the daily life scene and leapt to her feet, startling her horse. She shouldn’t let her insider knowledge get in the way of what she came to do here, she shouldn’t "trash her own immersion" as much as she should be careful of what she was going to say, and to whom.

After this little clarification with herself, she brought her attention back to the people around her; the border between hosts and guests was finally getting a bit blurry — that guy who was scraping horse shit from his soles on the edge of the cantina’s boardwalk was just that, a man… And these kids, bickering around who would be the hunter in their next game of hide and seek, were all just kids. It was more pleasing to imagine oneself like a time traveler — she had to adapt to what was around her, not the other way around.

Her horse cut her thoughts short with a soft headbutt to her back, like a nudge to immerse herself back in and she took it to the hitching post, a few steps away; Vivian rolled the reins around the rod, searched in her saddlebag for a few coins she pocketed in her vest and walked without hurry to the cantina’s rickety tables. She pushed her holster back a little on her hip and sat on a chair. Even though she had spent the last few hours with her butt sticked to a saddle, she felt like it was the first time she was really sitting since the morning! Her shoulders stooped in relief and she stretched her legs with a grunt, propping one heel on the seat in front of her. 

"Shit…" she sighed between her teeth.

She noticed the three patrons at the closest table staring at her. When their eyes met, under the brim of her hat, they turned away, focusing back on their tumblers full of whisky and their domino game.

"What are you having, newcomer?"

Vivian almost jumped; the barkeep was standing right beside her, a dirty rag in his hands. His face was as weathered as the walls and he looked simply tired to be himself.

"Actually, I’m looking for someone," she explained.

The barkeep’s whole face wrinkled as he frowned, wincing a smile that was as embarrassed as it was embarrassing.

"What kind of someone?" he asked, cautious.

Vivian understood her mistake. It might not be the best way to break the ice to accidentally imply that she was a bounty hunter or something, as she suddenly realised. She tried to fall back:

"Someone with good knowledge of these parts to take me to Pariah without going in circles."

The barkeep couldn’t have looked more relieved had he cracked a fart, Vivian thought, her eyebrows raised in amusement.

"Oh," he said before flicking glances around. "You’re sure gonna find a great deal of good folks like that around!"

He gestured towards one of the domino players.

"Carlos, here, can take you. Hey, Carlos…"

That one turned a suspicious look towards Vivian’s table, but stood up anyway to step forward; he was the dirtiest of the three and under the brim of his own hat, his face had something alarming — maybe because of his broken nose and missing teeth. With a calm motion of her hand, she stopped him to make another step. Carlos froze, looking frankly disappointed and Vivian glared at the barkeep.

" Someone trustworthy."

Carlos grumbled and spat some black tobacco goo on the ground, through the spaces between his teeth before sitting back among his cackling friends. Vivian looked back to the barkeep who winced again awkwardly.

"D’you have that around here?" she quipped.

Far be it from her to be disparaging; she was only being playing the game… She figured out that the barkeep wasn’t a model of bravery, or honesty, and he needed to be pushed a little for her to get what she wanted. He shrugged, twisting his rag.

"Yeah, yeah," he assured her, nodding almost exaggeratedly. "Sure! There’s…"

He cleared his throat and one of his shaking hands flew from the rag to point her towards the stables — or at least what looked like it — opposing the cantina on the other side of the street.

"Thanks," she answered, almost ironically.

But he heard nothing of it, bobbing his head without adding a word before leaving for a table where a guy was calling for him loudly. Vivian stood up without haste, sparing her sore muscles useless efforts, before heading to the wooden awning. The street wasn’t very large between the cantina’s boardwalk and the stables and yet, she had time to come across enough people to wreck her immersion; two women were walking down the southern aisle, commenting almost out loud on the realism of the place. 

"Feels like the real thing!", a guy uttered as he caught up on them after having thanked a woman who had given him direction on the doorstep on her house.

The real what, exactly?!

It’s wasn’t like they were in the middle of Sweetwater, which was more or less the  park’s entry point, with all its market-tested banalities! No, this was one of these remote areas where things started to get a bit more "hairy" as Margaret said… "Epic", according to Thawal.

Basically, what the fuck were those tourists doing here, in this area of the park, if they weren’t going to forget, not even for a second, the limits of this questionable reality they were clinging onto at each step to focus on all the possibilities of where they were right now?

Vivian let out a slow sigh. She shouldn’t get angry, or judge; maybe these people lacked self-confidence — she knew all too well what a pain it could be — and were afraid to lose control; control of themselves, or the situation.

Vivian rubbed her neck under her kerchief and slowed down as she arrived in front of the stables. From there, exited a tall black guy with broad shoulders under his long duster, and with one look, he seemed to evaluate her from head to toe as he went past her, leading his horse by the bridle. He nodded to Vivian, and she nodded back. 

By the fountain where he hoisted himself in his saddle, several others came from the nearby street; she heard the guy giving orders to the troop gathering around him and they all went ahead, galloping towards the western gate, frightening the chickens away to the sides of the street, scattering their feathers as they flapped their flightless wings. A strange silence fell on the town after the riders disappeared.

