#this is - i believe - the shortest chapter of all
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
iced-souls · 6 months ago
Text
Book of Paviy “Chapter 1” YAYYY!!
Chapter one being: Paviy Cores
Magic in dynaton IS also referred to “magic”, but obviously there’s still “rabbit out of the hat” kind of magic, so actual more biological kinda magic is specified as “paviy”. [*cough* paviy which is just magic in some language i made up because i once again have a problem *cough*] It can also be referred as “cadrai” but it’s not as common to hear.
Tumblr media
PAVIY CORES!! It’s where paviy itself comes from. Every living organism has their own paviy, including plants, animals, fungi, etc.
Non-living things don’t USUALLY have Paviy cores, but rather they simply have “free-roaming paviy”. For example, a rock. How is a rock made? From a bunch of dead things/magma/many different reasons, but overall it’s made up of a bunch of different things drying up and smushing together or something. So it’s not taking the paviy cores of the other things, but rather the paviy it was expelling, so different paviy types are all mixed together in a rock.
However there can be cases with said rock, usually really really old rocks, where paviy cores can be found in them. Usually they’re real weird lookin.
Now onto the actual paviy core-
Tumblr media Tumblr media
While every organism has at least 1 paviy core, some don’t actually need it to live. Thanks to biology, some people have a build/structure like a human, where it doesn’t need a core to help in distribution of bodily things, those people who live completely off of their physical biology are called “non-pavilents”.
Meanwhile people who need paviy cores to live, where their structure is more specific and physical biology didn’t evolve into them as much, those people who would either die or who’s body wouldn’t work fully are called “pavilents”.
Therefore Paviy cores only have an actual biological attribute in pavilents, and maybe some non-pavilents. Otherwise it’s only function is related to paviy itself, with releasal and absorbtion [More talked about in later chapters—]
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Now what happens to the paviy core when an organism dies? Simple answer; it dies, but a lil later.
Since paviy core aren’t fueled by nutrients/blood/water/what the host needs to live, but rather the paviy in the world. It’ll last a little longer after an organisms death, depending on the paviy in the area. More specifically, the paviy it’s attuned with.
Attuned paviy is also probably something in a later chapter, but overall it’s the paviy type that feeds the paviy core, while the other types that get absorbed are released back out and usually turned into nutrients for the body.
Therefore, as long as the cores attuned paviy is around it after host death, it’ll live. Once its area runs out of it however, the core will die, usually turning into free roaming paviy as it dissipates.
Since paviy can be turned into nutrients, technically you can eat paviy core, but it’ll be a lil difficult considering paviy cores aren’t all that physical. Depending on the consumers attuned paviy and the attuned paviy of the core they are eating, the core will either fill the consumers body or core.
And that’s all for chapter one!! See you on the next one
1 note · View note
ldysmfrst · 4 months ago
Text
Incomplete (1) - A Pull to Where?
Tumblr media
Paring: Ateez OT8 x Plus-sized FemReader
Status: Ongoing series
Chapter number: 1 of unknown
Word count for Chapter: 3,376  
Word count for Story: 3,376  
Genre: Idol Soulmate AU
Warnings: NOT BETA READ!! This story will contain a bit of angst, fluff, smut, f/m, m/m, and m/f/m. This chapter does not really contain anything to warn about. (let me know if I am wrong)
Story Summary: Ateez are soulmates who earned their way to Fame once they found each other. What happens when a new pull comes during their Towards The Light World Tour? Does 8 really make 1?
INCOMPLETE MASTER LIST / LDYSMFRST MASTER LIST
Tumblr media
“I can’t believe it! We are all here for the LA concert! This will be the first time for us. I am so proud of everything and love you all,” exclaimed Hongjoong. Looking around BMO stadium quickly before the VIP ticket holders came in, he could not believe they finally made it after six years. 
“All thanks to our wonderful Captain,” Seonghwa says as he back-hugs his shortest soulmate. “Did you see the lines are already starting to fill with our Atiny? Are you sure we brought enough Merch for all of them?”
“Don’t worry about that, Hwa. I am sure our management brought what they could. Remember, we have to split it between two shows. Are you sure you are up for this? You haven't taken the time to lament your grandfather’s passing. I am sure Atiny will understand if you cannot make it through the show,” Yeosang comments with a concerned look.
Smiling softly, Seonghwa replies, “Atiny are my light in my darkest times. Right now, performing for them… I feel like I am performing to keep my own light shining inside. I couldn’t do this without them, and want to perform best for this tour to honor my late grandfather.”
“Hwa, he is so proud of you. I can tell,” Hongjoong says, turning his head to kiss Seonghwa on the cheek.
One of the stagehands tells the three soulmates, “You have one hour to get ready for sound check.” 
“Let's head backstage and get ready to charm our Atiny,” Yeosang remarks as he pushes Seonghwa and Hongjoong towards the back. 
As the three missing soulmates make it behind the stage, Seonghwa feels his chest tighten. Dropping his hug on Hongjoong, Seonghwa makes his way to the side, where he can glimpse the lawn where the queue is set up for the merchandise and the standard entry. His eyes search the crowd for something. 
Maybe someone familiar or someone to stand out. 
Seonghwa was the most sensitive of all his soulmates, which is why he was known to Atiny as Momhwa. He always cared for the children (San, Wooyoung, Johngo, Yeosang, Mingi, and Yunho) while the Captain was off doing captain-like things. He was also the one to beg for alone time but then worried 24/7 that the rest of his soulmates were being taken good care of when they weren’t in his eyesight. 
Recently, the kids have grown up, which has allowed Hongjoong and Seonghwa to focus on other things. During this time, Seonghwa noticed that he felt like something was missing, but he wasn’t sure what it was. Looking over the crowds, it felt like something was nearby, but what could it be?
“Hwa-hyung, are you okay? Did you see someone out there?” asked San after noticing the intense look on Seonghwa’s face as he peeked out the gap in the stands. 
Rubbing his chest, Hwa replied, “Yeah… I think so. It just gotta be nerves. Still get them, ya know?” San nodded with a smile. “Being back in LA means so much to Joong-ah, and I don’t want to mess it up.” 
Shrugging off the tightness, Seonghwa went to his chair to prepare for sound check. He took his seat between Mingi and Yunho, who are always inseparable; their idle chatter overtook Hwas's thoughts as they got closer to showtime.
Tumblr media
“Good job on the sound check, boys! BE:FIRST is ready to go on, and the rest of the gates will open in five,” called another stagehand as they rushed by.
“Mingi-ah, how is your back? You seemed like you were limping a little,” asked Yunho.
“It’s my chest that feels like… I don’t know, like a burning but not a painful burn,” Mingi answered, rubbing his chest. 
“You too?” San and Seonghwa asked at the same time. The three of them looked at each other with wide eyes. Grabbing the other two, Seonghwa pulled them closer to the rest of the group.
“Hey guys, listen to this. San, tell us what you feel,” ordered Hwa.
“Umm… well, it is like a strap around my chest, and it’s pulling me out of the stadium,” San told the group, “Why, hyung?”
“Mingi?” prompted Hwa.
“Yeah, that’s pretty accurate,” he agreed. Looking over his shoulder at BE:FIRST taking the stage, he rubbed his chest harder. "Whatever it is, it just kicked up a notch, but now it's pulling…”
“Toward the stage, right?” Seonghwa urgently says. “Like it’s pulling us to the other side of the stadium?”
San and Mingi nod in agreement. Seonghwa, however, watches Hongjoong’s confused reaction to this information. 
“Hey guys! First set of costumes now, please!” urges the wardrobe noona. Reluctantly to end the conversation, the members get dressed and head to their positions to start the first of two LA Shows. 
The feeling of pulling intensifies as they take the stage, pulling around the stadium and then towards the crowd. The three who feel this intensity seemingly find themselves consistently on the same side of the stage. So often, when they return for their first intermission, the Captain pulls them aside.
“What is going on with the three of you?” Hongjoong asks urgently. “San, you have to pull it together. You are up next. Focus on all of our Atiny, not just the one side. Remember, the performance for our Atiny comes first. We wouldn’t be here without them. Please don’t make the others feel left out.”
“Sorry, Captain. I will do better. I better hurry and change,” San pouts as he runs toward Wooyoung, who also looks concerned. 
“You two, figure out what is going on. I know you both are sensitive to energies and such. If it is something bad, we need to warn security. Even though we are in Korea, it doesn’t mean they don’t have crazed fans, too,” warns Hongjoong.
“You got it, Hyung. Hwa-hyung and I will try to figure it out, but the performance won’t suffer,” Mingi says confidently. Seonghwa nods in agreement as they change costumes and proceed with part 2 of the concert. 
Tumblr media
“Seonghwa, San, Mingi, and Hongjoong, what in the hell is going on with you?” exclaims their manager. “Green room. NOW. All eight of you.”
Thankfully, this is a longer intermission as the eight follow their manager’s orders. Pilling into the room, they notice their following change of costumes is laid out and ready for them. Without hesitation or shyness, the soulmates start to change as the manager comes in, “Talk.”
“Manager-nim, we are trying our hardest, but there is something about that side of the venue that is pulling the three of us,” Seonghwa says, pulling up his pants. “I think there is either someone important over there, either someone we already know or someone we need to know.”
“Only the three of you feel this way?” asks the manager, looking around at the rest of the group. 
The rest of the group nods or voices their agreement as they change. He continues, “If that is the case, then you three must stick together, and the rest of you will entertain the rest of Atiny. See if you can figure out what section this “important person” is in.”
“Yes, manager-nim. Thank you,” San bows with a huge smile. Even though Seonghwa and Mingi were the more sensitive ones, San was the one who could hone in on the source the best of them all. He could technically leave the stage and run around with the manager's permission. 
San glanced at their Captain and Seonghwa with a questioning smile, to which both nodded, and San took off looking for his personal security guard. None of the security guards liked it when the boys would go around Atiny, but they got paid extra, so no complaints were heard. Once they discussed San's route, during which song(s), it was time to get in place. 
Taking a deep breath, San focuses on the pull and latches on. It was time to figure out who or what was causing them such a feeling.
This member of the Demon line was on a hunt. 
Tumblr media
“Damn it!” San yelled, throwing his hat against the make-up vanity. 
Wooyoung ran up behind him, pulling the fuming soulmate into his arms. “Sannie, it’s okay. Maybe they left early? Do you still feel them?”
“Yes. Yes, I do, but because of the send-off, we cannot go out there and find out what is happening,” San whined into Wooyoung’s neck as he hugged the slightly younger soulmate. “I know what section the pull is centered on, but what 50-100 seats are in that section alone?”
“Maybe they will be at the send-off or back tomorrow night?” offered Wooyoung.
“Hey, San-ah, thank you for trying,” Seonghwa says, entering the room with the rest of the group. “We had a sold-out stadium, and I am proud of you for getting the section down. We can talk to the arena or Ticketmaster to see if they can share any information with us.”
“You know that is all private information, Hwa-hyung,” chides Jongho. “They can’t give out that information. It probably isn’t anything big. If it was something or someone important, they would have reached out to KQ or RCA Records by now or will soon. Don’t let it bother you much longer.”
“You three need to make sure to get rest for tomorrow, please,” asks Yunho.
San, Hwa, and Mingi sigh at the idea that they can’t find any more information right now. San swears that he almost had it. Mingi knows that it is more important than the others believe. Seonghwa thinks he has finally found what is missing.
Tumblr media
Today couldn’t have started any worse! 
First, you were so excited that you didn’t get a proper night's rest because you couldn’t fall asleep, and then you kept waking up, hoping not to sleep through your alarms. 
Second, your car breaks down and won't be ready til Monday, but luckily, it is the dealership's fault, so they give you a rental car. 
Third, your make-up artist, who you paid extra for, is sick, so you get the newbie who can’t do a dramatic eye to save anyone's life.
When you meet up with friends who had pushed you to listen to the K-pop band known as Ateez, things finally turn around. You hadn’t seen the two of them in a couple of years, but because of your mutual delulu (not really) ((well kind of)) love of the eight-membered band coming to Los Angles for their World Tour, you finally got to spend time together pining over some of the hottest men in the world. 
You spent the better part of the first half of 2024 sharing shorts, reels, Facebook posts, and YouTube videos back and forth. Because of those interactions, you realize you don’t have a bias.
True, you did lean towards Seonghwa and San, but then again, you always liked eyes like theirs or Hwa’s unisexual vibes, and even San's boyfriend code made you smile to yourself when he wandered into your daydreams. 
With that in mind, your friends got you a “Baby Atiny Bias package,” which included a photo facecard of San in a cute fuzzy kitty-looking pouch, a SANdeoki mini doll, and a Lightiny with Ateez logo keychain. You shocked them with your excitement to finally have something representing that you were and will always be an Atiny! 
After changing into concert-attending clothes and correcting the failed makeup job, the three of you decided to make your way to the Pop-Up, hoping to get some merch before the concert. This was your first pop-up, and it was at a place called Hello82! By the time you arrived, hardly anything was left, and your friends said you would have better picks at the arena. 
After grabbing some extremely needed coffee due to damn insomnia and the weird dreams of the eight men fawning over you, then some lunch, it was time to head to BMO stadium.
LA traffic sucked on a typical day; add in a K-pop concert, and the Dodgers playing just made it a bajillion times worse. However, parking was a breeze, which was surprising, to say the least. 
That’s when the good times came to a standstill. 
Literally. 
Over three hours of standing in the sun before you finally made it to the front of the merch line, they were sold out of everything you originally wanted besides the Seonghwa picket. So you settled on a sleeveless shirt and the picket.
You decided that you would have to get the Hwa one because you already had all the San stan stuff (s-cubed, you giggled to yourself), and you didn't save up enough to get all eight.
When the three of you needed clarification on which entryway was right, your friend asked a BMO employee, who guided you to the standard line. 
Well, they lied. 
After an hour of waiting in line to go to the standard entrance, you were informed that you actually had floor tickets that required you to enter the other end of the arena.
By this time, BE:FIRST had just taken to the stage, which pissed you off because you loved the new song they collaborated with Ateez on called Hush Hush, and you wanted to support them too. 
Finally making it into the arena, you are still walking to your seats as Ateez takes the stage in their white princely uniforms, making you want to melt on the spot. You weren't normally a lover of white, but you loved them in white. The demon-line looks like angels before their fall right now.
Luckily, the floor tickets came with someone to take you to your seats, so you could at least follow the worker while your eyes never left the stage as Crazy Form kicked off the show. 
Once in your seats, you never used them aside from the strange little intermission video thingies they did. You were standing, yelling, screaming, attempting to sing in Korean, and jumping up and down. You were amazed at the sold-out arena that they had. I'm so lucky to have a master ticket-grabber friend to get these seats.
Spinning around, you noticed another reason for the group to fall even harder: they had American Sign Language interpreters.
With how hard the base was in most of their songs, you knew they had to have a decent following from the Deaf community, and seeing them honor those Atinys almost made you want to cry. Your mom is hard of hearing, so you know ASL also, and your mom was a closet Atiny, but no one will ever know. 
They sang so many songs, and you knew all of them. EEEKK!!
Maybe you were a little obsessed with them over the last two years. But they were mixed in with others like Stray Kids, Astro, ZeroBaseOne, BigOcean, OmegaX, WaveV, and BTS. You had variety in K-pop and even started listening to J-pop and T-pop as well.
As for Western music, don’t ask about anything that happened or who was hot because you hadn’t a clue. Suddenly, the concertgoers around you start screaming their heads off, breaking you out of your inner discussion.
“Look, look! It’s San!” exclaimed your friend Kat while poking you in the side. Pointing over to the section next to you…
There
He
Was
San was there, like… right there, and he was walking this way while singing. 
OUCH
You grip your chest at the sudden tightness. Damn. You knew you would react if you ever got close to any of the K-pop idols you loved, but this was a bit extreme. You lived in LA County. You see actors all the time. It’s no biggy… so why?
Your eyes never left his form as he walked around the section you were in. He is so attentive to all of the Atiny that gain his attention, you notice. Being older than the 7/8s of the group and conscious of the age-haters out there, you sink back, letting the younger fans have their time.
Besides, you are a baby Atiny, and people like your friends Kat and Cindy have wanted to see them since they debuted. Plus, you also had a healthy understanding that they were just people who decided to share their talent with the world. That was another thing you learned living in LA for so long.
“Where did you go?” Cindy asked. “He was right here. You could have gotten some amazing pictures. I bet if you had shown him your SANdeoki, he would have given you at least a high-five.”
Standing back up, you looked around, “Cindy, I am not gonna take his time away from others that are bigger stans than I am. Maybe next time.”
“Yeah, sure, you just got nervous meeting one of your crushes,” Kat teased you. “If Seonghwa came down, you would have spontaneously combusted.”
“I think after the looks she gave Mingi, SanHwa now has competition for their spot as her bias,” Cindy laughed. 
“Oh, quite you two. You guys know that I have a hard time picking my favorites. I have an easier time picking ones that I would have a harder time meeting, like Jongho, Lee Know, or Seokjin. Those guys scare me with their seriousness.”
Tumblr media
As the eight members said their goodbyes, your chest got even tighter, and your eyes started to well up. Why does it feel like you are leaving a part of yourself behind?
My goodness.
You had heard of post-concert depression, but you thought that was a joke. You attended a N*SYNC concert as a little girl and even a Creed Concert in college, but you never cried when the show was over. 
That is when you heard the laughing. Looking up at your friends, they are trying their best not to bust a gut as they watch you lamenting over the end of the nearly three-and-a-half-hour show. Glaring at them playfully, you stood up to leave but noticed a group of fans sticking around in a section near the stage.
“What is that for?” you ask.
“Oh, they must have VIP with send-off included,” offers Kat.
“What is a send-off?”
“It’s when the bands come out and meet fans, sign some stuff, take pictures, blah blah blah as they leave the venue they are in,” she clarifies. “Those were sold out before I could get them. Actually, all the VIP stuff was gone in the blink of an eye.”
“Coachella totally boosted their American Atiny numbers,” commented Cindy.
“I almost went to Coachella. You know Bethany? She works with Coachella and a few other festivals around here. She offered me to join the team for the first weekend because they were short-staffed, but I couldn’t swing it,” you said as you headed up the stairs to exit. “I wish I had said yes because she got to meet them all. She says that San and Wooyoung are a total couple, and the Twin Towers are too.”
“Well, I am glad you didn’t go, or I wouldn’t have been able to have our first Ateez concert as a memory, plus YOUR first K-pop concert EVER!!!” screamed Kat!
“Well, now that all of BMO knows,” giggled Cindy.
Laughing along with them, you rub your chest, still feeling a tightness you swear is pulling you to the stage area.
Tumblr media
Ignoring the strange and slightly painful pull in your chest because you are not a delulu American sasaeng, you take a deep breath and focus on your photos.
“Holy Shit! I have over 700 photos and videos!”
“Yeah, and wasn’t she just mumbling about not being a sasaeng?” questions Cindy as you get to the car to go home. 
“Well, I have until the Stray Kids concert next year to go through them all and widdle it down to my favorites. That way, I can take 800 of Felix and Bang Chan,” you snark back. 
Buckling up your seat belt, you can’t help but keep your eyes on the BMO Stadium. Your chest gets tighter and tighter as you get farther away. Your mom has always mentioned following your instincts because they would know better than anything your mind will tell you.
So why are your instincts telling you that you left something important behind?
Next
Tumblr media
Permanent Taglist - OPEN
@bethanysnow @braveangel777 @danielle143 @elliegrace1999
Series Taglist - OPEN
@nenefix-on @dimeb29
150 notes · View notes
misasimagines · 3 months ago
Text
ok sorry I'm studying Ren in a lab again. random thoughts
- he has asymmetrical earrings, one stud on one ear and two in the other. curious decision. but I do adore it.
- I love how he looks like he's trying to pose in a "I'm not posing, this is natural" way in his "melancholic misfit" card and in his sr uniform card and his casual outfit r card because it just makes me think he does care a lot about how he looks and how he's perceived. I just think he's the kind of person who spends a decent amount of thought and time to put together and outfit that looks like he's NOT trying but also doesn't make him look slobby. He spends time making his hair the Right amount of "I didn't do anything to it" but he did. For sure. so I also think he smells nice and fights really hard against smelling like the diner or any of the animals in Jabberwock. he puts effort in. He just won't let it be obvious. But I Know.
- I think he's one of the taller (not tallest but not mid or shortest) ones canonically? and I'm personally a believer in him just being bigger than he wants to even acknowledge. Like he doesn't want to take up space or be the guy who someone looks at when they're like "I need a strong man to help me carry these chairs!" Bc he doesn't want to help, but everyone probably was like. 👀 You will help, right? You can carry it right? case in point, carrying Haru in the Jabberwock chapters and being like whatever I'm not that strong, it's just easy when you do it like this. Okay. But also how did you know that? Also no, no it's not that easy to just fireman carry someone AND a little octopus AND a little bunny monster. I know you're a ghoul but christ. And he complains that Haru makes him lug around heavy things around Jabberwock. I'm only stating facts here.
- okay now I've pulled out the demonology research below
(source)
Tumblr media
(source)
Tumblr media
I'm crazy and I researched the demon that his stigma is likely unscrambled out to be. Of course take this all with a grain of salt because although I screenshot these from book excepts available through Google scholar, well... It's demonology and hermeticism and occultism and I'm not here to debate their credibility.
Anyway. Not much that explains explicitly what Ren's stigma would be, but our tsundere lazy gamer bf being contracted to a demon who ENCOURAGES sloth? Yeah that tracks.
also (source)
Tumblr media
HMM? She who walks in the sea (recall Astaroth is the evolution of a female goddess Astarte/Ishtar/etc) and our gamer bf hates the water? Hmm.
(source)
Tumblr media
this just was funny to me. he's built but he looks kinda fucked up.
(source)
Tumblr media
and again, the commonality here is that 1) Astaroth stinky and 2) has some kind of knowledge of the past, present, and future/can divine these things at will. So? Why is his stigma related to cleaning/making the mess disappear? Could it have to do something with this control over the past/present/future? Can he change when something is occurring/has occurred? I have no clue, especially when, when it comes to ghouls who have some kind of idea about the Timeline, signs point to Taiga being the one to have that knowledge. If you look up Balam in the same books, well...
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
There is considerable overlap. So.... I don't know what to come away from this with lmao
I hesitate to make any theories based on the evolution from a fertility goddess because it's a reach and I have little to no expectation that it will be a point in his lore in game, but the information is there for you to do with what you will.
There's not that much like juicy information I could find in my short search that wasn't pay-walled or of dubious authenticity (reddit, blog post from 2003, etc). I could probably spend the time and find more, but alas, I don't have that college access to databases anymore </3 Please let me know if you come to any theories from this though!!
76 notes · View notes
ecargmura · 6 months ago
Text
Unpopular Opinion: I Liked The Hashira Training Arc! (Season 4 Review)
Unpopular opinion: I liked this arc! While the Entertainment District arc will always be a personal favorite of mine, the Hashira Training arc was fun for a majorly low stakes arc where there is no demon slaying. I liked seeing Tanjiro going through shenanigans with the Hashira and fellow Demon Slayer Corps. It was a definite calm before the storm before all the stuff that transpired at the end of Episode 7 and the entirety of Episode 8. It definitely got me engaged and anticipating the movie trilogy.
Tumblr media
In the manga, this was Demon Slayer’s shortest arc with it only being 8 chapters, I believe. Ufotable expanding the training and also giving anime original content was a real treat to fans because fans of the Hashiras can have more content before the the depression that is the Infinity Castle arc (Yes, I read the manga and yes, I know how depressing the next arc will be). Sanemi and Iguro actually get a lot of action scenes because their skills weren’t revealed until the Infinity Castle arc, so it’s a treat to finally see them finally get some action, even if it’s anime original content.
I think the best part about the arc is the added content. In the manga, Tanjiro goes through each Hashira training in a page or two. That’s it. He just sweeps through them like that. Ufotable takes time to help both Tanjiro and the viewers see what he is going through for each training session. Some take weeks to finish.
The first two episode is mainly a rundown of what’s to come for the other episodes and a sneak peak at the Infinity Castle, which finally appears in the season’s finale. It’s mainly the Hashira learning that the Demon Slayer mark that Muichiro and Mitsuri temporarily got back in the previous season is an effective way to take down demons, hence why they decided to hold a training session so Hashiras and the corps can get a boost in power before the big fight. Giyu was the only one who didn’t want to participate in it, so the second episode was just Tanjiro trying to cheer him up and learning why he is detached from the rest—it turned out to be due to self-loathing over the fact that his friend Sabito died while trying to protect him during the Final Selection Exam. Fortunately, Tanjiro was able to get Giyu to cheer up and he recovers well enough to participate in the Hashira Training, which is from Episodes 3 to 7. Also, no one is harking on Shinobu for not participating in the training session; though, she has a reason to not participate…
Tumblr media
What I liked about the Hashira Training is learning what Uzui and Muichiro have been up to since their spotlighted arc. In fact, all of the Hashira Training is to get attached to the Hashira before the big showdown. While Uzui has retired, he has been helping out with the training by making the corps do basic training like stamina building and endurance. His three wives Suma, Makio and Hinatsuru tell Tanjiro that Uzui does want to participate in battles again, which worries them. It’s nice to see that the Hashira has their own fair share of worries even after retiring. I don’t think Uzui wants to fight demons out of bloodlust, but it’s more like he wants to help out. Muichiro, after getting his memories and emotions back, is still the same in demeanor, but the way he’s super sweet to Tanjiro but super cold and condescending to the other corps members was hilarious. He clearly has favoritism. I think the best part of these two episodes is seeing Tanjiro motivating the other nameless corps members to work hard! Tanjiro will always be a ray of sunshine to everyone!
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Episode 5 is where the Hashira spotlight sort of stops because Mitsuri gets the short end of the stick. While she is still the same after the Swordsmith Village Arc, it would have been nice to learn what has changed for her since then. Though, I would admit that her flexibility training is the scariest of the bunch because getting your legs stretched out all the way when it’s not used to it is terrifying. You need your legs, after all! After that, Mitsuri’s training is done and then Iguro gets most of the spotlight, which makes sense because Iguro isn’t really showcased as much in the manga. Giving him that extra spotlight is necessary. I honestly liked the Iguro training segment because of how it was animated. The first episode showcased Iguro’s Breathing skills and he is able to utilize that in a regular wooden sword. Though, I do admit that Iguro tying up the nameless corps onto poles does make me wonder if they were tied there afterwards on purpose or if they always angered Iguro. After Iguro’s training is Sanemi’s training where it’s just hacking and slashing, but Tanjiro gets the most fatal blows due to his dislike for him. After helping Genya and trying to stop an angry Sanemi, Tanjiro gets a restraining order and is suspended from doing Sanemi’s training. The backstory between Genya and Sanemi was shown in Season 3 and why Genya wanted to apologize. I know that Sanemi does have his reasons for getting angry at Genya and why he was telling him to quit the corps, but he’s not doing a great job on expressing it. I always saw Sanemi as a bit of a foil of Tanjiro in a sense as they’re both the oldest but their treatment of their only living family member is totally different due to how they process the trauma.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Episode 6 is where the comedy starts because it was the most hilarious episode. Just seeing Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke reunited to do Himejima’s training session was so funny. Tanjiro had to be the mom friend by saving Zenitsu and Inosuke from drowning in two different occasions. Also, learning about Himejima’s backstory in the following episode hurt a lot because the kid who ratted them out to the demon in order to survive was the kid who bullied Zenitsu in his flashback back in Season 1.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Then in the last two episodes, Muzan finally shows up. After making small appearances here and there with new Upper Four Nakime in order to search for Nezuko, Muzan located Ubuyashiki and entered the base. It was amusing that the penultimate episode had him walk for like 5 minutes. Muzan confronts the Master and after talking with each other, the Master launches the craziest bombing I’ve seen in an anime so far. He legit did a suicide bombing with Amane and his two daughters Nichika and Hinaki—if you saw the opening, the Master has 5 kids, so no, his entire family isn’t wiped out. Where are the other three kids? Well, watch the movies to find out.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
I think the finale was very memorable because of how everything played out once the bombing happened and how every Demon Slayer Corps got sent into the Infinity Castle in hopes that Muzan will wipe them out for good. It does reflect on what Ubuyashiki said before with how the Demon Slayer Corps are eternity in itself in a similar way to Muzan. In order for Muzan to be eternity, he needs to wipe out his main obstacle so that he can find Nezuko without anything blocking his path.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
The animation has been consistent with the quality getting an upgrade whenever there’s an action scene. However, the finale amps up the quality tenfold. The way Himejima attacks and also blocks Muzan’s attacks to seeing Tamayo’s expressions move around from anger to regret were seriously a visual treat. The music was really good too! The finale really amped up the soundtrack. Go Shiina really knows how to produce quality songs—I’ve always been a fan of his pieces as I am a big fan of the Tales series.
Tumblr media
All in all, making the Infinity Castle arc into a movie trilogy is actually the best solution because the arc is very long and it mainly consists of fighting the remaining Upper Moons. Trying to condense the arcs into a television series might be difficult due to choppy pacing and untimely cliffhangers. While I’m not necessarily a big anime movie fan, I still do think this is the best route Ufotable can take with a big franchise like Demon Slayer. What are your thoughts for this entire season and your thoughts on the movie trilogy announcement?
Tumblr media
60 notes · View notes
entomjinx · 8 months ago
Text
ONE PIECE CHAPTER 1113 SPOILERS!!!
It's tagged, it's in bold, if you didn't see it that's on you, but I'm sorry. (I'm also a little sick so sorry for how this starts to turn a little insane at the end.)
The reveal makes perfect sense. I've seen a few people struggle to figure out where it came from, so I'm gonna explain why it makes perfect sense and then pop off with some silly theory.
The first hint at the fact that the One Piece world is sinking exists all the way back in Long Ring Long Island.
That seems like an odd place to start, but it's the first time we're shown how drastic the tides of the ocean in the One Piece world can change. It's enough to separate entire parts of an island, causing it to appear as separate islands, once every year.
This implies that the tides change drastically over the course of much longer periods than it does in the real world.
After that, we get to Water Seven and discover that it's sinking, and that the Aqua Laguna is getting worse every year. We also know that it's caused by the water receding at Long Ring Long island. We're also outright told that they want to make the city float to stop the sinking problem.
We also, much later, see just how high Wano is in altitude.
Knowing that the Redline is so tall that it cannot be passed by any ship, cannot be broken through, and that Mariejois is sat right on top of it only adds to why it makes sense.
The world isn't "sinking," those some islands technically are(Water Seven, modeled after Venice), the tides are going to rise exponentially, and fast.
The force of the water would instantly drown most people, and those who survived would be those who could get to higher altitude islands, the sky islands, Fishman Island, or the Redline.
And because I know someone will try to point this out: land bound plant life can temporarily survive underwater, so Ohara's 5000 year old library tree would be fine for a a bit while submerged. There's lots of places with high tides who's plant life is just fine. (This also could explain why they'd be so willing to throw the books into the water. Not only was it to save them from the fire, but many of them had likely been submerged for long periods of time before. They knew the books would be find in the end because they had record of it. And well, it's mentioned in the chapter that Vegapunk means to finish what Ohara started.)
This would also explain how thorough the government was able to be with wiping out information from the void century. If only a few places can survive, then few things that tell the truth will survive, and even fewer people.
Do I think I'm 100% correct about any of this? Or course not, it's Oda. It's One Piece. Things are pretty much never predicted with 100% accuracy. But that's my thoughts on why it makes sense. Now we get into theory:
I have several points to make, so I'm going to write out the shortest ones first.
-This would, completely unironically, explain some of the centuries long racism campaign against fishman. They have no reason to fear the high tides. They will survive no matter what happens on the surface, and that scares the humans who cannot.
-I think that the extreme tide is a part of why the bridge is being built in Tequila Wolf. I believe the bridges purposes is to connect all the highest points of the world so there's no need for ships to carry them. This way, the Celestial Dragons will still have access to more slaves, produce, and anything they can't get within Mariejois on their own during the time period when everyone drowns.
-and now we get to the big one:
I think that the reason the 20 kings and their people destroyed the ancient kingdom is because the ancient kingdom had a way to survive the high tide while keeping the maximum number of people safe in the process, and while being able to save many more people. They refused to ask for help, and were instead afraid of the power the ancient kingdom held, so they sought to destroy it.
I think that the ancient "weapons" were instead a means of survival, and the reason they were hidden is because the 20 kings would have used them as weapons instead. We don't know much about the ancient kingdom, so much of this is speculation.
I think Pluton was a large enough ship that it could carry the entire kingdom. We've already seen some massive ships in One Piece, and Iceburg intends to turn the entirety of Water Seven into a ship, so the idea of an island sized ship isn't all that odd.
If you continue to think about it, why did none of the Beast Pirates manage to find Pluton while searching for the poneglyph in Wano? I have two theories for this based on the fact that we're told Wano would have to open it's borders in order to get Pluton. If the walls would need to be torn down, then we can continue to assume that Pluton is massive.
Theory one is that Pluton is is hidden within the mountain itself, and that the mountain was man-made to hide the ship. Not only would the walls need to come down, but the mountain itself would have to be destroyed. They would also need a way to survive the high tide without it, so creating a mountain that is high enough in altitude to keep them safe would have been a necessity. I think this is the more believable of the two theories.
Theory Two is that Pluton is Wano. The entire island is the ship, and many of Wano's people descended from the people of the ancient kingdom or those they rescued. This one is much less likely, but it's still a possibility in my mind.
We know that Poseidon was the former mermaid princess, and that the current one is Shirahoshi. She can control the sea kings. Why would this be important? Because if everywhere floods, then the sea kings, who are already very large creatures, suddenly have an influx of room to move, food to eat, and places to lay eggs. It would cause a population spike. *However,* that would cause an ecological disaster within the food chain. The sudden influx of sea kings would be desperate for any food they can get their hands on, and many would likely die of starvation. This means they need some way to repel them from the large ship.
We don't know anything about Uranus yet, so I've nothing for you.
Another thing we know about the ancient kingdom is that they seemed to be friendly with everyone, or at least it's implied via how many friends Joy Boy made.
Fishman: Along with the bonus of having Poseidon, the fishman also have access to the tree resin from Sabaody. Should the ship(Puton) or the ancient kingdom ever need to submerge in order to keep people safe or to have a temporary air bubble, They'd be safe.
Lunarians: The people who originally lived on top of the redline. Sinee the redline is high enough to not sink, it would have made sense for them to be trade partners.
Skypians and Shandians: Another race with wings. if the tides really got too high, then they could join them in the sky sea for a time. They could also trade with them.
Minks: Zunesha was a friend of Joyboy's. We don't know much else about that situation, but it's likely that Zunesha is plenty tall enough to keep the minks from drowning, and they could have traded often as well. Maybe Zunesha was even able to do something similar to the giants.
The Giants: This feels like the most important one to me, and not just because of recent chapters. Obviously the giants think very highly of Nika/Joyboy, but it's also very likely that Elbaf is tall enough to survive the high tide, and if not, the the giants themselves are. If you look at what's known about current giants, some of them are tall enough to walk along the sea floor, and the ancient giants were so large that it's said they pulled and moved continents.
Why is that bit important? Because a ship the size of an entire island would likely need a lot more than sails buoyancy to move quickly. The ancient kingdom was pulled by the giants. They moved to different areas to rescue people and to trade so that life continued while the tide was at it's highest point.
Another random thing that supports this is the giant's vehement hatred towards Charlotte Linlin. She has Totto Land, which is supposed to be a place where all races live in harmony, but it would be a mockery of what the ancient kingdom was like, and for giants, who live about 300 years, that's only a few generations back. They would still have stories about the ancient kingdom and remember the truth.
Again, I don't think anything I predict will ever be 100% accurate, but I hope you enjoyed my rambling nonetheless.
97 notes · View notes
fumifooms · 1 year ago
Text
Marchil crumbs masterpost
Tumblr media
Because I can and I will. Someone already made a tiny one way back but I lost it idk if it was here or on reddit… And we’re so small that we have no tag… I can’t credit you sorry marchil warrior you are not forgotten. I’ll definitely updating this whenever I find a new crumb. We’ve already reached the 30 pics cap part 2 coming soon. They do interact a ton I suppose. As always it’s not because I put moments on here that I’m saying they’re inherently romantic blablabla.
Part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7
My vision: Unstoppable force vs immovable object. Corrupt (money) bitter divorcee and corrupt (magic) hopeless romantic. Emotional constipation vs emotional intelligence. Streets savvy vs prestigious academic. Girl with the longest lifespan possible who has trauma over loss x guy with the shortest lifespan who has trauma over past romance. They would take their romantic interest to the fricking grave.  Halfling vs elf. Emotionally distant vs clingy and needy… Not that Chilchuck doesn’t seek her attention plenty ngl. By all means they are so incompatible and yet their dynamic is so delightful, opposites certainly do attract if Kui’s to be believed because these two constantly drift towards each other.
To me they're the embodiment of "If we want the rewards of being loved we have to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known". Oh actually that'd apply to Laios and Dunmeshi as a whole as well-
She’s his worst nightmare. Opening up to someone?? The audacity to ask that of him. She raises his blood pressure to dangerous levels. He would risk his life for her.
Tumblr media
Tumblr media Tumblr media
HIS WORST NIGHTMARE (what he needs). She's classified as a friend who won’t shut up btw Notice how on the dating sim chapter cover, the clicky hand is always on the choice he ended up choosing in canon except for two, Falin’s and Marcille’s. Meaning he may have hesitated on it, on telling her she was pretty? She’s front and center~
It’s notable that Marcille is the main victim of his teasing, he criticizes Laios and everyone plenty but teasing is done much more towards her than anyone else, and we can see that it is something he enjoys. Perhaps one of the things that put him in a good mood the most, besides alcohol and laughing at others in general lol. Here’s a post compiling a lot of that teasing: link
Tumblr media Tumblr media
He often confronts her about things and teases/insults her but it's always without any real animosity, sometimes having problems with her actions but never disliking her.
She craves his approval? More likely than you think.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Chilchuck having a sparkly flustered Marcille on his mind and failing to pull her ponytail so she'd give him her attention the right way, then being devastated when she claps back lol. For as much as he teases her, she’s very much able to stand up for herself when it goes too far and to challenge him on some flaws he may have.