Despite her being kinda bothered about "tourists", Vivian would admit that long-returning guests like that man with the duster, had an uncanny ability to blend themselves in the narratives, to make them theirs to the point of changing the entire thing sometimes. At least, until the next reset.

Vivian brushed her hair off her forehead under the brim of her hat to try to gather her thoughts, and courage, before stepping in the stables; two men had their backs turned, at the right of a bay horse’s tail, facing to talk to another Vivian couldn’t see, except for his worn hat between their heads. At the moment, he seemed more concerned about his saddle’s straps than about what the two other men were telling him on a hurried but hushed tone. Vivian couldn’t hear everything from where she was; one of them didn’t want him to leave, not now, and the other was arguing that it was exactly what "the other brother" was waiting for, that he should at least let them come with him…

The horse shifted its weight, nudging the man leaning on its croup — he and the other moved aside, clearing the line of sight to the third, someone Vivian recognised with no effort. Even dressed.

She sucked her teeth and wrinkled her nose as to hold back a laugh. But all cheerfulness vanished when the two men turned to her, almost threatening. Certainly surprised by the sudden silence, Lawrence then looked up, letting go of the straps he had just finished buckling around a Winchester scabbard.

"The fuck d’you want?" spat the one of the two with a big mustache and a split leather vest.

Vivian didn’t answer right away, and that silence prompted the other to slowly put his hand to the handle of a knife in his belt. The unspoken threat made Vivian’s heart rush. Yet, she kept her chill — way more than she imagined herself able to. So, she explained:

"The barkeep sent me here when I told him I was looking for someone trustworthy to take me to Pariah."

The one with the mustache glanced at Lawrence, himself staring at Vivian with an expression she could have qualified as grumpy or disappointed.

"I can pay, if that’s what concerns you," she added to break the silence before it settled.

Lawrence suddenly unfroze and shook his head, before checking a second time on the straps securing his rifles’ scabbard to the saddle.

"No," he grumbled. "Sorry, lady… You’ve been fed some bullshit."

He patted his horse and tugged a bit on his saddle blanket to adjust it.

"Thing is… I can’t right now."

He was playing "hard to get"! Vivian would’ve almost laughed at that. Not that she found it ridiculous or anything, on the contrary; it was nice, and unexpected!

Looking away towards a rider passing in the street near the awning, she nodded slowly, not repressing a smirk, and sliding her thumbs in her belt.

"Alright," she simply said. "Thanks anyway…"

Vivian waited for a second to pass in silence. None of them broke it until she added:

"Evenin’, gents…"

She tipped her hat; one of the men nodded as an answer and Vivian was already leaving the stables when she heard another swear a bunch, on a quiet tone. She was still repressing her smile when she reached the cantina to sit back at the same table, still available. This time again, she was more than happy to sit down.

Vivian threw a quick glance at the stables and snorted, amused. She easily guessed that he wasn’t engaged on any other narrative than his own for now but… she wouldn’t insist anyway. Maybe later? Or maybe she’d follow him and pretend to come across him somewhere along the way… Vivian had nothing outlined, really, and she didn’t want to outline anything. She, too, would improvise!

The barkeep finished to fill a glass at the nearest table and walked to Vivian’s to whom he asked:

"Something to drink, after all?"

He shook the brownish alcohol bottle he had in his hand.

"Cider, you have that?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure! I-I’ll get it now…"

And without waiting for any approval or comments, he left for the inside of the cantina. Vivian let out a long sigh; every intentions put aside, it was a nice moment to spend in the coolness and the calm of this small town between the hills. At the southern gate, the entrance of a cart pulled by a prancing donkey caught Vivian’s attention but she turned away from it as the barkeep was coming back already, holding a clay bottle and one small glass, same as for the other patrons, barely bigger than a shot.

"Did… did you find what you were looking for?" he asked, opening the bottle.

"You can say that…"

The barkeep didn’t comment and poured a glassful of dark cider, generous enough to spill all over the table — she guessed that it was a dry one but she hoped it would also be a good one. She nodded, thanking him silently, and the barkeep went back inside. A second had barely passed and a man stood up from his table to come and sit in front of Vivian who was trying her best to raise her glass without spilling more; she only acknowledged him with a curious eye while working on the careful rise of her almost-a-shot of cider.

"Heard ye're lookin’ for someone to get ya to Pariah, over there?" he jabbered with a thick accent.

Vivian didn’t answer, watching him above the back of her own hand as she was swigging a good half of her drink; his skin was tanned under his salt-and-pepper beard, his eyelids heavy and his eyes yellowish.

"Ah can take ya there,” he continued under Vivian’s scrutiny. “Less than three days!"

He nodded vigorously.

"Truth be told, ah did it on the way in awright," he completed, without taking note of Vivian’s stubborn silence. "Gimme first half now and the rest as soon as—"

He never finished his sentence, pulled out of his chair by the grip of another man who tossed him aside without a word; he almost fell over but didn’t complain, and on the now available seat settled Lawrence. The expression on his face was a subtle mix between annoyance and remorse and Vivian only raised an eyebrow while putting her glass down on the table.