Tumblr media
Marcille’s canon shapeshifter of Chilchuck is the most convincing one/last one standing! In which he was nicer because Marcille still had some trouble not seeing him as young and thus innocent. Which besides the whole age thing, her having an accurate but nicer version of Chilchuck in her mind is pretty flattering lol
In the earlier chapters they stick by each other the most, often sharing knowing glances and judging the other together. They share this complicity and "wow finally someone sane in this party" energy that none of the others have in quite that way. Comrades in disgust.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
-----
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
He cannot escape her gossip, she will not rest until she knows all and has met his family and romanticized his life and relationships. She’s the one who pushes Chilchuck to be more open about himself the most. Which, we do also see her being jealous when Chilchuck opens up more to others instead of her, like pic below. Moreover, we see that she’s able to read him like a book to the point that it freaks him out!! Oh the horror of being known… Relationship goals, freak him out bc you understand him so well Oh can I just point out as well that they're the only ones who saw each other's succubus. Like wow knowing each other's most alluring form? Dayum
Tumblr media
When doing her theory about what happened between him and his wife, the pictures where her roleplaying as his wife, like literally with her being a half-foot like in the changeling chapters and the mini chilchuck for a baby lmaooo. Which I just now realized that means Marcille’s question about if his wife has blonde hair is valid, we technically don’t know if he already liked blondes or if it’s an acquired taste. Give me a sec to recover from that-
But yeah Marcille is so people-obsessed that she catalogues every little detail about someone, like how Chilchuck complains when he has to wait after someone… She notices things and takes them in stride even if they’re flaws. (In first page, it's the bottom row middle panel)
Tumblr media Tumblr media
She wanted to sleep in his bed when Izutsumi was being clingy and she didn't want to sleep alone <3
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Here he goes to her to either help her stay upright or comfort her… Uncharacteristic of him but very sweet. What are you gonna do if she collapses on you big guy, collapse along in a show of solidarity?
Tumblr media
He's been shown to make sure Marcille stays safe a few times as well, like below. No I will not accept "she's the healer of the party" as a full explanation. He really does get an arc, from not wanting to be anywhere near the battlefield to sticking by his party members. Unlike Laios, Senshi and Izutsumi they both tend to hang in the back in battles, I love how they often strategize together as well.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
The reverse is also sometimes true. Especially with how non-shy Marcille is with physical contact, interestingly she's way less delicate about saving others than him lol.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
He’s the only one shown to flinch when she makes a noisein the bath which leads me to think he’s the one most flustered by the whole Marcille changing and bathing close by thing, it prob doesn’t help that he has great hearing but yeah, he seems to be hyperaware of her presence in those instances and overreacts.
Tumblr media
"Come with me and braid my hair every day!" Meanwhile Chilchuck is fighting for his life holding her at an arm’s length
Tumblr media
I can’t believe this is on his ADVENTURER’S BIBLE DESCRIPTION like that thing is one big paragraph about his whole character and you allotted that important limited space for this. Kui do you hear yourself
Tumblr media
Part 2 here
268 notes · View notes
akingdomscrypt · 9 months ago
Text
War is Over (and what have we done?)
Part Four
Pairing; Graves x m!reader (slow burn)
WC; 2.9k
Summary; Graves is tired of being ignored.
Warnings; not really any? Not yet at least. Minor flashback stuff where it's implied he's trapped in the tank when it caught fire, mentions of death/pondering
A/n; probably my shortest chapter yet. I spilt what was originally one part into two because it just felt??? Off?? To put them together as one thing?? Idk but I felt like it called for more than just a few paragraph breaks
(also thanks to @/rousseau-vargas and @/embry-garrick who are my biggest motivators rn, next half of part will be out soon)
Tumblr media
(idk how to explain it, but I love how his mouth moves..)
Tumblr media
---"more than he bargained for"---
Phillip was bored out of his goddamn mind and a prisoner in his own fucking base. Which, to be fair, he had definitely anticipated would happen when he came back.
He had known he’d fucked up; he knew you would be angry. It had been a long time, Phil had been gone for nearly an entire year. Him suddenly appearing again after being presumed dead? That was sure to stir up some unsavory feelings; he had expected a bit of rage, some lashing out here and there.
He, for some unknown reason, hadn't predicted this.
You, trapping him in his own goddamn base.
Phil doesn't know how long he's been stuck within these same four walls—thankfully he'd been detained in one of the spare rooms, one with a small bathroom, and not where the temporary prisoners were usually kept—, but he does know that, especially if he stays here any longer, he's about to lose his damn mind.
He thought he knew you. Figured you'd eventually calm down—like you always did—and come back to collect him. Maybe chew him out a bit more, which would be well deserved, but then let him go. Reconcile. That's what usually happened when you two had a minor scuffle.
But this wasn't just a small mishap, some little blip on the timeline because Phil had gone a bit too far once again. Been a bit too snappy; had said the wrong thing. Was it?
With every day that passed, every second that dragged on, Phil was starting to believe he didn't know you as well as he had thought he did.
It's hot. It's so fucking hot. Phillip should have known better than to actually be in the damn tank when all this started, you, his dear co-founder, had warned him against it. But what was Phil to do? He'd rather face this heat a thousand times over, relive it again and again as much as it took, than have one of his own soldiers trapped in this chunk of metal.
Did he really think he would win? Well.. maybe. Phil had his doubts before this, you had your doubts, but he had insisted. And now he was going to pay for it stuck in this gradually melting, scalding hot box.
Another few raps of his knuckles on the wall, and still no answer.
Phil was really starting to get annoyed at this point. He was more than tired of being ignored, which only manifested in an uptick of his provocative behavior.
The hallway is on the other side and you, his dear Phantom, wouldn't leave him unguarded, would you?
Definitely not. So, again, he follows his obnoxious knocking with a shout of, “V! For Christ’s sake, I know you're out there!”
And he did, who better to have stand guard outside his door than your most trusted soldier?
He may not know you like he used to, and you may never admit it, but Phil could pride himself in the fact that you were at least a little predictable. And you had always been fond of their dearest Venn.
But, as had been the norm of how ever fucking long Phil had been trapped in here, there is no reply.
Phil had warned them. He had tried his damnedest to get those damn 141 boys to stand down, his orders hadn't been against them. Not originally. Not until they, as per usual, stuck their fucking noses into shit they don't belong in.
Was this what hell was like? Was this him paying for the horrid massacre he had commanded?
Phil could have gone against orders. He could've told Shepard where to shove it and be on his merry way��with his family Shadows alive. No one had to die. No one but Hassan and his goons had to meet their end.
But, goddammit, so many had. So many innocent lives were wasted.
Phil had been doing this shit for years, doing the dirty work no one else would, the kind the average military couldn't.
That didn't make it any easier.
He often put on a front; he had to. For his family's soldiers sakes’. If he was afraid, if he shied away from the blood and the gore, the screams and the terror, then he wouldn't be the strong, unmovable rock his soldiers relied on. Now would he?
He should have said no. Or maybe made some sort of compromise. But he hadn't, and there was no point in ruminating over what had been done. He was going to die here—it is what he deserved—, stuck and helpless.
Just like the innocent people whose lives he had stolen.
He knew you were just being stubborn. You would come around eventually- right?
Phil had never doubted you before. Having started this damn company together, just two wayward souls searching for something to call their own, tired of being tied down with yards upon yards or red tape—oh, the irony of that sentiment. You two had never been free.
Even when he pushed you away. When he left you the morning after—every damn time—to wake in his bed alone and cold. Not a trace of the warmth from the night before left behind.
Even when he refused to admit what you truly meant to him.
Phil had always assured himself that it didn't matter, he could say and do whatever he pleased, because you would always come crawling back to him. And you always had. No matter what.
Until right now.
Until you didn't.
“V! Goddammit, open the door!”
It was so fucking hot. He could barely move, mind fuzzy and breaths coming out in short, labored gasps.
What little movements Phil could make were sluggish and weak. The latch didn't work, and subsequently that meant the door didn't either. He was well and truly stuck.
Phil thought he was starting to make peace with that. Dying. It had been a long time coming, hadn't it?
After all the bloodshed. After all the things he had done in his life—all the blood and gore, the purposeful ignorance and choice to look the other way. To pretend not to care.
He deserved this, right? He was getting what had been coming for him. Finally.
It should have come sooner. He had lived plenty; he had done enough harm in his time.
Phil's tactic at this point was simply to be as obnoxious as he could possibly be, and annoy Venn into inevitably opening that damn door.
And after a few more harsh pounds of his fist against the wall, and several more calls of her name, Phil gets his wish.
In the form of a frustrated shout and the door slamming against the wall so hard it's a surprise the poor thing stays on its hinges, but he gets his way nonetheless.
“What.” Venn spits when she finally gets inside, arms crossed over her chest and one boot tapping furiously against the floor.
“That's no way to speak to your Commander, V.” Phil sing-songs, all upbeat and shit, against his own better judgment.
Ah, yes. Let's piss off the one direct line you have to Phantom more than you already have.
That's sure to get him his way.
“You're not-” Venn cuts herself off, sighing heavily and starting over. “What do you want, sir?”
She says the word with none of the respect she used to and, honestly, that was fair.
“Better.” Phil still hums. Because he's an asshole. And because he can't seem to stop himself, apparently, the snark seems to be hardwired into his brain or some shit.
“What. Do. You. Want.”
“You know what I want, V.” She makes a face at the nickname, and Phil pretends not to feel that little twinge in his chest. It's not like he doesn't deserve it. They used to be close. All of them.
“Not going to happen.” Venn snaps immediately. Defensive. Predictably.
“You know I'm not going to stop asking.”
“And you know it's never going to happen.”
“Fucking hell, V, why not?” Because he doesn't deserve the right of seeing you. Because he already fucked this up before it had the chance to be great.
“Because he doesn't want to see you.”
She's told him that before, several times over, to be honest, but Phil still can't hide the slight grimace that pulls at his features when Venn says it again. Says it with so much confidence, so much conviction, like it's an obvious fact everyone else has been made aware of and he's just been too stupid to pick up on it.
Phil has already been made well aware plenty of times. He just didn't want to believe it.
But what about you?
Would you be okay without him? Would the others? Phil knows you have never been the most.. well put together. But after you two got out of that wretched regimen, when you two banded together and created this little pretend family, things had been better.
Phil had been able to get you to open up more. To get you to behave more as yourself, and not like the shell of a man who he’d met when you two were still green.
You talked to him more. Got a bit better at talking with your fellow Shadows. Let him touch without flinching first, let him get to know the person beneath the aloof exterior.
Even though he had given nothing in return.
Would you make it out if this? And if you did, would you forgive him?
When you dug up those pieces of metal from the wreckage, those little markers of his identity, no doubt having melted to be nearly incomprehensible, would you bury them with his singed corpse? Or would you keep them safe? Tucked into a pocket of your vest, above your heart?
Would you tell his grave the stories of your future when the ashes settled? Would you bring flowers, or would you spat over the very earth he rested beneath?
Would you leave the stone unmarked, or with those few precious words you two had agreed upon all those years ago?
When he was gone, would you mourn? Would you miss the warmth of him above and beside yourself? Those whispered confessions spoken under that blanket, amidst the cover of night, would you forget them?
Would you forget him too?
“And he told you this?”
Venn goes silent then. One thing about her; though her moral compass was just as fucked as the rest of theirs, though her hands were bathed in the same amount of blood, Venn was a pretty shit liar.
“He doesn't even know you're in here, does he?”
More silence.
“Oh, you poor thing. First lying and now going against your Lieutenant's direct orders? What has become of you, V?”
“I don't need him to say it to know it's true!” Venn huffs, sending Phil a scathing glare.
“So you're making assumptions now? Dearest, Venn, you know what they say about people who assume..”
“The same way you assume he'll want to see you?”
Phil opens his mouth to protest, say something, but he draws blanks. What if she's right? What if you really didn't want to see him? Hell, did he even cross your mind anymore? Did you even remember you'd put him here?
Phil clamps his mouth shut and there's an audible clack of his teeth snapping together.
He hasn't seen you since that fateful day when, like the absolute dumbass he is, he had sent you storming out. Taunting and prodding, as Phil usually did, but you truly had been acting differently that day.
Or maybe it wasn't just that day. Maybe you had really changed, and Phil didn't know that man beneath the shell anymore.
He should've seen it more clearly when you walked in dressed head to toe, even that pretty face of yours masked. You didn't like shit like that. Always used to complain to Phil how much you hated them, being so covered up, made you feel claustrophobic or whatever.
But these days you wear it like a second skin.
“I deserve to see him.”
You had always been so calm, and he would often compare you to the soothing waves of the ocean washing over the cool sand of a beach after midnight.
But even calm waters can turn deadly in the blink of an eye.
“Deserve? You think, after what you did, you deserve anything?” Venn isn't masked, so the disbelieving look she gives him is quite obvious. Paired with a humorless, and honestly a little off-putting, laugh. “You don't deserve shit, Graves. And you definitely don't have the right to seeing him, not when-”
She cuts herself off then, and, if Phil had been thinking clearly, he would've asked for clarification. For her to continue because maybe, maybe he wasn't the only one privy to see that you weren't the same man you used to be.
But he doesn't look deeper, doesn't dip below the surface of that pretty ocean blue.
He never does.
“You can't keep him from me forever-”
“I'm not keeping anything! He hasn't even come down this way all week-”
“But he has come down here-?”
“Yeah- but not for you-”
“Just get his ass over here, V-”
“No! Why are you so stubborn? He doesn't want you!”
Ouch. But he's heard worse. From you—to be completely fair, Phil had usually said his own scathing handful of words beforehand. “You don't know that!”
“I understand you two started this shit together, so you assume you've got some weird, cryptic claim over him-”
“-that's not what this is about-”
“But he is his own person, Phillip! You two may have been friends before, but things have changed. You don't own him-”
“It's not like that-!”
“Oh, really? It's not like that?” She's up close and personal now, face to face, mere centimeters away. Huh, Phil never noticed the few inches she had on him. “How is it not? All you talk about is how you deserve to see him-”
“I do!”
“That's not a good enough reason! You can't just say “I do” and expect me to drag him down here. He's a very busy man!”
“You don't understand, V-”
“Then tell me! Help me understand what could possibly earn you the right to deserve seeing the man!”
“Because I fucking love him!” He shouts. “and I deserve to see my fucking boyfriend, for Christ's sake!”
Phil doesn't realize the words that had accidentally tumbled out of his mouth until Venn is pulling back, brown eyes widened in shock.
Oh. Oh shit. Ohhhhh shit.
You were going to kill him.
Seriously this time. Phil was a dead man.
“You-” she stutters. “Him- what. I- huh??”
“Shit- V-” Phil rushes closer, hands fidgety and hovering awkwardly around Venn as if wanting to grasp hold of her shoulders. He backs off and opts to pace the same nine foot strip of carpet instead, hands fisting into his hair. Tugging a bit here and there until he manages to settle enough to cross his arms instead.
Still pacing, pulse jumping.
“You can't tell him I let it slip, alright?”
One dark eyebrow raised, she asks, “Why not?” and rightfully so. Phil probably looked like he was losing his damn mind right now.
“Because-” because he had never said it before. Had never had the courage to admit it. To name what he had with you. What he wanted with you.
Because despite that so clearly being what you wanted from him, written so openly on your face when you looked at him. The most obvious you ever had been, about anything—and it was him who caused that.
Still, he had never put a label to it.
“Because he doesn't need to know.”
“Bullshit.” Venn scoffs, curiosity now flipped back to protective anger.
“It's not that big of a deal-”
“If it weren't, you wouldn't be acting like this. Would you?”
Ah. She had him there.
“Listen, Venn,” he says, voice low, tired. “You don't know Phantom like I do. This won't blow over well if you tell him.”
“I think I know him plenty well...” She says, more so like that of a stubborn child.
“If I get him-” Venn starts, hesitating. For a moment Phil thinks she's going to give him some big speech about not doing anything, blah blah blah, or she'll send him to an early grave or whatever. She exhales deeply through her nose, shutting her eyes briefly before looking at Phil again.
He doesn't think he's ever seen her look so damn exhausted. Suddenly seeming much more like the grown woman she is, and not the rambunctious teen they usually tease her for behaving like—all in good fun, of course.
“Just..” she trails again, as if weighing her options on whether to tell him or not. “Be.. gentle.. with him. He's not–not the man you used to know. He's.. changed.”
He had figured that much, but Phil surprises even himself when he utters an, almost soft, “okay.”
Venn gives him the barest hint of a smile before dropping the expression entirely, a far away look in those dark brown hues.
After a moment of silence, she turns to walk away. Appearing unable to even gather the energy to speak a goodbye, the door shutting inaudibly behind her; Phil can't even blame her for that one. Seems he wasn't the only one to pick up on your odd behavior, and he had only spoken to you once since his return.
He wonders what you had been all this time with no one to report to, under zero supervision—then he considers that he may not want the answer.
__
Masterpost | One | Two | Three | Next
__
@cptg00s3 @ruthgrimxiao @20nerd04-blog @gloma08 @mikahrh @in-down @hauntedapplefarm @mello-life69 @unkn0wnd3ad @tayaisback @starre-eyes @gabbvr-dog @suhmie @lazyrel @spiritsofthedead @yeonpm @its-ares @k1ssesofdeath @ravagerdogz @embry-garrick
If you want to be added to the tag list, or removed, let me know in the comments!
113 notes · View notes
otdiaftg · 10 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
The King's Men - Chapter Eleven
Day: Friday, February 23rd Time: 1:22 AM EST
Neil hugged a knee to his chest and followed Andrew's gaze out to the campus. The trees lining the hill between Fox Tower and Perimeter Road blotted out most of the streetlamps, but there were lampposts every twenty feet on the campus sidewalks. It was way after midnight but Neil saw at least a dozen students out and about. "Maybe I'll go to Colorado," Neil said. "It'd be an interesting change of pace, anyway. I've mostly stuck to the coastal states." "Not California," Andrew said, not really a question. Neil didn't know if Andrew was humoring his best attempt at having a conversation about something other than Exy or if he was genuinely curious. Neil didn't really care. Andrew's disconnect—learned or forced— meant they probably amounted to the same thing in Andrew's book. That Andrew responded at all and prompted him to elaborate was victory enough. "I went through California on my way to Arizona but didn't stay. I liked Seattle, I think, but…" Neil remembered the thick crunch of a pipe against his mother's body. "I couldn't live there again. I couldn't retrace my steps to any of those places." "How many is 'any'?" "Twenty-two cities," Neil said, but didn't say he'd spread them across sixteen countries. Andrew still thought Neil had hit the road alone all those years ago. A child couldn't go back and forth across the world without help. "Longest stay was that year in Millport. Shortest was one week with my uncle." "Am I supposed to believe he's real?" Andrew asked. "You told Nicky you would see him over Christmas. You lied." "Uncle Stuart is real," Neil said. "He was the first person I went to when I ran away, but he's a gangster, too. I didn't feel any safer with him than I did at home so I left again. I still have his number, but I've never been desperate enough to call him. I don't know what his help would cost me." Neil looked at Andrew. "Did they move you a lot?" "Twelve houses before Cass," Andrew said. "They were all in California." "Were any of them good?" Neil asked. Andrew stared Neil down a minute, then stubbed his cigarette out and reached for his drink. "None of the ones I remember were."
Art used with permission by Danka-in-art. Thank you @danka-in-art!
90 notes · View notes
yua-nism · 1 year ago
Note
I saw your tags and I’m now very intrigued like what do you mean yuhan has the SHORTEST TRAGIC BACKSTORY?!?! JUST WHAT IS GOING ON?? like granted I should have known a game about devil cat butlers would have some angst and tragic backstories but god damn 😭😭
there was a miscalculation on my part and yuuhan's is in fact, not the one with the shortest backstory! however that's only because the others have yet to have their backstories be revealed. sorry for the late answer btw, exams have made me pretty tired.
ok so ill briefly explain a bit. this ties in to the requirement to become a devil butler that is, having felt so much despair that one feels like dying. normal people will be swallowed up by the devils they contract with. the despair essentially acts like chains for the devil. so to talk about their pasts in the Briefest Way Possible (lie):
miyaji has beef with lucas on the surface but really it's because he still can't get over the fact that lucas decided to save him from the verge of death instead of someone else he thought was more capable than him while lucas simply chose to save miyaji because he had higher chances of living.
lucas was basically a child prodigy/genius. since young, he's always loved reading books, and even read thick books that even adults struggled to understand. even though he was lonely and had no one to talk to, he still endured it, skipped grades, and became a doctor at the age of 10+. at first he was looked down on for being young, but an older doctor stood up for him. eventually he became the leader of the doctors, but due to his lack of social skills, he struggled to communicate well, which resulted in the doctors hating him. in the end, all the doctors except lucas quit their job. and the group collapsed. (tbf id quit too... imagine being said you didn't work as hard as him and don't have as much brainpower compared to him as well)
ammon has only had his mom since birth and lived with her, selling flowers for a living. ammon would always make sure the flowers would be sold out at the end of the day for his sickly mother, but if he doesn't manage to sell all of them it's heavily implied his mom whips him like he does to himself even now. they were like super poor but ammon still loved his mom because he only had her
berrien has like this super mysterious past but rn it's starting to unravel in chapter 4. he's an orphan and got adopted into a church backed by the grovanas or whatever nobel family to nurture warriors who could fight angels, but surprisingly the church is actually full of love and was ran by someone who fighted angels named Goetia. berrien also met his soon-to-be older brother figure named Beren/Belen. btw all of the kids go by the last name Cliane because goetia wants everyone to become true family.
when berrien was 26 (Beren 29), goetia died from a chronic disease and Beren had to take on goetia's responsibilities. berrien became the one running the church, however shit happened, Beren got demonized, and berrien used his powers to keep Beren alive after forming a contract with his current devil. he's still residing in berrien's basement as of current, but in a coma. berrien still thinks he himself has no rights to be a butler and really does not believe that he's the one keeping the damn thing running
also the church got destroyed like 2400 years ago and yes berrien is 2000+ years old
haures was born into some wack ass family, his dad ran away with some other woman and his mom projected her rage and stuff like that onto haures, and his newborn younger sister Tricia. haures is 10 years older than Tricia. when he was that age, he ran away from home with Tricia (literal baby) because he no longer trusted his mom to take good care of them. after that, when haures was 18, he trained hard to become a soldier under the grovanas nobles so he could afford to let Tricia get treatment for her worsening vision. one heartbreaking scene was when haures showed off his red uniform to Tricia and she said the blue uniform looked good on him... but 5 years later, haures managed to get Tricia's eyes healed!!! surely nothing bad could happen!!!!
sike. haures caught one of the grovanas nobles illegally trafficking humans with some dealer, and arrested him. however that led to the seller getting revenge, and he decided to capture tricia. he stabbed her and threw her into the woods. when haures found her, she only managed to call out to haures before she died after a few breaths. haures was really really really devastated. he sought revenge on the noble, and while the noble didn't die, he was jailed 5 years for harming the noble (not death sentence because he was determined mentally unstable after losing Tricia.). after he got out of jail, he found the noble again and wanted to kill him, but he was reminded of how Tricia admired him for protecting the people and helping those in need, which stopped him. after that, he became a devil butler because of his proficient fighting skills.
lamli was forced to work at a circus by his mom at the age of 10, while starting up with simple duties, he decided to train to become a circus troupe performer so he'd earn more money for his complaining mother. its heavily implied he's abandoned by her and becomes a devil butler because of his nimble body. btw his mom said she never wanted to have lamli right in front of him. jesus.
fennesz was born into a wealthy happy family, and had an older sister. however his war general father lost a war against nobles, and the economy went into shambles. his mom remarried but even though their stepdad was nice, fennesz and his sister ended up strays on the street due to some reasons i forgot of. fennesz would get bullied by kids on the street because of his father's loss in the war, but his sister would always protect him, and they relied on each other for survival. she's very smart, as shown in the story. she also loves history, as she said, it can help people learn from the past. its heavily implied she is dead.
ok flure! flure grew up with his older sister and mother who both did ballet (can one of you have an actual dad for once?), and he also followed in their footsteps. however when he was a child he was bullied for liking stereotypical girly things, like playing with his sister's dolls, doing ballet and having long hair. even though he was laughed at for doing it, he still underwent strict training guided bg his sister and mother. he never found the courage to tell his sister or mom even though his sister could tell something was wrong (heard him crying at night). he still thinks he should be more courageous to this day and thinks he's pathetic. we don't know what happened to his family but they probably died.
i wanted to talk about boschi but i realized idk much about him apart from the fact that he only had his grandmother (who's actually a great caretaker for once!) and he was bullied for being a bookworm/nerd at school and had no friends. though he did actually beat those bullies up later for mocking his grandma when she wanted to take him back home. she didn't want boschi to fight but she said herself she was actually rooting for him when he was fighting LMAOOO love her for that
lono. ok so lono was really poor and had no parents, and he acted as the older brother for the younger kids living on the streets with him. he'd work as someone who'd clean up rubble from battling angels, which was a job that had unstable income since no one knows when angels are gonna appear. they were family basically. lono would rather starve than let his siblings eat less, and his love of cooking originated here because he loved seeing them happy from his cooking. we don't know what happened to them, but they're probably dead
nac was born into a rich family, and has a father, not sure if he has a mother, never mentioned at least. apparently the stein family was great at sales or trading or smth??? they're just some very rich and well-known name. however on his 12th birthday, his butler led him to the forest near the stein mansion, and revealed himself to be someone the stein family harmed. just as he was about to kill lil nac in shock, nac retaliated in defense. and when he realized, he already stabbed the man at his vital point. his dad appears out of nowhere and reveals that he knew this all along, and that the stein family is actually a long line of assassins with sales as their front personas. nac was trained to kill since then, and thought he'd never feel positive emotions again before he became a devil butler. he also has scars all around his body, probably from the assassin work he did.
lato and his non-blood related brother, Aleks I think? were kidnapped by people who wanted to train people to become angel fighters. however unlike berrien, this time it's just pure cruelness and literal torture. they were 8 when this experiment started. not only that, all the children were sold by their caretakers to this place, including lato and aleks' "mother", the head of their orphanage, who they deeply loved and believed in. when lato finally found a way to escape, almost half the children were dead.
and when he told the others, they told lato that they already gave up on escaping, including aleks. from, i suppose, all the suppressed anger and trauma, he burned the experiment facility down, leaving the other kids to die because he hallucinated that they wanted them to be burned so they could be free. after that, lato returned to the orphanage even though he knew the "mother" sold him in the first place. guess what the mother did! that's right she ran back into the orphanage when she saw him, locked the fucking door and told him to get the fuck away from her. and lato burned the orphanage down.
now onto the new butler trio!
teddy is the one with the most details in his backstory so far. when he was young, he Had a twin brother, and teddy was a far cry from who he is now. he was negative and gloomy compared to his brother, who was positive and talented, and people always favored teddy's brother more. but one day, his brother died protecting him from an angel, but since they were so alike people didn't know whether the one that died was teddy or his brother. and after grieving his brother, teddy decided to become him, and used his brother's name to live on as him so people wouldn't be sad, because "teddy" was the one that died. and that led to teddy forming his personality today. teddy is his actual name though, he started using it after he became a knight. he became a knight because he wanted to protect people from angels.
but during an attack by an intelligent angel, namely seraphim, one of the angels that appeared at the end of chapter 1 and also the major antagonist of the story, teddy's entire unit got killed. at the start of chapter 2.5, he recuperated in a hospital, however he kept terrible nightmares (reliving the massacre, and hearing the voices of his comrades asking him why he abandoned them and why he got to survive) and so didn't sleep at all. he eventually snuck out of the hospital to visit their graves, and then started wondering what the point of him still being alive is. he almost threw himself off a cliff before haures and aruji reached him.
hanamaru. ten years before the story, hanamaru was fleeing from something- he walked all the way from the east to the central, and collapsed in a forest. a nun found him and took him back to a church that doubled as an orphanage. however the nun soon fell ill and died, so hanamaru began taking care of the kids in the church after he was saved by her.
but 5 years later, the church was attacked by angels. he was away from the church when the attack happened, and when he came back, all he saw were angels flying away from the ruined church. only 4 kids survived. hanamaru had a breakdown, and kept kneeling and pressing his head against the ground, saying things like "i couldn't protect them", "i swear ill keep them safe next time", implying this is not the first time something like this has happened. he swore vengeance against the angels that day, that he would never forgive them, and himself. so berrien suspects that the 4 kids that survived were the people that kept hanamaru around. who knows what could've happened if they passed as well...
lastly (finally), yuuhan. at the age of 9, he trained to become a soldier of the sardeis family so he could protect his hometown, and made it after 3 years. he quickly rose up in the ranks, being a prodigy. in the main story, he started doubting his loyalty to the family after they attempted an assassination on the devil butlers. and he betrayed the sardeis family and fell into their trap when investigating forbidden records. he got thrown into jail by the head, and the head decided for his punishment, yuuhan's whole village and everyone he knew there will be burned and killed. he could only despair in jail. in the story, after his prison guard left after serving him food, yuuhan started crying. he called out to his father, his mother, everyone from his hometown, apologizing again and again, believing that it's his fault that they died.
after that, the head, fubuki, paid him a visit. fubuki beat yuuhan up, pushed him to the verge of death, but not grave enough injuries to die. yuuhan asked fubuki to kill him, but fubuki refused. he even says he'll force feed yuuhan till the day of his death execution if necessary. however, yuuhan was rescued by the butlers during his execution. (it took place in a forest with tigers. basically the death penalty is getting eaten by tigers) he became a devil butler after that.
holy shit. also im not typing Bastien's since you can read his backstory from the tls available here.
110 notes · View notes
lemonnsss · 11 months ago
Text
Moral of the Story Chapter 4
Tumblr media
Gif by: @celebritiesandmovies
A/N- I’m so sorry for the late update! I’ve had some issues with my health recently that have led to some related issues in school; but, I’ve been feeling a lot better and tried to edit this up quickly.
It’s not my best work, but I had no idea what to do with this chapter, please forgive the nonsense.
MotS Masterlist
Taglist: @vicmc624 , @mostlymarvelgirl , @yvonneeeee, @beetlejuicesupremacy , @moonlightreader649 , @whattheduckisupkyle , @chrisevans-realwife, @nekoannie-chan , @mrsbarnes32557038 , @imyourbratzdoll , @weallhaveadestiny
Word Count: 1.2k
Tumblr media
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The thought that Scott would leave never so much as crossed my mind. How could it? Jean and Scott had been dating since the seventh grade.
I must have reread his email half a million times, each time hung on the words “I’m leaving the mansion too.”
I was pulled from my shock as I heard the door shut behind me. I put my phone away, internally prepared myself for the interview questions, and turned around, standing from the chair. I began to talk before I saw the figure, “Hello, again Ms. Potts. That was quite the situation-” I stopped. I had expected to see Ms. Potts. Instead, there stood Tony, who seemed equally shocked to see me there.
“Why hasn’t Pep sent you out yet?” He moved from the door to the desk, “The last person to make it this long had a mental breakdown a week later.” He passed my side, slipping onto her desk. He kicked his legs slightly before he appeared to remember I was still present.
“Regardless, where is Pepper? She usually never leaves interviewees unattended,” He leans back, bracing himself on one of his arms as he reaches to the top of the shortest stack with the other quickly lifting the top sheet and, while scanning it, says, “and most certainly never leaves them around confidential company information.”
“Technically, the interview hasn’t begun.” An uncomfortable pause fell in the room as he waited for me to elaborate, “Her regular assistant is on maternity leave. Her fill-in accidentally double-booked her- she’s in a meeting right now.”
He let his head fall back dramatically as he scoffed, “Shame, I had wanted to tell her something in private. Do you know who’s all in there with her?” A cocky smirk plastered on his face.
“No? Why, Tony?”
He slipped off the desk, similarly to when he hopped up, “Oh, nothing. Just have a bit of information to share with the class.” he was almost halfway across the room when he turned back to me. His smirk was now a shit-eating grin.
“Wait,” I ran to the man, grabbing his wrist, his expression turning amused, “if the information is so important, would it not be better to share it with her privately as you originally intended.”
I suppose I had a stern expression as I said that as Tony burst out laughing, “What am I? A schoolboy scolded by his teacher?”
“Not far off on the teacher part.” He stopped for a moment before a small smile came across his face.
“Really now? When was that?” He leaned against the table again, his interest shifting to the current topic more and more.
“It was my last job. I taught at a private academy outside Salem for almost three years.”
“Interesting. And what provoked the sudden career change?”
“I don’t believe I owe you that information, Mr. Stark, unless it pertains to a crime.”
A silence passed as he tilted his head one way and then the other. “Fair point. It doesn’t apply to California's laws, but sure, plead the fifth. I won’t judge you.”
“Oh no,” I said sarcastically, “how could I ever go on with the great Tony Stark judging me!”
“Ha-ha, very funny.” He moved his hands in an almost childish manner. Playing to exaggerate his point, “You don’t seem like the type to leave such a luxurious position for any old reason. And given that you didn’t have a job lined up, you left quickly. Why is that?”
“... My long-term partner and fellow teacher at the institution cheated on me with our co-worker.”
I looked up, his face seeming to wander between holding back a chuckle and ‘Oh shit’.
After quickly stiffening his laugh, a voice rang out behind, “Well, that’s quite the loss on their end.” Ms. Potts said from her place, leaning on the doorframe. Noticing her, I stood up, “You were a great help today, and from the small glimpse I’ve seen with you and Tony, well, I think he’ll be in good hands.” 
By the time she finished her sentence, she was standing in front of myself and Tony. He still placed his weight on the desk but now he stood with his back straightened. I couldn’t help but let out a light chuckle, watching how much his demeanor changed when trying to maintain a good image around her.
“Please, Ms.Potts-“
“-Call me, Pepper. Please.”
“Alright… Pepper. Thank you, but you’re too kind. I just did what I could to help. That’s nothing to be hired over.”
I watched as she placed a hand on her hip, looked at Tony, then looked back at me.
“Hun, I mean this in the nicest way I can,” she says as she placed her hand on my shoulder lightly pushing me to sit, “do you want this fucking job?”
"Yes?"
“Great! You’re hired. Tony is scheduled to attend an event in Milan later this week so, I’d recommend you get ready for it. You’ll be at the convention for four days, not including travel days, please keep that in mind while packing. Now, if you don’t mind,” she moved her arm in front of her covered desk, “I have a few rather large stacks of paperwork to get to. Tony will show you to your office, once you’re done you’re free to leave,” she moved around the desk to type something on the computer, “I’ll have the receptionist send the order out for your ID badge, we’ll most likely have it tomorrow, otherwise it will be the day after that.” She moved up to Tony and me pushing him off her desk and casually shooing us to the door, “Congrats on the new secretary, Tony, don’t fuck it up. And to you, good luck.”
And just like that, I was standing outside of Ms. Potts' office with Mr. Stark. He led me over to his office, the room was rather cluttered but, inside and to the left there was a door. He looked over his shoulder, I guess to check to see if I was still there. He then opened the door, which, led to the secretary’s office.
“There’s another door leading in from the hall, so, please, don’t feel required to come through this room every morning. If you have any other questions, you have my number. Otherwise, I have better things to do.”
“I’m good Mr. Stark.”
“Mr. Stark was my father, call me Tony.”
“Okay then, Tony.”
“Well, I’ll be seeing you then.” He gave a slight wave and walked out into his office. The sound of his door closing let me know he was either leaving or heading back to Pepper’s. 
I took another look around the room, it was well-furnished and fairly clean. There was nothing I could see that needed repair either. I wouldn't need to bring anything in.
Tumblr media
We boarded the plane about sixteen hours ago and finally reached our destination. We were about five minutes from landing. I got up to wake up Tony, who had been asleep for the past four hours.
I walked over to his chair, slightly nudging his shoulder, “Mr. Stark, wake up. We’re about to land.”
“Fuck you”
“Apologies, sir.” I sat across from him and buckled my seatbelt.
After I had finished the pilot sent the message over the intercom. Tony begrudgingly followed the instructions. The landing was a bit bumpy, but far from the worst I’d felt.
Once we were given the all-clear to start unboarding we started walking down the airplane's staircase. I started walking towards the car that was waiting when I heard a loud bang. The unmistakable sound of a gunshot rang out. I turned around and saw Tony writhing on the ground.
116 notes · View notes
fallinforerling · 1 year ago
Text
have you met before? | chapter 3 - eh
Tumblr media
ೃ⁀➷ erling’s masterlist
ೃ⁀➷ erling’s taglist
ೃ⁀➷ masterlist
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
You told yourself for the entirety of your shift that you wouldn’t give in due to nervousness; that you wouldn’t feel pressured just because you had a date. But as the hours passed, you felt the urgency to get ready immediately. With a sigh, you said goodbye to who seemed to be the last customer of the day, realizing it was already five p.m. and you were still there.  
Your mind raced and raced, thinking about what type of guy Erling could be. Was he the type to take his date to a fancy restaurant? Or was he more laid-back? How did you expect him to be?
You didn’t have an answer. You just wanted to go out with the same sweet guy you’d met a few days ago. And even though you still saw him as Erling, just Erling, you also knew he was a famous footballer. That made you nervous. Thinking about it made you dizzy, to be honest. 
“Calm down. Breathe.” You told yourself, taking long, deep breaths before relaxing your shoulders. “He’s a normal person, just like you. No need to freak out.”
And it was true. There was no need to see him any differently just because he’s famous. He was the sweet guy who asked for a date, and he’ll stay that way. 
For now, the only concern you were having was that you really needed to get ready, and, for now, the shop work could wait until tomorrow. You gave the clock a quick glance, feeling your heart jump when it marked 5:40 p.m. 
Run. Run. Run. That was the only word that repeated itself in your head as you collected your things, making sure every single lock was in its place before hurrying to the door. 
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
As you predicted, your indecisiveness came through, making it five times harder to choose the perfect fit for this date. 
It’s dinner, but where? Do I wear a dress, pants, a blazer, flat shoes, or high heels? You saw the ridiculous amount of clothes gathering on every flat surface of your bedroom, frustrated when you tried to see anything working, but nothing did. Will he even pay attention to my clothes? You couldn’t know, and it would be such a dick move to throw the first thing you saw just because you were in a hurry. 
Every dress you owned seemed like too much or too little; the other combinations didn’t sit right with you. It was so frustrating that you wanted to call literally anyone you knew for help. And then, just as you were reaching down to your nightstand to get your phone, a miracle happened. The delicate fabric of the dress was spattered on the closet floor, hidden from your sight unless you looked at it in the right position. /t was like destiny. 
“I can’t believe I forgot about you!” You shouted, picking it up with care. It was perfect. 