"My apologies for my bad manners, before," he said, not looking her in the eye for too long. "My cousins and I… we didn’t agree on somethin’."

Vivian didn’t reply and leaned back in her chair… now that she could take her glass without spilling it everywhere.

"I take it you want to go to Pariah?"

It wasn’t really a question, and Vivian didn’t reply to it either, holding his stare. The barkeep was coming back to their table anyway, a bottle and a glass in his hands. However, he didn’t say anything as he poured the whisky in the glass he had put in front of Lawrence who asked again:

"Why is it you want to go there?"

This time, it was a real question. The barkeep had a knowing grin for Vivian before walking away; he was so proud of himself, that one!

"I… I’m supposed to meet someone," she answered, looking back at Lawrence. "Someone who… who owes me."

Vivian clenched her teeth, and her fingers on her glass; it was only half a lie, as she’d find an outpost somewhere around the town but still, she lied. And, herself, she wasn’t proud of that.

The truth was that she had planned her starting point, but not her arrival.

But the answer seemed to convince Lawrence — at least, enough for him to recline in his chair, an arm resting on the table. Without taking his eyes off Vivian, he was tapping with his fingers on the scratched, stained table, next to his glass he still hadn’t touched yet. Vivian enjoyed that detail in his bearing; she could guess that he was thinking. About what, she wasn’t sure, but she was eager to hear what he’d chose to answer.

"If I may," he started with caution. "I don’t think this is a good place for someone… someone like you…"

He waved towards her in a lazy move, still close to his glass. And Vivian wasn’t expecting such a comment. She even doubted that it was part of his standard library; so, her surprised was perfectly honest.

"I can take care of myself!" she bristled.

Again, Lawrence shook his hand and smiled a little, nodding.

"Don’t get me wrong," he tempered. "It’s just that… you might be too polite for a lot like these ones."

Vivian’s puzzlement was unending. Frowning, she heard him adding:

"I only hope you know what to expect over there. But, then again… ain’t my business! I’m goin’ there today."

He picked his glass and took it to his lips.

"And I wouldn’t mind havin’ some company, after all."

Then, he emptied his whole drink in one go. Vivian nodded, tapping with her fingers on the base of here own glass; she displayed some sort of disinterest, like she was totally not impressed while, in fact, her nervousness was starting to take over. It was so different than being in analysis, in the controlled environment of her lab, she realised that too — she was the one in his world, now…

And things wouldn’t be as easy as they looked like. Not for her, anyway. However, she managed to let no more than a few seconds pass before recovering her ability to speak:

"Perfect."

Finishing what cider remained in her glass, Vivian thought how much her own improvisations were about to be wicked awful. She put her glass back down, without a sound.

"The question is," she continued carefully. "How much do you want?"

This elicited a genuine but quiet laugh from Lawrence; he watched her for a second, still smiling. But as much as his sudden cheerful mood was catching, Vivian was wondering what was so funny in what she said.

"A whisky before we leave and somethin’ of the kind when we’re there sounds fair to me," he declared, with a look around the boardwalk of the cantina and the surroundings of the fountain behind Vivian. "It will at least take us two days to get there."

He nodded towards someone out of Vivian’s sight before adding:

"If you need supplies, now’s the right time to think about it."

Vivian agreed — aside from a can of water and a travel kit that, in all honesty, was more of a survival kit, she had nothing in her saddlebags.

"Thanks," she said, simply because she had no idea what else to say — and because she was too polite. "Mister… ?"

Lawrence lowered his head and shook his hand, lazily.

"No, no, please…" he replied, a frown on his face but without any real annoyance. "We’re in for quite a trip together, you can call me Lawrence."

Vivian nodded.

"I’m Ivy…"

It was her real nickname — one her few friends had given her and that she adopted fondly. In front of her, Lawrence leaned towards the table to hold out his hand, palm open as though he had a change of heart about payment. But Vivian got it; he was offering her to shake his hand. And a smiled appeared on his lips as she did.

"Nice meetin’ you, Ivy…"

His politeness effort didn’t slip past Vivian who, even though she appreciated it, couldn't ignore a twinging thought; should she come back in the park after this visit, he wouldn’t remember her… and this "first encounter" would become one among many that only she would remember. That, even with the help of her script.

Lawrence let go of her hand before standing up.

"I’ll be at the stables," he said. "Got some stuff to deal with before leavin’, too."

"Very well."

She observed him as he walk towards a young man, hopping up and down with anxiety and he started to talk really fast to Lawrence as he arrived. The boy was radiating so much stress and guilt that Vivian felt nervous just to look at him. She turned away to see the barkeep coming her way. Without even waiting for him to give her the prices of the drinks, Vivian dropped a few coins next to the empty glasses.

"Keep the change," she muttered as she stood up too.

"Oh, thanks!" he replied, visibly pleased, gathering the coins without waiting. "Safe travel and come back soon!"

She replied with a simple, tight smile before walking down the street to the western gate, towards what looked like a grocery store.