You hurried to try it on, praying for it to work. The need you felt for it to fit was immense, so when it passed your legs and sat around your hips as comfortably as you remembered, you started to thank every single deity available. Finally. You looked back at your reflection, feeling satisfied with the vision. The black dress, which was your go-to option whenever you had to wear something formal but casual, still fit you like a glove. Everything about it was perfect, from the delicate lace around the cleavage to the way it wasn’t too long or too short. The material was soft, comfortable, ideal.  
The joy you felt lasted only five minutes. You shot your phone a glance, and suddenly you didn’t care anymore for the dress or the state of your room. It was almost seven. And you haven’t started the process of getting ready. 
“I’m so fucked!” Your neighbors must be hating you by this point, with all the screaming and running around, but you couldn’t help it. You had less than an hour to look presentable. 
Taking the dress off, you hurried to the bathroom, grabbing the essentials along the way. That shower was the shortest— and most effective— one you’ve ever had. You didn’t know if it was the adrenaline, but everything was going your way. The body lotion was absorbing well, you didn’t struggle to find your jewelry, or your favorite heels. Even when you were doing your makeup, you didn’t fucked it up, even though your coordination wasn’t the best. Everything was going your way. And just as you were finishing the eyeshadow, your phone buzzed. 
✉️ Erling: hello beautiful. i’ll be there in five, can’t wait to see you 🤍       
Your heart raced. The feeling of nervousness didn’t leave your body while you made sure you had everything in your bag or when you walked down the hall and into the elevator. The butterflies in your stomach seemed to be fighting each other on your way to the main entrance, and just when you finally stood outside and your phone buzzed, making you look down at it and then back at the street to see Erling’s face peeking out from an impressive car, did you realize there was nothing to be nervous about. 
“Hello, gorgeous.” He got out of the car, making his way to you in three long strides. “You look beautiful, as always.” His hand reached out to you, like he wanted to touch you, but stopped at the last second. “Ready?” His fingers lingered on one strand of your hair for a few moments before he dropped it. 
“I’m ready.” A smile crept onto your face. Without having a reason to do so, you let your left hand act by itself, caressing his arm for a moment. “You look amazing.” 
And it wasn’t a lie. He was wearing a leather jacket that hugged his shoulders in such a way that you couldn’t stop looking. His outfit was pretty much black on black, with his blue Jordans being the only pop of color. His eyes smiled at you, and you knew you were about to experience the best date ever. 
Because you felt comfortable around him. His hand reached for the small of your back, guiding you to the car as you two chatted, but you didn’t feel his touch invasive. The calm that overcame the nervousness had you smiling as you entered the car, taking in Erling’s scent. It smelled like every single thing you liked in the world combined into one. 
“How was practice?” You asked once he made it behind the wheel. The sight of him driving did things to you, so you had to physically stop yourself from touching him again. “I hope you aren’t too tired.”
“To see you? Never.” His smile was so sweet. Oh, how were you supposed to survive this date? “But training was fine, not as exhausting; I’m getting used to their rhythm.”
“It must be difficult to get used to a whole new team dynamic so quickly.” You didn’t know a lot about football, but you could figure out that much. “Do you miss your old team?”
“Honestly?” He was staring right ahead, but you could see one side of his mouth lifting slightly. “A lot. They were family to me, still are.” He shrugged. “But I had to go; football is like this sometimes. We can’t help it.”
“At least your new teammates are nice.” You stated it, but instantly doubted it. “Right?”
“Yeah, they are! I’ve already made some friends. All of them are good lads, can’t say they’re unwelcoming.” 
“I’m glad to hear that. But again, you’re a lovely guy. It doesn’t surprise me that you’d made friends so fast.” Your cheeks were burning red; once again, your mouth acted by itself. 
“Oh, I’m lovely, eh?” His cheeky smile made you laugh, not giving importance to your embarrassment. “What about you? I haven’t met anyone sweeter than you.“
“Oh, stop!”
“I’m serious! Actually, I have a whole dinner to talk about you in a minute.” You felt the car stop, your eyes going straight to the restaurant to your left. “Wait here.”
“What? Why?” You were so transfixed by the restaurant’s fancy exterior that you didn’t catch why he was asking you to wait. He got out of the car, getting to your door fast enough for you to still be sitting there, clueless.
Then your door opened, with him peeking over it with a tiny smile. 
Oh, god. You weren’t surviving this date at all.
“You are lovely.” You said once you got out, taking the hand he was offering. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me.”
Walking to the door, you thought you saw some people taking a double look at Erling. That only reminded you of his fame, but nothing could affect your mood. His hand was warm, and, not surprisingly, big. It engulfed yours in a way that made you smirk.
“Good night. Table for two.” The guy at the reception looked up to him with a blank stare, like his eyes couldn’t believe who he was seeing, before dropping them to the book between his hands. “It’s under Haaland, with a double ‘a’.” 
“Yes, good night, Mr. Haaland... Miss.” He made a slight nod in your direction, looking extremely professional. “Right this way.” He guided you inside the place, which was breathtaking with all of the vintage furniture, the crystal chandeliers, and the beautiful flower themed decoration. “Here it is, table for two by the balcony. I’ll lower the curtains if you like.” Then you noticed the table hiding behind a tall balcony window with an unbelievable view of the city. 
You didn’t know what type of guy this whole date made Erling out to be, but whatever that was, you loved it. 
“What do you say? Do you want to lower the curtains?” Erling’s hand touched yours, which was resting on his forearm, making you wake up from the trance you were in while admiring your surroundings. 
“I… Sure, let’s lower the curtains.” If that means more privacy, then you’ll take it. 
“Very well. Please take a seat while I make the final arrangements for your stay.” The man finally left, making the curtains fall, isolating you both from the rest of the place. 
What was left was the view of the city, and Erling. 
“This is so quiet.” You said, feeling the breeze on your hair. “I like it.”
“I thought you might like it.” You both kept staring right ahead for a few seconds before taking a seat, facing each other with the smile you only wore on your first date with someone. It was shy, sweet, and full of hope. “I’m so glad you’re here. I didn’t think you were going to say yes at all.” 
“Really? Why?” There was no way he doubted it. How was that possible? 
“You were just… so sweet. I didn’t think you’d say yes to a complete stranger. I was hoping for the best.” His smile was mesmerizing. “I was lucky enough to catch your attention.” 
“It was the broad shoulders, actually.” You enjoyed watching his eyes almost disappear while he laughed at your words. “And the long blonde hair.” 
“Were they? Damn, I wish I knew that earlier.” His laugh was so contagious. You liked it a lot. 
“Good night. Sorry to interrupt. Are you open to seeing the menu?” A waiter appeared on the curtain’s edge with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. You understood his expression all too well; he was tired. He handed you the menus with soft movements before placing his hands close to his body. “Please let me know if you’ll like anything in particular; I’ll be within earshot.” Before you could say “thanks”, he had already disappeared. 
“What are you in the mood to drink?” Erling asked, eyeing the menu with interest. “Do you like wine?”
“Only if it’s sweet.” You eyed the menu too, disturbed by the fact that there weren’t any prices listed. What kind of restaurant didn’t have their prices on the menu?
“Well, that’s a deal then. Do you want anything else? Water? An appetizer?” You blinked at the question, not knowing what to do. He could surely afford anything on the menu since he brought you here, but it was still… weird. 
“What about the unpronounceable one with the French name that, apparently, has salmon?” You both laughed at your suggestion, your cheeks going a bit red because it was evident you’d never step foot in a restaurant this fancy. 
“I actually love the idea of eating something that I don’t have the slightest idea of what it has inside.” He leaned over the menu, giving you a look that made your smile wider. “You aren’t allergic to anything in particular, right?” 
“Not at all.” You leaned as well, enjoying the proximity. 
“Perfect then. Weird french appetizer it is! Waiter?” 
The guy appeared out of nowhere, making you wonder if he was closer than expected. He looked as unimpressed as before, so you figured that it wasn’t the first— nor the last time—- that he’d heard weird things while working. He took your order with a quick nod, not questioning or talking unless either of you asked for something specific. 
“Can I ask if you have already decided on the main course?” 
“Oh, well.” Erling took a quick glance at the menu, shrugging right after. “I’ll have a steak, actually. Rare, with… Uh… The zucchini, carrot, and apple ribbons.” 
“What about you, madam?” 
“I’ll have the lobster tortellini.” You said that with enough confidence to not cringe at yourself. Once the waiter left, you eyed Erling, raising an eyebrow at him until he raised one back at you.
“What?”
“Rare?” You laughed, not wanting to believe that you liked a man who ate rare meat. “You are basically asking for an alive piece of meat on your plate, Erling.”
“Ow, c’mon! All the good stuff goes away if you cook it!” 
“You can’t be serious!” You liked feeling like you could mess with him. “I’m not taking any of your food opinions seriously if you think that.”
“Oh yeah? Then it doesn’t matter what I think about your food?” His cocky grin made you blush, but you stood your ground.
“That’s very different, you know! My food is amazing.”
“Excuse me, would you like to try the wine first?” The waiter appeared out of nowhere, startling you both.
“Sure thing, we want to get drunk. Don’t we, dear?”
That didn’t take a reaction out of the waiter, but it made you laugh, so Erling kept making silly comments throughout the dinner until the poor guy seemed done with life in general.
You didn’t remember having that much fun on a date since… ever.
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
“Have a lovely evening. Please, come back anytime.” The waiter gave you a smile wider than the universe; apparently, it only took a good tip for him to actually show emotion and suddenly like Erling’s jokes.
You both giggled on your way out, Erling’s jacket covering your shoulders as you both walked slowly to the main entrance, red-faced from the bottle of wine and full of food that you still didn’t have the slightest idea of what it was. Your hand was back on his forearm, his tall figure feeling warm against your arm as you followed him. 
“I dunno if it would be a good idea to drive right now.” He said once outside, his eyes wandering on his car. “But what else can we do? It’s midnight.”
You both stared at the car for a good minute before giggling nonstop, finding somehow funny how neither of you could drive right now. You were basically stuck there, but it felt like a good thing.
“Maybe we can walk around that park over there?” The idea came suddenly, since it was only now, at the peak of your semi-drunk state, that you noticed the beautiful park a few meters away. “We are not that drunk, so we should be able to walk like normal people… Right?” You looked up to him, catching his pleased smile just in time before he turned his head to look at the park’s direction. 
“We are not, beautiful. But we could walk, of course. Any time to add to this date if a yes to me.”
“You’re so cheeky.” You laughed, loving the feeling of being wanted and appreciated by this man.
You were both tipsy, and one good thing about you being tipsy was that your shyness faded away, leaving your truth, and sometimes unhinged, thoughts to come out. 
“I love this idea.” He said, guiding you across the almost deserted street. “There isn’t anything more romantic than walking around a park at night.”
“This totally feels like a romcom.” You were wearing his jacket, a cute dress, and walking around a park next to a guy that made you feel like you were floating. He was right. This was romantic.
“Is that a good thing?” He seemed slightly worried, which made you smile even more. 
“I love romcoms, Erling.”
You both shared a brief stare, and you felt the electricity run between the two of you. Your skin exploded in goosebumps, and you suddenly remembered he was there, he was real and you were on a date. 
Was he going to kiss you?
“I can’t stop saying how beautiful you look tonight.” He whispered, your steps slowly coming to a halt. His hand reached for your face, and this time, he didn’t stop until his fingers were touching your hair. 
You didn’t say a word, scared of fucking up the moment. You felt your heart beating so hard that you feared it would be noticeable while he kept staring down at you like you were the only person in the world. It was melting you. 
“Erling…” You finally said, reaching for his hand, your fingers exploring the back of it, not knowing what to expect from the kiss that was most definitely coming. 
“Can I kiss you?” He murmured, already looking at your lips with such intensity that it took your breath away. 
“Yes…” 
Once your lips met, your bodies followed. Your hands went for his shoulders, the fabric of his shirt feeling soft against your palms as you held on to them. You felt his hands grabbing your waist, pushing your body against his softly. His lips were soft, warm, amazing. You didn’t recall sharing a kiss on a first date that felt like this. It was so cliche, yet so good.
This was the best kiss you’ve ever had. He was kissing you like it was the best kiss he’d ever had. 
You aren’t surviving this. At all.
˚ ༘♡ ⋆。˚*ੈ✩‧₊˚⋆·˚ ༘ * ERLING’S TAGLIST — 
@questionable-behaviour | @koufaxx | @xjval | @nikki01234 | @evarasworld | @kynykyny | @alleyahah | @444pantheress | @football4life9 | @f1lover55 | @frankcastleonlyfans | @ironmaiden1313 | @pizzapie349 | @may-machin | @squirreljoe
206 notes · View notes
eeunoia · 1 year ago
Text
ENHYPEN Series
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
sinag — psh.
chapter three
synopsis: waiting for a great plot twist in your life, the ruthless and powerful mafia boss park sunghoon forced his way in to it.
pairings: park sunghoon x reader
words count: 2.4k
warnings: a contains violence, guns, killings, abuse, obsessive love & other stuff. if you can't take this stuff, feel free to scroll away. let me know if i missed some.
note: not proof read. sorry if it took a while. i was a little busy. i hope you enjoy this chapter and send me some asks or messages. thank you, stay safe.
© eeunoia 2023 — all rights reserved.
here ‹ chapter two | chapter four › here
Tumblr media Tumblr media
“Here you go.” Jake sat in front of Ni-ki’s table, at his visitor’s chair. His eyes wandered over the younger’s focused face. He’s doing something on his computer, seems very important.
“Thanks, hyung.” Ni-ki says and glanced at him for a bit before resuming back to what he was doing.
“Why do you even need these?” he asks a little curious then pointed over the folder he just threw on his table. “What’s so important about Sunghoon’s men and you ask for their background?” his tone starts to sound suspicious.
Ni-ki shrugs his shoulder off, “Hyung said there’s a rat at one of his men. He asked me to find out who it is.” the younger tilts his head and even grabbed the folder his hyung gave.
Jake’s brows narrowed at what he just heard. “Who would fucking dare betray him? Everybody knows how cruel that man is. They basically sign themself a death penalty at this point.”
“He said the rat snitches him over his Father.”
Jake eyes trailed elsewhere, slowly getting lost of his own thoughts. Ideas came rushing inside his head after hearing about what Ni-ki said. It isn’t new that his father did something to meddle with Sunghoon’s life. He just don’t understand why he tries so hard to make him obey to his commands, when all of them knew nobody can tame Park Sunghoon.
“I guess it has something to do with him searching for that girl, hyung.” the younger stated, eyes never leaving his monitor.
Jake glanced at him, keeping his lips pursed into a thin line. Silenlty listening to what he was saying. It does makes sense since it was very obvious that his father won’t stop pursuing him into marriage with the girl Kwon.
“Aren’t they tired of forcing hyung into that arrangement?” Ni-ki groaned and sighs. “I’m tired for them.”
Jake scoffs, “Inform me if you find out something.”
Ni-ki narrows his brows. “Why?”
“I have a feeling we need to dig deeper about this guy and knowing Hoon, he will execute him right away.” Jake stood up and even fixed his coat.
Ni-ki watches him carefully. “Isn’t it how its suppose to be?” he asks, tone almost sounding so innocent.
Jake sighs and rolls his eyes. He can’t believe how similar Sunghoon and Ni-ki’s attitude when it comes to this things. Their anger issues surely gets the best of them. They want things to be rough and fast. They have the shortest patience out of all of them so he somehow expected this.
“Just inform me.”
Tumblr media
Sunghoon went out of his car and marched his way inside his warehouse. It was midnight and the place was so quiet and dark. Inside, one lamp serves as a light and beneath is a man sitting at a chair, his head covered with a cloth. His jaw clenched hard before he swiftly took off his coat, loosening his tie right after.
“Take that damn cloth off.” he firmly said and his men follows.
“S-Sir..” to say that fear reflects the man’s eyes is an understatement. To see Sunghoon’s dark gaze piercing through him was enough to send him to hell. He was beyond terrified.
Sunghoon folds his sleeves up until his elbow. He didn’t waste any time right after and just threw a hard punch over the guy’s face.
Ni-ki whistles and smirks while watching his hyung beat the shit out of this guy. Jake sighed and shut his eyes close out of stress. He stood up and trudges his way towards his raging friend. He can hear him curse hoarsely.
“Sunghoon,” Jake calls his attention.
He didn’t glance at him at all and steps back, catching his breath. The man’s face are covered of blood and almost unrecognizable. He signals something to his men and one approached to hand him a gun. He clicks it and point it over to the man. He didn’t react, probably out of his senses already.
Jake hold his shoulder that made his friend look at him. His brows hardly furrowed, jaw clenching hard, some part of his face and white polo have bloods on them.
“Don’t kill him just yet.”
“And why the fuck should I spare his useless life?”
Jake sighs, already used at his friend’s habit of cursing so much whenever he's mad.
“We need to get some information from him. We might get something useful.”
Sunghoon didn’t budge. “I don’t fucking care what information he has, I want him dead.”
Ni-ki chuckles from the distance, enjoying how his Sunghoon hyung looks so pissed while his Jake hyung is in distress. Jake clenched his jaw, but draws another sigh to keep his patience.
“How about I let you beat him more until you’re a little satisfied?” he offers.
Despite being at rage, Sunghoon trust Jake’s judgement on matters like this. He admits how wreckless he is sometimes and anger usually drives him into making impulsive decisions. Jake is a lot more calmer person. He knows what he’s doing.
Sunghoon clenches his jaw but nodded his head.
“Give me 10 minutes.” he says.
Jake shakes his head, “No. You’ll end up killing him. Three minutes.” and he even raised his hand showing him three of his fingers.
Even if he want to complain, he chosed not to. He nods and turns his attention back to the almost unconscious guy tied up near him. He smirks darkly, “Let’s play for 3 minutes, shall we?” he whispers and went on beating him up, making sure he won’t kill him.
Ni-ki walks closer to Jake with a smirk on his lips. The older one craned his neck and glance at him, “Why are you still here? You didn’t even helped calming him down.” Jake says, but Ni-ki kept his amused grin.
“I’m planning to ask for Sunghoon hyung’s Lamborghini as a payment.” he looked so excited about it while still watching what their friend doing.
After three minutes, Sunghoon did stop. He wasn’t so sure if the man in front of him is still alive, but surely his condition is in no good.
“Fucking rat.” he muttered angrily.
He turned his heals and glanced at his friend, slightly rolling his eyes before putting his hand inside his pocket.
“He’s all yours.” Sunghoon says then pulls out his cigarette and lit it up.
Jake taps his shoulder and Ni-ki smiled brightly at him.
“I want your car as a payment, hyung.” he announced.
Sunghoon rolled his eyes while having his cigarette between his lips. He fished his car keys from his other pocket and tossed it over Ni-ki. The younger one cheered and thanks him lightly.
“You’re going?” Jake asks him when he saw him heading out from the dark warehouse.
“Yes. I’m still not calm. I might end up killing that fucker up.” he says and he just lets him go.
Sunghoon walks gloriously outside and ask for a key of one from his other vehicle. He went inside and drove away from that place, not even glancing back to prevent himself from continuing whatever that is that he didn’t finished.
On the other hand, Jake glanced at the smiling Ni-ki. He scoffs sarcastically.
“Let's go take him to Jungwon’s house.”
The smile on his face falters as he glanced at the unconscious body a few feet away from them. He pointed the man’s direction, “That? In my new car? No way.”
Jake rolls his eyes. “Ask one of Sunghoon’s men to take him there then.” and he started heading towards his own car to leave.
Ni-ki groaned and did as he told before happily approached his new car.
Upon arriving Jungwon’s mansion, he already saw Injang by the main door and he welcomed them. Jake taps his shoulder once while Ni-ki asks for a fist bump. They continues inside and saw Jungwon waiting for them by the entrance of his underground facility.
His brows hardly furrowed with both confusion and curiosity.
“Hey, man. Your room ready?” Jake asks with a slight smile.
“Yes.” Jungwon shifts from his feet and tilts his head. “What’s this all about?”
Jake shrugs his shoulders off. “Since you have the best torture room between our friend group and you’re the nearest from Sunghoon’s warehouse, I figured it would be best to do this here.”
Jungwon stares at him and didn’t say anything.
“Why are you guys here?” the three young mafia boys craned their necks to look up by the staircase when they heard somebody talking.
There, Jungwon’s girlfriend, Thalia are slowly going down the stairs. Her curious eyes never left both Jake and Jungwon.
“Hi, Ali. How are you?” he opens his arm for a hug to his friend. Once closer, she wraps her arm over his waist for a hug.
“Hi oppa. I’m good.” her eyes darted over to the younger one. His smirks already screams danger, mischief.
“How are you guys? Why are you here?” she asks curiously before she felt Jungwon’s firm arms snaking over her waist to pull her to his side.
“We’re doing fine. We’ll be borrowing your boyfriend’s torture room.” he answers that clearly made her show disgust on her face.
Jungwon chuckles shortly before dropping a kiss over her forehead.
“For what?”
“We discovered a rat on one of Sunghoon hyung’s men. Jake hyung said its better to gather information from him before killing him.” Ni-ki answers this time while playing with his keys.
Jungwon smirks and nods his head. “Sunghoon hyung let him go alive?” he couldn’t believe what he just heard.
Jake smirks, “I let him beat him for 3 minutes before I took him away.”
The younger male scoffs, amused. “I’d be thrilled to see what he had done for that 3 minutes.”
“Oh he almost died.”
“He’s lucky he even made it here to my mansion.” Jungwon and leans closer to his girl for another kiss.
The curiosity and half amusement can still be clearly seen at her pretty face. Jungwon placed one last kiss over her shoulderblades before he whispers something to her ears.
“But I want to watch.” she pouts. Jungwon’s probably prohibits her to come.
Jungwon shakes his head no, “Not tonight, bunny.”
After staring at each other, she finally surrenders and nodded her head. With small wave she exits and left the three men for their own business.
Jake asked some of Jungwon’s men for assistance to transfer the body inside the torture room. His condition was enough to make Jungwon doubt if he’s still alive and breathing.
“Do you still think he needs to be tortured? I think one more hit to his face and he’ll be dead by now.”
Ni-ki leans over to the wall, “Jake hyung should hurry then? Before he dies.”
Jake nods and took off his coat then rests it over one of the clean chairs. He trudges over to the men, half consciously tied up again by the center.
Jungwon splashes water to the guy to somehow wake him up.
“Wake up, sleeping beauty.” Ni-ki taunts.
The man hardly even gain consciousness, but after a while they managed to get him back to his senses. One of his eyes can’t even manage to open properly, but his whimpers concludes how much in pain he is right now.
“P-Please,”
Jake continues to fold his sleeves with no trace of remorse. He tilts his head while staring darkly at the tied man.
“What did Mr. Park asked you to do? Why are you snitching on Sunghoon?”
No response came from him. Jungwon scanned him, checking if he’s still breathing. Ni-ki seems a little bored of it, only interested on the new car he just acquired.
“What are the exact orders you got from Mr. Park?” Jake asks again and yet, no response but a cough from the man.
Jungwon sighs a little frustrated before he approaches holding a gun by one of his hands. He held the man’s hair and pull it backwards then points the gun over his chin.
“Tell me what Mr. Park orders you to do or I’ll blow your brains out in a second. I don’t fucking care what information we will get from you.” he says in a low and sinister tone.
Jake sighs. Why did he even thought Jungwon will be calm about this either? He doesn’t have the best torture room for no reason. He clearly knows what to do in order to make one spill things.
“T-They want me to tell t-them about the updates f-for that girl.” finally, something they all wanted.
Ni-ki cranes his head over to their direction and put the car keys inside his pocket to focus on them now.
“About the search? Why? What are they planning?” Jake asks with furrowed brows.
Mr. Park may love to meddle with Sunghoon’s business, but he’s never been this desperate. He never go this far on pissing his son off.
“You heard his questions.” Jungwon and pointed the gun deeper to his skin. “Answer.”
The man gulped, hesitation can be seen through his eyes but the dark stares Yang Jungwon was giving him almost made him piss his pants. There’s really something about these group of friends. He heard about them. He knows how powerful these young mafias are. Everybody does.
“T-The Kwon's want to find her b-before the young master. They p-plan to execute her.”
Jungwon and Jake glanced at each other after what they heard. “Kill her?” Jake asks unconsciously.
Jungwon scoffed at what he heard. “You think that will stop Sunghoon hyung? Hell will rise if they do something bad to her.”
Jake smirks and fished his phone from his pocket. “We need to launch search operations for her so we can beat the Kwons and Sunghoon.” he says and craned his neck to look over Ni-ki.
The youngest nods his head and dialled something to his phone before waving lightly to them, exiting the room.
“He’s useless then?” Jungwon and eyes the man blankly.
Jake stares at the guy before he nods and starts talking to his phone, leaving the room as well. Jungwon cracks his knuckles before clicking his gun.
“You messed with the wrong people.” and a loud gun shot errupted inside his torture room.
Tumblr media
here ‹ chapter two | chapter four › here
main master-list
permanent tag-list:
@rubyanne @map-of-border @hwangjangmi @crjwon @love13tter @candewlsy @simpforniki @classicroyalty @bridgebridgebirdiebridge @hime98 @moonsclassyslore @ddeonubaby @yeoungie @acciomylove @mymeloem19 @jvngw0n @dreamjerky @minamoons @clar-iii @herasalvatore @nyfwyeonjun @rcveribin @yizhoutv @one16core @soobin-chois @kyutiepeachy @chareadingpurposes @hwalllllllelujah @solelyenha @90sni-ki @nourhan-8 @nikipedia07 @yangbreads @drunkjazed @kimmchijjajang @hoonbrry @axartia @all4haru @sta-rie @hiqhkey @purplepuppychild @iceeee @wtfhyuck @tobiosbbyghorl @nikililmj @moonlightisland @ayayiiie @aeyeree @bitchychildmiracle
tag-list:
@heeseung-min @skzenhalove
118 notes · View notes
ldysmfrst · 5 months ago
Text
Hello, dearest readers!
I have a new story! It kind of came out of nowhere! Well, let's be honest: post-concert Delulu mind-induced writing is where it really came from.
It was a dream I had, and then I brought it up to my friend @bethanysnow, who proceeded to convince me that it would be worth writing. The first chapter, Main Title Banner, and big and small page breaks were created in about 2.5 hours.
Remember, if you want to get early access to any of my works, it's only $5 a month. You get the extra scenes and can "Ask a character a question"!
Here is a teaser for you all. If you want the full chapter now, please go to my Patreon.
Tumblr media
Incomplete (1) - A Pull to Where?
Tumblr media
Paring: Ateez OT8 x Plus-sized FemReader
Status: Ongoing series
Chapter number: 1 of unknown
Word count for Chapter: 3,384 
Word count for Story: 3,384 
Genre: Idol Soulmate AU
Warnings: NOT BETA READ!! This story will contain a bit of angst, fluff, smut, f/m, m/m, and m/f/m. This chapter does not really contain anything to warn about. (let me know if I am wrong)
Story Summary: Ateez are soulmates who earned their way to Fame once they found each other. What happens when a new pull comes during their Towards The Light World Tour? Does 8 really make 1?
INCOMPLETE MASTER LIST / LDYSMFRST MASTER LIST
Tumblr media
“I can’t believe it! We are all here for the LA concert! This will be the first time for us. I am so proud of everything and love you all,” exclaimed Hongjoong. Looking around BMO stadium quickly before the VIP ticket holders came in, he could not believe they finally made it after six years. 
“All thanks to our wonderful Captain,” Seonghwa says as he back-hugs his shortest soulmate. “Did you see the lines are already starting to fill with our Atiny? Are you sure we brought enough Merch for all of them?”
“Don’t worry about that, Hwa. I am sure our management brought what they could. Remember, we have to split it between two shows. Are you sure you are up for this? You haven't taken the time to lament your grandfather’s passing. I am sure Atiny will understand if you cannot make it through the show,” Yeosang comments with a concerned look.
Smiling softly, Seonghwa replies, “Atiny are my light in my darkest times. Right now, performing for them… I feel like I am performing to keep my own light shining inside. I couldn’t do this without them, and want to perform best for this tour to honor my late grandfather.”
“Hwa, he is so proud of you. I can tell,” Hongjoong says, turning his head to kiss Seonghwa on the cheek.
One of the stagehands tells the three soulmates, “You have one hour to get ready for sound check.” 
“Let's head backstage and get ready to charm our Atiny,” Yeosang remarks as he pushes Seonghwa and Hongjoong towards the back. 
As the three missing soulmates make it behind the stage, Seonghwa feels his chest tighten. Dropping his hug on Hongjoong, Seonghwa makes his way to the side, where he can glimpse the lawn where the queue is set up for the merchandise and the standard entry. His eyes search the crowd for something. 
Maybe someone familiar or someone to stand out. 
Seonghwa was the most sensitive of all his soulmates, which is why he was known to Atiny as Momhwa. He always cared for the children (San, Wooyoung, Johngo, Yeosang, Mingi, and Yunho) while the Captain was off doing captain-like things. He was also the one to beg for alone time but then worried 24/7 that the rest of his soulmates were being taken good care of when they weren’t in his eyesight. 
Recently, the kids have grown up, which has allowed Hongjoong and Seonghwa to focus on other things. During this time, Seonghwa noticed that he felt like something was missing, but he wasn’t sure what it was. Looking over the crowds, it felt like something was nearby, but what could it be?
“Hwa-hyung, are you okay? Did you see someone out there?” asked San after noticing the intense look on Seonghwa’s face as he peeked out the gap in the stands. 
Rubbing his chest, Hwa replied, “Yeah… I think so. It just gotta be nerves. Still get them, ya know?” San nodded with a smile. “Being back in LA means so much to Joong-ah, and I don’t want to mess it up.” 
Shrugging off the tightness, Seonghwa went to his chair to prepare for sound check. He took his seat between Mingi and Yunho, who are always inseparable; their idle chatter overtook Hwas's thoughts as they got closer to showtime.
Tumblr media
Tag List - OPEN
@bethanysnow @reallysparklychaos @braveangel777 @danielle143
46 notes · View notes
anonymityisfunwriter · 7 months ago
Text
The Twin Flame - Invisible String (CACW Version)
"Time, mystical time, cuttin' me open, then healin' me fine. Were there clues I didn't see? And isn't it just so pretty to think, all along there was some invisible string tying you to me?"
Pairing: Sunshine!Reader x Grumpy!Bucky Barnes The Twin Flame Chapter List | The Grumpy x Sunshine Universe
Tumblr media
"They don't offer visas for weapons of mass destruction!" Tony booms.
"And what about-"
"Oh no," Tony incredulously chuckles, cutting off Steve's question before he can even finish it. "You can't put that on me. If Pinkie wants to go galavant around with you and Sam, that's her choice. I offered to keep her safe in the Compound."
"That's not safety, that's internment."
"It's more than you or Sam can offer," Tony refutes. "But neither of you will stop and think about the consequences, will you? The consequences that neither of you will pay, but she sure as hell will."
"So you'd lock her up before Ross even gets the chance to?"
"And you'd send her to a life on the run," Tony retorts. "All because you can't get off your high horse."
"This isn't about me. Do you understand what you're asking here? She signs, she will never make another decision for herself. She will never get to be a person. Ever."
"And she won't get to do your bidding anymore?"
"Jesus, Tony." Steve frustratedly shakes his head. "She can think for herself."
"But she's not!" Tony booms. "She's doing what you and Sam want her to."
"Have you ever thought that maybe she never wanted to sign? Maybe she doesn't like the idea of being an asset! You know, every time I think you're seeing this the right way-"
"She is a ward of the state, Steve! Do you get that? And you're giving Ross everything he needs to keep her locked up for life!"
"She trusts you, Tony, she considers you a friend. And you're asking her to sign her life away."
"I'm trying to give her a life. A real life. A family. Everything she's every wanted and then some."
"You just don't get it, Tony," Steve whispers, pain coating every single syllable. "A gold cage is still a cage."
-
"For the record, this is not staying out of it," Nat scolds as the guard uncuffs you.
"What?" you dramatically scoff. "This was just one big misunderstanding."
She looks at you with pursed lips and an unimpressed expression. "Really? So what are you doing in Berlin?"
"Sightseeing," you automatically respond, proud at yourself for the effortless way the lie fell off your lips. 
"Mhm... and what exactly did you go see?" You falter for the shortest of moments. Your shoulders slump in defeat, knowing she's already caught you in the lie. She shakes her head with a chuckle, "Make sure you prepare the lie ahead of time for future reference."
"Noted."
She starts guiding you down to a hall where Tony and Steve are currently waiting for you. "Care to explain why Sam dragged you all the way to Berlin?"
"You know why," you breathe. 
She remorsefully sighs. "I get Ross freaked him out, but getting arrested is certainly not helping your case. Don't give Ross any more reason to force your hand."
You rub at your tender wrists, "Well, we didn't plan on getting arrested!"
"Could those cuffs even hold you?" she quietly jokes.
"No," you chuckle. "I was just being nice."
The smile leaves her face as she scans the corridor for listening ears. Her voice drops to a quiet murmur. "What do you stand to gain from this?"
"What?"
"Steve, Tony, they'll be fine. They'll come out of this unscathed, but you don't. You don't win here. You won't win like this. You don't get out of this free - Steve and Tony can."
Her words hit you like a punch to the gut. You knew she didn't approve, but you never thought she'd be this upset at you refusing to be a bystander. "Nat..."
"You won't come unscathed," she emphasizes in a low, warning tone. "Believe me. This could cost you everything."
"I just want to do what's right. If we lose, we lose together, remember?"
"For once, think of yourself. Think of what will happen to you." She gives your shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Just don't let them back you into a corner, okay? Don't let them make you a villain in this story." 
"Okay," you promise. 
-
"You okay?"
"I'm not the one that got pushed down an elevator shaft," you quip. 
"Why'd you go after-" Steve starts, a concerned look painting his face. 
"I think you're right, Steve," you blurt.
"Right about?"
"He hesitated. Your friend, I don't - I don't know, but he hesitated."
"Hold on, hold on, just walk me through exactly what happened," Steve prompts.
You nod, taking a large gulp of air. "I was just down the hallway with Nat when the power went down, and I saw him tackle Sam down. He pushed you down the elevator, Nat went one way. And I know I'm supposed to be staying out of it, but I followed him."
"And?"
"His arm, it's made of vibranium like your shield. He heard me coming from behind him, I sort of grabbed his arm. I swear I wasn't trying to shove him that hard, but he fell down some stairs, his head hit one of the steps so I went to make sure I didn't, you know?" you insinuate with a wince. Steve nods, waiting for you to continue. "But when I went to look, he sorta popped back up. Steve, he could've killed me right there. I know that he could've, but he didn't. He just watched me for a second, and then he took off again."
"He hesitated," Steve murmurs under his breath.
"I know what he did to Nick, Steve," you remorsefully mumble. "I wouldn't be saying anything that I didn't really believe."
"And what do you believe?" Steve gently asks.
"He just, he looked..." you falter, fumbling for an accurate portrayal of a moment that was so fleeting and yet carried so much weight. Steve catches your eye again, silently urging you on. "He looked trapped."
"Want to tell me what the hell that was about?" Tony furiously questions as he strides into the room.
You already had the inkling that Tony saw your actions, or more accurately, your inaction earlier. You just hoped that he would've taken that as you being scared in the face of the Winter Soldier, but from the tone of his words you know that he knows there was more happening. You immediately begin apologizing profusely, "I'm so sorry, Tony. I guess I just - I hesitated-"
"No, I saw you. On the staircase, you had him and you let him go, and I want to know why!" Tony demands, his voice seething with rage.
"Tony," Steve chides, a little taken aback by Tony's vitriol that had never been directed at you.
"I already told you -" you start.
"You're a terrible liar, you know that? How about you try the truth this time!?"
"Tony," Steve admonishes once again.
Your eyes remain downcast as you finally admit what ran through your mind as the Winter Soldier stood in front of you while you did nothing to capture him. "He's a person, Tony. Just a person."
Tony scoffs, throwing his hands up. "Of course, leave it to you to try to find the humanity in the Winter Soldier. He killed Nick Fury. He killed the person who rescued you! Did you forget that? Better question, what happened to staying out of it?"
"I know, I know, but I think-"
"That's the thing, you didn't think!" Tony snaps. "Do you even realize what you just did? All that talking to Ross, making a case for you, all of it gone. You just proved to Ross today that you're a loose cannon."
"I'm sorry, Tony. I - I just I looked at him, right in his eyes and -"
"Oh, that's great, really great! I'll be sure to tell Ross you spared the guy because you thought he had pretty eyes."
And while you and Tony both knew you weren't talking about the color of his eyes, and though you most certainly weren't going to admit that to Tony, you were captivated by the vastness carried in his eyes.
For those few short seconds, you were mesmerized by what you swore upon every star that you saw. It was like there was an entirely different person trapped, begging and pleading for help as he was drowning in the depths of those ocean blue eyes. 
"That's enough, Tony," Steve curtly warns for the last time. "You're asking her to apologize for having mercy."
"Mercy?" Tony incredulously repeats. "That's mercy? Mercy is sending him to a psychiatric facility instead of a Wakandan prison. Not letting him go!"
"I didn't-"
"But you did!" Tony angrily exclaims. "And if anyone else gets hurt, that's on you two."
-
"I guess it was time to get off my ass," Wanda replies.
"Well, it was about time," you quip.
Wanda playfully gasps as you emerge from the backseat of the car. "I can't believe it. Sam finally let you out to play."
"Ha-ha," you sarcastically chortle. "But wrong, because Sam doesn't even want me here."
"No, I don't." Sam shoots you a halfhearted glare. "And you know exactly why."
"I couldn't just let you guys have all the fun." You step around Sam, taking a few steps forward. You stand in front of Wanda for a moment, throwing your arms around her in the next.
"I missed you," she murmurs.
"Being grounded in the Compound not all it's cracked up to be?"
"Like being handcuffed to Sam is any better," she scoffs.
"Missed you too."
-
"So what's her deal?" Bucky asks Steve, nudging his head in your direction.
"Her deal?" Steve chuckles, quirking an eyebrow at him. "Single, if that's what you mean."
"Funny," Bucky scoffs, rolling his eyes at Steve. "What's she doing here?"
"What are any of us doing here?" Steve questions, a slight huff of laughter as he watches you and Sam share some incredibly long, elaborate secret handshake.
"Are you done being a smart ass?" Bucky impatiently prompts.
"Alright, alright," Steve acquiesces. "It's Sam mostly. At least that's what I think, you didn't hear that from me."
"Sam?"
Steve shrugs. "Her story is... complicated."
"Ha," Bucky grunts in clear disbelief.
"I would argue as complicated as yours," Steve continues.
"Should I be insulted?"
"No," Steve assures, his voice a light laughter at Bucky's defensiveness. "She was a SHIELD asset. Best thing they ever stumbled on. Person in captivity. Clean slate. She just never quite fit the mold. 'Specially not with Sam watching out for her."
"Sam was her handler?" Bucky guesses.
"From what I know, yes. Even now, where she goes, he goes. He goes, she goes."
"Doesn't sound that complicated to me. So they're together?"
"No, not in the slightest," Steve barks out a laugh. Steve's mouth remorsefully twists, trying to determine how much of your story he was at liberty to divulge without your permission, "SHIELD wanted things from her, had this idea of what she should be. It was unnerving, watching them try to take advantage of a person that didn't understand this world."
"Captivity?"
"Born and bred. Didn't see the light of day for the first 25 years of her life."
"But she's so...?" Bucky trails off, the four of you still waiting in the parking lot for the rest of your ragtag team.
"I know," Steve snickers, fondly smiling at you. "She's tough. Didn't matter what SHIELD through at her, she never folded."
"And now?"
"I don't know," Steve winces, shaking his head. "It's not really my story to tell."
Bucky snorts. "Who am I gonna tell?"
"Is there a reason you're this interested?"
"There's a reason you're deflecting," Bucky counters.
"It's complicated," Steve repeats. "SHIELD owned her. Like really owned her."
"But SHIELD fell... so she's free?"
"Sam doesn't think so. He won't admit it, but he's scared. How do you argue the freedom of a person that no one knows exists? A person that no one has ever considered a person?" And that statement really strikes a chord with Bucky - because isn't that exactly what Steve is doing for him? Isn't that exactly what he's been for 70 years? "SHIELD's gone, but what's stopping the government from staking their claim? She's not a citizen, of anywhere, no home, nothing. A ward of the state, really. Sam thinks that they're gonna come for her. He wants to keep her out of the fight, but he's not letting her out of his sight any time soon. It's how she ended up here in Berlin."
"And what do you think?"
"I think that she's here to do what's right."
"You think they'll come for her?"
Steve's mouth quickly opens, only to shut again. He waits for a moment, clearly thinking his answer through. "I don't know."
Before Bucky can probe any more, an announcement rings out. For a moment, the playful reunion between you, Wanda, Sam, and Clint comes to a halt. Now was the time for a fight.
"They're evacuating the airport."
-
"As much as I hate to admit it, if we're going to win this one, some of us are going to have to lose."
Sam looks at you, a pleading expression on his face. You know he's asking you to make a quiet escape, to leave while you still have the chance. He also knows you won't do that, you've never been one to stand aside when you could help. 
You offer him a crooked smile and a languid shrug, letting him know you're ready and willing to accept the consequences of your actions today. Whatever they would end up being for you.
"They're headed for the Quinjet," Tony informs Rhodey.
Before he can take off to stop Steve and Bucky, you catch the foot of Tony's suit, pulling the metal suit back to the ground against all the force of his propellers to keep him grounded.
"What the-?" he starts, his sarcastic tone dropping when he sees you standing there, maintaining an invisible grip on him. He deeply breathes, "Sam really just can't keep you out of it, can he?"
"I don't want to fight you, Tony," you implore.
"You don't know what you're doing. There's nothing that hasn't been done that can't be fixed, but you're about to cross a line, Pinkie."
"Then don't draw one. We don't have to do this, we don't have to pick sides."
He gestures to you, pinning him to the ground, "A little too late for that, don't you think?"
"I'm not choosing anything."
"What? You think because he's easy on the eyes he's not a cold-blooded murderer? Because he flashed you a smile, he won't kill you the first chance he gets?"
You wince at the coldness of Tony's words. "I just want to do what's right. That's all I want."
He scoffs, "By protecting a murder? Or because you only listen to Sam says?"
You suck in a breath, desperately not trying to take personal offense to Tony's words. You know they come from a place of hurt, that your friend wouldn't say these things about you. "You know how this ends for me, Tony. You know what they'll do."
"No one's going to hand you over to Ross. We can protect you!"
The corner of your mouth lifts in a sad, remorseful smile, "I've heard that one before."
You flinch as the sounds of Wanda's screams, and Tony looks over to the hangar just in time to see Steve and Bucky make it past the collapsing flight tower.
"Let me go, Pinkie. Now," he demands. You wordlessly shake your head, your lips remorsefully pulling in. He slowly raises his arm, aiming one of his shooters directly at you. "Please don't make me do this."
You both watch as the Quinjet takes off. He sucks in a sharp, angry breath. You see the bright blue light charging as the cannon remains locked on you, you quietly offer, "I'm sorry, Tony."
A loud mechanical whirring emanates from the device. "Me too."
-
The moment those words left your mouth, Sam's head snapped over his shoulder just in time to see the person you both called a friend raise his canon and take the shot.
He still remembers what was running through his head as Tony took aim at you: there was no way you were going to actually let him shoot you, you wouldn't do that, you were going to jump out of the way, you were going to realize that your life meant more than winning this stupid battle for this stupid civil war.
"What are you doing?" Sam frantically speaks into the comms device, trying to reach you before it's too late, "This is not the plan. I repeat, this is not the plan."
But it was clear to Sam that you were both too far gone to hear anything anyone else was saying. Tony too angry. And you too willing to give yourself up as the sacrificial lamb.
It happened so fast, yet the moment seemed to last a lifetime. 
The blow sending you hurling back, your body skid against the pavement, only for your head to smack against the ground with a sickening crack. It seemed like the moment stopped everyone, he could almost hear the collective gasps from his team mates. It seemed like everyone watched in abject horror. No one could believe it. No one could believe that this is what had become of your team, your found family.
He remembered trying to convince himself that you were just going to pop back up, that you would stand up and bellow an assurance to your team that you were okay.
None of those things happened.
Before he knew it, he was diving to dodge a blast from Vision, one that sends Rhodey hurling to the ground. 
It was all a blur, scrambling across the airfield to make it to you. And what he found would forever imprinted in his memory. He found you all alone, sprawled out on the pavement, unmoving.
"Oh God," he quietly gasps, awkwardly landing on the ground. He barely lands on his feet, too focused on making sure you were okay.
"Hey, hey, you have to get up now," he frantically nudges you, scooping you up in his arms. Completely unresponsive, your head slumps back. He taps at your cheeks, shaking you as hard as he can, still no response. He raises his two fingers to check your pulse, and relief only incrementally comes when he feels your pulse still beating underneath his fingertips. "Please, you have to get up. Come on, please, get up." 
He removes his head from the back of your head, only to find his hand now covered in your blood. 
"Help, we need help over here!" he screams, pleading with whoever would listen. "Please, please, please, we need help!"
Help never came.
Instead, he had to helplessly watch as your unconscious body is thrown with the rest of Team Cap onto an armored truck to haul you away to the Raft. 
"Don't touch her. Don't you touch her!" he screams as they tear your unmoving body from him.
Then, he watches them throw you on the floor of the truck like you aren't an actual human being.
For that split second, he hates Tony Stark.
For that split second, he hates Bucky Barnes.
For that split second, he hates Steve Rogers.
He hates everything and everyone that brought you that close to death.
-
"How's Rhodes?" Sam asks, feeling Tony's gaze on the back of his head from across the glass barrier.
"Flying him to Columbia Medical tomorrow so... Fingers crossed." Tony stops speaking, taking a moment to choose his next words very carefully, "What do you need? They feed you yet?"
Donning a full prisoner's uniform, Sam turns around with an incredulous chuckle,"You're the good cop now?"
"I'm just the guy who needs to know where Steve went."
Sam angrily crosses his arms. "Well, you're gonna have to go get a bad cop because you're gonna have to go Mark Fuhrman on my ass to get anything out of me. Or, you know, just shoot me down, you're good at that."
“I knew it wouldn’t,” Tony stops, even as the words leave his mouth he hears how vile they sound. He still says them anyway, “I knew it wouldn’t actually kill her.”
Clint loudly guffaws from across the room, "You hear that? He didn't think it would kill her when he shot her point blank. Stark friendship at its kindest!"
Sam bitterly snorts, shaking his head at Tony, “Do you hear yourself? You shot a supposed friend down. You shot her. And now she’s somewhere in this God forsaken prison.”
“Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you kept dragging her into your fights!" Tony seethes. "Can't fight your own battles so she’ll do it for you, right, Sam? You talk about SHIELD, about Ross, when you’re no better, you’ll exploit her without a second thought. She trusts you without a second thought and you take advantage at every turn. Don’t blame me. Blame yourselves.”
"Anything to not blame yourself, right?" Sam counters, schooling his expression to hide the sting of Tony's words.
Tony's words hit him in his most vulnerable spot, so hard that it feels like he can't breathe. Because no matter how much Sam doesn't want the words to ring true, he can't shake off the sense that Tony is right, that you're only on the Raft, chained up and alone, because of him.
"I just knocked the A out of AV. We got about 30 seconds before they realize it's not their equipment. I was wrong, Sam. That's clear to me." Tony flashes him a small holographic screen, an image of an unconscious man in a suit strewn on the ground, "Just look, because that is the guy that was supposed to interrogate Barnes. Clearly I made a mistake, Sam. I was wrong. Now tell me where Steve is."
Sam scoffs, shaking his head. "No."
"She's all alone right now, if you didn't already know that. Might do some good to have a visitor, can't be that hard to convince Ross to let me see her."
The thing was Sam already knew you were somewhere in this prison. All alone. He could still see the panic in your eyes when they separated you and Wanda from the rest of them. He tried to hold onto the foolish hope that maybe they decided to have an iota of humanity and not separate the two of you.
He also knew that it wouldn't really matter. They could've thrown you in the cell right beside him, but still there was nothing anyone could have said, could have done to prepare you for the feeling of being locked up all over again.
Even worse, because the guards paid them no mind, he had no way to find out anything about your whereabouts, if you were okay or not, he knew nothing.
Sam tried a diplomatic approach at first, simply asking the guard if you were alright, how you were holding up.
Then, Clint tried demands. Threatening to kill the guards the second they got out of here unless they told them how you and Wanda were doing.
Scott tried to appease, to joke and appeal to their sense of humanity.
None of it worked.
A snort of disbelief leaves Sam's mouth. "You're gonna bargain with my friend's life? That's a new low for you, Tony."
Tony grits his teeth, sneering, "She was my friend too." 
"Was, operative word."
"Did she say that or do you speak for her now, Sam?"
"No, you do a good enough job of that on your own," Sam counters, though he has more than half a mind to tell Tony where Steve is just to find out if you were okay.
"15 seconds, Sam. Choose."
Sam just can't stop picturing it. You in a cell, all alone. God knows they weren't kind to you before, now there was nothing stopping General Ross from laying all the pressure he possibly could to force you back into line. He almost can't believe the words as they leave his mouth, "You go, you go alone and as a friend."
"Done," Tony agrees.
-
Escorted by three guards, Tony slowly approaches your cell. The glass makes it feel more like a zoo than a maximum security prison. But, he figures, that's what you are to them. Nothing more than a pawn. Tony does his best to ignore the guards intensifying glare as he approaches the cell.
He sees your face dejectedly slumped against the cell wall, balled up in the corner closest to him. He looks up at you in horror. Your face is grey, sunken in, like the life and soul had been sucked from you. "Pinkie?"
It's only when he calls for you that you even noticed your visitor. Recognition lights up your face. You look up at him with the best smile you can muster, "Hey, Tony."
His heart breaks a little bit, your smile is lifeless and lacks any real conviction, he knows you're only doing it so he doesn't feel like an even bigger asshole. "How are you holding up?"
"I've been better," you slur, finally managing to hold your head up off the wall. "How... how are you?"
It's not just your marred, garbled speech that alarms him, but he notices an IV running out of your straight-jacket. You can't reach the IV cart from where you're chained up in the corner of your cell, but he can see the IV bag filled with a yellow-ish liquid that continuously drips down into the tube leading up into your arm.
"Pinkie?" Tony calls again, this time slightly louder. "What is that?"
You tiredly exhale. You blankly stare at him for a moment like you don't understand what he's asking. It takes several long moments for the words to process, "My fault. I freaked when they put me in here...Sedating me helped."
A few things pop into his head immediately.
First,  between the way they were keeping you and Wanda, he feels completely and absolutely sick to his stomach. They treated you both like weapons and nothing more. It disgusts him. 
Second, he knows how claustrophobic you are. He can only imagine the panic that must have coursed through your veins when they threw you in here all alone. He imagines all the control you once had gone in a split second.
Third, he knows it can't be healthy to keep an adult so heavily sedated for this long. This is not good for you. Not in the slightest. 
"That explains why you're the only one speaking to me," he remarks.
"You're my friend, Tony." Your breathing is so slow that it freaks him out. "Know you're just..."
"Just?" he prompts, hoping you'll remind him what all of this is for, hoping you'll remind him what was worth turning his back on all his friends. 
"You're a good person, Tony, always been a good friend..."
"A good friend that gets his friends locked up," he sarcastically murmurs, more to himself than to you. "I'm not a good friend, Pinkie. And I'm so sorry-"
He looks back up at you to find your eyes slid shut, breathing shallow.
"Time's up, Stark," General Ross barks. "Consider us even, and consider this your last courtesy."
Tony never did find out if you heard his apology.
-
"What if she doesn't wake up, Steve? They kept her sedated the entire time we were there," Sam worriedly rambles, the feeling of carrying your limp body in his arms as Steve lead you to freedom still fresh in his mind. "Her head, it was bleeding so much, so, so much."
"Head wounds bleed a lot, Sam," Steve assures him. "She's tough, she's a fighter."
"You weren't there, Steve," Sam counters, a bit more bite in his voice than he intends. "You didn't see it."
Steve rests a hand on Sam's shoulder, offering a comforting squeeze, "I'm sorry, Sam. Truly."
Sam squeezes his eyes shut, reminding himself that if you wouldn't blame Steve, he certainly didn't have any right to. "Don't apologize, it's not your fault - it's just-"
"You're worried," Steve finishes.
"She's just lying there, Steve. It's been hours."
There was nothing, barely a twitch of your fingers even though you'd been lying there for hours. He made Wanda recount exactly what had happened before they separated the two of you already several times.
According to Wanda, after they separated the two of you from the group, they didn't want to risk keeping the two of you together either.
You'd held it together as they forced you into a straitjacket. Even as they chained your hands and feet together. They'd put that large black, electrical collar around your neck with minimal resistance from you.
After that, you and Wanda were separated.
Your breaking point came when they lead you to your cell. You panicked, spiraled so quickly that their solution was to jab a sedative in your neck.
She knew things had gone wrong when she heard your screams echo and reverberate down the hall. You, at the very end, her at the complete opposite end. And still, the screams sent chills down her spine.
But worse than any of that, her blood went cold when it all went silent, when there were no screams, no labored breaths. Just a boon chilling silence.
A few hours later, the sedative wore off, but the panic did not. The guards were genuinely worried about what you might be able to do if you lost control, so constant sedating was their failsafe.
"She'll be okay, Sam."
It's quiet after that. No one speak, only the low hum of an engine rumbling fills the silence. Sam remains by your side, fussing over you as the jet takes them to God knows where.
There is no warning as you snap back into consciousness. You sharply gasp, sitting up in one quick, fluid motion. The jet rattles, violently swaying as your chest heaves and your eyes try to figure out where you are. 
"Whoa!" Sam exclaims.
"Where are- What- What is going-"
"Easy, easy, just take a breath, we're okay. We're alright."
"We - we were on the Raft. I was-" you hyperventilate.
"You're safe, we're all out now," Sam consoles you. "We're safe."
You look around to the other solemn faces aboard the jet. Sam, Clint, Wanda, Scott, you're all out. "How?"
"Well..." Sam starts.
"I guess that would be me," a familiar voice pipes in from behind you.
Your head whips around to see Steve standing at the helm of the jet. "Steve?"
"Hey, Sunshine," he warmly greets.
The Twin Flame Chapter List The Grumpy x Sunshine Universe Bucky Barnes Masterlist
As always, let me know what you think! Reblogs and comments are always appreciated! 💛
Taglist: @marianita195 @meli18gonzalez @ludicbouquetfromearth @matchat3a @famousbreadcherryblossomsstuff @valoraxx @blue786sworld @buckyandgeraltsupremacy @geminigengar @ansaturn @ecolle @lexhalstead3 @ybflkmj @mediocre-daydreams@shanye1112 @thegirlnextdoorssister @toomanyfanficsbruh @moonlightreader649 @breathtaking-cynthia @mirikusashes @beans-and-toast @niyahcoca @katiechikin @elxvrr @antiheroxsblog @infamouslyclumsy @krissydclayton93 @buckysbarne @deadheadwbedhead @qualitygiantshoepsychic @whitexwolfxx310 @getosprettyboy @matchat3a @weallhaveadestiny @mostlymarvelgirl @honeydew3064 @michealharrypotter @mrs-bucky-barnes-73 @withyoutilltheendoftheline @the-photo-hoe @rae-nna @sarachabeans1@double-shot-of-tequila @spookyparadisesheep @lunaalovesyouu @daisy-loves-bucky@roseproseposts @theoraekenslover@king814318 @maybesomedaytho @carlie-babes99 @sunshinechikin @as-white-as-snow-love @melala1030 @badasswlthafatass @armystay89 @multiversefanfics @cherrysscinema @breathlesspieceofdeath @ravenn-darkholme @bxckybxrnes24
36 notes · View notes
tgmsunmontue · 8 months ago
Text
More than movie magic... 18/24
Hangster AU. Explicit (eventually). Jake is a Hollywood actor and Bradley is a stunt coordinator. Jake's about to make a few self-discoveries. So is Bradley.
ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN TWELVE THIRTEEN FOURTEEN FIFTEEN SIXTEEN SEVENTEEN
Chapter 16 is pretty much the only explicit chapter (so far), so you can skip it if you like, but it's not explicit by my standards, and it's very soft/tender.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
                “Well hey there…” Jake says, and now that he knows Bradley likes his Texan accent he makes no effort to temper it, but Bradley looks annoyed instead of amused or aroused and Jake hopes the annoyance isn’t directed at him. Not already.
                “Hi. Can I talk to you real quick?”
                “Uh, yeah, of course…”
                Of course there are catcalls and Jake rolls his eyes, but his heart is beating fast, thundering in his ears, terrified that this is somehow going to be his shortest lived relationship ever. He doesn’t know what he’s projecting exactly, but Bradley’s reaching for him, lacing their fingers together and pulling him to the side, just out of the way and out of earshot from most people although he notes pretty much every eye in the room is turned their way.
                “Hey. Hey calm down. We’re fine. You’re fine…”
                Bradley has shifted, putting his back to the room, as if he’s protecting Jake from everyone, eyes flicking over his face and his expression is concerned. Fuck.
                “Jake… you with me?”
                “Yeah, sorry. Just… heard those words before and it’s generally not the start of a good conversation.”
                “Sorry. Shit. I’m so sorry. I just need to tell you something, and I feel like I’m going to be apologizing a lot today. Nothing either of us did though, okay?”
                “The photos?”
                “Yeah. Mav’s seen them.”
                “Mav?”
                “Sorry. Pete. He’s on his way here because he called me from the air and he’s incapable of believing I can make my own life decisions.”
                “Okay. That’s okay. I’ve met Pete before.”
                “Yeah. You met professional-Pete, not parent-Pete. Different beast unfortunately. Just… if I could have kept him from meeting your mom until after we were married or something that’s how I would have played it, but, uh…”
                “You’ve thought about us getting married?” Jake blurts out, surprised.
                “Uh. No? Well. Not in detail exactly.”
                All his feelings around Bradley second guessing his decision to be with him have just dissolved, and he knows he had no reason to doubt it, but also knows his brain isn’t a rational place sometimes. Instead he’s watching Bradley blush and look awkward and he’s definitely falling in love with him.
                “I generally don’t start relationships with people I can’t imagine myself spending the rest of my life with? I’m thirty-five, I have a better idea of what I’m looking for. And I can imagine a future with you, so… here we are.”
                “Oh. So why would Pete be worried about that?”
                “God. This is not the place for that conversation. Just. I’ll tell you, but we have fifteen minutes before we’re meant to be on set and I need to tell you something else… He’s bringing Tom. His partner. Um.”
                Jake has to admit he’s confused. Pete having a male partner doesn’t really explain why Bradley seems as worked up as he is.
                “Okay. So it’s a man. You seriously don’t think I’d have a problem with that do you?” Jake asks, staring at him and gesturing between the two of them. Bradley is shaking his head though, like there’s more and Jake waits.
                “Tom as in Tom Kazansky.”
                “What?”
                Okay then. That’s a name and a half. Jake knows who that is of course, but he never met the man, Kazansky being pretty much a recluse since his health scare a decade previous when Jake had only just started making a name for himself. Jake isn’t even sure he’d recognize the man, the photo used in any media one from over twenty years ago.
                “Yeah. They’re… shit.  Thought I’d have time to tell you and prepare you for how weird they are. They have… a complicated relationship. They’re both incredibly stubborn and agree that they love each other, but they also… well. Tom got cancer, so he called it all off, said Pete could find someone better, and that started a whole other fight, but it was the most ridiculous thing, arguing over who loved each other more. They’re both hopeless, but neither of them can see it.”
                “Oookay…” Jake says slowly, his mind racing, because quite frankly he doesn’t care about Pete or Tom, he just wants Bradley to stop freaking out. “Bradley. They aren’t going to scare me off anymore than my family has scared you off.”
                As he’d hoped that makes Bradley laugh and he can’t help his answering grin.
                “I like your family.”
                “Well, that’s good. God. We’ve got to get to set. Marcia is going to have my head.”
                “I need to talk to her too, give her a heads up about Pete,” Bradley says, and he’s glancing over his shoulder then, eyes scanning the room and Jake reaches for his face and gets his attention before kissing him.
                “Go. I’ll see you in the arena shortly. Hope you appreciate that I don’t have to do makeup today!”      
…            …            …
                He’s distracted as he watches Jake walk away, but only a little, because he needs to find Marcia and Arnold, let them know that Pete is coming, but only to visit him and not to be an ass and tread on another turf, despite that totally being Mav’s MO. He knows Mav is getting on and mutters about retiring, but whenever he’s not working Bradley has to deal with more of his bullshit than usual.
                “Bradley, you haven’t eaten anything!” Aunty Kaye calls out, and he startles a little, turning toward her, because she’s not wrong, but he is going to be late to set.
                “Uh, no, haven’t really had time yet. I did grab a protein bar. Thank you for that by the way,” Bradley says, and he hopes he isn’t blushing too badly.
                “Hmm. That’s not proper food.”
                “No, I know. I just had a phone call. My dad is coming to visit. Both of them I guess. They’ll probably be here for lunch actually. Assuming they don’t get lost…”
                “Well I look forward to meeting them. Hmm. Do you know why I like you Bradley?”
                “Um. I thought maybe you liked most people?” Bradley asks, suddenly feeling like he’s smack bang in the center of a minefield with no idea how he got there. And of course he can’t be rude and just run away, he’d much rather incur Marcia’s wrath than Aunty Kaye’s at the end of the day.
                “Oh, I do dear. But I liked you before I’d even met you.”
                “Oh.”
                Now he’s confused.
                “You stand up to him, you wouldn’t let him try anything risky or dangerous and he complained about it bitterly,” she says, laughing. “But you know what I thought?”
                “What?”
                “That that sounded like someone who would keep Jake safe and unharmed. I’m his mom, of course I want him safe. He gets into enough trouble without thinking he can do risky stunts.”
                “Yeah. Of course.”
                “You don’t let him railroad you into things, I admire that too.”
                “Thanks?”
                “Here, on his own turf, watching him do something he was born with in his blood? You trust him to know his limits. He needs that too.”
                Bradley just nods, not sure if he’s even allowed to speak.
                “So. I like you. However if I ever find out you’ve deliberately hurt him, either emotionally,  physically or mentally I want you to know that you won’t see me coming. I will find you. Now, I can’t really threaten you with bodily harm, however I can threaten you with my disappointing looks, which my children assure me are the worst thing they’ve ever experienced. Of course, if Jake screws this up he’ll also be on the receiving end of one of such looks. However, I feel like you’re a man who doesn’t give up easily. Some days you’re going to have to dig-deep, because my baby can get in his own head and think the worst of everything and everyone, but I think if he were easy you wouldn’t be as interested as you seem to be.”
                Bradley gapes like a fish, mouth opening and closing and he has no idea what to even say, where to start with everything she’s just said. All it’s highlighting is that he and Jake really need to have a proper talk. Not just about their relationship, but maybe about potential baggage that they have, because he thought maybe he was the only one. He should have known that wasn’t going to be the case.
                “I’ve already told Jake that I think he’s worth it.”
                “Good. Maybe he’ll believe you.”
NINETEEN
34 notes · View notes
knightyoomyoui · 6 months ago
Text
The 1% Of Chances | TWICE Jeongyeon x Male Reader Fanfic : CHAPTER 11
Tumblr media
One chapter left to go and that is the finale of the next update, but before that, some revelations must be unveiled first to further enlighten how these all started. The outline I made for this chapter is probably the shortest of all, but I tried to write it longer since we’re already at the climax of the story and its importance. Expect that the questions raised by most of the parts from the hints I’ve dropped through the previous chapters will be finally answered here. Enjoy reading!
Tumblr media
The person who was sitting on the spare chair beside his hospital bed froze when he rotated his body to face the patient. He dropped the plastic bag on his hands and quickly lunged at his friends, as the latter was still recovering his eyesight. YN can hear gasps and amused reactions coming from someone who couldn’t believe what he’s seeing.
YN! You’re awake! Oh god, just wait here, bro. I’m calling the nurses! ”The person quickly pats him on the arm before he sprints his way out of the room. As he opened the door to disappear, YN’s consciousness regained, as did his senses. Analyzing his current situation, he confirmed that he is indeed still in a hospital gown laid flat on the bed in the center of a boring, white, plain room.
He tried to straighten his posture and prepare to sit up, but YN suddenly felt a throbbing pain on the back of his head, causing him minor discomfort. Just as when he had it, the person returned along with two nurses and a doctor with him. They caught YN shutting his eyes and holding his head irritably, which encouraged them to come in support of the suffering patient.
"Hey, YN, does it hurt again? ”The person asked you as he approaches beside you. The doctor excused him from lending him the way to check up on you, and he did, letting the experts determine what you’re feeling.
 "Mr. LN, don’t force yourself, please. Try to recline your head back on the pillow,” the doctor said as he gripped both of your shoulders to guide you down. As the nurses focused on helping you, the doctor confronted your guardian. “You bought food for him? ”
“I did, doc.”, he nodded. “:Good, he’ll need it. We brought some painkiller medicine in case a scenario like this happens. If he calms down, then it’s good that you must feed him and have him take the-” “W-where am I?” Their conversation got interrupted when your words caught both of their attention, one with curiosity and one with surprise. The two nurses became speechless, as they all knew already what this hint meant for them to discover. They just looked at each other and then into the two other guys with them who were monitoring your clueless expression.
Your eyes swayed back and forth to their presence around you, eyebrows furrowed as confusion strikes you in. “Who are you people? What am I doing here.”
“D-doc, is he-” “You’re in a hospital, Mr. LN. “ The doctor cuts him off and directly answered your curiosities. “You are currently confined here because of the accident you got involved into.” “Accident?” Your brows knitted deeper. “Yes. You don’t remember what happened to you?” “I-I don’t. I don’t even know why am I here.” You shrugged, still confused at what they’re pertaining at. Your friend’s heart felt like it dropped hearing that.
“How about us, especially him. Do you remember him?” The doctor pointed at the guy beside him who is just observing the interrogation. You looked at him and was eagerly waiting for the response he’s hoping to hear, but instead his smile fades away when he heard the opposite.
“I don’t either.” The guy looked back at the doctor, who glanced at him seriously. He shook his head, like it conveyed something. He gestured for him to come closer to him and lead themselves away from you as they discussed privately. You did nothing except just watch him chat while the nurses even had to confirm if you didn’t really know your guardian. “D- doc, what is this? Did that really happen?” The guy had some more thoughts needed to be let out. “Calm down, Mr. Choi.” The doctor advised the guy who is evidently panicking deep inside and worried for his friend. “Yes, what we just saw happened. He really can’t remember what happened to him and even… you.” “Then what is this, does it mean he has amnesia now?” The latter uttered in disbelief. “Could be, maybe its just temporary… or not.” The guardian’s face fell into shambles. “But, we can’t figure it out how long his memory loss will be. But one thing’s for sure, that injury he had in his head probably damaged his brain’s structure of the limbic system. It’s not just a concussion that he took from the accident so that why it’s most likely that his brain will get affected worse by it and unfortunately, it’s the part that controls his emotions and memories.”
“D-doc, there’s still a way to help him regain everything he doesn’t remember, right?” The guardian questioned full of hopefulness.
“Yes, as long as we guide him through it. But first, we have to run some tests for him to help us understood exactly his head injury and what are the effects it brought to him.” “Okay, doc. As long as it will do anything good to him, I’m willing to cooperate for the sake of my friend.” He said with confidence “You’re a real one for that, Mr. Choi.” The doctor agreed. They stopped their conversation to return back to the patient who is still questioning what’s going on right now. “Alright, Mr. LN. We had a brief talk about you and I just want to inform you that due to the condition or behavior you’ve been showing to us… it seems pretty obvious you are currently unwell, right now.”
“Unwell?” “Yes. You don’t remember anything as of the moment. You can’t remember what happened to you, nor this man who is a close individual of yours in your life, and that’s crucial, because that’s not a good sign to suddenly forgot something important like they didn’t… exist.” The doctor explained.
“Wait… so does that mean I-” “You have sustained multiple injuries in your body, but the most critical is your head. Mainly that’s why it brought you to forgot everything because of the impact it received. But don’t worry, Mr. LN. We’re here to guide you through your recovery, so please I recommend you to calm down and participate with us.” You just nodded understandably at what the doctor said. As they excused themselves, the guy sat beside him and looked at him with worry and sadness enveloping his feelings. “Hey, man. Sucks that you have to be like this for god knows how long but, I’ll never leave your side as long as you need me, like through this tough time we’re going at.” You looked attentively at the unfamiliar person in front of you, but you know that everything that’s coming out of his mouth is purely sincere. He really does make it felt like he’s a loved one who takes care of him much.
“I’m ready to guide you recollect all the memories you lose, including everything we’ve been through. Don’t waste it man, we had some fun times together many many times before your accident.”
“Accident?” You asked. “I really didn’t expect that I’ll be like this. All I know is that my head wasn’t doing good but not like this.” “I think it’s because as what the doctors said, man. You have fo-” “No, but I’m sure I haven’t got to any accident. I still know what brings me here.” Your friend became puzzled at what you’re trying to say. “I had a severe headache then suddenly I got placed here but not looking like… this.” You said as you glanced around your body almost made your appearance like half-mummified. “And there’s this… someone who I was talking with, and she… she cries for me…” Your friend’s eyes widened as he immediately recognized who you are referring to. “S-she?”, he had to repeat to clarify if what he heard was actually right.
“Yes. She seemed… very concerned of me. She was too afraid that I’m gonna die but I assured her that I won’t. I slept and then when I woke up, she’s not here with me anymore.” You said while staring straight at the blank wall in front of your distance. “D-did you see or atleast… know her? I don’t know her name… or even her face.” Your friend choked on his breath as he had to witness your tears drop from your eyes. He doesn’t know why, but seeing you emotionally had brought him easily to let loose of his own. You've been his soul brother since you were kids; that’s why everything that you feel is what he also shares with you. 
But what brought him to feel bad for you was that... he knows why you are crying, while at the same time, he feels sorry for you that you still even had to keep her on your mind even in the depths of your despair.
Help me understand everything, please,” you begged for him. He nodded and gripped your hand. “I will, I promise.” “And if I do… can you… atleast introduce me to her, again?” He stared at you and was about to release another tears of pity but he tried his best to remained composed and tightlipped for you. “I’ll try my best.” You smiled timidly, feeling satisfied for his choice. “Sorry if I couldn’t remember your name, but I can tell that we had a lot of history together.” “Oh we are.” He chuckled. “We’ve been through a lot, man. I’ve known every bits of you, because I’m the only person you have to share your stories with. Looks like this time, it’s my turn to re-tell everything you have told me back to you.” “And I’ll listen to everything just like what you did for me.” You returned the appreciation. “You don’t know how happy I am that you are now fine, dude.” He huffed in relief and finally, his voice sounded delightful and vibrant again because of his stable condition. “You’ve been like in a coma for… 2 weeks already.” “What?” “Yeah, I was like fearing that you might never wake up but… my prayers proved it wrong. You did woke up but sadly you couldn’t remember me, but that’s fine. What matters is that I still have my bestfriend around, right?”
You chuckled and agreed to him, entertained at his kind and amusing personality. “Yeah.” “I’m Choi Somin, by the way. Take note of that name always, it might became handy for me to start bringing back everything you’ve lost.” “Will do, Somin.” “Nice!” He smiled. He ducked and grabbed the plastic bag that he dropped on the floor a while ago. “Oh, by the way, I bought you so foods to eat. The doctor said you have to eat since you’ve been unresponsive for 2 weeks so… eat as much as you want then you can take the prescribed medicine after, okay?”
“Thanks, Somin.” Somin takes out all the supplies he bought to satisfy your hunger, and he prepares them himself for you as part of his responsibility as a guardian. You were watching TV as he wanted to ease your boredom at least by entertaining yourself watching those shows being flashed on the screen that you may have seen before, but now you have no idea what they are. Your focus then shifted to Somin, who cooked you some tteokbokki and japchae, in which he assisted in feeding you with a spoon. 
After you munched the spoonful of food in your mouth, you proceeded to ask Somin, who was also eating his plate of food, for his turn. “How did I got into an accident?” Somin paused from eating and viewed you who is staring back at him, wondering with that question. He sighed and placed his plate on his lap and swallowed his food before giving you a reply. “All I’ve heard is that you’ve been involved in some collision of a van and a carrier truck. But then when I watched the news that reported what happened, that’s where I got the entire story based from the witnesses who were there to see how did you became into one of its victims…” Weeks ago, after you had finished your job interview, you were about to leave when Somin called you on the phone, asking about how your interview went and your plans with him for tomorrow morning. He then mentioned on the phone that “2 years have passed since that happened."
Somin was actually referring to your late mother, who passed away due to cancer. You grew up with a single mother, and your dad was nowhere to be found after he abandoned you and your mother. You once tried to search for him, but as you matured, you realized that it was his wrongdoing, and he's not worthy to have you both again.
You stopped looking for your dad and fully accepted that your mom decided to continue being a single parent just to raise you and build a better life for his son, even if he didn’t have an ideal family. You didn’t care at all instead, because your mother is enough to consider your family to be rather strong than perfect. 
However, it all vanished when the unfortunate circumstances had to unfairly happen for a woman like her.
The only woman who fought till the end just to stay by your side... even if it costs her life due to her unselfishness. You both love and hate her so much for that, but even if you argue with her over and over again about that, you know she'll always win. She loves you so much, and that love is your weakness, which was her strength, but... fate went upside down, as it was instead the one who pushed her to the risk of disappearing forever.
Despite having colon cancer, she never stopped assisting you, even if you were already a young adult. Even at those remaining times she has left to live, she used it still to make you feel cherished and be the proudest son ever to her. 
That’s why when she passed away, it was never easy for you every single day when you'd think about it. Every day until the 2nd consecutive time, you have been visiting her grave with flowers and everything as a treat together with the only person you have left who became super close to your mom too, your childhood neighbor turned to be your best friend, Somin. After Somin mentioned the time you and him talked about your mom on the phone, he recalled that you said goodbye to him because you were about to buy flowers to bring to the cemetery.
And that’s the last conversation he had with you before that accident happened. 
At the time you stopped driving to follow the red light as people were granted to cross on the street, you were checking out the latest posts of your favorite K-Pop girl group TWICE for their comeback, which you couldn’t remember anymore.
Based on Somin’s narration to the reports he learned from the news, just as the traffic light turned into green, a truck being driven by a driver who lost its brake had its wheels to roll uncontrollably by itself and led the truck to collide on the back of the van, which then forcefully bumped it to the one lining in front of it.
And the one that’s in front of the van was you riding your motorcycle. 
You flung from your motor due to the heavy impact, causing you to smash your head and face first on the trunk of the car before your body got twisted badly at the motor, which your legs are still tucked in. As you were about to fall off the road, the van caught your arm mid-air and pressed the now-reversed motor through it, sending multiple fractures and injuries mostly through your arm, waist, and legs. 
However, your head took a lot of damage, making it possible that you might lose memories from the external force your head took on the trunk of the car. Somin couldn’t confirm what type of injury it is, but he hopes that it will result in temporary memory loss for you. 
He was about to mention more when both of you heard a knock on the door. “Wait here, okay? ”You just nodded and let Somin attend to this on his own. As you took your time to process the story that Somin has shared to you, especially grieving and saddened about the truth of your loving mother’s death 2 years ago, Somin opened the door and got alerted of the person who is standing in front of him. He immediately closed the door and stepped out to confront the lady who decided to visited the patient. Knowing that the identity of this woman is now unknown to you, Somin better chose to keep this one distant from you to discuss it first about your state. “How is he?” “He just woke up an hour ago.” The woman covered her gasping mouth and got teary eyed. “Oh my… thank God, h-how is he? Can I see him?”
She was about to peek on the door and open it but Somin blocked her way, making her confused. “N-not yet. I don’t think so.” “Why? Is there something wrong?” Somin sighed and looked around him problematically before he faced again the curious individual. “There is.” “What is it?” “H-he… he couldn’t remember anything.”
“What?” She muttered. “He doesn’t know how he got his injuries, me personally, and probably… you.”
“Oh no…” She expressed distress similar to what Somin has been going through. “The accident really a took a toll on him.” Her face then stretched in astonishment as she realized something. “Wait… don’t tell me…”
“He wanted to remember her.” Somin confesses. The latter gazed back and a large frown plastered across her lips. She was on the verge of crying at how the accident horribly affected both of them.
“He said that what he knows instead is that he has her rather guarding him while he’s confined and not me.” Somin couldn’t help but to let a crack on his voice as he looked away from the girl who is already sobbing at how heartbreaking it is for the both of them to learn what a depressing fate their friends had ended up into.
He hooked her around his arm and engulfed her in his embrace to let the poor friend writhe in agony as he rubs her back gently for comfort. Somin then whispered near to her ear. “But… Nayeon, how are we supposed to tell him about her?”
Tumblr media
21 notes · View notes